Network effect Essay Example for Free

Network effect Essay Network effect is seen as a phenomenon where a network service (SNS or PNS) becomes more valuable as the number of users increase. This phenomenon encourages continually increasing membership within the network. This can happen when a user adopts a network service initially to connect with current users, or later, when â€Å"everyone† is using the network service. Although there may be a larger increase in new membership for SNS’s, it is stated throughout the LinkedIn case that new membership for PNS’s is likely to be more valuable to users because of the nature of the connection. Many people will not want to change PNS’s because they will lose their multiple connections already created (Yoffie et al. , 2009). The case examines the likelihood of SNS’s overlapping and taking over PNS’s. This outcome seems unlikely. By examining Exhibit 6 (Yoffie et al. , 2009, p. 16), the correlation among factors such as age, income, college education, and position within an organization sets LinkedIn squarely within its target market. Also, Yoffie et al. indicates the distinct uses of professional and social apps on Facebook. The multitude of users who use social apps vs. lower use of professional apps shows that Facebook users are less likely to make their profiles into professional networking tools, leaving PNS’s like LinkedIn for leveraging their professional careers (Author, p. 14). Question #2 Emerging companies need to generate new dynamics that are modernized, innovative, and easily adaptive to survive in this world. The new dynamics should be economically viable for the industry because they affect issues of whether to pursue a build or a buy approach to expand globally. LinkedIn Corporation, a PNS, is used by professionals globally to interact professionally. Uses include recruiting, getting expert advice, group collaboration, and more. Differentiating strategies were adopted by LinkedIn in order to separate itself from competition and answer the uestion of whether to utilize a build or buy approach. A build approach involves both monetary and other resource investments from the company. For LinkedIn, Investments in certain professional apps such as conference calendar, a tool used to indicate when certain conferences will be coming up, and which of a user’s connections will be attending, are examples of utilizing the build approach. The buying approach is where the company buys/merges with an existing SNS/PNS and integrates it within the existing systems. Although this expands a company, it constrains the ability of a company to customize the existing network with its own. Therefore, a company amp; its procedures need to adapt to the technology it buys. If they use a build approach, the company can build to their own specifications differentiating itself from existing networks (No Quote, Does not answer question). Question #3 LinkedIn’s strategy is straight to the point, be the best in the market of professional networking services (PNS). By focusing on providing a â€Å"virtual platform for professional interaction† (Yoffie et al. , 2009, p. 2), LinkedIn would provide various productive services to its users. Services provided include professional search, reference checking, recruiting, advice search, job searching amp; posting, and workgroup collaboration, which were successful because they allowed their users to become more effective in their professional careers. Also, its success was accounted for being involved with countless industries, rather than focusing on a specific industry like other PNS providers. Within its strategy, LinkedIn encompassed three premises which attributed to LinkedIn being the best in PNS, â€Å"remain a strongly differentiated category from SNS,† â€Å"maintain a hold on professional users for reasons both positive and negative,† and â€Å" embrace establishments rather than fight them† (Yoffie et al. , 2009, p. 3). LinkedIn’s success strongly accounts for maintaining a quality PNS by providing a productive atmosphere, which involves being separated from SNS. It is important for LinkedIn to remain separate from SNS capabilities in order to maintain its high PNS quality and core values. The risk of inheriting this strategy’s premise involves losing the users that want a network that hosts both professional and social networking capabilities. LinkedIn could potentially lose users to SNS businesses, like Facebook, who are starting to provide PNS services in its SNS atmosphere. In the second premise for its strategy, holding its users for positive and negative reasons also brings both success and risk. The positivity hold, having users create positive professional identity, is a success because it is a competitive advantage over SNS providers who only provide social identity or cannot separate the two. But holding onto its users for negative reasons promotes the similar risk as mentioned in the first premise. When users think to switch from LinkedIn to a SNS that provides both SNS and PNS capabilities, LinkedIn banks on the fact that they believe users would not put losing its contacts in jeopardy. This negative hold on LinkedIn users is a risk because it is quite possible that sooner or later SNS companies that promote both PNS and SNS capabilities will also have relatively the same contacts as LinkedIn. It is risky to assume that LinkedIn can keep users based on the premise of this assumption. Lastly, the third premise for its strategy brings on success. Having companies embrace the concept of LinkedIn in the end creates more users. LinkedIn is designed so that professionals will be more productive and more effective in their careers. If LinkedIn does eventually provide SNS qualities in its service, this could pose as a risk. Companies might not want to promote a network that could waste work time with their employees playing games and spending time on personal social interaction on the network. Therefore, companies would end up fighting LinkedIn. LinkedIn has always incorporated a control over its network as part of its strategy. Keeping out non-professional information and photos helps keep the quality of its PNS professional and on top. It also embeds value propositions for its professional users as well as its corporate users which revolve around a simple user interface. Although this is what maintains its quality’s success, it also brings a risk by shying away companies who do not want to be part of a network that they cannot control. Lastly, LinkedIn is successful because of its strategy of how to obtain its revenues. Its five sources of revenue include advertising, subscriptions, job postings, corporate solutions, and primary research that evenly contribute to its earnings. If one of the sources does not do as well as expected, LinkedIn has the other four methods to rely on. Question #4 Companies implement strategies to achieve a target or reach a goal that may e becoming the market leader of the industry, increasing profits by a certain percent, or even attracting new members to use a professional network service. As mentioned in the second week of classes, a company may choose one of the four Porter’s generic strategies that include differentiation, overall cost leadership, focus differentiation, and focus low cost to achieve competitive advantage (Kumar, 2010, p. 24). LinkedIn’s strategy is a focus differentiation since it was first founded, and its strategy has helped the company to become a leader in the PNS market. The differentiation strategy involves constant innovation and providing users with what they need and want in a new or better manner than what competitors can provide. Therefore, LinkedIn and many companies in other industries may ward off its competitors through innovation, quality, and reputation although overlapping products may be present. While Facebook may present threats to LinkedIn with the intent to blur the distinction between SNSs and PNSs, LinkedIn would still maintain a competitive advantage in the PNSs. LinkedIn has always focused on differentiating itself in the PNSs by providing users a different degree of privacy, standards, and quality tools to â€Å"†¦find job candidates for position in their company, to reach out to experts around the world in order to get advice and  make better decisions† (Yoffie et al. , 2009, p. 4). LinkedIn differentiates from Facebook and other SNSs not only on the type of service that is provided, but also on the value it adds to the professional identity of each user, and the reputation it maintains. SNSs such as Facebook and MySpace may be very popular and well known around the world for the types of applications available, the connectivity advantages, and the numbers of users within the network. However, the SNSs have presented privacy issues as well as reputation issues. As mentioned in class by Professor Kumar and Mehdizadeh (2010) in her article, SNSs provide a self-presentation characteristic of low self-esteem and high narcissism users. Alternately, LinkedIn targets a long-term goal in the attempt to create a different type of environment, a â€Å"professional ecosystem† with the addition of applications and modules to help users increase efficiency in their work and portray the professional self. The existence or emergence of other PNSs would increase competition for LinkedIn; however, LinkedIn already has a well-established professional networks composed of top executives, CEOs/CFOs, and other important professionals that attract individuals who seek advice or just the possibility to connecting professionally. LinkedIn’s users may have difficulty and a cost to switch networks, but they also find value in the services available. The continuous promotion of the benefits that can be obtained and the innovation of new modules such as LinkedIn news and customizable settings will help the company ward off competitors. Question #5 Question # 5a The distinction between social and professional is clear. This distinction likens LinkedIn to the Wall Street Journal â„ ¢, and SNS’s to publications like Peopleâ„ ¢, indicating that creating a more social aspect to LinkedIn will depart from the needs and wants of their target market. The expansion by Facebook into an open platform allowed third parties to develop social apps and created a â€Å"viral [spread]† across the network. Hoffman (Yoffie et al. , 2009, p. 7) stated that he wanted to prevent this within the LinkedIn network, instead insisting on stringent protocols and reviews of all new apps, so as to provide professionals with â€Å". . . the right sort of tools to interact with their network. † Maintaining a walled garden, as opposed to an open platform, is critical to continuing LinkedIns success. Like stated before, its strategy is based around being the best PNS in the industry. Users flock to this website because of how LinkedIn keeps the network professional, promotes productivity, and enables users to advance their careers success. Keeping this prestige will conserve LinkedIn’s quality and continue to attract its target market, professional users. Question # 5b LinkedIn should not broaden the scope to include elements of social networking. LinkedIn began and still operates since 2003 as a PNS. This strategy has allowed it to flourish, generating a customer base of 75 million users spreading around 200 countries, which includes professionals from all fortune 500 companies (Yoffie et al. 2009). This growth can be attributed to its departure from obtaining the majority of its revenues from advertising, like SNS’s, and creating a focused concept that does not necessarily remove innovation within the network, but instead indicates a policy of professionalism throughout with the controlled inception of professional applications. Different from SNS, of which the majority of revenue is from advertising, LinkedIn has framed its revenue model on five sources: (1) Advertising, (2) Subscriptions, (3) Job Postings, (4) Corporate Solutions, and (5) Primary Research. Steve Sordello, CFO for LinkedIn, stated â€Å"This model gives us a lot of sustainability, even if one of those revenue streams doesn’t succeed as we expect, we have others† (Yoffie et al. , 2009, p. 6). In order to sustain a competitive advantage, in 2007, LinkedIn change a policy to accommodate users who wished to upload a single professional head shot for identification. In 2008, LinkedIn launched a product called Company Groups that brought all LinkedIn users who worked for an organization into a closed forum which provides a collected, protected space for employees to talk to each other, as a part of application program interfaces (API). Other launches included Conference Calendar, as stated above (Yoffie et al. , 2009). Question # 5c LinkedIn has created a successful user base in foreign countries. This growth is attributed to LinkedIn’s concept of build not buy, using an organic growth model, giving it a competitive advantage over its main foreign rival Xing. This advantage is through LinkedIn’s ability to control segments of its business outside the U. S. , separate from Xing who buys outside networks limiting its control, in addition to Nye’s observation that â€Å"being in English first† is an advantage.

I Search Paper Essay Example for Free

I Search Paper Essay â€Å"Falling in love is like being thrown from a horse; if you let yourself go it doesn’t hurt as badly as if you try to save yourself.† This quote, quoted by Edwin Blanchard, gives you a little taste on the meaning of love. Love doesn’t have just one definition like many people believe, it has many definitions. Love is very complex and is needed by every human being. It doesn’t mean one has to be romantically involved with another person; love comes from people and things not realized by others. Friends, family, spouses, pets, and belongings are just some examples of love. This brings me to my most interesting discovery of the word â€Å"love†. Love is very important to everyone and is all around us. Even if you are a 40 year old man who has never been in a romantic relationship with anyone doesn’t mean you have never experienced love or the feeling of it because you can love anything. By researching this word I have realized that I need love and I know that I will always have some sort of love in my life. Whether it’s my family, friends, pets, or my favorite heels. There is an endless amount of love in this world we live in and there is plenty to go around. The biggest difficulty with this word was defining it. There are many thoughts and opinions on the definition of love. I don’t agree with all but I found one that I believe to be very true. To me love is seeing someone at his or her worst and their best and still loving them with all their heart. It is accepting the person for who they are and not changing them. Love also includes attraction, physical and mental, but most importantly it involves commitment, respect, loyalty, and trust. You can not force these things upon people, it is a natural thing. Love has a lot to do with fate, which I believe in. The only reason why love cannot be forced is because fate will always lead you to your true love. When you find that person, you will discover that the love you have for that them is like some kind of attachment. They become a part of you and your life. Everything you do, you consider that one person. Love is all about caring for others. When you love someone you will do anything to make him or her happy, even if it’s just the little things. You will try to reach out to them every way that you can because you know it will make them feel some type of joy. Why would you want to do that for just one person to feel happy? You do it because you care about them and love them. Care and love are perfect synonyms for each other. You love someone because you care about them and you care about someone because you love them. Those feelings cannot be controlled. It might sound great to be in love but there are also many negatives to being in love. There are many things in this world that are mistaken for love, and manipulated as the actual thing. One person can love another person more than the other person could love that person. Obstacles can often get in the way of love. They can sometimes kill a relationship and the love you had for one another. It’s all about fate; what’s meant to be, will be. And what’s not meant to be will only lead you one step closer to the fate that was chosen for you. But just remember that everyone will eventually find their one and true love and will live happily ever after.

Incorporation of E-commerce into Business

Incorporation of E-commerce into Business INTRODUCTION OF THE TOPIC In the emerging global economy, e-business have increasingly become a necessary component of business strategy and a strong catalyst for economic development. The integration of information and communications technology (ICT) in business has revolutionized relationships within organizations and those between and among organizations and individuals. Specifically, the use of ICT in business has enhanced productivity, encouraged greater customer participation, and enabled mass customization, besides reducing costs. With developments in the Internet and Web-based technologies, distinctions be- tween traditional markets and the global electronic marketplace such as business capital size, among others-are gradually being narrowed down. The name of the game is strategic positioning, the ability of a company to determine emerging op- portunities and utilize the necessary human capital skills (such as intellectual re- sources) to make the most of these opportunities through an e-business strategy that is simple, workable and practicable within the context of global information and new economic environment. With its effect of leveling the playing field, e-commerce coupled with the appropriate strategy and policy approach enables Small and medium scale enterprises to compete with large and capital-rich businesses. On another plane, developing countries are given increased access to the global Marketplace, where they compete with and complement the more developed economies. Most, if not all, developing countries are already participating in e-commerce, either as sellers or buyers. However, to facilitate e-commerce growth in these countries, the relatively underdeveloped information infrastructure must be improved. HISTORY OF INTERNET In the 50s and early 60s, prior to the widespread inter-networking that led to the Internet, most communication networks were limited by their nature to only allow communications between the stations on the network. Some networks had gateways or bridges between them, but these bridges were often limited or built specifically for a single use. One prevalent computer networking method was based on the central mainframe method, simply allowing its terminals to be connected via long leased lines. This method was used in the 1950s by Project RAND to support researchers such as Herbert Simon, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when collaborating across the continent with researchers in Santa Monica, California, on automated theorem proving and artificial intelligence. The Internet system was developed and ready in the Late 1980s, but The Cold War held up the progress. When it ended in 1992, the internet slowly became main stream. By the end of the decade, millions were using it for business, edu cation and pleasure. The Internet was designed in part to provide a communications network that would work even if some of the sites were destroyed by nuclear attack. If the most direct route was not available, routers would direct traffic around the network via alternate routes. The early Internet was used by computer experts, engineers, scientists, and librarians. There was nothing friendly about it. There were no home or office personal computers in those days, and anyone who used it, whether a computer professional or an engineer or scientist or librarian, had to learn to use a very complex system. WHAT MAKES THE INTERNET SO POWERFUL? The Internet is the lowest cost system ever developed to communicate with a potential audience of hundreds of millions of people all over the world. Even locally, the cost of a simple Web site is usually less than the cost of a modest ad in a business telephone directory. A Web site can also give more information than a telephone directory ad, including color photos, detailed descriptions of products and services, and price information that can be changed at any moment, for any reason, instead of waiting for a printed directorys next publication cycle. As a news medium, the Internet is faster and more flexible than a newspaper or magazine. A story can be added to a Web site instantly at any time of the day or night. There are no deadlines (except self-imposed ones) for Internet news. The printing press is always on, you might say. Even television news, aside from a few 24-hour news channels, must usually wait for scheduled news broadcast times instead of breaking into entertainment programming whenever a new story comes along. Television is also constrained by its necessarily linear information delivery format. It must tell a story, then another story, then take a break for advertising, then tell another story, and so on, in sequence. A viewer cannot choose to view only a few stories that he or she finds interesting, which may occupy only five minutes out of a 30-minute newscast. On the Internet, a reader is free not only to choose to view just those stories in which he or she is most interested, but also gets to choose the order i n which he or she sees them. If sports scores are the highest item on todays agenda, click and theres the sports section, as easy as turning a newspaper page. Another click and theres the score from the game that just ended, possibly with video highlights only one more click away. Corrections, changes, and updates to a story published on the Internet can be made as fast as they come in without waiting for a printing press to roll. Breaking news alerts can be sent instantly by email to subscribers who request this service, and a reader can instantly communicate with an online publications editors via email or, if the publication has this facility, post his or her comments on a message board for other readers to see right away, without waiting for a fax or mail to get through and an editor to look the message over and perhaps include it in the letters to the editor section several days after the original story ran. An online publication can also offer an advertiser something that is not available in any other medium: ads that link directly, with one click, to a Web page full of compelling reasons to buy the advertised product or service. Even if only a fraction of one percent of all people who see a Web ad click on it, that is still an infinitely higher percentage than can click on a magazine ad or TV spot for additional information—or even to buy a product directly from the advertiser right now. Even if few readers click on an individual online ad and buy right now, a Web ad still has the same branding and general get the name out effect as advertising in other media. If the cost of an online ad is similar to the cost of one in another medium, it represents a better value because of the ability it gives an advertiser to give an interested person an entire Web site full of information right away, only one click removed from the online publication in which that ad is running. But the most direct way to make money online, no matter how a merchant gets traffic to his or her Web site, is to sell over the Internet. E-commerce has had its ups and downs, but the overall trend is upward, and it is likely to stay that way for many years to come. Putting up a catalog Web site is far less expensive than printing and mailing paper catalogs, and the Web site can have instant ordering and credit card acceptance built right into it, whereas a paper catalog can generate only phone orders that require a horde of (expensive) live operators to process or mail-in order forms that a customer must fill outAn WHAT IS E-BUSINESS? E-business (electronic business), derived from such terms as e-mail and e-commerce, is the conduct of business on the Internet, not only buying and selling but also servicing customers and collaborating with business partners. One of the first to use the term was IBM, when, in October, 1997, it launched a thematic campaign built around the term. Today, major corporations are rethinking their businesses in terms of the Internet and its new culture and capabilities. Companies are using the Web to buy parts and supplies from other companies, to collaborate on sales promotions, and to do joint research. Exploiting the convenience, availability, and world-wide reach of the Internet, many companies, such as Amazon.com, the book sellers, have already discovered how to use the Internet successfully. E-business is more than just having a web presence to facilitate buying and selling. Frank Jones, VP of IBM Corporation, provides this definition: E-business is exploiting the combined power of the internet and information technology to fundamentally transform key business strategies and processes. The most common implementation of E-business is as an additional, or in some cases primary, storefront. By selling products and services online, an e-business is able to reach a much wider consumer base than any traditional brick-and-mortar store could ever hope for. This function of E-business is referred to as ecommerce, and the terms are occasionally used interchangeably. An E-Business may also use the Internet to acquire wholesale products or supplies for in-house production. This facet of E-Business is sometimes referred to as eprocurement, and may offer businesses the opportunity to cut their costs dramatically. Even many E-Businesses which operate without an electronic storefront now use eprocurement as a way to better track and manage their purchasing. revenue from 5% in 2000 to 10% in 2007 . Asia-Pacific e-commerce revenues are projected to increase from $76.8 billion atIn addition to buying and selling products, e-business may also handle other traditional business aspects. The use of electronic chat as a form of technical and customer support is an excellent example of this. An e-business which uses chat to supplement its traditional phone support finds a system which saves incredible amounts of time while providing opportunities unavailable through traditional support. By using virtual computer systems, for example, technical support operator s can remotely access a customers computer and assist them in correcting a problem. And with the download of a small program, all pertinent information about the hardware and software specifications for a users computer may be relayed to the support operator directly, without having to walk a customer through personally collecting the data. In the past few years, virtually all businesses have become, to some degree or another, an e-business. The pervasiveness of Internet technology, readily available solutions, and the repeatedly demonstrated benefits of electronic technology have made e-business the obvious path. This trend continues with new technologies, such as Internet-enabled cell phones and PDAs, and the trend of e-business saturation will most likely continue for some time. International Data Corp (IDC) estimates the value of global e-commerce in 2000 at US$350.38 billion. This is projected to climb to as high as US$3.14 trillion by 2007. IDC also predicts an increase in Asias percentage share in worldwide e-commerce year-end of 2001 to $338.5 billion by the end of 2004. Asia-Pacific e-commerce revenues are projected to increase from $76.8 billion at year-end of 2001 to $338.5 billion by the end of 2004. SOME OF THE WAYS I CAN INCORPORATE E-BUSINESS INTO A COMPANY The goal is to digitize transactions, which are simply defined as exchanges of information. The number of opportunities is limited only by your creativity, cost, and good business sense. The best advice is to determine the best opportunities for payback and address them first. Make sure the benefit will pay back or exceed the cost. The following is a summarized list of functions and activities where e-business applications are becoming embedded into the typical business model. Visualize, if you can, a business where each of these business activities is completely integrated with the others, to form a completely integrated e-business. After sales service; ie. billing, demand planning, engineering, inventory planning, purchasing, receivables Business analytics; ie. financial performance, marketing, workforce, production, enterprise management Consultant management Customer relationship management; ie. account management, customer self-service, contact management communications, promotions, surveys, quality, help desk, field service E-procurement E-store/e-exchange/product catalog; ie. delivering b2b and b2c e-commerce, Finance; ie. asset management, accounting, budgets, invoicing, payables receivables, investments, government tax returns payments, payroll administration Grant donation management Human Resources Management; ie. resource planning, benefits administration, reward programs, recruiting hiring, workforce management, pension administration Investor relations Marketing and sales activities; ie. products, technical information, sales support, product life cycle management, corporate resume, portfolio, customer lists, customer service Materials management Order management customer fulfillment Project management Public Relations Strategic partner collaboration HAVING TRADITIONAL BUSINESS : WHAT DO ONLINE CUSTOMERS SEEK Consumer attitudes of those who shop and purchase online are significantly different from the habits and preferences of consumers who visit stores. Their purchase decisions are driven and based on a different set of factors tied to the characteristics of the e-space environment. For an e-commerce business to survive, it is absolutely necessary to establish and maintain an intimate understanding of the customers, their behavior, and the factors that drive purchase decisions. In the current e-commerce environment, online consumers are highly sensitive to the following characteristics: Quick page download time, 8-10 seconds Fast navigation, 2-3 page views to get to the consumers objective Logical and understandable first page view; purpose of site, companys mission, organization of site Quality user-friendly web site, easy to read and view with interesting graphics Immediate customer service, a human to contact to ask questions while browsing Complete product descriptions, price and other charges, and pictures Contact information, company address, store locations, telephone numbers, email address Confidentiality regarding use or sharing of consumer information Opt-out, or permission-given privacy policies for consumer data entered on the site Security arrangements for online transactions Convenient return policies and options Order acknowledgement ability to check shipping status Site stability, similar look and feel for each successive visit 10 SUREFIRE IDEAS TO START YOUR OWN ONLINE INTERNET BUSINESS Become a freelancer Do you have any specific skill? Sell it. Go to elance.com to find the job opportunities posted there. Start information website Do you have a passion to research any niche topic? Gather it, process it, rewrite it and start a new informational website on the researched topic. Participate in affiliate marketing (sell others product) Why dont you sell manufacturers or marketers product? To be precise, sell others product. Sell an ad space If you have a website or blog sell an ad space from it. If you dont have, try having one exclusively made for selling ad space. Sell your own old stuffs through EBay Start selling your product or your neighbors or friends product through EBay. Create a Niche blog Do you Blog for Fun? No dont blog it. Blog to generate income out of it, get hired by companies to write blog for them. or create your own niche blog (this might over lap with any one of the above strategy). Sell your services If you have a talent in any particular domain, and then sell it as a service. Be an Online service provider. Example: Online Brokers (this might also overlap) Create e-books on any subject of your interest and sell it across various channels like EBay, Amazon, etc IS E-COMMERCE THE SAME AS E-BUSINESS? While some use e-commerce and e-business interchangeably, they are distinct con- cepts. In e-commerce, information and communications technology (ICT) is used in inter-business or inter-organizational transactions (transactions between and among firms/organizations) and in business-to-consumer transactions (transactions between firms/organizations and individuals). In e-business, on the other hand, ICT is used to enhance ones business. It includes any process that a business organization (either a for-profit, governmental or non-profit entity) conducts over a computer-mediated network. A more comprehensive definition of e-business is: The transformation of an organizations processes to deliver additional customer value through the application of technologies, philosophies and computing paradigm of the new economy. Three primary processes are enhanced in e-business : Production processes, which include procurement, ordering and replenish-ment of stocks; processing of payments; electronic links with suppliers; and production control processes, among others; Customer-focused processes, which include promotional and marketing ef-forts, selling over the Internet, processing of customers purchase orders and Internal management processes, which include employee services, train-ing, internal information-sharing, video-conferencing, and recruiting. Electronic applications enhance information flow between production and sales forces to improve sales force productivity. Workgroup communications and elec- tronic publishing of internal business information are likewise made more efficient. payments, and customer support, among others; and WHY ESTABLISH A BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET? Fact versus Opinion On techniques we have practised. We will be sharing with you the methods we have used to establish our own internet business rather than harping on about theories. You will be reading a real success story written by real people. Everything you will find here can be verified and put into practice by you. There is no denying that the internet has brought about a revolution. Never before have people been able to interact in such a cost effective and comfortable way. The Internet with its multiple communication channels also changes the world of business. Now it is possible for you to establish your own company with a very small financial investment or in some cases even without any start-up capital at all. The majority of people in any country in the world do not really like their regular jobs. Nevertheless they get up early every morning to go to work and when they return home tired and frustrated they switch on the TV to forget all about their problems. They often dream about a life t hat gives them the freedom to do what they really like with people who are friendly, intelligent, understanding and supportive. When it comes to business, most people confuse their personal opinions with facts. They believe in fact that they know something when in reality they dont have all the data to support their beliefs.In this document section you will find factual information that is based on our experiences and our experiences Now with the Internet available in almost every household in any developed country, it is possible to achieve the type of lifestyle you have always dreamed about. The following facts will show why you really should consider establishing your own internet company : Downsizing: Lets face it — a computer is more productive than a human in business. areas such as accounting, administration, data management, calculating, statistics and many more activities. Whatever industry you name — new technologies increase productivity which, in turn, often leads to fewer jobs. To be sure new technologies also create new jobs but these require a much higher level of qualification and knowledge. A person who has been working in the same sort of job for several years is often not capable of acquiring all the skills and qualifications needed for a job in a new workplace. Globalization: The world is becoming more and more interconnected. Even, or maybe especially after September 11, international travel activities have been increasing and this pattern will continue into the future. The number of companies that operate on a multinational scale is constantly rising because they need new market places. In Europe nations have agreed on a uniform single currency — the EURO, enabling the European Community to develop into a strong economic entity. The same sort of thing is taking place in Asia with China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan forming a powerful economic alliance. Information: More than 500 million people worldwide are using the internet on a regular basis, with email and search engines as the most popular services. Information is power. People are able to influence, direct, convince, educate and manipulate others through one single tool: The distribution of information. Email and discussion forums allow people to share their thoughts, ideas and experiences with other people from all corners of the world. Cost Effectiveness : The internet is by far the most cost effective communication tool. If you want to send a letter via conventional or so-called snail mail it will cost at least around $1 (assuming you restrict yourself to two single sheets of paper). Sending the same amount of information via email will be up to 100 times cheaper with immediate delivery. THE ADVANTAGES OF THE INTERNET So, lets recap. Never have the chances for setting up and running your own successful business been easier than they are today: While traditional industries like manufacturing are shrinking, new industries are growing especially the  «information industries You can use the internet to find your customers and business partners worldwide Your customers and partners can find you on the internet. You can use the internet to build a strong relationship with your customers especially via email. You can use the internet to market your products and services. You can use the internet to acquire all the information, training and qualifications you need for your business. You can set up a business with a very small marketing budget, something almost impossible in the real world. You can certainly list even more reasons why it is possible for anybody with a computer and access to the Internet to establish their own business. At the same time the reality is that only a very small percentage of people who do have a computer and access to the Internet, establish and run their own business. Why is this? The answer is very simple. Most people anywhere in the world, spend too much time thinking about things they do not want, instead of thinking about things they do want. As a result there are only a few people who have their own company and they usually earn more money than somebody with a regular job. Owners of comapines usually have more personal and financial freedom than people with regular jobs. But what exactly do you need in order to own a company? Money? A University degree? The right friends? Well, maybe some of these things can help you with your business but then they are not essential and are no guarantee of success. We have analyzed a number of successful online business people and here is a list of important characteristics all of them possessed. We know that the following qualities are essential for success as a businessperson so you should take the time to go through them and check whether or not you have them. All the information about how to set up a website, how to run an email newsletter, how to get a high ranking at Google, how to generate huge traffic to your website etc. will be worth nothing if you dont have most of the following s kills and qualities. 121 WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN E-BUSINESS? Self-Motivation Most people wait until someone else tells them what to do. Thats the way our society is organized. You go to school and the teacher tells you what to do. You study at university and the professors tell you what to do. Your parents tell you what is right and wrong. You get a job and there you will have a boss and colleagues who tell you what to do. Now, we all have to learn from others clearly but we do have a choice about where we get advice. If you want to know how to establish your own business, would you ask your colleague who has been working in a regular 9 -5 job for 15 years or so? Think about your teachers at school or your University professors. Do you think they know how to set up a business and become an entrepreneur? If we examine truly successful people we will find that they have a high level of self-motivation. This applies to any calling in life. Consistency, the ability to follow through Many people who do have self-motivation, quickly get enthused and inspired by a new idea. Getting excited or even thrilled by an idea might be great for the moment. A business, however, requires constant activity. If you want to establish and develop a company you need a high level of consistency also known as stickability. Once you have made the decision to set up your business, you must follow through this decision with consistency. Think about your life can you come up with an example where you have proved your consistency, your stickability? Did you ever want to learn to play an instrument or a sport or a learn a foreign language? How long did you stick to your plan? How much time did you spend on your project and what have you accomplished? Chances are that you started a lot of projects and half way through the course you quit because things got tough and you lacked stickability. If this is the case fear not. You are not alone. The truth is that most people quit as soon as things get more difficult. Making a long-term commitment is not easy for most people. This applies to personal relationships too Self-Discipline Are you the sort of person who tends to raise your voice when something doesnt go your way? Or do you even have A tendency to shout at your spouse, children or colleagues when you are under pressure? Whenever you start shouting, swearing or using negative language you are wasting your energy energy better put to use on your business venture. Swearing and grumbling kills your creativity and blocks your mind. You must be strong enough to withstand any tendency to get angry or upset or else you will never succeed in your business. Courage It takes great courage to make decisions and set goals because this means you have to prove to yourself that you can follow your own words through to a conclusion. Look at your friends, family and colleagues. How often do you hear somebody make a promise like  «Ill call you next week. » or  «Ill look this information up for you. » or  «Sure Ill help you when you move house, just let me know when you need me. » Those are statements, offers, promises all based on words. Yet, how often are they followed by deeds? Do you make New Years Resolutions such as  «Next year Ill quit smoking »,  «Next year Ill start this business course at night school », and  «Next year Ill go on a trip to Paris or Egypt with you »? How many of those resolutions and promises have you kept? How many of them did you simply forget two weeks into the New Year? It takes courage to make a real decision, as you will have to make a sacrifice to follow it through. Also, when you start up a busine ss you will be alone, at least to begin with. There will be no-one to tell you what to do, nobody at first to motivate and support you. You will have to take responsibility for yourself and to a certain degree, for any possible partners and you can only lead others if you have your own fears under control and are willing to take risks. Many people do not set themselves goals because they are afraid of failing of admitting defeat and they think the best way to avoid defeat is to simply not set goals. Willingness to learn and the ability to change habits When you decide to start your own Internet business you are also deciding to go back to school again. Not in a real physical sense but mentally. You will have to trawl for every single bit of information that will get you closer to your goal. To learn means youll need to change your habits and habits are established patterns of behaviour and thinking that everyone acquires throughout their lives. However, most people are not aware of the fact that they have to learn something new every day and that in order to learn, in order to obtain new knowledge and new skills they have to change some of these habits. If you want to learn a foreign language you have to change your daily routine. For example the habit of listening to your favourite music on the radio. Instead you could be listening to audio recordings in the language you want to learn. We all have a tendency to get used to things that are not only comfortable but also do not require much activity on our part. We get used to watching TV in the evening and eating convenience food at the same time because this is comfortable and doesnt require any mental activity. IF you want to establish your business, you wont have much time to watch TV for entertainment. You have to change your habit of absorbing information passively into one of actively searching for information in order to analyze, filter and reorganize it. Creativity Establishing a business means creating a product, service or system that solves a specific problem or enhances a persons life in one way or another. You can achieve this purpose when you create something new This doesnt mean that you have to re-invent the wheel though. Examine any new product development that enters the market and you will see that this  «new » creation is not entirely new but has been made up by combining existing elements in a novel way. This action of rethinking existing elements is the formula of creativity. So, in order to create something new you have first to analyze an existing product to find out how it can be improved, developed or enhanced in any way so it will do a better job. Take Google — its founders examined and analyzed existing search portals, in particular Yahoo and MSN. Based on their exhaustive studies they came up with an indexing and searching system that provides a higher search term relevancy. Study peoples behaviour — ident ify their latent needs and desires and you will tap into a never-ending supply of product ideas. Vision Vision is the ability to see things not as they are right now, but what they will be like in the future. Most people are so stuck in the moment, so preoccupied with their personal daily problems that they dont have the time or energy to think about how a particular market can develop in the future. Look at any successful business venture and you will find that its founder was able to project into the future, to estimate how peoples behaviour will change. Your success in business is directly related to your vision capacity » and your vision capacity is determined by two factors: How far ahead are you able to see into the future and how precise are your predictions? When Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998, they could see well beyond the year 2003, in which they yielded A revenue of almost $ 1 billion. By 1998 Yahoo and MSN were operating worldwide known search services and no one would have thought that two students could take the lead in the industry within 5 years. Y et, Brin and Page had become excellent analysts of the web search market and they collected and Incorporation of E-commerce into Business Incorporation of E-commerce into Business INTRODUCTION OF THE TOPIC In the emerging global economy, e-business have increasingly become a necessary component of business strategy and a strong catalyst for economic development. The integration of information and communications technology (ICT) in business has revolutionized relationships within organizations and those between and among organizations and individuals. Specifically, the use of ICT in business has enhanced productivity, encouraged greater customer participation, and enabled mass customization, besides reducing costs. With developments in the Internet and Web-based technologies, distinctions be- tween traditional markets and the global electronic marketplace such as business capital size, among others-are gradually being narrowed down. The name of the game is strategic positioning, the ability of a company to determine emerging op- portunities and utilize the necessary human capital skills (such as intellectual re- sources) to make the most of these opportunities through an e-business strategy that is simple, workable and practicable within the context of global information and new economic environment. With its effect of leveling the playing field, e-commerce coupled with the appropriate strategy and policy approach enables Small and medium scale enterprises to compete with large and capital-rich businesses. On another plane, developing countries are given increased access to the global Marketplace, where they compete with and complement the more developed economies. Most, if not all, developing countries are already participating in e-commerce, either as sellers or buyers. However, to facilitate e-commerce growth in these countries, the relatively underdeveloped information infrastructure must be improved. HISTORY OF INTERNET In the 50s and early 60s, prior to the widespread inter-networking that led to the Internet, most communication networks were limited by their nature to only allow communications between the stations on the network. Some networks had gateways or bridges between them, but these bridges were often limited or built specifically for a single use. One prevalent computer networking method was based on the central mainframe method, simply allowing its terminals to be connected via long leased lines. This method was used in the 1950s by Project RAND to support researchers such as Herbert Simon, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when collaborating across the continent with researchers in Santa Monica, California, on automated theorem proving and artificial intelligence. The Internet system was developed and ready in the Late 1980s, but The Cold War held up the progress. When it ended in 1992, the internet slowly became main stream. By the end of the decade, millions were using it for business, edu cation and pleasure. The Internet was designed in part to provide a communications network that would work even if some of the sites were destroyed by nuclear attack. If the most direct route was not available, routers would direct traffic around the network via alternate routes. The early Internet was used by computer experts, engineers, scientists, and librarians. There was nothing friendly about it. There were no home or office personal computers in those days, and anyone who used it, whether a computer professional or an engineer or scientist or librarian, had to learn to use a very complex system. WHAT MAKES THE INTERNET SO POWERFUL? The Internet is the lowest cost system ever developed to communicate with a potential audience of hundreds of millions of people all over the world. Even locally, the cost of a simple Web site is usually less than the cost of a modest ad in a business telephone directory. A Web site can also give more information than a telephone directory ad, including color photos, detailed descriptions of products and services, and price information that can be changed at any moment, for any reason, instead of waiting for a printed directorys next publication cycle. As a news medium, the Internet is faster and more flexible than a newspaper or magazine. A story can be added to a Web site instantly at any time of the day or night. There are no deadlines (except self-imposed ones) for Internet news. The printing press is always on, you might say. Even television news, aside from a few 24-hour news channels, must usually wait for scheduled news broadcast times instead of breaking into entertainment programming whenever a new story comes along. Television is also constrained by its necessarily linear information delivery format. It must tell a story, then another story, then take a break for advertising, then tell another story, and so on, in sequence. A viewer cannot choose to view only a few stories that he or she finds interesting, which may occupy only five minutes out of a 30-minute newscast. On the Internet, a reader is free not only to choose to view just those stories in which he or she is most interested, but also gets to choose the order i n which he or she sees them. If sports scores are the highest item on todays agenda, click and theres the sports section, as easy as turning a newspaper page. Another click and theres the score from the game that just ended, possibly with video highlights only one more click away. Corrections, changes, and updates to a story published on the Internet can be made as fast as they come in without waiting for a printing press to roll. Breaking news alerts can be sent instantly by email to subscribers who request this service, and a reader can instantly communicate with an online publications editors via email or, if the publication has this facility, post his or her comments on a message board for other readers to see right away, without waiting for a fax or mail to get through and an editor to look the message over and perhaps include it in the letters to the editor section several days after the original story ran. An online publication can also offer an advertiser something that is not available in any other medium: ads that link directly, with one click, to a Web page full of compelling reasons to buy the advertised product or service. Even if only a fraction of one percent of all people who see a Web ad click on it, that is still an infinitely higher percentage than can click on a magazine ad or TV spot for additional information—or even to buy a product directly from the advertiser right now. Even if few readers click on an individual online ad and buy right now, a Web ad still has the same branding and general get the name out effect as advertising in other media. If the cost of an online ad is similar to the cost of one in another medium, it represents a better value because of the ability it gives an advertiser to give an interested person an entire Web site full of information right away, only one click removed from the online publication in which that ad is running. But the most direct way to make money online, no matter how a merchant gets traffic to his or her Web site, is to sell over the Internet. E-commerce has had its ups and downs, but the overall trend is upward, and it is likely to stay that way for many years to come. Putting up a catalog Web site is far less expensive than printing and mailing paper catalogs, and the Web site can have instant ordering and credit card acceptance built right into it, whereas a paper catalog can generate only phone orders that require a horde of (expensive) live operators to process or mail-in order forms that a customer must fill outAn WHAT IS E-BUSINESS? E-business (electronic business), derived from such terms as e-mail and e-commerce, is the conduct of business on the Internet, not only buying and selling but also servicing customers and collaborating with business partners. One of the first to use the term was IBM, when, in October, 1997, it launched a thematic campaign built around the term. Today, major corporations are rethinking their businesses in terms of the Internet and its new culture and capabilities. Companies are using the Web to buy parts and supplies from other companies, to collaborate on sales promotions, and to do joint research. Exploiting the convenience, availability, and world-wide reach of the Internet, many companies, such as Amazon.com, the book sellers, have already discovered how to use the Internet successfully. E-business is more than just having a web presence to facilitate buying and selling. Frank Jones, VP of IBM Corporation, provides this definition: E-business is exploiting the combined power of the internet and information technology to fundamentally transform key business strategies and processes. The most common implementation of E-business is as an additional, or in some cases primary, storefront. By selling products and services online, an e-business is able to reach a much wider consumer base than any traditional brick-and-mortar store could ever hope for. This function of E-business is referred to as ecommerce, and the terms are occasionally used interchangeably. An E-Business may also use the Internet to acquire wholesale products or supplies for in-house production. This facet of E-Business is sometimes referred to as eprocurement, and may offer businesses the opportunity to cut their costs dramatically. Even many E-Businesses which operate without an electronic storefront now use eprocurement as a way to better track and manage their purchasing. revenue from 5% in 2000 to 10% in 2007 . Asia-Pacific e-commerce revenues are projected to increase from $76.8 billion atIn addition to buying and selling products, e-business may also handle other traditional business aspects. The use of electronic chat as a form of technical and customer support is an excellent example of this. An e-business which uses chat to supplement its traditional phone support finds a system which saves incredible amounts of time while providing opportunities unavailable through traditional support. By using virtual computer systems, for example, technical support operator s can remotely access a customers computer and assist them in correcting a problem. And with the download of a small program, all pertinent information about the hardware and software specifications for a users computer may be relayed to the support operator directly, without having to walk a customer through personally collecting the data. In the past few years, virtually all businesses have become, to some degree or another, an e-business. The pervasiveness of Internet technology, readily available solutions, and the repeatedly demonstrated benefits of electronic technology have made e-business the obvious path. This trend continues with new technologies, such as Internet-enabled cell phones and PDAs, and the trend of e-business saturation will most likely continue for some time. International Data Corp (IDC) estimates the value of global e-commerce in 2000 at US$350.38 billion. This is projected to climb to as high as US$3.14 trillion by 2007. IDC also predicts an increase in Asias percentage share in worldwide e-commerce year-end of 2001 to $338.5 billion by the end of 2004. Asia-Pacific e-commerce revenues are projected to increase from $76.8 billion at year-end of 2001 to $338.5 billion by the end of 2004. SOME OF THE WAYS I CAN INCORPORATE E-BUSINESS INTO A COMPANY The goal is to digitize transactions, which are simply defined as exchanges of information. The number of opportunities is limited only by your creativity, cost, and good business sense. The best advice is to determine the best opportunities for payback and address them first. Make sure the benefit will pay back or exceed the cost. The following is a summarized list of functions and activities where e-business applications are becoming embedded into the typical business model. Visualize, if you can, a business where each of these business activities is completely integrated with the others, to form a completely integrated e-business. After sales service; ie. billing, demand planning, engineering, inventory planning, purchasing, receivables Business analytics; ie. financial performance, marketing, workforce, production, enterprise management Consultant management Customer relationship management; ie. account management, customer self-service, contact management communications, promotions, surveys, quality, help desk, field service E-procurement E-store/e-exchange/product catalog; ie. delivering b2b and b2c e-commerce, Finance; ie. asset management, accounting, budgets, invoicing, payables receivables, investments, government tax returns payments, payroll administration Grant donation management Human Resources Management; ie. resource planning, benefits administration, reward programs, recruiting hiring, workforce management, pension administration Investor relations Marketing and sales activities; ie. products, technical information, sales support, product life cycle management, corporate resume, portfolio, customer lists, customer service Materials management Order management customer fulfillment Project management Public Relations Strategic partner collaboration HAVING TRADITIONAL BUSINESS : WHAT DO ONLINE CUSTOMERS SEEK Consumer attitudes of those who shop and purchase online are significantly different from the habits and preferences of consumers who visit stores. Their purchase decisions are driven and based on a different set of factors tied to the characteristics of the e-space environment. For an e-commerce business to survive, it is absolutely necessary to establish and maintain an intimate understanding of the customers, their behavior, and the factors that drive purchase decisions. In the current e-commerce environment, online consumers are highly sensitive to the following characteristics: Quick page download time, 8-10 seconds Fast navigation, 2-3 page views to get to the consumers objective Logical and understandable first page view; purpose of site, companys mission, organization of site Quality user-friendly web site, easy to read and view with interesting graphics Immediate customer service, a human to contact to ask questions while browsing Complete product descriptions, price and other charges, and pictures Contact information, company address, store locations, telephone numbers, email address Confidentiality regarding use or sharing of consumer information Opt-out, or permission-given privacy policies for consumer data entered on the site Security arrangements for online transactions Convenient return policies and options Order acknowledgement ability to check shipping status Site stability, similar look and feel for each successive visit 10 SUREFIRE IDEAS TO START YOUR OWN ONLINE INTERNET BUSINESS Become a freelancer Do you have any specific skill? Sell it. Go to elance.com to find the job opportunities posted there. Start information website Do you have a passion to research any niche topic? Gather it, process it, rewrite it and start a new informational website on the researched topic. Participate in affiliate marketing (sell others product) Why dont you sell manufacturers or marketers product? To be precise, sell others product. Sell an ad space If you have a website or blog sell an ad space from it. If you dont have, try having one exclusively made for selling ad space. Sell your own old stuffs through EBay Start selling your product or your neighbors or friends product through EBay. Create a Niche blog Do you Blog for Fun? No dont blog it. Blog to generate income out of it, get hired by companies to write blog for them. or create your own niche blog (this might over lap with any one of the above strategy). Sell your services If you have a talent in any particular domain, and then sell it as a service. Be an Online service provider. Example: Online Brokers (this might also overlap) Create e-books on any subject of your interest and sell it across various channels like EBay, Amazon, etc IS E-COMMERCE THE SAME AS E-BUSINESS? While some use e-commerce and e-business interchangeably, they are distinct con- cepts. In e-commerce, information and communications technology (ICT) is used in inter-business or inter-organizational transactions (transactions between and among firms/organizations) and in business-to-consumer transactions (transactions between firms/organizations and individuals). In e-business, on the other hand, ICT is used to enhance ones business. It includes any process that a business organization (either a for-profit, governmental or non-profit entity) conducts over a computer-mediated network. A more comprehensive definition of e-business is: The transformation of an organizations processes to deliver additional customer value through the application of technologies, philosophies and computing paradigm of the new economy. Three primary processes are enhanced in e-business : Production processes, which include procurement, ordering and replenish-ment of stocks; processing of payments; electronic links with suppliers; and production control processes, among others; Customer-focused processes, which include promotional and marketing ef-forts, selling over the Internet, processing of customers purchase orders and Internal management processes, which include employee services, train-ing, internal information-sharing, video-conferencing, and recruiting. Electronic applications enhance information flow between production and sales forces to improve sales force productivity. Workgroup communications and elec- tronic publishing of internal business information are likewise made more efficient. payments, and customer support, among others; and WHY ESTABLISH A BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET? Fact versus Opinion On techniques we have practised. We will be sharing with you the methods we have used to establish our own internet business rather than harping on about theories. You will be reading a real success story written by real people. Everything you will find here can be verified and put into practice by you. There is no denying that the internet has brought about a revolution. Never before have people been able to interact in such a cost effective and comfortable way. The Internet with its multiple communication channels also changes the world of business. Now it is possible for you to establish your own company with a very small financial investment or in some cases even without any start-up capital at all. The majority of people in any country in the world do not really like their regular jobs. Nevertheless they get up early every morning to go to work and when they return home tired and frustrated they switch on the TV to forget all about their problems. They often dream about a life t hat gives them the freedom to do what they really like with people who are friendly, intelligent, understanding and supportive. When it comes to business, most people confuse their personal opinions with facts. They believe in fact that they know something when in reality they dont have all the data to support their beliefs.In this document section you will find factual information that is based on our experiences and our experiences Now with the Internet available in almost every household in any developed country, it is possible to achieve the type of lifestyle you have always dreamed about. The following facts will show why you really should consider establishing your own internet company : Downsizing: Lets face it — a computer is more productive than a human in business. areas such as accounting, administration, data management, calculating, statistics and many more activities. Whatever industry you name — new technologies increase productivity which, in turn, often leads to fewer jobs. To be sure new technologies also create new jobs but these require a much higher level of qualification and knowledge. A person who has been working in the same sort of job for several years is often not capable of acquiring all the skills and qualifications needed for a job in a new workplace. Globalization: The world is becoming more and more interconnected. Even, or maybe especially after September 11, international travel activities have been increasing and this pattern will continue into the future. The number of companies that operate on a multinational scale is constantly rising because they need new market places. In Europe nations have agreed on a uniform single currency — the EURO, enabling the European Community to develop into a strong economic entity. The same sort of thing is taking place in Asia with China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan forming a powerful economic alliance. Information: More than 500 million people worldwide are using the internet on a regular basis, with email and search engines as the most popular services. Information is power. People are able to influence, direct, convince, educate and manipulate others through one single tool: The distribution of information. Email and discussion forums allow people to share their thoughts, ideas and experiences with other people from all corners of the world. Cost Effectiveness : The internet is by far the most cost effective communication tool. If you want to send a letter via conventional or so-called snail mail it will cost at least around $1 (assuming you restrict yourself to two single sheets of paper). Sending the same amount of information via email will be up to 100 times cheaper with immediate delivery. THE ADVANTAGES OF THE INTERNET So, lets recap. Never have the chances for setting up and running your own successful business been easier than they are today: While traditional industries like manufacturing are shrinking, new industries are growing especially the  «information industries You can use the internet to find your customers and business partners worldwide Your customers and partners can find you on the internet. You can use the internet to build a strong relationship with your customers especially via email. You can use the internet to market your products and services. You can use the internet to acquire all the information, training and qualifications you need for your business. You can set up a business with a very small marketing budget, something almost impossible in the real world. You can certainly list even more reasons why it is possible for anybody with a computer and access to the Internet to establish their own business. At the same time the reality is that only a very small percentage of people who do have a computer and access to the Internet, establish and run their own business. Why is this? The answer is very simple. Most people anywhere in the world, spend too much time thinking about things they do not want, instead of thinking about things they do want. As a result there are only a few people who have their own company and they usually earn more money than somebody with a regular job. Owners of comapines usually have more personal and financial freedom than people with regular jobs. But what exactly do you need in order to own a company? Money? A University degree? The right friends? Well, maybe some of these things can help you with your business but then they are not essential and are no guarantee of success. We have analyzed a number of successful online business people and here is a list of important characteristics all of them possessed. We know that the following qualities are essential for success as a businessperson so you should take the time to go through them and check whether or not you have them. All the information about how to set up a website, how to run an email newsletter, how to get a high ranking at Google, how to generate huge traffic to your website etc. will be worth nothing if you dont have most of the following s kills and qualities. 121 WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN E-BUSINESS? Self-Motivation Most people wait until someone else tells them what to do. Thats the way our society is organized. You go to school and the teacher tells you what to do. You study at university and the professors tell you what to do. Your parents tell you what is right and wrong. You get a job and there you will have a boss and colleagues who tell you what to do. Now, we all have to learn from others clearly but we do have a choice about where we get advice. If you want to know how to establish your own business, would you ask your colleague who has been working in a regular 9 -5 job for 15 years or so? Think about your teachers at school or your University professors. Do you think they know how to set up a business and become an entrepreneur? If we examine truly successful people we will find that they have a high level of self-motivation. This applies to any calling in life. Consistency, the ability to follow through Many people who do have self-motivation, quickly get enthused and inspired by a new idea. Getting excited or even thrilled by an idea might be great for the moment. A business, however, requires constant activity. If you want to establish and develop a company you need a high level of consistency also known as stickability. Once you have made the decision to set up your business, you must follow through this decision with consistency. Think about your life can you come up with an example where you have proved your consistency, your stickability? Did you ever want to learn to play an instrument or a sport or a learn a foreign language? How long did you stick to your plan? How much time did you spend on your project and what have you accomplished? Chances are that you started a lot of projects and half way through the course you quit because things got tough and you lacked stickability. If this is the case fear not. You are not alone. The truth is that most people quit as soon as things get more difficult. Making a long-term commitment is not easy for most people. This applies to personal relationships too Self-Discipline Are you the sort of person who tends to raise your voice when something doesnt go your way? Or do you even have A tendency to shout at your spouse, children or colleagues when you are under pressure? Whenever you start shouting, swearing or using negative language you are wasting your energy energy better put to use on your business venture. Swearing and grumbling kills your creativity and blocks your mind. You must be strong enough to withstand any tendency to get angry or upset or else you will never succeed in your business. Courage It takes great courage to make decisions and set goals because this means you have to prove to yourself that you can follow your own words through to a conclusion. Look at your friends, family and colleagues. How often do you hear somebody make a promise like  «Ill call you next week. » or  «Ill look this information up for you. » or  «Sure Ill help you when you move house, just let me know when you need me. » Those are statements, offers, promises all based on words. Yet, how often are they followed by deeds? Do you make New Years Resolutions such as  «Next year Ill quit smoking »,  «Next year Ill start this business course at night school », and  «Next year Ill go on a trip to Paris or Egypt with you »? How many of those resolutions and promises have you kept? How many of them did you simply forget two weeks into the New Year? It takes courage to make a real decision, as you will have to make a sacrifice to follow it through. Also, when you start up a busine ss you will be alone, at least to begin with. There will be no-one to tell you what to do, nobody at first to motivate and support you. You will have to take responsibility for yourself and to a certain degree, for any possible partners and you can only lead others if you have your own fears under control and are willing to take risks. Many people do not set themselves goals because they are afraid of failing of admitting defeat and they think the best way to avoid defeat is to simply not set goals. Willingness to learn and the ability to change habits When you decide to start your own Internet business you are also deciding to go back to school again. Not in a real physical sense but mentally. You will have to trawl for every single bit of information that will get you closer to your goal. To learn means youll need to change your habits and habits are established patterns of behaviour and thinking that everyone acquires throughout their lives. However, most people are not aware of the fact that they have to learn something new every day and that in order to learn, in order to obtain new knowledge and new skills they have to change some of these habits. If you want to learn a foreign language you have to change your daily routine. For example the habit of listening to your favourite music on the radio. Instead you could be listening to audio recordings in the language you want to learn. We all have a tendency to get used to things that are not only comfortable but also do not require much activity on our part. We get used to watching TV in the evening and eating convenience food at the same time because this is comfortable and doesnt require any mental activity. IF you want to establish your business, you wont have much time to watch TV for entertainment. You have to change your habit of absorbing information passively into one of actively searching for information in order to analyze, filter and reorganize it. Creativity Establishing a business means creating a product, service or system that solves a specific problem or enhances a persons life in one way or another. You can achieve this purpose when you create something new This doesnt mean that you have to re-invent the wheel though. Examine any new product development that enters the market and you will see that this  «new » creation is not entirely new but has been made up by combining existing elements in a novel way. This action of rethinking existing elements is the formula of creativity. So, in order to create something new you have first to analyze an existing product to find out how it can be improved, developed or enhanced in any way so it will do a better job. Take Google — its founders examined and analyzed existing search portals, in particular Yahoo and MSN. Based on their exhaustive studies they came up with an indexing and searching system that provides a higher search term relevancy. Study peoples behaviour — ident ify their latent needs and desires and you will tap into a never-ending supply of product ideas. Vision Vision is the ability to see things not as they are right now, but what they will be like in the future. Most people are so stuck in the moment, so preoccupied with their personal daily problems that they dont have the time or energy to think about how a particular market can develop in the future. Look at any successful business venture and you will find that its founder was able to project into the future, to estimate how peoples behaviour will change. Your success in business is directly related to your vision capacity » and your vision capacity is determined by two factors: How far ahead are you able to see into the future and how precise are your predictions? When Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998, they could see well beyond the year 2003, in which they yielded A revenue of almost $ 1 billion. By 1998 Yahoo and MSN were operating worldwide known search services and no one would have thought that two students could take the lead in the industry within 5 years. Y et, Brin and Page had become excellent analysts of the web search market and they collected and

A Comparison of Midterm Break and The Early Purges Essay example -- Po

A Comparison of Midterm Break and The Early Purges For this assignment we have studied two poems by Seamus Heaney. Both of these poems are linked because they are about Heaney’s early memories of death and how he coped with these difficult situations when he was a young. The subject matter of the poem ‘Midterm Break’ is about his brother’s death. It also tells us about his feelings about this death. Heaney is away at boarding school. Waiting in the college sick bay. Heaney writes ‘At two ‘o’ clock our neighbours drove me home’. Which shows that his parents were unable to come to pick him up as they might have been held up with something. Heaney wanted to express his feelings, to let us know what he felt like having to cope with the death of his little brother. It must have been a particularly difficult situation for him. There is a lot of sadness in the poem from the beginning. Heaney writes of ‘bells knelling classes to a close’. ‘Knelling is a sound of funeral bells, not a school bell. This indicates that Heaney is going to a funeral. The first person he encounters is his farther ‘crying’, this is an unusual sight for him. â€Å"He always took funerals in his stride†. This shows he’s been to other funerals, but he has not been affected in the same way. Heaney also remembers a family friend commenting on the death as a ‘hard blow’. This means harsh/unexpected also it is an unfortunate pun as his brother has also suffered a ‘blow’. Heaney feels uncomfortable when older men stand up to shake his hand. They say to Heaney ‘sorry for my trouble’, the word ‘trouble’ again seems insubstantial. He has to cope with strangers and whispers from the people that don’t know him. He holds his mothers hand but she c... ...rites in the fourth stanza that he was frightened; this contrasts greatly with dans attitude. Heaney ‘sadly hangs around the yard’ for some time afterwards. Heaney forgets this image but it comes back to him when he sees Dan killing other animals. He appears to have come to term with the farmyard slaughter when he grows up. Heaney writes ‘it makes sense’, this suggests the same cold-hearted views as Dan taggart. The last line suggests that Heaney realises now that some animals are pests. He still does not forget the unsettling incident when he was younger. Both poems show how Heaney deals with death. The death of animals as well as his brother affected him. In one poem he is dealing with an accident, a death and also peoples reactions. In this poem he deals with deliberate killing of animals, this is a colder, harder poem and it is also unsentimental.

Eulogy for Friend :: Eulogies Eulogy

Eulogy for Friend Three days ago I was working on a lecture dealing with a prominent figure on the French literary scene who happens to be a Sephardic Jew. He pictures the Jew as essentially a wounded man, one racked by his Jewishness. The world for him is a desert, and God is enwrapped in silence. For him the keynote is exile, the stuff of his writing a kind of brave despair. The news of Hays's death broke into my thoughts on this, and it occurred to me that his philosophy of life could be expressed by reversing this writer's terms. The one saw the Jew as a wounded man; the other saw in the Jew, rejoicing in his Jewishness, the acme of spiritual health. The one saw the world as a desert, the other as an orchard. The one saw God as the God of silence, the other saw Him as the God of communication, one with whom you could stay in touch. The keynote of the one was exile; while the other saw in the combination of Judaism and America the best of all possible worlds. It is deceptively easy to say, why not? Was not Hays one on whom fortune had smiled, one who had every reason to see the world in a positive light? Yet the very fact in itself can be burdensome. His father had set him a very high standard. Solomon Solis-Cohen combined the sciences and the humanities and community service in a way which is hardly possible in our complex age. Hays hewed out his own path. In his lifelong professional growth as a man of the law, he acquired a reputation for probity second to none. Even those who disagreed with him on this issue or that had to concede that he was a man of conscience, and for him principle came first, and no claim of expediency could make it take second place. Hays took to heart the moral of his father's best-known poem, and knew how quickly love can pass by if it is not grasped and cherished. He loved much and well. He loved America with a passionate devotion. When my son was born, he wrote to me, pointing out the privilege of being born an American citizen. He loved the ideals and traditions of Judaism, and always found them in harmony with his Americanism. He loved his grand-children, and a special warmth came into his voice when he spoke of them.

Subjects for Other Conversations :: essays research papers

Categorized Poems from Subjects for other Conversations   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In John Stigall’s book, Subjects for Other Conversations, all of the thirty-seven poems can be placed into one of five different categories. These categories include sadness, racism, happiness, sex, and religion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sadness, the first category, includes ten of the thirty seven poems. These poems express hate, anger, and depression about many things in life, from growing old to losing a child. These poems are â€Å"Poem on Turning Forty,† â€Å"Poem on Turning Forty-Five,† â€Å"Blues,† â€Å"Impromptu,† â€Å"Into the Life of This World,† â€Å"Some People,† â€Å"The Revenant,† â€Å"In the Bibleblack Air,† â€Å"Approaching,† and â€Å"Final Approach†. In Stigall’s poem, â€Å"Poem on Turning Forty,† he talks about how women aren’t as attracted to him now. And you can tell he’s depressed about growing old. The poem â€Å"Into the Life of This World,† talks about losing a child at birth. Stigall’s light use of words, such as perfect, calm, and silent agony, shows that this poem is full of intense emotions and sadness. I. At thirty-three, too young to be sickened into the light, my father’s body-perfect, calm-forms a fetal curl about its silent agony. His eyes, suggestive & articulate, explain. The light wanes II.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Silent, I refuse the firsts breaths (cradled in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the light). My   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  body- stillborn, calm, numb from the canal-appears   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  deaf, dumb See the physician & my mourning mother curl over me, warping my flesh, weeping, praying me into the life of this world (30)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The next category is racism. These three poems describe how racism still exists today. The poems show how hateful people can be towards someone of a different race. These poems are â€Å"December/ January,† â€Å"Brazil Nuts,† and â€Å"Up in Dixie†. In all three of these poems, Stigall never seems to show any anger. He just tells of his experiences in plain and simple terms. In â€Å"Brazil Nuts,† Stigall talks about how when he was a child, how he never questioned racism. But now as a man he doesn’t understand why racism hasn’t gone away. When I was a Child I understood as a child I did not question as a child I accepted as a child   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But when I became a man the old folks down south still call them Nigger Toes (39)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Four of Stigall’s thirty-seven poems can be put into the category happiness. These four poems are light and pleasant. They talk about things such as music, people and Stigall’s children. These poems are â€Å"This Sabbath Afternoon,† â€Å"No 3 Tanka,† â€Å"If the Past Ever Existed,† and â€Å"†101 West 123Rd Street†. In â€Å"This Sabbath Afternoon†, Stigall talks about watching his children playing.

Zynga’s Revenue Recognition Dilemma

http://accrualperspective. wordpress. com/2012/10/10/zyngas-revenue-recognition-dilemma/ Zynga’s Revenue Recognition Dilemma Leave a reply Zynga’s Revenue Recognition Dilemma Zynga has been the focus of a highly disputed topic on bookings and revenues as of late. Unfortunately for the online gaming company, many accountants and financial analysts are not in Zynga’s favor on the way that the company has been recognizing revenues. To put the company in perspective, there are 26 million digital farmers via the vastly rampant FarmVille application run by Zynga.In the popular game, Facebook users build farms to produce crops and create the kind of productivity that they desire. This creates the need for virtual, heavy equipment, such as tractors, seeders and harvesters, all which can be bought with FarmVille Currency. Zynga makes money by allowing users to hurry the process by converting real dollars from their credit cards into the virtual currency necessary to get t he equipment they need to get the job done. Like FarmVille, Zynga has users across a variety of applications such as CityVille, Words with Friends, and Mafia Wars, all of which using the same models.This type of unique revenue however provokes a unique question; that is, how is Zynga supposed to report revenues from these products that they’ve offered? According to the company’s 10-k report, it’s policies on reporting states that: * â€Å"For the sale of consumable virtual goods, we recognize revenue as the goods are consumed† * â€Å"We recognize revenue from the sale of durable virtual goods ratably over the estimated average playing period of paying players for the applicable game, which represents our best estimate of the average life of our durable virtual goods† And perhaps the most important: â€Å"If we do not have the ability to differentiate revenue attributable to durable virtual goods from consumable virtual goods for a specific game, we recognize revenue from the sale of durable and consumable virtual goods for that game ratably over the estimated average period that paying players typically play our games† This type of financial reporting is simply too confusing and leaves the door open for too much alteration within the reports. Also, this type of unpredictable reporting technique allows the company to skew bottom-line profits and maneuver their earnings to reflect an untrue valuation of the company’s worth.These types of manipulations are especially alarming to users of the financials who are looking to invest in a company that appears to be growing, when in reality it is altering production numbers with every consecutive quarter. In regards to the revenue recognition dispute, the way their accountants estimate average periods that paying players actually play the Zynga games must be validated. In a recent article by Bloomberg’s Cory Johnson, he notes that Zynga has made changes to these e stimates five of the last six quarters. These changes made drastically effect the net profits that Zynga is reporting to the public.By taking the estimate and distorting it, they are able to report profits when indeed there are none. It is curious that the auditor assigned to Zynga, Ernst & Young, has allowed this method of accounting to be implemented when clearly it is affecting the bottom line. It is also curious that E&Y is also the auditor for the Zynga’s distributor, Facebook whose Zynga profits have accounted for roughly 12% of its revenue. This â€Å"independence† (or lack there of) calls into question the true authenticity behind these reporting standards and what they mean to the accounting profession as well as financial statement users world-wide.At any rate, this is a topic that needs to be brought to light, discussed and ruled upon. Zynga cannot merely go on reporting as they wish to provoke the appearance of a success while the true profits and losses go unnoticed. http://blogs. smeal. psu. edu/grumpyoldaccountants/archives/746#more-746 http://articles. businessinsider. com/2011-10-12/research/30269486_1_zynga-virtual-goods-bookings http://www. forbes. com/sites/francinemckenna/2012/04/23/how-zynga-facebook-and-groupons-go-to-auditor-rewrites-accounting-rules/