Business in the Longtail

Business in the Longtail is a strategy employed by many of the most successful web-based companies in the world. One example is a company that I always use personally in eBay. eBay makes its profit by focusing on the auction format, which is its example of the longtail. eBay provides online auctions leaps and bounds more proficiently than the closest competitor. Millions of people around the world use eBay for personal use and sometimes even run their own business off of eBay. eBay makes its profit by taking a percentage of each sale and by charging listing fees for each auction. Another longtail business is Netflix which promotes online video rental for a simple monthly subscription fee. Renting movies online and receiving them the next business day and being about to return them using prepaid postage puts Netflix on top about the rest. All in all longtail businesses focus on what they do best and promote the shit out of it to make their profit, and when successful, a enormous profit is there for the taking.

Networking (First Blog Topic)

Networking is an intrical part of society today; making everything run much smoother and communication much simpler. Being able to communicate with someone across the Atlantic ocean in just seconds would have been an afterthought as little as 10 years ago. Social networking is the first thing that comes to my mind when hearing the word, but networking is so much more than just Twitter and Facebook. Multinational corporations are now able to hold video and teleconferences 1,000's of miles apart and regular Americans can live stream video from anywhere around the world using Skype. On the topic of Skype however, the Chinese government is looking to ban the service in China. In my International Business class we have been discussing various current topics going on throughout the world and China has been involved in many of the discussions. China is currently having trouble with illegal music downloads, adding restrictions to Google, and hacking into firms' networks. This has a huge impact on networking not just in China, but around the world due to China's high tech civilization and rapid growth.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is rapidly changing the landscape of the entire world, not just business models. With what were previously thought of as 3rd world countries gaining more and more access to emerging technologies, as well as seeing an increase in their education and skills, it is more important now than ever for the US to reclaim global dominance. With China, Brazil, India, and Russia quickly expanding their economies, we need to not become content with our position as a leading global power but look to expand that lead. Web 2.0 can help us do that. Social media, blogs, and video sharing are becoming more and more prominent by the day and can be a great source of advertising. If companies and organizations want to spread the word about a brilliant new idea or opportunity, whether it be Facebook or YouTube, the advertisement opportunity is there for the taking. Many businesses these days have their own Facebook page where users can go to learn more and more about the business. With the current state of the US economy and rise of others, it is now more important than ever that US corporations spread the word of their work to US citizens and promote their intellectual growth so the US can expand its worldwide dominance.

Pervasive Networking

Facebook seems to be growing and expanding more and more everyday. The infusion of technology throughout Europe and Asia in the past decade has added millions of users to the Facebook community. Now more than ever is Facebook a great way to keep up with old friends or make new ones who have interests similar to yours; as well as network. Networking through Facebook has become even more relevant recently due to the ability to "tag" friends in a status to where the status shows up on their page. This new feature is similar to twitter where users can respond to others' tweets. The importance behind this new edition to Facebook is to make others pay attention. Plain and simple. Whether someone is looking for a job or just wants to hold a casual debate with someone 3,000 miles away, this new tagging feature will allow users to get their attention. In my business writing class we had a social media guru come in to speak to our class. He presented us with one stunning example of tagging a person in a status. The gentleman was helping his friend look for a job, tagged the CEO of a huge Chicago company in his status, and sure enough the CEO responded and his friend landed a huge job. This is just one prime example of how the pervasive networking through Facebook can have a huge impact on the world and just add to the constant melting pot.