How to Start a Career in Marketing

Marketing is a continually hot field. No matter how technology changes other industries, there will always be companies with something to sell and they'll need savvy professionals to bring their products and services to the public's attention. That's the essence of marketing. Follow these steps to start a career in this lucrative profession.

1. Step 1

   Consider your education. In a competitive marketplace, businesses have more than enough candidates to choose from with at least a Bachelors degree. You would be hard pressed to find a position in marketing without a basic BA degree. Reputable schools can be found in most cities and a Bachelors degree will pay for itself over and over.

2. Step 2

   Volunteer or intern during your summer vacation or the first few months out of school. You will gain invaluable experience and work history for your resume.

3. Step 3

   Polish your resume, highlighting any practical experience and marketing specific classes you have taken. In lieu of practical experience, refer to the class projects, volunteer programs and marketing plans you completed in class.

4. Step 4

   Create a portfolio of your best college and paid work. Highlight the best writing samples, mock advertisements, research projects and collateral materials you worked on. Lean heavily towards the area you want to consider. For example, show several copywriting pieces if you would like to get into a professional writing position. Alternately, choose advertisements you have designed if you would like a graphic arts position.

5. Step 5

   Take advantage of the alumni connections from your college or university. Are there any alumni working at a firm you'd like to work at? Would any of them grant you an informational interview? Utilize the placement office as well who will have plenty of information on interviewing, your job search and hiring firms.

6. Step 6

   Search out a small firm which is an excellent jumping off point early in your career. You'll be a big fish in a little pond which gives you lots of experience on a variety of projects. You will wear many hats so your resume will fill quickly.

7. Step 7

   Network, network, network. Collect contacts all throughout your career, not just when you are job hunting. Always have a business card on you and ask for others. Keep in touch on a regular basis. You will most likely run across the same people over and over again. Make friends with people both higher and lower than you on the food chain.

8. Step 8

   Continue your education. Marketing never stays static. Go to seminars or conferences to determine new avenues of marketing and to discuss trends. Learn computer programs as they change and evolve.

U.S. news World news Politics Business Stocks & economy U.S. business World business Autos Real estate Retail Careers Personal finance Small business

NEW YORK - Specialty coffee retailers, now including the nation’s biggest hamburger chain, are hoping new ad campaigns and price cuts that start this week will entice more latte lovers to take a sip.

McDonald’s Corp. on Tuesday began a more than $100 million marketing campaign including TV, radio, print, online and outdoor ads for its McCafe line of espresso drinks. The drinks are now being rolled out to the chain’s 14,000 U.S. locations.

The ads portray the drinks as the antidote to a miserable day and aim to get consumers to see the beverages as affordable, quality alternatives to lattes at more gourmet chains like Starbucks Corp.

“We think that the timing is right,” said McDonald’s USA President Don Thompson. “We think the opportunity is right.”

Just two days earlier, Starbucks ran — on a full page in the Sunday New York Times — the first ad of its new campaign, which positions its drinks as higher in quality than the competition and less pricey than consumers might expect.

Starbucks sales have slid as consumers bypass lattes and other small luxuries to save money.

The company has been trying to appeal more to value-conscious consumers to bring sales back up and announced Tuesday it will sell grande iced coffees for $1.95 — 25 cents to 45 cents less than usual. Most of the chain’s prices vary by location, but all company-owned stores will sell grande iced coffees for $1.95 through June 29.

Jean-Pierre Dube, professor of marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said it is “extremely important” for McDonald’s to advertise their new drinks right now during the recession because they cost slightly less than others in the sector.

McDonald’s and Starbucks aren’t the only ones trying to bring in customers through ads or price cuts.

Dunkin’ Donuts said Monday its New York, New Jersey and Connecticut locations are rolling back latte prices about 15 percent.

A small hot latte will now cost $1.99, down from $2.59 on average, and a small iced latte will be $2.49, down from $2.79.

Flavors like vanilla or hazelnut can be added at no extra charge, the company said.

Dunkin’ is also offering its Chicago customers small lattes — hot or iced, with flavors added or without — for 99 cents beginning May 11 through June 20. Dunkin’ Donuts is owned by Dunkin’ Brands Inc., which also owns Baskin’ Robbins. Dunkin’ Brands is owned by Bain Capital, The Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners.

Shares of Starbucks fell 10 cents to $14.14 in afternoon trading while shares of McDonald’s rose 59 cents to $53.36.

Housing market in 2009 could be mixed bag

Summing up the 2008 housing market, Glenn Crellin, was succinct:

"Challenging at best," said the director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University. "We clearly have a situation where consumers have exited the market, rightly or wrongly, on the presumption that housing prices are going to fall precipitously and they'll be able to get tremendous bargains if they wait."

Will they?

Truth be told, that's too simple a question. Too many things that affect housing are in play for there to be a simple answer. Foremost among them are the deepening recession, the condition of the mortgage market, and the new administration's plans to stimulate the economy.

Here's a look at what 2008 brought and 2009 may bring.

Home prices

After a year like we've had, predicting 2008 appreciation in advance — and getting it right — was akin to pinning a bull's eye on a bucking bronco. Take King County's home appreciation, for example. There were many months when home prices were down but condo prices were up, or when prices declined two months in a row but at wildly differing rates, Northwest Multiple Listing Service numbers show.

But overall, through October, the median resale price of houses and condos together is down 2.2 percent. New-construction prices are down 4.3 percent, says Matthew Gardner, a principal in Gardner Johnson, a Seattle land-use economics firm.

Last year at this time, he predicted 2008 housing prices would drop up to 5 percent. (When this year's final numbers come in, they'll show widely differing price declines depending on neighborhood and home price range.)

Going forward, Gardner says, "we'll be in a V-shaped year on prices."

"The first half of the year we'll continue to see declines," he says. "The second half of the year we'll start seeing a bit of an upward trend."

In all, Gardner says, he wouldn't be surprised if Seattle-area housing prices remain essentially flat — something that would actually be good news in some parts of the country.

What could make them turn around again? A stronger local economy that doesn't have people wondering if they'll lose their job is a huge part of it, he says. Lower mortgage-interest rates coupled with good mortgage availability are also factors.

Gardner says he hopes that the first 100 days of the Obama administration will offer a strong housing-stimulus package.

"We're in a crisis of confidence as much as anything else," Gardner says. If we start seeing confidence coming back, I think we'll be one of the forerunners (in housing recovery)."

Mortgages

In August 2007 the country's credit markets froze, and mortgage money all but vanished. Home sales shrank.

"Going into this time last year, we in the industry were wondering how long and far-reaching the effects would be felt," recalls Rich Bennion, executive vice president and residential-lending director of Seattle-based HomeStreet Bank.

Now he knows the answer.

"This year turned out worse than anyone expected. It became more than just a mortgage crisis," Bennion says. "It became a worldwide credit situation. Who really expected Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be taken over by the government?"

And then there were the failures of financial giants Washington Mutual and Lehman Brothers.

"It was a year full of surprises, and not very pleasant ones," he says.

Going forward, Bennion is cautiously optimistic. The best news, he says, is the federal government's recent announcement that it will buy mortgage-backed securities.

That should help inject more money into the mortgage market, making loans easier to get. Plus, interest rates have been dropping. When they recently hit 5 percent — and it's being predicted they'll go lower — that put them back to 2003 levels.

"Median home prices have dropped," Bennion says. "You combine that with very, very low interest rates, and it kind of feels like we're at or close to the bottom of the real-estate cycle."

Home sales

2007 wasn't a great year for sales, and as it ended, Lawrence Yun, senior economist for the National Association of Realtors predicted we'd see about the same number of home sales in 2007 and 2008. That prediction, it turns out, was much too optimistic.

Locally the number of single-family-home sales declined every month year over year until September, Northwest Multiple Listing Service data shows.

"It looked like it had stabilized," recalls Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. "Then the October shock hit when the stock market went down. Consumer confidence went to an all-time low in October. That was a big surprise."

But for those who have stable employment, "the economic turbulence is creating opportunity," he says.

"People have an opportunity to get a home they want in an area they want at a phenomenally low interest rate," Scott says. "That's a big deal. And they're not buying in a multiple-offer situation with premium pricing."

Scott thinks entry-level house prices (basically $500,000 and under in Seattle) have stabilized, so there may be no advantage to waiting.

In the mid- and upper-price ranges, "some people are waiting to see what's happening," Scott says, but even if those prices continue to decline, owners who sell at a reduced price also are likely to buy at a reduced price, so it's a wash.

Looking forward, he is hopeful that the Obama administration will quickly pass a stimulus plan that will give the economy, and home sales, a boost.

Foreclosures

With a record one in 10 U.S. homeowners in trouble with their mortgage (at least a month behind or in foreclosure, according to a recent Mortgage Bankers Association study), the obvious question is, "When will the worst be over?"

Many people have predicted that will happen when the majority of subprime mortgages have reset to higher and potentially unaffordable interest rates. That forces some owners to take steps. Maybe it's selling, or refinancing, or worst-case scenario, losing the home to foreclosure.

But Sam Khater, senior economist at First American CoreLogic, a mortgage-tracking firm in California, says it's not so simple.

"Home-price declines are currently the biggest driver of foreclosure trends, and that's overwhelming every other factor," Khater says.

Falling prices are putting increasing numbers of owners under water. Owners in that situation, meaning they owe more than their homes are worth, are simply walking away.

Khater says predicting when foreclosures will ebb is a tough call.

"It's better to look at conditions that would make it right for a turnaround," he says. "When the supply and demand come into equilibrium, that's when home prices will stop falling and stabilize, and that will help stabilize the foreclosure market to some extent."

But with the U.S. a year into a recession, and 2009 not predicted to be a pullout year, Khater says he isn't holding his breath that the worst is over.

Renting

As 2007 ended, Mike Scott, of Dupre + Scott Apartment Advisors, said renters should see rents rise and stiffer competition for apartments. The reasons: Tight mortgage lending was keeping many renters from becoming homeowners. Plus, many would-be buyers were taking a wait-and-see attitude toward home prices.

Well, some of that happened. Central Puget Sound rents climbed 7 percent in the past year, Scott said. Going forward, it would seem like the same factors Scott cited for this year would be in play again for 2009. But the apartment situation has changed considerably.

For 2009 and 2010, Scott expects that vacancies will grow, but rents won't. However, the economy is deteriorating so rapidly that it's hard to say exactly what that means. In September, Scott forecast that vacancies would reach almost 6 percent by early 2010. Then this month, he revised that upward to 7.3 percent.

Job losses decrease apartment demand because renters double up — one reason vacancies are expected to climb.

The other big one is an increase in apartment construction.

Scott says 2,620 units opened this year in 20-unit or larger buildings in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. That's about 500 more than had been predicted.

Currently, 8,900 units are under construction. Additionally, some buildings planned as condominiums may become apartments instead, and some apartments formerly converted to condos are being reconverted into apartments.

New Internet Marketing Opportunities Through RSS

When it comes to new internet marketing opportunities for your business, RSS just might be the answer you were looking for. Here are just some of the new opportunities it can provide you with ?

1. Podcasting and Videocasting

Podcasting (delivering internet audio content) and Videocasting (delivering internet video content) allow you to communicate via rich media messages, not only making your content more attractive and powerful, but also enabling a more personal ?conversation? with your audiences.

Up until know, the internet was predominantly a textual channel. Adding audio and video to the mix, delivering both via RSS, goes beyond the basic capabilities provided by ?traditional? internet content delivery channels. 
Rich media personalizes the internet experience and gives your company a distinguishable face, while at the same time providing you with a media platform to convey your message so that it is easier to understand, see and feel.

Think about ...

• Delivering press releases in audio or video
• Sending your customers a personal video message from the CEO
• Doing audio interviews to expand your reach and provide more content to your visitors
• Delivering video demonstrations of your products
• Using video and audio to demonstrate how your customers and readers can easily resolve various issues that you are helping them with
• Delivering important messages to your readers, customers and business partners via a more personal audio experience, instead of using impersonal e-mail communications
• And so on ...

In addition, Podcasting and Videocasting form the basis of new business models, giving you the opportunity to expand your product base to include these formats with higher perceived value.

Customer education & support are improved as well, since you can now demonstrate key product usage points via online video  providing customer support content in a format, which can easily demonstrate everything you need to convey to your customers.

2. High Frequency Content Updates

High frequency content updates, even on a daily or hourly basis, are now finally possible with RSS. No more need to hold on your important messages, news and other content for a week or even a month to include it in your e-zine --- with RSS you can update your content as often as you want/need, and your subscribers won't mind.

3. Appcasting

Appcasting goes one step further, giving you the ability to deliver critical software updates and patches to your existing clients, without them having to visit your web site every week to see if the much needed update is already available or not.

4. Product News, Releases And Updates

Product news, releases and updates are now finally possible in an easy-to-consume way. Using RSS, you can provide your customers or prospects with simple tools to create their own ?product feeds?, through which they'll be immediately notified when new products that precisely match their interests are available.

As soon as your product portfolio changes, so does the content in the RSS feeds that your customers are subscribed to.

Just think of the following possibilities ...

--> The search tool is one of the most often used in larger web stores, giving your visitors an easy way to find the products they are interested. But the same search results can be delivered via RSS as well. Imagine your customer doing a search for one of your product categories, and then also receiving a link to the RSS feed for those very same search results, to find out immediately when a new product matching his terms is released or available for order.

--> This works for complex searches as well. If your customers are in the habit of searching for specific product categories, but only in a specific price range, you can deliver those very same results to them via RSS, but with a small twist ---> as soon as a new product matching their terms, including the desired price, is launched, they are notified about it via RSS instantly. No need to visit your site again to do the time-consuming search; the release comes directly to them.

--> Of course, the same approach that many are already using for e-mail alerts can be used for RSS. Give your visitors a simple form using which they enter their criteria, and then give them access to an RSS feed bringing them product updates based exactly on their criteria. Why not just use e-mail? Because no one really wants more e-mail messages in their inboxes and no one wants to give away their personal information, while RSS is anonymous, doesn't require an e-mail address and is read when the customer decides he has the time.

5. Personalized Content Services

Personalized/customized database listings are quite similar to product updates, but relate to any kind of complex information you provide to your visitors, such as ?

• Job listings
• Dating
• Real estate
• Etc.

Using RSS, your visitors can decide exactly what kind of ?content? (in this case, an individual content item could be a new job listing) they are looking for and then have that content delivered directly to them, via their own personalized RSS feed.

And yet, all of these are just some examples of what you can do with RSS. The possibilities for new content delivery & business development models are quite endless.

For example, some companies are already giving their visitors the opportunity to track their FedEx, UPS and other packages via RSS feeds. Yet others are creating new services that allow you to receive critical information from an RSS feed to your mobile phone via SMS (such as getting an SMS notifying you that a new job matching your criteria is available). Yet again other sites enable you to keep track of when you need to return your library material, and even when your holds are ready and when they are about to expire, all this using RSS.

All of these are new business opportunities made possible with RSS, and each of them in a way improves lives of end-users, without placing a larger burden (more e-mail messages) on them.