Word of mouth is a way to advertise and promote a product and or a service and it is the less expensive strategy to use. Advertising through word of mouth is a good technique to create awareness among people about a product and or service from a company. Word of mouth is also a good strategy for companies to influence the way people think about their product and or service. Because word of mouth is one of the most powerful ways to influence the way other people think, it is very important for companies to create a positive environment and to have a good reputation. Influence on people can be positive or negative depending on the quality of the services and products that the company offers; therefore, if a company relies mostly in word of mouth, the company needs to satisfy people’s needs and wants in all aspects. People are able to create their own message by saying anything they want to say and the way they want to say it. In order to communicate a message, you need a type of media, and word of mouth is the media that you use to control and share the message with anyone you want.
If you are thinking about your own business and don’t want to spend too much money advertising and creating awareness among people, think about a way you can create a social network so people communicate the message to other people through word of mouth. Whenever a friend talks to you about a place, product, or service, he/she is advertising through word of mouth and no one is paying him/her to advertise. People will encourage other people to buy or not to buy a product or and service depending on his/her experience. A person creates and controls his/her own message and delivers it the way he/she wants. There are negative and positive messages created through word of mouth and it depends on how the message gets delivered to create an impact on the person who is listening to the message. For example, if your friend tells you “don’t ever go to that place because it’s not worth it”, you’ll be wondering what makes that place that terrible; therefore, you’ll end up going so you can find out what it is about that place that made your friend so disappointed. In the other hand, if your friend recommends you a place to go, or a product to buy, you will probably considered it because you already heard good things about either the place you want to go, or the product you want to buy.
To conclude, I think that every business should create a social network through word of mouth. It is very important to have good reputation so people can say good things about your product or service. If a business doesn’t get advertise through word of mouth, it will be complicated for a business to succeed because businesses need to think about people at all time. Also, through word of mouth, you don’t only create awareness but also you persuade people to do something.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
The Phone from Apple
Thinking about buying a new phone? Are you number one fun of Apple products? Well, you should be very happy now because Apple will introduce a new product, which is the “iPhone”. The iPhone is a new phone that brings some features of the iPod, digital camera, smart phones, portable computing, and a widescreen display. The iPhone runs Mac OS X; it has full iTunes integration and can sync data with a Mac, or Internet service, including music videos from iTunes, contacts, calendars, photos, notes, bookmarks, and e-mail accounts.
The iPhone will come in two versions, a 4GB for $499 and a 8GB for $599 with a two year contract with Cingular, this models will be available for people to buy starting in June from Apple Stores and from Cingular. (Univision news)
Apple not only wants to introduce this incredible new phone to United States, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said Apple plans to bring the iPhone to Europe in 4th quarter of 2007, and to Asia in 2008. I think that Mr. I wonder what will be the impact in Asia especially in Korea and Japan since they have the greatest and highest technology built in cell phones. I can’t wait for the iPhone to be out in the Market to see how will affect competition in the telecommunication industry and what impact will have in people.
The following is a SWOT analysis for Apple based on the iPhone:
Strengths: good reputation and popularity of the iPod will help iPhone to become acceptable in the market.
Weaknesses: first time for apple to introduce a phone, and existing phone companies with products with similar if not same features of the iPhone.
Opportunities: focus on people who are loyal to Apple brand and people who are innovators meaning those who are technology enthusiasts and who appreciate changes.
Threats: existing phone companies.
There are high expectations for the iPhone among people, so let’s see if those expectations will satisfy people’s wants.
Source: Univision channel
The iPhone will come in two versions, a 4GB for $499 and a 8GB for $599 with a two year contract with Cingular, this models will be available for people to buy starting in June from Apple Stores and from Cingular. (Univision news)
Apple not only wants to introduce this incredible new phone to United States, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said Apple plans to bring the iPhone to Europe in 4th quarter of 2007, and to Asia in 2008. I think that Mr. I wonder what will be the impact in Asia especially in Korea and Japan since they have the greatest and highest technology built in cell phones. I can’t wait for the iPhone to be out in the Market to see how will affect competition in the telecommunication industry and what impact will have in people.
The following is a SWOT analysis for Apple based on the iPhone:
Strengths: good reputation and popularity of the iPod will help iPhone to become acceptable in the market.
Weaknesses: first time for apple to introduce a phone, and existing phone companies with products with similar if not same features of the iPhone.
Opportunities: focus on people who are loyal to Apple brand and people who are innovators meaning those who are technology enthusiasts and who appreciate changes.
Threats: existing phone companies.
There are high expectations for the iPhone among people, so let’s see if those expectations will satisfy people’s wants.
Source: Univision channel
Sunday, April 22, 2007
The Major Threats for US Economy
A survey conducted by “WSJ.com” to 54 economic forecasters found the major threats causing US economy to grow slowly. 20 out of 54 economic forecasters responded that soft capital spending is the number one threat, and other economists responded that inflation and oil prices are the major threats (Phil Izzo and Dean Treftz). According to the article, “Economy Enemy No.1: Soft Capital Spending” by Phil Izzo and Dean Treftz, businesses such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Tecumseh Products Co., Ralcorp Holdings, and Auto-part makers plan to decrease their capital spending due to factors such as debts or new projects in process. In the other hand, another survey conducted by FoodProcessing.com to 26 food companies found out that six companies are also decreasing their capital spending, but the rest are increasing it. Some businesses increasing their capital spending include Wal-Mart and 3M Co. The economists that responded to the WSJ.com survey concluded that unemployment would increase from 4.5% to 4.8% due to the threats that are causing US economy to grow slowly.
Another survey conducted to 60 financial executives in manufacturing companies concluded that 55% of the financial executives expect that capital spending for this year will increase and 13% expect a decrease. A similar survey was conducted 6 months earlier to the same financial executives and at that time, 44% predicted an increase and 31% a decrease. (Economy Enemy No.1: Soft Capital Spending)
Capital spending, inflation and oil prices are causing US economy to grow slowly, but according to the article, economists alleged that another threat that is causing economy to grow slowly is consumer spending. But I think that another major threat that we should worry about is the war against Iraq and the possibility of terrorist attacks.
I think that consumer spending is the major threat for US economy because if people don’t buy, economy will go down. In the other hand, if business cut down their capital spending, we as consumers are affected. And I think that one of the reasons businesses are decreasing their capital spending is because low demand, no re-investment and low earnings.
Izzo, P. and Treftz D. (2007) Economy Enemy No.1: Soft Capital Spending. Retrieved April 14, 2007, from http://online.wsj.com.
Another survey conducted to 60 financial executives in manufacturing companies concluded that 55% of the financial executives expect that capital spending for this year will increase and 13% expect a decrease. A similar survey was conducted 6 months earlier to the same financial executives and at that time, 44% predicted an increase and 31% a decrease. (Economy Enemy No.1: Soft Capital Spending)
Capital spending, inflation and oil prices are causing US economy to grow slowly, but according to the article, economists alleged that another threat that is causing economy to grow slowly is consumer spending. But I think that another major threat that we should worry about is the war against Iraq and the possibility of terrorist attacks.
I think that consumer spending is the major threat for US economy because if people don’t buy, economy will go down. In the other hand, if business cut down their capital spending, we as consumers are affected. And I think that one of the reasons businesses are decreasing their capital spending is because low demand, no re-investment and low earnings.
Izzo, P. and Treftz D. (2007) Economy Enemy No.1: Soft Capital Spending. Retrieved April 14, 2007, from http://online.wsj.com.
Hybrid Cars
Thinking about a new car that can save you gasoline and that contributes to the environment to produce less Carbon dioxide? Well, you should consider a hybrid car if you are concern not only about gasoline prices but also about global warming. There are a lot of hybrid models out on the market, and as they become more popular, more automobile manufactures want to manufacture their own model. As today, Toyota, and Honda Civic manufacture their own model.
The purpose to manufacture a hybrid car is to increase mileage and reduce the emissions of gas to produce less pollution than regular cars. According to scientists a regular car produces a lot of Carbon dioxide (CO2), and CO2 contributes to global warming so hybrid cars will be a good idea to help free the air of CO2. Hybrid cars produce almost no pollution, which helps the air to be cleaner; the only disadvantage is that hybrid cars are slow. The parts that composes a hybrid car are the following:
§ Gasoline engine: the difference between a gasoline engine from a normal car and the one from a hybrid is that on a hybrid car the gasoline engine is designed to reduce emissions that causes pollution.
§ Fuel Tank: which is used to store energy.
§ Electric Motor: decides when to get energy from the batteries and when to return back the energy.
§ Generator: produces electrical power
§ Batteries: stores the energy needed for the electric motor to make the car run.
§ Transmission: similar from a regular car.
In a hybrid car, and electric engine helps to power the vehicle, although not all hybrid cars work the same way. A parallel hybrid can run on just the gasoline engine, batteries or both. There is a computer that decides which power source is best to use based on how the engine is working. For example, if you stop at a red light, the gasoline engine can be turn off and rely on the batteries, then once it starts running again it will rely on the gasoline engine. Turning the gasoline engine helps to save mileage and makes the hybrid cars more effective and efficient.
Another type of hybrid car is an assist hybrid, which relies on the gasoline engine most of the times. The reason is called an assist hybrid is because the battery engine assists the gasoline engine to improve gas mileage.
Another type of hybrid cars is the one that relies on electric power source. The hybrid car requires the owner to plug the battery into a power source to be charged. Although, these types of hybrid cars not only run on electric power, they can also run on a gas engine. The owner can choose whether to run on electric power or on a gas engine.
Hybrid cars can be more efficient than the regular cars because hybrid cars have smaller engines that uses less energy, less fuel is require by each of the cylinders, and they produce less pollution. One of the disadvantages of electric hybrid cars is that they can only go 50 to 100 miles between charges and they are slower than the regular cars.
I’m glad that there is interest in the automobile industry to produce and manufacture cars that produce less pollution and helps our environment. I just hope that the automobile industry make the hybrid cars more affordable for us to buy so more people contribute to have a healthier environment. What I like about hybrid cars besides the advantages that I already mentioned is that if you drive by yourself, you can use the carpool at any time and you don’t get a ticket. Is in it cool? I think it’s great specially me that I get a lot of traffic every morning in my way to school.
Source: Global Warming. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://geocities.com/shawn_kwek2002/h-cars.html
The purpose to manufacture a hybrid car is to increase mileage and reduce the emissions of gas to produce less pollution than regular cars. According to scientists a regular car produces a lot of Carbon dioxide (CO2), and CO2 contributes to global warming so hybrid cars will be a good idea to help free the air of CO2. Hybrid cars produce almost no pollution, which helps the air to be cleaner; the only disadvantage is that hybrid cars are slow. The parts that composes a hybrid car are the following:
§ Gasoline engine: the difference between a gasoline engine from a normal car and the one from a hybrid is that on a hybrid car the gasoline engine is designed to reduce emissions that causes pollution.
§ Fuel Tank: which is used to store energy.
§ Electric Motor: decides when to get energy from the batteries and when to return back the energy.
§ Generator: produces electrical power
§ Batteries: stores the energy needed for the electric motor to make the car run.
§ Transmission: similar from a regular car.
In a hybrid car, and electric engine helps to power the vehicle, although not all hybrid cars work the same way. A parallel hybrid can run on just the gasoline engine, batteries or both. There is a computer that decides which power source is best to use based on how the engine is working. For example, if you stop at a red light, the gasoline engine can be turn off and rely on the batteries, then once it starts running again it will rely on the gasoline engine. Turning the gasoline engine helps to save mileage and makes the hybrid cars more effective and efficient.
Another type of hybrid car is an assist hybrid, which relies on the gasoline engine most of the times. The reason is called an assist hybrid is because the battery engine assists the gasoline engine to improve gas mileage.
Another type of hybrid cars is the one that relies on electric power source. The hybrid car requires the owner to plug the battery into a power source to be charged. Although, these types of hybrid cars not only run on electric power, they can also run on a gas engine. The owner can choose whether to run on electric power or on a gas engine.
Hybrid cars can be more efficient than the regular cars because hybrid cars have smaller engines that uses less energy, less fuel is require by each of the cylinders, and they produce less pollution. One of the disadvantages of electric hybrid cars is that they can only go 50 to 100 miles between charges and they are slower than the regular cars.
I’m glad that there is interest in the automobile industry to produce and manufacture cars that produce less pollution and helps our environment. I just hope that the automobile industry make the hybrid cars more affordable for us to buy so more people contribute to have a healthier environment. What I like about hybrid cars besides the advantages that I already mentioned is that if you drive by yourself, you can use the carpool at any time and you don’t get a ticket. Is in it cool? I think it’s great specially me that I get a lot of traffic every morning in my way to school.
Source: Global Warming. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://geocities.com/shawn_kwek2002/h-cars.html
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Single Songs Vs. Album
According to the article, “Apple Introduces Album Discount” by Nick Wingfield, Apple Inc its giving discount to all of its customers who want purchase the remaining songs from which they’ve already bought single songs on iTunes. The purpose of this new strategy is to motivate people to buy complete albums instead of single songs, since it would be more expensive to buy the complete album as single songs than buying the complete album all at once. One of the reasons Apple is giving discount for customers who want to buy the complete album is because music sales for Apple declined when customers buy single songs from iTunes. It is less expensive to buy single songs from iTunes than to buy an album directly from Apple.
I think that this new offer that Apple is giving to customers might work for some, but might not work for others. Personally, I like more the idea of buying single songs even if its more expensive than buying a complete album. Sometimes I don’t like all the songs from an album, therefore the idea to buy single songs sounds better than buying the complete album. In the other hand, it is a good idea for people who like to buy the complete album because it would save them some money.
If you bought single songs from an album, Apple is giving you 180 days from the day you purchased single songs to buy the reaming or complete album. If you made a purchase before yesterday, you have 90 days to purchase the remaining songs from the album that you’ve already bought songs, so hurry before you lose your chance. (Nick Wingfield)
Source:
Wingfield, N. (2007) Apple Introduces Album Discount. Retrieved March 30, 2007, from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117517512567653137.html?mod=hps_us_at_glance_mm
I think that this new offer that Apple is giving to customers might work for some, but might not work for others. Personally, I like more the idea of buying single songs even if its more expensive than buying a complete album. Sometimes I don’t like all the songs from an album, therefore the idea to buy single songs sounds better than buying the complete album. In the other hand, it is a good idea for people who like to buy the complete album because it would save them some money.
If you bought single songs from an album, Apple is giving you 180 days from the day you purchased single songs to buy the reaming or complete album. If you made a purchase before yesterday, you have 90 days to purchase the remaining songs from the album that you’ve already bought songs, so hurry before you lose your chance. (Nick Wingfield)
Source:
Wingfield, N. (2007) Apple Introduces Album Discount. Retrieved March 30, 2007, from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117517512567653137.html?mod=hps_us_at_glance_mm
What Rate Are You Paying?
Suppose that your credit card has an APR of 18%, is this the real rate that you are paying? The answer is NO and I will explain why. Credit cards require monthly payments, therefore the 18% APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is not the real interest rate that you are paying on your credit card, the real interest that you are paying is higher than the APR. The EAR (Effective Annual Rate) is called the real interest rate. To give you an idea of what I’m saying I will give an example.
Assume that a credit card has an interest rate of 18 percent APR, since monthly payments are required, the real interest that you are paying is 19.56 percent. In order to get 19.56 percent you have to do the following. Since a credit card requires monthly payments, you make 12 payments per year because there are 12 months in a year; therefore you have to divide 18 percent by 12 months to get the monthly percentage. If you divide 18 percent by 12 months you should get .015 or 1.5 percent. What does 1.5 percent means? 1.5 percent means the percentage you are paying on your credit each moth. So, in order to know what is the real rate that you are paying in your credit card you have to do the following: [1 + (.18/12)^12] –1 this should give you 19.56 percent (the real rate that you are paying on your credit card).
To conclude, whenever you receive a credit card offer with a certain APR, don’t assume that is the real rate that you will be paying. Before accepting the offer, find out what is the real rate (EAR) using the following formula: [1 + (r/m)^m] – 1, where “r” stands for rate, and “m” stands for periods in a year. For example, if the percentage is quarterly, then m is equal to 4, if the percentage is semi-annually m is equal to 2 and so on.
Assume that a credit card has an interest rate of 18 percent APR, since monthly payments are required, the real interest that you are paying is 19.56 percent. In order to get 19.56 percent you have to do the following. Since a credit card requires monthly payments, you make 12 payments per year because there are 12 months in a year; therefore you have to divide 18 percent by 12 months to get the monthly percentage. If you divide 18 percent by 12 months you should get .015 or 1.5 percent. What does 1.5 percent means? 1.5 percent means the percentage you are paying on your credit each moth. So, in order to know what is the real rate that you are paying in your credit card you have to do the following: [1 + (.18/12)^12] –1 this should give you 19.56 percent (the real rate that you are paying on your credit card).
To conclude, whenever you receive a credit card offer with a certain APR, don’t assume that is the real rate that you will be paying. Before accepting the offer, find out what is the real rate (EAR) using the following formula: [1 + (r/m)^m] – 1, where “r” stands for rate, and “m” stands for periods in a year. For example, if the percentage is quarterly, then m is equal to 4, if the percentage is semi-annually m is equal to 2 and so on.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Restaurants With Touch Screen Menus
When we go to restaurant and there is a lot of people and few waiters, we have to wait forever to place our order. Well, this would not be the case anymore if all restaurants implement a system where people can use touch screen menus to place their order. Some of the advantages of the touch screen menus are the following. First, people would not have to wait to order their food until a waiter is available; in this case people can place their order at any time without having to rush, or without having to wait. Second, if people need to order something else they have to wave and wave to their waiter and wait until he/she goes to their table. With the touch screen this would not be a problem any more because people will not have to wait for the waiter to place their order. All they have to do is press a couple of buttons and wait only for their food, dessert or drink.
When I thought about the touch screen menus, I did some research to know if this idea or something similar has being implemented and where. I found out that Japan does have this technology, and it does not only allow people to place orders, it also allows them to play games and read the news. Well, probably if you go by yourself this would be great, but if you go with your friends this would not be necessary since you will probably prefer be talking to your friends. After finding this out, I thought that these extra features could be added to some of the touch screen menus and not to all of them. One area of the restaurant can have touch screens with the extra features, and the other area of the restaurant can have touch screens only to allow people to place orders. People should be able to choose which touch screen menus they prefer.
The touch screen menus can make restaurants to run more efficient and effective in different ways. First, if one waiter is helping in two tables, he/she would not have to go back and forth predicting who is ready to place their order first. Second, this would avoid confusion between waiters and customers by ordering the right food and not the one that the waiter though he/she hear. Third, if customers want to order something else, they don’t have to wait for the waiter to go to their table and place the order. Last, but not least, people will not feel pressure by the waiter to place their order.
I think that this technology is not too far from us. Probably in a couple of years, we will be using this touch screen menus in our favorite restaurants, or something similar to this.
When I thought about the touch screen menus, I did some research to know if this idea or something similar has being implemented and where. I found out that Japan does have this technology, and it does not only allow people to place orders, it also allows them to play games and read the news. Well, probably if you go by yourself this would be great, but if you go with your friends this would not be necessary since you will probably prefer be talking to your friends. After finding this out, I thought that these extra features could be added to some of the touch screen menus and not to all of them. One area of the restaurant can have touch screens with the extra features, and the other area of the restaurant can have touch screens only to allow people to place orders. People should be able to choose which touch screen menus they prefer.
The touch screen menus can make restaurants to run more efficient and effective in different ways. First, if one waiter is helping in two tables, he/she would not have to go back and forth predicting who is ready to place their order first. Second, this would avoid confusion between waiters and customers by ordering the right food and not the one that the waiter though he/she hear. Third, if customers want to order something else, they don’t have to wait for the waiter to go to their table and place the order. Last, but not least, people will not feel pressure by the waiter to place their order.
I think that this technology is not too far from us. Probably in a couple of years, we will be using this touch screen menus in our favorite restaurants, or something similar to this.
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