Most Christians want to go to church to worship and serve, not hear political dogma. Often, however, their attempts to worship are frustrated by religious leaders and/or members who feel that it is important to use the church as a political platform.We are accustomed to hearing news about the Separation of Church and State which is established by the first amendment of our constitution, but we seldom hear anything about ‘Separation of Church and Politics,’ which is unregulated. This is about the freedom to attend worship without being bombarded with single-minded political persuasion. Worshipers should not have to commit to a political party as a requirement of participation in a Christian organization.The first amendment of the US Constitutional mandates that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof… ” What that means has been debated in courts and Congress for over two centuries. More recently it has come to mean that freedom to pray or express religious ideas is restricted in public places out of respect for those who ascribe to different beliefs. At the same time as freedom of expression of faith is increasingly being restricted, the Conservative led government has increasingly worked to legislate morality as it is interpreted by a limited group of religious leaders.Some people who believe that they know the political mind of God tend to talk in Christian gatherings as if their opinion is the only one. Those that do not agree tend to feel alienated by the more vocal religious leaders, and as a result many are moving away from the church altogether. According to PEW Foundation the number of people who report hearing politics in their place of worship is decreasing, however there are still many people displaced by the rhetoric.Currently more and more people are saying that they are spiritual but not religious. According to the Pew Foundation, “the number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace. One-fifth of the U.S. public – and a third of adults under 30 – are religiously unaffiliated today, the highest percentages ever in Pew Research Center polling.” http://www.pewforum.org/Topics/Religious-Affiliation/Unaffiliated/If you find yourself avoiding your church because of the political rhetoric, I recommend that you continue attending some place of worship. You may want to call potential churches before visiting and just ask, “Does your church support a particular political agenda?” And, “Do your pastor or Bible teachers discuss politics from the pulpit or in Bible study?” There are many grace-centered churches, grounded in the Bible, who respect every member’s right to think for themselves.
Importance of Branding for E-Commerce Businesses
E-commerce businesses are becoming a reliable way to buy products online. Branding plays a direct role in improving chances of e-commerce business success. An increasing number of global customers are switching to e-commerce sites to purchase everything from groceries to apparel, and electronics to lifestyle products. The e-commerce industry has completely transformed the way in which consumers around the world access products and services. It has suddenly brought a world of options to the fingertips of end users. The future seems bright for the e-commerce industry, with major players branching out into newer product categories frequently (thus setting the standards for smaller brands).
For e-commerce businesses, things are going well enough, but the competition is also fierce. New e-commerce brands are launching every day and persistently trying to get a foothold online. When it comes to branding, e-commerce companies are leaving no stone unturned. In this scenario, it is vital that you build and implement a high quality branding strategy for your e-commerce business.
Branding Strategies For E-Commerce Businesses
By having a result-oriented, effective branding plan for your e-commerce business, you can stand out amongst your competitors. To achieve that, you must determine what makes your e-commerce business a unique player in the industry. Are you offering high quality products at the best available rates? Do you organize regular discounts and offers for your customers? Are you adding new product categories to meet more customer demands? What are the factors that would convince customers to choose your brand against others? E-commerce business owners must strive to highlight the unique selling points of their brand. Only then can an e-commerce brand be boldly promoted to larger audiences.
As an e-commerce brand, you have to be at the forefront when it comes to attracting product vendors as well as consumers to your e-store. Vendors would be interested in using your marketplace, if it has a strong brand that keeps providing value to customers. The number of sellers and customers you bring in to your network depends on the strength of your e-commerce brand, and how well it delivers on its promises. If you are intelligent in your branding, and consistent in your service quality, your e-commerce brand can achieve considerable success.
E-commerce branding, like all branding, is influencing the perception of your brand and its services, in the eyes of the customer. Effective e-commerce branding will make marketing easier, retain more customers, drive up loyalty, and create better potential value for steady, long-term success.
The way you must approach an e-commerce branding strategy is by highlighting some key points. With branding, you must uphold your business’s core mission, the problems you aim to solve for your customers, standards that it adheres to, and proof of the quality of services you provide. What are the factors involved in business branding and their importance?
E-Commerce Branding – Methods and Importance
1. Your Brand Image - A stellar, uniquely identifiable brand image helps customers attach value to your e-commerce brand’s personality. This includes various things such as logos, banners, taglines, marketing captions, social content etc., which should always represent your brand the best. This is quite important if you want to create value for potential customers and convert them into loyal customers. A good brand image goes a long way in retaining customers, by continually generating interest for your e-commerce brand’s offerings.
2. Customer Satisfaction - Customers are everything, when it comes to e-commerce or any other type of business. You can actually enhance customer experiences and drive up satisfaction (and loyalties). This is a big part of establishing your e-commerce brand. Put your best foot forward while marketing, deliver on your promises you make, and provide unmatched service and support to enhance your brand’s potential value. Remember that satisfied existing customers can and will bring in newer customers to your e-commerce business. Maintain your integrity and keep reinventing to bolster your brand’s chances of business success.
3. Find Your Unique Selling Proposition - As an e-commerce business owner you must determine the USP of your brand. This will help you brand and promote it better to larger groups of potential customers. Think about what sets you apart from dozens of competitors vying for true e-commerce glory. Is it your service quality or support? Is it the trust of your customers and your track record? Do you provide innovative offers, discounts and promotions on special occasions? Do you house the widest variety of rare products? You must determine why customers would choose your e-commerce site. What extra value can you offer to your potential customers that convince them to use your platform again and again? Find your USP and use it to strengthen your brand.
4. Utilize All Channels - Technological advances in the past decade demand that your e-commerce business maximizes its presence on all social, web-based and mobile platforms. More and more potential customers buy and sell through handheld devices, and almost all of them are on social websites. All your competitors are doing it, and so should you. It will help you make your brand easily accessible to larger audiences, which in turn will bring more conversions and significantly better revenues. Social and mobile should be the front and center of your branding strategy.
E-commerce sites can benefit from the above mentioned branding strategies. By using the concepts provide here, you can establish your e-commerce brand and take your business to the next level.
5 Truths and 1 Lie About Business Productivity Software
Business productivity software is the key to having everyone working off of the same “page” as it were in your business. Being able to have an integrated set of packages that works together means data can easily shift from one program to the next, data can be shared and collaborated on, and all of that flexibility has led to a certain amount of confusion about exactly what business productivity software is, and what it isn’t.Here’s a list of things that good business productivity software is:* It works off of a common data platform giving everyone a common standard to work with
* It allows for collaboration through IM and other services
* Reporting software works flawlessly through all the different modules
* Modules that work together covers every aspect of the enterprise including accounting, marketing, sales and production
* Everything works together in real time without time lag including all phases of the enterprise.Part of the confusion, aside from being clear about how well everything works together is the fact that there’s one lie about well done business productivity software* It is hard to implement and maintain.This is actually as far as it gets from the truth. Well designed business productivity software is actually easier to install, set up, configure and maintain than any other set of packages could be. If the software is designed properly, then all it takes is one install on the server and one install on each client unless the implementation is web-based. Then all it takes is the server side setupMaintenance is easy as well. From a single point password and profile setup through apply once patching and upgrading, the best business productivity software reduces labor costs for IT dramatically. Instead of having to dedicate IT staff specifically to doing system upgrades and software patching, having the right business productivity software means that all the labor is centralized in a single process. No longer do techs have to track down salesmen and marketers to update their laptops, updates are handled automatically once installed server side.Between the flexibility business productivity software offers your accounting, sales, marketing and senior staff and the ease of setup and maintenance for the IT staff, having the right package enables your entire enterprise to work more smoothly than ever before. Check out the packages available and see which gives you the flexibility you need and the ease of use your IT department will appreciate.