My Idea:
Hi there! My idea for the entrepreneurship project is to create an online thrift/vintage store. The store would be updated on a weekly basis and would hopefully be an effective means to shop inexpensively. I hope to target college women with my thrift store. This blog will follow my planning of the store as I learn more about technology & entrepreneurship through lecture.
On Photoshop:
Personally, when I online shop, I like see the clothing I am interested in being modeled. It is difficult to know what a particular item looks like when online retail stores only post pictures of the clothing. How does it fit? How long/short/wide is the piece of clothing? I feel like viewing the clothing on someone else can help consumers decide on their purchases.
I would like for all my clothing displayed in my thrift store to be modeled. Pictures obviously need to be cut, cropped, edited, brightened, etc., so this is where I would like Photoshop to come into play. I am not so much looking to airbrush my models or clothing, but I do want everything on the web site to look clean, neat, and wearable. Consumers are attracted to beautiful things, so it is imperative that I make sure all the photos displayed on my web site are of high quality.
Next, I would use Photoshop to design my web site's layout. I know that a lot of web design work is done in Photoshop, so I definitely want to take advantage of this tool. I think Photoshop would be the best platform to design my layout because of all the features it includes. I think I would also use photoshop for marketing strategies. In an earlier blog post, I mentioned that my target demographic is college women. In order to stay true to that, I would probably begin my marketing here at SU! I mean, why not? I could hand out flyers (designed in Photoshop) with striking imagery that would help ignite interest.
I think Photoshop would be essential to my web site. If a web site has low quality pictures or generally looks unappealing, no one is going to even bother browsing your web site. Photoshop opens up a lot of doors to create high quality imagery and it is definitely a resource I know I could take advantage of.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Blog Review Post
Macgasm is a web site dedicated to everything Mac. Macgasm neatly organizes its web site into multiple sections: Feature, Gaming News, iPad, iPhone, Legal Battles, Mac, Misc. News, Podcast, Rumors and Deals. I really like the use of sub categories because it makes the blog posts easier to navigate. While some of the sub-sections are pretty straight forward, I wanted to take some writing time to mention the ones that caught my eye. I really love the 'Features' section. From what I gathered, it seems that this section is dedicated to featuring other techies who are making strides within the industry. The sub-section titled 'Legal Battles' outlines some of the controversies Apple faces.
The main topic of Macgasm's blog posts is (obviously) the Mac. While I love technology, I'm not super geeked out about it. I am not one to keep up with the day to day maneuvers of Apple, however I will say that Macgasm did keep me quite interested. Their writing style is short, clean, and informative. They don't only go into the technicalities of what it takes to create a Mac, but also include fun posts. For example, they frequently post about new video game apps. One thing that is pretty neat about Macgasm is that it is powered by google/google docs. We've learned a lot about Google in class, so I thought that was quite interesting.
I like the layout of the web site. Not too boring, not too loud. It's sleek and classy - the way a technology blog should be. The only critique I had was that it was unclear who the writer was. It wasn't until I viewed the 'jobs' page when I realized Macgasm has multiple contributors. I personally always appreciate a good 'About' page that either introduces what the web site is or who writes what.
I appreciate the atmosphere of Macgasm. It didn't strike me as a pretentious or exclusive. It is easy-to-read, clean writing that anyone whether a newbie in the techie world (like me!) or experienced tech head can get into. Macgasm definitely gets a spot in my bookmarks.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Lecture Post: Competitive Analysis
My Idea:
Hi there! My idea for the entrepreneurship project is to create an online thrift/vintage store. The store would be updated on a weekly basis and would hopefully be an effective means to shop inexpensively. I hope to target college women with my thrift store. This blog will follow my planning of the store as I learn more about technology & entrepreneurship through lecture.
On Competitive Analysis:
I've always known that there are a lot of quality online thrift stores. What I didn't know were how many there actually were! Never fear though. This weekend, I took some time to scope out the competition. It's always good to see what works, what doesn't and most importantly, what I can do differently. So! Without further ado...
Competitor 1 URL: The Kissing Tree Vintage
Competitor 1 Overview: There's the Kissing Tree Vintage. It's a thrift store that specializes in 70s & 80s fashion. What is interesting about this store is that it is actually ran on ebay! I think this definitely has its pros and cons. Let's start with the pros. For one, I'm sure running an online store on ebay makes things much easier than creating your own web site where you would have to keep up and maintain things like the layout, coding, setting up a place to check out... etc. If you work with ebay, they take care of these things for you. For two, The Kissing Tree Vintage has a 'bidding' system where the highest bidder wins the item. I think this system has its pros and cons. Personally, I prefer for there to just be a "set" price and that's that. No trying to "beat out" someone else... no drama.. no fuss. Luckily, most of KTV's clothing does have the "Buy It Now" option which solves this problem. I think what KTV made me realize is the importance of having a focus point. I remember I had someone comment and ask what era I would focus on for my clothing. At first, I wasn't sure, but lately, I've been thinking about 80s clothing. 80s fashion is actually really making a come back right now, so why not join in on that market? I think what would make me different from KTV is the platform on which I operate on. I'm not so sure ebay is the outlet I'd want to go with. I know on ebay there is a no-seller negative feedback rule and other restrictive rules. I think I would maybe consider starting on my own domain. Marketing on my own platform may have its difficulties, but with time, I think this could work.
Competition URL: Modcloth
Competition 2 Overview: Then there's ModCloth. Now what's interesting about ModCloth is that they began as a thrift store, but have evolved, and now they also sell vintage-inspired clothing. They are a million-dollar company now, which I find incredibly inspiring. Every time I try explaining my vision for a thrift store to people, I seem to get the side eye. Seeing stores like ModCloth do well really inspire me to push forward. But anyway! Let's talk about what ModCloth does well. First off, I think they have really great marketing. They have a very strong review system. What's even more wonderful is that they stay involved in the discussion with their customers. For example, they respond to reviews whether it is positive or negative. In addition, they have a twitter account dedicated solely to customer service. It shows they care. In a store that isn't physical, but online, it is imperative to show that you are still involved and aware of what your customers concerns/needs are.
Now what would I do differently? I think with my online store, the focus will always be on thrifting. ModCloth has a "section" dedicated to thrifted clothing, but it's not necessarily the focal point. In addition, I think I would have to work a bit harder to keep my thrift store stocked. Thrifted items usually go fairly quickly especially when you've gained loyal customers. Lastly, as mentioned above, I want my focus to be on 80s fashion. There are so many online stores out there that I really just feel like I need to find my own niche.
Hi there! My idea for the entrepreneurship project is to create an online thrift/vintage store. The store would be updated on a weekly basis and would hopefully be an effective means to shop inexpensively. I hope to target college women with my thrift store. This blog will follow my planning of the store as I learn more about technology & entrepreneurship through lecture.
On Competitive Analysis:
I've always known that there are a lot of quality online thrift stores. What I didn't know were how many there actually were! Never fear though. This weekend, I took some time to scope out the competition. It's always good to see what works, what doesn't and most importantly, what I can do differently. So! Without further ado...
Competitor 1 URL: The Kissing Tree Vintage
Competitor 1 Overview: There's the Kissing Tree Vintage. It's a thrift store that specializes in 70s & 80s fashion. What is interesting about this store is that it is actually ran on ebay! I think this definitely has its pros and cons. Let's start with the pros. For one, I'm sure running an online store on ebay makes things much easier than creating your own web site where you would have to keep up and maintain things like the layout, coding, setting up a place to check out... etc. If you work with ebay, they take care of these things for you. For two, The Kissing Tree Vintage has a 'bidding' system where the highest bidder wins the item. I think this system has its pros and cons. Personally, I prefer for there to just be a "set" price and that's that. No trying to "beat out" someone else... no drama.. no fuss. Luckily, most of KTV's clothing does have the "Buy It Now" option which solves this problem. I think what KTV made me realize is the importance of having a focus point. I remember I had someone comment and ask what era I would focus on for my clothing. At first, I wasn't sure, but lately, I've been thinking about 80s clothing. 80s fashion is actually really making a come back right now, so why not join in on that market? I think what would make me different from KTV is the platform on which I operate on. I'm not so sure ebay is the outlet I'd want to go with. I know on ebay there is a no-seller negative feedback rule and other restrictive rules. I think I would maybe consider starting on my own domain. Marketing on my own platform may have its difficulties, but with time, I think this could work.
Competition URL: Modcloth
Competition 2 Overview: Then there's ModCloth. Now what's interesting about ModCloth is that they began as a thrift store, but have evolved, and now they also sell vintage-inspired clothing. They are a million-dollar company now, which I find incredibly inspiring. Every time I try explaining my vision for a thrift store to people, I seem to get the side eye. Seeing stores like ModCloth do well really inspire me to push forward. But anyway! Let's talk about what ModCloth does well. First off, I think they have really great marketing. They have a very strong review system. What's even more wonderful is that they stay involved in the discussion with their customers. For example, they respond to reviews whether it is positive or negative. In addition, they have a twitter account dedicated solely to customer service. It shows they care. In a store that isn't physical, but online, it is imperative to show that you are still involved and aware of what your customers concerns/needs are.
Now what would I do differently? I think with my online store, the focus will always be on thrifting. ModCloth has a "section" dedicated to thrifted clothing, but it's not necessarily the focal point. In addition, I think I would have to work a bit harder to keep my thrift store stocked. Thrifted items usually go fairly quickly especially when you've gained loyal customers. Lastly, as mentioned above, I want my focus to be on 80s fashion. There are so many online stores out there that I really just feel like I need to find my own niche.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Lecture Post: Computer Forensics, Hardware
My Idea:
Hi there! My idea for the entrepreneurship project is to create an online thrift/vintage store. The store would be updated on a weekly basis and would hopefully be an effective means to shop inexpensively. I hope to target college women with my thrift store. This blog will follow my planning of the store as I learn more about technology & entrepreneurship through lecture.
On Computer Forensics, Hardware:
Recently in lecture, I learned about the dangers that come with putting private information on personal computers. Since I plan to create an online thrift store, it is very important I maintain the integrity of my store. Customers would be using their credit card numbers, addresses, and other personal information in order to make purchases. When a consumer purchases online, they trust that the person they are purchasing from will maintain confidentiality and in addition, provide the necessary security measures. This is the sort of 'trust' I hope to build and strive for with my online thrift store.
One of my methods of safety would be making sure I properly discard old hard drives. If a computer breaks down (for whatever reason) and the hard drive is obsolete, then I would see it as my company's responsibility to properly discard of this hard drive. The reason being because private information can still be recovered from hard drives. In order to prevent this, I would probably get a hard drive shredder or hire a company to do the shredding for me.
A lot goes into maintaining an online web site. For one, I need computers for each of my employees. I plan to have a computers dedicated solely to my business. There are several applications (e.g. Photoshop, Excel, etc) I plan on utilizing in order to ensure a successful e-commerce web site. Everyone knows it's never convenient to work on a slow computer especially when you need to get things done fast! So I know I will need a computer with sufficient memory/RAM and a working processor that will be able to carry out the functions I need.
Hi there! My idea for the entrepreneurship project is to create an online thrift/vintage store. The store would be updated on a weekly basis and would hopefully be an effective means to shop inexpensively. I hope to target college women with my thrift store. This blog will follow my planning of the store as I learn more about technology & entrepreneurship through lecture.
On Computer Forensics, Hardware:
Recently in lecture, I learned about the dangers that come with putting private information on personal computers. Since I plan to create an online thrift store, it is very important I maintain the integrity of my store. Customers would be using their credit card numbers, addresses, and other personal information in order to make purchases. When a consumer purchases online, they trust that the person they are purchasing from will maintain confidentiality and in addition, provide the necessary security measures. This is the sort of 'trust' I hope to build and strive for with my online thrift store.
One of my methods of safety would be making sure I properly discard old hard drives. If a computer breaks down (for whatever reason) and the hard drive is obsolete, then I would see it as my company's responsibility to properly discard of this hard drive. The reason being because private information can still be recovered from hard drives. In order to prevent this, I would probably get a hard drive shredder or hire a company to do the shredding for me.
A lot goes into maintaining an online web site. For one, I need computers for each of my employees. I plan to have a computers dedicated solely to my business. There are several applications (e.g. Photoshop, Excel, etc) I plan on utilizing in order to ensure a successful e-commerce web site. Everyone knows it's never convenient to work on a slow computer especially when you need to get things done fast! So I know I will need a computer with sufficient memory/RAM and a working processor that will be able to carry out the functions I need.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Lecture Post: Social Media
My Idea:
Hi there! My idea for the entrepreneurship project is to create an online thrift/vintage store. The store would be updated on a weekly basis and would hopefully be an effective means to shop inexpensively. I hope to target college women with my thrift store. This blog will follow my planning of the store as I learn more about technology & entrepreneurship through lecture.
On Social Media:
Recently in IST 195, our class learned about social media and its uses. I will admit, I have never been big on social media. The thought of putting my personal information "out there" makes me a bit uncomfortable. I do not tweet and I honestly can say I have never posted a single status on Facebook! While I personally am not into social media, I do recognize that it is here to stay. It is such a big part of today's society and really is a great way to market a business. I think social media will play a huge role in my marketing strategies for my thrift store.
For one, I would definitely create a Facebook "like" page for my store. This would be a page where fans of my thrift store could post on my wall, read status updates about the store, interact with other fans, and so forth. I definitely would take care to cultivate my Facebook community. After all, billions of people are on Facebook, so I know this is one social network I definitely do not want to ignore.
Twitter's up next! I feel like Facebook is the place to go to kind of 'look' at what your friends are doing (or in this case, browse my "like" page), however Twitter gives you a voice. I would use Twitter to not only update customers about the web site (e.g. when new items are available), but also to interact with my customers. I want to know what they are saying! I think Twitter is also a great tool for customer service. If a customer is dissatisfied, I can instantly connect with them through DM (direct messaging) and hopefully resolve the issue.
Last but not least, I can see Tumblr being useful in my business. In the fashion world, fashion blogs are becoming more accredited and popular. A lot of fashion-forward girls create personal style blogs on Tumblr. They post pictures of their outfits to show how they styled a look (along with where they purchased their clothing so their readers can get it to) and inspire other girls to do the same. Obviously, each item would never be the same in my online thrift store but I still would like to maintain a blog where girls could submit pictures of how they styled their thrifted items. The best part about Tumblr is the "Reblogging" that goes on. Just like Twitter and retweetings, the more you get reblogged on Tumblr, the more exposure you gain.
Those are all my ideas so far for social media. There is definitely a lot of promise in that industry and I really do see it benefiting my business. Thank you to everyone who commented on my last blog. Catch you next week!
Hi there! My idea for the entrepreneurship project is to create an online thrift/vintage store. The store would be updated on a weekly basis and would hopefully be an effective means to shop inexpensively. I hope to target college women with my thrift store. This blog will follow my planning of the store as I learn more about technology & entrepreneurship through lecture.
On Social Media:
Recently in IST 195, our class learned about social media and its uses. I will admit, I have never been big on social media. The thought of putting my personal information "out there" makes me a bit uncomfortable. I do not tweet and I honestly can say I have never posted a single status on Facebook! While I personally am not into social media, I do recognize that it is here to stay. It is such a big part of today's society and really is a great way to market a business. I think social media will play a huge role in my marketing strategies for my thrift store.
For one, I would definitely create a Facebook "like" page for my store. This would be a page where fans of my thrift store could post on my wall, read status updates about the store, interact with other fans, and so forth. I definitely would take care to cultivate my Facebook community. After all, billions of people are on Facebook, so I know this is one social network I definitely do not want to ignore.
Twitter's up next! I feel like Facebook is the place to go to kind of 'look' at what your friends are doing (or in this case, browse my "like" page), however Twitter gives you a voice. I would use Twitter to not only update customers about the web site (e.g. when new items are available), but also to interact with my customers. I want to know what they are saying! I think Twitter is also a great tool for customer service. If a customer is dissatisfied, I can instantly connect with them through DM (direct messaging) and hopefully resolve the issue.
Last but not least, I can see Tumblr being useful in my business. In the fashion world, fashion blogs are becoming more accredited and popular. A lot of fashion-forward girls create personal style blogs on Tumblr. They post pictures of their outfits to show how they styled a look (along with where they purchased their clothing so their readers can get it to) and inspire other girls to do the same. Obviously, each item would never be the same in my online thrift store but I still would like to maintain a blog where girls could submit pictures of how they styled their thrifted items. The best part about Tumblr is the "Reblogging" that goes on. Just like Twitter and retweetings, the more you get reblogged on Tumblr, the more exposure you gain.
Those are all my ideas so far for social media. There is definitely a lot of promise in that industry and I really do see it benefiting my business. Thank you to everyone who commented on my last blog. Catch you next week!
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