Digital Frontiers at the University of Florida has truly developed my inner digital entrepreneur. As the end draws near to most classes in college, students breathe a sigh of relief and methodically schedule their next dose of hell. Well, contrary to the norm, I am slightly disappointed to end this class. I’ve learned countless pieces of information, advice and knowledge revolving around entrepreneurship and social media. The speakers were extraordinary, ranging from the small business risk-taker to the multi-millionaire. While a specific skill was not developed or learned, I gained an unimaginable amount of intangible knowledge. The world of business continues to thrive off of networking; this class did just that.

The one element that surprised me the most revolves around social media. I had no idea Facebook influenced the business landscape as much as it did/does. As a college student, I have viewed Facebook as a database for photos and drama. Digital Frontiers introduced me to the business landscape of Facebook. The excitement factor is a direct result of the speakers in class. These speakers gave me the confidence that anything is possible, it just starts with an idea. As for the future, I will no longer consider Facebook as a mere communication platform. It is so much more. Wherever my business path takes me, I plan on harnessing any and all facets of the social media atmosphere.

The second question is as follows: has the Internet hurt your capacity to think? Again, hell no! In specific instances, the Internet has served as an information based fast-food restaurant. Just because information is merely a click-away does not mean that our capacity to think is being diminished. More than anything, the Internet has provided a gateway to nerds everywhere. The irony of this statement rests in the definition of a nerd. For when one surfs the Internet, we are all nerds. Before the Internet, a bright light-bulb in one’s mind may never make it past the initial thought-stages. With the Internet, any idea can be discussed, created and critiqued. Whether your nerd status involves sports, food or plain gossip, the interest serves as the Golden Gate Bridge.

Business powerhouses such as Google have not stifled creativity, but rather encouraged open discussion around such creativity. This additionally applies to the countless Internet-based companies around the world. The world has surpassed the days of golden eggs lying within the minds of the few, never to be let out. The nerds of today are becoming more outspoken. Everyone has his or her inner-nerd, ready to be shown. The Internet evokes such passion, intelligence and creativity. One’s capacity to think is fostered by the millions surfing around them. Let’s ride the wave baby, ride the wave.

I’m a generous kind of guy, though, so I’ll let you in on a little secret: my million-dollar idea: DO MY COLLEGE APPLICATION.

Now, there are countless websites that offer free essays, or paid essays written on the spot. Additionally, there are countless websites offering college counseling. With cheap essays on one spectrum, and expensive college counselors on the other, there lies a million-dollar gap between the two. Combining on-the-spot essays and modern college admissions experience, Do My College Application (aka DMCA) puts a college education within reach. This million-dollar idea is barely alive as Google and Yahoo have yet to crawl upon it. Yet, time will heal all problems.

With an angel investor coming my way to provide all capital goods necessary, I must battle the marketing landscape without a penny in hand. The internet becomes my new best friend. There are numerous ideas on my mind, all revolving around FACEBOOK:

1) Establish a fan page (already completed). Using your own personal network of friends, begin to pass the word.

2) Another extraordinary idea involves high school groups/fan pages. Knowing that high school seniors are my sole target customer-base, post comments (free) on high school group and fan pages.

3) Sex sells (see right photo). Hire/Create a model willing to friend-request people all over Facebook in order to pass the word regarding DMCA.

On the internet, the key is viral marketing. Pass, spread, infest the word onto the pages of all who care to look. Do My College Application is a million-dollar idea in the works. I just wish I had an actual angel investor.

In order to maintain persistent awareness of a brand, product or service, it is necessary to continuously bug, pester and annoy the prospective customer… to a certain extent. This can be done in numerous fashions, all relaying the same product awareness. Emails can be sent, letters mailed, articles published and phone calls made. These merely scratch the surface of the various forms of marketing.

In specific relation to the University of Florida Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership and Sustainability, these techniques hold constant. As a college program specifically targeting high schoolers, YELS continuously pesters their target audience. By emailing college counselors, publishing articles in city newspapers, contacting prospective students and sending fliers, YELS maintains a solid marketing scheme.

As there will always be room for improvement, YELS should use the various social media sites in order to connect with the high school world. While their established marketing plan does a solid job of contacting parents and college counselors, Facebook could target the exact students interested in such a program. To go hunting, you must find the playground of your prey. To find your customers, you must find the landscape in which they frequent the most.

The end product can be altered by linking social media sites into the program itself. As a summer program, YELS should incorporate blogging over the summer, Facebook updates, etc. In summary, while marketing bugs, pesters and annoys the target customers, it gets the job done.

The internet serves as the symbolic landscape of American free speech. As the world-wide web spans further than any country could possibly control, the American public can happily relish in their unrestricted atmosphere. So, as previously stated, surf freely my friends. Type without regret, blog with spirit and never hold anything back. Yet, Americans must never take for granted such freedoms. There are other countries that put forth a significant effort to restrict their civilians. In all honesty, the American public wouldn’t survive one day without the internet. Guaranteed.

For the average citizen, the freedoms on the web are vast and endless. Yet, no matter what, certain restrictions will always remain in place for the sake of government security. These restrictions are not only acceptable, but beneficial. My personal opinion revolves around a defined middle-ground when it comes to internet restriction. The foundation of the internet involves free speech. Preventing the average person from voicing their opinions (no matter how sickening) would be kicking the internet in the groin. We all understand the complexities of free speech; certain Americans push the boundaries to the furtherest extent. Yet, the 1st Amendment will continue to stand strong, always and forever.

The middle ground additionally involves a minor form of restriction to merely protect the country we live in. While the internet provides constant pleasure for Americans, it stands as a firm launching point for government intelligence. In the long run, the internet will continue to run its course. With every new form of freedom, a small restriction will follow. Until the day global warming actually affects us, or at least until Al Gore stops lecturing, the American public has nothing to worry about. So, once again, surf freely my friends. No regrets.

In a rather recent study, respondents agreed that short-form video offers the best growth potential over the next five years. In other words, the creations of those around us offer the greatest potential regarding user-generated content. Yet, the fear of retardation factors in almost anywhere. At what point does public content go too far? When does user generated content become pointless? We must wait to find out.

There are countless case studies in which both Facebook and Twitter promote business and marketing. Hell, Facebook and Twitter are businesses of endless marketing themselves. The smallest scale marketing scheme can be seen through Facebook. One such example involves a group page for a pledge class at the University of Florida. The pledge class wanted to vent their distress to the population, inherently marketing their pity story to everyone willing to sympathize. Retarded? Yes, very. But hey, let’s all remember that the foundation of every company revolves around networking. User generated content is a natural beast of networking- a creation all it’s own. So, with all due respect, the world has every right to fear user generated content, yet every intention to respect its potential for decades to come.

The bottom line remains the same: sales equal survival. An Internet site can bask in its glorious themes and content, yet fail to produce in the end. What am I talking about? Conversion rates: The funneling of online viewers traveling through websites, scrolling down pages and (hopefully) clicking the glorious SUBMIT/PURCHASE button.

The truth regarding most Internet users encompasses an unfortunate reality for businesses: most people aren’t online with the purpose of spending money. A vast majority of online users are viewing for pleasure. Some are viewing for sickening forms of pleasure, but most are merely stumbling around the biggest virtual world known to man.

For businesses such as Amazon, the conversion process means everything. The invention of the 1-Click Ordering positively impacted sales on numerous levels. For smaller-scale companies, such as UF’s Young Leaders for Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, the funnel yields a differing end result. YELS needs applicants: students who hope to attend their summer program. The funnel needs to begin with eye-catching videos, bullet points and pictures. The viewer needs to be excited. The funnel, as previously stated, needs to end with a complete application: SUBMIT.

No matter how successful a company seems to be, the funnel into conversion is hellish. The percentages are miniscule and the end results are never good enough.

For a solid 6 THOUSAND dollars, high school sophomores and juniors can relinquish a full summer to engage in a few months of college life, community service and leadership building. Sound exciting?

We have to understand that the University of Florida is becoming one of the hardest universities to gain admission into. Here at UF, we call ourselves a Public Ivy: sounds impressive. These days, high school students are willing to do just about anything to get into the college of their dreams. If it takes a sacrificial summer, consider it done. If it takes hours upon hours of dirty-work (aka community service), the challenge gets sort-of exciting.

The UF Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership and Sustainability gives high school students the chance to separate themselves from the overwhelming crowd of applicants. The program is a break-even masterpiece, yet grows every year at a staggering rate. At YELS, students gain college credit, extensive community service (that fulfills Bright Futures requirements), and a good amount of fun everyday.

But, God forbid anything be compared to the king of all kings: Google. YELS has a lot of learning to do. Let’s break this down. Here are a couple (simple) ideas that Google has mastered. If followed, YELS would improve significantly:

1) MONEY:                 charge less to increase the database

2) ADVERTISE:         let others advertise for you… like high school counselors?

3) CREDIBILITY:      gain respect (quickly) with improvements every summer

In the end, no one can come close to Google. But hey, when it comes to desperate high school teenagers, any company or program could benefit from such ambition and anxiety.

The future of law rests in the hands of the people. Sometimes known as the American way of making money, lawsuits are constantly filed. At times, the field of law becomes the laughing stock of society. Such debauchery can be seen through a federal inmate filing a lawsuit against himself (he claimed that he violated his own civil rights by getting arrested), a woman suing her boss for allowing her to drive drunk, etc. The list goes on and on. While history stands on the side of a lawyer’s longevity, the future can best be told through current events. How the people are acting and reacting determines the future of law.

No matter how people act, we must encompass the greatest aptitude to counter whatever complexities come our way. In other words, our lawyers need to be sharp. Current trends have shown the pathway into the field of law to be relatively easy depending on which route one takes. As Law Schools are becoming a dime a dozen, the very best lawyers must continue to travel through the ranks of prestigious universities, prolonging some form of respect for a widening field. America will continue to house some of the most idiotic lawsuits known to man. Let’s just hope justice will continue to be served.

This question to a random homeless man kicked off an adventure of a lifetime. Yet, it all began with an even greater question: what truly defines value? Value encompasses too many spectrums to count. For every human being, value can be measured in various ways. As a bunch of college students venture onto a campus of 40,000+ with mere post-it notes, the challenge began: create value. Incorporating value through the use of post-it notes takes on a challenge of both entrepreneurial spirit and motivated teamwork. In less than two hours, a “Blanket – The – Homeless” initiative commenced. By covering one of Gainesville’s finest homeless men with hundreds of post-it notes, homeless awareness began. Students stared, professors glared. The Plaza of the America’s gained an interesting attraction. Pictures were taken and students laughed all the way to the library. Nevertheless, students were becoming aware of the homeless problem around Gainesville. Blanket the Homeless stands as a mere newcomer to the many homeless initiatives already in place, such as the Florida Coalition For The Homeless. Every night hundreds of homeless citizens fall asleep without proper care, most of all, warmth. These post-it notes served as a symbolic blanket. Value?: A warm night’s sleep, homeless awareness, student initiative… the list goes on and on.