Kiva Micro-financing or Kiva.org is a not for profit organization that funds small entrepreneurial businesses in developing and developed countries around the world. The organization allows individuals and groups to upload money onto the website and choose who to support, and with the help of partners, Kiva is able to transfer that aid to the recipient.

However, whats unique about the process of Kiva is that their donations and donor involvement is not linear. Not for profit organization are typically operated and funded by individual donations that go towards projects and often encourage people to donate again and often. Kiva, on the other hand, operates as a bank and therefore donations are rarely lost to the system, which makes it a great long-term investment.

As a school or organization who donates to a charity every year, Kiva allows them to accumulate their aid over the years and make a greater impact. With every loan they give and then recollect, the donor is given the power to impact another persons life with having to reinvest in the organization.

Kiva has reinvented the idea of donating, a social enterprise helping enterprise.

Maker Studios Founders

Where the internet meets internet and then real life, Part 3.

Though YouTube has enjoyed a large increase in its viewership during the past few years, it has failed to reach a level even close to that of television and many doubt that is has the capability to so. However, a few young and successful stars have crossed the boundary and taken the next step in obtaining a quality and level of production that could rival even that of televisions.

However, making that leap with a somewhat unstable platform such as YouTube had never been done before and the founders of Maker Studios showed what I believe to be the key entrepreneurial qualities when they started their company.

Entrepreneurs in their essences are problem solvers. They look at a function or servers and identify any issues associated with it. They then take a risk by coming up with a new and unique solution for the issue they have identified and by doing so improve and propel the market forward.

Maker Studios saw a number of talented and hard working artists, each with their own camer and equipment, and working out of their homes, garages, and basements. An efficient and resources consuming process. They understood that by uniting these YouTubers, their collective power would not only raise their level of production and output, but also fuel their creativity, exposure and viewership. They are part of the growing mass of entrepreneurs on the internet.

http://makerstudios.com/

Will Barnes and Noble meet the same fate?

Barnes and Noble has faced hard times in the last few quarters as it tries to compete with competitors that can sell the same product for a much lower price, such as Amazon, and the recent and strong emergence of the e-reader.

However, they recently made the decision to remove DC Comic books and associated products from their shelves after the company sold exclusive rights of some of its products to Amazon, Barnes and Noble largest competitor. Pam writes in her blog that Barnes and Noble has made a grave mistake in failing to adapt quickly to the electronic market and I agree with her assessment. It is clear that Amazon is leading the field, with their Kindle sales alone, but the question now remains whether Barnes and Noble will be able to survive.

It seems unlikely that Barnes and Noble will be able to release a electronic reader that would compete with the likes of the Kindle or iPad, who have already established themselves within the market, and without the an associated product consumers are more going to gravitate towards the ease buying from the manufacturer rather than a third party.

The future looks dim for Barnes and Noble as they move forward on the path of become another old book on the shelf, seldom to be read, except by a sentimental few.

Amazon’s Kindle Leaves Barnes & Noble Flaming

Lululemon has is a brand known for the lifestyle and image they portray as much as their products, and as one young blogger writes “there is no reason that a pair of stretchy pants that cost less than five dollars to make cost you over $100, …… I wouldn’t mind so much if the product was innovative, or the pants could make me fly.”

However, though there are now multiple brands that offer knockoffs to many of Lululemons

key products, the business continues to do better than expected and they are continuing to grow internationally. This is because what Lululemon offers is more than a products, they offer a general lifestyle that people value more that the product itself.

Lululemon was the first, and they are doment force in the market which is unlikely to be removed in the near future.

Everyone dislikes that kid. You know who I mean, that one kid who threw bits of eraser at you or always ‘accidental’ stepped on the back of your foot. Yes, that one. But is Google+ really a bully in disguise?

Parents always teach their kids that ignoring a bully is the best way to stopping its behaviour, however, initial activity on Google+ seemed to suggest a different option. Curiosity about Googles next big project brought large numbers of views to the site who where wondering what Google could have possible come up with to compete with the likes of Facebook. However, KashmirKaur is correct in identifying Google+’s biggest error. In their attempt to differentiate themselves from other social networking sites, Google created its own niche function, but how much room do people having in their lives between earning a living in this ever competitive world, to TV, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

People only have so many hours in a day and Google’s failure to combine existing function into a more user friendly experiences means that their late entrance into the world of social networking will end in mediocrity. Though Google has seen success in almost all of its endeavours, Google+ appears to be a relative failure, at least for the time being.

Where the internet meets internet and then real life: Part 2.

Success is a term that is forever being defined and redefined by an ever changing world. Ze Frank created an entirely different category of success.

In 2001, in preparation for his birthday Ze created a How to Dance Properly guide, which was featured on his site. What started out as a joke grew to into millions of hits and the beginning of a different kind of internet. Before the popularization or even creation of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Youtube, Ze Frank was creating the basis of personal internet connections. Small projects that targeted peoples day to day frustrations, internet experiments and comedic videos, Ze was able to take advantage of the accessibility to large numbers of people that the internet provides while maintaining the personal connections and loyalty of a conventional business. Unlike the rest of the internet, he wasn’t selling a product or filled with advertisement, which made him appeal to a larger audience. What Ze was doing was not essential to the processes and outcomes of peoples lives and yet he was able to engage an audience of great magnitude.

Ze Frank inspired a generation of internet content producers and along the way became successful at doing so. Without normal conventions or a nine to five job, Ze Frank inspired success.

“For me, experimentation is not about the technology. In an ever-changing technological landscape, where today’s platforms are not tomorrow’s platforms, the key seems to be that any one of these spaces can use a dose of humanity and art and culture.” -Ze Frank

Where Internet meets Internet, and then real life.

Advertisement to the masses used to be controlled by those who had the money and resources to have their products seen. However, as we see a decline in the consumption of conventional forms of media, their has also been a less noticeable shift in the methods of advertisement.

A great example of this is author and video blogger John Green. In 2007, John and his brother Hank started a video correspondence as the Vlogbrothers, which has grown into a subscriber base of over 500,000. However, what has made the brothers a force of great influence is the dedication of Nerdfighters, the community that surrounds the videos and content made by the brothers, and their impact has been immeasurable. Hank is now the organizer of the biggest online video conference, VidCon, as well as having his album, which is produced under DFTBA, the label he co-founded, chart on the Billboard 100.

John has perhaps seen an even greater impact made by his presence on the internet toward his already successful career as an author. The release of his most recent novel was announced via a live vlog on Youtube, which he tweeted about to his over 1 million followers. His book immediately reached number one on the Amazon and Barnes and Nobel sales. What may have been almost impossible for a small time young adult author has become a reality for John Green through the power of the internet.

Through Youtube comments, twitter, tumblr and even real life gathers, the brothers have been able to make what would have perviously been an impossible number of personal connections with their audience, and bigger successes are no doubt in their future.

Following a lawsuit from Viacom in 2007 over the distribution of copyright material that was being uploaded by users, Youtube has increasingly shifted its focus from television and film to independent content producers. This was a smart move for YouTube who soon found that it was unable to compete with the likes of Hulu, but the launch of their partnership program has also meant the beginning of a new kind of entrepreneur.

A legion of profesional YouTubers, who vary in content from comedy sketches to news and vlogs, are now being paid hundreds of thousands for the views they receive on their videos. Though no one has yet reached an income of a million for YouTube, a viewership of over a million subscribers is no longer an uncome milestone. Content producers are now expanding to create their own production studios that focus specifically on the YouTube demographic as the site continues to grow.

It is unclear whether the ever growing activity on the internet will peak, or whether the shift between conventional television and online video consumption will ever be complete. However, what is clear is that the internet is leading to new ways to make money as a new population focuses their attention online.

(A prominent YouTuber, Philip DeFranco, vlogging about money on YouTube)