As our site grows every day we want to share some information with you on the way we are operating the project. We call this section «Business Blog» as it is similar to doing a log book where data is recorded in a chronological order. «Blogging» is gaining popularity with more and more people picking up the habit of publishing their experiences and thoughts on the Internet. Our Blog covers various topics — from TOEFL, TOEIC, MBA, GMAT, ESL/EFL test preperation to cultural traditions and current political events.
There will also be some Internet marketing terminology and if you have any questions regarding the information simply let us know.

The Business Blog is written by Torsten Daerr and edited by Alan Townend.

2003 — September 26
Almost all my friends and acquaintances ask me the same question after I tell them about our website — are you earning money with it? And my answer used to be no. However, at this point we are generating just enough revenue to cover some of the costs. Now that I have given this issue a little more thought, I know that any effort you put in yields some kind of compensation which can't always be measured with a specific dollar amount.
Take our project english-test.net. For example, I receive high quality instruction, tuition and training in a number of fields. Slava is a top-notch specialist who patiently spends hours explaining everything to me that I should know about HMTL, PHP and search engine optimization. If I were to pay for this kind of training, I would soon run out of cash. Or take Alan's work as an editor — he proof reads and corrects many of the texts I'm writing to guarantee they are in perfect English. By the way, Alan has been on holiday for three weeks now so the past 15 NetLog entries have been checked and amended by my friend and colleague Bob Sloat. Bob was born in Springfield, Massachusetts and has been working in Leipzig for 2 years. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts with Magna Cum Laude and holds a B.A. degree in Business Administration and Psychology. Working with him not only gives me the opportunity to practice and improve my writing skills but also provides me with a different perspective of my environment. This intellectual growth can't be evaluated by money…

2003 — September 25
Sue has asked me about the origin of the term «viral marketing» and what exactly the link between a virus and marketing could be. It was only after her question that it occurred to me that viral marketing got its name because of the way a virus spreads.
Viral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a product or service message to others, increasing the message's exposure and influence. Like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to send out the message to thousands, even to millions with lightning speed. It's a chain reaction based on the snowball principle. I think the founders of Yahoo could be called the pioneers of viral marketing because they didn't promote their web address actively — it just spread like wildfire through the closely bound internet community. In the days before search engines and web portals, people passed a useful link on to their friends via email. This strategy still works today and viral marketing is an integral part of any successful online promotion campaign. In one interview, the founders of ICQ.com said that their most effective marketing tool was their product itself: A virtual community that provides a wide range of interactive facilities and an excellent domain name. After all, ICQ reads as «I seek you»…

2003 — September 24
Raymond Romanos, a friend and colleague of mine, sent me his new article entitled «What is it like being an American in Eastern Germany?» and you can read An American in Leipzig
Ray has been working with our team since 2001 and people like him are our sounding board — we Germans can learn as much from someone who comes to our country as this person might learn from us. Here in eastern Germany you often will encounter the notion that because of our current economic difficulties, we shouldn't allow people from abroad into our country as «there isn't enough work for the locals». Well, this is only one side of the story. The question is why are we facing such high unemployment and what can we do to create more jobs. In my opinion, it would be wise to analyze how other countries tackle the economic challenges in order to decide what could work for us too. It's not enough to rely on the government. Big changes require lots of small steps. We have to change some of our habits. The best way to determine what we can do differently is to study the behaviour of people from other countries. That's why Raymond Romanos is an English language trainer as well as «a living case study» for us…

2003 — September 23
My friend Sue Darville from Bristol UK sent me a highly interesting article she came across at BBC.com.
It's about the fact that the word Google™ has turned into a verb meaning «to search for information on the Web, particularly by using the Google™ search engine..» (source: wordspy.com)
This new word has triggered a controversial discussion because Google™ is a registered trademark and its owners have spent huge amounts of money to establish the brand. That's why they are not too happy to see their creation becoming part of everyday vocabulary. Of course, Google™ also benefits from the ever growing popularity of its name. If the term «to google» gets listed in official English language dictionaries, it will probably make the brand even more well-known; provided that dictionaries will include a proper definition clearly stating the origin of the word. In the article there are a number of similar examples given. These are all words that originally were names of firms that have developed into generic nouns and verbs such as «to hoover« which is the British version of «to vacuum clean». «Hoover» is also an Ohio based company with its name being a registered trademark. Other prominent examples are «Xerox», «Rollerblade», «Escalator» and even «tabloid» which was originally registered by a drug company in 1884 and came to mean «small tablet».