PSPINC Official Company Blog

The Difference Between Sales and Marketing

Aug

16

Sales and marketing are commonly used interchangeably in business, but they don’t mean the same thing. Sales and marketing work in tandem to increase revenue. When both strike a perfect balance, businesses benefit in the long run. So, it’s an understatement to say that those in sales and marketing can learn from each other.

Although they are different, it’s not surprising that many people think they’re the same. Mostly because they have the same end goal, and that is to generate revenue. What makes them different is how they go about it and what parts of the customer journey they affect.

Marketing Professionals and Salespeople

In short, marketing is how potential customers become aware of the company and what it’s selling. Those efforts, when done effectively, encourages customers to engage with the company to purchase or at least show interest in the product. Sales, however, pushes them across the finish line. Neither can work without the other.

Marketing efforts target much larger groups of people who may be or become interested in what the company’s trying to sell. Therefore, marketing professionals focus on long-term strategies, and they aim to meet customers’ demands. Those efforts are all done through indirect methods like advertising, social media marketing, email marketing, etc. Then, it creates a trigger that will lead customers toward sales.

Salespeople, however, are more often working directly with customers after they’ve already made contact with the company. Sales aims at understanding and meeting customers’ demands and desires. While their goals are generally more short-term, arming the company with more information about what customers are looking for only helps with future sales efforts.

Sales and Marketing Working Together

To remember the difference between marketing, think of them as the internet and email. They both use the same technologies, but one can’t exist without the other. Bringing awareness to products and driving interest through marketing efforts lead potential customers closer to the purchase stage. Sales comes in at the end to meet customers’ needs. Therefore, facilitating both to work well together will allow businesses to reach prospects no matter where they are in the customer journey.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #blog #branding #business #businesstips #customersupport #digitalmarketing #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingprofessionals #marketingtips #sales #salespeople #smallbusiness #tech #technology

How Voice Assistants Are Changing Marketing

Aug

9

Are you one of the many people who use a voice assistant like Siri, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant? Insider Intelligence predicts that 123.5 million adults will use a voice assistant at least once a month in the U.S. this year. While this technology isn’t particularly new anymore, it is still rife with opportunities from a marketing perspective that many are unaware of as well as not taking advantage of.

For example, people largely use voice assistants to get quick answers to their questions. Voice assistants, as a result, emphasize what’s called featured snippets. If you type a question into a search engine, you’ll get an immediate answer. And that’s because, at the top, there will be some bolded text that should answer your question. But that text is pulled from a specific website. That whole section is the featured snippet. And for voice assistants, that’s where they pull their answers from. And website owners, in turn, will get a bump in website traffic.

How It Affects Marketing

From a marketing standpoint, this only enforces the need for great search engine optimization (SEO) for your site. If your site is well optimized, it’s more likely it’ll pop up as the first search result, making it the most relevant to Google’s algorithm. If you’ve optimized your site well enough, it’ll show at the top when users search certain queries and you’ll receive better results. And luckily, we here at PSPINC have a lot of experience helping customers with their website SEO.

But voice assistants have more marketing potential for business as well. For example, did you know you can order a pizza from Domino’s using Amazon’s Alexa? Well, you can. And with it being an Amazon product, you can also order products off of Amazon with just your voice. The biggest benefit that voice assistants offer is convenience. And it's a convenience that’s just unmatched when compared to other platforms.

So, while voice assistants have gained popularity over the years, it still isn’t used as a marketing tool on a wide scale just yet. But those who are, reap the benefits they provide. And advertisers predict this will change in the next few years. While it doesn’t exist yet, voice assistants could integrate sponsored ads by having advertisers pay to be mentioned first when users ask a question like, “what Italian restaurants are near me?”. With Spotify already personalizing its ads based on what users listen to, it’s not too big of a stretch.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #amazon #amazonalexa #blog #business #businesstips #cortana #digitalmarketing #google #googlehome #marketing #searchengineoptimization #seo #siri #smallbusiness #tech #technology #voice #voiceassistants #web #website #websites #webtools

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 127 “Boosting Employee Morale”

Aug

4

One of the secrets of building a productive team at work is focusing on boosting employee morale and encouraging employee advocacy. People like to feel appreciated, and the same applies when they’re at work. When working in a team, members want to know they’re heard and that they’re on the right track. Conversely, constantly criticizing your team for not doing things your way will lower overall morale. But more importantly, it’ll also result in lower overall performance.

When employees feel valued, they’re not only happier, but they're also more willing to hit company goals. It can also help in future marketing endeavors. If your employees like working for you, it’ll make it easier to encourage them to check and engage with your company’s social posts. Or they may even seek it on their own outside of work hours. Employees interacting with your company’s social posts will not only help increase your brand’s overall exposure, however. It’ll also show how great it is to work for your company.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #digitalmarketing #employee #employeeadvocacy #employeemorale #marketing #marketingtips #newsletter #officetips #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #technology

How to Create a Brand

Aug

2

A brand and a company, while used interchangeably, are not the same. A company is the name of an organization that engages in business activities, like producing and selling products. A brand, however, is about how people perceive your company through identifying brand attributes like your logo, name, and products. To remember the difference, think of it this way: a business owner, founder, and/or CEO owns a company whereas the people own a brand. While there’s significant influence coming from whoever’s in charge, the people are the ones who derive meaning from what you have to offer.

Starting a company can be as easy as setting up a great e-commerce website and selling products. However, creating a great brand isn’t quite as easy to do. Setting up your company website is a great first step because it forces you to figure out the essentials needed to run a business. If you’re just creating a business, it’s easy to go on from there by designing your website, adding your products, and advertising said products. A brand, however, also requires a vision and mission statement. A mission statement tells people where your company currently stands and what it does. A vision statement is more aspirational and tells people where you want to see the company go in the future.

After creating your mission and vision statements, it’s time to determine your brand’s values. This is what you want your business to stand for. More importantly, this is what you want your business to be known for. Truly successful brands keep all of those in mind in every experience a customer has with them. Look at Coca-Cola, one of the world’s most successful brands. But it isn’t based on the product alone. Coca-Cola’s brand is about refreshing the world in a way that makes a difference. While their drink is known to be refreshing worldwide, Coca-Cola also actively works toward its commitment to making the world a better place. And this can be seen through multiple sustainability efforts by the brand.

Lastly, with so many other small businesses out there, it’s important to consider who your competitors are and what makes your business different. To succeed, your business needs to be different in a way that’s attractive to your target market. And creating customer persona to figure that out will help immensely. After figuring all that out, then come all the recognizable elements of a brand like designing a logo and determining a color palette. While developing a brand can be a lengthy process, it’s not impossible. And great brands tend to change and evolve, so just remember that when trying to create your own.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #blog #brand #brandidentity #branding #brands #business #businesstips #businesstools #cocacola #digitalmarketing #logo #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingonline #marketingstrategy #marketingtips #smallbusiness #success #tech #technology

PSPINC What's New Newsletter Vol. 126 "Business Competition"

Jul

28

Making it today in business can be difficult. And one of the reasons why is because of how competitive the small business world can be. The best way to combat that is to always be aware of what your competitors are doing. While trends in your industry will come and go, seeing which ones perform well will help you stay ahead of the game. When looking at your competitors, you’ll want to look at what products they offer, how much they cost, and how they market them. Then, you’ll want to compare them to your business.

Through this, you can figure out what your weaknesses may be and what competitive advantage you have by comparison. Generally, the most important purchasing considerations are price and product quality. If your offering is cheaper than your competitor, market that. If it’s more expensive, maybe it’s because the quality's better than your competitor's. Make sure your customers know that. But don’t obsess over your competitors. In the end, the focus should still be serving your customers’ needs and desires.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #blog #business #businesscompetition #businesscompetitors #businesstips #competition #digitalmarketing #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #newsletter #pacificsoftwarepublishing #price #quality #smallbusiness #technology

Social Media Security Concerns

Jul

26

With the influx of data over the past few years, it’s only become more widely available. With it, security concerns online have only amplified. While social media and the internet have been greatly beneficial in numerous ways, it’s also opened the door for hacking opportunities. Most internet users today know to take precautions like setting up a firewall, but it doesn’t prevent cyberattacks. The intimate atmosphere of social media makes it even easier for hacks to occur. Users are less likely to proceed with caution because people feel they’re among friends on social media.

Over-Sharing Information

a man taing a selfie of himself standing on a balcony that overlooks the ocean

Among friends, it can be very easy to share personal details. But many users are unaware they’re opening themselves up to online scams. But sometimes, users share their private information entirely by accident. For example, users sharing pictures of their home renovations may not realize they might be inadvertently sharing their home address. The general rule of thumb when posting on social media is not to publicize your email, phone number, or location.

Phishing Scams

two hands coding on a laptop with green text on the black laptop screen

Even though phishing scams are more associated with email, it's gotten big on social media too. And targeting people on social platforms is even easier for hackers. All they have to do is create a post tailored to users' interests and include a link. With so much personal information readily available, users will most likely click on it. This type of phishing scam is called spear phishing and can be very effective. Spear phishing can also happen after creating fake accounts. Social media users frequently accept friend requests from people they don’t know, making it easier for hackers. After the user accepts the friend request, scammers can send a link via a direct message and because you’re friends, many users will click on the link.

Staying Safe Online

a girl taking a selfie with a boy while they both holding up peace signs

However, it's one thing to be aware of these potential hacks but even better to take precautionary measures to prevent them. Apart from being wary of what you post online, you can also enable 2-factor authentication (2FA), a feature available on almost every mainstream social platform. 2FA requires you to answer a question or enter a code after entering your password. This extra signup step makes it harder for cybercriminals to access your account. And it’s why many password managers use it to secure your passwords, Pass Wizard included.

But even if you take all the necessary precautions, hacks can still happen on social media. Not just from individual hackers but also from big corporations as everything you share is public. And advertisers can sell, buy, and use your data, whether you realize it or not. So, while the friendly nature of social media is attractive, it invites plenty of security risks. However, we created our new social platform, DENREI, with cyber security in mind. Unlike traditional social platforms, your data is never sold or shared, making all the information you share private.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#2fa #advertisers #cyber #cybersecurity #data #denrei #hacking #hacks #online #onlinesafety #passwizard #phishing #privacy #safetyonline #security #sellingdata #socialmedia #spearphishing #tech #technology

Announcement: Spoof Filtering Update

Jul

21

As we announced earlier this week, we have been working hard to fix the issue of email spoofing*. We are happy to announce that we have updated our spoof filtering within our email hosting service, Dreamersi. To enable this new spoof filtering update:

screenshot of spam filtering in Dreamersi

1. Login to your Dreamersi account
2. Click "Spam Filter"
3. Click "Sender Filter"
4. Check "Spoof Filtering"
5. Click "Save" at the bottom

Once enabled, spoofed emails (which appear as emails sent from you but are actually sent by others) will go to your spam folders. You will then see them in you Spam Summary as shown below:
screenshot of spam summary with spoof filter enabled

screenshot of spam summary with spoof filter enabled

Thank you for choosing Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. and Dreamersi for your hosting needs.

*Email spoofing is a form of cyber attack in which a hacker sends an email that has been manipulated to seem as if it originated from a trusted source. Email spoofing is a popular tactic used in phishing and spam campaigns because people are more likely to open an email when they think it has been sent by a known sender. The goal of email spoofing is to trick recipients into opening or responding to the message. (source: techtarget.com)

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#announcement #blog #dreamersi #email #emailhosting #emailspoofing #pacificsoftwarepublishinginc #pspinc #spam #spamfilter #spamsummary #spoofing #tech #technology #tutorial #update #webhosting

PSPINC What's New Newsletter Vol. 125 "Starting a Business"

Jul

21

Starting and building a business isn’t always the easiest thing to do. But it’s easier if you start with one thing first. For example, Pacific Software Publishing Inc. (PSPINC) got its start introducing already-established U.S. software to Japan. Since then, we’ve expanded to create our own proprietary software. And now, PSPINC sells products and services all to help small businesses grow online. And that initial focus has also given us a specialty in localizing software for our customers in Japan. And we’re not the only company that’s done this.

Take Amazon for example. Customers can find almost anything on Amazon nowadays. But did you know it actually started as a small bookstore? Slowly, over time, Amazon started selling other products until it became what it is today. Focusing on one thing allows your business to build up a loyal audience, which will make your future marketing efforts easier in the long run.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #branding #business #businesstips #digitalmarketing #dreamersi #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #products #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #services #smallbusiness #tech #technology

What is “Big Data”?

Jul

19

Big data is exactly what it sounds like: an enormous, exponentially growing amount of data. Data versus big data really comes down to three factors known as the three V's: volume, velocity, and variety. Volume refers to the sheer amount of data. Velocity, however, looks at how fast it generates. Lastly, variety includes structured (numerical data), semi-structured (machine-generated documents and data in a no-SQL database), and unstructured data (text and image files). But over the last few years, two more V's have emerged: value and veracity. They involve determining how accurate your data is, how much you can rely on it, and what kind of value you can gather from it.

The Benefits of Big Data

a business woman pumping her fist int the air while holding a piece of paper sitting in front of a laptop

Big data is, like the name suggests, big. But it means nothing if you can’t derive value from it. Cleaning, curating, and preparing data for clients takes up a significant amount of time. But in the end, valuable data remains prime for companies to use to their advantage. So, it’s no surprise that data is behind some of the world's biggest companies' success. Those companies have figured out how to use their data to develop products better, improve customer experiences, and drive innovation.

For example, Spotify and Netflix look at what their customers listen to or watch and use that data to determine what else they might like. Then, they can recommend content based on predictive models created from collected data. Businesses can also gather an immense amount of data from social media, website visits, call logs, and other customer actions to analyze how they interact with the company. Then, they can use it to see where they can improve. And that includes enhancing their overall efficiency and identifying new ways to drive innovation.

How Big Data is Changing

a finger pointing at a dark screen with a bunch of numbers

As great as big data is, the real challenge comes in keeping up with it. Year after year, newly developed technologies emerge to help store all that data. But data volumes continue to increase exponentially. Because of that, organizations struggle keeping up with the accelerating pace. And it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. But when businesses can find relevant meaning behind all that data, that can lead to true success.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#bigdata #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customerfeedback #customerservice #data #innovation #marketing #netflix #smallbusiness #socialmedia #softwaredevelopment #spotify #tech #technology #update #web #webdevelopment #websites #webtools

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 124 “Simplifying Sales Cycles”

Jul

14

When selling products, it’s essential to always think about the sales cycle from the customer’s point of view. Many content management systems (CMS) have built-in or additional features that make it easy to set up a payment portal. But you can still inadvertently make the purchasing experience complicated or too invasive. For example, if users have to get through too many pages before they get to the end, they’ll likely bail midway. Or if you’re asking for personal information that customers don’t think is necessary, they won’t be willing to share it. Instead, they'll shop elsewhere.

While the purchasing stage of the overall customer journey may seem simple to you as the business owner or developer, it doesn’t mean it’s easy for the customer. If you’re unsure how easy it is to purchase something from your site, try it out! Act like a customer by going to your website. Then try purchasing your product. If there are too many steps in the process, get rid of some. If the questions are too personal, take them out because, odds are, you probably won’t need them. So, when selling a product on your website, pay special attention to how the customer will go through the sales cycle. Then, eliminate everything that could cause a customer to abandon the process and simplify it everywhere you can.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #ecommerce #marketing #marketingdigital #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #tech #technology #webdesign #webdevelopment #website #websitebuilder

PSPINC Official Company Blog

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The Difference Between Sales and Marketing

Marketing Professionals and Salespeople

Sales and Marketing Working Together

How Voice Assistants Are Changing Marketing

How It Affects Marketing

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 127 “Boosting Employee Morale”

How to Create a Brand

PSPINC What's New Newsletter Vol. 126 "Business Competition"

Social Media Security Concerns

Over-Sharing Information

Phishing Scams

Staying Safe Online

Announcement: Spoof Filtering Update

PSPINC What's New Newsletter Vol. 125 "Starting a Business"

What is “Big Data”?

The Benefits of Big Data

How Big Data is Changing

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 124 “Simplifying Sales Cycles”

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