Writing Made Them Rich #2: Charles Dickens
Writing Made Them Rich #2: Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens was born in Portsea, England, in1812. His father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office,stationed at Portsmouth. Although his job was wellpaid, his father had a weakness for spending money andspent much of his life in chronic bankruptcy.In 1824, when Charles was just 12 years old, hisfather was sent to debtor's jail. Charles Dickens wassent to a boarding house and given a 12 hour-a-day jobpreparing bottles of shoe polish in a blackingfactory.But Dickens' fortunes improved: a sudden inheritanceallowed his father to pay off his debts and he sentCharles to school.At age fifteen Charles was placed as a clerk in theoffice of an attorney, a friend of his father's. In hisspare time he studied hard to become a Parliamentaryreporter.At age nineteen he entered the parliamentary gallery asa reporter for The Mirror. It was a well paid job and hesoon became known as one of the best shorthandreporters in London.Dickens began writing fiction at age 21, under the nomde plume of 'Boz'. In 1836, when Dickens was 23, hebegan writing a series of short stories (ThePosthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club) which appearedin cheap monthly installments. By the age of 24 he hadbecome internationally famous.Charles Dickens burst onto the literary scene at aunique moment in English historyUntil the end of the 18th century, England had been amainly rural society. But from the late 1700's onwards,land holders started forcing people off their land tomake way for sheep farming.At the same time the Industrial Revolution wascreating new towns and cities with belching smokestacks and factories that needed workers - the Englishcountryside was emptying and a new urban working classwas emerging.The concentration of people in towns and citiescreated something that had never existed before - amass audience. Newspapers, Magazines and Newsletterssprang up to cater for this new and growing demand.Books were being serialized in Newspapers andMagazines - those who couldn't afford to buy a bookcould read it in weekly installments. Dickens wrote andpublished most of his novels in this fashion - a chapterat a time.Between 1837 and 1839, Dickens wrote three of his mostfamous novels Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, andNicholas Nickleby.In the first ten years of his writing career, themanic part of Dickens' manic depression had given himan endless source of energy and inspiration, but nowhe began to succumb to depression.In the 1840's he started to experience writer's block.He would spend days locked up in a room, unable to putwords on paper. He wrote: "Men have been chained tohideous walls and other strange anchors but few haveknown such suffering and bitterness...as those whohave been bound to Pens."Dickens was an extremely energetic man and a compulsivetraveler. He traveled the length and breadth of England,Scotland and Wales and also made frequent trips toFrance and Italy. In 1842 he spent six months in America,where he was given the kind of reception reserved formodern day rock stars.In 1856 Dickens purchased a large residence in Kent,the kind of house he had always dreamed of owning.Although Dickens became wealthy, he never forgothis origins. Throughout his life he visited thefactories, the slums, the jails and the poor houses.Indeed, his novels were a social commentary on theappalling conditions of 19th century England. He waswell known for his generosity and received requestsfor money wherever he went.He is considered by many to have been a genius andthe greatest English writer of the 19th century.When Dickens died in June 1870, he left an estatevalued at over $US6.5 million (2001 value).------------------------------------------------------------
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Killer Internet Marketing Errors – How to Avoid Them – Internet-Marketing
Killer Internet Marketing Errors - How to Avoid Them
With 95% of all Internet businesses failing, it is important to find out what actually works and what doesn't. Most online business failures can be attributed to one or more of the following marketing errors:1. Free Domain Hosting. Failure to obtain and use your own domain name gives your site visitors a poor impression of you and your online business. With domain registrations under $10/yr., there is no good reason not to have your own domain name.2. Poorly Constructed Web Sites. Your web site is an extension of you and your online business. It should be attractive, professional and easy to navigate. Using a lot of white space between paragraphs makes it easier for your visitors to read your message. Include links at the top and bottom of every page so that your visitors don't get lost. It is a good idea to have a friend or business associate review your site and provide feedback.3. Lack of Good Web Site Content. Offer your visitors free, valuable information and not just a sales pitch. By offering free, valuable information you will establish credibility and make your site visitors feel you genuinely care.4. Unsecured Credit Card Processing. Be sure that the page on which you ask site visitors to input confidential credit card information is secure. Secure order pages will have "https" in the address bar. With identity theft on the rise, your customers may be reluctant or even refuse to leave credit card information on an unsecured order page.5. No credit card processing. Eighty-five percent of all online purchases are made with credit cards. Shoppers like being able to "whip out" the plastic, complete their order and leave your site knowing the product is on its way. There are a number of companies who offer credit card processing for a very small setup fee and no monthly charges. You can expect to pay a little more per transaction to these companies but you only pay when you make a sale. This is in contrast to the traditional merchant accounts that typically require completion of a lengthy contract, credit checks and monthly fees.6. No Privacy/Policy Statement. Having a "privacy/policy" page on your site is pretty much expected these days. Visitors to your site look to see what they can be expect from you in the event there are problems. What is your return policy? At what phone number can you be reached? What happens to the visitor information input on your site? Is that information sold to others or kept confidential within your company? These are just a few of the questions that might be addressed.7. Failure to build an "opt-in" email file. Failing to collect the names and email addresses of your site visitors is like throwing money away! Your "opt-in" list will be the means by which you stay in touch with your potential customers. Most visitors will not buy on their first visit to your site so you must keep your name and web address in front of them on a regular basis and keep them coming back to your site until they purchase your product/service.For Secrets Successful Internet Marketers Don't Want You to Know visit http://www.greenfriday.com?source=eza.Bernie Alexander is an author/internet-marketing specialist who has spent years testing various marketing strategies and products.Warning! This product will shock you. Visit http://www.snoop4me.com?source=eza
It?s One Thing for People to Buy Your Product or Service, but It?s Another for Them to Tattoo Your
It?s One Thing for People to Buy Your Product or Service, but It?s Another for Them to Tattoo Your
William Harley and Arthur Davidson, both in their early twenties, built their first motorcycle in 1903. During their first year, the company's entire output was only 1 motorbike; however, by 1910, the company had sold 3,200. Movies such as Easy Rider made Harleys a cultural icon and soon the company attracted people who loved its bad-boy mystique, powerfulness, rumbling voice, distinctive roar, and toughness. It sounded like nothing else on the road, and even Elvis Presley and Steve McQueen longed to ride one.The Harley-Davidson Motor Company has had its ups and downs, and at times, the downs seemed as if they would end in bankruptcy. In the sixties, Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha invaded the American market, and when sales at Harley-Davidson dropped drastically due to decreasing quality and increasing competition, the company began to look for buyers and was finally sold. However, the new owners of Harley Davidson knew little about how to restore profitability. The quality became so bad that dealers had to place cardboard under bikes in the showroom to absorb the oil leaking.Daniel Gross, in Forbes Greatest Business Stories of all Times, recounts how in 1981, with the aid of Citibank, a team of former Harley-Davidson executives began negotiations to reacquire the company and rescue it from bankruptcy. Among these executives was William Davidson, the grandson of the founder Arthur Davidson. In a classic leveraged buyout, they pooled $1 million in equity and borrowed $80 million from a consortium of banks lead by Citibank.Harley's rescue team of loyal executives knew that the Japanese motorbike manufacturers were far ahead in regard to quality management, and they made a bold decision to tour a nearby Honda plant. Paradoxically, the Japanese had learned Total Quality Management from the Americans, Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran. The new business concept outlined by these two pioneers was a new management approach that, interestingly enough, had been rejected by American manufacturers. As a result, they offered this approach to Japanese manufactures that were eager to learn and implement it. Therefore, soon after their tour of the Honda plant, the Harley Davidson Motor Company decided to put into practice this originally rejected approach.After implementing just-in-time inventory (JIT) and employee involvement, costs at Harley had dropped significantly; this meant that the company only needed to sell 35,000 bikes instead of 53,000 in order to break even. Their lobbying at Washington also helped, and import tariffs were raised temporarily from 4 to 40 percent on Japanese bikes. This extra breathing space was something that the U.S. motorbike company desperately needed for its recovery.The combination of visiting a Japanese motorbike manufacturing plant and lobbying in Washington for import tariffs was a daring move on behalf of Harley's executives in their attempt to bring back profitability and growth to the company. Another important strategic move was the company's unique marketing and branding campaigns. Studies showed that about 75 % of Harley customers made repeat purchases, and executives quickly recognized a pattern that refocused the company's overall strategy. Simply put, they needed to find a way to appeal to the extraordinary loyalty of customers, which they found in creating a community that valued the experience of riding a Harley more than the product itself.The sponsorship of a "Harley Owners' Group" has been one of the most creative and innovative strategies that has helped create the experience of this product. Without realizing it, Harley executives had pioneered a new paradigm that would be increasingly embraced by other industries in their quest to increase profitability by converting their product into an experience. The company started to organize rallies to strengthen the relationship between its members, dealers, and employees, while also promoting the Harley experience to potential customers. The Harley Owners' Groups became immensely popular; it allowed motorcycle owners to feel as if they belonged to one big family. In 1987, there were 73,000 registered members, and Harley now boasts to have no less than 450,000 members.In 1983, the company launched a marketing campaign called SuperRide, which authorized over 600 dealerships to invite people to test-drive Harleys. Over 40,000 potential new customers accepted the invitation, and from then on, many customers were not just buying a motorcycle when they bought a Harley; instead, they were buying "the Harley Experience."Harley-Davidson offered its customers a free one-year membership to a local riding group, motorcycle publications, private receptions at motorcycle events, insurance, emergency roadside service, rental arrangements on vacation, and a host of other member benefits. Branding the experience, not just the product, has allowed the company to expand how it captures value, including a line of clothing, a parts and accessories business, and Harley-Davidson Visa card.If you were to scan the list of companies that delivered the greatest returns on investment during the 1990s, you would discover Harley-Davidson. Only a few companies have been successful in inventing entirely new business models, or profoundly reinventing existing ones. Harley-Davidson went from supplying motorcycles to antisocial raiders to selling a lifestyle to the aging bad boy wannabes caught in their midlife crises. Traditionally, Harley-Davidson bike owners came from the working and middle classes, but as quality and prices of the bad-boy-bikes rose, and with energetic marketing, the company soon attracted a different class of buyers-currently one third of Harley buyers are professionals or managers, and 60% are college graduates. The new customer segments of Harley are the Rolex Riders or the Rich Urban Bikers. Hell's Angels do not run in the same group anymore. Now there are groups of accountants, lawyers and doctors. Women also account for a significant portion of the new riders, and there are women-only riders clubs spreading all over the globe.The future looks bright for the U.S. motorbike company. According to The Economist, overall U.S. sales increased over 20% in 2000, and more than 650,000 new motorcycles were sold in the U.S. in the same year, up from 539,000 the year before. Bike buyers spent an estimated $5.45 billion on new bikes in 2000.Stay alert and get it early. The new branding paradigm is to sell a lifestyle, a personality and it is also about appealing to emotions of your customers. Increasingly, it will be more and more about creating an experience around the product. Brand managers and executives will need a new set of lenses. The rules have changed as well as the opportunities to maximize profitability and create value in the process. Nonetheless, the majority of companies continue to follow traditional ad campaigns and they seem to ignore the fact that the media has fragmented into hundreds of cable channels, thousands of magazine titles and millions of Internet pages.Consumers are no longer sitting ducks for commercials; they are looking for new experiences. Whether it is the bad-boy-aura of the Harley riding experience, the exquisite coffee experience in Starbucks caf