Before the beginning of this semester the term ‘blogging’ never crossed my mind.  I reserved blogging for ‘internet geeks’.  My underestimation and pre-conceived notions of blogging has been shattered this semester.  Who could have know the power of blogs?-well not me!  In particular I was surprised by the positive impact it can have on a business…..

Business blogging gives a business some firsthand interaction and research with their customer/target audience without having to pay for it.  The benefits are plentiful including;

Ø  Blogs can be used to attract an audience

Ø  They provide an interactive form of communication with your target audience so you can inform and learn from them.

Ø  You can respond to stories and customer.

Ø  Blogs, forums and discussion boards are useful when uncovering issues or topics that people are talking about and are meaningful to your business.

Ø  It gives your business an opportunity to promote, communicate and establish your brand.

Ø  Blogging promotes a human side to your business.

So, unlike me-NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF BLOGGING…..

Oh how nice it would be to be 21 and be able to retire or imagine being 26 years old and worth $75 million…that is exactly the case for young entrepreneur- Angelo Sotira who is the founder of deviantART.com.  DeviantART is an American international online community for artists. It was first launched on August 7, 2000 by Angelo Sotira amongst others.  The site aims to provide a place for any artist to exhibit and discuss works. Works are organized into different categories including photography, digital art, traditional art, literature, Flash, filmmaking, and skins for applications, among others’

To see what kind of qualities Angelo Sotira possessed to become so successful I looked at a few of his interviews; and took a few useful tips from it…

·         “I focus on what I feel most passionately about. When I was younger I was fascinated with MP3’s because they were really cool. I wanted to share them with the world!”- at 15 years old Angelo founded a site called dMusic.

·         “I had the benefit of being the same age as the demographic.”- We are all still young and when targeting a young audience we have the benefit of being the audience, so you can focus your business models on things you’d be willing to pay for.

·         “I also surround myself with people who are smarter than I am.”- and they come up with smart ideas.

·         “Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible”- so step out of the box and be different!

Squidoo grew 91% in 2008, has almost 900,000 hand built lenses and is one of the 300 most popular sites in the U.S so why is it so successful?

1. They treat everyone as an expert- If people think they have something valuable to share Squidoo gives them an opportunity to share it.  They give validity to people not always considered experts giving reference to “some of the smartest stay-at-home moms”, people like to feel that the knowledge they share is valuable.

2. They provide a service to people- Squidoo provides information on a wide range of topics that people may be interested in.  It also gives people the opportunity to advertise in a way that isn’t emphasizing selling directly-customers won’t buy anything from you unless they are genuinely interested in your product and trust you enough to pull out their credit card! Plus…google loves it and so will your company!

3. They give people the opportunity to make money- although Squidoo say most people aren’t in it for the money it is still a nice by-product and an incentive to share information.

4. Finally….It’s Free!- You have nothing to lose and everything to gain when sharing information on Squidoo.

The breakthrough of the Internet in the last 20years has had a huge impact on society and has brought with it huge possibilities including opportunities for organizations such as Kiva.org.

This kind of non-profit organization owes its existence to the power of the internet.  Kiva.org uses the power of the internet to facilitate one-to-one connections that were previously prohibitively expensive.  Kiva.org creates interpersonal connections similar to child sponsorship but at much lower costs due to the instant, inexpensive nature of internet delivery.  It is an open platform where communication can flow freely between the developing and developed worlds.

It is obvious that the internet comes with it great power and I thought it was fantastic to see that there were special programs launched to help non-profit professionals use the internet more strategically.

Convio Inc. is the leading provider of software and services to help nonprofits use the Internet strategically to build strong relationships with constituents for driving fundraising, advocacy and other forms of support.   They run programs that teach participants how to;

·         develop a robust Internet plan

·         conceptualize online fundraising campaigns

·         Efficiently perform online fundraising programs, regardless of the platform or technology provider

·         Those already working online will learn how to strategically take their programs to the next level.

“While the Internet has become an integral part of the marketing and fundraising strategies for many nonprofits, our conversations with people in the industry show that there is a gap in the practical, hands-on education needed to succeed,” said Vinay Bhagat, Founder, Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of Convio, Inc.

Kiva.org has shown that combining a longing to make a difference and the internet can do life-changing things.

Everyone knows that in our day and age, technology is relied on much more than it is reliable. So what happens when you forgot to install that anti-virus software and your computer crashes? You sit on your computer (by accident)?  Or you knock some coffee over your keyboard in late night frustration while trying to get assignments finished and where on earth did my pendrive go? Let’s be honest we are all prone to a clumsy accidents here and there.

However, it is not so funny when all the hours of slaving over homework assignments are lost, all your notes from the past semester are gone, the research for that paper on Monday was on your computer and now you will never be able to upload those photos from Spring break onto Facebook, or in fact any photos from the last two years because they are gone.  It’s gutting.

Whether you’ve been in this situation before or just dread the thought of it happening to you, Box.net offers a solution to avoid this kind of disappointment.

Box.net is a secure, easy-to-use way to store, share and manage all kinds of files online-kind of like an online filing cabinet that doesn’t disappear when your computer dies!

Ø It allows you to share large files with anyone including documents, photos and videos that are too large for email.

Ø It keeps your files safe; when all your files are saved on Box your critical information is always secure and accessible, safe from threats to your computer.

Ø You can access your important files anywhere from multiple computers, your cell phone or even different online applications like Facebook and Linkedin.

Ø You can edit and preview documents online using “Picnik” to edit photos and images and work on Word and Excel files using “Zoho”

Ø There is no software to download because Box is completely web-based unlike traditional remote access or online storage devices.

So with over 2 million people using it, so ditch the disks and keep all your files safe in Box.net.