Facebook, Happiness & Stock Market

Can you even imagine that Facebook sentiment has the ability to predict statistically significant and economically meaningful changes in the daily returns and trading volume in the equity market??

Well as records show it is true, it does happen so in the US equity market. A one-standard deviation increase in GNH (Gross National Happiness) predicts a statistically and economically significant average increase in next-day gross stock market return of 0.12%. This is purely a relation of the investment sentiments of the user and the stock market activity. Facebook publishes daily GNH (Gross National Happiness) which helps in analysis of the next-day stock market return. Mostly these Facebook sentiments are used to forecast returns among small-cap and growth stocks that are consistent with the noise trader models. Also another amazing fact is that, the assessment of GNH (gross national happiness) was designed in an attempt to define an indicator that measures quality of life or social progress in more holistic and psychological terms than only the economic indicator of gross domestic product (GDP).

Well in India there is a long way to go for Facebook statistical reports to predict the NSE or BSE equity levels as most of the investors don’t even use Facebook rather don’t have Facebook accounts, but nevertheless felt this topic interesting to write about so I went ahead and did it anyway... Also, keep in mind Orkut used to be the undefeated leader in the social network in India. No one came even close to challenging them until Facebook came along. Now, Google also have their own social network, which may or may not mean the end of Facebook's reign.

My study was base on the following Source : http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/business_law

Please leave down your suggestions and reviews. Thank You.

The Science of Social Media

The Web is becoming social, and companies are jumping to capture the investment rupees. The real science of social media is about why people behave the way they do online and how we as marketers can leverage that behavior to engineer contagious ideas. Also there is a social media economics which helps us valuate business models and advertising effectiveness. It's the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of content amongst online social outlets. Thus, market research, web development, innovation, software animation, robust marketing strategies combined together form the science of social media.

Barista

Barista Offers :
Coffee
Food
Merchandise
Music
Gift certificate

Promotions :
Zoom macha de Corner – Spot the voice contest
Barista Trump Card – 1 beverage free on 4 beverage
Classy Watches - Timex Valentines promotion
Lux-urious - Lux Body wash
Corner it - Close-up corners

Facts on Barista :
Specialty coffee retailer offering high quality beverages and food accompaniments

Pioneers in establishing the concept of "organized coffee retailing as an experience for the customer" at a national level in India

Strong brand equity - connoting "premium" experience at reasonable cost

Currently, amongst the leading food retail chains, in terms of number of outlets, and the largest specialty coffee chain

Wide presence with 130 outlets across three countries including Dubai and Sri Lanka

Key Shareholders- Sterling Group of Companies and Tata Coffee Ltd.

Coffee :
The Barista House Blend
Steaming hot espressos
Cappuccinos
Lattes made from the finest Arabica beans
Fruit smoothies
Chilled granites
Cold and frozen coffees

Facilities :
Plans to add Laptop Surfing to its Wi-Fi enabled Stores.

Will buy Laptops & Recently implemented
Intel’s Wi-Fi Solutions in 70 Outlets Across the Country.

Social Media Strategies

As buyers and consumers become more savvy with the internet, we need to be part of the conversation and be there when they are looking to buy. We need a specific strategy to reach buyers as cold-calling and traditional advertising has become less and less effective in the 21st century. We need to be there when someone asks online about our product or industry.

Consumers and companies are more savvy and have become more immune to marketing that does not meet their interests. Granted, there are changes in social consumer behavior and technology that must be accounted for, but an adaptive online marketing strategy accounts for those changes anyway. Focusing solely on social media or as an independent activity is a disadvantage. Companies of the future will need to take a hyper-niche approach to finding leads for their sales team or attracting new customers. Which means companies will need a mix of many Internet marketing technologies: Online community building, social media, SEO, SEM, reputation management and semantic web strategies.

All of us know what social media is. Social Media is simply what you use everyday to communicate with our friends and family. Social Media examples are Facebook, Twitter, Social Blogs, YouTube, etc and every other form of communication that is online. Social Media is one the most important and cost effective marketing tools for a business. Depending on your business situation, one can make the case that social media / social networking strategy could be integrated with strategies in:

HR
R&D
Product development
Brand Experience
Operations / Manufacturing
Communication
Marketing
Pricing
Advertising
Sales
Customer service
Channel management
Web / online
Logistics
Distribution
IT
Legal
Government relations
Finance

Technology That Empowers Me

Technology is the best thing that ever happened to mankind, this was the first thing that came to my mind when I was holding this awesome Canon 20x wide angle optical image power shot camera owned by a friend in my hands. I was so mesmerized with its quality and clarity that I thought why not write a blog on this, so here I am writing about it. Nowadays, technology is a great way to escape from reality and a way to be role models of some sort. It brings you power and encouragements in the society of technology that make things work great and are possible for many things you may think it would be impossible to achieve.

Nothing empowers me more than my laptop, digital cameras, i pod, 3D HD TV's, external hard drives and Sony play station player.

My Laptop - This is the heart of my empowerment. Without it, I would never have been able to start my own business. It is the most important item in the bunch that enables me to communicate with friends, create and post new blogs (like this one), communicate via email, Skype, phone, text and chat with clients. Everything I need to do can be done in the comfort of my home office. That’s the key.

Digital camera - The digital camera provides you every thing in conditions of photograph quality, high ISO with low noise, fantastic contact lenses and trendy. The best thing about it is that is helps us preserve memories that we once cherished with our loved one's, friends and family and also relive them again.

i pod - No face time and other fancy new stuff but it still rocks! This is the best music library that one can have and flaunt. This is the one way ticket to paradise.

3D HD TV's - These are simply amazing one can watch 3D movies now from their homes itself and that to without having to turn off the lights. The upside is it can be used as a secondary screen for a laptop/ PC too.

External hard drives - What would life be without a place to store all the data like Movies, Music, Series, Pictures, Work, Documents, Install Files and so much more. Without the External hard drives we would still be using DVD's.

Sony play station player - Its simply a gift for all the gamers who love video games and want more and more new action each day.

Yes, Technology does empower me so does the internet, without it I would not know as much as I do.

Just Simply Coffee

This post is for all the Coffee Lovers... We love our coffee! Don't we...?? That goes without saying, it tastes great, perks us up and makes everyone else bearable on a Monday morning...But its real benefits make us love it even more.... I have some interesting facts about coffee explaining why we should just simply continue drinking and loving our coffee...
Here they are :

a. It helps reduce headaches... As per research studies it has been proven that the caffeine content in coffee provides relief from headaches...

b. It prevents liver diseases... It seems like the more coffee people drink, the lower their incidence of cirrhosis and other liver diseases.

c. Coffee Reduces the risk of Diabetes, mainly more in Women. Coffee has some antioxidants (chlorogenic acid and quinides, specifically) which play a role in boosting the cells sensitivity to insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar..

d. It boosts your brain power... As per some studies it shows that coffee helps reduce risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as Parkinson’s disease. Coffee with the presence of antioxidants wards off brain cell damage and helps the neurotransmitters involved in cognitive function to work better.

e. It protects the heart... Moderate coffee drinkers have lower rates of stroke than non-coffee drinkers, an effect linked to coffee’s antioxidants. Coffee has more antioxidants per serving than blueberries, making it the biggest source of antioxidants in American diets. All those antioxidants may help suppress the damaging effect of inflammation on arteries. Immediately after drinking it, coffee raises your blood pressure and heart rate, but over the long term, it actually may lower blood pressure as coffee’s antioxidants activate nitric acid, widening blood vessels.

Thus, one should never give up on drinking coffee... In fact, I feel also the non-coffee drinkers should start having it now....

note: above information is based on secondary research alone... your corrections are welcomed...

Social Media at its Best when a Woman takes control....!!

Woman play a very vital role in shaping the medium (social media) as a whole. I will explain why as you read on further.... Almost everyone nowadays uses Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc where they share their info, photos, video, links, daily updates, etc .
If one would notice they would realize one striking difference between the amount of info shared by Men as compared to that shared by Women. I found it surprising so I researched more and found out that, its believed that Woman share about 40% more photos, video, links, etc than Men on the social media. Thus, Woman are likely to spend more time on these social media outlets and so can be very successful at it. Social media requires engagement and as it seems woman are good at it.
And now coming to tweets, re-tweets, status updates the Women tend to respond more and are more active than Men on the social mediums. Also, Women are also more likely to stay on topic in a channel, mostly forums and blogs (comments) in this instance. The women who post to blogs are the most actively engaged. They spend the most time online. Over 80% also participate in social networks like Facebook, and over one third of bloggers also participate in Twitter.
Social media is about human communication. It’s no secret that social media sites are dramatically changing the way we live and conduct our lives online. But, what this means to, and how this involves women is commonly overlooked. Perhaps surprisingly, women are online and interacting on social sites just as much — if not, more — than their male counterparts.

Hindi Proverbs and their English Equivalents

This post was made cause of a discussion I had with my Dad last evening during Dinner. We were debating on the differences in the original Chinese and the Indian Chinese cuisine and he kept saying to me Jaisa desh, vaisa bhes and instantaneously I replied In Rome do as the Romans do. I realized there are very fine similarities between a few Hindi and English proverbs.

So today my morning began searching the Internet for some Hindi proverbs which had some resemblance to the English one's. And I was astonished to witness such fine similarities. Thus, I thought to make a list of these few proverbs and publish it for you all to see.

Note: I could be wrong as I am no expert in either of the language but I felt it is a fun thing to do which others could also enjoy so I am sharing the same with you. Hope you enjoy reading it!

# Thota chana baje ghana - Empty vessels make more noise
# Taali ek haath se nahin bajti – It takes two to quarrel
# Ab pachatae kya jab chidiya chug gayi khet – No use crying over spilt milk
# Aage kuan peeche khaee – Between the devil and the deep sea
# Jahan chaah wahaan raha – Where there’s a will, there’s a way
# Apna Haat Jagannath - One's own hand is the Lord of universe
# Sou sonar ki ek lohar ki - A single blow of a blacksmith is equal to a hundred blows of a goldsmith
# Bhains ke aage been bajana - Reading a book to a Buffalo
# Chaar din ki chaandni phir andheri raat - Dark nights will return after these few moonlit nights
# Ek anaar, sau bimaar - There is a great demand for something in short supply
# Ghar ka bhedi lanka dhayey - Beware of the insider, for he can bring down the biggest setup
# Andhon main kana raja - Amongst calves handicapped cow is wise
# Anth bhala to sab bhala – All’s well that ends well
# Jale par namak chidakna - Rubbing salt on one’s wound
# Naach na jaane, aagan tedha – A poor worker blames his tools
# Doodh ka jala chaas bhi phook-phook kar peeta hai – Once bitten twice shy
# Garajne wale badal baraste nahin hain – Barking dogs seldom bite
# Door ke dhol suhavane lagte hain – The grass seems greener on the other side

Please leave some feedback or your corrections.

Should Pune Use Social Media?

I believe that the everyone can benefit from social media if its used responsibly. So my answer is yes. I love this topic because it gave me a fair idea of what my city of Pune, Maharshtra is doing with social media.

Social media outlets such as Facebook, twitter and YouTube help benefit the youth at large. For instance, on Facebook there’s not only a group for alumni of my high school and alumni of my YEAR in high school, but also a group of alumni of my high School Science Teacher. There are also several Schools these days that use such social media outlets to form a club or community for people to follow. Another good use of social media outlet (Twitter) would be to manage Admissions which could be also used to advertise things going on around campus or in the community, or events open to the community.

In my previous blogs about fast food chains I mentioned Pizza Hut as a good example for franchising. Well how is it so successful, here's the story. Pizza Hut has created its own community, using the internet and their website to allow people to place an order for delivery. Pizza Hut could benefit more further if they also use Twitter to post about lunch specials, daily specials, coupons, new promotions, new menu items, and so on. It could bring them more customers, or repeat customers who may not always think about going out for lunch. A coupon or special might entice me to get out to The Hut for lunch.

Most companies these days use social media and its various tools to maximize their business efforts. Social media gives people a way to connect locally which is more important now than it ever was. So returning to my question, my answer is yes Pune should use social media. I surely do want to know whats happening in Pune and get relevant updates from the social services. Social media is definitely a neat idea.

“The Modern Indian Wedding And Its Marketing”

Marriages are made in heaven but nowadays all that is changing. Marriages are becoming more of a showbiz. Marketing marriage is what the tourism industry is busy doing to attract visitors to India. All of this started with the famous Arum Nayar wedding hitting the headlines mainly because of its star power, this caught the eye of the minister Ambika Soni who officially declared that “Marriage tourism” would be used as a part of the Indian tourism to attract international visitor. This would encourage many visitors from abroad to come to India mainly to tie the knot just like how visitors visit Las Vegas mainly to get married, but unlike Las Vegas marriage in India would last more hopefully.

A foreign couple can learn more about India through marriage than anything else mainly because a wedding in India reflects Indian culture in its most vibrant colors, a colorful experience. Adding to that even the India honeymoon can be a memorable experience. India has a variety of wedding styles to choose from be it a Punjabi wedding, Rajasthan style, Gujrati wedding or the South Indian style. Also India has unlimited options in terms of food, clothing and music too.

Nowadays in India, most people seem to prefer love marriages to arranged ones. However, there are a few individuals who do prefer arranged marriages mainly due to the circumstances in their home but still would want a love marriage. The busy schedules of Individuals due to career and education do not leave sufficient time to date and find the perfect like minded partner. From my recent experience of my friends Rahul and Somya who were struggling to find a partner via the modern arranged way. Both were well settled in their careers and yet it was difficult for them to find their perfect match, then one fine day they met each other at a common friends party and exchanged numbers and decided to stay in touch and there you have it two years later the decided to get married - modern Indian wedding!

For as long as anyone can remember, weddings in India have been nothing but an occasion for the coupling of two families. Marriage tourism, therefore, has a great future. The modern Indian Wedding is the modern Indian love story.

Fast Food Chains

Fast food chains are the most common upcoming mid-scale establishments in India and throughout the world. Fast food chains are most commonly found near shopping malls and tourist areas. We would usually find them as a set of related restaurants having the same name located at different locations and under a shared corporate ownership or under franchising agreements. These chains of restaurant are built on a standard format and offer a standard menu. Although we would see a small difference as we go from one country to another mainly as the fast food chains adapt to the change in culture of the respective country they exist in. This is one of the policies a retail chain has to follow while doing business abroad.
The fast growth of retail chains has become an increasingly controversial trend worldwide. People have mixed opinions about their working styles. Fast food chains bring to us a wide range of cuisines at a reasonable price which can be afforded by all classes of the society. Well to some people who wonder about this phenomenon, their working is fairly simple frozen food that is shipped from a central location which is reheated and served by the restaurant staff, also adding to it more often the employees are paid very low wages. Pizza Hut is a good example of an international retail industry. Pizza Hut is an emerging chain of retailing in the food and service industry. Fast food chains are thus becoming a booming part of retail industry with growing sales every year.

FDI

Foreign direct investment combines both the aspects of international trade in goods and services and also the international financial flows, and is a phenomena more complex than either of these. As its name suggests, FDI first involves ownership of the assets of a firm: foreign direct investment is defined as the acquisition of 10% or more of the assets of a foreign enterprise. FDI involves the choice of a host country for these assets. The decision to invest depends on various conditions such as cost, professional access to local market, trade restrictions and other policies in the host country. FDI also involves the decision making activities of which to keep internal to a firm, and which to keep external: only the activities internal to a firm will be included in FDI, while other activities can be pursued by arms-length transactions between unrelated firms. A major factor of why companies look abroad for investment purposes is that domestic markets are becoming saturated and the rate of growth in these markets is slow. In order to survive companies expand internationally to increase their potential.
Foreign Direct Investment has its own Pros and Cons, I would first like to start with the Pros related to Foreign Direct Investment firstly, the country which attracts FDI as well as the country that performs FDI are both at major benefits like both are exposed to new technology and growth in their income. Secondly, direct employment as well as secondary employment is available for the people in the country where FDI takes place. Thirdly, there is reduction in imports and a growth in exports in country attracting FDI. Finally, the country attracting FDI is benefitted in terms of technology spillovers, training and competition. The Cons related to FDI are that the country attracting FDI may become a victim of dumping. FDI involves many risks like currency fluctuations, inflation risks, interest rate risks, etc. FDI can result into excess flow of foreign currency in the country attracting FDI. FDI does not translate automatically into the net foreign exchange inflows.