BUS 572 Week 1 Blog: Creating a Blog and Conducting a Strategic Analysis

 During the past week, the most important concepts I have learned in BUS 572 is how to write a blog using the Google Blogger and how to perform a stategic analysis using Porter's Five Forces (covered in chapter 19 of the texbook). I have never written a blog, so writing this first blog was a good learning opportunity for me.  Blogging is defined as a personal website on which a person records opinions on certain topics or links to other sites on a regular basis (source: Google definitions). Blogging is an important tool in today's world and has taken communication to a new level. Blogging is relateively easy and allows anyone to communicate their thoughts to a wide audience. For example, my cousin maintains a blog called Cat in a Wedding Dress, a blog for newly engaged women planning a wedding in the Pittsburgh, PA area. This blog has enabled my cousin to showcase current trends for weddings and also spotlight local vendors, such as reception venues, florists, and hair salons (See Swank Hair Studio photo below). Highlighting these vendors has helped generate business for these establishments. Cat in a Wedding Dress is just one example of many blogs that help promote businesses online and create additional revenue. Therefore, blogs are an essential tool for online marketing and promotion.

Photo courtesy of Cat in a Wedding Dress

 

The second most important concept I learned this week is how to perform a strategic analysis using Porter's Five Forces. This topic is covered in chapter 19 of the textbook. Performing a strategic analysis includes analyzing customer bargaining power, barriers to market entry and threats of new entrants, supplier bargaining power, substitute products and services, and analyzing competitors and rivalry. Using Porter's Five Forces analysis will help my team and I when working with our client, The Thrifty Wargamer. My teammates and I can use Porter's Five Forces to help employees at The Thrifty Wargamer understand the attractiveness of their market. Even though the textbook states that Porter's Five Forces was developed before the Internet was created and therefore Porter's Five Forces could not be as valid today, I feel that each aspect of Porter's Five Forces can still be analyzed because basic marketing principles in Porter's Five Forces (such as competition analysis and threats of new entrants) are still valid regardless of the technology involved. What do readers think--do you think Porter's Five Forces is still valid in today's world?

The most important skill that I developed this week is how to set up a Google+ account. Setting up a Google+ account was critical for launching the blogger and other features used in this class. Setting up a Google+ account was easy, but it is a bit difficult for me to get used to its features. I did not know that users could upload pictures and add friends to their communication circles. Many features of Google+ remind me of aspects of other social media outlets, such as Facebook. Google+ has already been useful to me and my teammates because our client, The Thrifty Wargamer, has a Google+ account. We  have been able to learn more about The Thrifty Wargamer through their Google+ account.

Overall, the first couple of weeks of BUS 572 has been a good learning experience. I have learned more about blogging and social media. I have also become familiar with my client's business and am very much looking forward to working with him. In the coming weeks, I hope to become more familiar with Google blogger and ways to enhance my blogs further. I also want to become more familiar with Google+ and its features. I have enjoyed my first couple weeks in BUS 572 and am excited about learning more within the next couple of months.