Digital audio books and audio book downloads are becoming increasingly popular. In fact, a recent study by the Audio book Publishers Association estimated audio book sales at approximately $925 Million. With the recent sale of audio book publisher Audible to Amazon.com for nearly $300 Million it would appear continued growth is on the horizon.Recent technology advancements are certainly driving this trend such as the ever popular Ipod and other mp3 players.Could there be more to the appeal of digital audio books than a multi-tasking world and a GLAM Ipod?I would suggest that perhaps there is a much greater appeal than the obvious conveniences and portability of audio books. Could the ancient art of “Storytelling” be making a digital comeback? From our earliest days drawing on the walls of caves and gathering around campfires throughout the centuries the Art of telling stories has always been a central and vital focus.Every culture has its own stories,myths, traditions, and legends. The “storyteller” was often in a revered position.The story tellers have always been giving hoping to share, inspire, educate, entertain, and make their listeners happy.While the oral tradition appears to have gone digital, the subtle nuances of the human voice and the power of the spoken word give a fuller meaning to the stories or other information being shared. The volume, rate, tone, softness, contrast, and pitch can all be varied and have a great connecting effect much more than a written text. Through the vividness of the voice It is easier to feel emotionally closer to the story, the characters, and the author.Isn’t it true that the stories we first heard as children were someone reading or telling us a story?I think it is the unique connection with the author or narrators voice in audio books that make the difference. When listening to an audio book you can just relax and get into the flow of the story without having to actively read and concentrate. It is like having a conversation with a close friend. These are just a few of the reasons that audio books are and will continue to be popular.While appearance of digital audio book technology has changed the tools available to storytellers one of the most precious things about being human is our ability to tell and listen to stories!
How to Improve Your Success in Sales Telemarketing Calls
Whether you are managing a team of sales professionals or you are a telemarketer who hopes to increase your commissions, knowing the basic elements of a successful sales telemarketing call can help you close more sales with new and existing clients. By understanding how phone conversations can meet customer needs that other means of communication cannot, you can ensure that you are meeting and surpassing expectations each time you connect with a prospective client.Creating a personal connection matters. By letting potential customers know you are interested in their feedback and willing to work with them to help fulfill their needs, you can differentiate yourself from the competition. On every call, from your initial outreach to a short call for a reorder, try to ask as many open ended questions as you can. Follow your customer’s lead and allow them to tell you how they want to be helped and which services you can offer will best fit their needs.Do your best to answer any questions they ask as completely as possible. Again, one of the surest ways to make customers happy is to make them feel like they are valued and heard. If a customer asks a question you cannot answer, tell them honestly that you do not know but that you will find out. Most will be surprised if you call back within the next few hours or days with a detailed answer. It is these small courtesies upon which lasting relationships are built. If a sales representative can establish themselves as the first person a client calls with a product question, you will likely start to see more of their business coming your way.Most importantly, have something valuable to say each time you pick up the phone. Though it is important to keep in touch with your best clients, do not call if you have no new information to give them. By ensuring that each time they speak to you they will be learning something new, you will increase the chances that they continue to take your calls regularly.To improve your skill at closing sales telemarketing calls, you need to practice your listening skills as much as your closing skills.
10 World Wonders Of Modern Architecture
The end of the XXth century was marked with the architectural boom. Grand erections similar to ancient constructions classified as the wonders of the world began to arise one by one all over the globe. Many of them became the places of tourist pilgrimage even while not being completed. Ten of such projects have already gained the worldwide fame.Great Egyptian museum in Giza.Great Egyptian museum in Giza is about the same architectural wonder as the Giza pyramids themselves. As a matter of fact, it is the basis of architectural development of modern civilization. It is a massive row of chambers enfolding the scenery, with triangular roofs like in pyramids. The space of the largest archaeological museum in the world exceeds thousands of square meters.The Tate Modern art gallery in London.The Tate Modern art gallery in London is the largest-scale gallery in the world. And now the construction of the second 11-story glass building with 23 thousand square meters of space has been started. It is planned to complete the construction in time for the 2012 Olympics. The use of new areas will allow to solve the problem of over-crowding of the gallery that was visited by 4.9 million people in the year 2006.
The cost of the project, designed by Swiss architects, is 215 million pound sterling. The expenses for extension to gallery are expected to be comparable to the main construction bill.Burj Dubai.The skyscraper in United Arab Emirates pretends to be the tallest building in the world.
There will be the fastest elevators and the “highest” communications. When the construction is completed the final height of Burj Dubai will be more than 700 meters, it will have more than 160 floors. Now the builders work at 484.1 meters height. Interestingly: the weight of concrete used in building construction equals approximately the summarized weight of 100 thousand elephants.Simon Wiesenthal Museum in Jerusalem. Simon Wiesenthal Center suggested an idea to create the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem in the year 2002. Famous American architect Frank Gehry developed the model of museum complex. It is situated on the plot of land between “Gan Ha’atzmaut” park and Nahlat Shiva in the West Jerusalem. 120 million dollars were invested in this construction. The museum that is officially called ” Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem” occupies the territory of 14 thousand square meters. It has been built from Hierosolymitan stone with the insertions of titanium allays that is Gehry’s favourite construction material.The third terminal of the Capital International Airport in Peking.The country that builds the biggest dam, the longest bridge and the greatest shopping mall just ought to have the most immense construction plot while erecting the largest airport terminal in the hugest airport. The future third terminal will occupy 17 tiers, will stretch for nearly 4 kilometres, will require 35 thousand builders and will be capable of handling 53 million passengers in a year.Olympic stadium in Peking. Huge complex will be constructed by the year 2008. Its sizes are impressive: 330 metres lengthwise, 220 metres widthwise, with 62 meters in height, it will hold a 100 thousand persons. Though it is still unclear whether there will be as many lavatories there as for example in the famous Wembley stadium.Ground Zero Memorial in New York.Ground Zero is the memorial on the site of the former World Trade Center towers destroyed during terrorist attacks on the 11th of September. The huge construction with the slabs on which all the witnesses and sympathizers sign, now yields in size only to Holocaust memorial. The Tower of Freedom will be as tall as 1776 foots – 541 meters.MAXXI – National Museum for Contemporary Art in Rome.Zaha Hadid, the only one lady-architect in the world who won the Pritzker Prize, has designed MAXXI – the Roman Centre for Contemporary Art, it is a sophisticated concrete erection that simultaneously impresses with extravagance and monumentality. It is impossible to measure the length of the building since it has an extremely odd shape; it is even compared to spaghetti.CCTV – the Chinese Television building in Peking.CCTV – the Chinese Central Television building – is to be completed by the year 2008. This building – the skyscraper – is impressive due to its unusual shape. Chinese television head quarter will have 500.000 square meters of total space and will become one of the 300 skyscrapers that are to be constructed in the down town of Peking. The estimated cost of the project is 600.000.000 euros. Its infrastructure includes restaurants, hotels and theatres.The Bishopsgate Tower in London.It is another skyscraper of unusual configuration. Today it is the largest construction in London’s history. Its height is going to be 288 meters – it was originally proposed to be 307, but civil aviation authority prohibited such height. The tower will become one of the tallest buildings in the whole Europe. Recently the project was renamed The Pinnacle. The date of the construction first phase is planned for the beginning of the year 2008. The building will also be ecological – it will be covered with the solar cell panels.
Telemarketing Turning to Internet Marketing
Telemarketing is a business format that has been in place for a long time and the direct marketing business model started in the 1950s. While the basic telemarketing format has stayed the same for many years, the recent laws governing it have made it necessary for companies to branch out into other means of doing business. The telemarketing industry has turned to other ways of generating income, such as the use of internet marketing.The earliest forms of it were generally used to sell magazine subscriptions to customers through the phone, using a system of database marketing. Gradually, more and more soliciting was done over the phone, until it got to the point that telemarketing calls were being made at all hours of the day and evening.At this point, the government stepped in and started invoking laws for direct marketing so that the telemarketing companies were not able to call as often. This was good for customers, but of course, it was bad for the telemarketing companies.Some of the laws that were imposed on the telemarketing companies encompassed things such as the time when they could call, being required to stop calling if someone asked to be removed from the call list, and introducing the national do not call registry. This enabled people to take themselves off of any telemarketing list, making it illegal to call them for any kind of solicitation.With so many people taking themselves off of the solicitation lists, the telemarketing companies have had to turn to other means of income generation to keep themselves in business. Now, many telemarketing companies are turning to online marketing to keep turning a profit.With the new laws surrounding it, companies are forced to change the way they approach telemarketing sales. Outbound telemarketing is no longer in as much use as it was in the past, yet some companies use both the phone and the internet to bring people in. They call people and set up internet appointments for a better time.Still other companies are changing from database marketing companies to internet marketing companies. They can either have people call from home as a home business, or they can change to online marketing completely. Having people call from home is a great way for telemarketing companies to keep costs low. With less overhead it is easier for them to make money and stay in business.As you can see, internet marketing is starting to play a much larger role in the world of telemarketing. Some companies have completely switched to the internet as a means of saving business costs by having people call from home through a virtual call center. Other marketing professional companies are changing their focus completely to address the new interests of today’s society. Overall, the world of it and direct marketing is changing and will never be the same again.