Seriously, its cool to have an online business.

The cool factor is like 234,892.

The business doesn’t necessary have to be an online retail store, but that’s what I have and it’s what I’ve been doing for the past 3-4 years.

When I first set up the website years ago and spread word about it on related message boards, I woke up the next day with about 10 orders. Although the amount wasn’t much (a bit over $100), it was still pretty darn cool.

It was my first experience of “making money while you sleep.” I giggled all the way to the bank - or rather, I giggled while I click away to transfer the money into my bank account.

“Just a couple more orders and I’ll break even!” Was my initial thought, imagine my joy when profit actually came knocking.

For those that have sold items on eBay before, it’s a very similiar experience as your first ever sale. Whether you made a profit or not, your efforts brought in some result, and it was pretty darn cool, wasn’t it?

So I’m totally for spreading this coolness. Got an idea? Notion? A niche you think you can fill? Go for it!

Don’t have any of those? Well neither does everyone else. Even though it helps, they’re not requirements to get going.

The point is: get going.

If you’ve always been itching to try it out too, now’s as good of a time as any. The start-up costs are very doable these days. You don’t have to invest thousands to get going. It’s also made mcuh easier by the many different options available out there. It will require a good amount of your time, but I think its worth it - if only in the educational sense.

So come on, everyone else is doing it, don’t you want to be cool too?
 

Disclaimer: I’m not liable if you lose your life savings trying to be cool.

Have you ever bought something online, and it took forever to arrive? You sent off multiple emails to the seller, only to get slow response - if any at all.

So the whole experience ticked you off big time, you get on your favorite online forum and rant about the merchant in question.

Well, the chance is little, but I may be that online store that just pissed you off.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I sell a particular widget on one of my site. I’ve been doing this for about 3+ years now and lately for whatever reason, my service has been slowing down. What made me realize this more than ever, is reading those customer complaints in a more open environment.

So yeah I did a quick Google search, and found my little store being discussed. It wasn’t completely negative, but overall I think I have an unreliable image. There’s the occasional mix of “this guy is great, don’t worry about it” and “got my widget the next day!” but most of the recent ones are along the lines of “bought it a week ago, still haven’t received it.”

Do’h!

So yeah, that’s been hurting my tiny sales, and it’s hurting my tiny income.

Moral of the story? If you do something half-ass, you’re going to get half-ass results.

I’ve been trying to improve and expand the business though. I’m setting up a new store front and domain; getting wholesale/drop-ship service set up with larger retailers; and messing with osCommerce, an awesome open source e-commerce solution.

But yeah I figured if I make a mention of it here, I can get my lazy butt to take some action.

Today’s Wall Street Journal contains a very interesting Journal Report on Business Schools. For those that don’t subscribe, the Journal Report from the WSJ are basically a series of articles focused on a particular topic.

One of the article that caught my attention is also available to read on WSJ.com’s free content section. Entitled: “The Full-Time Adavantage” with the description of “Students increasingly are purusing part-time, online, and executive MBAs. But recruiters have their doubts.”

It’s a good read, regardless if you agree with the recruiters view or not. So check it out before its gone! In the paper edition, they also provide lots of interesting data in pie-charts format. I’m going to see if I can get those pie-charts posted up. I duno why, but I love ‘em charts and diagrams. (Update: Got one set of the pie charts up).

Othe related articles can be found here.

I know a lot of us are pursuing alternative MBA programs. I hope it’s okay to mention names because I’m not trying to put anyone on stage here. But if I remember right, Jim from Blueprint for Financial Prosperity is pursuing a part-time MBA program, while Flexo at Consumerism Commentary is purusing an online MBA program.

If I can ever finish my bachelor degree, I may eventually join their rank and enroll myself in a MBA program too. Although at this point, I’m not sure if business school is the right choice for me. Mainly, I’m still unsure of my career path. How the heck do people choose what they want to do for a good part of their life!?

Anyhow, ranting aside.. I’ve replicated one set of the pie-chart from the article for you to look at. Online MBA program receive the most unfavorable view from recruiters. Remember though that these are the recruiter’s view on the programs, NOT of the students.

Assessing the Alternatives

How recruiters in the WSJ/Harris survey evaluated different types of M.B.A degrees when they were asked how effective they are in building students’ skill compared with full-time programs.

 

Want more statistics from the survey? Yeah I know you do. Here’s another:

Ranking the Attributes

Recruiters in the Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive survey rated each business school on these 20 student and school attributes. Here is the percentage of recruiters who ranked each attribute “very important.”

88% - Communication and interpersonal skills

87% - Ability to work well within a team

85% - Personal ethics and integrity

83% - Analytical and problem-solving skills

74% - Success with past hires

73% - Fit with the corporate culture

72% - Leadership potential

67% - Strategic thinking

63% - Likelihood of recruiting stars

54% - Well-rounded

52% - Willingness of the school’s students to relocate to the job location

46% - Student chemistry

36% - Students’ average number of years of work experienced

36% - Content of the core curriculum

31% - Overall value for the money invested in the recruiting effort

31% - School chemistry

27% - Faculty expertise

25% - Career Service Office

22% - Awareness of corporate-citizenship issues

21% - Student’s international knowledge and experience