Globalization trends coupled with increased multinational activity in Uganda require high levels of quality management that local service providers must have. Some of these quality milestones place a service provider in the front row when it comes to winning lucrative contracts. Late last week, Star: Leo Advertising Limited became the first Uganda Advertising and Public Relations Agency to receive the ISO certification 9001:2008 for Quality Management. The ISO certificate is a globally recognized document of which most companies, especially those involved in manufacturing goods do have.

Star:Leo Advertising Limited received its globally recognized ISO certificate at a small informal gathering at the Agency’s offices in Kololo. “ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’s largest developer of voluntary International Standards.

These International Standards give state of the art specifications for products, services and good practice, helping businesses be more efficient and effective. Developed through global consensus, they break down barriers to international trade,” said Kefa Nyange Mwazumbo the ISO representative while speaking at the event. “They are now strategic tools for Star: Leo to meet the most demanding challenges of modern Advertising and PR. These standards ensure increased productivity, efficient business operations and they also help in accessing new markets,” Mwazumbo added.

Nada Andersen, the Managing Director at Star: Leo Advertising Limited while receiving the certificate said the team at the agency was “crucial to the award of the certification.” The next step for Star: Leo is to leverage on the certification in order to clinch lucrative PR and Advertising deals in the a highly competitive marketplace

We all have 24 hours in a day. How much can you accomplish in one day depends on how efficiently you use your time. In the context of drawing traffic and growing your business, it can be quite a tedious process if you were to do it alone. Then came the concept of viral marketing. Ever visited a restaurant because your friend recommended it? Yup, word of mouth is an extremely powerful marketing tool. With viral marketing, you will be able to reach a wide audience in a fraction of the time and cost.

You’ll be able to do more in less and make full use of your 24 hours. Viral marketing has allowed small businesses and corporate giants to reach a wide target audience faster than ever, and if you don’t tap into this online marketing phenomenon, you’ll be leaving tons of money on the table.

In the web 1.0 era, the internet world was uni-directional. Meaning, I own a website, and write about topics and you read about it. Today, there is a multi-dimensional interaction in web content between webmasters and their target audiences. People can comment, share, “Like”(For Facebook) and suggest using the variety of sharing tools such as blogs, microblogging platforms (Twitter), Facebook and other social sharing websites such as Reddit and Digg.com

This eases and facilitates the growth of Viral marketing and has made viral marketing the best way to grow someone’s business fast. What’s important is this, if you fail to tap into the wonders of viral marketing, your competitors will and you will be leaving tons of money on the table. In the next chapter, we will look at the basics of viral marketing and how you can apply it to your business.