Internet Marketing Blog

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Online marketing give supports to companies reach their target markets using the Internet. It has brought medium to global viewers. Internet marketing ties as one creative and technical aspect of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales. We are utilized the tricks that you have put to use for many of your trade for yourself.

Web Promotion of a website is much the same as the marketing of a website. Our recommended path would be creating a website and getting free traffic to your affiliate offers from the search engines. Search engine optimization services are provided the analytical internet marketing edge you need to ahead of the competition and properly optimize and path your sites rank and results. Every organization would like to improve their organic search engine rankings. SEO gives us all the power to reach the high volume of traffic out in the World Wide Web.

Today online marketing is the most exciting form of marketing. Thanks to the exponential growth of the Internet and the myriad of ways it can be used to communicate openly with your target customers. To obtain the website traffic you must prepare for the future and ensure your website is structured correctly for the search engine spiders to understand which web page represents what service on your website. Internet marketing is a cost efficient way to deliver quality buyers for your services at little cost compared to most types of marketing services.

The preferred help might also be found at an online marketing research company. Internet marketing is the fastest growing advertising method for all companies at this time.

http://www.seohunts.com/internet_marketing.html

Author: David Robinson

LOS ANGELES & HOUSTON — The Gores Group, a leading Los Angeles-based private equity firm, today announced that through an affiliate it has signed an agreement to acquire Alpheus Communications, one of the largest fiber network and data center operators in Texas. The Gores Group intends to combine Alpheus with First Communications, an existing Gores portfolio company. Genesis Park, L.P. and El Paso Corporation are the sellers. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Alpheus Communications has a strong presence in Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio—four of the fastest growing markets in the United States. The acquisition includes more than 2,800 route miles of long-haul fiber and nearly 3,250 metro route miles, bringing the total of the First Communications network to over 10,500 fiber route miles.

“The acquisition of Alpheus Communications provides Gores with a tremendous opportunity to expand upon our current telecommunications holdings, particularly our fiber and high bandwidth transport services businesses,” said Ashley Abdo, Managing Director of The Gores Group. “In addition to the network assets, the deal brings additional sales and operational experience that will help us continue to expand our holdings.”

“This transaction will benefit all of our stakeholders. Alpheus has had great success in bringing better broadband services to Texas, and this is just the next chapter. No telecommunications company in America is in a better position to keep winning for its customers and employees,” said Paul Hobby, Chairman and CEO, Alpheus Communications.

Alpheus Communications’ deep metro network, as well as its reputation and long-term customer tenures, were key considerations for the acquisition. In addition, First Communications can easily layer its core services, including Premium Ethernet, Ethernet DIA and Essential T1, onto the existing Alpheus platform to meet the specific needs of any size business.

Waller Capital Partners acted as the exclusive Financial Advisor to both Gores and Alpheus.

About Alpheus Communications

Alpheus Communications (http://www.alpheuscommunications.com) is a provider of high bandwidth transport, Direct Internet Access (DIA) and data center services for carrier, government and enterprise customers. With owned facilities in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi and the Rio Grande Valley, Alpheus is flexible, content-neutral and responsive to customer needs when low-latency and uptime are essential. As the preferred fiber backbone for Metro Texas, Alpheus is in a unique position to support mission-critical information technology functions and cloud computing solutions through resilient SAS 70-compliant data center platforms for colocation and disaster recovery.

About The Gores Group, LLC

The Gores Group, LLC is a private equity firm focused on acquiring controlling interests in mature and growing businesses which can benefit from the firm’s operating experience and flexible capital base. The firm combines the operational expertise and detailed due diligence capabilities of a strategic buyer with the seasoned M&A team of a traditional financial buyer. The Gores Group, which was founded in 1987 by Alec E. Gores, has become a leading investor having demonstrated over time a reliable track record of creating substantial value in its portfolio companies alongside management. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Gores Group maintains offices in Boulder, CO, and London. For more information, please visit www.gores.com.

About Genesis Park, L.P.

Genesis Park is a Houston-based private equity firm focusing on buyouts, partnering strategies with public corporations, and growth financing. Focused on technology and energy markets Genesis Park brings capital, management skills, commercial execution capabilities and a depth of experience in mergers and acquisitions. For more information please visit www.genesis-park.com.

In a beautiful late spring morning, two young friends entered the world of direct response marketing. Both had been better than average students, and both had ambitious dreams.

And both needed to decide how they’d reconcile shrinking creative budgets with demands for breakthrough direct response campaigns.

Here, the legendary “Two Young Men” Wall Street Journal acquisition letter would have our two friends take slightly different paths to achieve vastly different outcomes. One might decide that only working with famous (and expensive) copywriters and designers will do. After all, a lasting winner can be worth multiples of what it cost to produce and test.

The other, more thrifty (or shackled to a tighter budget), might decide to restrict his efforts to home-grown or bargain-price efforts, drawing inspiration from some of his swipe-file’s favorite hits. After all, why commit scarce resources to a package that’ll end up looking much like all the others and which, anyway, only has a lesser than 50 percent chance of winning?

Twenty-five years later, who might end up in the corner office? Neither if they fail to ask the right questions as they develop their plans–regardless of which creative strategy they favor. Here are two to get you started:

1. What are the underlying economics of this project?

This question is best answered by determining the yearly value of the control against which you will be testing versus the potential upside of each new test. To get there, start by assign ing an honest, reasonable probability that a new test might beat the control, and by how much. If the control is outdated, you may feel bold enough to ascribe a 50 percent chance of a win. By how much? That guesstimate is entirely up to you. You may give it a 30 percent chance of achieving a 5 percent lift and a 20 percent chance of a 10 percent lift. Hence, if the specific control you are trying to beat generates $50,000 in profit per year, and if you think you could hold on to a new winner for at least three years, you better not put out a test that costs more than $5,250 (3 years * $50,000 * (30% * 5% 20% * 10%)).

Factoring all test costs, if this little exercise doesn’t leave you with enough of a budget to afford a new, professionally designed package, skip the test altogether or do an in-house revamp of your existing packages. In the past few years, technology has radically brought down the cost and difficulty of making simple design changes–and writing your own copy has always been free.

2. What exactly am I trying to do?

The surest way to doom a test is to assign it a vague mission to “just beat the control.” Often, out of fear of losing assignments from busy (or sometimes lazy) clients, professional designers and copywriters proceed without creative briefs or formal reviews. That’s not doing anybody any favor. In fact, such briefs should be written before reaching out to anybody. Doing so will help you narrow down who should be commissioned for the work That’s because, despite their assertions, copywriters are rarely good at a vast range of endeavors. Some are best for short forms, others for free trials, or others for continuous service, or clever positioning.

Assigning work on this basis, while not guaranteeing success, will limit the chances of a misfire. At minimum, it is a far less arbitrary approach than assigning work based on who called last, who’s got free time or who costs least. Note that a side benefit of writing down exactly what you are trying to achieve before bidding out a project is that it may lead you to consider DIY as a viable approach. After all, why pay top dollars to execute non-breakthrough ideas or adapt well-established techniques?

Denny Hatch, the direct mail expert, once computed that the “Two Young Men” package, a WSJ control for 25 years, generated over $1 billion in revenue–possibly the most successful direct mail creative of all time. Yet, when incarnations of its concept have been proposed to me, I never felt it had a good chance of succeeding. Was I a fool to pass on testing such a pedigreed concept for a fraction of its value? Not if you believe that you can’t escape getting exactly what you pay for, and possibly a little more if you shop well enough.

Patrick Hainault is consumer marketing director at Mansueto Ventures, publisher of Inc. and Fast Company.

Author: Patrick Hainault

LAGOS, Nigeria — The 2nd annual Nigeria Com conference and exhibition opened today at the Eko Centre in Lagos - Nigeria’s leading event for the telecoms, media and ICT community.

The major topics of discussion were: growth opportunities, network expansion, quality of service, power, internet access, customer care and pricing. As Deepak Srivastava, COO of Airtel Nigeria, said: “Nigeria Com is very good for helping industry leaders to get together, to talk about what’s happening in the market and to develop a strategy for the country.”

Deepak opened the conference with a keynote presentation on Airtel’s strategy and position after 1 year in the market. The first conference session also included a keynote from market leader MTN. Bayo Adekanmbi, Senior Manager for Business Intelligence, said it was “a pleasure to be at the 2nd Nigeria Com” and gave a positive message: “MTN’s 10th anniversary is not just reinforcing how much we have led, innovated and enriched the way millions of Nigerians live, work and play; it is a demonstration of MTN’s concept of responsible marketing to give much more through value-adding lifestyle-enhancing solutions and transforming corporate social investment.”

A panel discussion followed, with leaders from alternative service providers Mobitel, Pinet Informatics, Comium Data and Geoidtel. They covered strategic topics such as broadband connectivity, VAS, enterprise services and more.

The rest of the day focused on network strategies, with presentations by Corning, Gilat and Huawei, and further contributions from operators Mobitel and Starcomms.

The 2nd day will include more presentations from operators Etisalat, Glo and Visafone among others, as well as a regulatory update from the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Federal Ministry of Information and Communications.

“This event shows that Nigeria is one of the most exciting telecoms and ICT markets in Africa,” says Julie Rey, Research Director at organizers Informa Telecoms and Media. “We are pleased to see that so many participants were undeterred by heavy rain and traffic to attend and share ideas and network with their peers.”

Join us at the Eko Expo Centre in Lagos for day 2 from 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. Find out more at www.comworldseries.com/nigeria

About Informa Telecoms & Media

Informa Telecoms & Media is the leading provider of business intelligence to global telecoms and media markets.

Our aim is to provide actionable, strategic advice and forecasting on all aspects of converging mobile, fixed, entertainment and IT markets.

Driven by constant first-hand contact with the industry our team of analysts and researchers produce over 300 annual events and intelligence services including news and analytical products, in-depth market reports and data sets.

We benefit from outstanding people, including 100 analysts, researchers and journalists across 14 countries. Our customers include major blue-chip vendors, operators, and regulators in addition to key players from the financial and content communities.

We are proud of the role we play in bringing the industry together and keeping 100,000 individuals better informed.

www.informatm.com

Several companies received 2011 Telly Awards during the 32nd annual awards ceremony.

Federal Premium Ammunition won two Telly Awards–a Silver in the nonbroadcast public relations category, and a Bronze in the outdoor/environmental in-store category–for its video illustrating the performance of its Black Cloud FS Steel line of ammunition. Visit www.federalpremium.com.

MidwayUSA received two Bronze Telly Awards, one for the production of the gunsmithing short, “How to Make an Inletting Chisel,” and a second for the safety video short, “Eye and Ear Protection.” Visit www.midwayusa.com.

Nosler’s Trophy Grade Rifle commercial received six Telly Awards: Use of High Definition, Visual Effects, Copywriting, Editing, Lighting, and Videography. Visit www.nosler.com.

NSSF’s 50th anniversary video was awarded a Bronze Telly. Visit www.nssf.org.

CARPINTERIA, Calif. — CKE Restaurants, Inc. (“CKE”) announced today its second fiscal quarter financial results for the twelve weeks ended August 15, 2011. The Company expects to file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 after the close of the financial markets.

As previously reported, on July 12, 2010, CKE Holdings, Inc., an affiliate of Apollo Management VII, L.P., acquired all of the outstanding shares of the Company (the “Merger”). As of August 15, 2011, the purchase price allocation related to the Merger has been completed.

All references to “Predecessor” relate to CKE and its consolidated subsidiaries for periods prior to the Merger and references to “Successor” relate to CKE and its consolidated subsidiaries for periods subsequent to the Merger. The discussion of the Company’s second quarter results compares the results of operations for the Successor twelve weeks ended August 15, 2011 to the combined Predecessor eight weeks ended July 12, 2010 and the Successor four weeks ended August 9, 2010. This discussion does not comply with U.S. GAAP; however, the Company believes this provides a more meaningful method of comparison.

Company-Operated Same-Store Sales and Average Unit Volumes

Blended same-store sales increased 2.2% in the second quarter of fiscal 2012. Hardee’s® same-store sales increased 2.5% and Carl’s Jr.® same-store sales increased 2.0%.

[Table Omitted]

At the end of the second quarter, the blended fifty-two week average unit volume for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s was $1,238,000. The fifty-two week average unit volumes for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s were $1,396,000 and $1,096,000, respectively.

To date, the Company’s blended same-store sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 are flat to slightly positive.

Second Quarter Results

The Company reported total revenue of $299.7 million for the fiscal 2012 second quarter, a decrease of $14.2 million, or 4.5%, compared to the fiscal 2011 second quarter. The decrease was attributable to the sale of the Carl’s Jr. distribution business on July 2, 2010. Total revenue, excluding the Carl’s Jr. distribution center revenue in the prior year quarter, increased by $10.8 million, or 3.7%.

“Hardee’s continued to generate positive same-store sales results during the second quarter. Including period seven, Hardee’s has now had nineteen consecutive periods of positive same-store sales. Carl’s Jr. also performed well, posting its second consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales,” said Andrew F. Puzder, Chief Executive Officer.

For the fiscal 2012 second quarter, company-operated restaurant-level adjusted EBITDA margin was 17.1%, a 120 basis point decrease compared to the prior year quarter. Food and packaging costs increased 90 basis points as a result of higher commodity costs for beef, ingredients containing cooking oil and dairy products. Occupancy and other expense, excluding depreciation and amortization, increased 30 basis points and advertising increased 10 basis points. These increases were offset by a 10 basis point decrease in labor costs. Refer to the further discussion of company-operated restaurant-level adjusted EBITDA margin under the heading “Non-GAAP Measures” below.

Adjusted EBITDA was $40.9 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2012, $1.4 million lower than the prior year quarter. Refer to the further discussion of Adjusted EBITDA under the heading “Non-GAAP Measures” below, which includes a reconciliation of net loss to Adjusted EBITDA.

As of August 15, 2011, cash and cash equivalents were $38.3 million and the Company had $68.1 million available under its credit facility.

On July 15, 2011, the Company redeemed $40.0 million aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 11.375% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes due 2018 (the “Notes”) at a price equal to 103.0% of the principal amount of the Notes. Subsequent to the redemption, the remaining aggregate principal amount of the Notes was $560.0 million.

Capital expenditures for the fiscal 2012 second quarter were $14.5 million, of which $7.9 million related to new store openings, dual-branding and remodeling projects. For fiscal 2012, the Company expects capital expenditures to be between $60.0 million and $65.0 million.

As of August 15, 2011, the Company’s system-wide restaurant portfolio consisted of:

Conference Call Information

The Company will host its second quarter fiscal 2012 conference call on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, at 8:00 a.m. (PDT). The dial in information is as follows: (973) 500-2164 U.S. and international. The conference ID is 98508045.

A replay will be made available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the live event. The replay will be available for 7 days and can be accessed by calling (404) 537-3406. The conference ID is 98508045.

Company Overview

CKE Restaurants, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in Carpinteria, Calif. As of the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company, through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,202 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 42 states and in 23 countries. For more information about CKE, please visit www.ckr.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements, including those relating to expected capital expenditures and the filing of the Company’s periodic reports with the SEC, which are based on management’s current beliefs and assumptions. These statements constitute “forward looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that are often difficult to predict and beyond the Company’s control and which may cause results to differ materially from expectations. Factors that could cause the Company’s results to differ materially from those described include, but are not limited to, the Company’s ability to compete with other restaurants, supermarkets and convenience stores for customers, employees, restaurant locations and franchisees; changes in consumer preferences, perceptions and spending patterns; changes in food, packaging and supply costs; the ability of the Company’s key suppliers to continue to deliver premium-quality products to the Company at moderate prices; the Company’s ability to successfully enter new markets, complete construction of new restaurants and complete remodels of existing restaurants; changes in general economic conditions and the geographic concentration of the Company’s restaurants, which may affect the Company’s business; the Company’s ability to attract and retain key personnel; the Company’s franchisees’ willingness to participate in the Company’s strategy; the operational and financial success of the Company’s franchisees; the willingness of the Company’s vendors and service providers to supply goods and services pursuant to customary credit arrangements; risks associated with operating in international locations; the effect of the media’s reports regarding food-borne illnesses, food tampering and other health-related issues on the Company’s reputation and its ability to procure or sell food products; the seasonality of the Company’s operations; the effect of increasing labor costs including healthcare related costs; the Company’s ability to comply with existing and future health, employment, environmental and other government regulations; the Company’s ability to adequately protect its intellectual property; the potentially conflicting interests of the Company’s sole stockholder and the Company’s creditors, the Company’s substantial leverage which could limit its ability to raise capital, react to economic changes or meet obligations under its indebtedness; the effect of restrictive covenants in the Company’s indenture and credit facility on the Company’s business; and other factors as discussed in the Company’s filings with the SEC.

BERLIN — HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced a solution that enables communications service providers (CSPs) to offer their customers a fast, easy way to shop for, download and manage mobile services and entertainment content.

CSPs have a critical need to enable new business models and leverage third parties to bring innovative services and applications to market. Many are creating app stores to help win, retain and improve customer loyalty in a fast-changing mobile internet market.

Announced at the SDP Global Summit, the HP SDP Storefront Portal solution is based on the company’s service delivery platform (SDP) technology. The solution is packaged with a framework to enable two-sided business models: wholesale and retail. CSPs can monetize their assets with features such as:

“The success of mobile operator app stores will depend heavily on front-end ease of use that appeals to subscribers as well as back-end SDP infrastructure that attracts developers,” said Shira Levine, directing analyst at Infonetics, an international market research and consulting firm. “Solutions like HP’s that expose network assets such as call control, location, messaging and presence will help developers create the new services that operators need.”

“To reclaim their place in the mobile value chain, CSPs must build attractive app stores that both consumers and developers can take advantage of,” said David Sliter, vice president and general manager, Communications and Media Solutions, HP Enterprise Services. “App stores depend on developers, and the new HP SDP Storefront Portal solution will allow CSPs to engage and manage an exponentially larger developer community.”

Flexible HP solution can expand to meet future needs

The HP SDP Storefront Portal is an integrated solution with an extensible framework that can help CSPs link service delivery platforms to the app store business model. The solution includes the following key components:

HP SDP Storefront Portal has been deployed at CSPs worldwide.

More information is available at www.hp.com/go/SDP.

HP’s premier client event, HP DISCOVER, takes place Nov. 29 - Dec. 1 in Vienna, Austria. The event showcases how organizations can get started on their Instant-On Enterprise journeys.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations, including execution of growth strategies, transformation initiatives and restructuring plans; any statements concerning expected development, performance or market share relating to products and services; any statements regarding anticipated operational and financial results; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include macroeconomic and geopolitical trends and events; the competitive pressures faced by HP’s businesses; the development and transition of new products and services (and the enhancement of existing products and services) to meet customer needs and respond to emerging technological trends; the execution and performance of contracts by HP and its customers, suppliers and partners; the protection of HP’s intellectual property assets, including intellectual property licensed from third parties; integration and other risks associated with business combination and investment transactions; the hiring and retention of key employees; expectations and assumptions relating to the execution and timing of growth strategies, transformation initiatives and restructuring plans; the resolution of pending investigations, claims and disputes; and other risks that are described in HP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2011 and HP’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2010. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

© 2011 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.