Qtvr To Flash Product Displays, Advertising Sure Has Changed

by Logan Seale


In the beginning there was product photography, and it was good, good for anything printed on paper that is. But now the advertising world is different. Every year more and more consumers turn to the internet for not only information but for purchases, large and small. And since they cannot touch the product they want as much information about it as possible.

When Apple computer invented QuickTime Virtual Reality almost 20 years ago, it promised to change the way we looked at photography, both of \'objects\' and environments. As exciting as it was, for several reasons it never became part of the mainstream. Perhaps the most significant barrier was the technology itself. Until the last few years, Apple computers claimed only a 5% market penetration in the PC market. That meant that even in the early 2000’s 95% of computers not only did not have QuickTime installed on them, but that the owners of those computers had mostly never heard of QT, and considered it an \'Apple thing\'. Sadly, generally attempting to open a QT movie without the application installed on one’s PC, resulted in computer crashes and hangs.

Also several companies capitalized on the technical aspects images for 360º degree photography and produced very specialized and very high priced special tripod heads, rigs and computer controlled turntables—which contributed to yet another misconception, that one had to have lots of money to produce this kind of imagery (which wasn’t going to make you any money anyway).

Another barrier was the file size of the final image file. Though small by today\'s standards, there was the perception that with consumers mostly using dial up connections that, even if they by some chance had QuickTime installed on their computer, they would not be willing to wait for the file to download. There also wasn\'t an abundance of asymmetrical CODEC’s or streaming possibilities.

Lastly, though the QTVR interface has several extra capabilities, they are not well known or obvious to a viewer who doesn\'t know QuickTime, and most think only of products spinning on a white background, or being able to pan around a room—entertaining but not ‘ready for prime time’.

All these factors combined to make QTVR and as a consequence, all 360º photography, perceived as a novel technology that though fun to view and experience, was not economical to produce, not capable of delivering attractive exciting photography and most importantly was not viable for real world retail uses.

These days... Not so.
With Adobe\'s Flash player boasting an almost 100% installation on all computers and 70-80% of internet consumers using some type of broadband connection the possibilities for 360º views and elaborate product tour interfaces. Products can now be shown not only in 360º views but with zoom and pan features as well as informational graphical or even video ‘call outs’.

With broadband connections being so prevalent in households, and Flash being a streaming media the product displays can use high quality photography and video. They are used cross media as well for not only web, but trade show displays and even sales presentations. A salesman can carry a laptop computer full of virtual products that otherwise would be too large or numerous to carry, as well as not possibly getting past security in office buildings.

Retail giant, Party City, for the past 2 years has used “Virtual Fashion Shows’ on their website to promote their extensive line of Halloween costumes. They feature live models photographed as a 360º view and place them in a custom interface that not only rotates, zooms and pans, but is designed with a Halloween style to match their wed design. Since Halloween sales represent over 30% of their yearly business, Party City feels that it’s important to use all possible technology to give themselves an edge in a very competitive business.


©2008 Logan Seale


Oregon based Benchmade Knives uses 360º photos with video call outs to display the features of their high line knife collections, again it gives them an edge over the competition which these days is more important than ever.



©2008 Logan Seale

Some photographers are even experimenting with making unusual and artistic virtual reality photography. With careful planning and control one can be very successful with this idea.


For more information and images visit http://www.LoganSealeInteractive.com

Your Notepad Printing Options Guide

by Charen Smith


When you want to start investing in pad printing, you should know what your options are. Don\'t get caught up in the notepad printing company\'s sales talk. Know the facts about paper types, sizes, adhesives

and others. This gives you greater control over the look of your pad printing design and makeup. Also, this assures you that you are paying for what you have decided and not what the printing company decided for you.

Your major notepad printing options are as follows:

Paper Type
The paper type refers to the material of the memo pad or pad printing itself. This can be made of numerous things. It can be normal paper, recycled paper or even glossy high quality paper. Some paper types have a glossy finish at the front but not at the back. Others have gloss on both sides. In terms of recycled paper you can have it from recycled paper, or it cam be a hybrid of recycled and “new” paper to balance the quality. Just look through the paper material options in your pad printing service and try to decide what is best for you in terms of quality and cost. Don\'t let the company talk you into special super glossy finishes if you don\'t really need to.

Paper Size
Next we have the paper size. This can be anywhere from half the size of a letter paper (5.5 x 4.25in) or it can be a full blow letter sized notepad. There are even custom sizes if you really want it like that. Choosing the paper size is purely down to your goals for your notepad printing. If it is just a small memo pad or reminders pad just like a post it, then you can keep it small. If however it is primarily for marketing purpose then you may want to invest in larger sizes. Decide the size that fits your objectives and don\'t let anyone decide for you.

Paper adhesive
Notepads of course are a collection of blank paper sheets. They are joined usually by some kind of adhesive. You also have to decide on this option when you start your pad printing process. You may want your pads to be “tear away”. This means some rubber adhesive on the top of the sheets is the most highly recommended course. If you can also have a more “post it” style pad paper, then maybe you need to have those pads printed with some kind of adhesive substance. This gives people the option to stick their notes anywhere they want.

Color options
Lastly, you need to decide on the color options for your pad printing. Since it is a note pad, some people save on money by just having a black and white print for their note pads. Of course there are also options for full color notepads for nice designs if it is needed. If you have the money, then let the sales talk go into you and try and invest in good colors for your pads. If however you are in a budget you may consider cheaper options like black and white printing. Either way at least you know about those options.

That should be the main concepts that you should decide on when doing some pad printing on your own. Remember to not let the sales people manipulate you. Know your options, ask questions and you\'ll be wiser for note pad printing.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit Pad Printing and Notepad Printing

Coupon Codes : Saving To Get Your Money'S Worth

by Kristine Cutin

There are many of us who use a lot of promos and deals to our advantage. It benefits us in a lot of ways especially doing a lot of purchases. We cut coupons and discount cards from magazines and newspapers, thinking that it will really be of great help when we need it. My mother almost always looks forward to a Sunday magazine where she cuts a pageful of her favorite free coupons, and especially those coupons from a drugstore she frequents. I used to call her on it for being so frugal, but she told me it was being resourceful and wise. Now I just realized how right she was.

At this day and age where people have the convenience online shopping, purchasing items has been made more efficient and easy. In the past year alone, I've made quite a lot of online purchases, ranging from home and kitchen items, a lot of clothes and make-up, this laptop I'm using, hard-to-find books, and more. I love shopping online for a lot of things and because I buy quite a bit, I'm always looking for the best deals and discounts all over the internet, you can check My Blog for several money-saving ideas! So before I make a purchase, I scout different sites for its worth to get the best of the best deals and promos. In the end I realize, what better than following my mother's footsteps in getting coupons?

I always head to CouponSaver.org to get some of attractive discounts, anybody can get the coupons they desire from this site; several of my purchases I made have discounts and I love it since it reduces the costs of the products. Trust me, there are hundreds of coupons available and updated there. This site is has a lot of coupons from various online stores all over the country. The coupons I most likely to get are those that I will be getting for that month. CouponSaver saves me the from paying too much on my purchases.

Users of both printable coupons and coupon codes happen to comment on the necessity of promos and deals now. We don't have to be embarrassed in using them, these discount coupon codes absolutely lessens the cost for us, we get good value products, and when we're lucky, we also get freebies and extra stuff in using the discount coupons. You can see some promotional coupons in CouponSaver range from products like technology and electronics like computers, palmtops, or software. Home and Kitchen products like fabrics and clothing, kitchenwares and furniture. Soon, I look forward to getting some travel deals and hotel promos. The coupons are all redeemable before the given expiry date.

3 Reasons Why Businesses Use Mobile Advertisement

by Omotolani Tijani

A woman was back home from a hospital. As she was taking her rest, a text message entered into her phone. The message read, “Thanks for visiting …… hospital today, we wish you quick recovery. You may call this number for our attention.”

A man was on a long journey and he ran out of fuel on his way. He was not use to the road so; he couldn’t locate the next filling station. He launched http://anythingnaija.param.mobi. With a click or two keys on his cell phone he could locate the closest filling station on the mobile business directory.

Mobile advertisement should not be a new thing to you by now. This is because, you had once or more experienced what mobile advertisement is? This is the current, most cost effective, ever competiting and dynamic advertisement method. Businesses use this method to reach out to million of mobile phone users and inform prospects about their products and services.

One of the major discourses at the on-going mobile world congress where about 500,000 attendees are expected to feature is the mobile business. Mobile advertisement or marketing will be a major area of attention especially in Africa.

More Reach to People

With more data very close to you to prove why more people are being reached on cell phones than other advertising methods, you will still agree with me…..

Unlike other marketing methods including the televisions, radios, newspapers and industry magazines, mobile advertisement gains more reach to the public. This is because it has been reported that mobile phones users had reached trillions by 2008 ending.

In the marketing world, what matters is, “how best to reach to prospects and customers”. In the current world, the main contact of people is through their mobile phones. The world is growing busy, so do people in it. The effect is that people do not have much time listen to radios, watch televisions and other conventional advertisement methods. Without doubt you’re personally aware that the best compassionate now is mobile phones. Remember the saying, “a man his mobile cell.”

Cost Reduction for both Consumers and Businesses

The global economic meltdown has caught the attention of thousand of world experts in the different areas of life. If this problem must be solved or put under control, marketing and related business activities need immediate attention. One of the profound solutions is “business cost minimization”. If cost of economic activities can be minimized, it is envisaged that the fire world economic downturn will be under control.

Professional Marketers and businesses have now concluded that cost of advertisement and marketing campaign is much more reducible by the current trend in the marketing industry – mobile advertisement.

With few dollars or less, you can get closer to million of people and your returns in term of sales and profit is exponentially increased. Consumers in the same vain do need to spend little or nothing to be aware of the existence of your business, its products or services.

Customers’ Satisfaction is Guaranteed!

The fact about consumers is that, they want convenience in buying from you. They may choose to pay for convenience before they pay for products or services. If you can provide this buy helping prospects having access to your business information, news and more directly on their mobile phone, you’re sure to gain competitive hedged.

Consumers like to know how important they are to you. Do you value them or not? I think a consumer will answer this if he receives a text massage telling him about your offer for him on his mobile phone.

The real life examples given above are typical ways businesses use mobile advertisement. How much do you think it cost do such an advertisement campaign? What do you think the return in sales and profit?

Search Engine Optimization (seo) and Its Importance in Today's Businesses

by Tyler Moon

Search Engine Optimization is the set of rules and techniques applied in order to naturally improve the quality of traffic to a website. SEO consists of research and application of relevant strategies to gain online presence. Search engine optimization in general means balancing and applying proper steps, procedures and methods in order to increase, improve and provide relevant search results of importance to a human search. It is a study involving locating and removal of barriers and facilitating qualified and relevant volumes of traffic to a website. SEO comprises of performing all activities related to on page and off page optimization, link building, article submissions, press release distribution, promoting listings, submitting to directories, developing and initiating online marketing avenues for all kinds of businesses.

In recent times, internet has brought a revolution. Online marketing has brought many unique benefits for the marketers. SEO is favored in recent times in research areas due to its very nature of providing instant responses and drawing conclusions. As it is analyzing, researching and application of all scientific, statistical data, psychological, demographic, socio economic and personal data in a right and effective way to get better results and gain eyeballs. Online users usually search in search engines through keywords hence online businesses can efficiently apply SEO techniques to bring these focused clients to cater their specialized customized needs and requirements. Thus helping these online businesses to bring relevant traffic for their websites and rank them higher in different Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). SEO is a must for online businesses as it helps tapping and accessing online markets effectively. Hence the online businesses can benefit by devoting their time and effort in focusing on their core business, and supporting and suggesting transparently to the SEO consultants. SEO suggests and provides important related and relevant information for the online user quickly at their fingertips for a particular search. Thus internet marketing with a proper blend of search engine optimization helps in lowering the costs for distribution of information to the targeted segment or niche which again leads to a better and managed traffic.

With technological advancements and as complexity grows in SEO with different searches like image, local and industry specific vertical searches, the search engine ranking algorithm or the parameters also are being updated. As the search engine optimization industry is implementing major changes and updates, by including all the demographic, behavioral and socio economic factors they are also creating a brand and able to recommend and customize as per the client requirements. Thus online businesses can effectively apply SEO in order to improve their rankings in the search engine results.

Thus there is a wide variety of options available for the individuals to opt in among the different solutions of SEO Services as described above and can also be researched over the internet