Thursday, February 26, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
In-text advertising
I installed a online advertising software called infolinks. It's a text adverstising service, sharing the similar concept with Google AD words but it is advertising by in-text keyword based on your content. I bet you have seen some content is marked by a bouble line beneath and embeded a link to some certain webpages. Ya, that 's it.
I will post another review after using this new advertising "toy".
Linked Taiwan Professionals on Linked In
I have been thinking to do something for Taiwan for a long time. Finally I found there may be something I can do and it's related to what my expertise is - eMareting Taiwan by creating Taiwan professionals group on social media website.
Check it out if you are somehow have relationship with this lovely land:
check it out here
Check it out if you are somehow have relationship with this lovely land:
check it out here
Friday, February 20, 2009
2006 Expansion Plan for Eat2Eat.com
Issues and industry overview: Eat2Eat.com has started up for five years, built a good reputation in dining industries, and had a very stable technological operating system. The business model is sample but make sense that can generate a real cash flow from its operation income. However, it still has not reach its breakeven point for five years; therefore, a extra funding resource will be needed in 2006, and how to utilize this new financial support making a successful strategy for a long run business. Therefore, there are two main issues will be identified and examined as follow. One is for the financial alternatives, the other is the financial allocations.
Alternative analysis First of all, from operating perspective and under time and financial constraints, Eat2Eat.com should evaluate which cities have potential to increase revenue sufficiently then close the business where we cannot see any significant improvement in the future. We can evaluate this factor by calculate the contribution margin from single consumer from different cities and the contribution margin from each city to see whether Eat2Eat.com has a right segment positioning towards this regional market.(appendix 1 and 2)
Second, to determine how much effort we should make to different cities, we evaluate this figure by the contribution margin from 2004 marketing campaigns, to see whether the marketing events have significant positive influence on membership growth. (appendix 3)
Recommendation According to the case description, 7%-10% of consumers' bills constitute 40% of eat2eat.com revenue, which is US$478,000, therefore, once we close the operating insufficiently cities, then allocate the new funding to improve the performance where illustrate a highly acceptable behaviour for online restaurants reservation. It will be easily to reach breakeven point. For example, Bangkok is the lowest ranking of all cities, and constitutes a big lost in 2005.
Therefore, it should be shut down immediately. Shanghai and Singapore are suffering extremely loss too; however, the revenues are remaining the same while cost went down rapidly. Those two cities can be put into probation status for one more year to see the performances after implementation of new marketing events and additional sales force. We can see the amount of money of per consumer spends in two cities, Shanghai and Sydney are much higher than others but they are still suffering from huge loss in operating net income, which means the expenditure of per consumer in fine dining is positioning in high-end segment rather than general public; therefore, a re-positioning in marketing segment is crucial from those two cities. Once we make a right positioning in potential market, it could have opportunity to become a golden cow.
From other functional division’s perspectives, marketing and technology divisions are going a good job; however, Eat2eat.com still need some innovation to keep the competitive advantages; otherwise, the official websites host by restaurants their own are likely replace its position, and since web2.0 and blogs are so popular now, a buzzing blogs hosted by local food critics could easily have impact on advertising buyers’ willing to pay advanced advertisement provided by Eat2Eat.com. Eat2eat.com could also consider develop other business related to food ranking content but get involved more OFFLINE applications as well, for example, making partnership with credit card organizations, selling fine dining information to tourists publications etc. to utilize the restaurant inventory.
Implementation Raising capital immediately, it does not matter where the resource come from, and then allocate $ 0.8M on marketing on cities who has potential profits according to contribution margins. Using high technology ex WAP enabled ordering system to build higher entry barrier towards other competitors.
Alternative analysis First of all, from operating perspective and under time and financial constraints, Eat2Eat.com should evaluate which cities have potential to increase revenue sufficiently then close the business where we cannot see any significant improvement in the future. We can evaluate this factor by calculate the contribution margin from single consumer from different cities and the contribution margin from each city to see whether Eat2Eat.com has a right segment positioning towards this regional market.(appendix 1 and 2)
Second, to determine how much effort we should make to different cities, we evaluate this figure by the contribution margin from 2004 marketing campaigns, to see whether the marketing events have significant positive influence on membership growth. (appendix 3)
Recommendation According to the case description, 7%-10% of consumers' bills constitute 40% of eat2eat.com revenue, which is US$478,000, therefore, once we close the operating insufficiently cities, then allocate the new funding to improve the performance where illustrate a highly acceptable behaviour for online restaurants reservation. It will be easily to reach breakeven point. For example, Bangkok is the lowest ranking of all cities, and constitutes a big lost in 2005.Therefore, it should be shut down immediately. Shanghai and Singapore are suffering extremely loss too; however, the revenues are remaining the same while cost went down rapidly. Those two cities can be put into probation status for one more year to see the performances after implementation of new marketing events and additional sales force. We can see the amount of money of per consumer spends in two cities, Shanghai and Sydney are much higher than others but they are still suffering from huge loss in operating net income, which means the expenditure of per consumer in fine dining is positioning in high-end segment rather than general public; therefore, a re-positioning in marketing segment is crucial from those two cities. Once we make a right positioning in potential market, it could have opportunity to become a golden cow.
From other functional division’s perspectives, marketing and technology divisions are going a good job; however, Eat2eat.com still need some innovation to keep the competitive advantages; otherwise, the official websites host by restaurants their own are likely replace its position, and since web2.0 and blogs are so popular now, a buzzing blogs hosted by local food critics could easily have impact on advertising buyers’ willing to pay advanced advertisement provided by Eat2Eat.com. Eat2eat.com could also consider develop other business related to food ranking content but get involved more OFFLINE applications as well, for example, making partnership with credit card organizations, selling fine dining information to tourists publications etc. to utilize the restaurant inventory.
Implementation Raising capital immediately, it does not matter where the resource come from, and then allocate $ 0.8M on marketing on cities who has potential profits according to contribution margins. Using high technology ex WAP enabled ordering system to build higher entry barrier towards other competitors.
Whether the Internet is an Ppportunity or a Threat for Recording Industry
A case study in eBiz class in Sauder Business School.
Industry analysis: The recording industry is one part of the value chain of music industry. Basically, the revenue is generated from the wholesale price of the CD or cassette. Meanwhile, the record companies play a role as a centralized value distribution centers, they collect money from retails and then pay royalty fee to artists and the publishers. Although they have some contracts protect its own profit ex. a system of “recoupable costs”, they still bare lots lose while the consumers behaviour shift to downloading digital music rather than buy physical CDs. However, the Internet is not the only disruptive technology that music industry encountered; the point is how to turn the threat to the opportunity.
Recommendation: The need of human to enjoy the music is never changing. The variability comes from the way people enjoy music or the cost they willing to pay. To solve this discrepancy, we should consider the relationship between cost and effect in music industry and consumers behaviour. The Internet is a great platform for companies to reduce their cost from many perspectives, for example, reducing cost by delivering music in digital format, reducing expenditures of marketing event by hosting virtual activities rather than the physical campaigns. The costs that record companies save can return to compensate the retail price for consumers. Once the record industry can offer a reasonable retail price to consumers and provide more benefit for them, the competitive advantages emerge and definitely take the piracy down.
Moreover, as mentioned above, the record companies are the central role of whole music industry, involving with different functional segments, for example, they have their own staff of marketing, distribution, manufactures, and even artists. Therefore, they can broaden their product lines, generate income from other part of the industry value chain. For instance, gaining low margin but high reputation online in order to gaining high margin in physical show performances, or develop by-products of famous singers. This movement may change the business model significantly, either moving to upstream of music industry to play the role as publishing companies, recruiting artists and musicians, taking advantages of feedback from the retails, utilizing the analysis of sales, trying to cooperate with artists and musicians then designing the exactly preference needs for customers. On the other hand, record companies can also build their own online contribution channels, both for the physical CDs and the digital format songs. Although there are burdens on the way to success, the very successful case regarding to collect real payment from internet just happened: iPod and iTunes (one product line of Apple. Inc.).
The business model is selling the mp3 players then extending their service through online music database. By providing the very reasonable price and friendly user interface of online digital music purchasing, Apple Inc. overcome the burdens on the way to make consumers used to pay the copyright music online. Apple experience should bring some idea to deal with this case; thinking out of box, the solution may not lay on the industry itself rather it may come from other innovations.
Industry analysis: The recording industry is one part of the value chain of music industry. Basically, the revenue is generated from the wholesale price of the CD or cassette. Meanwhile, the record companies play a role as a centralized value distribution centers, they collect money from retails and then pay royalty fee to artists and the publishers. Although they have some contracts protect its own profit ex. a system of “recoupable costs”, they still bare lots lose while the consumers behaviour shift to downloading digital music rather than buy physical CDs. However, the Internet is not the only disruptive technology that music industry encountered; the point is how to turn the threat to the opportunity.
Recommendation: The need of human to enjoy the music is never changing. The variability comes from the way people enjoy music or the cost they willing to pay. To solve this discrepancy, we should consider the relationship between cost and effect in music industry and consumers behaviour. The Internet is a great platform for companies to reduce their cost from many perspectives, for example, reducing cost by delivering music in digital format, reducing expenditures of marketing event by hosting virtual activities rather than the physical campaigns. The costs that record companies save can return to compensate the retail price for consumers. Once the record industry can offer a reasonable retail price to consumers and provide more benefit for them, the competitive advantages emerge and definitely take the piracy down.
Moreover, as mentioned above, the record companies are the central role of whole music industry, involving with different functional segments, for example, they have their own staff of marketing, distribution, manufactures, and even artists. Therefore, they can broaden their product lines, generate income from other part of the industry value chain. For instance, gaining low margin but high reputation online in order to gaining high margin in physical show performances, or develop by-products of famous singers. This movement may change the business model significantly, either moving to upstream of music industry to play the role as publishing companies, recruiting artists and musicians, taking advantages of feedback from the retails, utilizing the analysis of sales, trying to cooperate with artists and musicians then designing the exactly preference needs for customers. On the other hand, record companies can also build their own online contribution channels, both for the physical CDs and the digital format songs. Although there are burdens on the way to success, the very successful case regarding to collect real payment from internet just happened: iPod and iTunes (one product line of Apple. Inc.).
The business model is selling the mp3 players then extending their service through online music database. By providing the very reasonable price and friendly user interface of online digital music purchasing, Apple Inc. overcome the burdens on the way to make consumers used to pay the copyright music online. Apple experience should bring some idea to deal with this case; thinking out of box, the solution may not lay on the industry itself rather it may come from other innovations.
Awesome People I Met
If you ask me what's the most valuable thing I have for those two years, I will say : bunch AWESOME ppl I have met! I feel happy that I am able to meet up with from friends form so many countries. Since i'm not a social person, I say what i truely feel.
This is one of my new friend, whom I met cuz they want to sell their business.
I'm so happy that i can do something for them and they are happy about the things going. One of them told me about a traditional celebration for winter.....
here is her email:
Hi, Kimmy:
I'm emailing you from my personal email!
It's Groundnog Day today. Has anyone told you about it? Every Feb. 2nd we put our faith in a groundhog to determine the course of the weather.
If the groundhog, named Wiarton Willy, emerges from his burrow and the weather is overcast, then we will have an early spring. But, if he sees his shadow, he crawls back into his burrow and we are to have six more weeks of winter. Personally, I think the groun hog must be afraid of his shadow and that's why he goes back into the burrow. It's a silly tradition, but it is also fun.
Wiarton Willy saw his shadow today and so we are supposedly in for another 6 weeks of winter. Yikes!
Hopefully you can see the background wall paper I made with the "Happy Groundhog Day" picture. Gmail has a more restrictive format than Outlook Express though.
Thank you again for the wonderful green tea. It is lovely and mild and I'm really enjoying it!
I hope we can see you again soon! How is work going for you?
As always,
( ______ singanature is delted due to personal privacy)
This is one of my new friend, whom I met cuz they want to sell their business.
I'm so happy that i can do something for them and they are happy about the things going. One of them told me about a traditional celebration for winter.....
here is her email:
Hi, Kimmy:
I'm emailing you from my personal email!
It's Groundnog Day today. Has anyone told you about it? Every Feb. 2nd we put our faith in a groundhog to determine the course of the weather.
If the groundhog, named Wiarton Willy, emerges from his burrow and the weather is overcast, then we will have an early spring. But, if he sees his shadow, he crawls back into his burrow and we are to have six more weeks of winter. Personally, I think the groun hog must be afraid of his shadow and that's why he goes back into the burrow. It's a silly tradition, but it is also fun.
Wiarton Willy saw his shadow today and so we are supposedly in for another 6 weeks of winter. Yikes!
Hopefully you can see the background wall paper I made with the "Happy Groundhog Day" picture. Gmail has a more restrictive format than Outlook Express though.
Thank you again for the wonderful green tea. It is lovely and mild and I'm really enjoying it!
I hope we can see you again soon! How is work going for you?
As always,
( ______ singanature is delted due to personal privacy)
What I want in My Business
I'm going to write down my ideas here.
Maybe one day, I can sort things out, developing into a feasible business action plan.
Foots on the ground, I list only couple things that can be associated to what I'm doing right now.
What I want my business:
Green business
IT solutions Business
M&A an non-for-profit organization for Asian GLBA professionals
What are my personality & characteristics associated with my goal?
No difficulties to relocate myself.
Strong adaption to new challenges.
Willing to take risk and manage it (well, although Im blind bold sometimes.)
Language: Mandarin and English speaking population takes account of over 50% of whole population in the world.
Short term goal:
Having Project Management Professional certificates.
Immigrant
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