Google Gold

1) A discussion of your general approach and strategy to search engine optimiation (SEO). What were some of the activities you did for each blog post to pursue SEO? 

Outside of what was asked for each assignment, I honestly did not even consider including anything else that could enhance my blog's SEO. I did use certain words like failure and entrepreneur in almost all of my posts though, and told my friends and family to check out my posts. 

2) What were your keywords. How did you select those keywords? Did you change or refine your keywords through the semester?

The keywords I mainly used were entrepreneur, entrepreneurship and failure. They all have a common theme, but I did not include those words in every post. 

3) How did you use social media to enhance your SEO efforts? What your your surprises or general impression of using social media to improve your blog's profile? Was social media generally receptive of your blog, or did it get ignored?

I did not really use social media, but I do know how powerful it is and how helpful it can be when starting a business. 

4) What was your most "viral" post? In other words, which post obtained the most traffic? Why do you think?

My most viral post was probably the post about celebrating failure. I think it was the most viral because it is such a foreign concept to so many people, they usually despise failure, so someone saying to celebrate it would catch someone's eye. 

5) Finally, did you make it to the first page of Google results for your keywords? If not, what page of results did you make it to?

I looked and scrolled through many pages but could not find my blog using any of my key words. 

Week 14 Reading Reflection

What surprised me the most about this week's reading was how important having a social-support system is when creating a business. Failure is a common occurrence when you are an entrepreneur, and having a system that would help you overcome failure is extremely important. I didn't really find anything in this reading that I didn't understand. I would ask the author: what are some way to avoid making unethical decisions? I would also ask, how do you recover from making an unethical decision? I did not disagree with anything.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

Looking back at my first very short interview with an entrepreneur, I actually still really like the three questions that I chose to ask him. I don't think I would change them if I had to do it all over again. I learned quite a bit about entrepreneurship and also about myself.

I could not record this interview because the entrepreneur, Juan Fernandez de Castro, lives in Miami and I did not have a chance to go down and meet up with him for this assignment. So I called him and I summarized the questions and answers.

1. What was the biggest failure that you had to overcome when starting your business?
When I first started out in my business (the business of selling shoes, especially boots), I tried to sell my shoes in big ticket retailers like Macy's and Dillards, after a while I found out the hard way that I had to sell the shoes on my own for a while and show the retailers that these shoes could actually turn a profit.

2. What has been your biggest accomplishment to date, regarding your entrepreneurial self?
Being able to make enough money to send my children off to college debt free.

3. What is your advice to a person who plans to become an entrepreneur in the future?
Learn how to weather the storm, through the ups and the downs, and just stay confident in yourself.

I felt more prepared and confident when asking the entrepreneur these questions. I felt like I could better understand the message he was trying to convey, and I think it'll have a lasting impact on my life.

Celebrating Failure

I was on an intramural basketball team this semester in the competitive league, where that are some really good teams. My team had some really good players and skill-wise, we could definitely compete with most of the teams. We started the season 0-5, and were playing horribly. Each game we tried a new offense and a new defense but could not get anything going and the scoreboard really showed it. During our 6th game, we finally found a good system, and implemented it in our games. We finally won a game, and after that game regained our confidence and won the next 6 in a row. Instead of just giving up on our season, we put our heads together and finally found something that worked. This class has taught me to really learn from my mistakes, grow, and keep persevering in the face of failure. I am definitely more inclined to take a risk now than I was in the beginning of this semester.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

The biggest surprise to me, was that Facebook managed to raise $16 billion it its IPO! I really enjoy learning about the stock market, and I had no idea that Facebook was able to raise to much during its IPO, I think that's incredible. One thing that I found really confusing was the concept of "rollups", even after reading that section a couple of times, I still can't fully grasp the concept. I would ask the author what his most effective way to value a firm is. I would also ask him if he bought stock in Facebook during its IPO. There is nothing I really thought the author was wrong about.

My Exit Strategy

After multiple years of profitability, and once my company becomes valuable enough, I plan to sell it, and use the proceeds to open my own investment banking firm or stock brokerage firm. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to become an investment banker and I feel like once I have accumulated enough capital, I'll be able to open my own firm, and with my finance degree from UF, have the knowledge it takes to make it successful. I love the entire industry of investment banking, and I feel like I would really thrive in that industry. It is one of my passions. I think that my exit strategy would definitely affect the way I conducted business while I owned this venture. I would be so caught up with adding as much value to the firm as possible, in order to sell it for the most amount of money. 

Week 12 Reading Reflection

One thing that surprised me about the reading was the amount of work and planning that goes into venture ideas. Nothing really confused me about this reading. I would ask the author, what is the most effective way to create a venture. I would also ask, if there is a way to become more creative. I do not disagree with anything that the author wrote.