World’s first walking, talking “Human Billboard” captures worldwide attention for C I Host; Tattoo process took over four hours, photos available online

(PRWEB) April 17, 2003

BEDFORD, TX (April 15, 2003) Jim Nelson, the world’s first ‘human billboard,’ endured more than 4 hours of tattoo artistry on the back of his head and has begun his worldwide assignment to bring C I Host’s message to the masses.

This unique and first-of-its-kind marketing idea has captured worldwide attention within just the first week of the ‘human billboard’s’ launch. Television and radio stations from across the U.S. and Canada as well as Europe have documented the one-of-a-kind advertising message.

“It definitely has gotten people’s attention,” Nelson said. “I get stopped all the time by people asking me who C I Host is, what they do and why I have their name on the back of my head.”

A good question, indeed.

Nelson received the tattoo after entering into a contract with C I Host to have the company’s logo, name and the phrase “Managed Web Hosting” permanently etched into the back of his head. Nelson said he agreed to the unusual use of his head to raise money for a dot.com business he plans to start.

The idea originally came from C I Host CEO Christopher Faulkner who was searching for someone to have the tattoo placed on their forehead.

I couldn’t find anyone who would put the tattoo on their forehead but when I heard that Jim was willing to have the work done on the back of his head, I though we’d give that a try,” Faulkner said.

And the results have worked very well to date. Nelson gets daily inquiries about C I Host’s Web hosting services and product line.

As part of the 5-year contract with C I Host, Nelson is required to keep the tattoo visible at all times and make daily treks outside his Chicago-area home to promote the company. The contract also requires him to make trips through the continental U.S. and Europe to show off the tattoo and promote the company.

“Jim is one of the most aggressive salespeople I have,” says Faulkner. “He hands out his own ‘human billboard’ business cards and flyers for the company on a daily basis!”

Since the tattoo advertising has begun, C I Host has seen an increase of 12 % in its Web site traffic and 23 new sales have been directly attributed to the tattoo.

Photos of the tattoo being administered and the final product are available online and can be downloaded at: http://www.cihost.com/?zone=corporate/human_billboard

About C I Host

C I Host (http://www.cihost.com), is a Web hosting and Internet solutions provider, domain name registrar (DNR) and application service provider (ASP) serving 185,000 individual consumers and businesses in 179 countries worldwide.

C I Host creates business-class Web hosting solutions for the small- and medium-enterprise (SME) market, with the broadest portfolio of managed hosting and value-added services in the industry. C I Host is accredited by ICANN to register domain names.

C I Host has been consistently ranked among the Top 5 Web hosting companies out of 16,000 around the globe by c|net’s Ultimate Web Host List, HostPulse, WebHostsOnline.com and HostChart.com. C I Host offers turn-key services ranging from initial domain name registration to custom dedicated servers for e-commerce on today’s Web. The company offers innovative packages and services to the Internet community.

C I Host operates three diverse data centers across the United States, with its main facility and Network Operations Center in Bedford, Texas. C I Host also has offices in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Chicago and London.

All telco-grade, tier-1 data centers are wholly owned and operated by C I Host and consist of redundant diesel generator backups and a temperature-controlled secure environment with fully redundant UPS capability. All server hardware is fully tested and configured for optimal performance. Daily Web server backups and full fire protection guard against any data loss. To deliver speed and reliability, C I Host’s servers are connected to two OC-12 fiber connections, five DS-3 and two OC-3 lines from five diverse Internet backbones for a total of more than 2,000 Megabits of available bandwidth.

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To obtain more information or to arrange an interview with the ‘human billboard’ or C I Host’s CEO, Christopher Faulkner, contact Nancy St. Pierre or visit C I Host on the web at http://www.cihost.com.

Editorial Contact:

Nancy St. Pierre

C I Host

(888) 868-9931 x 9426

nancys@cihost.com

©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Popularity: 8% [?]

CRM Cloud Offerings Grow with Launch of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online

(PRWEB) February 4, 2011

Microsoft recently launched Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online to compete with CRM market leader Salesforce.net (among other CRM offerings in the cloud). Sales and Marketing professionals consider a number of factors when choosing a CRM solution to fit their needs.

NetSuite, Salesforce, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online are just three options for sales and marketing professionals that choose to manage their contacts online.

“The online CRM marketplace has never been more competitive,” said Eli Ritz, co-host for http://www.TotallyCRM.com. “There are a number of options out there now, and in choosing the right one, you really need to consider a number of variables: price, ease of use, and mobile integration.”

The costs between CRM offerings vary significantly. While Microsoft offers new customers a special promotional pricing of US$ 34 per user per month, that rate is only set for one year. After a year, the monthly price will increase. But that is still cheaper than Salesforce’s Professional and Enterprise editions, which start at US$ 65 and go up from there. Other on-cloud CRM solutions, such as Oracle CRM, start as high as US$ 75.

Pricing aside, the primary consideration that is affecting most CRM users is the level of usability. According to a number of internet forums for CRM users, Salesforce offers the highest level of functionality. However, a myriad of options can sometimes come at a cost. Some sales teams prefer a more intuitive, less complicated interface.

A number of sales professional look for CRM to integrate with their cell phones, portable devices, and e-mail. In the past, companies have spent huge sums on custom development to integrate everything. With the latest CRM on-cloud solutions, that simply is not required.

“Up till now, Salesforce has been the leader in providing an online CRM solution,” said Scott McHale, VP of Sales and Marketing for a Microsoft partner in Alberta, Canada. “Though Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online is still new, it offers an affordable alternative to those who want CRM to be integrated with their Outlook e-mail.”

Prior to the launch for Dynamics CRM Online, Microsoft released a beta with a goal of making CRM a sales friendly solution. Whether Microsoft will eventually lead the market share for online CRM remains unknown; however, initial feedback reports were positive. With CRM Online now launched globally, sales gurus will be scouring the internet for feedback.

http://www.TotallyCRM.com is a video blog that helps potential CRM buyers make educated choices. It also offers insight into general CRM use, and how to use CRM for business growth, nurture marketing and lead generation.

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Popularity: 10% [?]

FifthCloud Launches Microsoft Dynamics CRM Email Router Hosting Service for Customers of CRM Online

Dynamics CRM Email Router Infrastructure

Bellevue, WA (PRWEB) October 11, 2010

FifthCloud, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with core competency in Microsoft Dynamics CRM for nearly a decade, informed Microsoft CRM Online customers today that it is now hosting the Dynamics CRM Email Router for customers worldwide at little or no cost.

“Microsoft has done an outstanding job with their Cloud initiatives and we’re fully on board as a partner; this was a hole that simply needed to be plugged,” said Randal Southam, Director of Online Services. “If everyone moves to Dynamics CRM Online only to be told that the CRM Email Router has to be installed on premise, it pretty much defeats the purpose.”

FifthCloud sales manager, Brehden Conover, agreed. “Having Dynamics CRM send email from workflow and queues is essential to our customers. This critical link in the chain should not be subjected to the same risks that drove the customer to the Cloud in the first place. We mitigate the risk with this offering which is operated on highly available infrastructure in secure, compliant data centers.”

When CRM Online customers send email from Dynamics CRM workflow that leverages queues and other email from users not logged in, the Dynamics CRM Email Router is required. While customers can install the CRM Email Router on a local computer or server, there is an inherent risk of that appliance going to sleep, losing power, being stolen, crashing, or any number of threats that would prevent CRM from operating properly. FifthCloud’s Dynamics CRM Email Router hosting service mitigates all of these risks by deploying the application on highly available infrastructure in the company’s Class A+, Tier II data center.

FifthCloud is a Nevada-based LLC and operates offices in Seattle (Bellevue), Washington DC, Montreal, and a software development center in Hyderabad, India. The company specializes in deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM for small and midsized businesses worldwide, many of which start with FifthCloud’s Dynamics CRM Fast Track Implementation.

For more information about the Dynamics CRM Email Router hosting service from FifthCloud, please visit: http://www.fifthcloud.com/dynamics_crm_email_router.php

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Attachments

©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Most business owners do not explore new marketing strategies until they experience a sharp decline in their revenue. Avertising campaigns are not evergreen. They evolve and grow, improve and degenerate. Most work at home, or small business owners shell out a substantial amount of money for a good ad campaign and then let it run dry.

The first strategy for success is found in the way you view the advertising campaign’s purpose. A good advertising campaign needs to do three things. First, it needs to collect data on the market. Who is buying. What is hot, and what is not.

Second, it needs to collect vital information about the people who make a purchase from your website. This can be compiled into a profile that helps you determine how to best reach your target market. It is a market research tool that helps determine what types of advertising works, at what times of the year.

Third, it should brand your name and logo. A successful advertising campaign will imprint the company name and logo onto people’s subconscious. This increase their decision to buy response when they visit the website

For example, online shopping increases dramatically just before Christmas, but only if the payment gateway is fast and easy to use. However, if the user must leave the website to use the payment gateway, like paypal.com uses, then the statistics do not change. However, the payment gateway does not effect sales in the summer.

You’ll notice that no aspect of an advertising campaign is to sell the product  that is your website’s job. A successful marketing campaign manager never measure’s an advertising campaign’s success based on sales.

Large corporations will tell you that a successful advertising campaign may run for months before the results appear on the income statement.

The advertising campaign should be reviewed often, and compared to new methods, in the hunt for new hot markets. However, hot markets burn out very quickly. The whirlwind of change that continuously sweeps through the marketplace is a powerful balancer. It gives small businesses an edge over the elephants that move slow and react to change in months, not weeks.

This is true, but there needs to be balance. Always keep 80% of the marketing budget in the tried and true marketing methods  even if they do not offer the big rewards. The other 20% of the marketing budget is free for exploration of new advertising mediums. Don’t discount anything. Look at the fortunes made when youtube.com and myspace.com skyrocketed to fame. For a few months, advertisers were raking in millions.

It is also important to keep a finger on the pulse of the population. There is a time to brand your company, and a time to break away from the pack and create a new image for yourself like Calvin Cline did with their underwear commercials.

The important thing to remember is to focus. Calvin Cline didn’t try to sell underwear to all age groups, they focused on a narrow niche. Work at home and small business owners need to learn this lesson  niche marketing is the secret to making millions.

The potential is expansive. Clever competition and new technology should be seen as marketing tools, not threats. Staying on the cutting edge is all about innovation and creativity. Money is no longer the #1 element to success. Many small businesses are becoming international on small budgets.

Popularity: 10% [?]