The Effectiveness of Mobile Digital Platforms for Marketing

One roadblock in effective marketing is the platform that is used by the marketing strategy. A good message and strategy will only be wasted if the chosen platform to deliver it fails.

Today, as the demand for them continues to increase, mobile digital platforms in the form of smartphones and tablets have become one of, if not the most, sought after marketing platforms in the business.

Why, you ask?

1.       Everyone has one. “Everyone” is of course an exaggeration, but you should understand where this point is coming from. Smartphones and tablets continue to fly off the shelves, bought to be used by everyone between toddlers and senior citizens. It’s pretty hard to miss your target market if your range is that wide. Also, for most products, the target markets are the ones that can afford at least one of these mobile devices for their families, even more so those that can afford at least one for each member.

2.       Everyone is on them all the time. Double exaggeration this time, but you should still understand what this means. For every smartphone and tablet user hooked on an internet connection that has their eyes glued to the device, that’s another potential audience for your marketing strategy. There is always an opportunity to reach your target market as they use their devices, compared to other platforms such as televisions and newspapers where sometimes the most exposure you can get is a fleeting glance.

3.       Everyone loves them. Is this an exaggeration? It’s pretty hard to argue against it. Be it for the games, the applications, the music, or whatever purpose it serves its user, they got that mobile device for some reason. And the more they love their device, the more chances that they’ll buy more devices (#1) or use the device more often (#2) – which all gives digital marketing more chances to reach its target market.

On top of all these reasons, the technology being put into the development of these devices for tech companies to keep afloat in the competition adds more opportunities and applications for digital marketing. And with the aid of these devices, digital marketing has become and, for the foreseeable future, will remain a juggernaut in the field of marketing.

“Digital Marketing (Knowledge Pills Series: UnderstandingTechnological Trends)” by Kendall Allen provides an in-depth look of digital marketing, including its history and methodologies. Mobile digital platforms isn’t the only segment of digital marketing that has developed through the years – this book is a great chronicle of the different aspects of digital marketing.

“Digital Marketing (Knowledge Pills Series:Understanding Technological Trends)” is currently available in Kindle format at Amazon.com. Click on the link to preview the book or download your own copy.

Publisher Denies Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Are the Real Voice behind the Pen Name “The Holy Ghost Writer”

The mystery of the author of the three successful books by Holy Ghost Writer remains unsolved.

San Francisco, CA — Illuminated Publications, the publisher of these and other books authored by “Holy Ghost Writer” has issued an official statement denying the famous couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are not the “Holy Ghost Writer”, trying to put to rest to growing speculation that the husband / wife team were the real faces behind the “Holy Ghost Writer” - author of several bestselling books such as “The Sultan of Monte Cristo” and “That Girl Started Her Own Country”.

While this official clarification should put rumors about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to rest, it re-opens the mystery behind who is the real person behind the intriguing pen name. The Holy Ghost Writer has been compared to several famous authors for his works. He has been heralded as the new Stieg Larrson for “That Girl Started Her Own Country”, the successor of Alexander Dumas for “The Sultan of Monte Cristo” and the next Ray Bradbury for “The Boy Who Played with Dark Matter”.

Each of these books are said to have clues that will point you to the identity of the true author, but more than a year after the first release the identity still alludes the masses. 

While the ongoing mystery of the true identity of the Holy Ghost Writer is still waiting to be solved the undisputable fact remains—the literature is a true act of literary genius.  Each book in this series has received critical acclaim.

For added mystery, the books in the series have not been released in chronological order.  The first two books published in the series “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “The Sultan of Monte Cristo” are set in the past; but these two were followed by the 6^th book in the series “The Girl Who Started Her Own Country” set in present day, and the next one published is the 11^th book in the series “The Boy Who Played With Dark Matter” set in year 2099. It’s like the author is uncovering the pieces of a giant puzzle in random order. 

While the clarification of Illuminated Publications should put rumors about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to be the real face of Holy Ghost Writer to rest, it re-opens the mystery behind who is the real person behind the mysterious author. As for all the writer’s followers and fans, reading through his books and piecing together the clues that he has left behind is all that can be done for now.

The Negative Impacts of Mining on the Environment

Mining is a multi-billion dollar industry. From coal to copper to diamonds, the mining industry produces several valuable commodities that the world and its people need.

However, mining by its very nature is destructive. It seeks to obtain these minerals by extracting them from the earth. Because of this, it has several negative impacts on the environment.

• Water pollution. Mining processes use enormous amounts of water and chemicals over the course of its process. If the resulting mixture of water and chemicals is not disposed of properly, it can contaminate bodies of water – bodies of water that may be the habitat for animals and/or a water source for people.
• Soil pollution. Similarly to water pollution, the chemicals used may also seep into the soil if not properly disposed of, contaminating the earth. This affects the viability of the soil to grow plants, and could be a health risk to both human and animal inhabitants of the area.
• Air pollution. Different toxic fumes will be released into the air during mining, be it from the chemicals used or the machines and equipment utilized. These air contaminants are even harder to contain, and could travel to residential areas near the mining project.
• Deforestation. Trees, shrubs and other plants need to be removed before the mining process can start digging for the minerals buried under the ground. Once the mining project is finished, it may be impossible to rehabilitate the forest if the area ends up polluted.
• Habitat modification. As mines are dug up, the surrounding areas are drastically affected. Erosion and sedimentation contribute to these changes, which either displace the organisms in these areas or makes it impossible for them to survive.

"The Mines of Future" by Aldo Mango is an eBook that delves deeper into the mining process – how the mining waste can be maintained and disposed of properly, how it can be recycled, and how all this can create a positive situation for the environment and the people instead of creating a negative one.

"The Mines of Future" is currently available in PDF format. Click on the link to preview the book or download your own copy.

Amazon is Buying Goodreads, "Kindle" Mentioned Almost Same Number of Times as "Books" in the Official Press Release

Goodreads CEO / co-founder Otis Chandler.   

Amazon announced that it plans to buy the San Francisco based Goodreads, the vertical social network for book lovers for an undisclosed price. Goodreads is a social network where members share reviews, ratings and reading list with their friends and participate in book and author related discussions. Goodreads also has a recommendation tool based on what the member has read in the past. 

Seattle based Amazon.com started as an online book seller in 1995. While it has has successfully diversified from selling books   into selling a diverse set of products ranging from DVDs, CDs, electronics, toys/ games  to apparel and accessories,  sporting goods  and even esoteric categories such as industrial and scientific supplies, people still strongly associate the brand with books.  The  brand affiliation of the Amazon brand with books was made stronger by cutting edge innovations such as "Search Inside the book" and the Kindle series of e-Book Reading devices. 

The Chief "Goodreader",  Otis Chandler posted an announcement in the goodreads feedback group starting with "Today is a very big day for all of us at Goodreads. As you may have seen on our blog, we are joining the Amazon family. Our blog post has the official press release and some more background on this, but I wanted to post here for two reasons" 

He then went on to say that Goodreads has always appreciate the feedback from its members  and assured the members that there were no plans to change the Goodreads experience and Goodreads will continue to be the wonderful community "we all cherish". He also referred to Amazon acquisition as "partnership" claiming that it will help Goodreads focus on making it in an even better place for readers. 

However, despite his assurances, the reaction from the members ranged from under-enthusiastic to negative.  The concerns raised by the goodread community members included questions about ownership of reviews - the member claimed that Reviews posted on Goodreads are owned by the members, whereas reviews posted at Amazon become Amazon's property. Also, there were concerns about Amazon reproducing the reviews on its website, the issues about the integrity of the book database, linking of Amazon accounts to goodread accounts, etc. A one sentence post by someone named "Nikki" summarizes  these concerns well "I have so many concerns about this I don't know where to start." 

The official press release from Amazon included a quote from  Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content  at Amazon that mentioned how Amazon and Goodreads have a shared passion for "reinventing reading”, elaborating that while Goodreads has helped in the way book lovers discuss discover and discuss books, Amazon Kindle has expanded reading around the world. He also mentioned how both platforms have helped independent authors reach readers and make a better living.  

Interestingly, the official press release from Amazon mentioned the word "Kindle" 10 times, almost the same number of times it mentioned the word "books" (mentioned 13 times).