This is a basic question with a not-so-basic answer. In order for a job to be done well – and your dissertation paper is, in fact, a job to be performed – you should give yourself time to figure out why you will do it and get yourself motivated. No motivation – no job quality, any professional can confirm that. Here are some possible answers to motivational question:

- Because it is a must – if you do not do it, you do not graduate;

- Because, if done with responsibility, it is an excellent opportunity to stand out from crowd and your peers – Marketing job market gets busier with every day;

- Because you can practice your research skills while being directed and supervised by professionals (eg. your university professors);

- Because it could be a starting point for your career.

We all know more you think about it, more answers you can find. Once you have your motivational level raised, you will surely want to start your paper right away.

Choose your subject ("What should I write about?")

Allow yourself plenty of time to think what subject you would like to pick for your paper. In some cases, your professors already have a list of subjects from where you can choose one but sometimes they would happily accept your own subject, providing it is of interest and you convince them of your reasons. Consider following, before you go for a subject or another:

- "Marketing" is a broad field – which of its aspects do you feel more interested into, and more comfortable discussing about? Do you recall any particular course / chapter / subject that raised your interest at a time?

- Why would your subject be of importance and who would be your auditorium?

- Is your subject researchable? Is there any academic literature base on subject?

- Do you think you can come up with a personal contribution to subject?

- Do you see yourself developing that topic further on?

- Can you name at least a couple of persons who can guide you? Would they be willing to do that for you?

Documentation, documentation and... documentation

"Documentation" is a magic key for any successful paper. Student or acknowledged professional, once you made up your mind about subject of paper, most of your efforts will be directed (or should be directed) towards documentation. Depending on your subject, on your knowledge and your search capabilities, you might want to start with this even 1 – 2 years prior to raduation date, in order to have enough time to collect and review as much information as possible.

Major information resources: libraries, bookshops, internet, newspapers and magazines (consider subscribing to main specialized magazines in your field!), university printings, company exhibitions and presentations.

Build your paper

You do not have to review whole documentation before you start to lay bricks of your paper. Usually, such works are done using "top-down" strategy, meaning you start with major lines and then you develop minor ones. You can compare this strategy with action of drawing a tree: you might want first to draw tree trunk, then major branches, you will draw then some smaller branches growing from big ones, and at end you draw leaves and flowers.

Therefore, once you are clear with subject and basics of your paper – trunk of tree, you can start organizing your chapters – major branches. Generally, you wont have less than 3 main chapters and more than 6 – 7: remember your paper has to offer a valuable content but in same time it has some space limits (for example you could be told not to exceed 70 pages including appendix and graphics).

e-Marketing is still quite a controversial subject to talk about, since no one succeeded to unify various theories around it; however there is one thing upon which there is no doubt – that e-Marketing first appeared under form of various techniques deployed by pioneer companies selling their products via internet in early 90's.

The frenzy around these new marketing techniques created by e-tailers and supported by internet rapidly gave birth to a new dimension of what we knew as Marketing: e-Marketing (electronic Marketing).

There are many definitions to what e-Marketing is, simplest and shortest one being formulated by Mark Sceats: e-Marketing is Marketing that uses internet as manifestation media. A working definition is that coming from a group of CISCO specialists: e-Marketing is sum of all activities a business conducts through internet with purpose of finding, attracting, winning and retaining customers.

e-Marketing Strategy

The e-Marketing Strategy is normally based and built upon principles that govern traditional, offline Marketing – well-known 4 P's (Product – Price – Promotion – Positioning) that form classic Marketing mix. Add extra 3 P's (People – Processes – Proof) and you got whole extended Marketing mix.

Until here, there are no much aspects to differentiate e-Marketing from traditional Marketing performed offline: extended Marketing mix (4 + 3 P's) is built around concept of "transactional" and its elements perform transactional functions defined by exchange paradigm. What gives e-Marketing its uniqueness is a series of specific functions, relational functions, that can be synthesized in 2P + 2C+ 3S formula: Personalization, Privacy, Customer Service, Community, Site, Security, Sales Promotion.

These 7 functions of e-Marketing stay at base of any e-Marketing strategy and they have a moderating character, unlike classic Marketing mix that comprises situational functions only. Moderating functions of e-Marketing have quality of moderate, operate upon all situational functions of mix (the classic 4 P's) and upon each other.

1. Personalization The fundamental concept of personalization as a part of e-Marketing mix lies in need of recognizing, identifying a certain customer in order to establish relations (establishing relations is a fundamental objective of Marketing). It is crucial to be able to identify our customers on individual level and gather all possible information about them, with purpose of knowing our market and be able to develop customized, personalized products and services.

For example, a cookie strategically placed on website visitor's computer can let us know vital information concerning access speed available: in consequence, if we know visitor is using a slow connection (eg. dial-up) we will offer a low-volume variation of our website, with reduced graphic content and no multimedia or flash applications. This will ease our customer's experience on our website and he will be prevented from leaving website on reason that it takes too long to load its pages.

Personalization can be applied to any component of Marketing mix; therefore, it is a moderating function.

2. Privacy Privacy is an element of mix very much connected to previous one – personalization. When we gather and store information about our customers and potential customers (therefore, when we perform personalization part of e-Marketing mix) a crucial issue arises: that of way this information will be used, and by whom. A major task to do when implementing an e-Marketing strategy is that of creating and developing a policy upon access procedures to collected information.

This is a duty and a must for any conscious marketer to consider all aspects of privacy, as long as data are collected and stored, data about individual persons.

Privacy is even more important when establishing e-Marketing mix since there are many regulations and legal aspects to be considered regarding collection and usage of such information.

3. Customer Service Customer service is one of necessary and required activities among support functions needed in transactional situations.