Rmc201c2′s Weblog

“SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM… lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM”

By Stevie Gerber

The increasing use of the internet by commercial companies also brought unwanted advertising on the internet. In the beginning of Internet when it was mainly used by universities and other institutions, people where only focusing on what to do and what not to do when receiving e-mails. One of those rule, of the still in early fase communicator, was not to use it for any commercial purposes. People who didn’t stick to the rules could count on a mailbom. Receiving unwanted advertisements in your inbox is just like receiving by normal mail. People estimate that 10% of the e-mails traffic is generated by SPAM.

 It is widely believed the term SPAM comes from a 1970 Monty Python sketch. It took place in a café where almost everything on the menu contained SPAM. As the waiter tells about the menu a group of Vikings sing through the conversation singing “SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM… lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM”

E-mail SPAM is sending of unwanted e-mail messages, often with advertisements, to a large amount of unknown receivers. When the Internet was made public to general public in the mid-90’s SPAM became a huge problem. People these days are trying to make SPAM e-mail illegal. This has been successful in some countries or states. The Spammers are always trying for new ways to get the SPAM across and are often outsourcing spamming to countries where SPAM is not illegal.

Mobile SPAM is a new way of getting unwanted advertisements across. This is done via a text messaging service of a mobile phone and known as M-SPAM. It is known when you enter the gambling island of Macau you get a text message saying: “Welcome to the island of Macau”…”Would you like to come to our casino?” Now a days there is a lot of sms traffic and so also a lot of M-SPAM. Unlike E-mail spam, it is almost impossible to delete a mobile SPAM message without reading it.

Non-commercial SPAM is different from the SPAM you receive in your inbox or on your phone. This type of SPAM doesn’t contain any commercial advertisement, but are mostly religious or political. This can be used for elections.

  Preventing SPAM is better than to fight SPAM. Most of the methods to stop SPAM, aren’t of any good use, because the e-mail addresses are know by a lot of spammers.

A SPAM filter is one of the most popular and effective methods to prevent SPAM from coming into your inbox. A SPAM filter looks at e-mails and searches for words in messages that can point out SPAM. If you receive SPAM you can imagine what these words could be like. A SPAM filter can hold lists of servers that send out SPAM and block these servers.

An E-mail address can get to a spammer in many ways. Most of the time a automated system searches the internet for e-mail addresses. One of the ways to prevent spam is not to make your e-mail address public. For instance don’t enter your e-mail on sites where it’s not necessary. If you do enter your e-mail address make sure that it’s only viewable by other members of that particular site.

 Conclusion

As long as people stay connected to each other through some kind of connection there will always be some kind of SPAM. You can’t fight SPAM you can only prevent it by being cautious.      

Sources

  Spam(electronic) Wikipedia-the free encyclopedia. Geraadpleegd op: 8 Januari 2008, van:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_%28electronic%29

  Innovatie: MIME support team. Geraadpleegd op 8 Januari 2008, van:

http://www.surfnet.nl/innovatie/mimest/spam/

  Spam voorkomen en bestrijden – introductie. Geraadpleegd op 8 Januari 2008, van:

http://www.tekstenuitleg.net/artikelen/spam_voorkomen_bestrijden/1

  

Appendix 3A – Weblog article peer review form

Weblog Article Peer Review Form A – First Review

Writer’s Name ______Stevie Gerber

Assessor’s name _____Tagel van den Oever

Date _ January 5 ^TH  2008__

Rating Scale: 1 = Yes 2 = Somewhat 3 = No

 Rate the article by giving a 1, 2 or 3 for each question. Read the article once to get

a general idea of what it is about, then read it a second time to rate it.

1. Is the topic interesting? __1__

2. Is the title original and appropriate? _1___

3. Is the introduction complete? __1__

4. Is the body of the article complete? _3___

5. Is the conclusion well-developed? _1___

6. Is the article well-organized overall? _3___

7. Is the article easy to understand? _1___

8. Is the article interesting to read? __1__

9. Has the writer plagiarised material? __3__

 Finally, read the article a third time and check it for spelling, grammar andpunctuation.

 Mark any corrections on the article itself then complete the rest of

the form.

 Name three things you like about the article.The subject is interestingThe article is well-written

The article is easy to understand

 _____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

 Name three things the writer should improve.

The body of the article is incomplete

What is the gist of the article?

  You can’t fight SPAM you can only prevent it by being cautious.

 Do you think this article is good enough to pass the course? Explain your answer.

When you read this article you get a general idea what spam is about.

 So, yes I think this article is good enough to pass the course!

 ______________________________________________________

 Give the writer this completed form and the article with corrections.

Online marketing

By Stevie Gerber

Marketing has always been something big. This is also the case on the internet. There are thousands of marketing sources, agencies, files or recommendations. Marketing now a days is so huge, you won’t know what works and what doesn’t.

Take banners for example. Because they are so well used, it’s pretty hard to use them efficiently. The incomes hardly cover the expenses.

But there is a solution for this problem, namely Banner Exchange. It’s a rather simple concept in which two different companies advertise by placing their banners on one another’s website.

But there is a downside to this, which is you will be sending your hard earned customers to another website.

Another marketing method used on the web is Spam. This is when advertisers send their advertisements through e-mails to people who never asked to get those e-mails. This mostly of the time has the opposite effect of what the advertiser wants to achieve. Not only won’t the person who received the e-mail be interested in the product, he will also most likely get annoyed or even irritated. Not a very good idea if you want to achieve good sales records.

A better way of advertisement on the web is one which isn’t as well-known as the ones mentioned above. This form of online advertisement is called Sig-file Marketing. At the end of your e-mail there’s a small advertisement attached which also contains a small amount of info on your products. This method works just like the P.S. at the end of a letter. This a great method unless your advertisement is to large or your tone of voice is out of order.

Last but not least there’s the newsletter. This method is said to be one of the best ways of on-line advertisement, even though it’s a rather simple concept. This is how it works: You as a company put a request on your website asking people to send you their e-mail addresses so you can keep them posted on new developments or interesting information. This way you can always reach your targeted audience without having to send them Spam. Also keep in mind that it’s a lot easier to sell your products to people who are familiar with them.

The conclusion is online marketing may be on the rise, but not every method is effective or covers expenses. So keep that in mind if you want to keep up with your time and start advertising on the web.

 

Words: 426

Appendix 3A – Weblog article peer review form

Weblog Article Peer Review Form A – First Review

Writer’s Name: Stevie Gerber

Assessor’s Name: Nina Jansen

Date 2 october 2007

Rating Scale: 1 = Yes 2 = Somewhat 3 = No

Rate the article by giving a 1, 2 or 3 for each question. Read the article once to get

a general idea of what it is about, then read it a second time to rate it.

1. Is the topic interesting? 1

2. Is the title original and appropriate? 2

3. Is the introduction complete? 1

4. Is the body of the article complete? 1

5. Is the conclusion well-developed? 1

6. Is the article well-organized overall? 2

7. Is the article easy to understand? 1

8. Is the article interesting to read? 1

9. Has the writer plagiarised material? 3

Finally, read the article a third time and check it for spelling, grammar and

punctuation. Mark any corrections on the article itself then complete the rest of

the form.

Name three things you like about the article.

-It’s easy to understand

-The introduction is clear.

-The conclusion is clear

Name three things the writer should improve.

-Maybe it is more easy to make headlines.

- some senses are very long.

What is the gist of the article?

marketing on the internet became bigger. But not everything is effective

Do you think this article is good enough to pass the course? Explain your answer.

Yes, I think it is because it´s easy to understand and the senses are correct according to me.

 

Sources

Information center – banners (zj.) geraadpleegd op 1 oktober 2007 van: http://www.speedysigns.com/info/banners/

Ftc – spam (zj.). geraadpleegd op 1 oktober 2007 van: http://www.ftc.gov/spam/

Webmarketing today – E-Commerce, E-Mailmarketing, Internet Marketing, Wilson Internet (z.j.). geraadpleegd op 1 oktober 2007 van http://www.wilsonweb.com/

 

Before you want to sell a product you have to make a plan. There is a special method for, The Four ‘P’s of Marketing. If you stand still at each P, the chance is bigger that you make more money. The four ‘P’s are Product, Place, Price and Promotion. In the different paragraphs you can read the explanation of each ‘P’.

Product

The first ‘P’ is product. A product is a thing or a service that you want to sell to an customer. There are different sorts of products. There are products that people needs of use everyday, like bread or milk. But there are also products that aren’t really necessary for a life, a luxury product like a boat. As a salesman you have to know you customers very well. Who are your buyers? What they want? If you know that, you can coordinate you product on the needs of the customer.

Place

The second ‘P’ is place. In this case distribution is an other name for place. On which way you can bring your products to the customers? There a lot of ways. It can be a product you can touch but it can also be a product you can’t touch, a service. Does the customer want to see the product before they buy it? That’s important to know.

Price

The second last ‘P’ is price. The price of your product is very important for the success of a product. the price and quality must be in proportion. When the price is to high the customers will not buy it. But if your price is to low, you lose money. It’s difficult to find the right balance but it’s very important.

Promotion

The past ‘P’ is promotion. With the promotion you show your product to the customers. A few promotion examples are:

-Advertising.

-Personal sales calls.

-Giveaways.

You have to tell the customers what your product is. And why they need it? Explain why your product is better than others. You have to show them all the advantages. With promotion you can make your product more famous.

So it is important to give a lot attention to the four ‘P’s of Marketing. Product, Place, Price and Promotion can help you to earn a lot of money and it can prevent you lose money. So don’t ignore it.

Weblog Article Peer Review Form A – First Review

Writer’s Name Nina Janssen

Assessor’s name : Stevie Gerber

Date 02-10-2007

Rating Scale: 1 = Yes 2 = Somewhat 3 = No

Rate the article by giving a 1, 2 or 3 for each question. Read the article once to get

a general idea of what it is about, then read it a second time to rate it.

1. Is the topic interesting? __1_

2. Is the title original and appropriate? _3___

3. Is the introduction complete? _1___

4. Is the body of the article complete? __1__

5. Is the conclusion well-developed? __1__

6. Is the article well-organized overall? __1__

7. Is the article easy to understand? __1__

8. Is the article interesting to read? __1__

9. Has the writer plagiarised material? __3__

Finally, read the article a third time and check it for spelling, grammar and

punctuation. Mark any corrections on the article itself then complete the rest of

the form.

Name three things you like about the article.

Its easy to read, and the text is very clear

It’s an interesting article

Good use of the language

Name three things the writer should improve.

She could make a title

What is the gist of the article?

This article tells you how useful it is to make a good use of the four P’s

Do you think this article is good enough to pass the course? Explain your answer.

Yes, I think she’ll pass the course!

Sources:

ABC’s of small business. (2003) Marketing and Promotion. Geraadpleegd op 20 september, van: http://www.abcsmallbiz.com/bizbasics/marketing/4ps.html

Websitemarketingplan.com.(2007) 4 P’s of Marketing by Bobette Kyle. Geraadpleegd op 20 september, van http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/marketing_management/TacticsArticle.htm

Websitemarketingplan.com.(2007) Stronger SWOT Analysis and Marketing 4 P’s
by Barry Welford. Geraadpleegd op 20 september, van: http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/mplan/4Ps.htm

words: 350

 

 

First of all i will tell the reason why i have written this article. In my second year at the University of professional education I started with an English course. During this course  i had to search for three articles about  a current advertising or marketing subject. These articles i used for writing my personal blog. The mean goal is to provide the latest information which we probably will use for the O’Neill project. 

The purpose of the O’Neill project is that our project group has to increase the number of buyers. These buyers must be women between the age of 17-20 years. So it is now up to us to come with an inventing idea to reach these women without losing the hard-core audience of O’Neill. 

About three weeks ago I began with doing some research. I asked myself what i would like to write about. The answer was that i wanted to write a blog about branding in particular.  In one of the articles was writing the meaning of branding is about. Actually it is taking place into the perception of your costumers. The writer of one of these blogs said it like this: 

The essence of greatness is in the capacity of a brand to foster the sales of a product/service by creating an emotional link with its audience. As such, a great brand balances the delivery of functional benefits with emotional ones. 

To do this you need as an entrepreneur a messages or proposition which is related to your audience. Only then your audience will identify herself with you. This massage has to be applicable, believable, realistic and convincing. It is important that the information is meaningfull to the receiver.  

I will give you an example of branding. For instance, take the Brand Coca Cola. It is probably the most famous brand on the globe. The image of Coca Cola has been transcended national borders en cultural burries to reach everyone on Earth. John Pemberton was the man behind this success. He invented Coca Cola in 1886.  In these days he traveled all over the country introducing pharamistics to drink. On his journey he distributed clocks, calanders and other items laden with the Coca Cola logo. 

Today  Coca Cola remains a powerfull brand. It is not only an icon in the world of brand marketing. Well respected people in this business even say that Coca Cola also is an part of the American History.  

If you want to have success in creating a brand, keep in mind that you must aks yourself a few questions. For instance, What beliefs pop in the mind of my audience?  When do they think about my brand and what are the good and the bad memories coming back to mind?  

Words: 454

Gramaldi, V. (2001). What makes a brand great?. Geraadpleegd op: 17

september 2007, van http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=66

 

Zurn, B. (2007) Coca-Cola: The power of a brand. Geraadpleegd op: 17

september 2007, van  http://www.marketingsource.com/articles/view/3529

 

Information Outlook (2003). Reach your audience with a precise message. Geraadpleegd

op: 17 september 2007, van http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FWE/is_4_7/ai_100203183

Appendix 3A – Weblog article peer review formWeblog Article Peer Review Form A – First ReviewWriter’s Name ____Tagel___________________________________Assessor’s name ____Jodie___________________________________Date ______26 September 2007_________________________________Rating Scale: 1 = Yes 2 = Somewhat 3 = NoRate the article by giving a 1, 2 or 3 for each question. Read the article once to geta general idea of what it is about, then read it a second time to rate it.1. Is the topic interesting? __1__2. Is the title original and appropriate? __3__3. Is the introduction complete? __1__4. Is the body of the article complete? __1__5. Is the conclusion well-developed? __1__6. Is the article well-organized overall? __1__7. Is the article easy to understand? __1__8. Is the article interesting to read? __1__9. Has the writer plagiarised material? __3__Finally, read the article a third time and check it for spelling, grammar andpunctuation. Mark any corrections on the article itself then complete the rest ofthe form.Name three things you like about the article. Subject is interestingIts already a blog,with personal experienceCoca-Cola as example__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Name three things the writer should improve. Some sentences are to longIts not organizedSome words are to difficult, you need to change it___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What is the gist of the article?A brand is only succesful if you have a appropiate message for your audience________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Do you think this article is good enough to pass the course? Explain your answer.Yes but you need to organize your tekst with titels________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Give the writer this completed form and the article with corrections.                     

Blogs: The future?

A new blog is launched every second, with a total number around 9-10 million blogs. With this fact, a new marketing opportunity is coming up: ‘To blog or not to blog?’ And when it came to business blogs, many company-marketers thought they had the answer: ‘No.’ In fact, it is time for business to reconsider the question of blogging.

Currently, despite the fact that a new blog is launched every second, very few companies are using blogs. They hesitated entering this new medium because losing control to other people is one thing they dislike. Blogs are available for everybody around the world and can be read any time, any day. Everyone can and will give feedback/write comments about your product or service. As result, companies simply don’t blog.

But what are the real benefits of blogging? Because so many people have access to the internet, it’s easy for information to spread quickly. If you have a great new product, a new idea or a good marketing strategy, you can be sure the readers of your blog will forward the information via e-mail, or simply tell it to others who will pass it along too. Soon, your marketing message has reached thousands or millions of people.

Another great thing about business blogs is the opportunity for buyers of your product to read, post comments and discuss about it(For many this is a reason why they don’t use blogs). Companies can find out immediately what people think of their company, products and ideas. Not all feedback will be positive. But if you’re willing to listen to a buyer’s word, this information can be valuable. This way of interacting with your customers will eventually get you more potential purchasers. While existing customers will be more loyal to your brand, because you know their opinions, interests and dislikes. And the best of all, all these information can be delivered without spending money at all.

 

 

Appendix 3A – Weblog article peer review form

Weblog Article Peer Review Form A – First Review

Writer’s Name Jermaine Y.

Assessor’s name : Stevie G.

Date 26-09-07

Rating Scale: 1 = Yes 2 = Somewhat 3 = No

Rate the article by giving a 1, 2 or 3 for each question. Read the article once to get

a general idea of what it is about, then read it a second time to rate it.

1. Is the topic interesting? __1_

2. Is the title original and appropriate? _1___

3. Is the introduction complete? _1___

4. Is the body of the article complete? __2__

5. Is the conclusion well-developed? __1__

6. Is the article well-organized overall? __1__

7. Is the article easy to understand? __1__

8. Is the article interesting to read? __1__

9. Has the writer plagiarised material? __3__

Finally, read the article a third time and check it for spelling, grammar and

punctuation. Mark any corrections on the article itself then complete the rest of

the form.

Name three things you like about the article.

<!–[if !supportLists]–>1. <!–[endif]–>The article is easy to understand

<!–[if !supportLists]–>2. <!–[endif]–>Good introduction

<!–[if !supportLists]–>3. <!–[endif]–>It’s very interesting

Name three things the writer should improve.

More words and use headings

What is the gist of the article?

Blogging can be delivered without spending money at all.

Do you think this article is good enough to pass the course? Explain your answer.

I think the article is good enough, because the writer explained everything well. He didn’t make wrong sentences, it’s easy to read and has a good structure.

 

The reason why direct marketing works.

Direct marketing is a personal way to send a message. People love personal communication and like to be treated as an individual. This kind of marketing gives information, so that questions get answered and people order your product. But how can marketeers use direct marketing effectively?

How to use it?

There are many ways to use direct marketing effectively. In this article you read a few of this.A very important one is to make sure your message gets to the right person. If the wrong person gets your message, its certain he won’t buy your product. Sixty percent of your succes depends on this.

But how can you make sure you send your message to the right person? First you must know how they are, what they wanted to be and what their thoughts are. Otherwise you can’t write a succesfull letter. If you know all this you can start your letter. If you really want to impress people, you should write in way they would like to be, not who they really are.

Product and service

Also an important thing is your product and service. Your product has to be fantastic, because otherwise people won’t come back to buy from you again. Your service is very important, because people like to be treated well and service reflects the products image. If you got a fantastic product and great service, you don’t need much publicity. People would buy from you anyhow. The timing of sending your message is also essential. If people are very busy, they won’t take the time to read your message.

How are the consumers?

Interesting to know is how consumers are. There are a few things you must know about consumers. They find it hard to trust someone, they don’t want commitments with something they don’t know all the facts of. Consumers are always busy, they don’t need any more problems, keep it simple and easy. There are a lot of choices they can make, consumers are a bit confused who to believe and trust. At least they are tired of telephonemarketing or spam.

Give consumers much information about your product or service. People would believe in you and trust you and buy your product. If you send your message to the right persons and keep your promise people also return to buy from you again. Write your message in a way people would like to be. Make sure that your product en service is perfect and you will have got a lot of new buyers. If you lucky they will buy from you again. This is why direct marketing works.

words: 440

Weblog Article Peer Review Form A – First Review

Writer’s Name Jodie B

Assessor’s name : Tagel vd O.

Date 26-09-07

Rating Scale: 1 = Yes 2 = Somewhat 3 = No

Rate the article by giving a 1, 2 or 3 for each question. Read the article once to get

a general idea of what it is about, then read it a second time to rate it.

1. Is the topic interesting? __1_

2. Is the title original and appropriate? _1___

3. Is the introduction complete? _1___

4. Is the body of the article complete? __1__

5. Is the conclusion well-developed? __1__

6. Is the article well-organized overall? __1__

7. Is the article easy to understand? __1__

8. Is the article interesting to read? __1__

9. Has the writer plagiarised material? __3__

Finally, read the article a third time and check it for spelling, grammar and

punctuation. Mark any corrections on the article itself then complete the rest of

the form.

Name three things you like about the article.

Its easy to read, because the sentences are short

The article is well organized

Correct language

Name three things the writer should improve.

She can make the introduction of the article more interesting to atract people to read the article.

What is the gist of the article?

In this article you will read how to use direct marketing effectively.

Do you think this article is good enough to pass the course? Explain your answer.

Yes, you will certainly pass.

Sources:

 

Findmorebuyers. (2006). How to Create ‘Top of Mind’ Awareness. Geraadpleegd op: 20 september 2007, van: http://findmorebuyers.com/page.cfm/11

 

Findmorebuyers. (2006). Powerful Direct Marketing Numbers. Geraadpleegd op: 20 september 2007, van: http://findmorebuyers.com/page.cfm/5628

 

Gnam, R. (z.j.). 18 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS That Can Make or Break Your Direct Marketing Campaign. Geraadpleegd op: 20 september 2007, van: http://www.directmailquotes.com/expertadvice/display.cfm?article=217