Week 4: eBusiness

Are you like me? Are you hooked to the Internet? Do you live and breathe the Internet? Do you even do your shopping on the Internet? Because obviously actually lifting yourself to the shops is so passé. And besides with the Internet, you no longer have to deal with annoying salespeople who follow you around constantly and give you the blackest of faces if you leave the store empty handed.

So if you are familiar with any of the above, then you would have some sort of inkling about words like “online shopping”, “E-commerce” or “E-business”. They seem to be revolving around the same idea right? So technically they mean the same thing right?

WELL NO. You are as clueless as Jon Snow.

I will admit, I knew nothing prior to this week’s lecture too. Since now I am obviously all smart and cultured, let me dish out some knowledge.

E-Commerce refers to the process of buying and selling products or services electronically. When I say ‘electronically’, it does not only apply to the Internet platform. As such, even the ATM is a form of e-commerce. There are 2 aspects involved: the buying from suppliers and the selling to customers. The nature of market relationships matters too.

For example, there is Business-to-Consumer (B2C)→ sites like Asos, Qoo10 and eBay where business transactions are carried out directly between a company and consumers who are the end-users of its products or service.

Then there is Business-to-Business (B2B) → examples such as AliBaba or from last week’s blog post, social media managements, which focus on the exchange of products, services or information  between businesses, instead of the traditional  B2C.

 

Lastly there is Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) → examples like Carousell and online auctions where the business transaction occurs between 2 consumers.

The type of technology used also helps to classify the types of E-commerce. There is Peer-to-peer (P2P) where computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or work loads between peers. Peers have equal rights and are equipotent participants in the application.

On the other hand, there is Mobile commerce (M-commerce) where the buying and selling of goods and services is done via wireless handheld devices such as handphones.

Let’s move on to E-business. In essence, E-Commerce is a subset of E-Business. Thus, EB also follows the e-commerce process BUT with the additional use of Internet or other digital technologies for carrying out internal business applications and liasing with suppliers and partners. For example, an E-Business could leverage on the Internet to perform inventory or even accounting. It isn’t only about buying and selling.

 

If you would like to gather even more insights in this field, check out this video link. 

Week 3: Social Networking and New Age Businesses

This post is for the aspiring entrepreneur homies out there. Are you looking to start up your business enterprise or rather looking to take your existing small business to another level? Follow along and you just might chance upon essential tips to earn big bucks.

If you exist in the 21st century, then you will defnitely be well-versed with the power of Internet and how far its reach goes. You would also have noticed how the retail industry is shifting to a highly online platform where companies leverage on social media to promote their products or services. Now, why are businesses shifting platforms? Has traditional retail taken a plunge for the worse and why is social media crucial to businesses?

 

In this day and age, social media has ultimately changed how businesses attract and interact with customers, how they exchange their goods and services and fundamentally do their business. The impact of social media is far beyond comprehension and embracing social media is the only way to sustain your company. So, why is social media crucial to your venture?

#1: Gain essential customer insights with Social Media

With Social Media, you can learn and understand who your customers. A crazy amount of data is consitently being generated by Social Media- the demographics of your current/potential customers, their purchase patterns, what they are talking about your brand, how many people visit your online platforms and even how long they linger on them. Such analytics and measurement allow for business intelligence which contribute to multiple business decisions.

You may be wondering how on earth are you going to monitor so many customers and manage your business at the same time. Do not worry! All you have to do is engage Social Media Managements sites such Hootsuite, Alexa, Social Vantage or any other similar companies and let them manage your social media presence for you!

#2: Get inside scoop on your competitor~Competitor knowledge

Imagine that you own a bakery and you have a competitor RIGHT NEXT DOOR. What would you do? If it were up to me, I would engage the help of all my friends and family to spy on this bugger so that my goodies will always be one step ahead. However, with social media monitoring, you can learn vital information about your competitors without such obvious attempts. Continuing with the bakery example, you could register industry keywords (eg: bakery/ cake/ macaroons) onto your social media management’s search streams and simply monitor mentions of your ratchet competitors’ business or products. You can also register your own comany’s name and track what people are saying about your business. This is an example of social listening. By doing so, you can always improve on your deals, products and services.

#3: Build loyal relationships

Social media is a dynamic platform to fortify relationships with your customers. It is a 2-way channel where you can create brand awareness and have interactive dialouge with customers. Furthermore, your social media presence will facilitate an easier passage for customer service and round the clock support. Doing so only connects you closer and in turn increase brand loyalty and return customers.

 

 

Week 2: Social Media

What is Social Media?

I am sure platforms like “Facebook”, “Twitter” and several others will pop into your minds. In essence, yes, these are certain web applications that contribute to the term Social Media.

But in its true meaning, Social Media refers to digital media for social interaction which use greatly accessible and extensible publishing strategies. Such sites operate on web and mobile based technologies to shift communication into a more dynamic and interactive dialogue. Worldwide, a shocking 2.34 BILLION people use Social Media sites and mind you, there are 7.4 billion people as of now. So nearly 30 % of the total world population (made up of individuals, companies and organizations) are constantly creating, sharing and exchaning information within their vitual networks. Below is a statistical count various Social Media sites boast.

Now, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat are relatively newer platforms. But do any of you remember their predecessor, FRIENDSTER? Remember writing testimonials for your friends and spending hours scouting for the perfect backgrounds and themes?? And definitely not forgetting the “Thanks for accepting my friend request” comment we never failed to write every time someone accepted our request.
 

 

Friendster is a pioneer in social media networking. With a whopping $50 million capital financing and several million users at its prime, circa 2002, Friendster was the topdog that then startup sites such as Facebook and Myspace took inspiration from. So, what went wrong? Where has the site that shaped the modern social media landscape gone to? And how did Facebook gain the upperhand?

#1 Friendster was too rigid

“Friendster had a very specific vision for how its product should be used, and it squashed any attempts by users to deploy it differently,” says Mike Fisher, the formal Paypal Executive and succedent entrepreneur. Friendster was a site where users could lavish on their profiles and leave comments on their friends’. Other than that there was not much more one could do. This restricted other out of the box ideas users had. One such example would be creating profiles for pets. Today, just scroll past your Facebook or Instagram feeds and you are definitely bound to come across accounts users have created just for their squishy pooches and other furry friends.

   

Now Friendster had a very limited view on how it’s platform should be used. It did not entertain non-human accounts and wasted no time deleting such accounts. On the other hand, Instagram and Facebook have come to embrace them and even made it easier for users to create profiles for their pets by partnering with 3rd party applications like Catbook and Dogbook.

Facebook 1 – Friendster 0

#2 Friendster was not SOCIAL enough

The keyword in Social Media is social. However, Friendster was admittedly lacking in that area. Majority of the  focus was in trying to make your profile stand out by customizing backgrounds, uploading cute photos of yourself and trying to get testimonials from your friends. It was desperately missing the point of any Social Media site: CONNECTION.

In contrast, Facebook totally owns the game with its newsfeed. Friends’ statuses and shares are prominently displayed which makes us feel connected and innvolved in our peers’ lives to some extent. Furthermore, the ability to like, comment and share gives Facebook another brownie point.

Facebook 2- Friendster 0

#3 Friendster failed to move on with times

The  things you could do on Friendster are already mentioned above. However, Facebook continously revamps itself and keeps up with changing times. Initially it lured us with cute and addictive games like Pet Society, Tetris, Mafia Wars and many others. Then it introduced news feeds and discussions. Then it allowed videos and gifs. Also, you can tag almost anyone on anything which once again, affirms the idea of connection. Well if this is not an excellent game plan, I don’t know what is.

Facebook 3- Friendster 0

Well, Friendster, you were good till you lasted. Bye for now!

Week 1 : Introduction to the future

One of the most notable things that happened in 1916 was the invention of the light switch. Fast forward one century and we have a plethora of technology that would be alien to our ancestors. Today, we live in a day and age where people would probably smirk at the invention of a simple light switch because you know, we have much cooler stuff like the  “Internet”, “Wifi” and “Google” which are equivalent or even of higher value than the bible and even a day without the above would be like a year without rain.

Humans have beecome increasingly  dependent on the Internet that even United Nations has deemed it to be a basic human right. We have watched various mobile devices become obsolete while others become the sun we orbit around. We live admist technology that is capable of saving lives and even technology that enables communication across the globe. Now that you realize technology is proof that humans are capable of working magic, let’s get to the topic at hand : My first ever Com 125 class.

I use the Internet for multiple reasons. For school, information, staying connected with friends,catching up on my television programs and obviously, cat videos and cute boy gifs.

But I never knew what went on behind-the scenes. I learnt so many cool and fascinating facts about the Internet and even about how it was developed. I will share with you 3 fun facts that will definitely  hold your interest.

Fun fact #1: The Internet was invented in 1969

Or rather, ARPANET, as it was called then. Of course, Mr Choy’s joke is not to be missed here: Internet’s father is ARPANET because duh! ARPA! ARPANET was the technical core of what would become the Internet, and a primary tool in developing the technologies used. The early ARPANET used the Network Control Program instead of TCP/IP. In 1989, the Web 1.0, a read-only web was invented. 10 years later, the read-write Web 2.0 was created. The focal point of this later invention was that users can be both consumers and producers of information which has made way for the platform we have today.

Fun fact #2: Internet ≠Intranet

The Internet is a collection of computers connected to form a golbal network environment. No one organization, company or institution owns the Internet. It is a dynamic, autonomous distributed network which is independent of software and hardware (as long the device runs a TCP/IP protocol). Whereas, the Intranet is a compilation of computers connected together to form a networked environment inside an organization.It is designed to serve the internal informational needs of a company by using the same TCP/IP protocol but with an added firewall and Virtual Private Networks.

Fun fact #3: You can make money with Domain Names

Who knew that! Internet users have the coolest opportunities to invest in domain names and then sell them for profit in the future. For example, in 2009, Quinstreet, a California based online marketing company made the headlines for buying “insure.com” for a jaw-dropping $ 16 million USD. So if you are feeling a little adventurous and hopeful, why not invest minor sums in the domain name trade and who knows, you could be potential multi-millionare some day!

That’s it for this post. Stay tuned for upcoming cool Internet related content. Till then,