Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) has many attractive qualities that make it a good choice for today’s times. The company is a blue-chip tech business focused on the infrastructure of the Internet and networking. Hence, it has well-established operations and some insulation from consumer activity; it offers value and pays a nice dividend, about 3.15%.
These qualities were just affirmed by the Q2 results, which outpaced the Marketbeat.com consensus estimates and came with solid guidance. The takeaway is that Cisco Systems' business transformation from a pure play on products to a subscription-based service company is working and delivering value for shareholders.
Cisco Systems had an above-average quarter on many levels. Not only did the $13.6 billion in revenue grow by 7.1% versus 4.6% for the average S&P 500 company but it outpaced the consensus estimate by 141 basis points while average S&P 500 companies are underperforming. The gain was driven by a 9% increase in product revenue and a smaller 2% increase in services.
ARR increased in by 6%, driving an increase in the guidance. Product ARR drove the gain here and is up 11% on a YOY basis. Software sales were also strong, up 10%, and came with a 15% increase in subscriptions.
"We are raising our full-year outlook driven by our growing recurring revenue base and RPO, along with our healthy backlog and the steps we have taken to Excellerate supply. We have again increased our dividend, reflecting the strength of our cash flow generation and our commitment to shareholder returns,” said Scott Herren, CFO of Cisco.
The company experienced margin pressure at both the gross and operating levels and on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis but none were as bad as expected. The contraction resulted in a decline in GAAP earnings of 6% but adjusted earnings rose by 5% and beat the consensus.
Perhaps more importantly, cash flow improved by nearly 100% and helped to increase the cash balance while paying a dividend, repurchasing shares and paying down some debt.
Cisco Systems' guidance for Q3 and the FY is impressive. The company essentially doubled its outlook for growth from 9% to 10% versus the consensus of 5.72%, and the earnings will also be robust. The company is now expecting adjusted EPS from $3.73 to $3.78 for the full year, which is $0.20 above consensus at the low end of the range.
The takeaway is that Cisco Systems is producing growth, better than expected growth, trades at a very reasonable 13.5X earnings, and pays a market-beating dividend yield. The yield may not stay at 3% with share prices on the move but the distribution is safe. Cisco Systems is paying only 45% of its earnings, has a strong balance sheet and is growing earnings.
Cisco Systems' price action hit bottom in early 2022 and is now in the final stages of what could turn out to be a nice reversal. Price action is up more than 3.5% in early trading and confirming support at key levels within a Head & Shoulders Pattern. The next hurdle is the neckline at $50. If this market can get above that level, it will open the door for a more sustained rally.
The analyst consensus estimate is already above this level and moving higher so it is very likely a breakout will occur. If not, this stock could remain range-bound until other news comes out.
watch now
Cisco reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter results on Wednesday and lifted its forecast for the full year. Shares of the computer networking company initially jumped in extended trading before paring most of their gains.
Here's how the company did:
Cisco's total revenue grew 7% year over year in the quarter, which ended Jan. 28, according to a statement. Net income fell about 7% to $2.77 billion.
Some components that go in Cisco's hardware products remain constraints, but the company did see an improvement across the board, CEO Chuck Robbins said on a conference call with analysts.
"Based on the sequentials that we saw, demand remains stable," he said, although he added some sales cycles are longer than usual.
Cisco's public sector business performed more strongly than it has historically, while in the service provider category, some customers are adjusting to the better delivery of the company's products into their environments, Robbins said.
The company called for fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings of 96 cents to 98 cents per share and 11% to 13% revenue growth. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had been looking for adjusted earnings per share of 89 cents and revenue of $13.58 billion, which implies almost 6% growth.
Cisco lifted its guidance for the 2023 fiscal year, and now expects $3.73 to $3.78 in adjusted earnings per share and 9% to 10.5% revenue growth. Both numbers are well ahead of analysts' estimates.
But Cisco said its backlog increased year over year. The backlog for both hardware and software is still considerably higher than usual for Cisco because of limited supply availability, said Scott Herren, Cisco's finance chief.
"We continue to have very low order cancellation rates, which remain below pre-pandemic levels," Herren said.
Logistics costs have come down somewhat, he said.
In the fiscal second quarter Cisco's largest business segment, Secure, Agile Networks, featuring networking switches for data centers, posted $6.75 billion in revenue. That was up 14% and more than the $6.52 billion consensus among analysts polled by StreetAccount.
The Internet for the Future unit, which includes routed optical networking hardware, contributed $1.31 billion, down 1% and just below the $1.32 billion StreetAccount consensus.
Revenue from Cisco's Collaboration division containing Webex fell by 10% to $958 million, falling short of StreetAccount's $1.06 billion consensus.
In the quarter, Cisco announced updates to its AppDynamics cloud software for application monitoring and disclosed a restructuring plan that includes changes to its real estate portfolio.
Notwithstanding the after-hours move, Cisco shares have inched about 2% higher, while the S&P 500 index is up 8% in the same time period.
WATCH: Earnings season is in full swing, and here's how to play 3 of the biggest names
watch now
Cisco Systems shares were trading sharply higher after the networking equipment provider posted solid results for its fiscal second quarter ended Jan. 28, while sharply increasing its outlook for the full year.
Cisco (ticker: CSCO) now expects fiscal 2023 to be its best growth year in at least a decade. The strong earnings report and surprising outlook should provide a boost to investor sentiment on the outlook for enterprise technology spending.
The MarketWatch News Department was not involved in the creation of this content.
Feb 17, 2023 (The Expresswire) -- "Final Report will add the analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on this industry."
Telerehabilitation Systems Market report elaborates the market size, market characteristics, and market growth of the Telerehabilitation Systems industry, and breaks down according to the type, application, and consumption area of Telerehabilitation Systems. The report also conducted a PESTEL analysis of the industry to study the main influencing factors and entry barriers of the industry.
Global “Telerehabilitation Systems Market” forecast research report analyses the current and future competitive scenario of the global Electronic Devices industry. Acoustic Board report gives an extensive analysis on segments including top companies, products, applications, revenue and regions. Some of the courses including such as Telerehabilitation Systems market share, drivers, trends and strategies.
Get a sample Copy of the report: https://www.absolutereports.com/enquiry/request-sample/17131899
The report, the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the industry was fully assessed. Fully risk assessment and industry recommendations were made for Telerehabilitation Systems in a special period. This chapter also compares the markets of Pre COVID-19 and Post COVID-19. In addition, consider the impact of COVID-19 on the regional economy.
Major Players in Telerehabilitation Systems market are:
● Jintronix ● Care Innovations LLC ● Cloud Physio ● Bosch Healthcare ● Philips Healthcare ● Medvivo Group ● C3O telemedicine ● TeleVital ● CiscoGet a sample Copy of the Telerehabilitation Systems Market Report
Telerehabilitation Systems Market by Types:
● Hardware ● SoftwareTelerehabilitation Systems Market by Applications:
● Service Providers ● Payers ● Patients/ ClientsTelerehabilitation Systems Market Key Points:
● Define, describe and forecast Telerehabilitation Systems product market by type, application, end user and region. ● Provide enterprise external environment analysis and PEST analysis. ● Provide strategies for company to deal with the impact of COVID-19. ● Provide market dynamic analysis, including market driving factors, market development constraints. ● Provide market entry strategy analysis for new players or players who are ready to enter the market, including market segment definition, client analysis, distribution model, product messaging and positioning, and price strategy analysis. ● Keep up with international market trends and provide analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on major regions of the world. ● Analyze the market opportunities of stakeholders and provide market leaders with details of the competitive landscape.To Understand How Covid-19 Impact Is Covered in This Report - https://www.absolutereports.com/enquiry/request-covid19/17131899
Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate, historical data and forecast :
● United States ● Europe ● China ● Japan ● India ● Southeast Asia ● Latin America ● Middle East and AfricaYears considered for this report:
Historical Years: 2015-2019
Base Year: 2019
Estimated Year: 2020
Forecast Period: 2020-2025
Inquire or Share Your Questions If Any before the Purchasing This Report - https://www.absolutereports.com/enquiry/pre-order-enquiry/17131899
Outline
Chapter 1 mainly defines the market scope and introduces the macro overview of the industry, with an executive summary of different market segments ((by type, application, region, etc.), including the definition, market size, and trend of each market segment.
Chapter 2 provides a qualitative analysis of the current status and future trends of the market. Industry Entry Barriers, market drivers, market challenges, emerging markets, consumer preference analysis, together with the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak will all be thoroughly explained.
Chapter 3 analyzes the current competitive situation of the market by providing data regarding the players, including their sales volume and revenue with corresponding market shares, price and gross margin. In addition, information about market concentration ratio, mergers, acquisitions, and expansion plans will also be covered.
Chapter 4 focuses on the regional market, presenting detailed data (i.e., sales volume, revenue, price, gross margin) of the most representative regions and countries in the world.
Chapter 5 provides the analysis of various market segments according to product types, covering sales volume, revenue along with market share and growth rate, plus the price analysis of each type.
Chapter 6 shows the breakdown data of different applications, including the consumption and revenue with market share and growth rate, with the aim of helping the readers to take a close-up look at the downstream market.
Chapter 7 provides a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses of the market size and development trends in the next five years. The forecast information of the whole, as well as the breakdown market, offers the readers a chance to look into the future of the industry.
Chapter 8 is the analysis of the whole market industrial chain, covering key raw materials suppliers and price analysis, manufacturing cost structure analysis, alternative product analysis, also providing information on major distributors, downstream buyers, and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
Chapter 9 shares a list of the key players in the market, together with their basic information, product profiles, market performance (i.e., sales volume, price, revenue, gross margin), exact development, SWOT analysis, etc.
Chapter 10 is the conclusion of the report which helps the readers to sum up the main findings and points.
Chapter 11 introduces the market research methods and data sources.
Some of the key questions answered in this report:
● What will the Telerehabilitation Systems market growth rate during the forecast period? ● Which are the key factors driving the Telerehabilitation Systems market? ● What was the size of the Telerehabilitation Systems market by 2025? ● Which region is expected to hold the highest market share in the Telerehabilitation Systems market? ● What trends, challenges and barriers will impact the development and sizing of the Global Telerehabilitation Systems market? ● What are the Telerehabilitation Systems market opportunities in the global Telerehabilitation Systems Industry?Purchase this Report (Price 3360 USD for a Single-User License) -https://www.absolutereports.com/purchase/17131899
Detailed TOC of Global Telerehabilitation Systems Industry Research Report
1 Telerehabilitation Systems Market - Research Scope
1.1 Study Goals
1.2 Market Definition and Scope
1.3 Key Market Segments
1.4 Study and Forecasting Years
2 Telerehabilitation Systems Market - Research Methodology
2.1 Methodology
2.2 Research Data Source
2.2.1 Secondary Data
2.2.2 Primary Data
2.2.3 Market Size Estimation
2.2.4 Legal Disclaimer
Get a sample Copy of the Telerehabilitation Systems Market Report
3 Telerehabilitation Systems Market Forces
3.1 Global Telerehabilitation Systems Market Size
3.2 Top Impacting Factors (PESTEL Analysis)
3.2.1 Political Factors
3.2.2 Economic Factors
3.2.3 Social Factors
3.2.4 Technological Factors
3.2.5 Environmental Factors
3.2.6 Legal Factors
3.3 Industry Trend Analysis
3.4 Industry Trends Under COVID-19
3.4.1 Risk Assessment on COVID-19
3.4.2 Assessment of the Overall Impact of COVID-19 on the Industry
3.4.3 Pre COVID-19 and Post COVID-19 Market Scenario
3.5 Industry Risk Assessment
4 Telerehabilitation Systems Market - By Geography
4.1 Global Telerehabilitation Systems Market Value and Market Share by Regions
4.1.1 Global Value ($) by Region (2015-2020)
4.1.2 Global Value Market Share by Regions (2015-2020)
4.2 Global Market Production and Market Share by Major Countries
4.2.1 Global Production by Major Countries (2015-2020)
4.2.2 Global Telerehabilitation Systems Production Market Share by Major Countries (2015-2020)
4.3 Global Market Consumption and Market Share by Regions
4.3.1 Global Consumption by Regions (2015-2020)
4.3.2 Global Consumption Market Share by Regions (2015-2020)
5 Telerehabilitation Systems Market - By Trade Statistics
5.1 Global Export and Import
5.2 United States Export and Import (2015-2020)
5.3 Europe Export and Import (2015-2020)
5.4 China Export and Import (2015-2020)
5.5 Japan Export and Import (2015-2020)
5.6 India Export and Import (2015-2020)
6 Telerehabilitation Systems Market - By Type
6.1 Global Telerehabilitation Systems Production and Market Share by Types (2015-2020)
6.1.1 Global Production by Types (2015-2020)
6.1.2 Global Production Market Share by Types (2015-2020)
6.2 Global Value and Market Share by Types (2015-2020)
6.2.1 Global Value by Types (2015-2020)
6.2.2 Global Value Market Share by Types (2015-2020)
6.3 Global Production, Price and Growth Rate of Type 1 (2015-2020)
6.4 Global Production, Price and Growth Rate of Type 2 (2015-2020)
7 Telerehabilitation Systems Market - By Application
7.1 Global Telerehabilitation Systems Consumption and Market Share by Applications (2015-2020)
7.1.1 Global Consumption by Applications (2015-2020)
7.1.2 Global Consumption Market Share by Applications (2015-2020)
7.2 Global Consumption and Growth Rate of Application 1 (2015-2020)
7.3 Global Consumption and Growth Rate of Application 2 (2015-2020)
8 North America Telerehabilitation Systems Market
8.1 North America Telerehabilitation Systems Market Size
8.2 United States Telerehabilitation Systems Market Size
8.3 Canada Telerehabilitation Systems Market Size
8.4 Mexico Telerehabilitation Systems Market Size
8.5 The Influence of COVID-19 on North America Market
9 Europe Telerehabilitation Systems Market Analysis
9.1 Europe Telerehabilitation Systems Market Size
9.2 Germany Market Size
9.3 United Kingdom Market Size
9.4 France Market Size
9.5 Italy Market Size
9.6 Spain Market Size
9.7 The Influence of COVID-19 on Europe Market
10 Asia-Pacific Telerehabilitation Systems Market Analysis
10.1 Asia-Pacific Telerehabilitation Systems Market Size
10.2 China Market Size
10.3 Japan Market Size
10.4 South Korea Market Size
10.5 Southeast Asia Market Size
10.6 India Market Size
10.7 The Influence of COVID-19 on Asia Pacific Market
11 Middle East and Africa Telerehabilitation Systems Market Analysis
11.1 Middle East and Africa Telerehabilitation Systems Market Size
11.2 Saudi Arabia Market Size
11.3 UAE Market Size
11.4 South Africa Market Size
11.5 The Influence of COVID-19 on Middle East and Africa Market
12 South America Telerehabilitation Systems Market Analysis
12.1 South America Telerehabilitation Systems Market Size
12.2 Brazil Market Size
12.3 The Influence of COVID-19 on South America Market
13 Company Profiles
13.1 Manufacture 1
13.1.1 Manufacture 1 Basic Information
13.1.2 Manufacture 1 Product Profiles, Application and Specification
13.1.3 Manufacture 1 Telerehabilitation Systems Market Performance (2015-2020)
14 Market Forecast - By Regions
14.1 North America Market Forecast (2020-2025)
14.2 Europe Market Forecast (2020-2025)
14.3 Asia-Pacific Market Forecast (2020-2025)
14.4 Middle East and Africa Market Forecast (2020-2025)
14.5 South America Market Forecast (2020-2025)
15 Telerehabilitation Systems Market Forecast - By Type and Applications
15.1 Global Market Forecast by Types (2020-2025)
15.1.1 Global Market Forecast Production and Market Share by Types (2020-2025)
15.1.2 Global Market Forecast Value and Market Share by Types (2020-2025)
15.2 Global Market Forecast by Applications (2020-2025)
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DUBLIN, Feb. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "ICT Role in Smart Grid Development: Technologies, Standards, Markets" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The concept behind smart energy and Smart Grid (SG) is controlling energy consumption internally, within the home, office, and similar; and externally from the home to outside connected devices, networks, and the smart grid itself - all with the goal of optimizing energy production, distribution, and usage. Bi-directional communication between home networks and the power grid opens up possibilities for improved reliability and sustainability as well as reducing energy consumption.
This report presents an in-depth analysis of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) for the Smart Grid.
Both wireless and wireline communications technologies are considered. Designers of SG networks have multiple choices, and the report presents a comparison of various technologies with their benefits and issues.
In addition to "traditional" technologies, such as 802.15.4g and 802.22, the report concentrates on newer cellular technologies, such as LTE for low-powered and low-speed UEs. It also analyzes a group of IoT technologies that support SG connectivity (such as SigFox, LoRa, Weightless, and RPMA).
The detailed survey of organizations that are involved in SG ICT development and standardization is also presented together with the survey of the industry. Marketing statistics also have been developed and included in the report.
This report is useful to a wide audience of technical, managerial, and sale staff involved in the SG ICT development and implementation.
Key courses Covered:
1.0 Introduction
2.0 General: SG ICT Industry Activities
2.1 Main Organizations - Functionalities
2.2 Structure
2.2.1 SG Layers
2.2.1.1 ETSI Layering
2.2.2 ETSI Subnetworks Architecture
2.3 Requirements: SG Networking
2.3.1 View: SG ICT Layers
2.4 Industry and User Groups Projects
2.4.1 ETSI
2.4.1.1 Major Items
2.4.1.2 M490
2.4.1.3 ETSI Documents
2.4.2 IEC
2.4.3 IEEE
2.4.4 Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition
2.4.5 Smart Networks Council (SNC)
2.4.6 U-SNAP Alliance
2.4.6.1 Specification and HAN
2.4.6.2 Merge
2.4.6.3 Further Development
2.4.7 ESMIG
2.4.8 Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG)
2.4.9 EPRI (Electrical Power Research Institute)
2.4.10 ZigBee and Wi-Fi Alliances
2.4.11 NIST
2.4.12 OpenHAN
2.4.13 Federal Smart Grid Task Force
2.4.14 Open Smart Grid Users Group (OSGUG)
2.4.15 ITU
2.4.16 OpenADR
2.4.17 Comments
3.0 SG ICT and Smart Meters
3.1 Function and Structure: SG ICT
3.2 Current Status
3.3 Current Objectives
3.4 Choices
3.5 Smart Meters
3.5.1 Objectives
3.5.2 Details
3.5.3 Functions
3.5.4 Components
3.5.4.1 Communications
3.6 Security
3.6.1 AMI Security Task Force
3.6.2 NIST Contributions
3.7 Market
3.7.1 Market Drivers
3.7.2 Market Projections: Smart Meters
3.8 Industry
4.0 Major Standards and Technologies: SG ICT
4.1 IEEE
4.1.1 IEEE 2030
4.1.2 IEEE 1901-2020
4.1.3 802.15.4g-Smart Utility Networks
4.1.4 Cognitive Radio: IEEE 802.22
4.2 3GPP LTE and SG
4.2.1 3GPP
4.2.2 LTE Objectives
4.2.3 Key Features of LTE
4.2.4 Benefits
4.2.5 Market
4.2.5.1 Drivers
4.2.6 Industry
4.2.6.1 Trends
4.2.6.2 Vendors
4.2.7 Role of LTE in Smart Grid Development
4.3 Wireline ICT - SG
4.3.1 IEEE 1901.2
5.0 IoT Technologies and SG
5.1 Weightless Technologies
5.1.1 Weightless Alliance
5.1.2 Common Features
5.1.2.1 Protocol Details
5.1.3 Weightless-W
5.1.4 Changes
5.1.5 Weightless-N
5.1.6 Weightless-P
5.1.7 Comparison of Weightless Technologies
5.1.8 Example
5.2 RPMA
5.2.1 Major Features
5.2.2 Expansion
5.2.3 Components and Structure
5.2.4 Use Cases
5.3 LoRa
5.3.1 Alliance
5.3.2 Technology Building Blocks
5.3.3 Industry
5.4 SigFox
5.4.1 Company
5.4.2 Technology - Details
5.4.3 Coverage
5.4.4 Use Cases
5.4.5 Industry
5.5 The G3-PLC Hybrid and SG
6.0 Conclusions
Companies Mentioned
Aclara (Software and Systems, BPL)
Actility
Adeunis RF
Advantech
Aeris (Wireless Network Provider)
Bittium
Carlson Wireless (Radio Platforms)
Cisco
CommAgility
Connected Energy (Software Platform)
Eaton (Cooper Power Systems)
Embit
Ericsson
Fujitsu
GridPoint (Network Platform)
Honeywell (Connectivity, SM)
Huawei
Innocomm
Itron (Intelligent Metering)
LORIOT.io
Landis+Gyr (Metering Devices)
Microchip
Motorola Solutions
MultiTech
Murata
Nokia
On Semiconductor
Oracle (Software)
Qualcomm
STMicroelectronics
Sagemcom
Semtech
Sensus (Data Collection and Metering)
Sequans
Siemens (Software, Hardware)
Spinwave (Building Control, HAN)
TI
Tantalus (Networking and Devices)
Tektelic
Telit
TransData (Wireless AMI/AMR Meter)
Trilliant (Intelligent Metering)
Uplight
ZTE
u-blox
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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jenny Woo, the 40-year-old founder of Mind Brain Emotion, from Irvine, California. Insider has Checked her business' revenue with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I moved to the US from China when I was 10 and am the first one to earn multiple advanced degrees in my family. While in school, I learned to maintain a positive attitude in the face of adversity, advocate for myself, and develop authentic relationships — the starting point for what would later become a brand for teaching emotional intelligence.
I started working when I was 15 at dim-sum restaurants and Denny's, but I've always had various entrepreneurial projects on the side, like scalping concert tickets in high school and selling photo-booth props and custom event designs on Etsy. As someone passionate about human development, I later held jobs as a human-capital consultant at Deloitte, a manager of talent strategy at Cisco Systems, an MBA career coach at UC Berkeley, a director of a Montessori school network, and a fitness trainer.
But in 2018, I quit my job at the Montessori school and founded my company, Mind Brain Emotion, where I sell practical card games on emotional intelligence. My company's revenue in 2022 was more than $877,000.
This is how I did it.
My work in child development as a school director had highlighted to me the value of learning social and emotional skills early on in life. And as a student, I was in a class once where the instructor grouped students in pairs and had them draw poker cards with ice-breaker questions on them. I learned that a deck of cards was the perfect simple and tactical medium for my idea.
Next came the conceptualization stage. I studied the kind of language my target audience was using in Facebook groups for parents, counselors, and educators, and I polled a couple of groups to see how my products resonated with them.
Many moms in the groups said they struggled to connect with their kids because they didn't know what to ask and didn't have enough time in the day, so I highlighted a feature to respond to this pain point — "engaging prompts to connect with your kids on the go: in the car, while waiting in line, and at the dinner table" — in my product description.
In the early stages, I was iterating my product design myself almost every other week. I picked the card-deck design because I thought repurposing card suits and numbers would help users understand which skills they were working on without having to read a manual — the suits categorized the skills into competencies, and the numbers sorted them by level of difficulty.
I now hire a part-time copywriter and a seasonal designer when I'm working on a new product. My team is currently three people: a part-time content developer, a part-time salesperson, and me.
In May 2018, I advertised 1,000 preorders on Kickstarter for my first product, a deck called 52 Essential Conversations. I told friends and family, emailed schools and parent organizations, posted in Facebook groups, ran Facebook ads, and made an Amazon storefront.
More than a third of the decks were bought via that Kickstarter campaign. I allocated the remaining decks to promote on Amazon and my website for the rest of the year, but everything sold out within the next two months after The Harvard Gazette published an article about my product. The publicity skyrocketed my sales on Amazon, and I plastered it all over my marketing copy and packaging.
I also invited teachers, counselors, and college professors to record audio on the theme and content of a single card in the deck on my podcast, then integrated a "lessons by topic" section into my website and promoted it as a virtual-card feature on Amazon. The expert guests and I then cross-promoted each other on social media.
A bid is the amount of money you're willing to spend toward a keyword or advertisement. Amazon Ads includes an algorithm that recommends keyword bid prices to you. I bid on keywords related to what someone on Amazon might type when they searched for products related to emotional intelligence, such as "EQ for kids."
To get preliminary data on which keywords were the most effective for driving people to my product, I used an Amazon tool that chooses keywords for you to bid on based on your product listing and related customer searches.
I learned that product-listing optimization was vital to my profitability and organic indexing, where you don't have to pay to get on top of the search-results page. You have limited time to catch a shopper's attention, so your product title, image, and description need to be as relevant as possible to what people are searching for and what you're providing. The more people who click to buy your product after a relevant search, the more likely Amazon will rank your product higher in the search results.
I also talked to game-industry buyers at a conference in Chicago, and their feedback gave me the clarity I needed: I'd been marketing my cards as children's toys, which would mean I'd be competing in vain against fun games backed by giant game makers. I decided to switch my language from "card game" to "educational learning tool."
The survey consisted of 74 of my customers across dozens of schools in 11 countries. I used Qualtrics, an online-survey platform, and my email list to invite people to fill out the survey.
My goal was to get an inside look at how, where, and why my customers were using my product. I came up with 20 questions — a mix of multiple choice, checking all boxes that apply, and open-ended inquiries — and was amazed to discover that educators and mental-health professionals were using this tool more than parents were, as I thought it'd surely be the opposite. Their reasons were that my cards complied with their educational standards and were easy to use and understand.
The results helped me fine-tune my marketing copy on Amazon. I made it more educator-oriented by focusing on the learning and behavioral benefits in schools and after-school settings — speech and language support, class discussion, reflective writing prompts, and peer mentorship — and including photos from the educators' classrooms on my website.
I did more market research in late 2018 and by the following March, another card deck was born: 52 Essential Relationships.
I've since expanded, and I now sell seven different decks. I went backward to move forward in my business because I recognized that in order to have genuine conversations, trust and understanding are prerequisites.
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