An Article Written by CEO Ron Staples about the Future of the Sales and Marketing Industry, Radisson Hotel is Mentioned in the Article.

1. 
THE FUTURE OF SALES By Ron Staples
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Although some may find it hard to believe, setting up and maintaining a
social network for your business is not as easy as it looks. Providing interesting
content and informed opinions requires a great deal of research and frankly time,
time in which so many of us have very little of. Most successful online Blogs, for
example, are updated daily and have a variety of subjects that you can pick
between when viewing and
reading articles. A good business
Blog should not only inform you
on the company’s promotions,
information and business goals,
but should also have opinions,
articles, reviews and interesting
commentaries of current issues,
so that the Blog not only acts as
an advertisement but rather a
community where you can learn
a variety of things with a single click. The biggest problem companies are having,
in regards to Blogging, is that they’re thinking about it from a purely advertising
view. Sites such as The Holiday Inn Kingston Waterfront Blog, while
wonderfully designed and clean finished, have no opinions or information other
than any promotions they may have currently, and in this they lose the point of
Blogging. When customers require strictly information, and specials available
they visit the website, the blog is meant to be used for intelligent selling and
suggestive ideas, rather than blatant promotions.
Another example of how time consuming Social Networking can be is
Twitter, although utterly simple in nature, and to set up takes no more than 10
minutes, the complexity of maintaining a twitter account for business exceeds
that of simple tweets. An intelligent twitter account requires constant updates
and links to your other social networking sites so that you may constantly inform
and provide your customers and friends with pertinent news and ideas. To truly
appreciate the value of such tools one must look 5 years into the future, because
only 3 short years ago twitter was unheard of and now, or rather as of March. 9th
2010, they’ve reached 1 Billion Tweets and are continuing to grow daily.

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THERE IS HOPE YET
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The great thing about these Social Sites is how the vast majority are free
and relatively easy to set up (at least in their simplest form and depending on
your level of Internet Experience), but so many unused accounts go wasted
because they are not properly maintained. Cross advertising between your
network, e-mail blasting, responding to reviews, tweets and questions, these are
the principals that dedicated sites practice, and the results are clear. The most
effective businesses have people who can change the CSS and HTML codes in
pre-designed Blog templates, (or even create a Blog from scratch) and post
intelligent and opinionated news to the reader. Of course they must be sure to
stay away from Societal Deadbolts such as Religion, Race, Sex and any other hot
button issues that may create a make or break fold on your blog. Marriot On The
Move is an excellent and diverse Blog started back in 2007 by Chairman & CEO
of Marriott International Bill Marriot, but it almost lost its followers when
Proposition 8 was passed in California banning Same-Sex Marriage. Bill Marriott
wrote to his followers that he neither supports nor is against the Proposition, but
did explain that he was part of the Church of LDS; the flaming went wild and
almost destroyed his Blog. This is a prime example of how not to address certain
issues on the internet, for you cannot silence web-goers and all opinions can be
found online.
The small business market has, thus far, dominated the social networking
world, being small in numbers and on average having the time and resources to
dedicate to the social world. Being personable and receptive to your customers
online comes easy when you have and utilize the tools to do so, but many have
neither the know-how nor the skills for such a job. Allowing yourself to be put to
some ridicule is crucial
to gaining the respect of
the online community,
people at one time or
another will be subject to
harsh or unfair criticism
but it is how you
respond to it that will
either condemn you or
allow your followers to
defend you come future
attacks.

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THE YOUTUBE WORLD
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The online world of YouTube can be a harsh and unforgiving one as well,
but of all the Social Websites it is the most highly trafficked. The idea of Viral
Advertising has sparked an array of young “film-makers” to express their
random and often amusing ideas onto our screens and with an attention span of
about 7 minutes on average YouTube can become the perfect medium for getting
a point across and getting it out quick. Some of the most creative ideas can
advance your point and quickly convey an image of what you want to tell your
customers, on the other hand simple text on black can have an effective presence
on people. Radisson Hotel Toronto East recently released a YouTube channel
with video’s featuring only picture and text on black, yet they’re highly
entertaining and full of useful information. Most of all they’re quick, easy to
understand and effective, which is the ideal time frame and purpose of your
YouTube advertising. The beauty of this is the fact that it took no money only a
small dedication of time and energy, the minimalism in the ad is comparative to
the ease of staying at The Radisson. It conveys the idea that there are no hidden
fees, extra charges or non-disclosed prices, but instead allows the customer to
believe that they are staying in a confident and strong hotel. It’s easy to see how
simple ideas can convey so much more when utilized correctly, and in a sense
that is exactly what social networking is, a simple idea that when used correctly
can convey so much more.
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IN CONCLUSION
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The thing large business’s need to realize is that whether we like it or not,
the future of advertising and marketing is going to be through an online world.
Our children have grown up around
an almost completely wireless world
where Internet can be reached
sometimes in the most distant places;
these are going to be the customers of
tomorrow, and having a strong
foothold in the Social Media Market
can be nothing but helpful in the
world of tomorrow.
Essentially it comes down to making the sale and in a society that is slowly being
dominated by the online community, one can either keep up or be shut out.
Ron Staples is a social networking administrator e-mail him at
trophylot2323@live.com with any questions or concerns.