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Senin, 28 Desember 2009

Bill Gates : Raja Software

William Henry Gates III (lahir di Seattle, Washington, 28 Oktober 1955; umur 54 tahun), lebih dikenal sebagai Bill Gates, adalah pendiri (bersama Paul Allen) dan ketua umum perusahaan perangkat lunak AS, Microsoft. Ia juga merupakan seorang filantropis melalui kegiatannya di Yayasan Bill & Melinda Gates. Ia menempati posisi pertama dalam orang terkaya di dunia versi majalah Forbes selama 13 tahun (1995 hingga 2007), namun sejak 5 Maret 2008 berada di posisi ketiga setelah pebisnis AS Warren Buffett dan pebisnis Meksiko Carlos Slim Helú.
Bill Gates dilahirkan di Seattle, Washington dari William Henry Gates, Sr., seorang pengacara, dan Mary Maxwell, pegawai First Interstate Bank, Pacific Northwest Bell, dan anggota Tingkat Nasional United Way. Gates belajar di Lakeside School, sekolah elit yang paling unggul di Seattle, dan meneruskan berkuliah di Universitas Harvard, tetapi di-drop out.

William Henry Gates III lahir pada tahun 1955, anak kedua dari tiga bersaudara dalam keadaan sosialnya terkemuka di Seattle, Washington. Ayahnya seorang pengacara dengan perusahaan yang punya banyak koneksi di kota, dan ibunya seorang guru, yang aktif dalam kegiatan amal. Bill seorang anak yang cerdas, tetapi dia terlalu penuh semangat dan cenderung sering mendapatkan kesulitan di sekolah. Ketika dia berumur tiga belas tahun, orang tuanya memutuskan untuk membuat perubahan dan mengirimnya ke Lakeside School, sebuah sekolah dasar yang bergengsi khusus bagi anak laki-laki.

Di Lakeside itulah pada tahun 1968 Gates untuk pertama kalinya diperkenalkan dengan dunia komputer, dalam bentuk mesin teletype yang dihubungkan dengan telepon ke sebuah komputer pembagian waktu. Mesin ini, yang disebut ASR-33, keadaannya masih pasaran. Pada intinya ini sebuah mesin ketik yang selanjutnya siswa bisa memasukkan perintah yang dikirimkan kepada komputer; jawaban kembali diketikkan ke gulungan kertas pada teletype. Proses ini merepotkan, tetapi mengubah kehidupan Gates. Dia dengan cepat menguasai BASIC, bahasa pemrograman komputer, dan bersama dengan para hacker yang belajar sendiri di Lakeside, dia melewatkan waktu berjam-jam menulis program, melakukan permainan, dan secara umum mempelajari banyak hal tentang komputer. "Dia adalah seorang 'nerd' (eksentrik)," sebagaimana salah seorang guru memberikan Gates julukan itu.

Sekitar tahun 1975 ketika Gates bersama Paul Allen sewaktu masih sekolah bersama-sama menyiapkan program software pertama untuk mikro komputer. Seperti cerita di Popular Electronics mengenai "era komputer di rumah-rumah" dan mereka berdua yakin software adalah masa depan. Inilah awal Microsoft.

Semasa ia belajar di Harvard, ia dan Paul Allen menulis perangkat lunak Altair BASIC untuk Altair 8800 dalam dasawarsa 1970. Altair merupakan komputer pribadi pertama yang sukses. Diberi inspirasi oleh BASIC, sebuah bahasa komputer yang mudah dipelajari dan ditulis di kolese Dartmouth untuk mengajar, versi Gates dan Allen kemudian menjadi Microsoft BASIC, bahasa komputer terjemahan yang utama untuk sistem operasi komputer MS-DOS, yang menjadi kunci pada kesuksesan Microsoft. Microsoft Basic pada nantinya dijadikan Microsoft QuickBasic. Versi Microsoft QuickBasic yang dijual tanpa kompiler QuickBasic dikenal sebagai QBasic. QuickBasic juga dijadikan Visual Basic, yang masih popular hingga masa sekarang.

Dalam awal dasawarsa 1970, Gates menulis Surat Terbuka kepada Penghobi (Open Letter to Hobbyists), yang mengejutkan komunitas yang mempunyai hobi pada komputer dengan menyatakan bahwa ada pasaran komersial untuk perangkat lunak/software dan bahwa software tidak layak dikopi dan digandakan tanpa izin penerbitnya. Pada masa itu, komunitas tersebut dipengaruhi kuat oleh dasar radio hamnya dan etika hacker, yang berpendapat bahwa innovasi dan pengetahuan patut dibagi oleh komunitas pengguna komputer. Gates kemudian mendirikan Microsoft Corporation, salah satu perusahaan paling sukses di dunia, dan memimpin arah kepada pembukaan industri software komputer.

Gates juga mendapat reputasi yang tidak baik untuk caranya berdagang. Satu contoh ialah MS-DOS. Pada akhir dasawarsa 1970, IBM berencana untuk memasuki pasaran komputer personal dengan komputer personal IBM, yang diterbitkan pada 1981. IBM memerlukan sistem operasi untuk komputernya, yang direncanakan dapat mencakup dan mengelola arkitektur 16-bit oleh keluarga chip x86 Intel. Setelah berunding dengan sebuah perusahaan lain (Perusahaan Digital Research di California), IBM bertanya kepada Microsoft. Tanpa memberitahu tentang ikatan mereka dengan IBM, eksekutif-eksekutif Microsoft membeli sebuah system operasi x86 dari perusahaan Seattle Computer seharga $50,000. (Ada kemungkinan Microsoft dilarang IBM untuk memberitahukan tentang ikatannya kepada orang awam) Microsoft kemudian melisensikan sistem operasi ini ke IBM (yang menerbitkannya dengan nama PC-DOS) dan bekerja dengan perusahaan komputer untuk menerbitkannya dengan nama MS-DOS, pada setiap system komputer yang dijual.

Rencana Microsoft amat sukses tetapi digugat oleh Seattle Computer karena Microsoft tidak memberitahukan mengenai ikatannya dengan IBM untuk membeli system operasi itu dengan murah; oleh sebab ini, Microsoft membayar uang kepada Seattle Computer, tetapi tidak mengakui kesalahannya. Reputasi Gates kemudian lebih diburukkan oleh tuntutan dakwaan monopoli oleh Departemen Keadilan A.S. dan perusahaan-perusahaan individu yang menentang Microsoft dalam akhir dasawarsa 1990.

Dalam dasawarsa 1980 Gates gembira atas kemungkinan penggunaan CD-ROM sebagai media penyimpanan dokumen, dan mensponsori penerbitan buku CD-ROM: The New Papyrus yang mempromosikan ini.

Tidak dapat disangkal bahwa Bill Gates telah melakukan beberapa kesalahan dalam bisnis softwarenya. Hal ini terbukti dengan beberapa dakwaan yang diarahkan kepadanya berkaitan dengan cara - cara bisnis yang melanggar undang-undang bisnis Amerika Serikat, misalnya monopoli Internet Explorer pada sistem operasi Windows.

Pada tahun 2000, Bill Gates mengundurkan diri dari jabatannya sebagai CEO dan memandatkannya kepada kawan lamanya, Steve Ballmer. Gates kemudian memilih untuk kembali ke profesi lamanya yang ia cintai yaitu sebagai pencipta perangkat lunak. Kini Bill Gates menjadi Kepala Penelitian dan Pengembangan Perangkat Lunak di perusahaannya sendiri, Microsoft Corp.

Dalam kehidupan pribadinya, Gates menikah dengan Melinda French pada 1 Januari 1994. Mereka mempunyai tiga orang anak, Jennifer Katharine Gates (1996), Rory John Gates (1999) and Phoebe Adele Gates (2002).

Dengan istrinya, Gates telah mendirikan Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, sebuah yayasan sosial filantropi. Para kritikus mengatakan ini merupakan pembuktian terhadap kemarahan orang banyak tentang atas praktik monopoli dan adikuasa perusahaannya, tetapi mereka yang dekat dengan Gates berkata bahwa ia telah lama berencana untuk menyumbangkan sebagian besar hartanya. Pada tahun 1997 koran Washington Post menyatakan bahwa "Gates telah menyatakan bahwa dia memutuskan untuk menyumbangkan 90 persen daripada hartanya semasa dia masih hidup." Untuk meletakkan ini dalam perspektif yang benar, sumbangan ini, walau apa sebabnya, telah menyediakan uang yang amat diperlukan untuk beasiswa universitas kaum minoritas, menentang AIDS dan sebab-sebab lain, kebanyakannya isu-isu yang biasa tidak dipedulikan oleh komunitas penderma, seperti penyakit-penyakit yang biasa kita lihat di dunia ketiga. Dalam bulan Juni 1999, Gates dan istrinya mendermakan $5 milyar kepada organisasi mereka, pendermaan yang paling besar dalam dunia oleh individu-individu yang hidup.

Pada tahun 1994, ia membeli Codex Leicester, sebuah koleksi naskah manuskrip Leonardo da Vinci; pada tahun 2003 koleksi ini dipamerkan di Museum Seni Seattle.

Pada tahun 2005, Gates menerima penghargaan kesatriaan (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Kehormatan) dari Ratu Elizabeth II.

Pada 27 Juni 2008, Gates mengundurkan diri dari sebagian besar jabatannya di Microsoft (namun tetap bertahan sebagai ketua dewan direktur) dan mengkonsentrasikan diri pada kerja kedermawanan melalui yayasan yang didirikannya, Yayasan Bill & Melinda Gates.

Senin, 21 Desember 2009

Jenius Era Internet (6) : Matt Mullenweg

Matt Mullenweg adalah pencipta situs penyedia blog gratisan: WordPress. Ia mulai baru berusia 19 tahun ketika mulai menciptakan cikal bakalnya.
WordPress menjadi tenar dalam waktu singkat. Alasannya, situs ini mudah dipakai dan selalu diperbarui. Hingga tahun 2008, tercatat ada 230 juta pengakses tetap dengan 6,5 miliar halaman WordPress yang bisa dilihat. Lalu, ada 35 juta posting baru dengan tambahan rata-rata empat juta posting setiap bulan.

Matt, yang pernah datang ke Jakarta pada Januari 2009 ini mengatakan, ia tidak akan menjual WordPress ke perusahaan besar dengan harga’ selangit’. Ia juga bilang, tidak mencari keuntungan dari WordPress. Keuntungan sudah ia dapatkan dari beberapa perusahaan, yang dimilikinya.

sumber : www.ilmukomputer.web.id

Jenius Era Internet (5) : Linus Torvalds

Linus Benedict Torvalds (lahir di Helsinki, Finlandia, 28 Desember 1969; umur 39 tahun) adalah rekayasawan perangkat lunak Finlandia yang dikenal sebagai perintis pengembangan Kernel Linux. Ia sekarang bertindak sebagai koordinator proyek tersebut.

Linux terinsipirasi oleh Minix (suatu sistem operasi yang dikembangkan oleh Andrew S. Tanenbaum) untuk mengembangkan suatu sistem operasi mirip-Unix (Unix-like) yang dapat dijalankan pada suatu PC. Linux sekarang dapat dijalankan pada berbagai arsitektur lain.

Ketika Linus Torvalds, seorang mahasiswa Finlandia pendiam membagi-bagikan kode sumber (source code) kernel Linux seukuran disket via internet di tahun 1991, ia sama sekali tidak menduga bahwa apa yang dimulainya melahirkan sebuah bisnis bernilai milyaran dolar di kemudian hari.

Ia bahkan tidak menduga Linux kemudian menjadi sistem operasi paling menjanjikan, yang bisa dibenamkan ke dalam server, komputer desktop, tablet PC, PDA, handphone, GPS, robot, mobil hingga pesawat ulang alik buatan NASA.

Tidak hanya itu, banyak maniak Linux (Linuxer) yang membeli perangkat buatan Apple dan mengganti sistem operasinya dengan Linux. Bagi saya itu sedikit gila, mengingat menghapus sistem operasi Mac & iPod berarti membuang duit dan menggantinya sistem operasinya cukup sulit dibanding desktop berbasis Windows. Saat ini 20% pangsa pasar desktop di seluruh dunia menggunakan Linux jauh di atas Machintosh dan terus mengejar desktop Windows. Dan 12,7% server di seluruh dunia menggunakan Linux, jauh di atas UNIX, BSD, Solaris, dan terus meningkat menggerus pangsa pasar server Microsoft.

Saat ini Linus meninggalkan posisi menjanjikan di perusahaan semi konduktor Transmeta dan tinggal bersama istri dan 3 anaknya di sebuah bukit di desa di Portland, Oregon, USA, berdekatan dengan markas Open Source Development Labs. Organisasi nirlaba ini diawaki oleh 20-an programmer yang punya gairah hampir sama dengan Linus. Mereka terus mengembangkan kernel Linux yang kini berukuran 290-an MegaBytes atau melebihi 9 milyar baris kode. Linux beserta timnya menerima masukan baris-baris kode dari seluruh penjuru dunia, menyortir, menetapkan skala prioritas dan memasukkan gagasan paling brilian ke dalam kernel. LSD sendiri disokong oleh puluhan raksasa IT seperti IBM, HP, Dell dan Sun, baik dari sisi materi maupun sumber daya manusia.

Linus bukan orang pertama yang membagi-bagikan source code karena pola ini adalah hal yang biasa di masa awal tumbuhnya industri komputer. Tapi Linus sukses menetapkan standar yang memaksa banyak pengembang ikut membebaskan kode sumber program mereka, mulai dari BSD, Solaris, Suse, Java hingga Adobe.

Meski hanya bergaji ratusan ribu dolar pertahun, Linus telah menciptakan banyak multimilyuner dalam industri komputer mulai dari RedHat, Suse, Debian, Mandriva, Ubuntu dan banyak developer software open source lainnya. Hampir tak ada yang berubah dari Linus. Ketika ia datang terlambat di suatu konferensi IT, ia bahkan tak segan-segan duduk di lantai dengan celana pendek dan sepatu-sandal kesukaannya. Ia bahkan tidak marah tatkala memberikan pidato di mimbar dan diinterupsi oleh beberapa programmer BSD yang maju ke depan panggung yang mengklaim bahwa kernel BSD jauh lebih hebat ketimbang kernel Linux. Ia bahkan tidak segan-segan memakai T-Shirt BSD yang disodorkan pemrotes dan melanjutkan pidatonya.

Menurut Linus, apa yang dilakukannya hanyalah untuk berbagi. Berbeda dengan Richard M Stallman yang fanatik dengan konsep free software, Linus hanya menekankan sisi keterbukaan (open), tak peduli apakah kemudian dalam suatu sistem operasi bercampur program free dan proprietery.

Setiap kata-kata Linus hampir menjadi sabda di kalangan Linuxer yang menciptakan standar nilai tertentu. Setiap publikasi, pidato, email dab press releasenya selalu ditunggu-tunggu jutaan orang. Di sela kesibukannya, Linus menyempatkan diri bersepeda menuruni bukit dan minum di bar desa. Bila ada nabi dalam dunia komputer, bisa dipastikan itu Linus (dan Steve Wozniak). Dan setannya tentu Bill Gates :)

Tim Berners Lee : Penemu WWW

Sir Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee, KBE (TimBL atau TBL) (lahir di London, Inggris, 8 Juni 1955) adalah penemu World Wide Web dan ketua World Wide Web Consortium, yang mengatur perkembangannya.

Pada 1980, ketika masih seorang kontraktor bebas di CERN, Berners-Lee mengajukan sebuah proyek yang berbasiskan konsep hiperteks (hypertext) untuk memfasilitasi pembagian dan pembaharuan informasi di antara para peneliti. Dengan bantuan dari Robert Cailliau dia menciptakan sistem prototipe bernama Enquire.

Setelah meninggalkan CERN untuk bekerja di John Poole's Image Computer Systems Ltd, dia kembali pada 1984 sebagai seorang rekan peneliti. Dia menggunakan ide yang mirip yang telah dia gunakan pada Enquire untuk menciptakan World Wide Web, di mana dia mendesain dan membangun browser yang pertama (bernama WorldWideWeb dan dikembangkan dalam NeXTSTEP) dan server web pertama yang bernama httpd.

Situs web pertama yang dibuat Berners-Lee (dan oleh karena itu ia juga merupakan situs web pertama) beralamat di http://info.cern.ch/ (telah diarsip) dan dimasukkan online untuk pertama kalinya pada 6 Agustus 1991.

Pada 1994, Berners-Lee mendirikan World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) di Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Hingga kini, Berners-Lee masih tetap rendah hati dan tidak berkeinginan untuk mendapatkan status populer. Banyak yang masih tidak mengetahui kekuatan karya pria ini, World Wide Web.

Salah satu kontribusi terbesarnya dalam memajukan World Wide Web adalah dengan tidak mempatenkannya sehingga masih dapat digunakan secara bebas.

Pada 16 Juli 2004 dia diberi gelar kehormatan KBE oleh Ratu Elizabeth II sebagai penghormatan atas jasa-jasanya.

Jenius Era Internet (4) : Sergey Brin

Sergey Mikhailovich Brin (Bahasa Rusia: Сергей Михайлович Брин) (lahir di Moscow, Soviet Union, 21 Agustus 1973; umur 36 tahun) adalah seorang pengusaha Amerika . Lahir di Rusia, Brin mempelajari ilmu komputer dan matematika sebelum mendirikan Google dengan Larry Page. Brin adalah presiden teknologi pada Google dan mempunyai net worth perkiraan pada $18.7 milyar, yang membuatnya menjadi orang nomor 26 terkaya di dunia.
Sergey Mikhailovich Brin lahir di Moskwa, Uni Soviet, dari sebuah keluarga Yahudi. Ayahnya yang bernama Mikhail Brin dan ibunya Evgenia Brin (née Krasnokutskaya) adalah ahli matematika lulusan Moscow State University. Pada tahun 1979, ketika Brin berumur 6 tahun, keluarganya pindah ke Amerika Serikat. Di sana, Brin didaftarkan di sekolah dasar Paint Branch Montossori, Adelphi, Maryland. Ayahnya, yang juga seorang profesor di departemen matematika University of Maryland, berperan besar mengembangkan ketertarikan Brin pada matematika. Pada bulan September 1990, setelah lulus dari Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Brin diterima di University of Maryland, College Park. Di sana ia mengambil jurusan ilmu komputer dan matematika, dan berhasil mendapatkan gelar Bachelor of Science pada tahun 1993.Brin kemudian melanjutkan pendidikan ilmu komputernya di Stanford University melalui bewasiswa dari National Science Foundation. Ia menerima gelar masternya pada bulan Agustus 1995.
Brin juga memiliki gelar MBA dari IE Business School.

Ketertarikan pada enjin pencari

Brin menunjukkan ketertarikannya pada Internet tak lama setelah ia diterima di Stanford. Ia menulis banyak paper yang membahas tentang data-mining dan pattern extraction. Ia juga menulis software yang dapat mengubah TeX menjadi HTML untuk memudahkan tugas-tugasnya.

Momen terpenting Brin di Stanford adalah ketika ia bertemu dengan Larry Page. Menurut rumor di Google, Page dan Brin "tidak saling menyukai ketika mereka pertama kali bertemu di pascasarjana ilmu komputer Standford University pada 1995. Namun demikian, mereka akhirnya menemukan bahwa mereka memiliki ketertarikan yang sama: mencari dan menemukan informasi yang relevan dari sekumpulan data yang besar. Bersama-sama, pasangan ini kemudian menulis sebuah karya berjudul "The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine" yang dianggap sebagai bibit bagi karir mereka.
[sunting] Kehidupan pribadi

Pada bulan Mei 2007, Brin menikahi Anne Wojcicki di Kepulauan Bahama. Wojcicki adalah seorang analis bioteknologilulusan Yale University.Ia adalah pendiri 23andMe.

Ibu Brin didiagnosis menderita Penyakit Parkinson. Pada tahun 2008, Brin mendonasikan banyak uangnya ke University of Maryland School of Medicine, tempat di mana ibunya dirawat.

Jenius Era Internet (3) : Larry Page

Lawrence Edward "Larry" Page (lahir di Lansing, Michigan, 26 Maret 1973; umur 36 tahun) adalah salah satu pendiri dari mesin pencari internet Google dan saat ini adalah presiden produk pada Google Inc.
Awal kehidupan dan pendidikan

Page adalah seorang lulusan dari East Lansing High School. Page memperoleh gelar Bachelor of Science dalam teknik komputer dari Universitas Michigan dengan pujian dan seorang lulusan Master dari Universitas Standford.
Bisnis

Ketika menjadi seorang siswa di program Ph.D. ilmu komputer Universitas Stanford, Page bertemu Sergey Brin. Bersama mereka menjalankan mesin pencari Google, yang mulai beroperasi pada 1998. Google didasarkan pada teknologi PageRank yang telah dipatenkan, yang mendasarkan pada struktur link - link antar situs web untuk menentukan peringkat suatu situs tertentu. Page masih tetap on leave dari program Ph.D.

Ketika di universitas, dia membuat mesin cetak inkjet dari potongan-potongan balok Lego.

Page menjalankan Google sebagai presiden bersama dengan Brin sampai 2001, ketika mereka merekrut Eric Schmidt untuk menjadi ketua umum dan CEO Google. Page sekarang menjalankan Google sebagai tritunggal bersama dengan Brin dan Schmidt.

Menurut Forbes, Page mempunyai perkiraan kekayaan bersih sebesar AS$12,8 milyar, membuatnya orang nomor 27 terkaya di dunia (satu tempat di belakang pendiri lain Google, Sergey Brin). Pada September 2005 dia dan pendiri Google lainnya, Sergey Brin, membeli sebuah pesawat penumpang yang sangat besar, sebuah Boeing 767, untuk penggunaan pribadi mereka.

Minggu, 20 Desember 2009

Jenius Era Internet (2) : Jeff Bezos

Jeffrey Preston Bezos (lahir di Albuquerque, New Mexico, 12 Januari 1964; umur 45 tahun) adalah pendiri, direktur utama, CEO, dan ketua dewan direktur Amazon.com. Lulusan Universitas Princeton, Bezos pernah menjadi anggota Phi Beta Kappa, bekerja sebagai analis keuangan untuk D. E. Shaw & Co. sebelum mendirikan Amazon pada tahun 1994. Ia pernah dipilih sebagai Person of the Year oleh majalah TIME.
Nenek moyang Bezos adalah orang Texas yang secara turun temurun memiliki peternakan seluas 101 km² di Cotulla. Kakeknya adalah direktur regional Komisi Energi Atom Amerika Serikat di Albuquerque yang minta pensiun lebih awal untuk bekerja di peternakan. Di masa remaja, Bezos sering menghabiskan musim panas bersama kakeknya. Sejak kecil, Bezos sudah memperlihatkan bakatnya di bidang mekanik. Bezos balita pernah mencoba membongkar sendiri tempat tidur miliknya dengan obeng.[1]

Bezos dilahirkan ketika ibunya yang bernama Jackie Bezos masih berusia belasan tahun. Pernikahan ayah dan ibunya hanya bertahan setahun lebih. Ibunya menikah kembali ketika Bezos masih berusia lima tahun. Ayah tiri Bezos yang bernama Miguel Bezos adalah imigran asal Kuba. Miguel Bezos datang sendirian ke AS sewaktu masih berusia 15 tahun hingga akhirnya diterima di Universitas Albuquerque. Keluarga Bezos pindah ke Houston, Texas, dan Miguel Bezos bekerja sebanyak insiyur di Exxon. Kelas 4 hingga kelas 6 dilewatkan Bezos kecil di Sekolah Dasar River Oaks Elementary, Houston.

Bezos menunjukkan minatnya pada bidang ilmu sejak masih muda. Ia mengutak-utik alarm listrik supaya sang adik tidak masuk ke kamarnya. Garasi orang tua juga dijadikannya laboratorium untuk eksperimen ilmiah. Setelah orang tuanya pindah ke Miami, Florida, Bezos melanjutkan ke Sekolah Menengah Atas Miami Palmetto.[2] Ketika diterima di Universitas Princeton, Bezos ingin mengambil jurusan fisika, tapi berubah pikiran dan mendalami komputer hingga lulus dengan gelar di bidang ilmu komputer dan teknik listrik.
Setelah lulus dari Princeton, Bezos mendapat pekerjaan di Wall Street yang berhubungan dengan komputer. Jaringan komputer dibangunnya di sebuah gedung yang dijadikan pusat perdagangan internasional oleh perusahaan bernama Fitel. Selanjutnya Bezos bekerja untuk D. E. Shaw & Co..

Pada tahun 1994 Bezos mendirikan situs web Amazon.com. Model bisnis Amazon.com dirancangnya sewaktu mengendarai mobil dari New York ke Seattle. Kantor Amazon.com yang pertama adalah garasi rumah Bezos.[3] Situs web Amazon.com yang didirikan Bezos membawanya sebagai salah seorang pengusaha sukses era dot-com. Pada tahun 2004, Bezos mendirikan perusahaan bernama Blue Origin yang bergerak di bidang penerbangan sipil angkasa luar.
Sebagian besar kekayaan Bezos berasal dari kepemilikan saham di Amazon.com. Pada tahun 1998, Bezos memiliki 41 persen saham Amazon.com, tapi jumlahnya berkurang menjadi tinggal 24,26 persen (sekitar 100 juta lembar saham) pada tahun 2006. Gajinya tidak pernah naik sejak tahun 1998, besarnya AS$81.840 per tahun ditambah tunjangan sebesar AS$1,1 juta. Walaupun demikian, Bezos masih masuk ke dalam daftar orang terkaya di dunia.[4]

* 1999 – AS$10,1 miliar, peringkat 19
* 2000 – AS$6,0 miliar, peringkat 23
* 2001 – AS$2,0 miliar, peringkat 234
* 2002 – AS$1,5 miliar, peringkat 293
* 2003 – AS$2,5 miliar, peringkat 147
* 2004 – AS$5,1 miliar, peringkat 82
* 2005 – AS$4,8 miliar, peringkat 41
* 2006 – AS$4,3 miliar, peringkat 147
* 2007 – AS$8,7 miliar, peringkat 35

Rabu, 16 Desember 2009

Jenius Muda Era Internet (1) :Mark zuckerberg

tak dapat dipungkiri,kini Facebook.com adalah situs terpopuler selain Google, Facebook telah merevolusi peranan internet,dari sekedar komunikasi 1 arah menjadi 2 arah bahkan lebih,karena dengan Facebook orang tiba2 merasa perlu untuk mengetahui internet, Siapakah dia,si jenius di balik sukses Facebook, mari kita baca Profilnya
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (lahir di White Plains, New York, 14 Mei 1984; umur 25 tahun). Anak dari Edward dan Karen Zuckerberg. Ia adalah seorang programer komputer dan pengusaha asal Amerika Serikat. Menjadi kaya di umurnya yang relatif muda karena berhasil mendirikan dan mengembangkan situs jaringan sosial Facebook di saat masih kuliah dengan bantuan teman Harvardnya Andrew McCollum dan teman sekamarnya Dustin Moskovitz dan Crish Hughes. Saat ini ia menjabat sebagai CEO Facebook.[3]

Forbes mencatatnya sebagai milyarder termuda, atas usaha sendiri dan bukan karena warisan, yang pernah tercatat dalam sejarah. Kekayaannya ditaksir sekitar satu setengah miliar dolar Amerika.[4]

Awal tahun 2009 Mark Zuckerberg mendapat penghargaan Young Global Leaders.
[sunting] Semasa Kuliah

Zuckenberg adalah anggota Alpha Epsilon Pi.Pada awalnya Mark Zuckerberg hanyalah seorang mahasiswa dari Universitas Harvard.Zuckerberg lalu membuat suatu sistem jejaring sosial untuk kelasnya.Tetapi setelah ia membuat sistem tersebut,ternyata semakin banyak saja orang yang tergabung didalamnya.Sistem itu lama kelamaan telah menjaring universitas terdekat dari tempatnya kuliah,dan inilah awal dari Facebook yang kita kenal saat ini.

Dari situasi inilah,Zuckerberg berinisiatif untuk mengembangkan sistem jejaring tersebut.Mula-mula Zuckerberg mengembangkan sistem ini dan memberi nama Facebook.Zuckerberg dan kawan-kawannya lalu menyewa tempat di Palo Alto,California sebagai tempat untuk mengembangkan Facebook.Karena keasyikan untuk mengembangkan proyek Facebook,maka Zuckerberg lupa akan kuliahnya.Zuckerberg dihadapkan pada pilihan-pilihan yang sulit antara memilih pendidikannya atau bisnis proyek yang sedang dia kembangkan.Dengan sikap yang optimis Zuckerberg dan kawan-kawannya memilih untuk meninggalkan kuliah mereka,dan memfokuskan diri pada proyek Facebook tersebut.

Kamis, 10 Desember 2009

Rank Alexa Saya Naik hingga 8 Juta!

luar biasa, mungkin itu kata2 yang bisa saya ucapkan, setelah berjuang keras menghidupkan blog ini akhirnya rank alexa saya naek hingga mencapai 8 juta tingkat,bayangkan tadinya ranking saya cuma 19 juta sekian.tapi setelah kurang lebih 2 minggu berusaha keras akhirnya rank saya naek menjadi 11 juta, memang masih dibawah 1 juta, tapi melihat kenaikan yang sangat signifikan membuat saya makin pede neh, menatap masa depan blogging, lumayan untuk modal nikah
hehehe
huff....hufff

Minggu, 06 Desember 2009

Essay Scholarship 2009

The Excellence In Project Accounting Philosophy Essay Contest is open to full-time undergraduate and graduate students. You must be at least 18 years of age and submit an essay of no more 1000 words on the topics of project accounting and time-tracking.

Application deadline: june 01, 2009

The author of the best essay, as chosen by our panel of judges, will be awarded $500 USD towards his or her tuition and fees.

To apply for the scholarship you’ll need to submit the following materials, along with your essay, obviously, between September 1, 2008 and June 1, 2009:

* An official academic transcript containing the entrant’s spring semester grades for the academic year in progress.
* A copy of entrant’s resume that includes e-mail address, campus address and phone number, student ID number, permanent address and phone number, major and expected graduation date.

To be eligible, all application materials must be received by 5:00pm CDT on June 1, 2009 for the academic year beginning September of that year.

Applications may be sent via email (scholarship@journyx.com) or snail mail to the following address:

Journyx Scholarship Program
9011 Mountain Ridge Drive
Travis Building, Suite 200
Austin, TX 78759
Visit the official website: http://www.journyx.com/company/scholarship.html

Scholarship Information

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
This scholarship program named Davis Scholarships

4 four-year Ph.D. full scholarships available in the fall of 2010.

Mrs. Kathryn Davis, an HEI alumna who obtained her PhD in 1934, is founding four Ph.D. full scholarships for a four-year period.

Two of these grants (Kathryn Davis Grant and Shelby Cullom Davis Grant) are intended for students of any nationality

- having completed a degree programme in an American university.

Two other grants (Davis Grants) are intended for

- two students coming from a Muslim country .

These grants will be attributed in the Spring of 2010 to students starting their PhD programme in September 2010 at the Institute exclusively. They will exempt them from tuition fees and provide a living allowance of 15000 CHF per year. They will last for a period of four years and will be renewed each year depending on the thesis progress.

Contact

Mrs Stéfanie Onofri
+41 22 908 43 44

Jumat, 04 Desember 2009

Effect Of Social group On Your Marketing

It is the customer, who makes the decision of buying something, right? But how does he/she reach to that decision? There's a complete procedure and different stages to this decision and as a marketer, you must know the process. For the reason that you are not going to win a customer unless you are well in terms with the factors that influence the buying behavior. Generally, the process starts from the moment a customer feels the need of a particular product (or service), next step is to look for different options available, after weighing up these options, the customer then reaches on a final decision to pay for one of these options.

Very few customers are capable of making an entirely independent and rational decision, without getting influenced by any of the external factors. One of the most important factors is the social influence, which plays a very important role in a customer purchase decision. Let's have a look at how these social influences can affect the buying behavior.

Family Buying Behavior:
Among all social groups, family of course is the closest, hence the most influential. Knowing the answers to the questions like ... who in the family is going to make the final buying decision, or who is going to pay the bill, can help a lot. Because even if your product has got nothing to do with parents, and is mainly intended for the children's use. It is actually the parents who are going to pay the bill, therefore you are supposed to market the product from parent's perspective and not of children's (unless the product is some inexpensive toy or candy that the child can purchase from their pocket money).

Social Class:
Society is normally divided in three classes by sociologists, namely upper class, middle class and lower class. Some divide it in further sets like upper-middle or lower-lower classes. All of these classes have their own characteristics, social values, set of needs and spending patterns. Obviously, the buying behavior is going to be different for people belonging to any of these classes, you need to address the right set of needs when marketing for a specific class of society.

Cultural Influence:
American, European, Indian, Chinese ... all of these cultures are poles apart when it comes to the people's needs and preferences, who are a part of some specific culture. Your marketing tactics should be strictly in line with these cultures and their moral values.

William King is the director of Computers Wholesale Suppliers and Canada Wholesale Suppliers Distributors Manufacturers . He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_King
Diposkan oleh COOL_BOY di 19:54

The Steps To Up Your Market size

Whether you're an entrepreneur writing a business plan or an established firm looking to introduce a new product or service, you will encounter the need to estimate the size of the market/s that you plan to serve. Market-sizing is an interesting and exciting branch of marketing research, but it can be almost as much an art as it is a science. In this article, we will go through the process of estimating market size, using the example of a financial planner looking to develop a practice in his community.

Step 1: Define your target market

This can never be stressed enough. If you don't know the type of customer you want to serve, you will waste a lot of time and money trying to get any customers. Market-sizing is easier when you know the exact group you're searching for. Our financial planner has decided that his target market will be married couples with young children.

Step 2: Determine the needs of your target market and how they create demand for your product/service

Here you formulate a hypothesis. Ask yourself the benefits your product or service offers your target customers. What problem does your product help them solve? Begin with a statement about why your target customers need your product. Our financial planner's statement might be: "Married couples with young children need my services because they must be prepared for college, as well as for unexpected emergencies such as disability and early death." This statement assumes, of course, that the financial planner sells financial products that address these needs; if the planner sells only financial plans, his statement will be different.

Step 3: Identify the information you need to estimate the size of your market

Now that you have identified your target market and hypothesized about its demand for your product, what information do you need to develop your estimates? Among other things, our financial planner would need to know:

* The age distribution within the geographic area he serves;
* The number of households with children in that area;
* The distribution of family income in that area;
* Home market values in the area;
* Educational attainment and college enrollment rates for graduating high school students;
* How many competitors, direct (other financial planners and insurance agents) and indirect (stock brokers, banks with financial planning services, etc.) are serving the market; and
* What financial planning services people buy and how much they pay.

There are others, but this list is pretty comprehensive.

Step 4: Identify the sources you need to obtain that information

So where do you find information about your market? These days, there is such a wealth of published statistics about almost every industry and market segment, that a combination of library and online research can fulfill most of your information needs. In some cases, if you are looking for very specialized information, you may need to conduct your own primary research (surveys, focus groups, etc.) to get what you need.

The U.S. Bureau of the Census provides comprehensive demographic statistics by metropolitan area, county, ZIP code, census tract, and state. Information about population, age, income, educational attainment, presence of children, and home market value can easily be obtained at any of these levels, so the financial planner would be able to answer many of his questions. In addition, the Census Bureau also produces County Business Patterns, which provides information about the activity of each industry by each of the same geographic levels listed earlier. Hence, our financial planner can also obtain the number of financial planning establishments, insurance agencies, and brokerage firms serving the area in which he hopes to establish his practice.

In addition, our financial planner may consult online data sources such as Dun & Bradstreet's Million Dollar Database and ABI's ReferenceUSA to identify specific financial planning firms and insurance agencies in his area and get estimates of their employment size and revenues.

The financial planner can also get lots of relevant information from trade associations, local chambers of commerce, Web sites of his existing competitors, and through primary research, such as surveys and interviews with experts.

Step 5: Collect the data

Now that you have identified your data sources, you need to extract the data. The financial planner will scour all the sources he identified to pull out data that meets his information needs. He will determine whether his data sources provide sufficient and useful data, or whether they provide insufficient or suspect data, at which point he may seek out additional sources to answer his questions.

Step 6: Analyze the data

Now that you have all the data, what does it mean? What is it telling you? Let's say that the area our financial planner wants to serve has 200,000 households, of which 15% - or 30,000 - are two-parent households, with a median family income of $60,000 per year, a median age of 32, and an average household size of 4. Immediately, the financial planner knows he is serving a young upscale market, and it's very likely - without looking at the number of competition - that there will already be an above average number of financial planners trying to serve them.

The financial planner may also find from financial planning industry statistics that 60% of families in that age group carry life insurance, and that the average policy face value is $100,000. Given the affluence of this area, the planner may reason that households in his target market have much greater assets and income to protect, so he may adjust his estimates of life insurance coverage for that area upward - to policies of maybe $250,000 or $500,000. He'll make similar estimates for any other financial products and services he offers.

Step 7: Derive your market estimate

Now that you've compiled and analyzed your data, you need to come up with an estimate of market size. Our financial planner may - through all his data sources - come up with an average and standard deviation of the policy amounts of life, disability, and other policies aimed at his target market in that area. He will then project that amount out by the number of households within that market to come up with an aggregate size of the financial planning market in that area. From there, he will build in a margin of error, perhaps using a 95% confidence interval, to come up with a low estimate, a middle estimate (which would be the aggregate size he determined earlier), and a high estimate.

Step 8: Apply your estimate

Your market size estimate is useless if you do not apply it. Once our financial planner derives his aggregate estimate, he will estimate how much of that market he can reasonably get based on his competition and the amount of money he can earn based on his commission structure. This will feed his business plan projections.

In addition, the size and characteristics of this market will help our financial planner determine how best to market his services, whether by direct mail, giving presentations, networking, or other means.

Market-sizing can be a daunting, tedious task, but the value it adds to your planning and marketing efforts can make the time, money and effort invested in it more than worthwhile.

Alex J. Caffarini is the president of Analysights, a marketing research and analytics firm in Schaumburg, Illinois. Analysights helps companies turn data into insights that help them maximize their marketing performance. You can reach Alex at (847) 895-2565 or visit http://www.analysights.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alex_Caffarini

Differentiation Makes better

Differentiation in the marketplace is key to sustaining long-term business growth and success. How and where to accomplish that market differentiation so that a company gains a competitive advantage is a question I consistently get from my clients.

There are three primary areas through which a company can gain a competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace. It can be done via a company's products, its service offerings and the relationships it builds with its ideal customers.

To develop and maintain this elusive market differentiation takes a consistent and comprehensive effort throughout a company. It requires a corporate culture in which creativity, innovation and motivation thrive.

There are five areas on which company leaders must focus to create this culture; what I call a "Champion Culture" which will result in a high performing, high morale workplace that will generate outstanding results and set you apart from the competition:

C = Commitment

Athletic teams become champions because their athletes are committed to the compelling Vision, Strategy and Purpose of getting to the championship game. In business, companies can create a similar commitment by creating and communicating a compelling Vision, Strategy and Purpose to their team members.

Are your employees committed or just complying with their job descriptions to collect a paycheck?

H = Humility

Athletes become champions because they continually improve as they face tougher competition every step of the way. This means they must be open to regular feedback and continually look for ways to get better.

Does your company culture espouse an environment where learning from mistakes is encouraged and asking for help is seen as a strength?

A = Accountability

There are two components to accountability that create champions, setting clear performance expectations and measuring job performance against those expectations. It works in athletics. But most companies fall short in managing specific job performance accountabilities in order to maintain consistent progress toward agreed upon objectives.

What is your company's process for communicating specific upfront performance expectations and managing accountability to the desired performance?

M = Motivation

Champions are action oriented. When obstacles arise champions find a way through, over, around or under to stay on track. Procrastination (the opposite of motivation) is not in their mindset or habits. I'm amazed at how many business owners, CEOs and other business professionals have significant challenges with the habit of procrastination.

How motivated is your team? How are procrastination and avoidance issues negatively impacting your company's bottom line?

P = Preparation

Champions show up prepared. They practice almost every day in-season when not playing games. They review films of their opponents to learn the tendencies, strengths and weaknesses they can exploit. Yet in business, you've probably experienced far too many team members showing up ill-prepared. Not enough time is invested in preparing for the work week, the workday, key meetings, and sales presentations.

How can your company raise the bar on preparation to begin functioning as a CHAMP?

Focus on raising the bar in these five strategic areas to create a Champion Culture at your company. Doing so will increase the level of creativity, innovation and motivation applied to differentiating your products, your services and your customer relationships in the marketplace. Thus, giving you the competitive advantage you are looking for.

Skip Weisman and Weisman Success Resources, Inc., based in Poughkeepsie, New York helps Leaders Create Champion Organizations by transforming them into high performing, high morale workplaces. For other articles, resources, products and programs visit http://www.WeismanSuccessResources.com and for specific questions on issues and challenges your company is facing feel free to call him at 45-463-3838.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Skip_Weisman

Salesforce Segments

There is hidden meaning to the chess board metaphor we use.

Sure, chess is a universal emblem for strategy, because you cannot win the game unless you think strategically - or unless you are IBM and build a computer that simply grinds through all possible moves in order to predict all possible outcomes of every game. The hidden aspect of chess is that it is played on a board divided into conquerable places, and the goal it to dominate space by taking it one piece at a time.

In other words, segmentation.

Market segmentation is like chess in that chasing the wrong segment with the wrong piece is a catastrophe in the making. Many chess strategies work like great market segmentation strategies, by taking the space/segment next to the one you already own and have well defended.

Like SalesForce.com is doing.

SalesForce started life with the right strategy, namely attack just one issue and dominate the field. CRM (the software solution, not the corporate philosophy) was ripe for the taking because it was always somewhat detected from other centralized applications. This allowed SalesForce to worm its way into enterprises. Now that they dominate the outsourced CRM industry, the only way for them to grow is to find another segment. Since they campaign against licensed software installed behind corporate firewalls, their segment strategy has to evolve outside of traditional CRM.

The question: what is an adjacent segment?

Next to selling to a customer, supporting a customer is key to any business. Fail at either and you die and painful fiscal death. Thus SalesForce has picked customer service - which is an extended function of managing the relationship with customers (CRM) as their next conquest. Stated more simply than Marc Benioff did - because his marketing team is chasing 'cloud' buzz - SalesForce now offers knowledge bases, community support and a Twitter tie-in.

Benioff was right in guessing outsourced support systems might be the next billion dollar opportunity. More to the point, support is the fraternal twin to sales. Both are linked directly to the customer and are interrelated. It is easier for SalesForce to extend their current offering into a compatible or dependant segment than to enter a completely new market (for example, Benioff would have been bonkers to launch an ERP offering or the next MMOG). It is also a more successful strategy because people involved in the current segment have connections to people in the new segment.

A key aspect of segmentation strategy is to choose segments in which customers talk to one another. Sales people talk to support people and need feedback from support databases (log a problem ticket for a customer and your account manager had better know about it). Thus SalesForce.com's "Service Cloud" - a lousy name because it confuses the customer - is a good segment move not only for its adjacent proximity to sales and CRM, but because communications channels between SalesForce's existing customers and Service Cloud's target customers exist and are active.

Now, if we could just get Marc Benioff to show a little excitement.

Guy Smith is the chief consultant for Silicon Strategies Marketing. Guy brings a combination of technical, managerial and marketing experience to Silicon Strategies projects.

Directly and as a consultant, Guy has worked with a variety of technology-producing organizations. A partial list of these technology firms include DeviceAnywhere (mobile applications), ORBiT Group (high-availability backup software), Telamon (wireless middleware), Wink Communications (interactive television), LogMeIn (remote desktop), FundNET (SaaS), DeviceAnywhere (mobile applications), Open-Xchange (groupware), VA Software (enterprise software), Virtual Iron (server virtualization), SUSE (Linux distributions and applications), BrainWave (application prototyping) and Novell.

http://www.SiliconStrat.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Guy_Smith

Print VS Internet Marketing

The advancement of electronic media has forever changed the way businesses will reach qualified leads. This article is intended to discuss the pros and cons of search marketing, traditional print marketing, and digital variable print marketing. While every business is unique, annual marketing plans should consider using a combination of all three marketing tactics.

Search Marketing:
It is clear that search engine marketing can be more cost effective than standard long-run printing or direct mail. Companies found on the first page of a Google search for a specific keyword enjoy a 70% click thru rate. Search engine marketing is a great way to generate qualified leads. Since customers that visit a businesses website through a search engine has already indicated their willingness to purchase your products or services with their keyword search. While high organic search rankings are definitely an advantage to driving traffic to a website, it does not guarantee conversion from visitor to buyer. A visitor from a search engine must arrive at an easy to understand and professional website in order to become a conversion. The two clicks it took to arrive at a website also means it takes the same two clicks to leave.

Traditional Print Marketing:
Once a mighty driver of the U.S. economy, the long-run offset print industry has retracted over the last few years. The US postal service has also seen reductions in revenue due to the move from direct mail to electronic marketing. Certainly the cost of the marketing material, the envelope, and the postage is much higher than email and other internet marketing. However, there is something to be said about something that a consumer can open and touch. An eye catching marketing piece with a clear call to action is still an effective tool for direct marketers. In fact, some have found the immense cost of search engine marketing or pay-per-click advertising to expensive for some key words and have gone back to direct mail as a means to drive consumers to company websites and online stores.

Advancements in Digital Print Marketing:
What if there was a way to combine the unique targeting ability of search marketing with long-run full color printing? Through digital variable printing, "one size fits all" print marketing is a marketing tactic of the past.

To illustrate the point, let's analogize using a company with just three distinct market segments. A company is selling a product to women between the ages of 20 and 30, households with more than 2 children, and men over 65. Market research has determined each segment responds to different messages that drive a call to action. Historically, a company needed to develop graphics and a message that was broad enough to reach all their customers in one long offset print run. Rather than targeting each market individually, companies treated them all the same; thereby missing the target in most cases. With today's digital print marketing, a single run of print can provide a specific message and specific graphics all the way down to a single individual. Imagine a woman in her 20's receiving a direct mail piece unique to her needs while a man over 65 receives a totally different message targeted to his needs. That is the power of today's digital print technology.

What Medium to Use?
This answer, of course, is different for everyone. It is recommended that a healthy combination of marketing mediums should be used throughout the year and should be included in yearly marketing plans. All three forms of marketing can be highly effective and depend on the specific industry. For example a restaurant that is truly local may not need to invest in search marketing since reaching global markets would not make sense. This restaurant should focus on who is eating at their restaurant and message those consumer types with a call to action through direct mailings. In contrast a competitively priced retailer may consider more investment in search marketing than direct mail as margins on low priced retail items may not be adequate enough to assume the higher cost of print and postage. No matter what medium, the concept remains the same. A targeted audience with targeted messaging always leads to higher ROA.

Grand Marketing Solutions is your one-stop-vendor located north of Chicago. We are uniquely position to provide internet marketing, long-run print, direct mail, and variable data printing. For more information on our marketing services visit: http://www.grandmarketingsolutions.com/marketing_firm_in_chicago.html. We also offer graphic design, website design, and promotional products. For more information browse our website at http://www.grandmarketingsolutions.com.

Lauch - Connect - Grow

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_G._Zurawski

Achieving success Email Marketing

very online business is in need of successful online marketing. This is done through the aid of various factors that serve as the very foundation of every business. One of which is the email which was often taken for granted and misused by online marketers before. Nowadays, more and more online entrepreneurs are starting to realize the true potential of business email marketing by way of email newsletters.

It is through email newsletters that an entrepreneur gets to successfully build a firm relationship with his customers. This type of business email marketing arrives to its recipients on a semi-regular basis that comprise various types of useful and interesting details. Basically, it includes useful internet links, reviews of new products, computer tips, introduction of newly offered products or services, news stories, and a whole lot more.

These emails are then usually ended with short statements and your contact details. For some, writing newsletters can be hard and challenging. This is why there are those that resort to hiring themselves a writer to do the job for them. This also comes to be effective as writers are also capable of coming up with effective email newsletters.

Newsletters can either come in plain text or HTML formats. Emails made out of HTML are like web pages from which you are given with various tools to use for graphics, fonts, and other details. However, the downside is that HTML emails have a much greater risk of viruses and the larger fill size. Email client incompatibility can also occur with HTML emails. This is sometimes the reason why a lot of online firms and entrepreneurs prefer plain texts for their emails.

Email newsletters in pain text forms are also more appropriate to use as it displays formality and is the common choice of readers. In business email marketing, you sometimes have to be able to determine which particular option works best for your online business.

It is through newsletters that entrepreneurs are able to stay in touch with their prospects. This is very effective as customers are sure to think of your business first whenever they are in need of purchasing a product or service you are offering. Newsletters should also provide customers the opportunity of automatically unsubscribing with the service any time they want.

Newsletters are indeed very effective in successfully promoting an online business. Airlines, telecommunications companies, and banks use newsletters to make their businesses clearly visible to their targeted customers.

One of the most important things that must be greatly considered in email newsletters is the use of an opt-in approach. In this type of strategy, subscribers are obliged to validate their email addresses through the links sent to their emails. This greatly helps an online marketer to avoid any fake sign-ups which is often the case of today. From this discussion, you can clearly see the vital role that is being played by newsletters when it comes to effective business email marketing.

Andie Riley is a marketing professional that has developed and utilized email marketing systems his whole career. For more on email newsletter service and business email marketing.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andie_Riley

Strategic Marketing

Once your in business for yourself, it's easy to get tied up with the day to day operational activities that it take to be profitable and successful in your chosen business. With all the demands on the time of a busy business owner it's become increasingly difficult to manage a comprehensive marketing program that will drive more and more qualified customers to your business.

This is the first part of a series called "Marketing 101-Develop your Ideal marketing plan"

Step one: Needs analysis

The first step in developing your marketing plan is to do a needs analysis for your particular business. Each business has specific types of needs, there is no one size fits all when it comes to an Ideal marketing plan. your needs analysis should begin with a close look at what the current marketing strategy is. What sort of programs have been used in the past and what has been the result of those efforts.

What are the areas of your business you feel offer the most potential for increase in sales and profits?

What is going be your target market?

What sort of specialty products and services do you offer?

How much are you going to budget for your on going marketing activities?

Who are your customers and where are they coming from?

What do you feel will be an acceptable return on your marketing dollars?

What are your competitive advantages in your particular business?

Are you competing strictly on price or are there other factors to consider?

These are some of very important first steps to consider before you fire off thousands of dollars in advertising money and take a wait and see what happens approach to your program. Marketing is a essential and vital part of your business and if managed properly can lead to greater profits and greater satisfaction.

MVP Marketing

Create * Execute * Profit

Specialty marketing services for today's small business owner

http://www.mvpmarketing.org

Get a FREE no obligation Marketing Consultation

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Florin

Scott Florin - EzineArticles Expert Author

Purchasing Trends Of Tendering Department

Departmental Requirements

The central & provincial governments comprise a wide range of ministries which look after many relevant departments, with even a wide range of purchasing requirements.

If you want to start tender business or want to expand your business or want to expand your existing tendering setup, it is very important to research and identify some specific departments and ensure to match your goods & services with the requirements of these departments.

Once you are confident that your products fulfill the requirements & specifications of the items demanded in the tender, you are in a position to invest your earnest money, and you will be able to execute the contract on time, if the tender is awarded to you, only then you should seriously consider about participating in the tender.

Purchasing trends

Whereas in the past suppliers may have sold specific products to the departments, these same departments may now buy these products as the part of a wider service. This may mean you have to market yourself to the main contractor instead of the department or possibly be prepared to initiate or enter joint ventures which can offer complete service solutions.

Similarly, as more government activities are outsourced, the relationships between purchasers & suppliers have become increasingly important. Government buyers are seeking reliable supply partnership, which can provide not only basic goods and service, but can add value to the process. Suppliers who can provide innovative and cost effective solutions to purchasing requirements are viewed far more favorably than those who simply supply goods & services.

For its part, the government is encouraging the departments to support "local" suppliers whenever possible if the quality of the goods is according to the specifications of the indent.

In the following pages we are providing a list of various departments of central and provincial governments. Please read carefully and select a few departments where you want to get enrolled as a registered contractor. You can also study the previous tenders already awarded to different contractors by these departments to gain an insight to what the departments actually needs and what are the usual terms and conditions for pre-qualification. In this way you can save a lot of time and you will only participate in those tenders which suits best to your firm.

Dr.Irfan Ahmad is the Chief Editor of http://www.tenderserviceonline.com and CEO Tender Service Pakistan.He has twenty years of experience in providing tender information services to the clients. He has written two books on tendering by the name of "Managing Tender Business" and "Combating Procurement Frauds"

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr_Irfan_Ahmad

Dr Irfan Ahmad - EzineArticles Expert Author
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The 6th Product Manager Sense

Does the recession have you down? How's your product doing - nobody buying, nobody interested? Cheer up - it turns out that this is actually the best time to be a product manager. Recessions are some of the best times for product managers to create new products that shake up the market and make your existing customers want you even more. The secret is to realize that what you have to do is to challenge convention...

What Does A Product Manager Need To Do To Survive A Recession?

If you decide to hunker down and try to wait out the current recession, then what you are really doing is acting like a blade of grass that doesn't realize that the lawnmower will eventually come around and get it. All product managers know that ideas are cheap. You don't have to spend a lot of money to solve problems with your product, instead what you do need to spend is that most precious of all resources: your time.

Dr. Andrew Razeghi is an author, consultant, and teacher at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management who has written about how to prosper in tough times. He has some suggestions for all of us.

He points out that product managers only need three things in order to innovate: ideas, talent, and capital. As we are all probably painfully aware of, your company is probably currently totally focused on capital and what they can do to conserve it.

Just so that we're all on the same page here, let us agree that the right thing to be doing is to be mindful of capital spending even as we stay in front of our customers so that we can hear what they are telling us. We then need to use this information to make investments in our product that will pay off in the long term.

The Worst Thing That A Product Manager Can Do

Right now the #1 thing that most product managers don't want to do is go out and be in front of our customers - why bother, nobody's buying. This is exactly the wrong thing to do. Cutting off communication with your customers is (always) a terrible thing to do.

When your customers and potential customers stop hearing from you this causes them to start to wonder. They start to think to themselves "Are these guys still in business?", "Should I buy from them - are they stable?", etc.

The right thing to do now is to find more ways to stay in contact with your customers. Your goal needs to be to do everything that you can to increase your customer's confidence not only in your product, but also in the company that stands behind that product.

What Should A Product Manager Be Doing?

Saying that you should be challenging convention is one thing and actually doing it is something else. Forget about flashy Superbowl ads, the key thing to remember is that anything that you can do that will save your customers time or make their job easier will always be relevant and interesting to them.

In this age of Internet-everything, one possible way for a product manager to make his / her product more relevant to their customers is to engage in some sensory branding with your customers. This sounds all new-agey, but it's really a very old concept.

Product marketing that is done over the Internet can only really appeal to one of your customer's senses: sight. That leaves four others that are not being used. If you can find a way to engage two or more of these senses, then you've got a much better chance of making a lasting connection with your customer.

This could be as simple as postal mailing a letter to your customer that is printed on heavy parchment paper. It has been shown that people still trust what they read on paper more than what they read on a screen. The use of heavy paper will appeal to your customer's sense of touch and will add "weight" to your words.

What All Of This Means For You

It's all too easy to get yourself down during a recession - your sales are slipping and everyone (including your customers) seems to be in a blue funk. Hold on a minute, since when were you ever taught to do exactly what everyone else is doing?

Since no product manager ever made their product a success by following the herd, this is exactly the time for you to try different things - what's the risk? One simple and effective technique that any product manager can try is to study how they are currently connecting with their customers. The next step is to build on this and find ways to engage more of your customer's senses in order to build their interest in and desire for your product.

These are both the best of times and worst of times. As a successful product manager you need to take action to make sure that both you and your product come out of it ahead of the pack.

Dr. Jim Anderson
http://www.TheAccidentalPM.com

Dr. Jim Anderson has been a product manger at small start-ups as well as at some of the world's largest IT shops. Dr. Anderson realizes that for a product to be successful, it takes an entire company working together. He'll share his insights and guidance on how to make your products a fantastic success.

Subscribe to the FREE Accidental Product Manager newsletter to get the information that you need to have a successful product and a successful career. Go here to to get your free subscription: http://tinyurl.com/p4ru9d

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Jim_Anderson

Selasa, 01 Desember 2009

E-book Mindset Bisnis

berbisnis online di jaman yang serba TI seperti agaknya telah menjadi pilihan yang cukup menjanjikan,buat anda yang merasa bosan untuk terus jadi pekerja dan ingin berusaha untuk mandiri dan kerja santai di rumah, bsinis online bisa jadi pilihan
bayangkan! cukup bermodalkan komputer, dan koneksi internet (lewat warnet juga bisa) anda bisa berbisnis, meraup rupiah atau dollar dll.
mau tahu cara bisnis online?terlebih dahulu kita harus punya mindset dan rencana bisnis yang mumpuni, nah ada E-book bagus neh
download disini yaa
[url=http://sharecash.org/download.php?file=169250]http://sharecash.org/download.php?file=169250[/url]

Alexa

nama di atas bukanlah nama sebuah band yaa haha
Alexa Internet, Inc. is a California based subsidiary company of Amazon.com that is known for its toolbar and website. Once installed, the toolbar collects data on browsing behavior which is transmitted to the website where it is stored and analyzed and is the basis for the company's web traffic reporting.

The company's premises are in Building 37 of the Presidio of San Francisco in San Francisco, California.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Operations and history
* 2 Accuracy of ranking by the Alexa Toolbar
* 3 Redesign and new statistics
* 4 Spyware
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 External links

[edit] Operations and history

Alexa Internet was founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat[2] claiming it would improve internet searching by tracking user decisions and using that data to aid future searches.

The company's name was chosen in homage to the Library of Alexandria,[3] drawing a parallel between the largest repository of knowledge in the ancient world to the potential for the Internet if the alleged search problem could be solved. In addition, ALEXA was originally an abbreviation for Address Lookup EXperts Authority.

The company offered a toolbar that gave Internet users suggestions on where to go next, based on the traffic patterns of its user community. Alexa also offered context for each site visited: to whom it was registered, how many pages it had, how many other sites pointed to it, and how frequently it was updated.[4]

Alexa includes archiving of webpages as they are crawled. This database served as the basis for the creation of the Internet Archive (also located in the Presidio) and its Wayback Machine.[5] Alexa continues to supply the Internet Archive with web crawls.

In 1999, Alexa was acquired by Amazon.com for about $250 million in Amazon stock[6] as the company moved away from its original vision of providing an 'intelligent' search engine. Alexa began a partnership with Google in spring 2002, and with the Open Directory Project in January 2003.[1] In May 2006, Amazon replaced Google with Live Search as a provider of search results.[7] In September 2006, they began using their own Search Platform[clarification needed] to serve results. In December 2006, they released Alexa Image Search. Built in-house, it is the first major application to be built on their Web Platform.

Alexa has "site info"[clarification needed] for the A9.com search engine.

In December 2005, Alexa opened its extensive search index and web-crawling facilities to third party programs through a comprehensive set of web services and APIs. These could be used, for instance, to construct vertical search engines that could run on Alexa's own servers or elsewhere. In May 2007, Alexa changed their API to require comparisons be limited to 3 sites, reduced size embedded graphs be shown using Flash, and mandatory embedded BritePic ads.[8]

In April 2007, the lawsuit Alexa v. Hornbaker was filed to stop trademark infringement by the statsaholic service.[9] In the lawsuit, Alexa alleges that Hornbaker is stealing traffic graphs for profit, and that the primary purpose of his site is to display graphs that are generated by Alexa's servers.[10][11] Hornbaker removed the term Alexa from his service name on March 19, 2007.[12] Nevertheless, Alexa expressly grants permission to refer its data in third-party work subject to suitable credits.[13]

On November 27, 2008, Amazon announced that Alexa Web Search was no longer accepting new customers, and the service would be deprecated or discontinued for existing customers on January 26, 2009.[14]
[edit] Accuracy of ranking by the Alexa Toolbar
Main article: Alexa Toolbar

Alexa ranks sites based on tracking information of users of its Alexa Toolbar for Internet Explorer and from integrated sidebars in Mozilla and Netscape.

There is some controversy over how representative Alexa's user base is of typical Internet behavior. If Alexa's user base is a fair statistical sample of the Internet user population (e.g., a random sample of sufficient size), Alexa's ranking should be quite accurate. In reality, not much is known about the sample and possible sampling biases. Alexa itself notes several examples.[13] A known source of bias is the self-selecting, opt-in nature of Alexa traffic tracking software installation, but the significance of this bias on rankings is not reported.[clarification needed][13]

On April 16, 2008 many users reported dramatic shifts in their Alexa rankings. Alexa confirmed this later in the day with an announcement that they had released the new Alexa ranking system, claiming that they now take into account more data sources "beyond Alexa Toolbar users".[15]
[edit] Redesign and new statistics

On March 31, 2009 Alexa.com got a complete redesign and new metrics including: Pageviews per User, Bounce Rate, and Time on Site.[16] In the following weeks they added new features including Demographics, Clickstream and Search Traffic stats.[17]
[edit] Spyware

The Alexa toolbar is regarded by many vendors, such as Symantec and McAfee, as spyware. Symantec classifies the toolbar as trackware.[18] McAfee classifies it as Adware, a "Potentially Unwanted Program."[19] McAfee Site Advisor rates the Alexa website as yellow, with the warning:

"In our tests, we found downloads on this site that some people consider adware, spyware or other potentiall

Dakwah

Dakwah adalah kegiatan yang bersifat menyeru, mengajak dan memanggil orang untuk beriman dan taat kepada Allah Subhaanahu wa ta'ala sesuai dengan garis aqidah, syari'at dan akhlak Islam. Kata dakwah merupakan masdar (kata benda) dari kata kerja da'a yad'u yang berarti panggilan, seruan atau ajakan.

Kata dakwah sering dirangkaikan dengan kata "Ilmu" dan kata "Islam", sehingga menjadi "Ilmu dakwah" dan Ilmu Islam" atau ad-dakwah al-Islamiyah.


Ilmu Dakwah

Ilmu dakwah adalah suatu ilmu yang berisi cara-cara dan tuntunan untuk menarik perhatian orang lain supaya menganut, mengikuti, menyetujui atau melaksanakan suatu ideologi, agama, pendapat atau pekerjaan tertentu. Orang yang menyampaikan dakwah disebut "Da'i" sedangkan yang menjadi obyek dakwah disebut "Mad'u". Setiap Muslim yang menjalankan fungsi dakwah Islam adalah "Da'i".
Tujuan utama dakwah

Tujuan utama dakwah ialah mewujudkan kebahagiaan dan kesejahteraan hidup di dunia dan di akhirat yang diridai oleh Allah. Nabi Muhammad SAW mencontohkan dakwah kepada umatnya dengan berbagai cara melalui lisan, tulisan dan perbuatan. Dimulai dari istrinya, keluarganya, dan teman-teman karibnya hingga raja-raja yang berkuasa pada saat itu. Di antara raja-raja yang mendapat surat atau risalah Nabi SAW adalah kaisar Heraklius dari Byzantium, Mukaukis dari Mesir, Kisra dari Persia (Iran) dan Raja Najasyi dari Habasyah (Ethiopia).
Fiqhud-dakwah

Ilmu yang memahami aspek hukum dan tatacara yang berkaitan dengan dakwah, sehingga para muballigh bukan saja paham tentang kebenaran Islam akan tetapi mereka juga didukung oleh kemampuan yang baik dalam menyampaikan Risalah al Islamiyah.
Dakwah Fardiah

Dakwah Fardiah merupakan metode dakwah yang dilakukan seseorang kepada orang lain (satu orang) atau kepada beberapa orang dalam jumlah yang kecil dan terbatas. Biasanya dakwah fardiah terjadi tanpa persiapan yang matang dan tersusun secara tertib. Termasuk kategori dakwah seperti ini adalah menasihati teman sekerja, teguran, anjuran memberi contoh. Termasuk dalam hal ini pada saat mengunjungi orang sakit, pada waktu ada acara tahniah (ucapan selamat), dan pada waktu upacara kelahiran (tasmiyah).
Dakwah Ammah

Dakwah Ammah merupakan jenis dakwah yang dilakukan oleh seseorang dengan media lisan yang ditujukan kepada orang banyak dengan maksud menanamkan pengaruh kepada mereka. Media yang dipakai biasanya berbentuk khotbah (pidato).

Dakwah Ammah ini kalau ditinjau dari segi subyeknya, ada yang dilakukan oleh perorangan dan ada yang dilakukan oleh organisasi tertentu yang berkecimpung dalam soal-doal dakwah.
[sunting] Dakwah bil-Lisan

Dakwah jenis ini adalah penyampaian informasi atau pesan dakwah melalui lisan (ceramah atau komunikasi langsung antara subyek dan obyek dakwah). dakwah jenis ini akan menjadi efektif bila: disampaikan berkaitan dengan hari ibadah seperti khutbah Jumat atau khutbah hari Raya, kajian yang disampaikan menyangkut ibadah praktis, konteks sajian terprogram, disampaikan dengan metode dialog dengan hadirin.
Dakwah bil-Haal

Dakwah bil al-Hal adalah dakwah yang mengedepankan perbuatan nyata. Hal ini dimaksudkan agar si penerima dakwah (al-Mad'ulah) mengikuti jejak dan hal ikhwal si Da'i (juru dakwah). Dakwah jenis ini mempunyai pengaruh yang besar pada diri penerima dakwah.

Pada saat pertama kali Rasulullah Saw tiba di kota Madinah, beliau mencontohkan Dakwah bil-Haal ini dengan mendirikan Masjid Quba, dan mempersatukan kaum Anshor dan kaum Muhajirin dalam ikatan ukhuwah Islamiyah.
Dakwah bit-Tadwin

Memasuki zaman global seperti saat sekarang ini, pola dakwah bit at-Tadwin (dakwah melalui tulisan) baik dengan menerbitkan kitab-kitab, buku, majalah, internet, koran, dan tulisan-tulisan yang mengandung pesan dakwah sangat penting dan efektif.

Keuntungan lain dari dakwah model ini tidak menjadi musnah meskipun sang dai, atau penulisnya sudah wafat. Menyangkut dakwah bit-Tadwim ini Rasulullah saw bersabda, "Sesungguhnya tinta para ulama adalah lebih baik dari darahnya para syuhada".
Dakwah bil Hikmah

Dakwah bil Hikmah Yakni menyampaikan dakwah dengan cara yang arif bijaksana, yaitu melakukan pendekatan sedemikian rupa sehingga pihak obyek dakwah mampu melaksanakan dakwah atas kemauannya sendiri, tidak merasa ada paksaan, tekanan maupun konflik. Dengan kata lain dakwah bi al-hikmah merupakan suatu metode pendekatan komunikasi dakwah yang dilakukan atas dasar persuasif.

Dalam kitab al-Hikmah fi al dakwah Ilallah ta'ala oleh Said bin Ali bin wahif al-Qathani diuraikan lebih jelas tentang pengertian al-Hikmah, antara lain:

Menurut bahasa:

* adil, ilmu, sabar, kenabian, Al-Qur'an dan Injil
* memperbaiki (membuat manjadi lebih baik atau pas) dan terhindar dari kerusakan
* ungkapan untuk mengetahui sesuatu yang utama dengan ilmu yang utama
* obyek kebenaran(al-haq) yang didapat melalui ilmu dan akal
* pengetahuan atau ma'rifat.

Menurut istilah Syar'i:

* valid dalam perkataan dan perbuatan, mengetahui yang benar dan mengamalkannya, wara' dalam Dinullah, meletakkan sesuatu pada tempatnya dan menjawab dengan tegas dan tepat.