Robbie's Business Reflection Journal

This week we actually generated code for a Paypal button. The ability of the button is customizable and the tool Paypal has available for creating buttons is pretty neat. Something I did was to create a custom image for the button. It took a little bit of digging, but what I found was the system doesn't provide a preview image when you create it. The image only comes up when you actually paste the code into the page. I tested it out and found that it indeed worked! I feel so accomplished now. It sounds like I'm being sarcastic, but really, being able to simply make buttons for items and a shopping cart through Paypal makes the whole checkout process seem much more simple than what I had envisioned needing to do. The image I took was from my sister's Etsy store, of one of her small ocarinas. I then removed the background and the second one next to it and uploaded that image for the button use. Anyway, it's pretty cool and I'm looking forward to putting it into use ...

This week was a good one to learn about site builders and hosting. I hadn't really identified the differences between the two and thought they were one and the same. However, from the coursework this week, I was able to learn there was a difference between the two. It was explained in a video earlier about how the host is like the land a house is built on. That helped me to visualize what a host is really there for. It's interesting how many different combinations are out there for hosts and site builders. That is why it looks like there are many different websites dedicated to reviewing, helping set-up, and other aspects of both hosting and site builders. It's interesting that hosts give out coupons for advertising, and maybe that's because it's a two-way street helping their clients drive traffic to their sites. It was also eye-opening to see how many different site builders are out there. I'm sure they've just grown in numbers over the years and will ...

So this week we studied a little more about drop shipping and affiliate marketing. They both can be good forms of revenue, and while one is hands-on and the other isn't, it depends on what kind of role you'd like to have with your product. I tended to lean towards affiliate, as I'm not keen on the financial risk that drop shipping would entail quite yet. I think, however, that Brother Scott makes good points in that providing product and being able to drop ship with something that has decent margins can be a good business choice. Affiliate marketing will take some time to drum up content, drive traffic to the site, and then generate revenue from affiliate program links. If invested and built well, however, it could be a good source of income that's always on the web and working for you. In selecting a business, I am thinking of working with my sister who had recently opened an Etsy shop selling handmade miniature ocarinas. In discussing with her, however, she said her...

Wow, the week just flew by. Last weekend I spent a considerable amount of time on my classwork, as I did today. Pretty much my whole day was spent finishing coursework. I guess that's what happens when you are doing school full-time as well as working 10-hour days consistently. This is my last semester, and I guess I've really got to focus on making the most of it! The case that was explained this week was interesting. I liked that it continued on from week 1 and that we are getting to see the full story start to pan out. It was interesting to learn about how it's possible to start with a business plan first, and then decide what product you want to fit into that plan. However, the opposite also works, in that you have a product and work to fit a viable business plan around it. I liked learning about that, and it's really opening my eyes to the opportunities that are out there. The spreadsheet template that we have available is also pretty interesting. It gives a ve...