Where Should This Go?
Jun 1st
After a year of being so abrupt in my blog postings, I can finally say that I have completed my education entirely – including the CPA exam. I took the last part a few weeks ago and the results are out in a week but I feel pretty good about it. Basically, after months and months of studying (since last August), I have finally come up with the time to do the things I normally did – go to the gym, YouTube videos and now the blog.
The reason for the title of this post is only because I really really want to continue the blog but I fear that the following has somewhat disappeared. I haven’t been to involved in the MMO field and now that I have the time I can really do just that but I am not sure if its a good idea to stop the blog and create a new one or continue with the current blog.
I really enjoyed talking about new possibilities, blog concepts, WordPress plug-ins and so forth and I’d like to continue doing that but I also want to be sure that the blog can sustain itself with a following that I had at a point. Let me know your thoughts and I will definitely think about this myself. It may be better to make the url more memorable but who knows, maybe it is fine the way it is! Let me know and I’ll be putting out more posts in the time being! Thanks guys!
What Can’t You Buy at Amazon
Feb 1st
As the logo suggests, Amazon.com , and you’re done! It really is that simple. While driving out in the darkness at 6am this morning, it struck me how much I despised the idea of shopping online – specially on Amazon.com. I never thought that the benefit of shopping online would be better than going to the store. As in, the price different isn’t that high, I have no idea what the item will look like and I’ll have lousy customer support. The thing is, all that is not true. Here is a list of my orders in the past couple months – some orders for myself and some for others considering I have Prime Shipping.
September
1. September 4th – Back to the Future Trilogy – Blu-Ray (Pre-Order)
2. September 6th – 100% Pure Emu Oil
3. September 16th – 6ft HDMI Cable
October
4. October 20th – Citrus Juicer
November
5. November 24th – Magellan 7″ GPS 1700
December
6. December 5th – 16 Gillette Proglide Cartridges
7. December 12th – Rubberized Phone Case
8. December 16th – Archos 101 8GB Tablet
9. December 18th – 32″ Toshiba LCD HDTV
10. December 18th – 6foot HDMI Cable
11. December 18th – Laptop Messenger Bag
12. December 18th – Lasko 42″ Rotating Fan
13. December 29th – 100 2×2 Coin Case Holders
January
14. January 1 – 8GB Memory Stick Pro Duo
15. January 9 – HDMI Cable 6 foot
16. January 16 – 32″ LCD TV Mount
Granted that not all of those items were purchased by me, for myself but I convinced people buying things at the store to buy it from Amazon! I convinced them to the point where I would login to my account and let them make the purchase. 16 items in 4 months of using Amazon with over $1000 in total sales. I bet Amazon is glad to have a spokesperson like me but honestly, there are things on that list that normally you’d buy from a retail store. I mean, Emu Oil, would probably be bought from Walgreens or CVS but why? Amazon has it, delivers in 2 days with Prime, there is no tax and its cheaper than the store! The HDMI cables were a whopping $2 compared to other retail stores out there and one of them even shipped UPS 2-Day.
The question is, what can’t you buy at Amazon? I mean, I’ve seen food items/groceries to medical items to couches, tv’s everything. Are you a big online shopper? What are your favorite online shopping websites? What do you think are some things Amazon does not sell just yet?
New 31 Ounce Starbucks “Trenta” Cup
Jan 30th
Starbucks Introduces New 31 Ounce Trenta Cup - 50 cents more than the Venti
Starbucks has decided that the Venti drink at 24 ounces was not enough for its beloved fanatics and has introduced the 31 ounce Starbucks cup size called the Trenta. The 31 ounce giant Starbucks drink will be available nationwide by May 3rd of this year. Starbucks says that this new drink will cost only 50 cents more than the Venti-sized iced drinks meaning that my favorite Venti Tazo Green Tea Lemonade Sweet will be around $4 and change after tax. Expensive? Somewhat, but we’ll talk a little about this in a minute.
The new size will be under 90 calories for unsweetened drinks and about 230 calories and less for sweetened drinks. Remember though, that the new cup size is only available for iced coffee, iced tea and iced lemonade drinks. The new size was introduced as part of Starbucks response for demand by consumers for larger cold beverages. The Trenta size will not be readily available just yet but will debut in 14 states, including Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Hawaii and Arizona, on January 18th followed by California on February 1st. The cup size will be available nationwide by May 3rd.
The problem here is McDonalds has been selling its sweetened and unsweetened 32 ounce teas for $1 and I understand that people have their choices but what about my green tea lemonade? McDonalds doesn’t make it and I’m not a big coffee drinker so for me, when I am craving my iced lemonade, I only have Starbucks as an option (unless you guys have other suggestions).
The idea is, yes, its expensive but also, not a lot of places offer similar drinks – at least the restaurant chains don’t just yet. Either way, if you’re going to drink once in a while, the $4 price is justified but on a daily basis $4 is essentially an almost $1500 yearly addiction. Most of us don’t even pay that much yearly for our gym fees. Either way, let me know your thoughts on this news story.
Does Age Impact Business?
Jan 27th
Tony Hsieh - CEO of Zappos
Zappos Blog – Tony Hsieh is the 37 year old Harvard Graduate who founded Zappos.com and when he was only 26 years old, he sold Link Exchange to Microsoft for $265 million
You’re sitting in for an important meeting where you are about to make a business decision that will affect your company, not only financially but also in the business aspect in the long run. You sit there thinking about all the great things that will come about because of this – not only for the company but also yourself. You imagine that if this project is a success that you’ll finally receive that promotion you’ve been awaiting. You’re dreaming up all these wonderful thoughts but you also realize that the success of this meeting and the eventual contract depends on the company that you are dealing with. As soon as you realize that point, in walks a 24 year old representing himself as CEO of the company that you were looking to make the deal with. Has your perception of this deal just gone down the drain?
For some of you, it hasn’t and for others it has. The people who say, well I don’t think it makes a difference realize that in this day and age, its easy for younger individuals to expose themselves to the business world through more accessible means such as the internet and networking websites. For others who believe that the deal is just a lost cause, you just made a snap judgment that this person will, because of their age, not do a good enough job as someone who is older.
As a young entrepreneur, in a lot of my ventures I was approached by people who always asked me how old I was and upon hearing I was 14 or 15 at the time, they refused to do business with me. No matter how legitimate my work experience was, no matter how many references I provided, they just felt an older person would be more their type. I understand that sometimes, I won’t understand what they have to say but, would it really be that different? Probably not. I realized that it was easier for me to remain anonymous if I conducted most of my business behind this beautiful wall we call our monitor.
But does age really impact your business decision? Does it necessarily mean that a younger individual may be more irresponsible or possibly that their experience may not be as in-depth as someone older? I’ve walked on both sides of the rail road when it comes to those points but I want to hear from you, what your thoughts are. Does Age Impact Business?
Do You Price Match?
Jan 25th
I recently bought a TV on Amazon and it came with a TV Low Price Guarantee and this thought came to my mind that reminded me of all the times that I have used the Price Match feature. My family bought a Sony TV back in 2004 and I remember at the time Price Matching the TV at BestBuy to CircuitCity saving about 10% of the total price of the TV, which at the time was $1000. I also remember just a few years ago, buying an LCD tv, and price matching to result in almost $800 in savings. What was interesting was, at the time, there was a 60 day Price Match so I price matched the TV about 4 times but in total it was $800!!
I just think its such a consumer oriented environment right now that companies are fighting over making sure you get the best deal. Amazon matches quite a lot of popular online retailers including BestBuy, Walmart and Sams Club and I have to say, I’m very impressed with how many TV’s Sams Club has that are the same price as Amazon and in some cases, cheaper. Either way, it got me thinking of whether or not people Price Match as much as I would imagine mostly because to me, its a no brainer if you’re going to end up saving money.
Now now, I’m not saying, lets price match for $2 but lets say you want to buy something and its a $100 at Location A. You find out as you’re buying the TV that location B has it for $70 but the effort to drive there is beyond what youre willing to go through. Would you just buy from Location A after you get a Price Match or would you not want to go through that hassle because you’re not worried about the $30 difference.
I can tell you one thing, in this economy, nobody is too rich to want to save as much as they can and in some cases, Price Matching, even though it can be a hassle, is worth it. It takes time and some patience to look up the right ads and such but I am sure it has saved me a ton of money over the years. So let me know, do you Price Match?
