Getting Your Business Online: Optimizing Your Website

In its blog post, Bell explains the convenience of getting businesses online by creating websites. I agree with Bell because the Internet has already expanded to an essential part of our lives. The speed of online information surfing is phenomenal, and anything can become viral in a short time period.

Just as Bell describes, the search engine has changed the ways we attain information forever; it is so much easier than “walking on the street to find what [one] is looking for.” Because of the search engine, it is a great advantage for a business to tell the engine that they exist. A variety of individuals can then search up the business and have a quick preview. The information spread is much faster online, and the cost for marketing is less than using actual printings.

However, in my point of view, the freedom to access information brings more competition. As more information is available, individuals have the ability to select the best that fits with their interest. Companies will become more successful, but the ones with low accomplishments also die out faster than before. Therefore, a company needs to be critical about its strategic plan to survive in the future.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/ziyuehandennie/2013/10/07/chinese-wal-mart/

Dennie is correct on the point of the Chinese’s domestic view on Wal-mart. In fact, Wal-mart is very common in China nowadays, taking up a huge market share in the biggest Asian market.

Nevertheless, I have a different opinion on the future strategic plan for Wal-Mart. China is still in the developing stage, meaning that the ratio of the rich and the poor is exceptionally unbalanced. There is no surprise that middle and lower class takes up a big portion of the population, while the rich only takes up a few percent. In this case, Wal-Mart has a competitive advantage by targeting lower class with cheaper necessary goods due to enormous demand and affordable price. Even though the goods are not luxuries, they are adequate for a normal individual to live a regular life.

I also do not recommend Wal-Mart to start an online shopping site. As mentioned above, Wal-Mart does not have many luxury goods for sale, and most of the goods are necessities. Who want to order vegetables and milk online and wait for shipping while they can drive ten minutes to the store and buy fresh ones? It is probably best for Wal-Mart to further understand the market before expanding recklessly.

Clarence Lam’s Blog: Superstar Google

Although Clarence has a good point, Google does have its own downside from seeking a little too much self-interest. Recently, Google has linked Youtube with Google Plus accounts. One must sign into their Google Plus account to comment on Youtube and access pretty much everything else on the website, as described in the article.

It is clear that Google is forcing Youtubers to use its Google+, trying to gain more market share in the area of social network. If this is not an action of proceeding self-interesting, what is? Not only does this new requirement upset numerous commenters and video creators on Youtube, it might as well damage the reputation of the world’s number one search engine. According to the article Google Forces YouTube Account Linking, Google is creating more restrictions in hopes of cleaning up the mess of comments on Youtube, but there is a higher chance of Youtubers viewing it differently. It is possible for this simple restriction to have a reverse effect on Google by upsetting and bringing Youtube users out of the game.

The fact of Google doing good deeds are unchangeable, but in my opinion, Google still needs to take some steps to truly become a social enterprise.

Forbes explores sale

The power of electronic media is again confirmed as Forbes Media, the third largest U.S. business magazine, explore the possible sale of the company. According to the article, the company’s ad revenue for the first 9 months of the year fell 7.5%, and ad pages in the print edition decreased 12.5%. A list of print properties being sold is also included in the article such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos buying the Washington Post for $250 million and New York Times Co. selling Boston Globe for only $70 million to Boston Red Sox owner John Henry.

This trend is more or less influenced by the advancing technology of online information database. More and more individuals started to surf online information in the modern world, and most individuals cannot even live normally without Internet at home. Not only is the data free-to-pay, the speed to access the web is much greater than accessing printed information. Thus, it can be said that online database has become the most convenient place to search information nowadays. Further expansions in this area can possibly dominate the printing industry completely, bringing a revolution to ways of obtaining information in the future.

America’s Greatest Shame: Child Poverty Rises and Food Stamps Cut While Billionaires Boom

Billionaires are becoming wealthier as America slowly recovers from economic recession, but why does rate of childhood poverty in the country rise? Well, there are a couple facts that led to the high poverty rate in America, explains Les Leopold, the author of the article. Firstly, banks and firms are dolling out billions of bonuses while 99% of the population suffer with almost no wage increase. Secondly, Washington tried to “help” children in hunger by cutting 4 billion dollars of food stamps each year. “When times get tough, you’ve got to suck it up and take more from the poor,” Leopold describes ironically.

Nevertheless, I think the situation behind the scenes is much more complicated. Leopold is passively hinting that the rich should donate charity to the poor so that the economy would be more balanced. But this movement is unethical itself because it forms a big tradeoff between fairness and efficiency. Moreover, one cannot simply say that the rich do not deserve what they have without even recognizing the effort behind their cash.

I am not speaking of doing nothing, but it would be difficult to come up with a solution to create a win-win situation when the problem gets too big.

As Tensions Fall in Iran, So Do Costs of Gasoline

U.S gasoline price has dramatically declined to just $3 a gallon over the last few weeks as the Syria regime agrees to demobilize its chemical weapons stockpiles. Because tension begins to fall in the Middle East, millions barrels of gasoline are back on the world market, and the price is expected by economists to fall down even more at the end of the year in the States.

Even though the news may be appreciable to consumers, in my opinion, too low of a price could potentially bring harm to the market. Currently, gasoline price in U.S is much cheaper than the rest of the world due to the big surplus in U.S inventories. People would get into the habit of over-consuming cheap gasoline without fearing to run out of inventory. However, similarly to the crash in stock market during 1929, it’s possible for the gasoline inventory to run short before the price could adjust itself back to international price. A significant shortage of oil could occur, bringing chaos to average families that could not afford gasoline anymore.

It would be dangerous for the price to keep decreasing, and the U.S should reinforce regulations on gasoline price before it’s too late.

Mobile Ads Fuel a Jump in Profit at Facebook

On Wednesday, Facebook reported its strong third quarter profit based on the success of mobile ad sales. It has a profit of $425 million along with a 60% increase in revenue this quarter comparing to the $59 million profit lost for the same period last year. Additionally, mobile ad sales covered up almost half of Facebook’s advertising revenue.

Facebook could generate such a significant profit increase from migrating users to mobile devices because of its strong brand positioning. With a unique value proposition, Facebook opened up a new branch for mobile device users before other social programs such as Twitter and Skype. The first movement advantage led Facebook to implant applications on mobile devices without failures. As a result, Facebook would have a dominant market share in mobile application and would block out other firm entries.

The increase in profit margin resulting from mobile ad sales reflects that Facebook’s recovery from its IPO failure is coming to an end, and the company is ready to move onto the next stage. Now, with an ambition of bringing the next five billion people in the world online, Facebook shows its way to rise again as the number one social network in the world.

Jeff Rubin: Boom Times Aren’t Coming Back, But That’s Not Necessarily Bad (Q&A)

Today, perhaps most people believe that the global economy would eventually recover, and individuals would become wealthier in the future as the economy begins to expand once again. However, Jeff Rubin, the former chief economist at CIBC World Market, has other thoughts about the statement. Rubin suggests that the economy growth is becoming slower no matter where you look. For example, China’s growth rate decreased from 10 percent to 7 percent each year, and the European countries are barely growing at all. As a result, unemployment rate becomes higher, and the later generations would not have the same living standards as today’s individuals.

This theory may sound negative, but Rubin suggests that it is not a bad thing. The society would generate new norms to fit the new economy. Instead of having a person losing his/her job, perhaps five people could take a 20% salary cut. Just like price would adjust itself as the equilibrium changes, so does employment. Individuals nowadays would probably view this idea as absurd, but they will have to agree if the extreme ever comes. After all, it is just changing the mindset and creating a new ‘normal’.

Twitter’s I.P.O. Plan Has an International Focus

Twitter has been growing exceptionally fast over the last few years, and it has just announced its intention to go public last month. With 77 percent monthly users outside of the United States, the company aims to increase its international market share by targeting foreign countries such as Japan, France, and South Africa.

However, focusing too much on the international market could potentially cause many risks for Twitter. Based on the article, a large portion of the company’s advertising revenue comes from American users even though most Twitter users are outside the country. It is very much possible that the large percentage of foreign users is just a number on the surface and has little positive effects to the company’s strength. Furthermore, lots of foreign users still have low-cost phones that does not support Twitter’s mobile app, and this fact could easily abolish Twitter’s expansion in the smartphone platform.

Ironically, Twitter’s strength in international market share is also its weakness. The company should stabilize the roots in America and balance its revenue internationally. This way, it would be easier for Twitter to become a dominant social network around the globe.

Get paid thousands to stay in bed

It is astonishing to learn that people can actually earn a decent sum of money just by doing nothing but lying in a bed. As a part of the space study, NASA is offering a job to lie in bed for 70 days straight to predict how astronauts’ health may be affected in the weightless condition. The “monthly wage” for this job is $5000, and all the essential supplies such as food and even games (if necessary) are provided.

The job might seem like a dream come true for many individuals, but there are still four available spots for the job at the moment. The biggest reasons are probably the possible health issues one would experience after the study and the psychological mindset of doing nothing for three months. The video describes that astronauts often encounter muscle atrophy, so there is no guarantee that individuals who take on the job would have no sequela despite the health checks that NASA provides. Moreover, doing absolutely nothing for more than two months is surprising difficult for many individuals nowadays. Even though this job does not take that much effort physically, there is still no easy job in the world.