In It to Win It - A Great E-Business Plan!

A business plan holds the business model, which is the description of the strategy you're going to take in order to make profits and reach an economy of scale (growing as the business grows).  Here are some strategies I have come up with:


Social Media Marketing - Get your name out there...for free! Use them all: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and many more.  Use them and don't forget about them.  If you're social media sites aren't updated, it comes off illegitimate and unreliable.


Be a Good Listener - Ask for reviews and comments on your product.  For the consumer, By the consumer!  The people using your product constantly are the ones who know what's best or worst about it.  If you don't listen to them, why will they keep buying from you?  If you're not a good listener, someone else will be.


Find Your Niche - You need to find a specific product and aim it towards a specific audience.  That way you are not trying to fill a broad range of needs.  This turns you into an expert in your own field very quickly, making you trustworthy.


Make Your Words KEYWORDS - The only way search engines will rate your website relevant is by using keywords that users enter into searches.  Think like a user would, and put those keywords all through the website, while still making sense, of course.  Now, everyone will be able to find you!


http://articles.bplans.com/growing-a-business/social-media-marketing-the-marketing-skills-you-can-learn-from-obama/637
http://businesstm.com/online-business-blog/online-business-tools-of-the-trade.html

Who Has Time to Self-Regulate?

Reading through the extremely long chapters of my E-commerce textbook, I've learned a lot more about how marketers can get your information.  I used to steer clear of certain registrations because I didn't want THAT website to be able to contact me.  I also ALWAYS give websites I don't care about my "fake" email address: the one I never check or use.  However, I know now none of that matters.  If I don't want a website to know about me than I simply shouldn't go to that website. If I visit just once, they'll know me forever, mostly through the cookies they leave in my computer.  Cookies they never got permission to place.
I also learned about other links on websites that I had seen before but always ignored like "RSS Feeds."  Though it's beneficial for me (the user), I never cared or "had time" to check.  I feel that will also go for the Advertising option icon, especially since the icon really DOES NOT speak for itself.
I do believe a lot of companies will sign up because, in the end, I think it was created more for them to cover their butts.  I don't think the sponsoring company will monitor every online company that signs up to make sure they are following the rules, but I do think they'll.  I don't think they started it as a scam.  But in the end, the Advertising Option Icon doesn't seem to me like it's going to be changing the internet experience of the masses.  There's no time to click it and not enough interest to find out what it means.

http://www.whatisrss.com/
http://www.cookiecentral.com/cm002.htm

Privacy - Is There Any Left?

Internet Eyes markets itself as a company stopping the high crime rates in the UK, specifically shoplifting.  As mentioned in one review of the company on Geek.com, this doesn't seem to worry everyone when it comes to privacy.  The reviewer, Matthew, saw finding someone on the Internet the same thing as hiring someone from an application.  However, I see a really big difference.  If someone is hired to work in a room and survey stores all day, they are at work.  When people are at work, for the most part they act a certain way and respect their job in order not to lose it.  On the other hand, if people are working for Internet Eyes, they are working in the privacy of their own home.  They can go to work in their underwear, and figure out ways to do whatever they please with the footage in front of them, because they are not being supervised.  With that thought, I am completely against the idea being brought to America, though I doubt it will make it here.


As far as privacy goes, the subject of surveillance made me think of something that I've never deeply considered.  I've gone into the dressing room of some stores and casually read the signs that say there are cameras watching me, so I should think twice before stealing.  I brush the sign off because I know I won't steal, and proceed to try on the clothes.  The law seems to be that if there are surveillance cameras in the fitting rooms, men are watching men in the fitting room while women are watching women.  But when I go to American Apparel, which is where I have originally seen the sign about cameras, the fitting rooms are not separated.  Men and women use the same fitting rooms, which now makes me wonder: Who is watching me while I change clothes??




http://www.geek.com/articles/news/internet-eyes-will-pay-you-to-watch-security-camera-feeds-2010106/
http://www.lawforkids.org/speakup/view_question.cfm?id=295

Offline to Online

I believe Barnes and Noble made a noteworthy transition to the online world.  Not only do they still sell traditional books that can be shipped to the old-school customer, they have evolved with changes in technology.  They now sell digital versions of ALL of the books they sell, also known as eBooks.  Inspired by the eBook and evolving technology, they created the Nook, one of iPad's more affordable competitors.  Instead of being afraid to change, they gave customers a reason to stay loyal.

When you think of an iPad, it's hard to remember its other competitors.  Without research, the only other reading device that comes to the top of my head is a Kindle.  But to my surprise, I found SEVEN other "eReaders" that I had never heard of before.  While on the Borders website to see if they also sold digital books, I found that Sony actually has 2 eReaders on the market, on long with competitors I have never heard of like Velocity and Kobo.  The Velocity Micro Tablet is $300, touch screen, has built in apps, a built in accelerometer, and much more.  Can you find affordable iPad competitors???

barnesandnoble.com
www.velocitymicro.com/item.php?iid=4511

The Good & the Bad About Social Media

Businesses enter the social media world to benefit their company.  @AskAmex, American Express' Twitter Team, was created as a customer service tool to deal with questions and complaints in an efficient and cheap manner.  And in Boeing's case, they got the chance to provide a measly explanation of their cold-hearted behavior in response to Mr. Winsor's concern.  

But the risk of allowing employees to control the social media of big corporations seems to outweigh any benefits.  What it all comes down to: trust.  Will employees intentionally or unintentionally ruin the company's reputation?  Will they lose control of content being posted? Will the use of business social media lead to the use of personal social media on the job, creating a lack of productivity?

Companies used to completely ignore the social media existence by blocking them in the work environment.  But now the time has come where they have to embrace the new communication technology or get left behind.  In response to the risks addressed, companies need to develop risk management.  They need to assign one person to the social media project.  They need to learn how to control what can be said by employees, as well as visitors to the site.  As for the possible lack of productivity, it's been suggested to hold training sessions on order to educate employees on social media.  It's a nice thought, but will it work? Doubtful.

http://blogs.gartner.com/kristin_moyer/2009/02/09/risk-management-and-social-media-a-paradigm-shift/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20007071-93.html