Corporate Blogging: A new marketing communication tool for companies

Nowdays there is not just the personal blog, corporate blog are also widely used by executives and senior managers who have some level of authority in the company. They create the blog to promote their own company including the history or background information, their sales products and services and so on. A corporate blog is are blogs published by or with the support of an organization to reach that organization's goals.. Corporate blogs can be classified into six different categories. Each category shares common characteristics and the blog content can be expected to differ between the categories. Furthermore, there're differences in terms of target groups and purposes.Enterprise blogs can be external - sales blogs, relationsip blogs, branding blogs) and internal (knolwedge blogs, collaboration blogs, culture blogs).

The purpose of sales blogs is to market or sell products/services, make citizens aware of public services, get donations for charities or political parties etc.Relationsip blogs have the purpose of creating, upholding or strengthening relationships. Branding blogs is to strengthen the brand, the profile, of the publishing organization or individuals within it. Knolwedge blogs is to give employees information and insights relating to their work assignments; news, business intelligence, reports about ongoing projects etc. Purpose of Collaboration blogs is to provide a working team with a tool for research, collaboration and discussion.Culture blogs is to strengthen organizational culture. Typically through informal content of social or non-work related character.

From the corporate blogging, leaders can communicate directly with customers, suppliers and investors, as well as employees, helping disseminate and explain strategy. Blogs give the writer an opportunity to answer critics in a controlled forum.corporate blogging can also help to compared with conference or printed memos to all staff, enterprise blogs are highly cost effective. employees can share their ideas freely in an honest voice brings the blogging companies new connections and generate trust which will lead to business opportunities galore.besides, blogs have a broad impact on the nature of online media by giving an opportunity to publish words, pictures and - ultimately - multimedia to the web without specialised geek skills.A well written blog can give a human face to an otherwise anonymous enterprise. They boost your search engine rankings if you add fresh content on a regular basis. Google and other search engines rewards sites that are updated often, that link to other sites and most importantly, that has many inbound links. On top of that, people are far more likely to give great feedback if they know someone specific is listening. The power of these feedback loops can generate big benefits.Blogs' diary format gives a sense of immediacy, and regular posting soon creates a large, searchable database of information hyperlinked to extra relevant material.They mark your company as authentic and forward-looking.If updated consistently, they establish you as a thought leader in your industry niche.Blogs are ideal for internal collaboration being a workspace where project members keep each other updated without wasting time writing reports or searching the Outlook inbox.Being informal, blogs can also provide you with a measure of value. Publish an idea and see if it generates interest.If your blog has a positive effect on your company’s reputation then it is very beneficial to your career.

Things To Take Note To Prevent E-Auction Fraud When A Consumer Participating In An E-Auction

Virtual auctions on the internet. E-auction is defined as the seller sells the product or service to the person who bids the highest price. For sellers, online auctions open up new sales channels for new products and offer buyers favorable purchasing conditions. Nowadays, virtual auction on internet. Online auctions have effectively created a giant virtual marketplace where people can gather to buy, sell, trade and check out the goods of the day. This is easily and conveniencely for both sellers and buyers.

Nowadays, there have many website conducting the auction, but sometime the buyers cannot differenciate that whether the website is safe or not, this is the main concern for the buyers. So, the buyers must know how to prevent it. Beside that, they have some of the prevention methods for e-auction fraud; this can give information to the buyers in order to prevent these types of fraud.

The are three prevention methods for e-auction fraud that I want to discuss. It includes Escrow services, feedback forum and verification system etc.
1)Escrom services.
An escrow service is a licensed and regulated company that collects, holds, and sends a buyer's money to a seller according to instructions agreed on by both the buyer and seller. Typically, once the buyer receives and approves the item from the seller within an agreed time frame, the escrow service then sends the payment to the seller. The buyers send the payment to escrow service rather than send to seller,so that the buyers no need to concern about the fraudulent happen. Escrow is available for any purchase, but typically is used for purchases of $500 or more.
2)Feedback forum
This Feedback Forum is the place for all your questions and comments about Sapling information, including any technical problems with the main site or Forums.Beside that, it can help the buyers and sellers to build up their online trading reputations. It also provides the users with ability to comment on their experience with others.
3)Verification system
Verification is a way to confirm the identity and evaluate the condition of an item. Besides that, the third parties will also evaluate and identify an item through a variety of means.
4) Physical Inspection
If the sellers who provide the physical inspection, this can attract many people to buy the good for those sellers. Providing for a physical inspection that can eliminate many problems. This is especially true for collectors’ item. When the seller and buyer are in the same vicinity, it is easy to arrange for such inspections. EBay also got provide this type of service and offers inspection services on the regional basic, so buyer can arrange for nearby inspection.

In the conclusion, people must become smart buyers not only for the e-auction, but also in the life, so that can prevent for anything happen such as e-auction fraud.

E-Government in Malaysia: It's implementation so far and citizen's adoption strategies

The Electronic Government initiative was launched to "lead the country into the Information Age". It aims to improve both how the government operates internally as well as how it delivers services to the people of Malaysia. It seeks to improve the convenience, accessibility and quality of interactions with citizens and businesses; simultaneously, it should improve information flows and processes within government to improve the speed and quality of policy development, coordination and enforcement. The Electronic-Government was started since the initiation of the MSC Malaysia(formally known as Multimedia Super Corridor) which conceptualised in 1996.

The seven pilot projects of the Electronic Government Flagship Application are as follows;
1. Project Monitoring System (SPP II)
2. Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS)
3. Generic Office Environment (GOE)
4. Electronic Procurement (EP)
5. Electronic Services (E-Services)
6. Electronic Labour Exchange (ELX)
7. E-Syariah
http://www.mait.com/admin/enews_images/MAIT%20Country%20Intelligence%20eNews96_37.pdf

Current application of E-Government in Malaysia includes:

Elctronic Filing

e-Filing is an application on filling and filing income tax returns electronically via the internet, which is an alternative to the usual manual from submission. It was first introduced in 2003 by Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN). This e-Filing application can be used by all taxpayers who have access to the internet.

https://spsd.hasil.gov.my/PKI/e/mainpage.html

Renewal of roadtax online

MyEG Services Berhad is a company that provides electronic link between the government and the public. One of the services provided is online roadtax renewal service. With just a minimal fee by the service provider, it is available exclusively from Motortakaful. For further info on MyEG kindly visit www.myeg.com.my

However, there are several problems using E-Government. Firstly, E-Government is not very user-friendly especially to the senior citizens who are not expert in technology materials which makes them hard to perform the E-Government service. Besides that, there are few complaints about the responds given by the E-Government which is not very effective and is is uncomparable with some private institutions. Moreover, alot of them is encountering hacking problem which their personal data was stolen.

To encounter the problem stated above, firstly, the government should distribute a user guide to those senior citizen so that they can refer to the user guide when they encounter problems by using E-Government application. Secondly, the government should encourage their family members to teach the senior citizen in their family on how to use operate the system. Thirdly, the government should improve the effectiveness on the respond given to the user by making referrence from other source. Lastly, the government should strengthen the security so that the hackers are not able to hack into the consumers' personal data.

Review a local e-commerce site: Blooming.com.my~

www.blooming.com.my is the local e-commerce site has been established in Malaysia and began operations since 1981, it allows the internet users to have online internet trading for the many types of products and services that it provides like flowers such as hand bouquets, potted flowers. Furthermore, the basket arrangements such as fruits baskets, gourmet baskets and various types of hampers, and snacks such as cookies, cakes, quiches, chocolates, candies, wines and pies and other products.

Due to the website having a lot of pictures of the products that provided for the consumers to have a look on it, Therefore the download speed is quite slow. The site design of this website is simple and dullness as it does not emphasizes on the layout and further it is difficult to draw the consumers’ attentions to view on it as the titles are small which is not so attractive. Nevertheless, it is having the colorful and unique designs of their products which are quite attractive. Moreover, this website is user friendly as it has FAQ(frequently asked questions) section that answers the consumers about the problems relating to placing an order and delivery guidelines. It also provides the search engine to help the users easily find what they are interesting in. Consumers can also choose to shop either by products or by occasions as they have arranged it in their home webpage. Moreover, also provides customer with a secure shopping carts so that customer can shop safely. Consumers can make the payment for the purchases in various ways such as through online credit card, online banking, mobile payment, pay using Kawanku ATM, open bill payment and also cash payment in their retail outlets.

The application of pre-paid cash card for consumers

Prepaid cash card is similar to debit cards. Both debit cards and prepaid cash cards draw funds from customer’s bank account, usually a checking account. Besides that, the main advantage for prepaid cash card is no debt risk, that means with a prepaid cash card there is no chance of spending too much as you are limited to the amount you put on your card.

In Malaysia the most famous prepaid cash card is Touch-n-Go card. This card used mainly for transportation and all toll collection, but now is expanding their applications and services towards the retail purchase, starting with particular the fast-food industry. Besides that, the user can buy such items such as burger, doughnut or fast-food from 21 outlets in the Klang Valley under a pilot scheme for the Touch ‘n Go card which is currently a toll, public transport and parking paying device. Moreover, the outlets which are from A&W, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donut, 7-Eleven, Carrefour hypermarkets, Caltex convenience stores and Cineleisure. In this development, it is bring a lot of convenience for users who are pay for transportation and all toll collection as well as the fast-food by using the Touch-n-Go card.


In Hong Kong, this country also provides a lot of prepaid cash card, and one of the most common cards is the Octopus card. The Octopus Card is something that will almost certainly become a part of your everyday life if you are spending any time in Hong Kong. It is a credit card sized rechargeable payment card used for a variety of things but is primarily used for public transport such as Star Ferry, Buses, some minibuses, convenience stores such as 7-11, supermarkets, fast food outlets, or public telephone booths. The users just need to bring the Octopus card and no need to carry coins when making the payment. Since, there are now over 10 million Octopus Cards in circulation, which exceeds Hong Kong's population of 7 million! These can show that, the users are supported the Octopus card because it is useful in their life.

In foreign country like Singapore, they have developed the performance of pre-paid cash card since a few years ago. The pre-paid cash card in Singapore like POSB MasterCard Debit. POSB MasterCard Debit card is the all-in-one payment card for everything you want out of like such as the users can use this card for shopping with friends, treating friends to dinner or enjoying a holiday overseas. In addition, the users also can enjoy instant access to their money anytime and anywhere.

In conclusion, the application of pre-paid cash card is become popular nowadays; it is because of convenient and easy to bring the money instead of using the pre-paid cash card. In addition, the pre-paid cash card is a no debt risk, and it also will help you to prevent what your expenses is greater than the income.

Mobile Payment Systems in Malaysia : Its potentials and consumers' adoption strategies

Nowsday, mobile payment system is increasingly being adopted by Malaysian. What is mobile payment? Mobile payment which is also referred to as mobile web payment or WAP billing, is the collection of money from a consumer via a mobile device such as their mobile phone, SmartPhone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or other such device. There are two primary models for mobile payments, that is Premium SMS based transactional payments and Mobile web payments (WAP). Mobile payment can be used to purchase any number of digital or hard goods, such as music, videos, ringtones, games, wallpapers and books, magazines, tickets and others.

Potential of Mobile payment

By using mobile payment, the user making transactions of payments just through a mobile device to pay for goods and services anytime without having cash on hand, cheques or even physically present a store. Mobile payment provides a more convenient way to pay for their bills, just by a few clicks on mobile device, the user may be able to make payment through their mobile. Instead of make payment by going to the particular place, as the mobile payment is operating 24 hours everyday, the user can make payment at anytime, anywhere they want, they can even make payment either at home or their office. Thus, this can eliminates the hassle to queue up just to pay for the bills and therefore can save user’s time.On top of that, The personal details and payment history of the user are protected. Besides that, users account is protected from hacker or terrorists because the users need to key in passwords in order to login to their account. User does not need to go through sophisticated steps in order to make payment by their mobile device. They just have to activate their phones by logging into websites. After registering their mobile phone numbers, they can enjoy the services, after registered it, there just a few clicks and they are able to make payment through their mobile device.

Consumers' Adoption Strategies

Different classes of people use mobile payment system for different purpose. Most common mobile payment system used is mobile banking; most busy working adults usually use mobile banking to pay for their bills, such as electricity bill and water bill. Besides, they also use mobile banking to make transaction and pay for their credit card debts, by doing so; they can save their time because they don’t need to queue up at the bank.

Causes & Prevention Methods of Credit Card Debts~

Causes of Credit Card Debts
Lifestyle
Nowadays, People are likely to live in the lifestyles that they preferring even they may spend more than they earn. Therefore, they find that using credit cards is the one of the way to afford their lifestyle. For example, they may prefer to have luxury living style such as to having decoration, limousine, having meal in high-class restaurant, braded clothes and so on which are the causes of credit card debt to be a lot when they unable to pay the debts.

Consumption

Due to the convenience of using credit card, people no need to bring a lot of cash goes for shopping. What they need just to bring along the light and handy credit card and purchase the merchandises and services that they want rather than to worry the insufficient cash to be consume. As a result, they would not realize how much they actually expended at the time, they will only know until the bill send from credit card bank which may causes a lot of debt need to pay.

Poor money management
Due to people are unaware to conduct a monthly spending plan and do not keep track of monthly bills and they may expensed the unexpected expenditures. People have never realized their spending on the items that are useless and do not have any value in their life. Thus, it has lead to a rise in debts by using credit cards.

How to control credit card debts

1. Avoid impulse purchases. This is a great way to save money to help credit card holders get put of debt. Only purchase items that really needed. Do not buy it if it not a necessity. An impulse purchase will only out the credit card holders further away from their main goal of being debt free.

2. Photocopy the credit card offer, including the interest rate and terms and create a letter to the credit card company/companies stating that the card holders have the idea of thinking to switching to their competition because they are offering a far more reasonable interest rate. Due to credit card companies do not want to lose card holders’ businesses. Nine times out of ten they will match or even offer a lower rate than the competition has offered.

3. Pay doubles the minimum payment if affordable. The minimum payment usually pays just enough to cover the interest and a little more that pays down the balance. Paying extra will pay the balance of debt more quickly.

4. Pay off smaller balances first. It is common for a person to try to focus on their cards with larger balances first. Pay off the smaller ones. It will take less time and card holders will feel a sense of satisfaction when they have actually completed their goal. This will boost the card holders’ confidence and make it easier to tackle the higher balances.

5. Cuts up the cards so that do not tempted to use them and only save one card for emergencies.