12 Mar 11 Are Canadians Shunning Digital World?
If a recent research report released by comScore is to be believed, this appears to be the case. Or does it indicate something else? A mere shift in the preference, not a complete change of plan?
The research found that, the year on year (YoY) growth of e-mail consumption(unique visitors) in Canada is negative between December 2009 and December 2010. In December 2009, 12 million Canadians used one or another form of e-mail sites, whereas, only 10 million did so in the same month in 2010, which is a 28% decline (see image below to see the e-mail site usage trajectory).
The research has suggested that not only unique e-mail viewership has gone down, but the e-mail engagement has significantly fallen down. The total visits to email websites from Canada has fallen in the fourth quarter of 2010(500 million) from its position in the same quarter in 2009 (650 million). The total visit fell by 18%
The time spent on e-mail sites has also seen a decline. From 5.9 million in the studied period in 2009, it has fallen to 5.2 million in the same period in 2010, which is 11% decline in e-mail minutes. (See the image below for details).
It is hard to draw any conclusion from the above data, unless overall activity of Canadian net users is studied. It might be possible that people have reduced the use of e-mail sites and substituted it with social sites (read Facebook). I must add here that Facebook has also unveiled its own email program ([email protected]). Could it be responsible for the shift?
Not very unlikely! What is your view on this?
Tags: 10 Million, Canada, Canadians, Conclusion, Consumption, Decline, E Mail, Fourth Quarter, Preference, Trajectory, Unique Visitors, Viewership
23 Jan 10 How to Come Up With a Killer Business Idea
There was a time when capital used to be the king, and one who had the maximum money would have won the business battle hands down. But, the scene has changed. Now everyone has money, well not everyone, but many people have enough capital to start a business and make it survive for months or even years.
Then why they are not plunging in?
Because we are not living in the era where capital matters. What matters today to make a business successful is idea. A business requires a killer idea to become successful. In the paragraphs below, I will tell you how to find a killer business idea.
Find killer business idea in 3 easy steps
- Step 1: Based on the ability you have, look for the industry that you can work. Alternatively, you can also look for a sector in which you will be more comfortable working. Find an industry in which you would love to work.
- Step 2: Divide the industry in various sector and list major players in each sector. Also analyze, perceive, and observe the need gap. Ask consumers and retailers about what benefit they are seeking from their existing consumption which are not yet fulfilled. I am asking you to find a need gap.
- Step 3: Find the alternative routes to fill the need gap. See how you can fulfill industry’s demand efficiently. You need to find a way to keep the price of the solution you are offering within industry’s expected price range.
Once you are through with this, make a business plan and execute it. The business plan should cover every aspect of a business. You need to ascertain the challenges as well as opportunity. Do a SWOT as well as PESTLE analysis. Do not forget to make a list of things you need to run the business.
Tags: Benefit, Business Idea, Business Plan, Challenges, Consumers, Consumption, Find Business, Gap, Killer Idea, Love, Maximum Money, Opportunity, Paragraphs, Pestle Analysis, Start A Business, Start Business, Step 1, Step 2, Swot
10 Jul 09 Is Copywriting Important for the Web?
Yes, it is! Who said it’s not? If this is what you think then please go to all those article spinners who think just making 8 or 10 or god knows how much articles using some keywords, some verbs, and some conjunctions are enough to produce a great website.
There are people who think, a good design, a good layout and of course SEO is all it takes to make a good website. Content always comes secondary to the subscribers of this school of thought. They see no value in copywriting until they come to the verge of extinction, and many even do not realize the importance then.
They feel it was something else, not the lack of good content that forced their websites untimely demise. The group that put no value on a well-researched informative content feels, it might be the quality of the central idea on which the website was build that failed them. You bet, it does lead to a sudden death, and so does a badly written website.
We need to understand that users that visit our websites are humans (not just search engine bots) who come to our websites (by whatever means) because he or she is seeking some information of the topic we claim to cover in our websites. For them the clever design, and jaw-dropping technology is just a good to have things, not the things they are looking for. What they are looking for is information, and information can only be delivered via content, not via technology. And here written words along with videos, audios and animations, become important.
Indeed, there is no denial that, people have moved away from reading (active mode of information consumption), and went closer to watching and listening (passive mode of information consumption), nevertheless, they are consuming content only, not the technology. Each one of us, who is not meditating in Himalayas for last hundred years, is aware of the way in which the information consumption has changed.
Much of the contents are now converted into either a video or an audio file, but still there are things that cannot be put into video or audio, and which need assistance of written words to convey the idea properly. Despite the growing popularity of video sharing sites and podcasting, we spent most of the time reading on the Internet.
We might be time starved, and hence, use multimedia contents to help us become multi-tasking, but watching and listening (despite it’s being passive medium of information consumption) are still secondary to reading on the Internet, which is an active mode of information consumption. And did I say, it’s the written words that command more respect and trust then the spoken ones. Always remember, written words sell more products then its spoken counterpart. Hence, quality copywriting is still important.
Tags: Animations, Audios, Central Idea, Clever Design, Conjunctions, Consumption, Denial, Extinction, Himalayas, Hundred Years, Informative Content, Passive Mode, School Of Thought, Search Engine Bots, Spinners, Sudden Death, Untimely Demise, Verbs, Verge, Video Sharing Sites, Website Content
