T 3.6

Widespread use of live chat in e-commerce websites is a fairly new interesting part of today’s electronic businesses. Live support (chat) is a Web service that allows businesses to communicate, or chat, in real time with visitors to their Web site. [1] Live chat basically looks like an obvious chat window on a website where you can only type in a message and hit send.  I see more and more websites displaying live chat boxes as soon as their website loads. Live chat can be considered a Web 2.0 technology since you can communicate with someone else on a website.

Live chat technology is more sophisticated than I thought.  A well-known live chat company coincidently called LiveChat offers a software as a service chat window that can be initiated manually by the operator or automatically by LiveChat system as soon as the visitor meets the predefined criteria (i.e. searched keyword, time on website, encountered error, etc.) [2] Personally I don’t think that live chat windows are annoying as long as the window doesn’t move from the side of a website.

The big question for an electronic business is whether they will lose money by hiring people to operate the live chat.  However, with a live chat you would assume that your business will get fewer phone calls. To me, just seeing a live chat box means that they’re not a small company and I trust them more. In fact, In 2008 Wells Fargo used online chat to gain high customer satisfaction scores and a double-digit increase in converted shoppers. [3] Also, Northridge Developments found that putting a live chat service on their builder website helped increase their conversion rate by a whopping 260%. [4] It seems obvious that a well implemented live chat system would increase sales, and with LIveChat you can try out their service month to month starting at $36 per month. There are also free and open source live chat programs available such as http://mibew.org/.

Almost every live chat study I look up says it improves customer satisfaction and/or sales. A (expensive ) study showed that 44% of online consumers say that having questions answered by a live person while in the middle of an online purchase is one of the most important features a Web site can offer. [5] In conclusion, it would be very unwise for an e-businesses company not to consider at least testing a live chat solution on their website.

Sources:

1.       http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/L/live_support.html

2.       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiveChat

3.       http://blog.kissmetrics.com/live-chat/

4.       http://buildertarget.com/blog/home-builder-website-analytics/case-study-home-builder-increases-website-conversion-by-260-with-live-chat/

5.       http://www.forrester.com/Making+Proactive+Chat+Work/fulltext/-/E-RES57054?objectid=RES57054

T 3.4

Web search engines [1] such as Google are now used by everyone on the internet, but some people (me) think that they collect too much information about us. Web search engines simply work by storing information about many web pages, which they retrieve from the HTML itself. [2] The most popular current search engines in the United States are Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Google currently has about 84% [3] of the current web search engine market share. Basically companies like Google use computer software called spiders [1] to follow every link on every website and then store each webpage’s HTML in their database. I will be talking only about Google’s web search engine since it is by far the most popular search engine right now.

With more than 4 billion indexed web pages stored on over 500,000 computers [1], it is amazing that Google can instantly display search results. Not only does Google display website results for keywords that you search for, they also display images, products, local businesses on a map, and more. Also, Google owns Youtube, and Youtube is its own search engine just for videos. Amazingly, 20% of Google search queries are ones we haven't seen in the past 90 days. [4] How Google determines what results show up for a search is a secret and complex. They are always tweaking their algorithms to display better results. Google recently announced that they make about 500 changes to their algorithm annually. [5] Matt Cutts, the spokesman for Google’s webspam team, admitted that Google uses over 200 signals to determine search rankings such as the speed in which a webpage loads. [6]

Google logs all the searches we make. They probably store them for forever. This is a huge privacy concern for some people, especially since a lot of people use their Gmail. They know too much about us. However, Google claims they anonymize the IP addresses in their search logs after 9 months and anonymize their stored cookies after 18 months. [7]

Facebook has a built in search engine, too. The owner of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has said that privacy is dead. It appears that Facebook is tracking every single thing you do on their website for forever including your last known physical location, with latitude, longitude, time/date, altitude, and more. [8]

In conclusion, Google is the best example of a useful web search engine, but they are looking more and more like Big Brother [9] every year with all the information they are collecting about us.

Sources:

1.       page 189 of the book (ISBN 1-111-53165-X)

2.       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_search_engine

3.       http://www.karmasnack.com/about/search-engine-market-share/

4.       http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/this-week-in-search-121809.html

5.       http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303505504577406751747002494.html

6.       http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/site-speed/

7.       http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/faq/

8.       http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2114059/Your-Facebook-Data-File-Everything-You-Never-Wanted-Anyone-to-Know

9.       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_(Nineteen_Eighty-Four)

T 3.3

Squidoo.com, the approximately 158^th[1] most viewed website in the United States, is a perfect example of a Web 2.0 website, and users can also earn money with it. Squidoo allows users to make blog posts for free called “lenses”. It is a prime example of a Web 2.0 website with the sole purpose of supporting user-generated content and user feedback. [2]

When you sign up to Squidoo, you become a “lensmaster.” You then can make unlimited lenses that will be hosted on Squidoo.com/lens-name. Each lens is only one page and can only be on one topic. Other users can comment on the bottom of each of your lenses. You can also view the most popular lenses in different categories which businesses could use to see what niches are popular. Like blogger, you don’t have to know any coding or HTML to make posts, and you can embed pictures and videos.

Squidoo allows content creators to earn revenue from referral links to sites like Amazon.com and Ebay and 50% of all revenue goes to the lensmasters. [3] Squidoo automatically places ads in your lenses, and if people click them (Google Adsense [4]) or buy something from an Amazon link on your lens, then Squidoo will split the commission money with you. With well over 1.5 million [3] lenses, it’s not that easy to get rich quick with Squidoo. There are people earning $2000 [5] per month though. You have to remember that Squidoo’s lenses show up in Google’s search results. Thus, if you write a long unique article on a niche topic, it’s possible to get a lot of visits from Google searches alone. There are courses you can buy that teach you how to make a lot of money with Squidoo lenses, such as squidooserpcrusher.com. I admit that I haven’t created any Squidoo lenses yet, but now I’m interested since I could make some extra income with it.

With millions of websites being created every year, only a few get a lot of visitors. I think Squidoo made the cut mainly because the famous marketer and author Seth Godin is the founder, and users can easily earn money with it. When researching Squidoo, a saw a lot of people comparing it to a similar website Hubpages.com. In conclusion, Squidoo is a perfect example of a Web 2.0 website since it only allows user generated content and feedback, and as a bonus you can earn money from each of your lenses.

Sources:

1.       http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/squidoo.com

2.       Page 195 of our book (ISBN 1-111-53165-X)

3.       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squidoo

4.       http://www.squidoo.com/Squidoo_Payday

5.       http://www.androdigit.com/top-3-squidoo-earners-2000-per-month-earners-club.html

T 2.7 Zoho Database

https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?OBJID=793985000000003023&STANDALONE=true&privatelink=710b2d12cf2a735a531a948e74e0e6d7&ZDB_THEME_NAME=blue&DATATYPESYMBOL=true&REMTOOLBAR=false&SEARCHBOX=true&SHOWHIDEOPT=true

1. I watched the Zoho database video
2. Went to https://reports.zoho.com
3. Created a Blank Database and named it and clicked create
4. Clicked "Enter Data Right Away"
5. Labeled the Columns except profit column and clicked Save
6. Entered all my data
7. Went to an empty column and clicked the "Add" button then clicked "Custom Formula"
8. Named the formula "Profit" and entered in the formula "Revenue - Cost" and clicked Okay
9. Clicked "Publish" button then clicked "URL / Permalink for this view..."
10. Clicked "Click Here" next to "To access this view/table without login ," and saved that link to Notepad
11. Clicked "Publish" button then clicked "Embed In Website/Blog..."
12. Clicked "Click Here" next to "To access this view/table without login ," and saved that link to Notepad and replaced all single quotes with double quotes
13. Went into my blogger account and clicked the Layout tab on the left then "Add a Gadget" on the right
14. Clicked on "HTML/JavaScript" in the popup and pasted in my iframe code and clicked Save

I didn't have problems this time

T2.5. DB Research

A few years ago I made a blog website with Wordpress. It required that I use the MySQL database to store all the information such as blog posts and comments. “The MySQL database has become the world's most popular open source database because of its high performance, high reliability and ease of use.” [1] I had no idea what MySQL is and how it worked. To setup MySQL to use with Wordpress, I followed my hosting provider’s instructions and through their graphical interface I made a MySQL username and password.

After making a few posts in Wordpress and clicking around, I was curious how MySQL stored its information. I did some research on MySQL and ran the phpMyAdmin application that my hosting provider had installed. “phpMyAdmin is a free and open source tool written in PHP intended to handle the administration of MySQL with the use of a Web browser.” [2] phpMyAdmin intimidated me and I had no idea what to do. I did click on the tables used for Wordpress and saw that the data was stored similar to a spreadsheet.

Although I eventually lost interest in my website and deleted it, I learned for the first time what a database was and I Iearned about some MySQL basics. When researching MySQL I found many tutorials on it and it seems like the most popular database for simple websites. I was shocked to find out that “Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MySQL AB, an open source icon and developer of one of the world's fastest growing open source databases for approximately $1 billion in total consideration.” [3] I didn’t know that an open source program could be worth that much money.

Answers to Questions:

1. Although MySQL is considered the easiest full-featured RDBMS, if there was any database error inside of software like Wordpress then I’d be clueless on how to manually fix it. I didn’t have a problem with MySQL, but I’ve been to websites that aren’t working and just display a MySQL error. I would have no clue how to fix an error unless I restored a backup of my database or contacted my hosting provider.

2. MySQL is open source and free. It has many books and training classes that also include other subjects like programming. Oracle owns it and they have the resources to improve it greatly. It can be used with not only small websites but for big websites. “MySQL is also used in many high-profile, large-scale World Wide Web products, including Wikipedia, Google (though not for searches), Facebook, and Twitter.” [4]

3. I suggest that MySQL makes a built in visual editor of tables and a point and click way of making search queries. For beginners like me, typing in queries to search through tables in a command line is intimidating. Third party applications that make MySQL tables visual such as phpMyAdmin are too complex for me.

Sources:

1.       http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/

2.       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phpmyadmin

3.       https://www.mysql.com/news-and-events/sun-to-acquire-mysql.html

4.       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysql

Student Info Task

Private Information [:

T 2.3 Hardware and Software

There are many different types of hardware and software that will allow a small business to expand the use of information systems into the mobile world. I have listed some below that I think are vital:

Android OS

Without a sophisticated mobile operating system like Android, smartphones and tablets wouldn’t be able to provide businesses with advanced features they need. Businesses can use Android’s API to make custom applications that are useful just for their business.

Tablets

A tablet computer running the Android operation system can be used to write reports, show sales presentations, and provide full access to every website. A company could install VPN software on the tablet to “allow individual users to connect to a remote network, such as salespeople in the field connecting to their company's intranet.” [1]

Mobile printers

Mobile printers are essential for a mobile business. They are small, print full sheets of paper, and can run on batteries. They could be used to print revised contracts at the client’s location. They can fit in a large laptop bag.

Smart pens

“The Livescribe paper-based computing platform consists of a digital pen, digital paper, software applications, and developer tools.” [2] The Livescribe smart pen could be used for taking notes on a train or at a random sales meeting in a restaurant. It combines hardware and software to intelligently record handwritten notes in its solid state memory.

Bluetooth headsets

These headsets are essential for a mobile business because in some states it’s the only way to legally talk and drive. The headset can also take voice notes with your smart phone while driving so you don’t forget a great idea.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vpn
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livescribe

Week 1 Task 3

Week 1 Task 3:
http://kamonjaksarn.blogspot.com/#!/2012/07/magento-ultimate-computer-based.html

[:

T 1.7 Add a Gadget

I added the “Subscription Links” gadget which is described as: “Let your readers easily subscribe to your blog with popular feed readers.”

First, I logged into my Gmail and went to http://kamonjaksarn.blogspot.com/ and then clicked the picture of the house on the right. I then clicked on my blog name “Kamon Jaksarn.” Next, on the left I clicked “Layout.” After, on the right I clicked on blue link “Add a Gadget.” A pop up window opened and I scrolled down to “Subscription Links” and clicked the blue and white plus button next to it. The box then asked me for a title and I typed in “Subscribe To Kamon Jaksarn's Blog”. This added a RSS feed button to my blog so that people can follow my blog from their smart phone or computer with a RSS reader application. My RSS feed URL is now http://kamonjaksarn.blogspot.com//feeds/posts/default. It will add value to my blog because people with RSS readers will be instantly notified when my blog is updated. I also noticed that I had gadgets preinstalled and I left them enabled.

T 2.4 Zoho Spreadsheet Lab

I made a spreadsheet that can be used for price comparison of hardware. It can be used by a company to quickly see which website they want to buy specific products from that are mobile business related.

https://sheet.zoho.com/publish/kjaksarn/task-2-4

Steps for the lab:

1. Went to http://www.zoho.com/ and signed up.

2. Filled in my spreadsheet with specific products that I Googled.

3. Added a formula to add price and shipping of each row to a new cell called total price. I did this by clicking cell G5 and entering the formula: =E5+F5.

4. To use the formula on all of the total price cells I clicked the G5 cell then dragged the right corner to G12.

5. I saved the spreadsheet by entering a name in the top left and clicking the save icon.

6. I clicked the Publish button then clicked "Embeded in Website/Blog". I copied the HTML and URL to notepad for future use. I checked "Allow to export" and "Hide and lock formula cells".

7. I went to blogger.com and signed in and clicked Layout on the left then "add a gadget" on the right. I scrolled down to "HTML/JavaScript" and clicked the plus arrow.

8. I typed in a title and pasted the zoho HTML code from notepad into the Content area and clicked save.

9. I dragged the newly created gadet to the left above my blog posts.

10. I clicked the Save arrangement button on the top right

blog URL with zoho sheet on top: http://kamonjaksarn.blogspot.com/

T 1.6 Monitoring Social Networks

I would buy harvested data to use in a Facebook and Twitter management company. I would find local business owners that either aren’t using Facebook or Twitter, or are hardly ever updating their Facebook or Twitter. These people are usually not good with computers or don’t understand the importance of social media yet. I would start by only selling my services to local businesses that make a lot of money off of each customer such as dentists and plastic surgeons.

First, I would buy a very target list. For dentists, I would buy a list of Facebook and Twitter usernames who live in a 50 mile radius from where I live in northern New Jersey and have mentioned teeth problems in the past week. I would buy a new list every week after I see that the list is correct.

Next, I put together my sales materials, form a business, and make a basic website. I then use direct mail or walk into dentist offices near me that don’t have a strong social presence. I charge them $1000 per month to manage their Facebook and Twitter accounts. I explain to them that I have a joint venture with another company that will bring them quality leads and I guarantee at least 4 new clients a year.

For each client I make them a nice looking Facebook Page and make updates to it along with their Twitter account. Every week I use my fresh list of people who have teeth problems and contact them through Twitter or Facebook and offer them a discount that the dentist approves. I then repeat the process for plastic surgeons and other affluent business owners.

T 1.5 Systems

Application Software

“Application software, also known as an application or an app, is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. “ [1] There are many different kinds of application software including web browsers, video players, and word processors. I didn’t know that the operating system of a computer is not considered application software and are system software. System software is defined as: “… computer software designed to operate and control the computer hardware and to provide a platform for running application software.” [2]

Application software is a perfect example of an information system since they all have input, processing, output, and feedback. For example, a spreadsheet program takes the information you type on the keyword as input, can process the inputted number with a pre-set formula to update new totals, and then output the data in a pretty graph. A restaurant owner could see an outputted graph of profit as feedback to change his inputted cost of meals.

Open Office is an application software that I never heard of. It is a collection of applications that is very similar to Microsoft Office, expect that it’s free. “Although Microsoft Office retained 95% of the general market as measured by revenue as of August 2007, OpenOffice.org and StarOffice had secured 15-20% of the business market as of 2004.” [3] I am surprised that I have never heard of Open Office or used it before.

Open Office would be perfect for a new, small organization that has very little money. It could be used in almost every value chain of a small company. Open Office has a database application called Base. Base could be used both in upstream and downstream management. The logistics and customer information can be stored in Base. Also, the marketing department can use Open Office’s separate presentation, flowchart, and word processor application software to make sales presentations.

There are numerous application software for businesses to use. Open Office is great example since it is an application suite that includes many application software. It includes most of the features that Microsoft Office has. More and more a cash strapped start up businesses are using free application software like Open Office.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applications_software
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_software
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_office#Market_share

T 1.4 Value Chain

Campus CDs - My Used CD Business

My Business Strategy

I recently started a business where I buy and sell used music compact discs to only other students. I have tough competition from companies such as Amazon and eBay. My unique selling proposition is that it will be as simple and non-technical as possible for students to buy and sell used CDs, and every buyer or seller will get a reward for using our company. I have created a simple website where students can fill out a form of what CD they want to sell. They will receive an instant quote using a formula that checks prices on Amazon and eBay. Students can also see what CDs I have for sale and make requests. Twice a week at specific times I visit each school in my area to buy and sell the CDs. I only meet in person and do not ship them anything. I partnered with local companies to give coupons to every customer. The local companies know that only students will get the coupons and promotions. The students will see value in my company since it is unique, easy to use, and only for students.

Campus CDs’ Value Chain

I run the business out of my garage. The only raw materials I will be using are the used CDs I buy from students, blank cd cases, gift bags, and promotional materials. The low overhead keeps the business costs low. When I buy CDs from students, I already know what they are selling me. When I get home I enter the condition of CD, price I paid, etc into my private e-commerce software as my inbound logistics. I then clean the CD, test the CD for errors with software in my computer, replace the plastic cases if they are in bad shape, put a unique number on the CD case, and stack the CD on one side of my garage. I record in my e-commerce software the condition of the CD now and if I used a plastic case. This completes the warehouse and storage value chain and upstream management. My ordered system for testing and packing bought CDs makes sure the future buyer doesn’t get a defective product and complains.

When a student requests a CD I have, I find the CD in my garage, take a promotional paper from a local company, print a receipt, and put everything in a company bag. I record in my e-commerce software the buyer and which promotional paper I used. This is my production value chain. I then put the bag in a different spot in the garage which is the finished product storage.

When I go to Ramapo college to buy and sell the CDs on Monday, I print out a list of CDs I have to bring with me and gather the bags I need. My website sends the buyers an automated e-mail in the morning to remind them what time to meet me. This is my entire simple outbound logistics process. Every single value chain up to this point is required for me to get to this point.

Marketing and sales is done through my website and talking to customers in person and on the phone. I send all my customers e-mails weekly promoting my company and promoting local companies through joint ventures. Not only do I try to get more students to use my company, I also try to find local companies to joint venture with. I barter with local companies and also receive money in exchange for them to either be mentioned in my e-mails, have a banner on my website, and/or have promotions for their company in my CD bags. I also post flyers around schools. For now I handle all the e–mails and phone calls myself as part of my customer service.

Exit Strategy

After I tweak and try to optimize all my individual value chains for only local colleges around where I live, I hired employees in different areas of the country to expand. They are paid well on commission only. Now that I’m in all 50 states, I soon realize that no one will be buying CDs very soon and only a few areas of the country are very profitable. I am in the process of selling my company for 12 times my money profit to a greater fool.

Magento – The Ultimate Computer-Based Information System

What is Magento?

Magento is the most popular e-commerce software in the world. Recent studies show that Magento powers over 20% of all online stores. The Magento software is the only software needed to run an online store. It displays all your products, processes credit card orders, displays statistics on orders and website traffic, and more. To use Magento, you can either download the free open source version or pay at least $14,420 per year for their Enterprise edition which includes support. Magento is easy to install with their point and click interface and no coding is required. Companies offer paid plugins and themes to make Magento even better.

Input in Magento

Magento gathers information from reading web servers’ log files and customers’ orders in real time. It takes this data and stores it in a database. The web server log files can include the visitor’s IP address (location), date, and most importantly what referring website the user came from including the user’s search term in Google. Magento also stores all the product data the owner types in through its menus. Each product’s attributes can be very complex. A product can have different taxes based on the buyer’s state or country, coupons, inventory amount, etc.

Processing in Magento

Magento takes the raw inputted data from its database to make new valuable data. It uses formulas on the raw data to store new data in the database such as sales statistics and the number of visitors.

Output in Magento

Magento uses the processed data stored in the database to output useful statistics and graphs. The owner of the e-commerce store has a private login to access these reports. There are graphs of all the sales and statistics on the most viewed products, the most used searched terms in Google to find the website, and more. Each category and product page is outputted from the stored data and website theme.

Feedback in Magento

Magento tells the store owner when there are problems or updates with the Magento software. Furthermore, the owner uses the outputted feedback to intelligently decide what products to promote or discount. One can forecast sales by looking at long term sales graphs and the amount of traffic the website receives. Thus, most feedback in Magento is not done by a computer but by a human making changes.

How Valuable is Magento for Companies?

Magento is invaluable for the companies that use it. Not only does it display the company’s products, store all order information, and processes payments, it also outputs useful statistics and graphs so that the owner can make even more sales. Without a powerful e-commerce software like Magento, it would be impossible to run an efficient online store.