Loving to eat and being creative are two pretty common traits that you could find in most people. But how often do you hear of people using both these traits to create a successful business? When Jesse Schwarz was only 14 years old he took his love for chocolate chip cookies and creativity and began to start making his own cookies. Jesse now has a marketing degree from John Molson School of Business and has taken the skills he obtained to market his new cookie business Yo’Dough. Not knowing about how Yo’Dough’s success would end up he decided to fund the project himself without any outside funding so he would have room to pursue other projects if things did not work out. This meant it was entirely up to Schwarz to promote his brand. He used catchy packaging, social media, and talked to other popular businesses to help promote Yo’Dough. Yo’Dough now gets sold in retail stores and even delivered to peoples doorsteps throughout Canada. It is incredible that Jesse Schwarz was able to take something as simple as making cookies, get a little creative and with the right marketing skills turn it into a successful business with customers nationwide.

Link to Article- http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/your-business/Entrepreneurs+Cookie+business+oven/9008265/story.html

Work Cited- Scanzano, Alysa. “Montreal Gazette.” Www.montrealgazette.com. The Gazette, 07 Oct. 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.

Small businesses are taking advantage of the popularity of digital media and social media usage to help promote their companies. But it is important for small businesses to pick the right social networking websites to invest time and money into if they want it to benefit them in the long run. Examples of small businesses that have each used different websites to promote their products are We Rub You’s Korean BBQ Sauces, Bhkati Chai, and Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese. These three businesses have successfully used websites such as Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter to promote their products. It’s important for these small businesses to find the right website that works for promoting their business because they don’t have as much room for failure as larger businesses. But when small businesses find the right website that is most visited by their target market it has shown to be very beneficial to their companies. It is hard to say whether or not it is a smart business tactic for these businesses to rely on social media because as we read in one of the class readings about Facebook it said most people visiting these popular websites don’t want to be bothered with advertisements.

Link to article- http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2013/10/06/smart-small-business-digital-tools/2922423/

Work Cited– Petrecca, Laura. “Digital Tools Play Big Role in Small Business Growth.” USA Today. Gannett, 07 Oct. 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.

Apple was just named the world’s best brand, beating out Coke the former leader. Coke actually sank down two spots and is now ranked as the third best brand in the world by Interbrand; an international brand consulting firm. It is not a surprise that Apple would be ranked so close to the top or be the number one brand in the world. With such a loyal customer base it allows them to both grow and continue to be successful. Factors that were considered when ranking companies were financial results, purchasing behavior of customers, and customer loyalty. Apple faces constant competition from companies such Google, Microsoft, and especially Samsung. Right now all of these companies produce products that can serve as substitutes to Apple’s popular products. But with such a variety of popular products that all have a strong customer loyalty Apple continues to be on top even with all of its competition. Samsung seems to be the biggest competitor with Apple at the moment but as long as Apple continues to focus on its international market it should be able to maintain its spot as the number one most popular brand.

Link to article- http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/apple-surpasses-coke-as-world-s-best-brand-1.1873259

Citation- CBC News. “Apple Surpasses Coke as World’s Best Brand.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 30 Sept. 2013. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.