Employer Branding - Becoming the People's Choice

The development of a company brand to create trust between the business and consumers has consistently been a high priority, not only for the companies themselves, but for the marketers and agencies charged with the responsibility of conveying such a message. A well known and respected brand can create a loyal customer following who are dedicated to the company and the products that it offers. Just look how Apple has dominated the mobile market with a strong marketing focus on the dual goals of brand and product development.


The benefits of branding have simply not stopped here. Businesses now realise that the value, quality and trust associated with a company influences the demand for employment opportunities within the firm, creating a direct correlation to the quality and quantity of prospective employees striving to gain employment within that particular company. Being a recent extension of the marketing paradigm, employer branding is the latest buzzword that describes the perceptions which the general public has of an organisation as an employer. These perceptions have been acknowledged as one of the key strategies for firms in attracting and retaining suitably qualified and experienced staff in an increasingly competitive environment. With the expansion of the global marketplace and the advances in communication technology, some industries are battling for talent far and wide. As businesses continue to drive value-added policies and increasing productive capacities, the skills and management of the human resource base is becoming the key competitive advantage itself.


So why develop employer branding? In today's competitive marketplace that is associated with rising costs of sourcing and hiring qualified staff, wouldn't it be great if the public perception of your business, its personality and culture, were conducive for potential employees seeking you out? This is what employer branding can achieve for your business. Utilising your employees as your strongest brand advocates and ambassadors requires the involvement of the entire organisation in adopting and communicating the message that your business is where prospective employee's future careers lie. However, shaping or reinforcing an employer brand does not happen overnight, or the result of a single action...but the results are certainly worth it.


The benefits of engaging in such a programme are innumerable. With a growing shortage and increasing competition for skilled workers, those companies that are well respected within the business community will have no problem in attracting and retaining quality staff. Those staff, through their experience and expertise, will be able to produce tangible results for the company through increased productivity and bottom line results. Furthermore, smaller organisations can also benefit from engaging in employer branding by becoming an 'employer of choice', where individuals will sacrifice short term gains and higher wages offered by larger competitors, for a rewarding career path.

How a Little Known Technique Can Produce Consistent, Sometimes Massive, Auction Profits

Buy low sell high is a mantra that is often associated with investing in financial instruments such as stocks, bonds and currency. In the global economy another opportunity that often presents itself in the financial markets is arbitrage.


Arbitrage is defined as:


- a transaction in which an investor buys commodities, funds, mortgages, futures contracts, mortgage-backed securities or other securities in one market and simultaneously sells them in a different market in order to profit from differences in price between the two markets.
-or-
- A method of taking advantage of the fact that there may be different prices in different markets for identical goods such as gold, foreign exchange or commodities. Simultaneously, one buys in the lower price market and sells in the higher one.


Interestingly enough, with enough research you can and will find arbitrage opportunities that exist on auction sites such as eBay. Did you know that the internet pharmacy craze sweeping the globe was born out of an arbitrage opportunity?


In fact, a small town pharmacist turned virtually an overnight millionaire after stumbling upon an arbitrage opportunity found with Nicorette Chewing Gum. Nicorette Chewing Gum is a stop smoking aid that supposedly helps people kick the habit by chewing nicotine laced gum. It all started with a test. He found that a pack of Nicorette Chewing Gum was selling for approximately $5-$7 less in Canada than in the United States. At the time, the Canadian/US exchange rate was also extremely favorable to Americans. Buying $1 worth of Canadian goods only cost Americans 65 cents. In the case of Nicorette Gum this amounted to a double- whammy of a deal for Americans. Combine this with a huge demand in the United States...this small town Canadian tested his way into a huge money making business.


What started out to be a low risk test...buy a pack of Nicorette Gum...post it on eBay...see if it sells. Ended up being a 150-200 packs a day seller. The profits were roughly $3-$5 per pack...doing the quick math this was a $200,000 a year business! This is just one example of how you can benefit from arbitrage.


How do you spot these opportunities...RESEARCH! Look for high demand items and price them out in different countries. Find out if you can source them cheaper in your home country to sell in another country. In some cases the exchange rate differential is so great that you could pay retail in your home country and still make a profit by selling into another country.
In the current US/Canadian exchange rate climate I know that cars are a big opportunity. For example, in Canada a 2010 Corvette Coupe sells for $67,050 that exact same car in the United States sells for $48,930. Almost a 20 GRAND difference! Now this opportunity maybe a bit cumbersome for most...but the point is there are many more out there!