Black Is Bold ,Black is Beautiful

                                                                             
In India, beauty and fairness are synonymous terms (though south is an exception but even there also being fair is a respectful idea ).Indians don’t only have fad for fair color

But in fact they are mad for it, not only females but also males aspire to be fair (that’s why someone like Shahrukh khan needs to endorse fairness cream for male). You take up a matrimonial and a very common sentence  which you will comes across is wanted a fair, beautiful blah blah blah bride for a blah blah blah.In a country where being fair is almost the first requisite for being beautiful having a dark complexion is nothing less than an anathema (at least it holds true for the female specie).

But there is a paradox, while the middle class and the lower class do crave badly for fair color the higher echelon of the society negates this presumption, if one will carefully study bollywood one will definitely see
that if a comparison being done between dark skinned actress and fair skinned ones the darker race will definitely out number it’s fairer counterpart.Not only actress like Konkana sensharma or Nandita das who are more into art house cinema rather than being with commercial genre have got earthy looks but in the present scenario some of the most successful commercial actresses like Priyanka chopra, Deepika padukone ,Sameera reddy, Bipasha basu ,Asin are dark skinned. Then we have got someone like Lara dutta and Amrita rao who are though not dark but are of wheatish complexion .Well there is still no dearth of fair looking actresses like Ashwariya rai,Sushmita sen ,Vidya balan etc but with the large no of dark skinned actress present right now we can surely say that the old saying that beauty and fairness synonymous t doesn’t match the ground reality, not only in bollywood but even in the modeling world some dark skinned models have achieved the sky,be it Ujjwala raut(the model who went international),Shweta menon or Indrani dasgupta(my favorite) .

So what has become so special with this dark complexion that suddenly it has become so fashionable? One thing is surely the fact that dark complexion is somehow more sexier than the fair one, at least I believe so. Who else can forget hot and dusky Bipasha flashing her skin in Jism or sensual Sameera reddy coming out of water in a white bikni in race. Even in the time of 70’s and 80’s both the so called sex sirens ie Jinat aman and Parveen babi where dusky but the most important reason lies in the fact that the world around us is changing, at least the youth is . The gen x is ready to experiment,they are ready to break the norm,no more are they interested in restricting themselves to the same old adages, for them fair is beautiful but so is black. The new generation definitely has got a very diversified taste where complexion no more matters ,what does matter is your attitude and the way you are presenting yourself, if you have got the right mixture of style, confidence and presentation you will surely have a space to carve your niche. Not only have the audience changed but so have these actresses and model who are an integral part of this confident and vibrant GEN X.The way in which they are representing themselves with the cock tail of style, smartness and attitude definitely helps in quadrupling there beauty let’s hope that this very same freshness and newness which had swarmed the upper echelons of the society must percolate down to the wider mass.it’s evening time.Just say Amen

Mahabharata & new age Managers

                                                                      
In the upcoming blog the author will try to describe five different types of new age managers based on five extremely vibrant characters from the Indian epic Mahabharata.

1> Duryodhana:- Duryodhana defines blind ambition, the ambitions of Duryodhana was so high that he was almost mad about it. To make things happen he was ready to go to any extent. Managers of this category are irrationally ambitious, and to fulfill there ambition they are ready to stretch to any degree, they have huge amount of energy and to achieve success they can cross any line. Though they have tremendous amount of energy like Duryodhana but such they are often very anxious, arrogant and tough to deal with.

2> Karna:- After Duryodhana the another most vibrant character from mahabharata was Krana, though born with divine origin Karna was born and brought in a low caste family and due to which he was always humilated. He was deprived of his true honor, his ego was hurt at every stage of time and as a result of which he developed a great craving for his ego. Whatever action did he take was taken to satisfy his suppressed ego.Even the high degree of morality and philanothropy did he show was nothing but an after effect of his ego fulfillment desire. Manager under such category are completely ego driven, they are self recognition oriented and whatever they do, they do by keeping themselves in centre. Since such managers are recognition seekers they often make themselves efficient and capable with continuous effort self motivation.

3> Arjuna:- Whether it was Dronacharya or lord Krishna Arjuna had always shown 100% devotion, it was this devotion and focus that made Arjuna one of the finest archer in the world. The manager of this category like Arjuna are extremely devoted and focused. Whatever they do , they do with full commitment and devotion. As a result of this devotion they excel in every field whether study or professional world. Though devoted there is no guarantee that they will be loyal to a particular industry for a very long time,but for the time being are with a company will remain devoted to their job. They are quite predictable and are often a bit boring in their social life.

4> Yudhisther:- Though moderate in his abilities Yudhister is the most morally upright and ethical character of Mahabharata. Managers of this category are not highly efficient "moving on the razor's edge" kind of managers but are always ethical in their approach and are inclined towards CSR kind of activities. Though they don’t live very glamorous life but do command a moderate amount of respect.

5> Bhima:- Bhima was one of the most powerful, energetic & also one of the most casual, careless and aimless character. Managers of this category are extremely talented but are like unguided missiles. until unless they don't channelize their energy nothing much can be expected from them, their energy is more of a burden rather than an asset.

Two Misconceptions that Marketers often have

                                                                              
After coming back to TAPMI the author underwent such a heavy schedule that hardly there was any time left for the blog, but today since there is some spare time the author will like to write a very short blog on two very acute misconceptions that generally marketers have.

1> Considering your personal perception as sacrosanct:- This a very big mistake that many a times marketers do. As individuals we have the tendency to put a lot of emphasis on our personal opinions and then based on our personal opinion we generalize each and every stuff. One must understand that everyone is different and if decisions are made on a single person's opinion then that might end up in blunder, having said this it doesn't mean that a marketer should not be guided by his instinct and opinion but it should always be confirmed with a larger set of people.

2> Being aggressive:- Being an MBA student himself author has recognized the fact that among many MBA students and in many industry circles there is a misconception that marketing and aggressiveness goes hand in hand, and if one wants to succeed as marketer then he needs to be aggressive. In the author's opinion the reality is just the other way round, a marketer should never be aggressive, because nothing can annoyed a customer more than an aggressive and dominating marketer. One must be very down to earth, calm and composed while dealing with the customers. A small amount of aggression might work but it should not look obvious, one must understand that as long as the deal is not finalized the customer is the king and nothing should be done on the part of marketer that might make his future customers feel uncomfortable.

How to Brand yourself among your peers: Few Innovative tips

                                                                     
As management students and working professionals we need to continue our job along with huge bunch of peers. Directly or indirectly our professional life is influenced by our peer group. So it’s very essential that we should maintain a strong brand value in the eyes of our peers. Today in this blog the author will attempt to write a few innovative measures that can help individuals in maintaining a strong brand value in the eyes of their peer. Having said this ,the author will like to clarify that the basic rules of individual branding such as hard work, crisis handling abilities , Socializing abilities ,dependability etc are extremely important for maintaining a good image in the eyes of your peers but along with them if the following few tips are followed then it will be of great help .


• Never try to show off your superiority in front of your peers. This can hamper your brand value like anything. In fact fundamentally one should not even think that he is superior than his peer group . The reason being very simple, a group of peers constitute a set of individuals who have more or less same dimensions of competencies and their cannot be much of a difference between two individuals who share the same professional space.(let’s say two management student studying in the same college, only difference that can happen is that one might be good in one stream and the other might be in something else. So your unwanted bragging of yourself or showing off of your attitude will not do nay favor other than putting the general opinion of your peers against you.

• Having said this does not mean that you should not try to project your positive side . Whenever you feel that there is an opportunity where you can deliver never miss the chance. But again be cautious, only be active where you can be active, don’t try to snoop into stuffs that are not your cup of tea, because that might give you the tag of attention seeker.

• You might have a very interesting idea and you are extremely passionate about it, but before shooting it out in public just think once , is the mass sitting around equally passionate, are they going to take it with interest or will they be reluctant to hear it. One must understand the fact that whenever one speaks something publicly he is using his time as well as the time of others. So it is very essential that one must consider the interest of others. Neglecting the given idea can give you the tag of a bugger.

• Avoid being a rebel. Being a rebellion always sounds fascinating and inspiring, but these things work only in the novels of Ayan Rand. In practical life generally being too rebellion does not work.

• Always try to do few things that can be of common interest to your peers. Example let’s say there is a confusion among your peers regarding the pay appraisal policy of the company and you have got a document that explains it elaborately then rather than keeping it to yourself it is advisable to put it in a public folder or send through a batch mail .This can boost your image like anything.

• Along with regular intellectual stuff that one does ,one must also put equal amount of efforts in general routine stuffs, events, and activities that keep on happening in the work place. Not only the intellectual stuff that one does but also these sweat drenching stuffs are also very obvious in the eyes of your peers. So there is no point neglecting them.

Legalizing of Prostitution as a Trade:Management guru's perspective

                                                                      
Today the author will like to write a blog that deals with a very controversial issue.It is about legalizing Prostitution as a trade.Before the advent of the blog the author will like to clarify the fact that he doesn’t intend to promote or even justify prostitution. The philosophical ground on which the blog is written is that “ If you cannot control something it’s better to accept it”.


From the past many thousand years prostitution had been in practice. Some Historians even claim that it is the oldest trade in the world.Even in the present scenario it’s prevalent everywhere in the world including India ,there are red light areas in the big cities, sophisticated rackets are operated in hotels & hostels, “Badnaam mohallaz"(ill reputed colonies)are in small towns and kothas( house of a prostitute is also known as kothas in India)are in villages. It’s a universal concept in India. Though the idea of legalizing prostitution in India may not be digested well by the self proclaimed puritans and custodians of Indian culture but seen with a managerial & Socio economic perspective there is a very strong reason to support it ( Though in the land of KAMA SUTRA & KUJHRAHO, why should prostitution be prohibited on cultural grounds too, in the land where there had always been a connection between sexuality & spirituality why should expression of sex in any form be a taboo, though these are again valid points but the author will not like to delve into this, the analysis will be purely managerial.)

Procedure of legalization of prostitution:-

• Legalize the process.

• Provide license to prostitutes.

• Practicing it without license should be strictly prohibited.

• Proper sexual education and medical facilities should be provided to prostitutes.

• The entire process should be regulated and a particular code of conduct should be put in practice. Tampering of this by any one whether by the prostitutes or the customer should be a culpable offence.

• Like any other trade prostitution has to be a trade and taxes should be charged accordingly.

• The entire system should be very flexible so that anyone can join & leave the business

• A proper database should be maintained & updated , the entire activity can be taken under the ministry Health/commerce/tourism.

Social benefits:-

• Many a time’s girls and women are forced into the business; once licensing will come into picture no one will be forced. Whoever will come will come with her own interest.

• Hubs of prostitution are always run with the help of close nexus between local mafias,police and political machinery. Once govt. will come into the picture the nexus will become ineffective.

• Proper sexual education can be provided to existing as well as new entrants. This will help in the prevention of sexual diseases.

• Many a times it is seen that prostitutes are sexually and physically assaulted. Once the entire system will come under the govt. ambit, a code of conduct can be set into practice. This will provide insulation to the prostitutes from inhuman behavior.

Economic Benefits:-

• Taxes will help the govt. in making earnings.

• The very same earnings can be spent on providing general health and education facilities to prostitutes and their family members, in distributing free condoms and giving sexual education to them.

• If someone feels like coming out of the trade, she could be rehabitated from the same earning.

• A regulatory frame work will (should) also ensure better fee for prostitutes thus resulting in their well being.

The entire system will not be socially as well as economically beneficial but will also be self-sustaining. Only thing that is needed is a fresh insight into the issue with a practical approach. Rationality must prevail over the tendency of moral policing.

(a>Views here are personal and are not intended to hurt any kind of social, cultural or religious sentiment.
b> Thoug the blog has been written with keeping India in mind but the idea can be used anywhere)

DTMT :Basic Terminologies

                                                                      
The following blog has been written with the intention of explaining the basic terminologies which are used in distribution and supply chain management. Distribution and supply chain management is an integral part of marketing management and the author hopes that the following blog will really be helpful to all the students who are looking forward to take marketing as major. Other students and working professionals can also relate to it.


1> Primary participants:- These are the primary ingredients of any distribution process and are dependent on one another for successful execution of the distribution process. Basically includes Manufacturers, Wholesalers, Retailers & Customers. Primary players take the maximum amount of risk in any distribution process.

2> Specialized participants:- Other than the primary participants there are other businesses that help in facilitating the distribution process, these are known as secondary players. Exp:- Logistics, Warehousing, Information providers, Assemblers, Financers. These are further divided into two parts functional specialist & support specialist.

3> Functional specialists: - These are actively involved in the entire distribution process and help the primary participants in successfully executing their job. Exp:- Logistics, Assemblers, Warehousing, Sequencers etc.

4> Support specialists: - These are not actively involved in the actual distribution process but help in facilitating the distribution process by providing proper support. Exp:- An information provider never plays a direct role in a distribution process but by providing information to help in the purchase of services such as logistics, warehousing ,assembling etc it can support the primary players. Other example includes Financers Insurers, Advertisers etc.

5> Channel structures:-

• Direct selling:- Products /services are sold directly to the customers.

• Central market system:- Produces are sent directly to a central market from where it can be purchased by the customers.

• Multiple channel distribution system:- Commonly used channel arrangement. Consists of more than one channel partner between the manufacturer and the customer.

6> Spin off:- When a dominant player in a channel delegates or subcontracts a part of its functionality to another player ( either for cost advantage or for gaining better expertise ) then this process is known as spin off.

7> Sorting:- Demands are always fluctuating. It varies not only with time but also fluctuates from location to location. Sorting is an broad level concept that aims for designing the distribution channel in such a way that it can fulfill all the time based & geography based fluctuations in demand. Sorting includes Standardization, Accumulation, Allocation & Assortment.

• Standardization:- Collection of uniform products from alternative industries. This is basically performed at the site closer to the manufacturers.

•  Accumulation: - Assembling of standard products in large quantity . This is generally done at places nearer to costumers .

•  Allocation:- Generally similar kind of products are distributed through the same wholesaler. This is known as allocation. Exp:- fruits, grains, seeds etc are similar kind of products and can be sold through the same wholesaler who has required resources such as cold storage, transportation facility etc available with him.

•  Assortment: - Is done at the retailer’s site. It consists of keeping various kinds of products ranging from farm produce to furniture to electronic gadgets in an orderly fashion. Once they are displayed in an orderly fashion customers visit the site and based on their requirements make orders. Thus sorting can satisfy the customer demand in an orderly fashion.

(Author has written the blog for purely theoretical purpose. The blog can be of some help for those people who want to understand the basic idea of supply and distribution management. Though fundamentally intended for MBA students it can also be read by MBA aspirants and working professionals)

5 Socialzing tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

                                                                 

                                                           
If you are an aspiring Entrepreneur then the following piece of writing might be of some help for you .The author has written few points which might be helpful for someone who is an aspiring entrepreneur ,in making strong as well impactful networks.

1> Try to meet more and more no. of  people.

2> Your acquaintance must include people from all kinds of socio economic sphere:-

• Rich & big shot people who has the potential to make big investments in your business plan.

• Govt. officials/employees who can use their positional power in warding off various issues that a start up might come across such as paper works, legal hassles, registration etc. If not in winning contracts then can at least help you in including your name in the govt. tenders.

• People such as lawyers, add agents/media people, furniture shop owners, electrical appliances shop owners etc. Whatever kind of start up one might be contemplating these are the basic few services which are needed in all. So having such contact is always helpful, if it cannot get you things in free then at least can give you some discounts which is always of great help given the fact that initial stage of a businesses are always associated with resource crunch.

• Have good contacts with creative people so that if needed some kind of their help can be availed.

• Also have good contacts with people from lower strata of society, because for a venture not only creativity and capital is needed but also brute labor is required, so such contacts have its own use.

3> Whenever you are meeting a big shot you need to be very cautious, beware of the fact that you are meeting your future investor. Try to take care of the following points:-

• Don’t speak much, do not interrupt in between, but do not also mum, speak when it is required.

• During any such conversation if you think that you can be of some use to the man then without hesitation offer your service, if some remuneration is offered after the service deny it amicably.

• Listen to him patiently(even if you feel he is bugging or bragging too much be patient)

• While leaving ask for the visiting card and while receiving it show humility and respect.

• If possible immediately add the person in some social networking account of yours. Do not buzz him too much but try to interact with him at regular interval of times. Always greet him on special occasions like anniversaries, festivals etc.

4> Coherence of political idea:- While meeting someone if you find there is a coherence of political ideology between both of you leverage this as much as you can. Try to discuss with him on these stuffs. No bond in the world can be stronger than the bonds of political ideology (provided both of you are really about it.)

5> Stuffs such as Cigarettes, drinks & foods (in decreasing order of their effectiveness) are also of great use in socializing with people.

(Views here are personal and since the author is just an MBA student he might not be an expert in dealing with such stuffs, but based on his personal observation he had tried to explain his opinion. Any additional information from the side of the readers is welcome.)

Hypocrisy of Indian IT Companies

                                                                                                                                  
Well the author today intends to write a blog on a very common practice followed by most of the  IT companies in India.Almost all the Indian It companies follow the practice of making new joiners sign a bond according to which if the joiners quit the company before a stipulated period he/she should give a lump sum amount to the company. The logic often used by the IT firm is that since firms spend a huge amount of money on training fresh entrants the company has the right to fulfill the loss which it incurs due to premature departure of the employee.

Today the author will like to write a blog against this practice or rather malpractice of IT companies in India,Before presenting his view point the author will like to clarify that the topic is not based on some managerial analysis but on some philosophical ground whose inspiration comes from the holy spirit of Globalization & liberalization that intends to create a more fair,balanced & liberal market space.

The logic which is being put by these firms are pretty simple , since a huge amount of money is invested on individual training,so it is the right of the firm to make up that loss in case if someone quits early.Now let me ask if a company goes to a college, recruits someone and if the person after attending the firm for a few days does not feel like continuing shouldn't he be given the freedom to leave the firm without any constraint. Why the hell should this bond amount come into picture.Is this what globalization & liberalization teach us? Is this liberty?The very basic principal of globalization & liberalization is freedom ,freedom from every kind of draconian legislative rules that were once imposed,freedom from exorbitant taxes,freedom from regulations ,from high rate of custom duties,stiff labor laws, bandhs and gheraws. One must know that this freedom is not only for respective firms but also for respective employees because freedom cannot be a one way tool of human exploitation but an prevalent idea of human development. If globalization calls for flexible labor laws and supports hire and fire policies, it must also support giving basic freedom to each and every soul to hire and fire an organization. What is wrong if someone goes to a company and leaves it prematurely. It has to be his/her individual choice,one can leave the company for any damn reason,that might range from simple disinterest to availability of better opportunities. But why should he be forced to pay the bond amount.If he has to pay the amount then it simply means that in a liberal word a big company who has got strong clout in the pockets of power has the right to exert his independence but not an individual who is just a pawn in the game of exploitation often disguised as a free market economy.
In U.S also such bonds are there but there the bonds are two way bonds were if the employee leaves a firm prematurely he is suppose to pay a amount but even the other way round is also true where in case an employee is fired the company is responsible to pay an amount to the employee.Such systems are always valid since it gives equal rights to both that is the company as well as the individual.But how come the Indian way be a valid way where the entire rule system is biased towards the company with individuals having no right of his own.
The company often claims that the reason of such bond is the recovery of huge amount money that the company invests on the training of employee, now the author will ask do they spend such huge amount for mere charity purpose?They spend because of their own need, Spending in the recruitment and training is the basic necessity of the firm, so there is no reason to cry foul if some of the amount invested cannot be recovered back. It must be taken amicably ( as demanded by the holy spirit of globalization and liberalization.)

The reality is that no matter how much these firm cry in the name of globalization and liberalization but in reality these hypocrites still have sweet shop mentality. For them free market makes sense only when some govt. policy has to be annulled, only when flexible hire and fire policies have to be put in place, when land has to grabbed at lesser price to build factories and offices,when tax rates have to be reduced.When the same spirit of free market will demand something from them they will prefer running away.

(Views here are personal but the author wants that the gravity of the matter must be understood sooner or later so that public opinion can be gathered against it as soon as possible. One more point that the author wants to clarify is that though this malpractice is present in other industries also but since the author has a brief work ex with an Indian IT company and has a personal experience with such malpractice the term IT company is used.)

Strong Beer : two Indian cities & two entirely different consuming behavior

                                                              
The latest blog is written with the intention to describe that in India things might go for a toss if a marketer relies too much on the general fundamentals of consumer behavior. Nothing specifies this better than strong beer .Just take the case of two cities Mumbai & Bangalore ,while Mumbai is extremely fast ,humid and known as a city where dreams come true Bangalore is more upmarket in it's approach ,is more sophisticated ,known for having a very pleasant weather and is the Silicon valley of India . Now take the case of a strong beer brand ,lets say Haywards 5000, going by intuition who are the ones who should consume Haywards 5000 in Mumbai and who are the ones who should consume it in Bangalore. In Bangalore it should be consumed mainly by the down market crowd or the typical blue collar employees where as the more sophisticated upmarket consumers should be preferring costlier wine brands. In Mumbai it should be the other way round, Mumbai where life is so fast that no matter you belong to what kind of socioeconomic strata life will always be sweat drenching ,fast & furious,here even if you are an upmarket consumer at the end of an exhausting day nothing can be as chilling as a mug of strong beer with some upbeat sounds at an upmarket pub. So that's what the behavioral approach says, but if you really believe this then kindly revisit your thinking. In fact its just the other way round. In Bangalore strong beer is consumed more by upmarket , sophisticated customers who love to have it in posh pubs along with their respective girl friends/ boyfriends .In Mumbai it is mainly consumed by Blue collar employees who generally come from lower income group . Probably while coming back from their work they probably prefer drinking a glass or two in some Irani restaurant along with some snacks.While in Bangalore it's more of an item to have fun with, in Mumbai it is just an item which is taken in small quantity to refresh one self. Based on the pattern of consumption it is very essential that this very same product that is strong beer must be promoted in a different way in both the cities . If a marketing strategy is designed with out really understanding the consumption motive then it might not be very effective.

India is such a diverse country with such a diversified demographic profiles that here no rule works. Only thing that can pay off will be doing an extensive on field research followed by learning from doing real business.

PR Blunders: Vivek Oberoi presents a good case to study

                                                                      
Vivek oberoi made a bombastic debut in 2002 with his films Company and Sathiya, very soon he was touted as an actor with huge potential . But his career path didnt go the way it was expected, soon after this ,flops like Kyon ho gaya na,Kisna & Home delivery followed as a result of which Vivek's career graph took a downward turn. Though in the due course of time he gave hits like Omkara & Shoot out at Lokhandwala but since these films were multistarer the credit had to be distributed among a larger lot of actors .As an actor he had always been a reservoir of fresh talent but in spite of that things were not working out for him . Though inability to perform at the box office was definitely a factor but poor marketing & pr along with extremely bad man management skills were also equally responsible. Some of the very big PR blunders which he did were:-

1> Having differences with each & every one that came across him:-
He had troubles with his mentor ramgopal verma, had troubles with Shaad ali during Sathiya's making, had trouble with Sanjay dutt and Aporva lakhia during Mission istanbul's making, with Salman khan, bachans etc over Aishwariya rai. Now if someone has such a large no. of fights then there is definitely something wrong with him. One must understand that Bollywood is a place where personal relationship matters the most, & in such an industry if you make an image of a trouble child for yourself you are definitely going to make a big loss. The same happened with Vivek. His attitude problem compelled good makers to keep distance from him.

2> Salman Khan Episode: - The entire Salman Khan episode did a lot of negative publicity for mr. Oberoi. First of all he showed his childish attitude by making the issue of personal phone calls public, but his biggest blunder was the apologizing act where he bent on his knees to apologize from Salman khan .This added nothing other than projecting him as an immature, confused & kiddish individual. One must understand that a typical Bollywood hero is someone with whom everyone tries to relate himself; he is someone who has a larger than life kind of image among his fans. So it is quite natural that they expect these heroes to be heroic, brave & matured in their real life also, apologizing in public and that to in such a stupid way can never be well received by the general public . One must understand the general sentiment that “a hero is after all a hero, how could he act foolish in public ". By acting in that manner Vivek achieved nothing but of course made a fool of himself.

3> Aishwariya Rai episode :- This is another area where Vivek showed that how kiddish one can be . Aishwariya Rai never admitted the fact that she is having a relationship with Vivek oberoi, but it was this blabbering Vivek oberoi who even went to the extent to herald that he will be marrying Ash. Not even this even when the cat was out of the box and it was very well known that Ash & Abhiseck are going to tie knot Vivek could not control the temptation to come up with stupid comments in the media. This entire episode added another feathers of immaturity in his cap.

4> Consistent insistence on showing off himself as someone terrific, someone very moralistic & someone holier than thou :- during his initial days ,In each and every one of his interview Mr. Oberoi used to put a lot emphasis on himself, starting from the fact that he is a great actor, a wonderful womanizer, a complete teetotaler to the fact that he is a big time foodie( because he is a teetotaler, now even I don't know how come there be relationship between one's gastronomic inclinations and whether one is a teetotaler or not ).His approach of projecting himself in such a good light looked very artificial and irritating. One must understand that it's essential to promote oneself in Bollywood but again point to be noted is that it's one thing to promote yourself and entirely different thing to be an ego maniac. Beyond a point bragging does a tremendous harm to one's image, both in eyes of general public as well as the media.

Website Measurment Standards

                                                                  
Web based marketing is becoming very popular these days .It provides a lot of interesting revenue generation model. It is also very significant for startup companies where due to resource crunch application of offline media and traditional marketing channels are not easy, web based marketing solutions provide easy, economical & creative media & marketing solutions. But before choosing a website for marketing a product it is very essential that the size and the type of traffic for the website should be found out . There are various kinds of traffic measurement standards that are followed to measure the effectiveness of a website, though all these standards look similar but they do differ subtly . Another point that has to be noted over here is that the choice of measurement standards also depend on the objective of the marketer .Here the author will like to high light a few important terms regarding website measurement standards.

1> Hits :- is the most common and most misleading standard of measurement. Every website/blog has some html code embedded in it . Whenever a website is visited the no. of hits are equal to no. of html code embedded plus one more ( this extra is for the website as a whole ).Thus by making a blog/website complex with added photos, videos and gadgets the no. of hits can be increased .

2> Visits :- Whenever a blog is visited once by a user there happens to be one visit.

3> Page visits :- The no. of times a website is refreshed plus the no. of individual pages in the website that had been visited (& refreshed) in an website .

4> Unique Visits :- Visits are never a very effective tool for measurement, since it can happen that a small set of users might be visiting a website throughout the day, that means though the total visits will be high but the no. of unique visitors will be very low. For a marketer it is very essential that his advertisements must be viewed by a large no. of unique individuals .So unique visits come into picture. It gives the total sum of unique visitors visiting a website.

5> Bounce rate :- If a website is a visited by an user but left within 30 seconds then this is considered as a bounce .A high bounce rate is undesirable .

6> Average time spent:- gives the average time spent by an user during a single visit to a website/blog .Though much more pragmatic than the above said standards ,should be used with a bit of caution especially when dealing with social networking sites . For a social networking sites like Face Book & Orkut these are always high because once logged in users have tendencies to be logged in for a large time but this surely does not mean that users remain active .Users are active for small time periods and remain idle for the rest of the time .An idle user though logged in is not in the interest of the marketer.

7> No. of clicks per ad:- These days this is the most commercially accepted standard . It gives the measurement of no. of individual click an add gets while posted in a website .This is quite an accurate measurement since it directly gives the measurement of popularity of the ad itself rather than platform.

8> Geographical Profiling of visitors: - Many a times it is in the interest of the marketer to know that visitors from which geographical location predominates in a website. There are various tools available these days through which the geographical profiling of the visitors can be done.

These are the fundamental standards of website measurement, other than these there are various other standards. This is an emerging domain and every day newer standards and tools of measurement are coming into picture.But the author feels that going through the above standards will definitely give a fair idea regarding how blogs and websites are measured .