Prajna Capital - An Investment Guide

1. Create an affiliate program. A good affiliate network allows you to grow your e-business efficiently and affordably, channeling additional traffic to your site without the expense of pay-per-click advertising. Provide your affiliates with links and ads that carry your branding message. 2. Start or contribute to a blog. Look for a highly trafficked and searched blog in your industry, then write and post relevant articles about your business. Let your personality shine through in the tone of your writing. 3. Print your logo on labels or stickers and place them on all communication with customers. Stickers appeal to our tactile nature and add interest to just about anything. They don't need to be fancy, but they should feature your logo and colors. 4. Attach your tagline to your e-mail signature. If you don't already have a tagline or motto that communicates a key difference between you and your competition, create one and consider trade marking it. 5. Print your logo on an...

Trade shows can be a tremendously powerful marketing tool or a tremendous drain on your time and resources. There are many excellent reasons to exhibit at trade shows. They're great way to connect with customers and prospects, launch new products and catch up on the industry buzz. But never attend a trade show "because we go every year," or just because you think it's expected. Always have a specific goal in mind and prepare a strategy for achieving it. After all, exhibiting at a trade show represents a large investment for a small business. It entails all kind of expenses, from preparing and shipping your booth and materials to travel and entertainment costs, not to mention your lost work time. To get something out of a trade show, put something into it. Plan your trade show activities from start to finish, before, during and after the event. Before the Show Before you even register, identify your trade show goals. This makes all your future decision-making easier; a...

WHAT does your e-mail say about you as a manager? A lot. E-mail is an extremely valuable communication channel for today’s managers, but it can be abused if used carelessly or too much. Here are 10 basic tips for better e-mail use and management. 1) USE E-MAIL AS ONE CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION It’s fast and easy. It can document discussions. It enables high impact messages to be sent around the world with the click of a mouse. But it also misleads bosses into thinking they can manage large groups of people through regular group e-mails. Use e-mail wisely, but don’t manage your company through it. 2) KEEP IT SHORT AND SWEET Know that e-mails longer than one screen-full often aren’t read right away; they get shoved to the end of the day or the next morning. Know also when it’s time to put down the mouse and go talk to someone, or pick up the phone. There comes a point when further e-mailing eats up time unnecessarily. 3) DECODE YOUR MESSAGES AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE Say what you really want to ...

If you suspect you’re not using your small business data to the utmost, here are seven steps to get you on track. UNDERSTAND WHY DATA MATTERS On the surface, information about your customers and market is certainly useful. But it goes much deeper: careful analysis of data can be invaluable in identifying broad based, reliable trends central to your business’ success particularly for small businesses. You need to understand and analyze data to keep your customers. YOU HAVE UNEXAMINED, USEFUL DATA There are scads of proactive ways to gather data, such as customer surveys and other forms of feedback. That’s helpful, but don’t overlook information that you may already have at the ready. Customer purchase records, demographic data left by website traffic — these and other sources provide insightful material. WHAT TO LOOK FOR Start with your existing customer base. Chances are good that you have extensive customer information. Find out what they’re buying, how often and even where they’re co...

MARKETING isn’t just an expense; it's an investment. The key is to market smarter and fully utilize your marketing budget. Here are 7 ways to stretch your marketing rupees and increase your bottom-line profits: Use free publicity: It costs you nothing and builds credibility and awareness. So look for opportunities to be involved with community activities. Speak at local organizations: Every organization is looking for speakers for their monthly meetings, so offer to share your knowledge with them. You'll get exposure to groups as an expert and meet lots of new people who might be potential clients. Write articles: Contribute to newsletters, newspapers, industry journals and your own Web site. Sharing information builds name recognition, which helps bring in clients. Create a Web site: Websites are a must. You're missing a great opportunity if your business doesn't have a presence on the web. It’s a very cost-effective way of letting people know about you and your produ...

Desperate for your 15 minutes of fame? Here are some art of making home videos and getting the best possible publicity for them online. Where others have succeeded, why shouldn’t you? LonelyGirl15 is undeniably a legend as far as home videos go. The breakout web hit, shot at home by amateurs, drew a massive cult following internationally and eventually brought lead actress Jessica Rose and the rest of the crew to fame in Hollywood. It is now inspiring young wannabe actors and directors. Internationally, there have been plenty of such homegrown video series that tried to emulate the success of LonelyGirl15, but slowly the bug seems to have bitten creative young minds in India too. If Rose can make it big in Hollywood with just a webcam and a one-room studio, what’s stopping creative minds from shooting to fame on the internet? With umpteen video hosting sites and dirt cheap video cameras, truly, the world is your stage. So, if you think you can direct like Karan Johar, here’s a two step...