Exporting with E-commerce

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are engines of sustainable economic growth and innovation. Because they represent more than 97 percent of businesses in the United States, their contributions to the commonwealth’s socioeconomic development are critical. Small firms made up 97.3 percent of all identified exporters and pro­duced 30.2 percent of the known export value in FY 2007. (SBA) Faster economic growth needs a wider market; therefore SMEs should expand their operations beyond the local markets and developing a e-business into their market strategy would help them achieve more success and sustainability, particularly in this time of economic uncertainty. The business world is better connected today than ever before with growing technology available worldwide, it is making it easier for business to connect with consumers around the globe. However, most of America’s small business owners never think of competing in foreign markets or realize that 67 percent of purchasing power comes from outside the United States and this global marketplace could be a benefit to America’s small business community. (SBA) Two thirds of the world’s purchasing power is in the hands of 96 percent of the world’s population, these two statistics should be incentive enough.(SBA) Developing a strategy to build an extension and penetrate foreign markets through e-business provides a diversity of customers that generates significantly more transactions, which certainly will increase revenues and profits. Additional foreign sales through online sales over the long term, once export development costs have been covered, there will be an increase overall profitability. A small business that expands their sales through online portals typically stay in business longer, create more jobs and pay higher wages to their employees. This can also alleviate adverse economic conditions at home by having market penetration of foreign markets that still demand U.S. goods.
 

SBA,  http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/sbfaq.pdf

E-commerce has changed the face of retail, online shopping is a worldwide trend that has accelerated over the past decade. The option to make the purchase of goods from your home or office is a great convenience with the demands of busy schedules. Working class families often have to juggle their schedules and factor the time it takes to run errands and buy the necessities they need for everyday living. Consumers are busier than over, more mobile, more affluent, and ever more impatient with time consuming tasks. As a result of these social and attitudinal changes, people are drawn to convenient, reliable alternative solutions for everyday tasks; this makes the appeal of online shopping even more sensible. Online shopping can be a great convenience, but just as any smart shopper you have to be prepared, if you’re the type of consumer that likes to walk around the store, not really sure on what you want to purchase and your decision is influence by what you see in hand, online shopping will not be for you. Most shoppers are focused on price; they want to get in and out of the store quickly. Making lists will help the consumer in finding opportunities to save on their food bill. This service is a great tool for the elderly or individuals that cannot move around easily, such as handicap individuals that would have difficult time getting around a crowded store, or buying large bulking or heavy items.

Consumers who shop online can investigate all options of the product from multiple web sites who are offering that particular product. Most consumers make the decision where purchase is based on price, but I also believe that customer service and its reliability make an enormous difference as well.  I would purchase from the retailers who offer product guarantee and a hassle free return policy, it can be worth much more than saving a few dollars on the product itself.

Choosing to purchase products on-line or at a traditional "brick and mortar" retailer has its advantages and disadvantages that contribute to making decision. On-line shopping is not well suited for items that require any specifics such as size, or freshness. However, on-line purchasing is great for general items, such as CDs, books, electronics, software, and hardware. On-line shopping is great for convenience, while shopping at brick and mortar stores is great for quality control. The in-store stimuli can influence affect, cognition and behaviors that online cannot compete with it.

Getting more out of the internet

Technology has become a major part of our daily activities and it seems to be taking over our lives. The Internet has become a compendium of opinions that signals unity. It also serves as a global meeting place for people from all over the world and eliminates national and geographic boundaries. The Internet sometimes serves a networking function in linking together people of a like mind. Similarly, the Internet allows for activism such as through email newsletters, provocative blog entries, and other forms of self-expression.
The Internet can symbolize a universal mind: the confluence of ideas and the absence of artificial boundaries like nation or language. According to an article “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” by Marc Prensky, “Today’s students K through college represent the first generations to grow up with this new technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other tools of the digital age. Today’s average college grads have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching TV).” Computer games, email, the Internet, cell phones and instant messaging are integral parts of their lives. In the article by Prensky, he talks about how “digital natives”; those grew up with digital technology, think differently from “digital immigrants”; those who did not grow up with digital technology. Research has shown that adolescents do not have fully developed executive functions. “Digital natives” are mostly all adolescents since technologies like the internet and cell phones have only been available to large numbers of people for 15 years or so. That means they have been exposed to digital technologies before their executive functions have fully developed. Some believe that the next generations is going to be the most high-maintenance work force in the history of the world, but also the highest-performing, They'll be the highest-performing, partly because of their skilled use of technologies that didn't exist when baby boomers and Gen Xers grew up, such as Smartphone’s and Internet search engines. It would be interesting to see if multi-tasking behavior is a function of development at the time of exposure to technology more than just growing up with technology.

Prensky, Marc “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” On the Horizon (MCB University Press, Vol.1. Retrieved August 18, 2010
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Using Google Docs

Google Docs is a great online tool that is a great substitute for Windows Microsoft Office or Open Office. It offers you all the same capabilities of using Word, Excel, PowerPoint and even a survey making tool such as Survey Monkey. The most exciting feature is you can use it from any operating system with an internet connection. Google Docs are also supported by mobile devices such as, Iphone, Ipad or Android. All your work and files are stored on their server, so accessing it from anywhere is easy to do.   
                                                               
Getting Started with Google Docs
1. Register for, or sign in to your Gmail account.
2. Once you are logged in to your Google account, you click on the link for "Documents" on the top left set of commands.
3. This will take you to the Google Docs Page.
4. You see a bar list of different functions: CREATE NEW, UPLOAD, and a few file-management tools.
5. To create a new project, click on the CREATE NEW tab to find options for document, spreadsheet, presentation, forms, etc.

As I mention before, Google Docs is comparable to Microsoft office, or Open Office.

Document = Word

Spreadsheet = Excel

Presentation = PowerPoint

Forms = Survey Monkey


Great Feature

• Uploading and converting files such as, word, RTF, HTML, xls, csv, PDF, PPT, TXT, and many   more.
• Collaborate online in real time with others you invite to view or even work on projects.
• Chat in real time with others who are collaborating on the same project.
• Publish documents online as a web-page or blogs.
• Google Docs atomically saves your work for you as you are working on your projects.

Vegetable Garden Survey

According to The American Medical Association, they advise citizens to eat more vegetables in order to stay healthy. Vegetables have vitamins and minerals as well as fiber that's important for maintaining health and energy. Many people enjoy keeping a vegetable garden because they feel that it encourages them to eat more veggies. I'm a conducting a quick survey to see if people have a vegetable garden, what kind of veggies they grow and would they be interested in perfecting their green thumb skills on gardening.

Thank you for participating!
Click Here for Veggie Survey **( For a new window or tab, right click mouse and select)**

Fundamentals of Email Etiquette.

Should there be a class topic of email etiquette taught as the basic fundamentals in

Using Technology 101? Most of us who receive emails on daily basis would say YES!
I could give by daily blow on all the emails I receive throughout the day, but when someone includes you in a group email, (with no further discussion needed for the group) why do other recipients feel the need to reply all when emailing back to the original sender? So then are you not only bothered by the first email, but then all the other responses that follow. ( HINT) Don’t reply all unless it’s necessary that all the recipients need to know your reply.

Here is a quick reference guide to email etiquette. (Note) there are many web-sites with many guidelines and suggestion, However to keep this blog post short and sweet (to the point), I choose ones that would more commonly adapt to the majority of us.

• Do Not Default to "Reply All" (Oh covered that…moving on)
• Keep emails short and to the point. Don’t babble on and on, tell your recipient exactly what you need to.
• Address the recipient properly. (Mrs., Mr. or just Name)
• Write in the subject line; tell your recipient what the email is about. Think of it as a “Title” to your letter. Subject: I want you to comment on my blog!
• Use proper grammar. Format the email, just as you would a letter and using appropriate punctuation!!!!!!!! ;0) j/k….lmao
• Spell check, sometimes the auto spell check won’t pick up on missed used words.
• Use a readable font, suggested size, 11 or 12. Sometimes it can get annoying if your font is too small to see or font face used is unclear ( such as cursive) or the color to light or blends in the back ground. 
• DON’T WRITE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS (That’s consider shouting)
• Proof read your email. Little mistakes can be avoided.
• Double check on who you are sending the email to. Doh! I Didn’t mean to send my boss that joke. Yikes!
• Stop forwarding crap! Unless it is a really funny joke, but be cautious, just because it’s funny to you, might not be funny to another.

I hope that we all can have a bit more email etiquette and pass the knowledge on to others, so we all can experience a happier “You’ve Got Mail!

http://www.101emailetiquettetips.com/
http://email.about.com/od/emailnetiquette/tp/core_netiquette.htm

What EMAIL is right for you?

There are many email applications subscribers can use to receive their messages, however choosing the one that meets your needs depends on what you’re using it for.

The most convenient way to obtain an email account is through a Web-based email services such as AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail. It enables you to access your email via your web browser to send and retrieve email. Although this is a free service, it usually features banner ads and has limited ability to customize your email. A downfall with web-based email is that you are limited to a small amount of storage space, so you won't be able to keep your old messages for very long before you run out of room; however, this is a great option for a personal email account that can be accessible on any computer with an internet connection.

Another email application that is popular is POP (Post Office Protocol) email services, it is a client e-mail receiver software that is installed to your computer, such as Outlook Express, Window Live or Eudora, a great benefit is that you can read and compose your emails without being connected to the internet and you can connect to the server at any time and download your mail into your local computer. A drawback is that you can only access your emails through that software and the ones that you downloaded are only saved to your local computer.

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) gives users great control over their email accounts. It works similar to a POP3mail; however you can pick and choose what emails you want to download to your computer. It is a secure spam free email that is reliable for your personal and business accounts. It can hold up to multiple email accounts and offers more storage space and has many features such as a shared address books with secure sharing facility between users, folders and sub-folders for sorting email, secure message boards and online document storage space. There are many IMAP mail service providers such as, Cwazy Mail, Fast Mail or Safe-mail. They offer free storage space for smaller accounts with limited functionality, and upgrades are available for users seeking to host multiple email accounts with unlimited functions available.

The Battle is on!

Is emailing becoming a thing of the past and is it soon going to be replaced with social media sites? As technology is changing rapidly, the younger generations way of communicating is becoming more adapted to that change, just as email replace snail mail, text message replaced phone calls. Even though you are required to have

an email account to register on social networking sites, are the email account still being used for as a two way communication tool?, Or just to received messages that have been posted to you blog, or facebook wall. As I don’t consider myself as part of the older (out of date) generation, even though I am, I tell my peers to facebook me and continue the lines of communication through social media sites. A good example would be the way my family communicated, we would send an email to a list of recipients who we wanted to communicate with to coordinate dates and times for family get together, but over the last year that has all changed. We now create an event page or bulk message through Facebook to coordinate our activities.
As most of sit back and watch this entire new technology advance faster than we can type out an email, or log on a social networking site, what other lines of communication will become extinct or be invented? The days of exchanging phone numbers and email addresses are becoming a thing of the past.

Time Management

College Inc.

The full video is @ http://video.pbs.org/video/1485280975

QR Codes

GoAnimate.com: QR Codes by katford

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Google now offers Free voice and video chat.

QR Codes

As we are all familiar with barcodes, that have been used in all industries for various reasons such as to track inventory and price products, they are a one dimensional code that can only hold numerical digits. Quick response code are becoming extremely popular as they are a two dimensional codes that can hold alphanumeric characters of information. These codes have the ability to connect people with multimedia digital content with the quick scan of the code. Companies in every industry are always competing to stay ahead of their competition. As technology advances and consumers have immediate access to relevant information at their finger tips, companies are trying to find the next coolest thing to make their product or service stand out among the all others.  

How it works.

The new technology with smart phones gives consumers an advantage of getting information on any type of product or service that is available. The application for a barcode or QR code reader can be downloaded to your phone for free. Scan the QR code and it will link you to the information within the tag. This information can either be a webpage, pdf, or a video, just to name a few. The creator of the code has the ability to link whatever information they wish to share. 

There are many code genorator avaliable on the web, here is one I used. 

http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

I posted one for business Lil Petite Chefs, simply scan the code with your mobile device and it will automatically link your to my web-page. 

I also created one for my facebook and Twitter account, however the possibilities are limitless.

Facebook Me! 

 Twitter Me!

Search engines are rapidly expanding because users want to find certain information based on criteria they search. Google Inc is the pioneering search engine on the internet, and because of this, we were conditioned from the beginning to Google whatever we were looking for. We can say, do a search on the internet, or more communing known phase “Google it”, even though you may be using a different search engine, such as yahoo, or Bing. You can browse through hundreds of search query and tailor them to your needs and specifications. Do you want a search tools to only search travel, music, recipes or books? I am sure there won’t be a problem for you to find on. 

Bing is making a name for themselves for users who are indecisive. Their catch phase is “For Decision that Matter, Bing and decide. The company ran commercial that portrayed people searching for a particular product or service. By choosing one of the results that Bing gave you, you can relax about your decision from the beginning.  

Evaluating websites

The criteria for evaluating websites for legitimacy can include authority, objectivity, clarity, appropriateness and accessibility. As there are many web-sites available for users to gather information from, the users must keep the criteria in mind while determining if the information they are gathering is true data that can be used as a creditable source. The URL can say a lot about the creator of the website and its purpose. Domain names can be registered by anyone who wishes to publish a page, with no validity check involved.

The old saying, first impression is everything; the same would be true when evaluating webpage’s. Scanning the page can tell you plenty of the validity of the creator and the information they are trying to employ. When scanning the page looks for the author, the company or organization that is affiliated with the page. You are looking for signs of accountability and responsibility for the contents in contains. Is the page outdated or is it current? Is the page link to other creditable pages or is it just a phantom page.

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

http://www.lesley.edu/library/guides/research/evaluating_web.html