Learning the 'E' Way

Gone were the days where we had to search and consult books in order to answer our queries. Not only it is time wasting, the amount of information may be limited to a few books. the worst case would be that you will not be even able to find what u are looking for.

As the internet progresses into Web 2.0, learning also takes on a new level! All you need is just a computer, internet connection and answers will never go unanswered!

E-learning can take on many forms and basically you can learn about anything on the vast internet. There are many sites that offer online courses ranging from gettting a degree to learning of a new language. You will thus be able to learn new knowledge in the comfort of your house without the need to step out of it. Imagine the amount of time and manpower that is saved!

I remembered that during my Secondary school days, there was an outbreak of SARS and school was stopped because of it. Due to the fear of not being able to cover the syllabus, my SEcondary school started the usuage of E-learning whereby teachers will record lessons at home using webcam and is stream live onto our home computers. Homework was also submitted online. During my Junior College years, there is also an E-learning day held annually and students like us were very happy as we do not have to go to school. However, we have to attend 'lectures' online. Once, i even had an online consultation online through msn messenger!

Nowadays, e-learning can be done literally with a click of a better. Many platforms provide access to many databases or user-contributed contents. I will discuss a few of them:

1. Search engines

Take Google for example, you are able to type in whatever qnestion you want into the text box and by clicking 'Goggle Search', you can access one of the millions results which are searched according to the keywords that you have provided. you are then be able to access these links and use the most appropriate ones. The good thing about these search engines is that they always list the most accurate result as the first few ones. Google also has a feature in which it will lead you to the irst site when you click on ' I'm Feeling Lucky'.

2. Forums

There are many forums, each of different interests, that you can join. Some of the popular ones include Hardware Zone where you are able to find answers to questions related to IT. Members also provide testimonials, reviews on ranging items. Moreover, you can post questions and start threads on the forum and allow members to help you answer or to start an online discussion/ debate. Through this, you can learn more about topics that interest you.

3. You-Tube

I personally think this is a very good platform to answer your queries. Some people are more of a visual learners, therefore, they are able to search for videos with regards to their queries. For example, i want to buy a RC helicopter. I will then search for videos of product reviews of these hlicopters. Upon my satisfaction, I am also able to view how to set up the helicopter. on You-tube, there is also a 'How To' section where you can learn anything such as make-up to how to be a amateur DJ.

Despite the numerous amount of information that is readily available on the internet, we should be very cautious in the consumtion of this knowlege. As many are user-contributed, there may be false information that is unreliable and we should be very carefeul of misleading knowledge that may do harm.

In all, E-learning has inflitrated much of our lives and we are very dependent on the internet in search of answers. I'm definitely adopting this culture for a long time!

How can we not love the Internet?!

E-Commerce

The recent fad would be that of many blog shops that spring out of nowhere. Owners of these blog shops operate their business using blogger as a shop front and sell a variety of products from cameras to the much sort after items like cheap and trendy women clothing. However, as you may have notice, some sites are much favorite by some while others just doesn’t have the appeal. So why do you have a favorite website to buy things online? Is it because it is reliable? Or it happens to be one of your friend’s recommendations? Might it be that the site is very user friendly?

Here are some of the few pointers for you to make your site a successful one!

1. Provide an attractive and user friendly website.

Tasteful usage of colors, words, fonts, graphics, animations, pictures, etc may allow users to be blown away at first sight. Your website should be neat and allows users to find whatever they want very easily. Updating of your homepage regularly is also crucial to so that information on your site will be timely and accurate.

2. Reliability and Security.

Parallel servers, hardware redundancy, fail-safe technology, information encryption, and firewalls can enhance this requirement. Customers are also very cautious about sites being a scam, therefore it is important to assure customers with regards to payment and to delivery of products, etc.

3. Provide a sense of community

Having chat rooms or discussion boards will allow customers to give feedback on the business or the products that you have. By soliciting customer’s input and taking it into consideration, customers will feel more confident about your site and products and will spread the good name of it. Loyalty schemes and discounts to frequent customers can also have a firm grip over customers. Happy customers are also happy shoppers!

4. Provide personal attention

Personalized web sites, purchase suggestions, and personalized special offers may go some of the way in substituting face-to-face human interaction found at a traditional point of sale. Customers will thus

feel the exclusivity and will be revisiting in no time.

5. Service and performance

Offer a responsive and user-friendly purchasing experience to customers. Things like punctual delivery, responsiveness in answering of queries, etc all play a part in improving your company’s profile. By taking an extra step in assisting customers, you can be reassured that your customers will have a pleasant review of your website and company and will return to acquire more products or services from you.

6. Provide value to customers

It is important to know the niche market and thus works towards the wants and needs of targeted audience. Also, provide an edge over other competitors in the same market so that you will be able to attract more customers through proper advertising of your products.

7. Use of new technology

Provide updates through social websites such as Facebook or Twitter where you will be able to provide instant updates to followers/ fans on promotional products or services. Make new tweaks to your website by enhancing the search tools, add in new features which may include Youtube videos on your products, or adding social bookmarking widgets. This may allow you to develop a whole new channel

of potential customers.

8. Provide an incentive for customers to buy and return

Promotions such as giving coupons, having special offers, and discounts will generate more traffic to your site and ultimately sales will go up. Cross-linked websites and advertising affiliate programs can also help in gathering more audience to your site.

One point to note is that by following all these steps that I have listed (at your own discretion!) may not lead to an incredibly successful business that you own. Unluckily, there are many big sites that have rose out of nothing but then crash and burn and returned to nothing.

Top 10 dot-com flops:

# 1 Webvan.com (1999-2001) # 2 Pets.com (2000) # 3 Kozmo.com (1998-2001) # 4 Flooz.com (1998-2001) # 5 eToys.com (1997-2001)

# 6 Boo.com (1998-2000) # 7 MVP.com (1999-2000) # 8 Go.com (1998-2001) # 9 Kibu.com (1999-2000) # 10 GovWorks.com (1999-2000)

More information about these failed sites can be found on

http://www.cnet.com/1990-11136_1-6278387-1.html

Some of the main reasons of failures can be attributed to the fact that they lack of knowledge in building and running or an e-business. Without the assurance of the customers, many sites have been closed due to the fact that they did not have a good grasp of the niche market. Over ambitious people has also caused many to lose money without having a proper business model to start off with. Lousy website layout and difficult and tedious online purchases have also turned many people off.

In conclusion, owning a business, regardless whether is it e-commerce or not, revolves around consumers interest. Without satisfying the needs and wants of these targeted consumers, business will not be able to survive.

So do you think starting a business is that easy? Think again!

CHEERS~

The Sound That is Made By A Bird

Socializing with people has been an important part of our life and now technology has lent all of us a helping hand to make things simpler and easier for us. Multiple social networking sites has sprung out since the start of web 2.0 and the society has pretty much being adopting it to increase social links and also to strengthen social ties.

I would like to talk about Twitter in this post as it makes news this week in which Google and Facebook are both trying to buy it over.

Honestly, I do not have a Twitter account wasn’t planning to acquire one. I thought that Facebook was good enough for me and I do not need another account to keep in touch with friends. Nonetheless, I was pretty much intrigued by the concept of it. It is some what like a micro blogging website in which you are able to send messages or “tweets” of up to 140 characters that will be displayed on your profile. By allowing friends, you also will be able to read their tweets almost instantly. One can also tweet pictures, links, videos and have a mini conversation on Twitter.

Yes, I have been bug many times to create an account as most of my friends have a Twitter account. Desperately to give an excuse of why I do not have an account, I said that I wasn’t able to think of a unique username (I couldn’t think of a better excuse on the spot!). Instead, this excuse backfired on me and my friends kept suggesting a mirage of ridiculous names for me. They even threatened to create one for me if I don’t do it myself.

As compared to Facebook, Twitter does not have that many functions. You could poke, tag, post pictures, videos, play games and scores of other things you can do on Facebook. Twitter has about 190million users (as of 8 July 2010) and is the number 9 ranking based on Alexa Internet research. Compared to Facebook who has 600 million users and rank number 2, Twitter has gained much popularity though it has very simple functions. I had a friend on Facebook who updates his Facebook status almost more than twice hourly and ended up flooding my wall with his updates. If it was something intellectual and funny, I wouldn’t mind, but unfortunately it was just mindless whining. Imagine this friend of mine who does his whining on Twitter, I guess it will be more socially accepted there. In all, Facebook and Twitter both serves different purpose but targets the same audience.

Twitter has many celebrities that use them and that is why many people sign up to ‘follow’ them so as to read their tweets. These celebs are also able to do product recommendations on twitter and allow people who are following them to almost instantly receive the msg. It’s just like having a celeb sms you! Moreover, shops or products that you follow will give u instant updates as compared to Facebook. With apps that are made available on Iphone, Windows or Android phones, users are able to receive msg on the go without having to access it from a web browser.

In conclusion, I think that Twitter will become a very good platform for social networking. It’s like a site concentrating on status updates. Having short and sweet tweets has become the in-thing for a fast pace society like ours. I admit that without a Twitter account, I am missing out the stuff that is happening within my friends on Twitter. Hmmmm, I might consider creating one after my Com125 lecture. Let me think of my Username first…..

Here is for your entertainment:

http://www.tweetbaggery.com/

Cheers!