Praetorian Outsource Marketing Reports: What will the X Factor Contestants do Next?

Praetorian Outsource Marketing are pretty huge fans of the X Factor and have followed it over the years, so when the live tour made its way to Birmingham this weekend, the Birmingham outsource sales and marketing company were hot on its heels!

‘I don’t even think you can call it a guilty pleasure anymore!’ a spokesperson for Praetorian Outsource Marketing exclaimed, ‘It’s no secret that Praetorian are huge X Factor fans and so when the show comes to Birmingham there are no prizes for guessing where we will be! We were fortunate enough to get tickets for the full tour experience including backstage access to meet the stars which is also very exciting’.

So, Praetorian Outsource Marketing wonders, what will the finalists do once the tour has finished? ‘Little Mix won the competition this year and judging from the audience at the live tour alone they have a massive fan base’ says a spokesperson for the Birmingham based Outsourcing Company. ‘I would predict we’re more likely to see a success story like Alexandra Burke, rather than a Steve Brookstein ‘who is he?’ return to obscurity’.

Praetorian Outsource Marketing are aware however that it is not just the winners who can achieve success from the show, just take Ollie Murs, Diana Vickers, Cher Lloyd, JLS and of course One Direction! So who out of this year’s finalists do Praetorian Outsource Marketing think could join the likes of JLS and One Direction? ‘To be honest, the standard of the contestants this year has been fantastic and most of the acts could easily build a successful career. The acts who usually do well from X Factor are the ones who can deliver the whole package and Marcus Collins who came second is definitely on track, he’s already released his debut single and it’s doing pretty well’.

With several of the other acts rumoured to be preparing material for albums, it’s only a matter of time until we see who will follow in the footsteps of the likes of JLS and One Direction. In the meantime, Praetorian Outsource Marketing looks forward to finding out!

Praetorian Outsource Marketing aims to provide elite and total direct marketing solutions to our clients through our exceptional results, customer service and professionalism.

Praetorian Outsource Marketing Reports: UK Online Industry on the Rise.

Praetorian Outsource Marketing has learned recently that there is set to be a boom for UK internet industry and it comes as no surprise. As reported over Christmas the high street is increasingly losing customers due to the convenience of the internet. The fact that it is cost effective, weather resistant and effortless, are just three reasons why people turn to the internet to shop.

Research by The Boston Consulting Group has found that in the UK, the internet contributes more to our economy than any G20 nation and that industry online is set to grow annually by 11%.

Praetorian Outsource Marketing relies heavily on the internet, as it is one of the fastest and most efficient forms of communication. A spokesperson for the successful outsource sales and marketing company commented:

‘We use the internet to communicate with each other, with our potential clients and people who would like to work alongside us. It allows us as a small independent business to let people know exactly who Praetorian Outsource Marketing are, what we do and why. It also allows us to keep up with the trends, by using social networking sites such as Facebook to stay up to date and regularly stream information.’

As a new business owner, starting up online can be a more cost effective option. Depending on the nature of your business, you could even run it from home. This saves money on renting office or shop space. There is also the option to supply on demand; therefore money is dispensed more efficiently, as and when needed.

The internet is also a fantastic way to effectively market and spread the word about your brand without spending large amounts of money on promotional materials and expensive advertising campaigns. Praetorian Outsource Marketing has pages on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/praetorianmktg ), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/praetorianmarketing) and several other social media sites, allowing them to regularly post news and information without the cost.

The spokesperson continued,

‘The internet has definitely contributed to the great success of Praetorian Outsource Marketing, as it has allowed us to cast our net further afield and work alongside more and more fantastic people’.

Praetorian Outsource Marketing on the Top 10 Universities in the World

Praetorian Outsource Marketing was delighted to see two UK universities in the world top-ten rankings released by Times Higher Education Magazine this week.

The magazine released their rankings which sets out the top 100 universities in terms of academic prestige. The results are taken from the responses of 17,554 senior, published academics who are asked to respond to an invitation-only poll.

The top 10 were:

1. Harvard University –USA

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology – USA

3. University of Cambridge – UK

4. Stanford University – USA

5. University of California, Berkeley - USA

6. University of Oxford – UK

7. Princeton University – USA

8. University of Tokyo – Japan

9. University of California, Los Angeles – USA

10. Yale University – USA

The top 10 is dominated by American universities. Does Praetorian Outsource Marketing think that the UK is losing its footing in the league tables? A spokesperson for the company said, "Whilst it is very obviously that there are lot of American universities in the top 10 it is a fantastic achievement for the UK, which is considerably smaller than the USA, to have two in the top 10."

Praetorian Outsource Marketing is also keen to point out that not much further down the list are a number of other UK universities including Imperial College London at number 13, University College London at number 21, London School of Economics at 29, University of Edinburgh at 49 and just outside the top 50, The University of Manchester.

American universities occupy 60 percent of the top 50 slots with the UK second closest at 12 percent. What has been interesting is that there has been a certain amount of shuffling over the last year with several of the UK’s leading universities dropping several places and a number of China’s universities have climbed the ladder. China is seeing a greater expansion of its higher education system than any other country.

The representative from Praetorian Outsource Marketing believes that the rankings are something to be proud of rather than worried about. "It is an incredibly achievement to get two of our universities so high up in the top 10. The UK still has a fantastic reputation for providing excellent higher education which is why it is able to attract so many foreign students who believe a UK degree will be highly respected around the world. It’s testament to our fantastic facilities and lecturers who should be congratulated on their success."

Praetorian Marketing Asks: Does Social Media have a Place in the Classroom?

New research suggests that social media is becoming a widely used tool in the classroom. Praetorian Marketing asks, is social media a tool for learning or a distraction?

Direct marketing company Praetorian Marketing has been using social media for some time to interact with their clients and their customers but social media really found its greatest market in university students. If you’ve watched The Social Network, the story of how Facebook was founded, you’ll know that originally all users had to have a university email address to register. It might come as no surprise then that university lecturers are starting to use social media as an educational tool.

A 2010 study of nearly 2,000 university staff by education publisher Pearson found that many considered YouTube to be a “very valuable” classroom aid. Nearly two-thirds of the lecturers studied said that they had used at least one social media site in their class, but 53% said Facebook and 46% said Twitter add “negative value.” Praetorian Marketing wonders, is it a case of some social media being more useful that others then?

It would appear so. Different lecturers seem to have different opinions on social media. When the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology  blocked access to popular social media sites for a week last semester as an exercise, 25% of participating students reported having “better concentration in the classroom.” However the opposite was true at the University of Missouri Praetorian Marketing found. Journalism professor Jen Lee Reeves encourages her students to Tweet about the topic that they are discussing in class. She believes that “it turns into kind of a live, flowing notebook of what we’ve discussed in class.”

So what’s do the researchers think? Praetorian Marketing hands over to Reynol Junco from Lock Haven University. “The more research we do, the more we understand that it’s about nuances in how the technologies are used, not whether or not they’re used, that matters in the classroom.”

Managing Director of Praetorian Marketing Peter Rudge believes that we will see more and more social media used in schools and universities. “Just as the internet has become an integral part of daily life, social media has too. No student would choose to function without the internet, it would put them at a disadvantage in terms of the resources they could access. The same is increasingly becoming true of social media. YouTube tutorials and Facebook discussion groups are becoming  more and more widely used.”

So it seems that when used in the right setting, social media is a powerful tool for learning. Praetorian Marketing encourages students to log-out when they’re meant to be revising though!

500 Business Owners Urge Government to Cut 50p Tax Rate Praetorian Marketing Reads

Over 500 entrepreneurs and business owners have asked the government to get rid of the 50p tax bracket in the next budget. Praetorian Marketing looks into their claims that it is damaging enterprise.

Today Praetorian Marketing read the open letter to the Daily Telegraph in which 537 small and medium-sized business owners said, “Given the current state of the UK economy, we urge the Chancellor to urgently consider scrapping the top rate of tax in his forthcoming budget.” The letter continued, “We believe that the richest should help the poorest in society. 1% of taxpayers are forecast to contribute nearly 28% of income taxes. But penalising high earners through an unfair, politically-motivated tax puts populist politics before sound economics.”

Praetorian Marketing, a direct sales and marketing company based in Birmingham is incredibly concerned about the difficulties facing small and medium businesses around the UK and are keen to find a solution that can help these businesses flourish once again. The rate was introduced by the Labour government in 2010 and Mr Cameron recently said that he still considered the rate a temporary measure.

Peter Rudge, managing director of Praetorian Marketing believes that this is always going to be a contentious issue. “On the one hand when low and middle income families are struggling, it seems to make sense that the highest earners take some of the slack. However this is at risk of damaging enterprise as people are less inclined to put huge amounts of work into their companies which then sees 50% of their earnings go straight to the tax-man. Indeed I feel that it will drive the wealthy and businesses abroad, to countries where tax rates are much lower. Then we won’t see their tax contributions at all and there won’t be as many jobs available.”

Rachel Reeves, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury has said that “cutting taxes only for the richest 1% cannot be the priority now. But these business owners are right to call on the government to take action to stimulate growth and jobs in our economy.”

Mr Rudge believes that a solution needs to be found soon. “Day in day out at Praetorian Marketing we hear of small businesses in our area shutting down, unable to cope with the tough economic climate. We need to find some way of stimulating enterprise, and therefore jobs, which will see Britain pull itself out of this slump.