Veronicle Blog

Just recently launched by Motorola is the new RAZR V3 black model. If your into looks and want to show off this is the phone for you, yet suprisingly for its pricetag and its looks - it lacks brains. If you are like most people and use your phone for making phone calls and text messages and basic scheduling then this is the phone for you. However if your looking for a system capable of pleasing the most detail and task oriented person, this phone definitely falls short.

Functions

Motorola has done a wonderful job, like most other cell phone manufacturers, at providing users with the same interface. Motorola seems to only add minor improvments and adjustments to thier design, but for the most part nothing signifigant has changed. As such previous Motorola phone users will find it easy to navigate through the RAZR’s LCD screen menu and at the same time there for new users there is hardly any learning curve.

From the home screen, the menu key and the D-Pad select key open the main menu, the only time when the two share a function. The softkeys, D-Pad direction keys and the side key can all be customized as shortcuts. Navigation is very consistent. the left softkey is always back or delete, the right softkey and D-Pad select are always select or action. The menu key only opens an options menu when its logo, which is a menu icon, is displayed.

When accessing the menus there is only a small pause when opening applications. The only time there is an exceptional pause time is when accessing the downloads section. When launching the downloads menu, a huge Java logo takes over the screen for about 4-5 seconds the first time it is launched after turning on the phone. However as long as the phone has memory to keep the engine running, that wait time is reduced to a split second.

When the clamshell phone is closed no applications will run on the phone other than the camera. If you are in the middle of an application when flipping the phone it will cancel your appication.

Extras

There is no camera button on this phone, you need to assign a hotkey to the camera to use. Either way it takes 2 seconds to launch the camera when you decide to do so.

The lends of the camera is placed very close to the hinge so if you hold your phone naturally like most other users you will most likely be covering the lends with your fingers. You will mostly likely end up needing to hold the phone by the base to keep it steady which also allows for you to easily press the D-Pad to take the picture.You can adjust the zoon and brightness from the viewfinder by using the D-Pad. Out of all the different brightness presets none of them seem to work at all but the default preset does a fine job at adjusting to lighting differences.

Pictures take anywhere from 2 to 5 seconds to save, and that time has nothing to do with picture resolution, or how much free memory the phone has - it is completely unpredictable. If you do not expressly state that you want to store a picture then your picture will get deleted - this by far is one of the biggest software blunders on any name-brand phone

After taking a picture, the two soft buttons read discard and store. If you hit any button other than store, for example end to quickly return to the home screen, your photo will be deleted. Worse, after you’ve hit store, and the phone takes a few seconds to save the photo, you are presented with a second menu asking what to do with the stored photo. Again, if you do anything other than select one of the choices, your photo will be deleted. This adds up to over 5 seconds wasted between every photo, and a high likelyhood that you will lose a number of photos until you adjust to this puzzling system.

In Conclusion

The RAZR is a high quality phone that everyone should be able use. Not including the unusability of the screen outdoor; this phone is an excellent phone. Signal strength is great, sound quality and talk time are good, and the camera is exteremly useful.

But despite all the physical features that make the phone wonderful, there are just as many negative aspects when we consider the phones software. When taking a look at this phone you can tell the amount of effort put into the physical design was not matched in the implementation of the software. It is not user friendly. Motorola has been using the same software for all thier phones for some time now and its time to upgrade the dinosaur operating system, which will indeed happen with the new E895 model.

So for those who just use thier phones for simple taks this phone is for you. But for people that are heavy phone users this phone will most likely turn out to be very frustrating as there are many quirks that need to be worked out.

For More Information on the RAZR V3 and Other Models, and info on unlocking your phones: Click Here

Comments Off

In today’s fast paced environment, interaction with family and friends is often relegated to a few left over minutes here and there, leaving many people feeling isolated.

Radio fills the gap. Radio provides a one on one emotional experience. It creates a connection that is a personal and unique experience for each listener. It’s just you and the voice on the radio, speaking to you.

TV and print media are mass media. Eliciting an emotional response from print is almost an impossibility. TV is emotional but not personal. You know it’s you and the thousands of others who are watching, besides which it’s beyond the budget of many businesses.

As an advertiser, you have an opportunity to speak directly to your customer, using words and phrases that have meaning for them. Radio can relate messages that have synergy with campaigns in other media, but shouldn’t be written in the same style. Effective radio is a conversation with the customer. It’s your chance to tell a story.

How interesting would you find a story that started with the company name or, ” We have friendly, knowledgeable staff. Stop in and see us. We have 20 colours of sofas in a variety of sizes and styles.” Boring isn’t it? So why do so many advertisers do it?

It’s easy to talk about your business and what you want to sell. It takes more time and effort to find out what your customer wants and talk in terms of their buying motivation, but it’s worth it. It’s easier to get quick results by announcing a sale, than it is to build a relationship with the consumer. Where do you think those sale shoppers will be when your competition is having a sale, not at your business I bet?

Another of radio’s great strengths is its ability to reach a defined market segment. When you buy newspaper advertising, you buy the whole and very general readership, all the demographics and special interest groups. Now it’s not a bad thing to reach more people, but if you have a limited budget you can spend it very quickly in your daily paper, on one ad,…. one day, ….one time. That’s not great frequency and just hit and miss reach. What if your best prospects don’t read the paper on the day your ad runs?

Radio gives you an opportunity to target the age and interests of your segment of the market. With a budget large enough to cover the cost of a reasonable sized ad in your daily newspaper, you can buy a whole week of radio commercials.

Don’t get put off by commercial prices at the top stations. It is not about reaching a huge number of prospects a few times. It’s about reaching a smaller number of listeners enough times for them to think they know and like you, and want to do business with you. Spend time and money creating a message that conveys a message your customers can relate to.

Have you ever bought something you just had to have, and then gone home and explained logically to a family member why it was an essential? You bought on emotion and justified with logic, the same thing your customer does. Forget generic when it comes to radio. This is one time it pays to get personal.

In the US the norm is 60 seconds for a radio commercial in Canada 30 seconds. If you’ve got a great story to tell and you’re a good storyteller, then use 60 seconds otherwise the shorter commercial is better. The only thing worse than boring the listener for 30 seconds, is boring them for 60. Frequency to raise awareness for your business name and purpose in speaking to them can be achieved economically by adding a schedule of sponsorships and/or 10-15 second messages.

This is an example of a 30 second radio script that connected with the customer. How do we know it was good? Sales increased.

Unbeknownst to your co-workers, you are a connoisseur.
Sure, you have tattoos and a problem finding your inner-self, but you
crave adventure and You! Know! Food!
So, in this world of new awareness, reward yourself with a world of flavours.
Wrapzone.
An ambrosia of foods, and devilish sauces harmoniously heaped on a tortilla. The silver gift wrap is free every day!
Experience-Full-Fillment.
Wrapzone.

On radio, as in all your advertising, you need to keep it simple. A soliloquy well read is much more effective than something with too many words, multiple focus, lots of sound effects or a conversation between a two or more people.

Points to remember:

Radio is an opportunity, use it to your advantage, some of your competitors never will.

Negotiate; the price isn’t always the price.

Don’t get too hung up on the price per commercial. Ask for pre-emptable no charge commercials to augment your campaign.

Find out when your commercials will run. If you choose a station based on the number of commercials included in a package make sure they are not bumping up the numbers by running them all 6pm - 5am.

If you have a small budget focus on one daypart to increase the number of times a listener hears your message.

Writing and production are included in the price but that doesn’t mean the message they create for you will be effective. You need to be involved in the creative process.

You can be too creative. Don’t make listeners strain to try to figure out what you are saying.

If you haven’t got the budget to do a heavy enough campaign to make an impact, save your money until you do.

Ask how the station schedules their commercials. If they have long commercial blocks you have to work especially hard to stand out from the 5 or 6 (or more) other messages.

Keep your message simple.

Nancy Fraser worked in radio for over 20 years. She owned and operated her own specialty retail store, and held Management and Sales Executive positions in media and communications. Free information and tools on effective advertising and marketing are available in Notable News at http://www.notable-marketing.com

Comments Off

Globalpropertydirectory.com has just launched, and is a great place to list and view real estate and properties from all over the globe. Best of all - its free!

For a limited time, real estate companies, agents and owners will be allowed to upload and list their properties for sale for no charge. Included in the listing is as many photos as you’d like to add, links to virtual tours if they are available, a description, and all the other vital data required. A google map of the property is included as well, allowing visitors to find exactly where your listing is located. Site visitors can search by country, state, company, and agent. Agents and companies can upload photos of themselves, and their office addresses will be mapped automatically. Also you can include your contact information, making it easy for prospective real estate buyers to contact you.

Globalpropertydirectory.com will be promoted to a world wide audience, and all listings will be translatable into whatever language you choose, using the Google translation tool.

Real estate markets are exploding in China and other Pacific Rim countries, as well as Dubai, and there are many bargains to be found in US real estate markets currently, due to the weak dollar and current US market conditions. Globalpropertydirectory.com will be the place to go for buying and selling real estate globally.

Comments Off

Assuming that it is legal to do so in your state or province, running a contest on your website or forum is a wise idea. Contests can promote goodwill, stimulate interest in your site, and bring quality visitors back to your site time and again. The following tips will help you build a successful site without busting your advertising budget.

1. Be clear about your contest rules. Instead of just allowing anyone to participate, require all participants to be registered members to your site. If you run a forum, require a minimum number of posts [ten is a good place to start] from members before allowing their participation. Be clear about the prize[s] offered, any limitations/restrictions that may exist because of local laws, and state the contest beginning and ending dates. Once a winner has been determined, publish the winner’s name and notify the winner personally via email.

2. Join affiliate programs for magazine subscription companies, book publishers, and CD companies. Magazines, books and music are some of the cheapest items to give away. Generally, if you purchase something from your affiliate program you will receive a heavy discount plus earn some of that money back in commissions.

3. Check with your advertisers and related vendors to see if there is interest on their part to offer a prize. In exchange, you can offer free advertising on your site, or write a favorable article about the vendor, or promise to refer customers to their site. Have the vendor ship the prize directly to the winner to avoid shipping and distribution expenses on your part.

4. When running a contest, a certain amount of hype is beneficial. I like to send registered members a broadcast email announcing the contest as well as posting links at various places on the site to make sure everyone has the chance to participate. On one of my message boards I have a separate category titled, “Contests, Drawings, Other Promotions.” Two subsections are: Promotionals and Completed Contests. When I start a contest all the details are listed in a thread and posted on the Promotionals board. Once the contest has been ended, I update the thread by announcing the winner. The thread is then moved to the Completed Contest section where members can see what contests have been run on the site.

5. I like to run my contests in bunches and will often have a “contest month” where I give prizes away weekly. Sometimes I mix things up and do a monthly contest, but I’ll also let several months go by before promoting another contest if I feel that the response rate is dropping.

6. Limit the number of awards anyone can receive. I restrict entrants from winning more than once in a ninety day period to allow others to have the opportunity to win. You want to encourage participation — and thereby increase web traffic — by having as many different winners as possible.

Ultimately, contests provide goodwill to your members. You are telling them, in effect, that they have an opportunity to win a prize with no expectation for anything in return from them. This “no strings attached” policy will help you build a solid base of members and can send your site into the upper reaches of the internet.

Matt runs contests from his message board community for business flight attendants at http://www.cabinmanagers.com. Check out this site for additional contest ideas and the rules he sets by looking at the two categories found under his “Contests, Drawings, Other Promotions” section. The Corporate Flight Attendant Community is the top performing site in its category which Matt attributes, in part, to the contests he has run over the years.

Comments Off