The rate of new product development is increasing quickly

The rate of new product development in this sector is increasing quickly, consumer awareness of nutrition has grown, and value and volume sales of diet foods have risen over the past five years. However, there are still currently more than 1bn overweight adults worldwide and we find ourselves in the midst of an obesity "blame game" - with the food industry bearing the brunt of this criticism.

It is now imperative for the food industry to demonstrate a proactive rather than a reactive role in the health trend, in order to answer its critics and tackle obesity long-term. If this approach is successful, just-food predicts the diet-related food and drink market to grow by 3.1% in Europe and 3.6% in the US between 2006 and 2012.

With dieting already an integral part of our eating habits, this report analyses growth strategies to optimise future opportunities and delves into new product development in key markets such as the UK, Europe, the US and Asia-Pacific. The study considers the main drivers and trends in the major food categories in order to better understand the future direction of the weight management market and its current role in the global health megatrend.

Market forecasts are provided to 2012 and brand case-studies are included throughout the report, as are comments from relevant industry executives at companies such as Weight Watchers, Nestlé and Kraft Foods.

BizOwneR

Internet Marketing Techniques

The Internet offers many means of affordable marketing, often with full-color imagery to go along with text. And multimedia components add some spice to the mix and increase online visitors and purchases. Here are some top Internet marketing techniques to help increase your sales and income.

• DIRECTORY - Create your own directory on a specific industry topic, placing your own ad or banner along the top. Then invite others to add their website links via a link exchange program, listing themselves in your directory. This will result in lots of free advertising for you as your directory expands with links across the World Wide Web. Enter “link exchange software” into your favorite search engine for help with setup.
• TEACH A COURSE – Write out a simple step-by-step instructional class in your area of expertise. Then break it up into smaller segments and set them up in an autoresponder as email messages with your ads included at the top and / or bottom of each message. Invite website visitors to sign up through on online form or email subscription address offered through the autoresponder service. Then as people sign up, they will learn more about you and your products and services.

• EZINE EBOOK – Forget about small daily or weekly ezines. Try publishing one large monthly e-zine as an e-book format, preferably an Adobe .pdf file. Include a large number of articles with each issue and regularly featured areas like inspirational quotes, industry tips, favorite sites and advice from the pros. Also insert full-color graphics, multimedia components like audio file links, if you like, and ads. Then you can charge a monthly rate, with an annual discounted package purchase, and sell advertising spots.
• TIP OF THE DAY – Set up your own Tip of the Day targeting your own area of expertise, relating to your own products and services. You can set it up on your website in a targeted box, via autoresponder, a blog, an RSS feed, an audio file or others means of communication. Add your own ad along with your tip for whichever product or service you want to target or maybe even your own online store for all. This will gently remind your target audience where to go to learn more. In summary, by using Internet Marketing techniques customized to fit your own products and services, you can reach out and increase your website traffic and purchase opportunities. Internet marketing can mean a more affordable way to grow your business.

Franchising is essentially a marketing concept

A very clever and innovative method of distributing goods and services, and building brand awareness.

Franchising is a business relationship in which the franchisor (someone who owns a business) assigns to independent people (known as franchisees) the right to distribute the franchisor’s goods or services, and to use the Franchisors business name for a fixed period of time.

The unique relationship between Franchisor and Franchisee can also be defined as a “commercial marriage”

The franchisor is able to expand its market presence without using its own capital, and the franchisee gains access to an established business system, at generally lower risk, for their own commercial advantage.

This "commercial marriage" between franchisor and franchisee is ultimately a legal relationship, with the full obligations and responsibilities of both parties outlined in a highly detailed franchise agreement.

Internet business start-up

Internet business start-up

It is easier to set up a business on the net than in the physical world. The net offers several advantages to a start-up. These include a wide reach, low start up costs, 24/7 stores, easy maintenance and scaleable operations.
What an Internet start-up needs is an idea, an idea that can be converted into a business model. The idea can be something new like what Yahoo did when it set up a search directory. It was an idea that was badly needed then. Yahoo was the first to recognize it, and the first to execute it well.
The idea can be an improvement of an existing model, like what Google did. Google was one of the late entrants in the search engine business, but its search engine model was far superior to the existing search engines. It indexed more pages, had an easy user interface and generated more relevant searches.
The idea needs to be executed by people, and one key manpower source on the net is the technical head. It must always be remembered that the net is technology driven, and the best people to leverage the technical resources of the Internet are software wizards. Every management team planning to set up an Internet business must have a tech guy on it.
This does not mean that non-technical people are not important. They are equally important, but they can use their expertise in areas like marketing, customer service, data mining, content creation, accounting etc.

Beginners Guide for Small Business OwneR

Beginners guide to E-commerce

Developing an Internet-based business can be a very rewarding venture, both financially and personally. However, for the inexperienced, it can also be extremely confusing and the choices you make now can mean the difference between success and failure. Hopefully we can shed some light on this process and outline the details of creating an e-commerce website from start to finish. We will assume that you already have a product or service in mind that you would like to sell. Good, that is the very first step in creating an e-commerce business. But now what?

The Internet provides the means to market your business to literally millions of people around the world. Unfortunately, you are not alone; there are millions of other people with the same goal as you; to get their website in front of potential customers. So how do you get your site selected from the masses? Well, there is no single answer to that question, there are many different and equally important elements that need to work together to establish a successful Internet business. A successful e-commerce business is much more than just a snazzy website and a cool product. In this guide we will look at the several different elements that the term e-commerce encompasses

10 GREAT REASONS TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS:

1. Be your own boss
2. Work your own hours
3. Make more money
4. Spend more time with family and friends
5. Work to make yourself rich, not someone else
6. Take vacations whenever you like
7. Enjoy the prestige that comes with being a business owner
8. Take advantage of great tax benefits
9. Gain personal satisfaction and pride
10. Live life on your terms!

Posted by: BizOwneR.ShoP

Date: November 25, 2006; 6.32am