Description: Valentine’s Day orders bring 20 percent of annual revenue for ProFlowers. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 02/11/2011 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/02/11/n_valentines_day_proflowers.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion:  Who is the target market and describe their buying behavior. How important is the Internet for this business? What do you think is the message intended and received when roses are… Read more »
Posts Tagged: E-Business: Doing Business Online (p212)
Surfer’s calendar site gives back
Description: Custom calendar site CalendarLink.org raises funds and spreads awareness for the California Surf Life Saving Association. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: 12/22/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/12/22/n_cc_tides_of_giving.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: How is this business socially responsible? Who are the target customers? What makes this business service unique? Describe the product strategy and how the Internet allows… Read more »
Getting the message out on Facebook
Description: Small businesses are leveraging their profiles on Facebook to boost their business by keeping in close contact with customers. Source: Reuters.com – video report Date: 12/21/2010 Link: http://www.reuters.com/news/video/story?videoId=170540599&videoChannel=6 Questions for discussion: How does Facebook allow small businesses to better serve their target customers? How does Facebook differentiate itself on the Internet?
Groupon reportedly spurns Google’s billions
Description: Groupon Inc. has walked away from a Google Inc. acquisition offer worth as much as $6 billion, according to reports late Friday, appearing to set the stage for a Groupon IPO as soon as next year. Source: Marketwatch.com – video report  Date: 12/04/2010 Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/groupon-reportedly-spurns-google-merger-2010-12-04 Questions for discussion: Do you think Groupon is… Read more »
Pirate Bay appeal falls on deaf ears
Description: In another blow to online file-sharing, a Swedish appeals court upheld on Friday the copyright convictions of three of the four founders of The Pirate Bay–perhaps the world’s most well-known and notorious file-sharing Web site. Source: CNET.com  Date: 11/26/2010 Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20023915-93.html Questions for discussion: What are the legal and ethical issues surrounding file-sharing?… Read more »
digits: The Beatles Invade iTunes
Description: Beatles songs are finally available in Apple’s iTunes store. But ATD’s Peter Kafka says that iTunes is all about apps these days, while digital music sales have flattened out – and even the Fab Four may have a hard time changing that. Source: Marketwatch.com – video report  Date: 11/16/2010 Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/digits-the-beatles-invade-itunes/874EB528-ED14-44A4-B14E-2529BB1659DC Questions for… Read more »
Start a small biz with $500
Description: Tweezerman founder Dal LaMagna says his company grew by being frugal with money and keeping stakeholders interests at heart. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 11/11/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/smallbusiness/2010/11/11/sbiz_tweezerman_dal_lamagna_500_dollars.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Explain the global success of this game? What does its success suggest about consumer behavior? What need does this product satisfy for… Read more »
Newsweek’s Printing Press Was a Top Draw for Diller
Description: Barry Diller, who has spent the better part of a decade amassing a collection of Internet companies  a search engine here, a dating Web site there  has figured out how to help make the Internet work a little better for him. He is going into the magazine business. Source: NYTimes.com  Date:… Read more »
Turning Customers Into Creators
Description: A FEW young women are gathered around a conference table dotted with bottles of colorful vitamin drinks, iPod cables and slender laptops. A whiteboard with lime-green writing almost swallows a wall in the room. Source: NYTimes.com  Date: 10/23/2010 Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/business/24ping.html?ref=business Questions for discussion: How is this sort of research superior to other forms… Read more »
Startup Lessons Learned From a 20-Year-Old CEO
Description: Meet Jessica Mah: The 20-year-old chief executive who’s on startup No. 3. She’s the CEO of InDinero, a Website that lets small businesses automatically track their finances with no data entry required. Barely a month after finishing the Silicon Valley startup incubator program Y Combinator, she scored $1 million in seed funding. Next on… Read more »
