Is Groupon Really Worth $25 Billion?

Groupon being worth $25 billion dollars, jumping $19 billion in four months, is ridiculous. Yes it is a great idea but I think if people start thinking they are worth $25 billion then they really will be. Sometimes I wonder if companies don't just throw out numbers to make themselves seem bigger. For example at my job we made an online wholesale printing company and made it look huge. People call all the time saying that they are small print shops in whatever location and I make them feel like they are ordering at a huge reliable corporation but really they are ordering from a printing company with three employees. We are still very reliable and satisfy people and soon hopefully one day will really be huge. So it is all about how you make yourself seem rather than how big you really are. Sure a small competitor can come and try to steal Groupon's business but they won't make much of an impact unless they are really serious. Take the example of how Facebook took over Myspace's market and threw them under the bus. This can happen to Groupon too if they don't keep innovating and coming up with new ideas and strategies. I guess we will have to wait and see!

http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com/2011/03/groupongroupies.html

http://www.groupon.com/subscriptions/new?division_p=chicago

Can't we all just be friends?

After reading about Google's new payment system it makes me wonder how safe that may be. If all of your information is on your phone and you can make a payment by just tapping your phone against another device, what will stop someone from inventing a device that scans and steals information from your phone? I think the idea is great but I don't think it should be done by the tap of your phone, I think it should be done by the customer manually doing it on their phone.

As for Myspace's comeback, I believe if they changed their name maybe it would give them a better chance to be saved. For example I associate Hyundai with a cheap car and would never buy one but after time goes on the new generation will associate Hyundai with a good strong car and the next new car brand name as the cheap one. Same thing for Myspace, if they changed their name it would give them a better chance. Streaming music is a good start I must say.

Now about Facebook's new patented searching system...that just makes them look like they are contradicting themselves! They say they are not going after Google but here they are making a Search Engine on their website that some people will prefer over Google's. Why can't these big companies just work together instead of trying to bring each other down? In my opinion it makes Facebook look bad. Can't say Google doesn't make themselves look bad either when they have their hands in every type of market. They are known for buying out small companies and making them part of Google which is huge. One day Google may take over the world and have their hands in every industry known to man.

http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com/2011/03/google-payment-myspace-revival-facebook.html

http://blog.ineedhits.com/search-news/google-creating-mobile-payment-system-with-mastercard-03259311.html

Releasing Privacy

I was recently watching 60 Minutes on Facebook and realized how ignorant some people really are. Some people don't realize that what they write online is available for the entire universe to see. If you want something to stay private then do NOT write it online! Not even in an e-mail! One woman on the show used to be a teacher and wrote something about how annoyed she was of her students on her Facebook wall. She thought this was private for her Facebook Friends to see only but she failed to check her privacy settings so her Wall was open for the entire world to see. One of the student's parents saw her post and spread it around. She soon got fired from the school. She had been teaching for 10 years or more I believe. She blamed Facebook but she should have really blamed herself for writing something on a public website that anyone can simply click on and read. No matter what your "privacy" settings are, nothing is really private anymore. Most people don't even care about their privacy anymore. They feel like it is not a right to have your own privacy anymore. They feel that it is okay to have all of your personal information out there and really it is not. This is why I do not write anything online that I don't want to share. It is scary when you type in your name in Google and find your phone number, home address, birth date, age, and etc. Someone can look you up online one minute and the next be staring at your house on Google Maps. This reminds me of a movie I saw recently where a girl wanted to go talk to this guy she had met so she went to his Facebook and saw he had hockey practice and went to see him there. Talk about a stalker! We should do something about our privacy until it is too late, but until then, do not write anything online that you don't want to share with the world!

http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com/2011/03/facial-recognition-search.html

http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm

E-Marketing For Good

E-marketing is something that is not going away any time soon. It is so easy to look up information on products nowadays that we can cut down the purchase decision process by a lot. For example, when I am going to buy an appliance I simply go online and quickly research the different brands. My boyfriend's grandparents who are in their 80's were trying to decide which toaster oven they wanted for Christmas and they literally went to Kohls, JC Penny, Sears, and Walmart to see which toaster oven was the best one with a good price and one that fit in their kitchen of course. They even took a small tape measure to measure the toaster oven! This took them a week to do. I can look this information up online in less than an hour and decide which toaster oven I want. E-marketing is wonderful!

Another thing e-marketing does is remind you of products when you see them at the stores. If you see an add online and then go to the stores without the intention of buying it but just happen to see it there, you may pick it up and purchase it. Impulse buying has a lot of thanks to give to e-marketing. This happens to me all of the time at Publix. I will see a commercial for Boarshead meat for example and then when I am in the store trying to decide which meat to buy, I usually choose the one I have heard of before.

E-marketing will be around for many years to come, thank goodness!


http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com/2011/02/where-is-e-marketing-in-buying-decision.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_marketing

Do "Followers" and "Likes" Lead to Sales?

Many companies get caught up in how many "followers" and "likes" they have on Facebook and on Twitter, but that is not the most important thing in the world. Many people on Facebook and Twitter don't even pay attention to what companies are posting because they feel like they are just trying to take their money. Companies have to make people feel appreciated and valued in order to make that Follower or that Like count.

I have tried many different techniques on my Facebook page www.Facebook.com/ZodiacStickers and I found that giveaways and contests are the best way to get people's feedback. I always replied to EVERYONE'S comments no matter how simple or complex. People responded tremendously when we offered free products and they even sent us pictures of our stickers on their cars. It was great! But when we would post a product to try to sell, they would not bite because they know that we were trying to sell. Companies have to think of new ways to capture people's attention and keep it there so that someday they will remember you and give back.

You can have a million followers and a million likes but it does not mean that you will have a million dollars worth in sales or even a million loyal customers.


http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com/2011/02/blog-post.html

http://gregfionascott.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/how-to-get-more-followers-you-scratch-my-back-ill-scratch-yours/

Is MySpace worth saving?

Anything with 27.8 million unique visitors every month is worth a shot saving in my opinion. Although their numbers are constantly going down, I believe that they can turn it around if they take the right steps. You can already log onto MySpace using your Facebook account, which I feel is silly to log onto a social networking site with a login and password from their rival, but either way they are trying to stay in the loop. Right now people are getting kind of bored of Facebook because it is so limited. All you can do is go on and read a few things, see a few new pictures, and that is it! You can't really design anything or make your page unique. Now MySpace was the total opposite. They went a little overboard and gave people too much freedom to the point where a person would sit there for HOURS at a time and change their background, songs, etc. It was too many things to update! If MySpace gave people a little more design freedom than Facebook does so that people won't look like robots all marching to the beat of the same drummer, then I really believe people would switch back. They would need to target high schools and show them their new style so that the trend can begin. I believe that is all it would take to save MySpace. An integration with Facebook would be nice so that people could transfer everything over but that will never happen. There are too many things tied into one account that cannot be transfered to a different website. That would be very complicated. Either way MySpace is worth saving...now lets see if anyone actually can!

http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com/2011/03/savingmyspace.html
http://www.myspace.com/
http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/can-myspace-be-saved/

No More Credit Cards!

After reading Anothony Miyazaki's blog about Starbucks' Card Mobile App that allows people to pay for their orders using their mobile phones I thought, "This is the future!". People with mobile devices never leave home without them, but there are times when people do forget their wallets or their money at home. This new technology has the potential of eliminating wallets all-together! The average American has 3 to 4 credit cards in their wallet which forces us to constantly must keep checking our accounts to see what the balances are on each card. I used to do that myself and it became time consuming and stressful. If all credit card companies would make mobile phone apps instead of a physical card then we can eliminate the need for credit cards and reduce identity theft as well. The apps can be similar to Starbucks' App. It can show what your available balance is, the total amount of purchases, and the information on your next monthly payment. People can pay their credit card balances right from the app and stop wondering how much money is left and when their next payment is due. Since there would be no more need for wallets then if a person's wallet is stolen, they would not need to go through the hassle of calling each company and canceling the card. Of course there is the fact that your smart-phone can be lost or stolen which would require more security to have access to those apps. 

Another revolution this may cause is that there would eventually only be three smart phones available: the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android. These three companies have their own app stores which thousands of people use daily. If this new app credit card took over, most people would purchase these smart phones and turn in their old phones. Just like Windows and Mac who are the only two computer operating systems, there would only be three mobile phone operating systems.

This is the future...not just another Starbucks fad.

http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com
http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/mobile-apps/starbucks-card-mobile