The Growing Industry of Online Shopping
Not that long ago, the majority of consumers around the world would shop at their local area stores. Billions of dollars were spent worldwide, by the major retailers in attracting customers, increasing footfall, and making sure the consumer would stay in store for as long as possible!
Of course, For the consumer, this did come with its own problems. There was the (often hidden) expense of travelling and fuel, looking for convenient parking, dealing with wobbly shopping carts, long queues, and kids tantrums to name but a few.
Even though the facility for online shopping as a seminal idea for full-blown future trend was available at that time, people would prefer to stick to traditional shopping. Alot of people would still mention how uncomfortable and unsafe their perception of online shopping was. Sharing credit cards details and personal information to cyber shopping portals didn’t go down well with them.
But now everything has changed. Online shopping is the current retail craze for millions of consumers especially the millennials. The online shopping phenomenon that we’re witnessing is on a record-breaking scale not seen in preceding years. More and more people are moving towards wireless and electronic shopping, attracted by the ease, convenience, savings in both time and price compared to traditional high-street shopping.
With fast delivery times, hassle-free return policy, and free delivery options, an increasing number of people are flocking to online ecommerce as their primary means of shopping. According to IBISWorld market research forecast, an 8.6% per year increase in online shopping volume is expected in coming five years. It’s understandable in light of the fact that there’s a diversification going on in the number of goods available online and an ever-expanding strong current of consumer demands.
A lot of company reception areas I have visited in the last 2 years, have begun looking like mini parcel depots, with staff online purchases often being delivered to their place of work. and with a recent study suggesting an 11% annual increase in parcel volume this trend no doubt is expected to continue.
Infact, even the stress relieving “shopping therapy” traditionally associated with shopping in physical stores, has found its way to online shopping platforms with that feel good factor of having your purchase arrive so quickly after placing your online transaction!
Its no surprise then that physical stores are moving at least a part of their organizational component online and to mobile devices in order to cut costs. They are toying with the idea of increasing buying options by offering discounted deals on a wide range of products and services.
Online shopping is one definite area within these challenging economic times, that actually has a bright and positive outlook. To be honest, I cant think of many reasons not to indulge oneself in this present-day mania….time to go shopping on my smartphone!
Digital Marketing & 2014 World Cup – 14 Mind-blowing Statistics
Football is the world’s most watched and played sports – as per initial estimation, around 3.6 billion people watched FIFA Worldcup from start to finish. As Germany beat Argentina in the finals to win the coveted cup, almost $5.7 billion were spent on overall advertisements (offline + online) within the tournament.
Being an entrepreneur, the statistics and the data is certainly interesting. But what about the digital marketing angle to this sporting mega event?
source: socialbeat.in
The new age entrepreneur and marketer is more concerned about the social media spending done by big brands during the event as the statistics and data throw some interesting insights – it gives an idea of the true power of digital medium, compared to offline channels.
Some interesting statistics related to digital marketing and social media spend during FIFA Worldcup – 2014:
- Sporting gurus have already hailed FIFA World cup as the most social sporting event ever! Even before the first match started on June 12th, more Tweets were shared than during the entire World Cup 2010 which was held in South Africa. (source)
- Between June 12th and June 30th, Facebook experienced 1 billion+ interactions related with World Cup (source)
- 40% of Facebook’s 1.28 billion users posted atleast one update related to World cup. This figure doesn’t include individual fans and their pages. (source)
- $2.3 billion is the estimated marketing spend on TV advertisements during this world cup, with 40-50% of this amount going to the digital medium (source)
- All the stadiums where matches were played had WiFi connectivity to access Internet, which enabled an avalanche of Tweets and updates related to the matches
- 350,000 Tweets were sent per day during the world cup
- Google reported that search queries related to the World Cup outnumbered total search queries combined for Olympics, Super Bowl and Tour De France, since last four years! (source)
- 63% of all searches on Google related with football and world cup during last 3 months were done on a mobile, compared to just 18% in 2010. This shows the power of mobile and internet on the overall scheme of things! (source)
- 37% of soccer fans from all over the world admitted that they saw atleast one mobile advertisement on their smartphones/tablets during the world cup (source)
- This sporting mega-event actually boosted Brazil’s overall online marketing spend by over 60%. $5 billion is the estimated amount which will be spend on digital marketing on desktops/laptops and mobile/tablets by 2018, up from $2.88 billion in 2014. For the world cup, $2.25 billion was spent in Brazil alone on digital marketing platform. (source)
- By the time world cup was in it’s midway, the advertisements by big brands on social media were shared more than 6.9 million times, a record in itself. Details are awaited of the overall shares. (source)
- During 2010 World Cup, only 20% of the overall marketing spend by brands was done on digital medium (Internet, Mobile), which increased to approximately 50% during this world cup. (source)
- This quote by Adidas CEO sums it well: “About half of Adidas’ media expenditure around the event will go online, versus the fifth which was spent during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.” Source: Adidas CEO, Herbert Hainer
- In UK, World Cup sponsors and brands spend around £20.8 million on TV advertisements
Here are the top brands that spent more than $100 million during this world cup.
source: marketingweeklive.co.uk
And, as per observations made by senior marketers and technologists, the next world cup to be held in Russia will witness around 20-25% more spending on digital medium, compared to the last world cup. As more smartphones make more users connected with the social media and online world, this figure is all set to exponentially rise.
The power and impact of digital medium can be best observed in these exciting statistics. Do you really believe that such magnanimous spending by brands on social media and digital marketing was worth it? Did you feel it’s impact? Please share your views by commenting right here!
Discover The Secrets Hidden In These Famous Company Logos
A company logo is much more than a fancy graphic design: it represents the organization. Every company existing on this earth has a logo designed for themselves, but there exists some companies which have gone one step ahead, and integrated deep hidden meanings in them. In this post, we shall decode some of these logos with hidden messages in them: A) Amazon: 
Everyone can see the happy smiley curve at the bottom of the logo. But can you see that the yellow curve also joins A with Z, thereby implying that Amazon provides everything from A to Z. B) FedEx: 
This logo of world famous transportation company FedEx was designed in 1996 by a designer named Lindon Leader. Have you ever noticed the arrow mark which forms in between E and X? This forward going arrow mark represents that FedEx is always moving ahead. Designer Lindon had to invent a new font in order to make it look great. Isn’t it awesome? C) CISCO: 
Everyone understands that being an electronics company, Cisco created an digital signal in their logo. But very few know that this analog symbol also represents the famous Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, where it was funded. And the word Cisco is also embedded in the San Francisco! D) Wikipedia: 
Everyone who is using Internet must have used Wikipedia at least once in their lifetime. The logo is supremely prominent in all the pages. But have you noticed one imperfection in this logo? The globe, which has alphabets from different languages is incomplete. This was meant to showcase that Wikipedia would be never complete; never perfect. Being a user generated website, there would be something which would be always empty to be filled. E) United Nations Cyber Command: 
United Nations Cyber Command is a powerful department of US Strategic Command which checks and investigates cyber related crimes and dangers. In an event of war, this department alone can cripple enemy’s complete IT network and structure. In their logo, you can see 32 characters included in the inner golden ring. Normally people assume that to be a random string of characters, but its way beyond that. In case you happen to run this alphanumeric string through an md5 cryptographic hash algorithm, then you will find their mission statement hidden in those characters! F) Facebook Places:
Facebook Places is now retired from service; but when it was launched, it was meant to counter Four Square, whose popularity rose suddenly few years back. The entire development team of Facebook Places was only concerned on beating Four Square, and they didn’t hide this intension while designing their logo. If observed closely, you can see that the map pointer is actually pointing towards number 4 on the map. Eventually Facebook Places closed down as Facebook acquired Instagram, a competitor of Four Square. G) Google Picasa: 
Google Picasa is an online tool to store and share images; which has now been integrated with Google+. Very intelligently, Google has created a logo which defines it’s name: Picasa. In Spanish, Casa means a house, and if you look closely at the white space left out in the middle of the logo, you will see a house. H) Sun Microsystems: 
Sun Microsystems was acquired by Oracle in 2009. But when it was operational, the founders behind Sun ensured that their legacy continues. Do you observe the quadrant on the left? They have designed it in a way that whichever angle you view it from, you can always read SUN: either S or UN combined. It is said that they spent close to 3 months thinking and designing this logo! Do share your thoughts and opinions on these hidden secrets of famous company logos. In case you have your own secrets hidden in the logo, do share them right here!
About Me: I am Jass & I provide and deliver creative solutions to commercial problems that positively affect a companies bottom line. A strong team player that is quick to learn and adopts a ‘hands on’ approach on getting things done.
I am driven by creativity, challenges and a general desire to make the world a better place! Outside of my work interests, I’m found engaging in activities with my kids, writing, playing an instrument or hacking away at a fairway somewhere. Contact me at Jass@dooa.com!
How Can A Leader Motivate His Team & Build A Legacy– 5 Actionable Steps
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. —Lao Tzu
People often say motivation doesn’t last; well, neither does bathing, and this is why it is recommended every day. For a leader, the ability to motivate his team is one of the most important traits he can ever possess. His team needs the motivation to stay ahead of the curve, to demonstrate the best of their skills and to beat the standard every time they deliver.
The greatest motivation any team or company can derive is from the leader who is leading them. Being the leader, it is your duty to motivate the team, and help them achieve their goals and beyond.
Here are 5 simple actionable ways a leader can effectively motivate his team and help them build a legacy:
Do as you preach: Roll up your sleeves and work along with the team. A leader is a person who knows the way, goes that way and shows the way to his followers. When you are working with the team to solve their problems, you directly or indirectly are motivating them to do the impossible. Try it once and feel the difference in the amount of energy each team member demonstrates.
Say Thank You: Once a problem has been resolved, never fail to say Thank You. Expressing gratitude is one of the most sought after characteristics of a good leader and damn motivating for the team. By saying thank you, you are being humble and down to the earth, and showing to that team that you care. These two magical words actually pump up the team, and make them invincible. Thank You, although sound really simple and obvious, possess great powers of motivation which you should definitely use amply. Discover reasons to say Thank You, and feel the difference it makes to the overall environment.
Be Easy To Reach: Don’t make yourself so inaccessible that your team drifts apart from you. Make yourself easily available so that any team member can access you whenever he faces any problem: either professional or personal. There is no need to be enclosed in a shell when dealing with a team which is craving for your insights and instructions for achieving greatness. When you are easily available to the team, you are actually motivating them to cross all thresholds and make the impossible, true. You are telling them that the team and the organization is important for you, thereby motivating them to the core.
Be Their Friend and Guide
A professional spends 8-10 hours in his office; hence it becomes one of the most important places of his life. But being a leader, you should be aware that there is a life beyond his work as well. A life where his wife is waiting for him to come back and serve dinner, a life where her kids are waiting for their mom to come back and hug them, a life where a father is expected to attend his son’s first cricket match and cheer him to the end. The greatest motivation for a professional is when his manager and leader involves with his life and creates a form of bond which develops over time. In order to harness maximum motivation into each and every member of your team, try to spend some time off-hours as well, and make him part of the family. Caution should be taken to avoid being too intrusive into their lives. A healthy balance should be maintained for implanting greatest motivation.
Judicious Usage of Monetary Motivation
Remember, money is never a strong motivator; even if a person showcases immense motivation on monitory benefits, it would always be a short-term motivation. But again, lack of money is surely a demotivator. Being a leader, it becomes your responsibility to judiciously use monetary factors while motivating your team. It can be employed effectively for short term goals and plans, but for long term benefits related with motivation, never fall back entirely on money and cash. People are mainly motivated when their skills and special abilities are put to maximum usage. If money helps in achieving that, its perfectly fine to use, but there should be judicious usage, as determined by the leader itself.
Do share your own insights and opinions when it comes to motivating your team and organization.
4 Facts Every Entrepreneur Should Know About Digital Marketing
An entrepreneur should be aware of everything which makes his business grow, simply because his only aim in life is to make his business the best in the world. And in today’s hyper-connected age with technology and social media ruling the roost, it becomes imperative for an entrepreneur to be aware of Digital Marketing and the wonderful advantage it offers to leverage talent, resources and profits.
In layman’s term, Digital Marketing is the process using which any business can connect with it’s audience and create a relationship. Digital is the world which is used to represent the online world – websites, social media networks, forums, communities and Web 2.0 sites. And Marketing is the science of making an idea spread.
Here are 5 facts about Digital Marketing, which every Entrepreneur should be aware of:
a) Digital Marketing is not Selling
Several first time and newbie entrepreneurs’ fresh out of Ivy League colleges assume that digital marketing is all about selling. I have myself taken lots of interviews of so called digital marketing experts who keep on claiming that they can make my products sell like hot cakes.
No! This is entirely wrong. Digital Marketing is all about creating relationships with your audience and makes them aware and educate about the stuff you do. Selling is a phenomenon which just happens on the way. If the focus is on selling-selling-selling, then I am afraid your digital marketing process won’t go much far.
b) Digital Marketing means Content
Seth Godin, America’s greatest marketer tells that Content is the only Marketing left!
Content is a very interesting term here, as it simply doesn’t just mean words. Content means images, videos, blogs, articles, interviews, podcasts, infographics and more. Any information or data conveyed in the most simplistic way is content. And Digital Marketing of any level should only focus on the content part, because that is the most integral and important part of the whole process.
c) Digital Marketing is not Spamming
I have personally met several entrepreneurs who believe that digital marketing means spamming. Don’t get surprised because maybe they are not aware of the actual meaning of spamming. Spamming means to send unwanted marketing messages via emails or mail. Inexperienced entrepreneurs buy huge email databases and keep on shooting unwanted emails again and again, assuming that some will buy.
This is called plain spamming and not Digital Marketing! Please, stop it.
d) Three things which can be sold via Digital Marketing
There are only three things which can be sold via Digital Marketing platform: Products; Services and Ideas. It is very important for the entrepreneur to understand and determine what he is selling.
Products mean physical units which can be shipped to your customers; example being DreamGirlHair.com, where we sell hair extensions and hair wigs. Ecommerce portals and sites are a good example of this type of marketing.
Services, as the name suggests, is selling a particular service which your customer maybe in need of. There are agencies which sell marketing services; there are firms which sell consultancy services.
And lastly: Ideas. In a way, every business is based on particular idea. Perfect example of a business selling ideas is books. A book is an idea, and via digital marketing for the idea, you can sell lots of books. Communities and forums are also good example of ideas. Mobile applications, software, tools etc can also be categorized under Ideas.
Ideas which spread, wins!
I hope that after reading this post, you will have a more clarified notion about Digital Marketing and how an Entrepreneur can leverage this wonderful medium for more traffic, more leads and more business!
A mothers love
Beautiful poem by Jill Lemming – perfect for mothering Sunday.
A Mother’s Love
There is no love, like a mother’s love,
no stronger bond on earth…
like the precious bond that comes from God,
to a mother, when she gives birth.
A mother’s love is forever strong,
never changing for all time…
and when her children need her most,
a mother’s love will shine.
God bless these special mothers,
God bless them every one…
for all the tears and heartache,
and for the special work they’ve done.
When her days on earth are over,
a mother’s love lives on…
through many generations,
with God’s blessings on each one.
Be thankful for our mothers,
for they love with a higher love…
from the power God has given,
and the strength from up above.
by Jill Lemming
The Classic of Purity by Ko Hsuan
The venerable Master said:
The Supreme Tao is formless,
yet it produces Heaven and Earth.
The Supreme Tao has no desires,
yet by Its power the Sun and the Moon revolve in their orbits.
The supreme Tao is nameless,
yet It ever supports all things.
I do not know its name
but for title call it Tao
The venerable Master said:
Tao manifests both as the pure and the turbid,
both as movement and stillness.
Heaven is pure, earth is turbid.
Heaven moves, earth is still.
The masculine is pure, the feminine is turbid.
The masculine is active, the feminine is passive.
Manifesting from its radical essence,
Tao flows forth even to the last of things,
bringing forth heaven and earth
and all that is inbetween.
The pure is the cause of the turbid,
and movement of stillness.
The venerable Master said:
When man attains the power to transcend that which changes
abiding in purity and stillness,
heaven and earth are united in him.
The soul of man loves purity,
but his mind is often rebellious.
The mind of man loves stillness
but his desires draw him into activity.
When a man is constantly able to govern his desires,
his mind becomes spontaneously still.
When the mind is unclouded, the soul is seen to be pure.
Then with certainty the six desires will cease to be begotten,
and the three poisons will be eliminated and dissolved.
The reason men do not possess the ability to achieve this
is because their minds are not clear
and their desires are unrestrained.
He who has the power to transcend his desires,
looking within and contemplating mind,
realizes that in his mind,
mind is not;
looking without and contemplating form,
he realizes that in form,
form is not;
looking at things still more remote and contemplating matter,
he realizes that in matter,
matter is not.
The venerable Master said:
When he has clearly thought about these three
he perceives only a void,
but when he contemplates the void,
he realizes that the void is also void
and has become nothingness.
The void having vanished into nothingness,
he realizes that the nothingness of nothing
is also nothing,
and when the nethermost nothingness is reached,
there is most truly to be found
a deep and unchanging stilness.
In this profound stillness how can desires be begotten?
When desires are no longer begotten,
then there is essential
and unchanging stillness.
Truth is essentially unchanging.
All things in heaven and earth are in essence unchanging.
The venerable Master said:
The unfoldment of man’s consciousness,
leads him to this unchanging truth.
In unchanging stillness,
unchanging purity and rest are found.
He who attains purity and stillness
enters into the immutable Tao.
Having entered into the immutable Tao
he is named possessor of Tao.
Although he is named the possessor of Tao,
he knows that he does not posses it.
Only when he can transmute all living beings
can he be truly named the possessor of Tao.
He who is able to understand this
can lead others to sacred Tao.
by Ko Hsuan: The Classic of Purity
In the silence of the Heart…..
We cannot find God in noise and agitation.
Nature: trees, flowers, and grass grow in silence. The stars, the moon, and the sun move in silence.
What is essential is not what we say but what God tells us and what He tells others through us.
In silence He listens to us; in silence He speaks to our souls. In silence we are granted the privilege of listening to His voice.
Silence of our eyes.
Silence of our ears.
Silence of our mouths.
Silence of our minds.
…in the silence of the heart
God will speak.
—Mother Teresa
Solved: The detection failed, this can be due to a corrupted installation database
We’ve been looking at upgrading our MOSS 2007 to 2010 over the last few months. Of course, we need to ensure all the SP’s and patches are in place on our production Sharepoint servers. but the below error kept us baffled for quite some time.
“The detection failed, this can be due to a corrupted installation database”
This is due to a deleted/incomplete Windows install (usually c:\windows\install\) folder and We’ve spent a loooooong pondering over the options of getting around this. There is an excellent post here at :
where there are details of a quick fix on this. The scripts he provides worked fantastically and saved us a considerable amount of time.
Snowdon Hike for Charity
On April 10th 2011 I will be Climbing Mt Snowdon to raise money for the Charity KhalsaAid.
If you’d like to sponsor me please visit http://www.justgiving.com/Jass-singh
Just Giving Sponsorship button
Meet Jass 