Google Gold

1) SEO Strategy

My SEO strategy was just to include as many commonly searched words in my posts as possible. For example, in my Idea Napkin posts, I included the words "anxiety," "app," and "relief" as many times as I could. I also googled "anxiety relief" and tried to keep track of the most used words in the top search results. I tried to incorporate these terms into my posts as well. I did not tend to focus on the blog titles for SEO, which I probably should have done.

2) Keywords

Like I said in number 1, I used keywords that I believe to be the most commonly searched terms on Google. I also searched for things such as "calming app" and "stress relief app" and tried to notice the words that those search results were using and tried to include those in my posts as well. At the beginning of the semester, my keywords were more general because my business idea was not as refined. Towards the end of the semester, it became more specific and more frequent.

3) Social Media

Unfortunately, I did not use social media as much as I should have to promote my blog. I did share it on Twitter and got a few people to visit, but most people ignored it. However, I wish I would have shared it on more platforms because social media can be used as a huge driving factor to get viewers of your page. I think people really underestimate the power of social media in this regard. Once you share something, it could reach literally millions of people.

4) Most viral post

My post that received the most views was my Idea Napkin No. 1. I think this was mainly because I tried to use as many commonly searched terms as possible in my post. I tried to tailor it to people searching for stress or anxiety relief tactics, and I think it worked pretty well.

5) Did I make it to the first page of Google?

When searching the terms "anxiety relief" and "stress relief app," I unfortunately did not make it to the first page of Google. However, when I searched the name of my blog I was on the first page. I think if I had tailored my blog post titles a little more to SEO, then I would have made it on the first page with both searches. I think I I would have used social media a little more to my advantage I would have made it as well.

Week 13 Reading Reflection

Something I found surprising about the reading was the section on the Due Diligence Evaluation. I never really thought about the fact that an entrepreneur should lay out everything on paper in detail when considering the acquisition on a venture. I think this is really smart because then an entrepreneur can really look at all the details and figure out their's companies' true worth.

One section that was confusing to me was the section on the adjusted tangible book value. I'm not exactly sure how to conduct this book value assessment and what it means for a company.

If I was able to ask 2 questions to the author, they would be 1) how exactly do you conduct an adjusted tangible book value and 2) what is a price earnings ratio used for?

I pretty much agreed with everything the author said. An entrepreneur really has to take a lot of things into account once they begin their business venture. I never really realized how in-depth and detailed it needed to be as well. I think any entrepreneur needs to really think about this before the decide to begin a venture, because it could make or break you.

Celebrating Failure

1) Tell us about a time this past semester that you failed.

I am taking a Writing Fundamentals class this semester and the first part of the class was all about grammar rules. I thought I knew grammar pretty well because I always seemed to do very well on writing assignments. However, this section of the class turned out to be really hard for me and I failed a few quizzes about certain grammar rules.

2) Tell us what you learned from it.

I was really hard on myself about this and started to feel like I was a really bad writer, which is kind of bad since my major is Journalism. But I did learn that I should pay more attention to the mechanics behind my writing and that I should ALWAYS proofread everything. I also learned that just because some grammar rules are a little difficult, that doesn't mean I am a bad writer and I shouldn't be so hard on myself.

3) Reflect, in general, on what you think about failure.

Failure is essential to success. If you don't find out what doesn't work, then how will you ever find out what does? I tend to be a little hard on myself whenever I experience failure. I immediately start blaming myself and think "why can't I do this right?" However, I should really be thinking "how can I do it better next time?" This class hasn't changed my perspective on failure a whole lot, but I have realized that I need to be better at searching for other opportunities to improve what hasn't worked before. I do think I am a little more likely to take a risk now than I was four months ago, and I hope to continue expanding my horizons and looking for better opportunities.

My Exit Strategy

1) My plan for MyCalm in the future would be to stay with it until I retire. If my company takes off as much as I think it would, I would want to stay committed to it.

2) Because of my passion for helping people manage their anxiety, I would want to stay with it and continue to work help as many people as I can. I wouldn't want to sell MyCalm because I think it would do best if it was run by someone who can connect with customers. Because I have anxiety, I know what works for people and what doesn't, and I can understand their needs.

3) My strategy has definitely influenced other decisions I have made about MyCalm. For example, I have decided to expand it to include doctors who can use the app's "calming log" to check on their patients and see how they are doing in terms of managing their anxiety. This way, it can have a lasting impact on the patient's life. It has also influenced my decision about my opportunity because I have expanded it to not only include people who have anxiety, but to include people with depression disorders as well.

Week 12 Reading Reflection

The section I found particularly interesting in the chapter was the section about flaws entrepreneurs often have in their business venture. The one that stuck out to me the most was the "failure to explicitly communicate the venture's strategy to employees." It is extremely important to let all employees know what the strategy is so that they can form their work to that strategy for the good of the company. Communication is key in any new business venture.

Something that was confusing to me was the section about the entrepreneurial strategy matrix model. It wasn't clear to me exactly how the model works and how it explains entrepreneurial strategy.

If I were to ask two questions to the author, I would ask 1) what are some tips on how to strategize properly, and 2) how does the matrix model explain the entrepreneurial strategy?

There really wasn't anything in the reading that I disagreed with. Starting on any business venture can be a very overwhelming experience. Entrepreneurs often make mistakes by not informing others who are involved or failing to completely grasp everything they need to do. Over all, the reading was very interesting when considering the beginnings of business building.

Venture Concept No. 1

Approximately 40 million adults in the United States today have been diagnosed with some kind of anxiety disorder. Basically anxiety is a mental illness that causes the brain to release adrenaline in the body at random times, which can cause panic attacks. These panic attacks are scary, and often make people feel isolated and alone. Among college students, the diagnoses of anxiety and depression disorders are skyrocketing, mostly due to the increased amounts of stress from school work. There have even been reports of college students whose anxiety developed into schizophrenia. As of right now, people with anxiety are relying on doctors and therapists to manage their illness. This illness will always be in existence, so this opportunity will always be there. In addition, being someone who has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, I can definitely attest to the fact that there is a surprising lack of services out there dedicated to helping people manage their illness. My business concept centers around this question: What if there was a mobile application that will allow these millions of people all over the country to manage their illness at their fingertips?

My innovation to answer this question is an app called MyCalm. MyCalm is an anxiety-relieving app that is dedicated to helping people with anxiety disorders manage their disease. Upon opening the app, the user encounters a menu with all the options available. Options include: a 5-step calming process, a 24 hour help line, classical music, nature scenes, calming games, and a social media function to allow people with anxiety to connect with others and build a support group. The app is tailored to any kind of help the user needs. Therapists will be on standby on the help line in case the user needs to be talked through a panic attack, the 5-step calming process helps people in the midst of a panic attack, and the other functions provide the user with a more laid-back stress relieving experience. The app will cost 99 cents in the App Store. There will also be advertisements to help with making money as well, with an upgradeable version that will cost $1.99 without advertisements.

MyCalm will help people with anxiety in major ways. Often, people who have anxiety will feel lost because they do not know how to control their thoughts. MyCalm not only provides ways to manage their illness, it provides them with a support group as well; something that they would not normally have otherwise. Customers will switch to this product because there really isn’t another comparable service out there. MyCalm is a simple and organized way for people to manage their illness effectively. Because of this need, I don’t think it would be very hard at all to get people on board with my product. Competitors are slim, and none of them have 24 hour help lines or social media functions, which is a big weakness on their part. Packaging and the business location won’t play a huge role in my venture because it is a service. However, customer support would play a huge role because the services we provide are tailored to people’s specific needs in terms of their illness. Customers will have a chance to submit reviews on the app as well as contact a customer service representative in case the services are not to their liking. My business forming from this app would include coders to provide maintenance on the app, researchers to keep up with trends in mental health, and directors and other leadership positions to implement changes to the app. Numbers of employees could reach pretty high depending on how popular the app would get.

I think my most important resource is my passion. Being someone who has anxiety, I am able to connect on a personal level with my customers. I know exactly what is proven to work and what doesn’t. I know exactly what it feels like to feel alone with your illness, and I want to eliminate this terrible feeling for as many people as I can. This passion fuels my business venture in that I will do whatever it takes to help my target customers in any way that I can.

The next step for the venture would be to add a separate function in the app for doctor use. Here, the doctor can make schedules for breathing exercises, or even keep track of the patient’s progress as they continue to use the app. Making the app compatible with doctors can be a huge help because the doctor can more effectively understand the patient’s day-to-day calming practices.

In five years, I would really like to be reaching at least 1 million users. Through extensive outreach and advertising to doctors and patients alike, I really think I can reach this goal. In the next decade, I would really like to be reaching 5 million or more users. As an entrepreneur, I would like to be running MyCalm at a national level with my app available across all kinds of devices. In the next decade I would even like to have the potential to expand this internationally so I can continue to help people manage their anxiety around the world.

Week 11 Reading Reflection

Something that I found interesting about the reading was the section about the different types of innovation. The different type of innovation are disruptive, radical and architectural. It was interesting thinking about how different kinds of innovations affect the world in different ways. For example, in disruptive innovation, someone who invents something new in the market will disrupt the business of others in that same market. This is something I just never really thought of about innovation.

Something that was confusing to me in the reading was the section on managing trade-offs. Reading this section, I wasn't quite sure how to manage these trade-offs as much as I understood what exactly they were.

If i were to ask two questions to the author, they would be 1) how EXACTLY do you manage the trade-offs you described, and 2) what are some tips for people who want to be able to become more innovative?

Something I disagreed with about the reading was when the author said that only senior leaders in the organization can set the innovation strategy. I think any and all members of an organizations should have the opportunity to be innovative and contribute their ideas on what should be done next. My reasoning is that even the people at the very bottom could have incredible creative abilities. Everyone should be given the chance at being innovative.