Week 14 Reading Reflection

1) What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading?

The biggest surprise for me in the reading was the amount that companies financially invest in innovation. I kind of overthought this and assumed that the innovative process primarily depended on initial innovative ideas. However, I see that it is important to continually improve your business with entrepreneurial ideas in order to maintain your level of success.


2) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

I thought that the part of the reading about the I-team or Innovation team was pretty confusing. I feel like it is a bit difficult to quantify innovation or monitor an innovation team's progress. Innovation is an artistic and spontaneous process and I do not think that the section Developing I-Teams was descriptive enough with examples of I-teams and how they can be effective or ineffective.


3) If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

Do you think that a new business can be successful without a designated I-Team?

Do you believe that ethics and environmental awareness override entrepreneurial success when starting a new entrepreneurial venture?


4) Was there anything you think the author was wrong about? Where do you disagree with what she or he said? How? 

I completely agree with the text in chapter four about the ethical challenges of entrepreneurship. It is paramount for new startups to be ethical in their decision making. Consequently, I am more unfamiliar with corporate entrepreneurship so I do not glaringly disagree with anything as most of the information is new to me. However, I feel like some of the sections such as Developing I-Teams should have been longer and used more descriptive examples.

Google Gold

1) A discussion of your general approach and strategy to search engine optimization (SEO). What were some of the activities you did for each blog post to pursue SEO? 

Search engine optimization is a pivotal part of any successful blog or website. I tried to consistently update my blog with new, captivating posts about my venture. I feel like the steady flow of blog posts is beneficial in attracting viewers to your blog. I also wanted to make my posts as clear and informative as possible because nowadays the internet is very streamlined so I want to give my viewers as easy of a blog viewing experience as possible. The most important aspect of search engine optimization for me was definitely trying to use keywords and the name of my organization as much as possible.

2) What were your keywords. How did you select those keywords? Did you change or refine your keywords through the semester?

My biggest keyword was definitely BLUE since that is the name of my organization. I also referred to UF often in many of my posts since that is my target customer base for my venture. The word "college" is also very common on my blog because I want to be sure I convey the message that I am targeting college students. Finally, "service" is another prevalent word in my blog because I frequently describe BLUE as a service organization or refer to our trips as service trips. I did not really change my keywords throughout the semester but I did make sure to use them more frequently and strategically as the semester went on. I wanted to frequently use keywords that are common and relevant to my venture idea.

3) How did you use social media to enhance your SEO efforts? What your your surprises or general impression of using social media to improve your blog's profile? Was social media generally receptive of your blog, or did it get ignored?

I have used social media such as Instagram, Facebook, and even our BLUE website to enhance SEO efforts for our organization and,consequently, my blog. Social media is a widely effective platform to spread the word about a new business venture. In my case, social media has been even more surprisingly effective since my target customers are high school and college students who conveniently use social media very often. My blog, specifically, has not gotten incredibly noticeable attention from my social media efforts but at BLUE we've been able to capitalize on social media as a way to spread awareness and spread information to our customer base and supporters.

4) What was your most "viral" post? In other words, which post obtained the most traffic? Why do you think?

My most viral post on my blog for ENT was my Venture Concept No. 1 post. This was definitely one of my longer and more informative posts so I think that contributed to the heavy amount of views on this post. This assignment also required 4 comments from peers, I believe, so that also contributed to the increased number of views for this post. I am glad that this post was my most viral because I put a lot of time into describing my venture concept and I feel like it is one of my better blog posts for this class.

5) Finally, did you make it to the first page of Google results for your keywords? If not, what page of results did you make it to?

The keyword service trip BLUE generated our BLUE website on the first page of google results. Keywords such as UF and college were not as efficient in getting us to the top pages of Google results because I think they are a little too vague to generate good search results. My search for good keywords is still ongoing and I am always looking for new ways to promote my organization as a whole and on Google results. I think this is a huge part of becoming successful and well known as an organization.

Very Short Interview, Part 2

My first interview was very insightful. However, I find it interesting that I only asked Mr. Wolf questions about himself. Now, I am inclined to ask some questions that offer advice or perspective for myself as an entrepreneur.

Me: "How has your business been doing over the past three months?"

Mr. Wolf: "Business at the restaurant has been great as it has been the past few years. We are able to be open 7 days per week because we have been so busy since the new year."


Me: "What advice do you have for an up and coming entrepreneur?"

Mr. Wolf: "You must find something that you truly love or something that makes you a lot of money. If you don't have either of these things, you need to find yourself a new entrepreneurial venture. Luckily, I love my restaurant and I have been very successful in recent years so I have no complaints with my business.


Me: "What do you think is an increasingly important aspect of your business?"

Mr. Wolf: "The use of the internet is definitely something that I have tried to incorporate into my restaurant. We do online orders for delivery and I have been looking into a Focaccia Village Pizzeria app so customers can see deals and place orders on their smartphone."


Mr. Wolf did not specifically say that he noticed any differences over the past three months but I could tell that I was more confident in asking Mr. Wolf this round of questions. I would not say that I was nervous for the first interview but I think getting advice in this second interview as opposed to simply asking Mr. Wolf about his business will be more beneficial for me. I've come a long way in my interview skills and communication since three months ago and especially before this course.