To Niche or Not to Niche

To Niche or Not to Niche One of the comments I hear most often when I tell friends about my books is, Your writing is too narrow. You need to broaden your appeal. And in a sense, theyre right. There cant be that many people reading about disaffected Mormons. And its not every Mormon who will pick up a book entitled Zombies for Jesus or Sex among the Saints. I started my writing career with an MFA thesis, a collection of short stories about my two years as a gay Mormon missionary in Italy. Now thats specific. I was told at the time, You need to appeal to a larger audience. But my professors werent criticizing me for writing about Mormons. This was the 1980s. They were criticizing me for writing about gays. Today there are so many gay novels being written that a writer would be easily lost amidst the crush of publications. And this is my beef with the criticism in general. My friends tell me to stop writing about Mormons and ex-Mormons and instead just write about people. I assure them that it is hard enough rising to the top among a pool of fifty writers. It would be next to impossible even to be noticed among a pool of tens of thousands. I have another beef with the criticism, too. No good author writes the sentence, The woman put on her best dress, looked in the mirror, and knew she was ready for a fun evening. What in the world does the reader know about how that character looks? We need specifics. Details are what make a story interesting. William Faulkner created an entire career writing about the folks in small-town Mississippi. Those werent just people. They were from a very specific culture and environment. Ill go one further. Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote about ultra-Orthodox Jews in the shtetls of Eastern Europe. Hows that for a niche audience? Especially since Need I remind anyone that both Faulkner and Singer won the Nobel Prize for Literature? Theres no guarantee that Ill ever sell more than four hundred copies of Mormon Underwear or Marginal Mormons, much less win any recognizable awards. But if I just write about generic people, Im even less likely to be noticed. There is simply too much competition out there. Its not a matter of being a big fish in a small pond. Its a matter of finding any water to thrive in at all. Im involved in the Mormon literary community, such as it is. I proofread for a progressive Mormon magazine (yes, there are a good three or four hundred progressive Mormons out there!). I proofread for a small Mormon publisher. I post on the Mormon blogs I follow and my own Mormon-themed blog. I help critique the work of other Mormon and ex-Mormon writers, and I financially support their work as well. And I follow that age-old maxim: write what you know. Yes, I have a niche audience, but the fact is, at least I have an audience.

Business Law1

Business Law1 Essay The full name of the first company I chose is Entrust Technologies Inc. The state and year of incorporation is Texas in 1996. The company was a spin-off of Nortel Networks. The worldwide headquarters for the corporation is 4975 Preston Park Blvd Suite 400 Plano, Texas 75093. The Chief Executive Officer and President of the company is John Ryan. The number of shareholders is in the 26, 000 range and the stock is traded on the NASDAQ. The ticker symbol for the corporation is ENTU. The CUSIP number is _________. The price range of Entrust Technologies from 1998 1999 was $24 upon opening on January 1, 1998 and its close was $60 on December 31, 1999 (See chart 1.1, attached to back of paper full year price range). The corporation has many subsidiaries that it recognizes: Entrust Technologies Limited, Entrust. net, Entrust Technologies (United Kingdom, Switzerland, Japan), Entrust Technologies GmbH (Germany) and CygnaCom Solutions. Entrust Technologies Inc. provides products and services to ensure secure electronic communications and transactions over the Internet, Extranets and Intranets. (http://biz.yahoo.com/p/e/entu. html) The company is ahead of its game in the Internet business. A lawsuit was filed against the company in February of 1999 by Surety technologies, Inc. The lawsuit involved the supposed infringement of patent rights on the part of Entrust Technologies. Surety said they developed a digital timestamping method using hash and sign. They claim it was their method and only theirs. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled for Entrust claiming that the patent covering the special hash -and- sign method used by Surety was not a new thing. Any company could use the technology to better their communication systems by timestamping electronic documents. The lawsuit and verdict proved to the rest of the world that Entrust Technologies is ready to advance all companies with special devices to make their business run a little bit smoother. The verdict was handed down in November 1999 and gave ENTU a very strong third quarter. Their revenue increased from $13.0 million to $22.6 million in one year. The lawsuit benefited, not hampered the business practices of Entrust Technologies. There are literally hundreds of competitors in the computer services business. AutoBytel Com Inc., Agency Com LTD, Publicard Inc, Zapme Inc., Knot Inc. and Paychex Inc. are just some of the companies that compete in the business with Entrust Technologies (See 1.2, attached file regarding the competitors). VectorVest rates the long-range outlook for the stock poorly in most areas. They rate stocks well that are steady and predictable. All the stocks are rated on a 0.00 2. 00 scale, a relative safety greater than 1.00 is safe and below 1.00 is not a safe buy. ENTU was given a relative safety of 0.71, very poor. The relative value is a 0. 82, also poor. When a stock has a relative safety and value greater than 1.00 the earning rate will increase and shares will increase in value. Entrust was given a relative timing rating of 1.04, which is fair in this field. The trend established is fair and might last depending on the stocks dependability. VectorVest also suggests that ENTU is overvalued and having a high-risk dividend because it does not pay a dividend. This also shows that ENTU has not dividend growth and that indicates future outlook and past history. In conclusion, Entrust Technologies has a below average safety with below average upside potential. This reflects the stocks potential and almost ensures below average, inconsistent returns. Reesegroup.com rates ENTU as having no interest at this time. Entrust Technologies Inc. was a good buy. I disagree with the critics on this one. When I bought the stock on January 20th it was at $56 and it rose up and down slowly to 92 .

Plastic Innovations Case Material Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Plastic Innovations Case Material - Essay Example A stable attention to a new strategy and a very professional innovative staff allow strategy to reach a great qualitative point and to obtain great paybacks in the sector. The operations have supported the innovation strategy enormously by inventions of new technologies and machines. The strategy has changed from production of consumer durable items, toys and component of automotive used in industries to spatulas, pasta strainers, hand whisks and others. This has been enhanced due to change in machines from small plastic moulding machines to 24 large injection-moulding machines. Early 1980s small moulding machines were used for toys and automotive components. This later expanded to enhance production of household items. The market change in 2002 from industrial commodities to household; facilitated strategy enhancement to a greater height. This later facilitated change in expertize as seen in 2006 when a new marketing manager was hired. The Focus and Concept brands were initiated due to the change in management of marketing director. It also changed the market targets and enhanced profit margin. The market is competitive and thus requires new innovations and ideas to keep up with stiff competition. Similarly, operation to keep up with demands and quality must keep on changing its requirements. Markets do change as consumers frequently change their aspects of the environment. Likewise, operational requirements must change to meet or challenge environment change. As markets demands get sophisticated, so do operational requirements do. Markets and operations requirements differ in the sense that larger markets mean more and more profit but, operational costs go higher as markets expanded. Operation requires experts to implement the desired result or objections of company. Similarly, markets require qualified team to achieve desired results. The demand for an idea or concept choice is less predictable that leads to unpredictable changes in

Analysis of Fallen by Jane Hammond Research Paper

Analysis of Fallen by Jane Hammond - Research Paper Example Art can only be appreciated relatively on an individual perspective. The influence and importance of art can be seen by their presentation of society. The ancient art can be appreciated when interest and urge to understand the past and their role in the society are evaluated (Barnet 89). Several writings in the English language have been employed in the development of the artistic impressions that create a powerful artistic appearance. With the increasing space utilization and the need for information transfer, the work of art displayed on the Great Wall of Los Angeles is a combination of both art and information transfer. Fallen by Jane Hammond Jane Hammond artwork is based on experience in Iraq. The Iraq war had a massive impact on the works of artists. Fallen by Hammond is a work of art focusing on the problems of the soldiers. The soldiers lost lives in the war, and the work of art by Jane Hammond is based on remembering the fallen heroes of the Iraq war. The art is essential is helping the society realize the beauty of memories and the impact of the war in society. However, making an artwork that covers issues of war without raising emotions is hard because of the emotive nature of the issues. The art by Hammond is effective in creating a memoir of the fallen heroes. The art involved using a collection of leaves that are relevant (Eaves 67). It is a non commissioned memorial to the fallen heroes of the Iraq war.   The created paper leaves are placed on a horizontal platform. The fallen artwork departs from the conventional practice of using bronze and durable materials. The number of leaves on the platform increases as the length of the pedestal is increased leading to the creation so a wider pedestal. The use of the fallen leaf symbolizes the end of life making the memorial effective and easy use (Eaves 56).  

Radar Detector :: Speeding Driving Technology Essays

Radar Detector Every person has a tendency to speed while they are driving. But most people still drive slowly because nobody wants to get a speeding ticket. But now, during the development of technology, people invented something called the radar detector, which can avoid you from getting caught while you are driving over speed. In this paper, I want to talk about the Passport 8500 X50 comparing to the Valentine One and Bel 985, which is known as the world’s best radar detector. Before trying to discuss this detector; it is important to know either the history of the radar detector or the difference of the police signals. Escort, the name of the organization that manufactures different varieties of radar detectors, developed passport 8500 X50. They have also developed Solo S2 (the best wireless radar detector) and Passport 7500 (cheaper, but has lower quality than Passport 8500). The use of radar detectors is prohibited only in Washington DC and Virginia. Any other states in the United States accept the use of radar detectors. This company has maintained its existence in the radar business for about 25 years. At first time, radar was used to tell a driver when construction was in the way of the driver so the driver could drive carefully. But nowadays, many road constructions don’t give off the signal to the radar detector and the driver uses the radar detector not to avoid the construction but to avoid the police. There are many different types of signals in this world, but only three signals that police use to detect speed. There are X, K, and Ka bands. The first signal that police used was the X band. It was used until the mid-1970s. Police of Ohio and New Jersey invested a lot of money in X band radar so even now; most police in those states still use this band. The second band is K band which was invented in 1976. Its frequency is twice as long as the X band. It means the accuracy is better in K band. The last band is Ka band. It has a better frequency than all other bands. Nowadays, the use of Ka band is relatively high. Most police use this band to catch people speeding. Passport 8500 X50 operates at X band in a frequency 10.525 GHz  ± 25 MHz, at K band in a frequency 24.

Case Study Nivea

Case Study #8: NIVEA NIVEA, one of the largest skin and face care brands in the world, was established in 1912 and introduced to the German markets. Germany has long been a center for skin care and cosmetics, and NIVEA was the leader and has continued to be one of the most recognized products in the market. With its brand image based on its products being clean, fresh, and natural it has become a timeless product recognized by its blue tin and white type face.Its first introduced NIVEA Creme in 1912, and became the base of their brand and was known as the â€Å"caretaker† of skin. For most of the lifespan of NIVEA Creme it was essentially the sole competitor in the face cream market, and so the consumers were able to get to know the brand and develop a close relationship to the brand. It did not face competition until 1960 when another German company launched Creme 21. Although it was an identical product to NIVEA’s Creme, Creme 21 was backed by a large amount of advert ising aimed at the mass market.It is through this competition that NIVEA was forced to evaluate their business strategy and brand image. While they were happy that their brand image was recognized and understood by the market, they were shown how their brand had an â€Å"older† image and was not viewed as young, dynamic, and modern like the new competitors were. NIVEA’s decades of branding and assimilation into the everyday lives of its consumers had built the equity for them that allowed them to maintain the market advantage for as long as they have.It is this brand equity they had built over so many decades that had allowed them to adjust their branding strategy. Though sales of NIVEA Creme had become stagnant, the company developed a strategy which was twofold and allowed for stabilizing the market position of NIVEA and expands the strength of NIVEA Creme by transferring its brand equity to other product classes. NIVEA wanted to preserve their reputation for skin ca re and the market position for NIVEA Creme while it was also differentiating it from the competition.To do this they realized that while most ads showed NIVEA products being used, they had never directly specified the products benefits. By addressing these product benefits they are negating the competitor’s claims. The second portion of this plan was to introduce new products. They targeted new and growing market segments in which they could extend the NIVEA brand. They wanted to use these to compliment and broaden the meaning of the NIVEA brand name and use the equity already gained by NIVEA Creme.This theme is carried through the brand hierarchy as well. A set of seven different criteria was set to ensure that all products reflected the desired NIVEA brand image and were consistent with the philosophy of providing high quality skin care products. NIVEA Creme was considered the company’s most important product because it established the brand and its identity. Sub-bra nds have the advantage of advertising the mother brand, establishing brand loyalty across multiple segments, and monopolize the market from competitors.The problem with sub-brands is that they can have a negative impact or take away from the sales of the mother brand. â€Å"The role of the sub-brands was to continue to cater to specific skin care and personal care needs of their target market segments and contribute back their particular product class associations to reinforce and elaborate on the image of NIVEA as a skin care specialist. † With this direction NIVEA should operate under an umbrella ad for all of their products.An umbrella brand essentially covers diverse products which are more or less related to each other, and with NIVEA’s small advertising budget, this would be the best way to maximize their marketing efforts with different product categories all carrying the NIVEA brand name. The umbrella strategy also fits in with the NIVEA Creme advertising becau se with their values of timeless, ageless, motherhood and happy family; honesty and trustworthiness and the product benefits of mildness and quality they can transfer all of these core brand qualities through the NIVEA name to its sub-brands.The problem that NIVEA had was that all of their sub-brands were being handled as separate advertising plans, while they all were in line with the core values; they did nothing to incorporate each of their branding strategies together. By using the umbrella branding strategy they can bring all of their products under one name and make a more cohesive branding strategy that will benefit all of their sub-categories.One thing that I believe is holding the NIVEA brand back is that they are so focused on not losing touch with the original product of NIVEA Creme, when really they want to hold onto the core values which came with it. I believe they need to look at the market strategy and implement the core values that were derived from this original pr oduct but also look at the market and see if they are still being successful. If not, then they need to re-evaluate NIVEA Creme’s placement in the market and see whether or not it should be dropped or downgraded in their grand scheme market and advertising strategies.

Analysis Of The Study Of American Literature - 907 Words

An Analysis of the Study of American Literature American Literature is a common subject that every American citizen is exposed to throughout elementary school, high school, and college. The study of American Literature is integral with American History – the two subjects, although distinct, are often intertwined into a hybrid form. This hybrid subject usually focuses on literature with historical significance, rather than significance to the beliefs and ideals of our society as a whole. In upper-level courses, a study of American Literature is more prominent, focusing on texts that have an impact on our society or give us a glimpse into the lives and emotions of those in early America. One of the most important pieces of American Literature is one that we are all familiar with as it does hold a historical significance – the Declaration of Independence. Another such example of great American literature that holds significance in our society, although it is one that is mu ch lesser known, would be the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. The study of literature in and of itself makes known the ideals, beliefs, and the foundations of any society. A society without literature is one without culture – one without a lasting impression over the course of its existence. Without a culture, what is the purpose of the formation of countries, a human identity, and the declaration of beliefs as a society? In accordance with the definition of literature, American literature imparts how anShow MoreRelatedThe Discipline Of American Studies Essay1676 Words   |  7 PagesThe discipline of American Studies is focused on exploring and understanding power, American society, culture, and related attitudes and behavior. 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