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When you see the famous “swoosh” logo on running shoes, on sportswear, on a top player’s tennis bandana, or on a football boot then you know instinctively that it is Nike and it is very likely that the Nike brand conjures up in your mind many positive thoughts and feelings. People feel that when they wear Nike and sport the famous swoosh their chances of success are increased.

It may be difficult to believe, but that swoosh logo was created in 1971 by a graphic design student for a firm called Blue Ribbon Sports that was marketing football a new football boot called Nike. It is by the way that she was paid a meagre $35 for it, but it went on to be one of the more recognisable logos in the world. Although there have been subtle design changes in order to incorporate in the actual fabric of items of sportswear, and it originally appeared with the name Nike until it became a stand-alone image in 1995, it is one of the most consistent logos you are likely to come across. Does Nike have any plans to change it? You bet they don’t.

What exactly is a brand?

There have been many thousands of attempts to define exactly what a brand really is. You can view it as something external, an artefact that includes a name, a sign, a logo, a design, or any combination of these, that is used to identify a product or organisation and which differentiates it from the rest of the crowd. Alternatively you can view it as the impact that this combination has on the thoughts and the emotions of the customer; an internalisation of the corporate image that the external branding attempts to convey. When you wear the Nike swoosh it’s because you want to be a winner.

Brand consistency

Just consider the impact should Nike decide that their swoosh logo was getting a little old and tired and needed changing. We don’t mean a few adjustments round the edges; many companies have done that including Nike. For instance the Pepsi Cola logo has slowly evolved over the years and the Starbucks logo has progressively become more minimalist as has Apple’s apple; however they have all retained the essence of their corporate branding.

If Nike was to abandon the swoosh logo and replace it with something entirely different then it is likely that the vast majority of Nike customers would feel let down and betrayed. Many of them would feel angry and that anger would result in them walking away and ceasing to purchase their sportswear from the company. Rebranding can be accomplished with very careful management but it is difficult to accomplish successfully; for instance when Everton attempted to introduce a revised logo there was an outcry and a 20,000 signature petition; Gap received severe derision form its customers when it tried to change its logo and had to revert to the old one; the chances are that if Nike lost the swoosh the company would struggle to survive.

Sometimes it might be necessary to change a brand, but in the words of the old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

A consistent brand engenders customer loyalty and makes your business and everything it does instantly recognisable. It provides your business with a real personality that your customers relate to emotionally. When you use a consistent brand your message is reinforced across the whole range of your products and services. It provides authority and trust in your business.

In a nutshell…

In a nutshell, being consistent means being recognised. Consistent branding breeds familiarity, trust and confidence. If your customers are to be confident in you then you need to be confident in yourself, and that confidence is demonstrated by being consistent in your branding.

You are often required to have a deep working knowledge of the Binary Options trading environment when you sign up to some trading sites, whilst some sites do tend to have overly complicated trading interfaces and platforms installed on their sites, it can often lead to some newer traders being confused or even making incorrect trades when using some of these sites.

Should you be relatively new to the world of Binary Options Trading then you will need to pick and choose just which Binary Brokers and Traders sites you sign up to as many of those you will come across allow you to make one click trades which is the only way you should be looking to make Binary Option trades online. Click here to view list of Binary options brokers if you are from UK.

With a one click does everything type of Binary Options Trading platform then you are not going to make mistakes with your trades, and will be able to quickly and very easily select the asset you wish to trade and then make those trades accordingly.
So one of your requisites for choosing any Binary Broker will be to ensure the one you are thinking of utilizing the services has a straight forward and simple to use trading platform. The more complicated the platform becomes then the more likely you are to making often expensive trading errors.

Another couple of features that ant Binary Broker or Binary Options Trading site should offer are both a fully functional Mobile Trading Platform which will of course enable you to make your trades when out and about, plus a reliable telephone support service, which in case of any live trading problems will always respond timely whilst at the same time enable you to phone in any trades you wish to make on the spot.

We are seeing more and more people now turning to trading in Forex Options, this is always popular during and in the run up to the holiday season as this is when traders are looking to lock in value from their spending money on their up and coming holidays and vacations.

This has led to many Binary Option Trading sites pairing up some of the lesser traded currencies of the world and as such you are the able to seamlessly trade your home currency with the value and market swings of the currency of which the country you are visiting has in place.

You will be wanting to lock in value and as such there are more and more Binary Option Trading sites and brokers who are quite prepared to offer you a sign up bonus when you start to use their trading options and trading interfaces for the very first time, and this is where you can not only lock in value but by combining your trades on both new accounts and existing accounts you hold at other sites, you can often guarantee a profitable winning trade by hedging one off against the other with the added trading cash given away by these bonus offers!

There is nothing better than opening a high risk merchant account for businesses operating in high risk environments. It solves the purpose for such risk prone institutions and their dealers for a long term. However, the real ordeal begins after opening one such account. High risk merchant accounts are nothing less than “cash cows” for such businesses but proper management is necessary in order to avail benefits in the long run.

It doesn’t need a lot of effort to manage high risk merchant account but having a prudent strategy is a must.

Here are some tips that might help in maintenance of high risk merchant accounts.

• Easy access: High risk merchant services should try to make it really easy for the customers to get in touch. The easier it is for customers to contact the merchants the better for the business as it would increase satisfaction quotient among them. Generally, most merchants lose out on this point and maintain distance from the customers for numerous reasons.

• Communicate: The more often a business communicates with its customers, the better. It is always advised to keep them updated about the orders placed by them. In addition, any issue related to customer or his payments should be taken as a top priority. It increases the level of communique with customers and increases their satisfaction level too.

• Short response time: It is always better to solve customer query yourself than allowing banks to mediate as it would only worsen the situation. The moment banks enter the confrontation, the scenario becomes all the more complicated. Therefore, it is always recommended to deal with customers’ concerns in the beginning instead of dragging the whole issue further.

• Monitor the accounts: It is very important and should be followed religiously. Businesses should always review and keep track of suspicious orders and online credit card processing.

• Fraud protection: High risk merchants should always employ automated fraud detection systems. They can also use velocity controls on the gateway to filter out potential frauds that have been recognized by experts till now.

Most importantly, high risk merchant banks should guard against excessive charge backs. High levels of charge backs are the primary reason for termination of majority of the high risk merchant accounts. A merchant should not entertain a transaction till authentication is not accepted fully.

The most important feature that ensures high level of security in risk free merchant accounts is settlement of transactions in the form of a lot on a daily basis. This will ensure stable and fraud free mechanism. .

At times, most merchants go out of the way to please their customers and clear high ticket items without adequate proof. This practice is unhealthy as proper verification complete with signatures and other essential details can significantly eliminate the possibility of default. .

Last but not least, all the high risk merchant accounts should make it their duty to comply with merchant agreements provided in writing. .

In case of any changes in the account make it a point to contact the payment processor in advance and maintain hassle free mechanism for years to come.

Looking for a quality and professional fund administration service but don’t know where to start? Whether you choose to go big or small, good communication, technological expertise, qualified staff and reputation are all important factors to consider. Read our 5 tips for picking the right fund administration service provider for your investment success.

1. Fund Administration Services: Go big or go small

Fund administration services can be divided into two types. You can choose to go with a larger established investment firm, or, you can choose an independent fund administration provider.
Though not immediately noticeable, there will be a difference in the way firms that focus on fund administration as their core business conduct fund administration services as opposed to larger investment firms offering fund administration as a branch of their business deal with clients. In the end though, fund administration providers will be judged by their ability to deliver accurate NAVs on time.

2. Reputation in Fund Admin Circles

The role of fund administration providers is to act as a representative of the fund and to liaise with investors in the fund. As interaction is the core of fund administration services, the fund administration providers you choose to go with should have good industry reputation with the fund administration services on offer.
Do the necessary legwork to make sure the fund administration providers you hire are reputable; collecting references from previous or current fund administration clients if necessary.

3. Technology for Fund Administration Services

The technology used by fund administrators is integral to the fund administration services they provide. It is important that fund administration providers not only have the latest fund admin technology, but know how to use this fund admin technology to the greatest advantage for your fund.
Ensuring that your fund administration provider is well equipped and experienced in using the latest technology is crucial so that all fund administration services are covered and NAVs are delivered to investors on time and with the latest data sets.

4. Quality of the Fund Admin Staff

A great fund administration company with poor support staff is a doomed fund administration service. Make sure the fund administration provider has a well-trained, experienced and more importantly, qualified staff. You need to trust your fund administration providers to deal with all clients professionally, and this applies from start to finish.
The technical component of fund admin aside, fund admin is a service role. Keeping investors informed and happy is the main role of fund administration services. To get great feedback, the quality of fund admin staff has to be all round.

5. Great Fund Administration is all about Great Communication!

The key to a successful relationship with fund administration providers is clear and direct communication. During your due diligence, find out how your fund admin providers communicate with investment managers post engagement, as this is a make or break factor for fund administration services on the whole. This way, you can ensure that you get a professional and reliable fund admin service.

Binary option trading is still a relatively new form of stock market investment. This type of trading has only been available to the masses since 2008 but since its inception, it has become very popular with both experienced and beginner traders alike.

What is Binary Option Trading?

Binary option trading allows you to profit from predicting price fluctuations on stock market instruments, such as commodities, stock options, indices and world currencies. The basic concept is simple, if you think that an asset will finish above a certain price you place a “Put Option”, if you think it will finish below a certain price then you place a “Call Option”. If your prediction is correct, you earn a fixed return, often in excess of 70% of your investment. However, if your prediction is incorrect you lose your investment!

Where can you trade options?

Option trading is conducted through online platforms or brokers. Such websites give you access to stock market assets and provide you with the tools and resources necessary to trade successfully. However, not all of these websites are the same and some are far from reputable, so it is important that you choose one that you can trust.

Binary options trading with anyoption.com or one of the other major online platforms or brokers is recommended as this gives you peace of mind that your investments are been handled by a well-known and trusted trading partner.

One of the main reasons why options trading is so popular is down to the trading platforms themselves, and a top platform will lay everything on for you; enabling anyone to trade regardless of experience or knowledge.

How to trade Binary Options successfully:

Not for the faint of heart, these high-risk/high-return stock market options offer quick cash gains to those who have the savvy and skills to anticipate stock market pricing patterns and trends. The best way to get great results while placing “puts” and “calls” is by educating yourself.

Those who take the time to analyze preferred assets over the short and long terms, while also educating themselves on the overall factors that affect the prices of assets – such as social and political events will have the most success. Luckily, getting educated requires no special skills.

You simply need to familiarize yourself with the hourly, daily and weekly price shifts of commodities or other stock market instruments. Many brokers and online stock market trading platforms provide their valued clientele with access to valuable learning tools, such as charts, articles, advice from experts, podcasts and webinars.

Is this just gambling?

There are those who say that binary option trading is nothing more than glorified gambling, and if done incorrectly then this is true. As I mentioned above to trade successful you have to educate yourself, and once you take the time to do this then you are no gambling but investing based on real knowledge and insight of markets and assets.

If you just trade blindly and take Call and Put options on a hunch then you only have a 50/50 chance of been correct – having knowledge gives you the inside lane, and greatly increases the odds of making successfully trades.

Binary option trading is not for everyone and there is risk associated with it, however, this is true for most forms of investment.

How to get started:

Getting started is easy, you simply sign-up to a trading platform or broker and make an initial deposit – this can vary from $20 to $200 depending on the company you choose to go with. Once you make a deposit, you can start trading! The more reputable companies will offer demo accounts or demo features that allow you to practice without investing real money – it is highly recommended that you spend time in a demo environment until you are confident that you know enough to trade for real.