Citation
(2009), "Whats on the web", Strategic Direction, Vol. 25 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2009.05625dag.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Whats on the web
Article Type: What’s on the web From: Strategic Direction, Volume 25, Issue 4
Deceptively simple
Whether you are a business (large or small) or an individual, the best things that you can do financially are often surprisingly simple. “They involve getting control of your budget and avoiding mistakes. They also involve putting money in its proper place – which is not first place in anyone’s life.” So says the Plain Money web site and we like the approach (and the site layout). Best of all is the concluding line on the home page: “I strongly encourage you to question the motives of anyone giving out financial advice, including me.”
1,000 strangenesses
Hmmm. Not sure what to make of this. Do you like your websites nicely structured with a logical progression through sections you might need? Do you like easy fast links and a clear contents or index facility? Do you expect a straightforward search facility?
Well you will not find anything like this on the 1000 Ventures site. It kicks off by asking if you are a first-time entrepreneur, a corporate leader, an innovator or a consultant/trainer and then bombards you with information, quotes, opportunities, courses, personality tests, all dressed up in color and with pop-ups, moving banners, flash adverts and much more. Does it sound horrible? It should be but in a weird way it works. We spent much longer than usual browsing this site. See what you think.
Worth examining
So here’s the (edited) blurb: “Examiners are local informed insiders, passionate about a particular aspect of their lives, whether it’s music, movies, finances, business, food, fashion, family, sports, recreation or relationships. They examine their topics from an insider’s perspective and share their knowledge, insight and useful information with others looking to get a “local’s” take. Examiners’ posts are filled with credible, entertaining and informative city guides, best-of lists, news, interviews, reviews, how-to’s, what-to-do’s and where to get it. Alone, our contributors would reach a small number of people through blogs and various subscriptions. As Examiners, they are the voice of thousands, a credible resource for local information, news and events, who address timely topics of regional interest. Together, they are Examiner.com”
This is a fascinating site, full of interest and well put-together. There is a comprehensive news section and the business and finance pages are worth a look. It is completely US-centric (the rest of the world only exists as a news source) but still worth a visit. And if you have a particular expertise, you might consider becoming an examiner too.
Small and beautiful(ish)
“Start and run a small business without losing your shirt, your sleep, or your sanity!” suggests the home page of businesstown.com. There is quite a bit of useful information here for the small entrepreneur with a wide range of advice on an even wider range of topics. Again it is mainly useful for those who live stateside but some of the expertise translates well and the general advice could help anyone. Not a particularly inspiring design but quite a useful resource.
Sound thinking
In 1978, the founders of Soundview Executive Book Summaries pioneered the concept of outlining the key points and ideas of full-length business books into quick and easy-to-read print summaries. We reviewed their site (very favorably) a few years back and they seem to have gone from strength to strength since then. A year’s subscription starts at $119 (for the on-line summaries) which is pretty good value for money. The books are genuinely at the top end of the market.
They also offer an “essentials collection” – fundamentals from 20 of the most important business books of the last decade at a reasonable introductory price.
The site has plenty of “taster” activity; they have a book of the week – currently Richard Branson’s “Business Stripped Bare”. Well worth a visit.
And finally
A salutary quote:
People, especially Americans, started believing that they can live on other people’s money. And more and more so. First other people’s money in your own country. And then the savings rate comes down, and you start living on other people’s money outside. At first it was the Japanese. Now the Chinese and the Middle Easterners.
We, the Chinese, the Middle Easterners, the Japanese, we can see this too. OK, we’d love to support you guys – if it’s sustainable. But if it’s not, why should we be doing this? After we are gone, you cannot just go to the moon to get more money (Gao Xiqing, president of China Investment Corporation, December 2008).
Best of all
For a particularly interesting and useful site you could always try the Emerald one!
If you have any favorite (or otherwise) sites that you would like us to review on these pages, or wish us to consider your own site, please drop us an e-mail and we will ask our reviewers to check them out.