Packaging For Tomorrow

Ms. X asked:


I watched the Detroit Auto show on CNBC, and was surprised to see what looks like a lot of decent cars coming out later this year. They have a bunch of fuel-efficient hybrids and electrics that don’t look like science experiments. And cars with cool technology packages. Plus, Ford has redesigned the Taurus for 2010 and it may actually be a decent American car. Nissan was a no-show at the auto show (maybe b/c they’re doing well?)

What are your thoughts on the Auto Show and the cars coming out this year?

I’m guessing there are so many hybrids/electrics b/c they were in the works when gasoline was approaching $5.00 a gallon. Also it appears American automakers are tired of lagging behind Japan and Germany in innovation, and have decided to make some decent cars for a change instead of relying on SUVs and pick up trucks.
Excellent points, Chris. I think the Cadillac Volt is a really cool car. Too bad Detroit didn’t come out with these cars a couple years ago, before the recession really got rolling. They’d be in much better shape.

Oliver

R. Lawrence Anderson asked:


With so many resale rights packages out there, how do you choose one? It’s a good question, and that’s what we’re going to focus on in this article.

By the way, if you are not familiar with resale rights packages here’s a brief explanation. Generally speaking, a resale rights package (also called reseller rights package), allows you to “resell” digital products such as ebooks, special reports, or software for example – and keep all of the profits for yourself.

The best starting place when it comes to choosing a resale rights package is to develop a criteria. There are a number of criteria you can use when shopping for resale rights package. Here are five to get you started:

1) Price. Does the resale rights package fit your budget? There are resale rights packages out there for a one-time payment of around $35-$67. Keep in mind that these are just general numbers – you can find prices that are higher or lower than these when it comes to resale rights packages.

2) Information products. Does the resale rights package include products that cater to your niche? If so, are they quality information products?

Also, if the resale rights package offers “private label rights” this can be a big plus. In general, private label rights allow you to modify the content of the information product, list yourself as the author, and even change the title of the product. In other words you can begin creating your “own” information products quicky and easily.

3) Sales tools. Does the resale rights package come with a pre-made website and professional sales copy for each information product that you can upload and use.

Another important sales tool is bonuses. Does the resale rights package include bonus products that you can include with your main information product? This is very important. Why? If there are others selling the same product, you want to be able to include some bonuses with your offer that makes you stand apart from the crowd – and ideally results in more sales.

4) Restrictions. Prior to purchasing any resale rights package, you will want to find out what (if any) restrictions the reseller license comes with. For example, some ebooks must be sold for a minimum price. Another restriction may say that the ebook cannot be given away as a bonus.

5) How old is the information product? Ideally, you want to aquire a newer resale rights product. The reason being is that the older it is, the more commonplace it may be on the internet – especially if the publisher and other resellers have promoted is aggressively. That means more competition. How can you find out? Simply do a search for it on one of your favorite search engines and see how many times it appears.

In this article we looked at five criteria you can apply when shopping for a resale rights package. Hopefully you will be able to use them, in addition to any other criteria you come up with, to find the reseller rights package that’s best for you.

Copyright 2006 Innovative Solutions Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.



Evangeline

Eric Kaad asked:


The fastest method of economic recovery lies in the creation of commercial construction jobs. The fact being, that when you build a structure it creates an immediate demand on both the skilled labor and manufacturing sectors to produce.



Obviously, residential construction is not what is being advocated due to the high inventory of unsold homes already on the market, but rather the thousands of private commercial capital improvement projects which are on hold resulting from the lack of credit needed to finance their projects.



Even after receiving the first $700 billion from the Bush administration, banks are not willing to lend money to institutions who can demonstrate that the proposed improvements will create cash flow in repaying the debt.



There are aspects to the Obama stimulus package that will create jobs in the long term, however the package lacks any near term benefits. When you look at some of the larger elements of the package they break out as follows:



Energy: $60 billion; Tax cuts: $275 billion; Education: $140 billion; Infrastructure: $90 billion; Financial Aid: $102 billion; Healthcare: $110 billion



With the exception of infrastructure, tax cuts, and about half of what is allocated for energy, the rest is strictly financial aid and cannot be considered stimulus. Tax cuts, on the other hand, will spur some level of spending, but in this economic climate will most likely go to basic necessities as opposed to the purchase of non-necessities.



Construction activity creates manufacturing demand and when combined together, construction and manufacturing represent the largest pool of workers in the country.



During post WWII and early 50s an infrastructure boom occurred with the Interstate Highway System project, which rolled back unemployment lines to the lowest levels ever.



The intent of the Obama infrastructure stimulus is the same, however falls short when you consider the years of planning required before breaking ground as well as the level of technological advances that have occurred since post WWII in reducing labor man hours for road work projects. Over the last 50 years, construction technology and equipment in terms of road and highway construction has improved to the point where they are now considered Material heavy and Labor light.



Additionally, seeing as how most of our infrastructure already exists, these projects would be relegated to improvements rather than full scale construction projects the lackluster notion being, building a house is more labor intensive than painting a house.



Although maintaining roadway infrastructure is important, the economic benefit of aiding private commercial projects would be realized immediately.



Commercial building projects are labor intensive involving the entire spectrum of work trades ranging from carpentry to electrical to mechanical disciplines. In addition, the components required for the structure are manufactured and engineered which compliments the broader manufacturing industry as a whole.



The opportunities exist in the Healthcare, Institutional, and Research sectors and come in the form of building additions and large interior renovations for existing facilities.



The demand for these projects is created by the need to keep up with the technological innovations of capital equipment. Additionally advancements have been made in building science; most notably in the areas of operating efficiency and environmentally friendly construction solutions.



If banks will not lend money for commercial building projects the unemployment lines will continue to swell.



Commercial construction is and has always been the catalyst to economic prosperity and will undoubtedly create an instant demand in our manufacturing sectors. Government stimulus in the form of financing will put people back to work almost immediately as most of these projects are already designed and considered to be shovel ready.



Even though Obama may not care for Joe the Plumber from Ohio for his tough questions, he has the ability to win the respect of Joe the Plumber by putting him back to work and getting our economy back on track.





Tim Robertson asked:


Marketers will often turn to focus groups for feedback on current or proposed packaging design. Unfortunately, traditional focus groups tend to mimic beauty contests. They turn into opinion gathering sessions that support a participant’s point of view, rather than providing feedback on consumers’ actual buying behavior within the store environment where products are purchased.

Participants play art director over design issues, confuse the brand with the package design, react emotionally to price increase questions, and talk about what they “like” and “don’t like”. As a result, the output quality of this type of research is minimal at best.

On the other hand, effective behavior-based focus group research measures the effect of brand influence, analyzes the buying behavior of participants in a comparative retail environment, and uses eye-tracking technology to find out what consumers pay attention to - and what they ignore.

The significance of brand influence

Effective brand value testing involves separating the brand name from the actual proposed or current package design. This measurement gives an indication of how the brand is perceived prior to seeing a packaged product. Participants are then introduced to the packaging and asked if the new or proposed package design adds, or detracts from, perceived brand value. Marketers may be making a costly mistake if the perceived value of a brand is negatively affected by a new design architecture.

Buying behavior of participants in a retail environment

Packaging design is measured and tested in the comparative marketplace for which it is intended. A comparative marketplace is one in which the competition sits side by side for comparison and consideration. This is a circumstance that does not usually occur in print and broadcast media; as competitors usually do not jockey to be side-by-side.

According to Wharton School research, over one third of the brands displayed on the shelf are never seen. A colorful and exciting new design that is approved in the boardroom or chosen in a focus group may fail if all the other packages on the shelf in the same category are equally as colorful and exciting. Contrast is what makes a package design stand out on the shelf, and this can be achieved through the effective means of both design and structural innovation.

Eye-tracking technology

Consumers spend 2-3 seconds scanning a package for relevant information. If they do not immediately comprehend the benefit they will move on to a competitor’s brand. It is imperative to know what consumers are seeing and what they are not, and this can be done effectively with eye-tracking technology. This type of research gives marketers an idea of which messaging to prioritize, and which information to minimize.

Not surprisingly, the more text there is on a package, the less it will be read. Unfortunately, many well-meaning marketers think the opposite, and act accordingly. Some of the product designers at Microsoft have put together a great parody of this practice by showing how the Microsoft marketing department would redesign Apple’s iPod package. Instead of the simple and elegant messaging Apple created, it becomes a hodgepodge of system requirements, badges, call-outs, sub-branding logos, benefit statements, feature lists, and more!

Effective behavior-based focus group research goes beyond “opinion gathering”, giving researchers the feedback necessary to understand the impact and value of both present, and proposed packaging design in real-world terms.



Jaiden

Joseph Gilharry asked:


How many people are earning a huge living off of master resell packages and how you can have one of your sites up and running in no time.

Resale packages have made a come back in recent months and now you will be seeing all sorts of these packages. They range from info products to software and of course the latest big thing PLR (private label rights) articles. There is a good amount of money to be made from these packages but you need to know exactly how to do it. Sadly many do not and the package that they paid for just sits around collecting cyber dust instead of money.

What is a resale package? These are packages of products that come with master resell rights and allow you to resell them as free bonuses or package with other products. They often come with their own ready to go websites and sales letters.

How do you find these resale packages? You can go onto Google and look up resale right packages. Choose any that are relevant to your industry. They will usually be membership sites with a monthly subscription fee.

Choosing a good resale package: Be careful what you are buying. Some packages have just one or 2 decent products and the rest is just junk. Others are selling stuff that has been around too long and is virtually valueless as a saleable product. Be very sure that the products fit your market and type of business you are in. Also be sure that the products have a good sales letter template that you can set up easily, either on your website or stand alone.

Setting up your website: Try to get a package that includes sales letters for the products, as these are the most time consuming and critical part of selling. There are 2 ways that you will be able to profit with these packages:

Put all or some of your resale products into a special bonus package and sell with one of your original products. For example an e-book you have written or software you have developed.

Make sure you have 1-2 good quality high demand products in the package that you can use as your main sellers and package them using other products as bonuses.

Set up your sales page with your payment links. Papal is a good processor to start with, as it is free and easy to use. You can also use Clickbank. This will have a $50 set up fee.

Remember to set up an affiliate program to help you sell more You can do this with Clickbank, couple this with joint ventures to really jumpstart your sales. You can set up JVs with publishers and related businesses.

Ways to make money with resale packages:

Membership sites: You can set up a membership site of your own and offer resale products and packages. Add a subscription newsletter for added profit and member interest. Add good resources and interesting up to date original articles to keep members interested and encourage them to renew their subscriptions. There are plenty of places to get advice and software to set this up if you look up membership sites in your industry on Google.

Free giveaways-increase subscribers with a free gift: Choose a couple of your products from your package to use as free giveaways to your visitors as an incentive for signing up for your free newsletter.

Viral marketing: Use a good e-book from the package as a free giveaway on your site. This will be good for viral marketing. Remember to make sure the e-books will grant you branding rights. You want to be promoting your links not somebody elses.

There is a lot of money in resale packages when you use innovative ways to market them. These are just a few starters to get you up and running quickly. The main thing to remember is to research the packages well before you buy into them so that you are offering quality products that are high in demand for your market. In this way you will be well on your way to making a profitable business using resale packages.



Reina

Poohcat1 asked:


Any way you look at it, tax breaks, rebates and tax relief are all handouts to someone. If you give a 3% tax break to corporations and the wealthy, it is a handout that they didnt have before. If you give a tax break, rebate or tax relief to the tax paying middle class, it is a handout they did not have before. If you give a check to those that do not pay taxes and call it tax relief, it is still a handout.
I think that the question we have to address is which option (if any) is best for America, American jobs and therefore the American people as a whole.
We saw the lack of results when the stimulus package was handed out last June and July. The money in 98% of the households went to pay down debt or to pay every day living expenses. Statistics show us that very little of it went to the retail markets and an even smaller amount went to savings. Did this bring an increase in jobs? Obviously not! Our jobless rate is higher now than it was then. So can we honestly believe that giving tax relief or tax cuts or rebates again to the middle class and the poor are going to result in an overall improvement in the nations economy?
During the years of Reganomics (trickle down economics), the United States saw unprecedented growth in jobs and general strength and vigor in the stock markets. No tax relief or handouts were given to the middle class.yet the overall state of middle class Americans improved substantially as jobs became easier to get and new innovations and inventions generally made our lives easier. It stands to reason then that providing incentives to large and small businesses alikerather than to individuals is much more likely to create jobs ..thus a better economy for all of us.
The problem as I see it with Sen. Obamas tax policy is that he is COUNTING on the American people who receive this tax relief to somehow join together to help build a better American economy for all. Our experience with the stimulus package has already shown us that this is not likely to happen.
The problem with McCains tax policy is that he is COUNTING on the goodness of the corporations and the rich to use the tax breaks to create new jobs. Frankly, without specific requirements that must be met by those corporations and the largest of the so called small business sector, this is not guaranteed to help either.
My proposal is to keep in place the tax levels currently given to large corporations, but insist that they meet specific requirements to remain at that level. Requirements such as, No jobs being outsourced to other countries and those already outsourced must be brought back to America and to American workers. Another requirement would be that funds belonging to these corporations can not be placed in offshore accounts, but must remain in American financial institutions. This proposal I believe would lower the jobless rate significantly thus improving the overall economy. When people have jobs, the economy grows. All businesses then become more profitable as the demand for their products becomes greater.
John McCain comes closer than Obama to being able to do this.
Please give me your opinion.

L


Tags: American Economy, Asking The Right Question, Inventions, Jobless Rate, Living Expenses, New Innovations, Retail Markets, Sen Obama, Stock Markets, Tax Breaks, Tax Cuts, Tax Rebates, Tax Relief, Unprecedented Growth, Vigor