Analysis of Social Media Investment Opportunities and Risks Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of investment opportunities within the social media landscape. It begins by defining social media and highlighting its exponential growth, citing statistics on internet and social media user numbers. The report then delves into the financial aspects, exploring money-making strategies such as PPC advertising, CPM advertising networks, affiliate marketing, and job boards. It also outlines the potential costs associated with website creation, emphasizing that costs vary based on developer requirements. Furthermore, the report identifies and assesses the risks of investing in a social media website, including competition, the need for an experienced team, financial estimation challenges, and handling rejection. The author ultimately advises on investing in social media website creation, emphasizing the importance of an experienced and coordinated team. The report concludes with a reflection on a group presentation experience focused on social media promotion, highlighting challenges in teamwork, communication, and the impact of individual member dynamics on the overall outcome. The report includes several references from academic journals and online sources.

Business Skills 415336/1554830
Business Skills
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Table of Contents Page
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Social media can be determined as a tool through which organizations or individual
provide information or make people aware. According to the study made, it has been found that
the use of internet is increasing drastically and so the opportunity which prevail in it is also
tremendous. There are different types of strategies been adopted people or organizations in order
to increase their market share or in providing them with relevant information. With this respect,
it includes opportunities like PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising, CPM (Cost Per Mille) advertising
network, Affiliate marketing, Job boards, etc. In today's world, majority of transaction and
business is been operated through social media and it shows the huge benefit which prevail in the
market.
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INTRODUCTION
Present report is about investment opportunity in social media. This report covers,
understanding the term social media. Also, it covers potential cost involved in creating a website.
Lastly, it also includes the potential risk which is involved in developing website.
Findings and Analysis
Social media
Social media can be defined as a tool which mediates computer which allows
organizations or individuals to share ideas, information, videos and networks (Lin, Wang and
Wang, 2013). In other words, it can be determined as collection of different online
communication channels which enables one to interact with people from any part of the world.
For example, Facebook, Gmail, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, twitter, etc.
What is the international picture of the industry like?
The use of internet is highly growing and it as resulted to increase in social media website. The
total population of the world is 7.395 Billion among which there are about 3.419 Billion internet
users and 2.307 social media users (Global social media, 2016). This shows that around the
world approximately 28% of people use social media.
Form this data it can be stated that social media has a high international picture around the world
and the use of social website is increase at a tremendous rate.
What are the money making opportunities like in relation to the creation of a new social media
website?
There are many business opportunities when one creates new social media website. With this
respect, the following are the things which should be done in order to gain money through social
website:
PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising: There are different websites like Google AdSense, which one
of the most popular option (Dabbagh and Kitsantas, 2012). The user just need to sign up and
paste snippets code of the new social website. Google AdSense would serve contextual
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advertisements related to the new website and user will get to earn certain amount of money for
every click made.
CPM (Cost Per Mille) advertising network: This is similar to PPC networks, one difference is
that, the user will get paid according to the number of impressions or page views on the
advertisement which has been displayed on the new social media website. The user will be paid
when the impression goes above 1000.
Affiliate marketing: This one of the most popular practice use in internet and different social
sites. According to this practice, there is a merchant who would be willing to sell the product or
services directly or indirectly to people in exchange of commission (Tufekci and Wilson, 2012).
This types of advertisement are also called Cost per lead or Cost per action.
Job boards: There are many websites which wants to display job offers so that they get capable
employees. When new social website is developed, then developer can earn money through these
job providing agencies. The developer will be paid according to the size of the advertisement
which other firm want to display and it also depends upon number of time the advertisement has
to be displayed.
What are the potential costs involved in creating a website?
There are different types of websites which help to create websites. The price of the page is
determined based on the thing which are required by the person who want to make website
(Project Quote calculator, 2016). Below is an illustration on the basis of which people have to
pay for their website
This can be understood with the help of example. The illustration below help to understand the
price which is required in creating a website
From the above diagram, it can be stated that according to the demand of the developer the cost
will be determined. The total cost which will be incurred in developing a simple website this will
cost up to $25,000.
What are the potential risks of investing in this type of opportunity?
There are different types risk of investing in creating a new social website. In this context, the
following are few of the risks:
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Competitors: There are many social sites which provide similar services. It is very important to
develop the services which would be new for customers (Stephen and Galak, 2012). In this
context, it is essential to gain competitive advantages and in this case, it is only possible when
something unique is developed.
Inexperienced team: In order to develop an effective website, it is very important to have an
experienced which would support to achieve the desired goals and objectives (Stephen and
Galak, 2012). In addition to this, risk arises when team member do not have proper coordination
and when they do not share information to each other. Besides, it is essential to have a proper
business model with the help of which proper path could be designed which would help the
achieving the objectives.
Estimation of finance: Finance is very important and individual who wants to state a website
should estimate the total amount which would help to create a website (Dabbagh and Kitsantas,
2012). Risk arises when the estimation of finance goes wrong.
Handling rejection: There are cases in which people may face problems or rejection and this
should be handled effectively. Issues arises when members fail to handle the rejections.
Lack of using new or updated technology: Changes in technology takes place frequently and it
is very important for the people who want to develop a website should make use of update or
new technology (Tufekci and Wilson, 2012). This will help them provide better services and will
also support in achieving the goals and objectives effectively.
Do you advise on investing in the creation of a social media website?
Yes, I do advise on investing in the creation of a social media website. The following are the
details for the type of team which should be created:
Experienced members: In order to develop a new social media website it is very important to
have a team in which all the members have experience (Stephen and Galak, 2012). This will help
to get different types of suggestion with the help of which barriers can be identified efficiently.
Experiences member possess different types of skills which would be helpful in achieve the
objectives.
Coordination: Even if the member of the team have experience but it is very important to have
coordination so that they will be able to perform their roles and responsibilities effectively.
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Further, it is essential to have a free environment in which issues or problems can be shared
freely.
CONCLUSION
From this report, it can be articulated that among the total population of the world about 28% of
the people use social media. It helps them to connect with other who are at different parts of the
world. There are many ways through which people can earn money on social websites. One of
the best technique to earn money is by Pay Per Click which helps to gain money according to the
number of click made.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Dabbagh, N. and Kitsantas, A., 2012. Personal Learning Environments, social media, and self-
regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. The
Internet and higher education. 15(1). pp.3-8.
Germak, A. J., 2014. Essential Business Skills for Social Work Managers: Tools for Optimizing
Programs and Organizations. Routledge.
Lin, T. C., Wang, Y. S. and Wang, Y. Y., 2013. Exploring the determinants of IS developers’
behavioural intention to learn business skills. Behaviour & Information Technology.
32(11). pp.1125-1138.
Stephen, A. T. and Galak, J., 2012. The effects of traditional and social earned media on sales: A
study of a microlending marketplace. Journal of Marketing Research. 49(5). pp.624-639.
Tufekci, Z. and Wilson, C., 2012. Social media and the decision to participate in political
protest: Observations from Tahrir Square. Journal of Communication. 62(2). pp.363-379.
Watty, K., Jackling, B. and Wilson, R. M. Eds., 2014. Personal Transferable Skills in
Accounting Education. Routledge.
Online
Global social media. 2016. [ONLINE]. Available through:
<http://www.leadershipreview.net/entrepreneurial-market-assessment>. [Accessed on 12th
April 2016].
Project Quote calculator. 2016. [ONLINE]. Available through:
<http://www.webpagefx.com/How-much-should-web-site-cost.html>. [Accessed on 12th
April 2016].
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TASK B: PRESENTATION REFLECTION
Looking back on my group presentation, I can’t believe that although it was only presented for
four minutes or under, but the amount of effort and pressure that was involve in the process of
research was immense. As well as the preparation prior to the day of presentation was in
progress, there was other projects that I was working on and therefore I had to split myself
between both projects, which was not an easy challenge.
Although I felt that I presented fairly well, there was always a room for improvement. I was
assigned to a group of four and the presentation was based on using social media in promoting a
product and whether or not we would advise Croft Gleeson Ltd to use social media to advertise
their products as well as their company.
After getting to know my group, we exchanged contact details (email address) so that we could
update each other on the proposed work. We were all familiar with social media and its use. In
my point of view, I only knew the basics of social media and its use but after an extensive
research that was involved in our task, I was explored to other platforms that I didn’t even know
it existed.
In relation to our division of labour, the topics was shared amongst ourselves equally after
contemplating on numerous occasions who is to do what so that no one does more than others.
Unfortunately, our group was very indecisive and it was difficult to draw into conclusion at times
due to a particular member wanting to dominate the whole group. We as a group did not choose
a leader as we did not want to put a burden onto anyone as we were all busy with other projects,
so we thought we do our own individual research, bring it in on the agreed date, then we discuss
it as a group.
Due to the misunderstanding that was within our group, teamwork was not great. Even after we
agreed for all of us to submit our rough draft on our next meeting, no communication was
exchanged and we didn’t hear from one another until we come to the class room the following
week – this happened at least two consecutive times.
The attitude of this particular member affected the whole team in way as we were even afraid to
voice out our opinions as the other members knew arguments could arise.
Besides that, we had a good discussion as a group on our organisation of work and how we
would present ourselves. One team member decided to take the work organisation from myself
which I had no problem with. All of our completed work was compounded in one folder and was
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saved on a USB ready for presentation. We also decide on the attire we would wear so we look
presentable.
On the day of delivery, we decided beforehand that we will meet no later than half an hour to the
presenting time, yet still a group member was running late and we couldn’t do a lot of rehearsals
prior to the time to present. With all the confusion and misunderstanding, I thought on the day,
was very good, we presented collectively and we were precise on our points.
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TASK C: Critical Essay
Critical evaluation of the given statement that is: “In the United Kingdom, men and women are
treated equally in the workplace.”
Discrimination is one of the major issues which is being face by most of the countries.
Among these countries, UK is the one where employees are discriminated on basis of their sex.
By considering these aspects, the argument is made to evaluate that what all practices are
performed at work place of UK by which employees are treated in discriminative manner. Here
arAccording to Anseeuw, Wily and Taylor, 2012 “in a workplace, men and women are
discriminated because of their gender” (Anseeuw, Wily and Taylor, 2012). However, Esarey and
Chirillo, 2013 stated that “there are employees who have outdated ideas regarding what work
should be suitable for men and women” (Esarey and Chirillo, 2013). With this respect, there are
many laws and regulation which help to protect women from being discriminated. In UK the
legislation in force is effectively managing gender equality issues. Discrimination is one of the
major issue which are been faced in workplace which is not only face by employees but also
managers. There are different forms of discrimination which includes religion, age, sex, race, etc.
(Dittrich, Büchner and Kulesz, 2015). In accordance with sex there are many things which
should be followed like pay which should be given to men and women, provision and
employment for goods and service, etc. Women at work place would face many types of issues
like they face issues in order to perform their role effective as they are not treated. Further, they
are not provided with same equality with men, this because they do not receive the same
treatment which are caused by their own factors. There are many discriminations which women
has to face which are recruitment management, sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination,
all these act as an obstacle to the opportunity to promote women (Schmitt, Branscombe and
Garcia, 2014). Following discussion will help to solve the issues faced by women in the work
place:
Pregnancy discrimination: According to Albarazi and van Waas, 2014 “pregnancy
discrimination can stated as one of the main factor of being discriminated” (Albarazi and van
Waas, 2014). In this context, as per Zeiders, Umaña-Taylor and Derlan, 2013 “women should be
treat different at pregnancy period until there is any type of medical issue given by doctor”
(Zeiders, Umaña-Taylor and Derlan, 2013). According to a survey, it was found that about 77%
of female workers are treated as family in organizations. This is very helpful for the female
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employees as they freely decide over to take pregnancy leaves. It is very essential to provide
training so as to create a free working environment which could be free from harassment,
discrimination, etc. In addition to this, organization should aim at developing number of
measures which would help to protect women right during pregnancy (Angadi and Jawaregowda,
2015). Quality Assurance Agency(QAA) implemented a policy which helped to clarify provision
related to maternity and it is also protected by law in related to women employees after and
before child birth. In accordance to this provision women has the right to leave or resume their
job for a certain period of time (Adekola, Adereti and Owombo, 2013). This type of policy
helped the organization to decrease the rate of sex discrimination caused by pregnancy reasons in
the business environment. Thus, it can be stated that. It is essential to take proper measure
through which organization can reduce issues related to discrimination related to pregnancy.
Managing recruitment: This is becoming a significant barrier for female employees in
order to achieve the position which they desired. In this context, it is very essential for the
organization to make precise measures with the help of which balance could be maintained
among opportunity for female employees (Angadi and Jawaregowda, 2015). With this respect,
non married females are employees in order to ensure that they would not be vacant at the
situation when they are very much needed. There are many cases in which interviewers had to
excuse qualified candidates who were actually potential for the vacant position and this all
because the management wanted non married employees. In order to solve this type of issue,
organization should implement fair measure which would help to balance the employment
opportunities among male and female. By conducting exams and interviews, management will be
able to select qualified candidates and will be able to eliminate unqualified people (Zeiders,
Umaña-Taylor and Derlan, 2013). This way the qualified candidates will get the equal
opportunity to compete. This will enable to provide equal opportunity among male and female.
According to the People Assurance Survey it was found that because of this practice, the
protection against sex discrimination has been increased to 85% in 2006 at UK. This way
organizations in UK will be able to make proper precaution with the help of which
discrimination can be reduced.
Sexual harassment: This has become an inevitable phenomenon. In is very important of
organizations to protect the women for being harassed. As per Albarazi and van Waas, 2014
“sexual harassment makes the women feel sense of shame” (Albarazi and van Waas, 2014). In
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