Post about "Marketing"

Market Timing and Market Forecasting

A few decades ago, it was widely believed that the most effective way to analyze the markets for trade was to determine the fundamentals, such as the number of bushels in storage, the current demand figures, the expected harvest yield, etc. Many assumed that Technical Analysis was not useful. Reasons given were that price action is random, or that it ignores the fundamental factors of the underlying asset. The facts are quite the contrary.Many have come to learn that the old ‘buy and hold’ strategy can be a costly one. Stories abound of those who have found the value of their portfolio has only broken even (or lost value) after holding for several years. The financial crisis of 2008 highlights one of several historical periods where investors have lost millions. While it is always a good idea to know a company’s financial health as well as their future potential in sales/profits, what may be a healthy financial statement and outlook today can look a lot different tomorrow.Technical analysis focuses on price movement, anticipating price direction based on its ebbs and flows (ie. swings, cycles, etc.). Fundamental factors of any asset is built into price action, as the market discounts everything. In addition, history tends to repeat itself and this repetitive nature of price action can be anticipated and taken advantage of.Many technicians rely on various indicators that help expose some aspect of historical price data for the use of timing. Where one indicator might highlight some underlying cycle pattern that could help anticipate the next trend change period, another indicator might highlight a markets overbought or oversold condition, all relative to past price action.The technical analyst relies heavily on price charts. Certain patterns often repeat giving the technician a heads-up to a potential price break. Such patterns are given names, such as the ‘Head-and-sholders’ pattern, the ‘wedge’ or ‘flag’ formation, etc. All of these technical approaches are useful to some degree.Precise market timing is crucial in today’s volatile markets. Without greater precision in timing, the trader is exposed to a higher degree of risk and can leave more profit on the table.Let me illustrate this.For the sake of discussion, suppose that the price range of each trading day is 50 points. If your allowable risk exposure (how far you will allow the market to move against your position) is 50 points, you must enter the market on the exact day you expect the move to start in your favor to avoid being stopped out with a loss. If your allowable risk exposure is 100 points, you must be accurate in your timing within +/- one day to avoid getting stopped out with a loss. This highlights the importance of precision market timing.Now in the real world, each day the price range varies from the next. Depending on how effective your market timing approach happens to be, you may be able to risk less than the average range in points. The less precise your market timing approach happens to be, the more you should initially risk on the trade.While market timing itself can be loosely done using standard technical indicators, trend lines and moving averages, precision market timing is achievable with good market forecasting methods. Market forecasting for market timing purposes is extremely effective because, unlike most technical indicators that are ‘leading’ or ‘lagging’ in nature, a good market forecasting method can forecast a market turn to an exact day of a trend change. Giving any market forecasting method a small deviation allowance of +/- one day can give any trader an incredible edge in predicting market turns for the purpose of precision market timing and trading.Some traders are historical legends having used market forecasting methods for precision market timing purposes. Who has not heard of William Delbert Gann (better known as WD Gann)? This financial trader is famous for developing several technical approaches, such as the use of Gann angles or the trend indicator. His forecasting methods included the use of the Square of Nine, cycle analysis and market geometry. By using ‘market forecasting’ tools such as these and others, he is famously reported to have many times turned a small amount of money into a large amount rather quickly.So there are two main points that I hope you have garnered by reading this article. Point #1 is that in order to better manage your risk exposure and maximize your profit potential, the more precise you need to be with your market timing approach. Point #2 is that the most precise way to time the markets is to take advantage of market forecasting techniques, where often you can time your trades to the exact day of a new move.There are many market forecasting secrets, methods and techniques that you can learn right now to improve your market timing. Some are good, some not so good. I have spent over three decades learning, testing and discovering market forecasting approaches. When I started, there was not much available as there are today. So it has definitely seen some growth over the years and therefore you should have no problem finding the approaches that will fit your style of trading and investing.

Does Video Marketing Have to Cost You a Lot of Money?

Let’s get one thing clear. One of the main reasons why your competitors probably haven’t jumped into video marketing is because of their fear of cost. Please understand that the reason why they are not cranking out one marketing video after another probably is not due to their inability to appreciate the power of video marketing.In fact, most people in the marketing field would agree that video marketing brings a lot of value to the table. This is not the argument. This is not where people disagree. Instead, people have all sorts of misconceptions regarding the costs of video marketing. They can see the benefits with no problem. What they’re unclear on is whether the costs would justify the benefit.Use video marketing to reach out to your customers. Ask customers to email you with questions about what you offer, or questions about industry topics, and answer the questions you like best in a weekly video. If you need to generate some interest, give people a chance to win a free product if they send you a question.Most video marketing attempts fail the first timeWhat really clouds this whole picture is the fact that when you try anything the first time around and you don’t have some sort of blueprint of plan your chances of failure are quite high. This is not just a video marketing thing mind you. This applies across the board.Video marketing is a great way to give customers an idea of what your products look like before they order these items. You should create some videos in which you demonstrate your products. Show the different functions, test the products in extreme situations and do a lot of close ups.Maybe you’re trying to ride a bike. Maybe you’re trying to build a house or an addition. Maybe you’re trying to do a painting or you’re trying to sculpt. I am almost guaranteeing that your first few attempts are not going to be all that good. You probably already know this. Why should video marketing be any different? When people just jump in both feet because they got all excited about the benefits of video marketing, they might end up making rookie mistakes. How come. They did not have proper guidance and that’s the good news here.With the proper blueprint or coaching or video marketing consulting, you don’t have to commit those beginner mistakes. Your stuff doesn’t have to look amateurish and basic. You can come up with something truly professional the first time around. In fact, it’s not uncommon for small businesses to get out of the gate with high-quality videos that connect powerfully with their target audience members.Their secret, there is no secret at all. They just read the right resources and allow these resources to guide them in producing one hard-hitting quality video after another. If they can do it, you can do it too.To help garner even more views embed your video in your website. Most people when they think of video marketing think only of posting a video on YouTube. Instead, post it on your website and include a link on your Facebook wall and Tweet about your new video on Twitter.This really is not an issue of cost but more of information. With the right information, high-quality videos that truly go a long way in building up your brand doesn’t have to cost a lot.There are many ways to solve the video marketing problemFor people who are new to video marketing, try to keep your videos short. Around 30-45, seconds is a good length to start. You really do not have a lot of time to get your message through with the viewers’ short attention spans. As you become more experienced, you will notice that you are able to get your message across within this time frame easily.One of the main reasons why a lot of people have this idea that video marketing has to cost a lot of money is the misconception that they have to produce Hollywood or Madison Avenue level videos. Absolutely wrong. In fact, in certain niches, audiences respond favorably to very amateurish or very basic videos.You really just have to know your niche. More specifically, you just must know how to segment and break up your niche into little sub-markets. Put simply, the better you know your audience the more powerful your video can be and has nothing to do with how polished or smooth it is. Instead it has everything to do with your video’s ability to communicate with your target audience members on a very human, personal, and emotional level.There are many tools you can useOne of the best pieces of advice about video marketing is to keep it real. Make a script, rehearse it, and then shoot your video. That’s all there is to it. You will end up looking over produced and fake if you do more than that. Real is honest and reliable.Another piece of good news. You can drastically reduce your video productions costs by understanding that there are many different levels of videos. At the top of this hierarchy, of course, are high-quality videos. These are very personal, these are professionally shot, and these really are your meat and potatoes videos. These are the kind of videos that really champion your brand, but the levels beneath this kind of video are not as quality intensive.You can use the software to crank out a video for supplemental marketing. You can use software for video that is intended to supplement or support your text content. Obviously, the relationship with these different video levels goes a long way in reducing your overall cost. Keep the facts above in mind if you are still on the fence regarding video marketing. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t have to cost a lot.If you plan to begin a video marketing campaign, put some time into designing a YouTube channel for your business. This will make your videos easy to find, and if a viewer enjoys the first video, they will have multiple others right at their fingertips. This organized, clustered way of presenting your videos will help to draw more viewers, and thus more customers.Do they have to cost you a lot of money? Let’s get one thing clear. One of the main reasons why your competitors probably haven’t jumped into video marketing is because of their fear of cost. Please understand that the reason why they are not cranking out one marketing video after another probably is not due to their inability to appreciate the power of video marketing.Make video marketing a part of your strategy, but do not rely on it entirely. Remember, it can be expensive to continuously post new videos. In addition, it can be time consuming to make them and put them up online. Therefore, while they are very valuable, you should engage in other tactics as well.