Sqeeqee: Being on “Beta” and Mobile Apps

As we head into the biggest holidays of the year and a new year around the corner, Team Sqeeqee is answering some questions from our users:

Q: When is Sqeeqee going to get off of “Beta?”
A: Our site is fully functioning. Users can add “Buddies,” add items to theirs "Shops," and of course mingle with their “Buddies.” There are a few features that we are still testing, such as the $Game, Hall of Fame, and our “Bank” features.

In addition, we are currently developing mobile applications for Sqeeqee. We are expecting to launch them in early 2013.

We plan on maintaining a “Beta” status until our mobile applications are completed as well. Patience is a virtue. Good things come to those who wait.

Q: Can we start adding items for sale to our "Shops”?
A: Yes, of course. But “transactions” (buying/selling) cannot take place until we are off of “Beta.” Unless there are changes, all of our transactions will be going through PayPal payment services where both buyers and sellers will be fully protected.

Q: Are you hiring?
A: Most definitely. We will roll out more information after the first of the year. Right now, our Team Sqeeqee is literally working 24/7. HAHA!

Q: What do those “Diamond,” “Platinum,” “Gold,” “Silver,” and “Bronze” sliders do?
A: They can be linked several ways. Why don’t you try the site and find out? If you have additional questions, please contact us.
(We are intentionally NOT explaining this thoroughly until we’re completely off of Beta and our mobile applications are complete.)

Q: What are the “User-Sponsored Ads” for?
A: Ahh…that section is for the USERS!! YES, on our exclusive social networking site, users CAN generate income when ads are placed under their section. :) Cool, isn’t it? There are a lot of other cooler and exclusive features for our users. After all, Sqeeqee’s social network mission is to give our users the tools to “build wealth.”

Q: “Exchange” versus “Shop”: What is the difference?
A: You can do an “exchange” of a Taylor Swift CD with a Selena Gomez CD, or you can “exchange” an iPhone 4S + $100 for an iPhone 5. Do whatever makes you happy because you’re in the driver’s seat!

A “Shop” is a “marketplace.” You can list anything that you have and would like to sell. Your “Buddies” are your potential buyers. The larger you build your community, the larger your network of potential buyers for the products you have for sale in your “Shop.” Please note, we do not allow products that contain or promote inappropriate, offensive, or sexually explicit content.

Q: How many “items” can I add to my Shop?
A: You are free to add as many items as you wish or have for sell (either new or used items). However, only SEVEN (lucky 7) will be shown on your main wall. From the drop-down menu, if you click on “Shop,” you will see your items and items from other users as well.

Q: What are Deals/Coupons?
A: This is where you can add a “deal” or a “coupon” you are offering for your own shop, or you can certainly add coupons offered by other vendors as well. The world is yours. Just use your imagination. :)

Q: What is “Apps” for?
A: The “Apps” feature is for those developer geeks who develop different applications that they wish to either sell or upload under “Apps” for other users to download for free.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life. ~Chinese Proverb

With our social network, Sqeeqee will teach our users how to “fish.” Why don’t you join us and spread the instant wealth through “instant interaction.” (Get it? :P)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Team Sqeeqee

J.P. Morgan: “I Like a Little Competition”

J.P. Morgan: “I Like a Little Competition”

SOCIAL MEDIA GROWTH:

We were sitting at the San Francisco International Airport waiting for an outbound flight back to Orange County, when we received an incoming call from one of our team members informing us that the election was finally over—we could all get back to work!!

He also informed us that Sqeeqee just completed the transfer of our “cloud server” to a new hosting company. With social media playing such a key role in today’s era of “news sources” by the split second, we were not sure why we would need to be informed about the election. We have smartphones and are certainly glued to them constantly. Comparing the 2012 election to the previous election in 2008, we just couldn’t believe how much social media has grown. The current top two players, of course, are Twitter and Facebook with YouTube a distant third for video sharing. According to MDG Advertising, Facebook users grew from 44.3 million in 2008 to 143.3 million in 2012; Twitter users grew from 3.4 million users in 2008 to 24.1 million in 2012; and YouTube viewers grew from 121.4 million in 2008 to 178.8 million in 2012.

During the 2008 election, 1 in 4 adults consumed election news online, whereas with the 2012 election, roughly 4 in 5 adults used social media, and 88% of such Internet users got their election news online. We have all heard how much money went into this year’s election. Both parties raised and spent at least $4 to as high as $6 billion dollars combined on their campaigns. The bulk of this money went to social media advertisements. These are fascinating numbers, as we are seeing before our very eyes the amazing growth of social media within just four years. Not to mention, this was in a period when the economy wasn't doing all that great.

Our Sqeeqee team finds the growth of this sector mind-boggling, and Sqeeqee.com is right in the center of this tremendous growth. We couldn’t be more thrilled and greatly anticipate similar growth as we look forward to the 2016 election, which is literally just around the corner!!


A “LITTLE COMPETITION”:

Let’s get back to our team member’s telephone call. He asked us if we were going to write a few blog posts about Sqeeqee’s status because a number of people have been inquiring about it and it has been awhile since our last blog post. AHH...so that was it! He was calling to ask us to write a few blog posts.

Right before we hung up, he asked, “Did you guys get a chance to watch ‘The Men Who Built America’ on the History Channel?” We sure did! “Why doesn’t the team write a blog post about it and how it affects the team’s entrepreneurial minds, vision, and more?,” we asked. He came back at us with, “Why don’t you guys do it since you spend more time sitting around at airports?” “Yeah, real funny man!,” we joked back. He smiled and said, “Have a safe flight home boys and gal!”

So here we are, blogging about it. We chose the title of this blog post using a quote from John Pierpont Morgan (better known as “J.P. Morgan”) because Sqeeqee recently “tasted” a bit of competition ourselves. The quote was a response J.P. Morgan gave when asked whether he disliked competition when he attended a U.S. congressional subcommittee back in the early 1900s. Our team has completed the transfer of our entire cloud server from our previous hosting company to a new one because our original hosting company (intentionally or not) created a number of problems for our site. One of Sqeeqee’s main patent-pending features is in direct competition with its core business. We didn’t want to “stick around” to find out if these problems were intentionally caused. Therefore, our team made the decision to completely transfer Sqeeqee’s entire site to a different company that strictly provides only hosting so that we wouldn’t be stepping on anyone’s toes—especially if that “toe” is the hosting company of our cloud server.

One of our key team members also has a profile on a competitor’s social media site, and for some odd reason, her account was “compromised.” She was asked to verify the e-mail address that she used for that profile and provide a copy of her driver’s license. Even when those two items were given, her account was permanently compromised and deleted. We find that these types of competition tactics are just “child’s play” and “tedious,” as we have no time for them. However, like J.P. Morgan, we “like a little competition!” BRING IT ON!!


THE AMERICAN DREAM:

Watching “The Men Who Built America” on the History Channel energized our team with a new drive and conviction to take Sqeeqee beyond our imaginations. The conviction and determination of Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and Henry Ford are of unimaginable strength. They each had a dream not only to become wealthy but to be the most powerful! They had the drive to endure the challenges and the will to never give up. These men are great examples of what man can do if given the freedom to carve his (or her) own path. They have shown us that it is America’s free enterprise system that allows entrepreneurs like our Sqeeqee team the opportunity to explore and endure. America’s free enterprise system has given entrepreneurs the inalienable rights of being Americans—and extremely proud ones, might we add.

As a team, when working on a major site like Sqeeqee, there were a number of times when we had to deal with many uncertainties, but it was those uncertainties that have given us many opportunities. Entrepreneurs would NOT be entrepreneurs if they weren’t willing to make the right bet. Great entrepreneurs not only make the right decisions, but many times need to give it their all if they truly believe in an idea, regardless of the people who say or believe otherwise. Great entrepreneurs do NOT have a fear of failure. They embrace it! Great entrepreneurs are successful people because they overcome their fears by turning failure into opportunities and turning criticism into creativity!

The America we all love contains a free enterprise system that has allowed these early entrepreneurs the possibility to explore and bear hardship. It is solely the effort of “an individual” having much determination, strategic methods, and risk tolerance to have made all things possible with the ultimate conviction—to rise to wealth and power. The only thing that would hold back any given entrepreneur in growing his (or her) business to unimaginable heights is only himself (or herself).

Like the great titans who built America, our Sqeeqee team also believes in capitalism of free enterprise—and to be guaranteed of our unforfeitable rights!

The American dream is the efforts of individuals striving for success. This is what our Sqeeqee team is all about!

We started this blog post using a quote from J.P. Morgan, and we would like to conclude it with a different quote from him as well: “If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.” We had a vision and we started to build that vision nearly three years ago. We knew that not only would it have to be visionary and revolutionary, but it would also be extensive, time consuming, and expensive. But none of us ever sat back to wonder or to ask how much it would cost. Our vision went LIVE three months ago. Mission complete! But “our journey” does not end here; it has only just begun! We still do not ask how much it will cost to take Sqeeqee to unimaginable heights because there’s always a calm before the storm. We know with much conviction that Sqeeqee will undoubtedly reach inconceivable heights!

Patent Infringement: The Penalties and More...

Our team ran across an old buddy whose father is a patent attorney. We jumped at the chance to make a connection by inviting our buddy and his father out for lunch to give us a lesson about patent infringement and its penalties.

Our Sqeeqee team was curious because one of our key patent-pending features is our social network search feature, which Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook recently talked about when he was speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, September 11. It was Mr. Zuckerberg's first public presentation since his company's IPO three months prior. He said, "Search is interesting. We do on the order of 1 billion queries a day, and we’re basically not even trying. Today with search the vast majority of it is people trying to find people, but there’s also a meaningful portion of queries where people are trying to find pages, brand pages, other business pages. So there’s a bunch of that actually does link to commercial behavior, and I think there’s a big opportunity there and we just need to go do that."

So here we are holding this pending patent, and it looks like Facebook wants to “go do that.” While we are uncertain of Facebook's plans, we can't help but anticipate how things will evolve for Facebook to “go do that” in the very near future. We do know if Facebook adapts such a plan—be fearful Google because Facebook will K-I-L-L your growth. Google's net worth is currently about $200 billion. If Facebook adapts its search feature, it could easily T-R-I-P-L-E its current net worth, E-A-S-Y!!

Back to our lunch…boy, we would actually be thrilled if our patents were being infringed upon! We've learned that the damages are made up of several ways in which a court can award damages to the patent owner. One of the main ways is by ruling that the infringer will have to compensate the inventor for the wrongful use of the patented invention. The penalty amount would typically be decided on by a jury or the court. We were told that a typical calculation could be figured out based on what is known as the “royalty rate.” The coolest part is, under certain circumstances, the court could award this royalty amount by tripling it, which is known as “treble damages.” (Yes, we took notes—LOL.) This usually happens when the infringer was found to act "willfully,” which is similar to an intentional act (i.e., knowing there was already an existing patent but going ahead and infringing upon it anyway)! Ouch for them! Ka-ching for us!!

In addition to the penalty amount compensated to the patent owner, the infringer would also be required to pay interest on the money owed as well as all court costs. OMG! And it didn't end there—in addition to the financial penalty, the court will often issue an injunction for the infringer to stop infringing on the patent and refrain from EVER doing so again! A second OUCH!!

“Patent Wars” are never pretty, but patents are a regulatory system imposed on technology that is intended to ensure that inventors get paid for their inventions. It is not our intention to ever become involved in a patent war. Still, that is given that our competitors respect the fact that we have patented (or patent-pending) inventions.

As for the lunch? Let's see…for a party of five, the bill was $267.99, and that included a 20% gratuity! We believe it was a S-T-E-A-L for nearly three hours of legal advice. We want to thank our buddy and his father for having lunch with us. We greatly appreciate it, and the honor was truly all ours.

Internet: The “Business Cycle” of the World Wide Web

Do you believe that everything happens in cycles? Or how about the balance between all things? Every time something good happens, does something bad also happen? How about whenever we buy something new? Does something else that we already have break down or get damaged? In Chinese philosophy, there is the concept of yin-yang, which the West refers to as “yin and yang.” It is a form of nature where the universe strives to keep all things in balance.

How about in the world of finance? For every stock that goes up, is there one that goes down? For microeconomics, is there a macroeconomics? Then there are “Business Cycles.” What is a Business Cycle? Simply put, a Business Cycle is a period during which a business, an industry, or the entire economy expands and contracts.

How about the World Wide Web or Internet? If my recollection serves me right, there were a variety of protocols that were developed in the 1960s to 1970s that eventually led to what we now know today as the Internet. For younger generations, we may trace the Internet back to the mid-1990s when Bill Clinton was president. During those years, the Internet grew at a phenomenal and unbelievable rate. Data was transmitted at a much higher speed over fiber optic networks through the usage of emails; instant messaging; VoIP; discussion forums; blogs; online shopping sites; and yes, even social networking. The rise of the dot-com era paved the way to a new generation of billionaires.

Would it be fair to say with the latest rise of Facebook, a $100 billion IPO, that the Internet has been expanding for at least two decades if we were to only mark the start of the boom in the mid-1990s? Within the past 20 years, a company like Google, which was incorporated in 1998 and went public in 2004, has gathered an unbelievable amount of data, which to some may be beneficial, but to others is too saturated to be effective. Take a new business for example. After buying a domain name (if it is still available), paying for a server, creating a website, and performing daily maintenance, it would be extremely difficult for that new business to be “searchable” (or simply put, be found) if advertising dollars are not being spent. Sometimes even if advertising dollars are being spent, effectiveness is still elusive.

Let's take a look at it from a different perspective. How many different profiles do we have today? Facebook? Twitter? Amazon? Ebay? How about Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail? YouTube? Did you know that when registering for a Gmail account you are required to have an email address? Yes, really!! Here you are trying to open an email account through Gmail, but it requires you to have one already. Does that make any sense?? Then there are those domain names. If you have a domain name, then you also have a profile with either GoDaddy or NetworkSolutions. How about downloading apps or music from iTunes? There’s another profile that you would need to have as well. And these are just some of the popular sites that require profiles. If we were to list everything, it would probably take up pages and pages of space. What would you prefer? Shopping in a mall where many different stores are centralized in one location or driving to each of those stores with each one having a different location?

Wal-Mart is a perfect example of this exact philosophy, as it has made it work since 1962. A shopper can literally pick up mouthwash, soap, deodorant, a loaf of bread, milk, a bathing suit, and a jogging outfit all conveniently at the same time—and most importantly, at the same location. What if the World Wide Web Universe was like a Wal-Mart, where all the famous brands came together in one simple site, using one simple profile, and most importantly, you have the ability to build your own community with instant interaction all at the same time? You could buy a book, search for the hottest hangout, download (or upload) an app, microblog, share a photo (or video), compete in virtual games, and have instant interaction all at the same time—and while using just one simple profile! Certainly, popular individual sites like Google, Amazon, Ebay, GoDaddy, Twitter, or even Facebook may not be fond of the idea because they can clearly see that if such an entity was to exist, their sites could literally be crushed!

Let's go back to our initial topic, the “Business Cycle,” with its expansion and contraction stages. We are at the “expansion” stage of the World Wide Web because everything is too saturated. A given user has way too many profiles to even handle. As of the end of 2011, there were 555 million websites, and 220 million registered domain names. How can anyone find anyone on the Internet? Even if mega bucks were to be added into online advertisements, how effective can it be? Yes, the new wave of social media sites has been helpful in “contracting” things down to a smaller, more durable scale of information to handle, but social media sites today from Facebook and Twitter to LinkedIn are still not the ultimate answer when compared to the similar philosophy of Wal-mart being the leader of the retailers.

As the Business Cycle goes in the world of business, the “Internet Cycle” is soon to follow in the World Wide Web universe. Where there are expansions, contractions are inevitable.

With that, we would like to conclude with our humble philosophy: Sqeeqee will become "The Missing Link" of the Internet as to what Wal-mart is to retailers.

Sqeeqee.com: Killing Two Birds with One Stone

Social media frenzy from Twitter to Facebook, Instagram to Google+—how do we keep up? As tech junkies, we couldn't help but remember our parents' era as they were growing up watching family shows like "Growing Pains" or "The Cosby Show" in the mid-80s. Raising teenage children, both the Seavers and the Cosbys had day-to-day problems of their own, but nothing like today.

Teenagers of today are "digital teenagers." Aside from the iPods, iPads, iPhones, text messaging, and e-mails, they also need to keep up with their friends and followers by updating through Tweeting, posting a photo on Instagram of the choice of drinks at a nearby Starbucks, and don't forget sending those 5,000 friends (or foes) on Facebook a message: Are we meeting at Taco Bell later?

With just these few popular social media sites, not only teenagers but parents, professionals, and businesspeople need to add at least one more to that list—LinkedIn. As we continue to innovate and revolutionize the digital world, there will continue to be many more social media sites with unique, one-of-a-kind features to blend in with the current favorites. So how do we keep up? Being a tech junkie is easy. We can just easily program an application to automate postings for us or tweet something every 30 minutes. That is simple to do. But is it personal? Probably not.

At Sqeeqee.com, we are here to understand your needs. Time is money. Being personal is key. We cater to these issues by giving our users the answer—killing two birds with one stone. A user on Sqeeqee.com can make a comment, send a link, post a photo or video, and all such actions will automatically be posted on either or both of his or her Twitter and Facebook pages. Convenient, simple, and easy.

Try it today. Registration is free. You can even use your current Twitter, Facebook, or e-mail account to enter Sqeeqee.com. With just a few clicks to "connect" your Sqeeqee wall to your Twitter and Facebook walls, you are ready to rock-n-roll! While you're there, check out YOUR OWN E-Commerce Shop (it’s free to add whatever you wish to sell) and type something into our Internal Search tool. You might find something that other social media sites do not have. Just in case you didn't catch it, we are that other social media site with unique, one-of-a-kind features that one just cannot pass up. Thank you for Sqeeqee-ing!

The Meaning behind Sqeeqee's Tag Line: "Where New Millionaires are Created"

Sqeeqee.com is beginning our second month of being live. While we are still on “Beta,” we are literally 99% bug free. We are planning to keep our site on “Beta” until we are 100% bug free! That shouldn't be too long.

Now that the buzz about Sqeeqee.com is getting around, more users are registering to check us out and comparing our social commerce site with other social media sites. One of the questions we get the most is the meaning behind our tag line, "Where New Millionaires are Created.™" As you can see, the tag line has been trademarked. Our team came up with this tag line because it is exactly what Sqeeqee is all about. Sqeeqee helps users build income and eventually build their net worth and wealth. Sqeeqee has the tools where with just a few clicks one can literally start a global online business at no charge. Users can sell, trade, raise awareness, share advertising dollars, gaming, and a whole lot more!

We've heard many success stories about the secrets of eBay millionaires, where regular consumers began to sell items on eBay and became instant millionaires. Sqeeqee is the “modern day” eBay where your friends are your network; your network is made up of your potential buyers; and everything is done with instant interaction. Once registered, you automatically have an embedded e-commerce shop that is yours to add whatever it is you wish to sell. You DO NOT need to spend money upfront to buy a domain or program a website because your Sqeeqee page is all that you will ever need.

In the virtual world, as soon as you register a Sqeeqee page, you will automatically have $1,000,000 “Sqeeqee bucks” for you to freely trade virtual stocks to either stimulate your talents, your mind, or purely for competition. This is what our tag line, “Where New Millionaires are Created” was based upon. However, creating virtual millionaires is not Sqeeqee’s only intention. If a user utilizes all of the tools Sqeeqee has to offer and really puts an effort into making it an online business, then the possibilities are endless of becoming a real-world millionaire. Sqeeqee is a social commerce site with a next-generation platform and killer features that will revolutionize the way individuals and small business owners look at e-commerce.

Why Keys and Locks in our Sqeeqee Logo?

Why Keys and Locks in our Sqeeqee Logo?

Another popular question from our users concerns the key and lock design within our logo. Users are asking, “What is the meaning behind it?” Ha-ha!

This is simple to explain. If our tag line is “Where New Millionaires are Created,” then what do millionaires do the minute they became millionaires? They buy that dream house, and parked in the garage is that dream Lamborghini—or at least something similar.

Therefore, looking at our logo, one can clearly see two different sets of keys and locks. One lock represents that ultimate dream home that a millionaire would like to purchase, and the second lock is for that ultimate car. What lock does not come with a set of keys? Voila! So there you go, the story behind Sqeeqee's keys and locks logo.

This would not be a complete explanation of our logo if we didn't further explain about the Sqeeqee name itself. We all know now that Sqeeqee is pronounced like the word “Squeaky.” When dealing with keys and locks, it would only make sense that they do “squeak" from time to time. We just spelled it differently. We believe S-Q-E-E-Q-E-E is more eye catching and unique. After all, “Google” started out being a misspelled word, and look at where it is today. :) Happy Sqeeqee-ing!

Facebook’s F-Commerce: The Flaws and More

There are plenty of blogs and opinions about Facebook’s “F-commerce,” which in our humble opinion has many flaws, was not well planned, and was not well developed on a platform created with users and consumers in mind. F-commerce was created to help “facilitate” and execute sales transactions through Facebook. The first thought that comes our mind is, “Why?” Why do we need Facebook to “facilitate" things for us? If we want to buy something from Macy’s, we could just go directly to the Macy’s site to shop. If we want to buy things from Amazon, again, we would go directly there. The world of e-commerce didn’t need a “facilitator” before, so why would it need one now?

While we believe that “social commerce” will be huge in its own right soon enough, it will NOT happen with how Facebook thinks it will—through its F-commerce setup. Here are some of the flaws with F-commerce. Due to the layout of F-commerce on Facebook’s Beta platform, it will not work and would never work. This platform was formed with just two things in mind: cranking more dollars into Facebook’s pocket and connecting itself with larger retailers. Levi's Friends Store, 1-800-Flowers, Diesel's DieselCam, etc., all are some of the initial stores that supported F-commerce type of transactions on Facebook. Facebook actually informed the world in its “F-commerce FAQs” that the first transaction for 1-800-Flowers occurred back in July of 2009. We are now in August of 2012. It has been over three years. F-commerce has not made a presence in our day-to-day lives while Facebook’s number of users has since increased to nearly a billion. Can we then conclude that F-commerce is a failed system?

Even though Amazon and eBay lack the “instant interaction” that is trending today, their e-commerce sites work because they built them keeping consumers in mind. Consumers are the key to their success. The opposite is true with Facebook. The instant interaction is there, but why hasn’t F-commerce enjoyed the same popularity as Facebook itself? Simple. Facebook’s F-commerce strategy is based on facilitating with large retailers like the 1-800-Flowers of the world and the Levi's of the world but fails to recognize that the true assets that Facebook has are its 1 billion users.

Take Facebook’s search tool for example. If a user wants to buy a Lady Gaga CD, he/she puts in Facebook’s search task bar “lady gaga cd,” and what does he/she see? Nothing.

It shows a dozen pages with Lady Gaga’s name included, but nothing more. How does this help consumers?

Facebook should concentrate on its core assets (its billion users) and work from there. Who doesn't have something to sell? If we aren’t a small business retailer, we may have used books, an old phone, or imported products from around the world. Our friends are our potential customers. After all, these billion users did help Facebook become a $100 billion company at the launch of its IPO. Isn’t it time for Facebook to think about these users? Who wouldn’t want to own his/her own business? Facebook could easily help build 1 billion small businesses—a G-commerce (global commerce)—and in doing so, eventually see huge financial rewards in its bottom line.

There can always be another “MySpace” platform on the rise. Facebook’s core mission should be not only to grow its users, but to retain them. As Albert Einstein said, “Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.”

Sqeeqee.com Contest: Apple iPhones or Samsung Galaxy Prizes?

Our Sqeeqee.com team had a meeting to discuss a contest we wanted to hold. Of course, the prizes for the winners came up, and we discussed awesome, cool, tech-type gadgets as the prizes for the first-, second-, and third-place winners. The majority of our team members chose the iPhone 5, of course, since it is rumored to be released around September 21. Then there were the rest of our team members who are anti-iPhone no matter what, for whatever reason. Their product of choice? Samsung products like the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, which is also rumored to be released around the same time as the iPhone 5.

Then we went digging around only to find that Apple has quite a strict rule concerning using its products for promotional purposes. “Oops” to a majority of our team, and “Yea” to the minority stake. Apple only allows certain products to be used for promotional prizes. The iPhones and iPads are on its restricted list. Darn!!

That leads us to the next topic of discussion. Would it be too out of line to call Apple a “control freak”? Not only does it monopolize all of its products, as it controls everything down to its resellers. True. Apple is 100% about image, but who isn't? But to the point of controlling whether a third party can give away an Apple product that it bought as a promotional item?

Then again, Apple must be doing something right because just recently it claimed the thrown

as the world’s largest company with nearly $624 billion in market capitalization. The late Steve Jobs would have been so proud. Apple was his baby, his life, and probably his soul. Congratulations to Mr. Tim Cook for a job well done so far. Your journey has only begun!

Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, take it as a lesson learned. Exclusivity is a form of monopoly, but it rings in the financial bottom line. If you do it right, you too can claim the throne. The two biggest failures we believe Facebook has are not having its own “internal search” and not tapping into social commerce the correct way. The only way is through the 1 billion users that Facebook has graciously attracted globally. As Ronald E. Osborn once said, “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." Great advice.

Facebook: E-Commerce and Search

We were reading a news article just the other day that talks about how Microsoft invested $240 million in Facebook in 2007 but may ride out the tortuous storm that Facebook’s stock has been encountering since its IPO debut. We were curious to understand why. To us, a profit is a profit. If Peter Thiel can walk away with nearly $1 billion in his pocket, we would assume Microsoft could also lock away at least half a billion. Then we read further on to understand the relationship between Microsoft and Facebook and how Microsoft relies on Facebook’s social network to help bring more traffic to its Bing search engine. Ah, so there it is—the sticky issue.

What we don’t understand is why Facebook needs to utilize Bing’s search? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to Facebook if it had its own internal search feature, compiling all of the data produced by its nearly 1 billion users? Certainly, it would make more strategic sense for Facebook’s bottom line.

Here’s another thought: If a billion users were each given his or her own e-commerce platform to sell to his or her network (likes and friends), and Facebook took a percentage of all such sales (no different than Amazon or eBay), wouldn’t that too benefit Facebook’s bottom line?

Now let’s analyze this a bit. Facebook, having its own internal search, would be a major threat not only to Bing search, but also to Google and Yahoo. Then its ga-billion users would start to tap into the $500 billion e-commerce industry (threatening Amazon and eBay?). Forget about Facebook being a $100 billion company; it may become more like $200 or $300 billion.

Now consider Sqeeqee. Our patent-pending internal search engine provides users with the social media industry’s next-generation e-commerce platform. And equally importantly, the explosive growth of the Sqeeqee user base is actually being driven by our uniquely generous profit sharing formula. Along with the fact that buying and selling goods or services has never been so convenient or efficient.

In the case of David versus Goliath, what David/Sqeeqee does not have that Goliath/Facebook does is a billion users, but we will eventually get there. After all, we are only a month old. On the other hand, what David has that Goliath doesn’t are a dozen patent-pending features that will define the next generation of social networking. We will conclude this blog post with a famous quote by Jack Welch, “If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete.” We wouldn't be here if we didn't. And as we continue to surge in the number of Sqeeqee active users we’re confident that more and more people will hear about us and try our service—and be equally impressed by the thirteen advanced, patent pending features it incorporates.

Sqeeqee.com in the News

We went national in a press release, “Sqeeqee.com: New Social Media Website Generates Income For Users.” We received a number of calls and e-mails asking us how we will compete against a goliath like Facebook.

We respect not only Facebook, but also other social media platforms that are in the market today. Being a “new kid on the block” is not easy, but we did get here—and we are not looking back. We believe some of our core patent-pending features will attract users to not only check us out, but through “social media word of mouth” will attract others to explore Sqeeqee.com and compare the benefits our social media site offers to each user.

Unlike the current social media sites, we put our users in the driver’s seat to gaining financial independence by either selling, trading, or advertising. No other social media sites offer these unique features under a single platform.

Facebook has its own problems; we can clearly see its stock is certainly not performing well since its IPO debut just about three months ago. While the markets have been quite bullish, the opposite occurred for Facebook’s stock. Even when it is trading in the $20 IPO price range, Facebook is still trading at 73 times its diluted earnings per share, nearly four times the valuation of Google, which is trading at only 19 times.

There’s a saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” While Facebook may be a ga-billionaire company, what it doesn’t see is what makes it weak. Our team sees a stream of paths for Facebook to regain shareholders’ trust and confidence, while implementing immediate plans to increase revenue. Mr. Peter Thiel jumped shipped at the very first chance he had to sell shares since Facebook’s IPO. What concerns us is an additional 1.2 billion insider shares will be eligible for sale coming this November.

Sqeeqee.com’s First Town Hall near UC Riverside

Sqeeqee.com held our first town hall event by UC Riverside, and it turned out great. We had about a dozen attendees from ages 21 to 45. We went over each of Sqeeqee’s features and how it benefits a given user. One of our attendees in her mid 20s asked us about our e-commerce feature and how it would benefit her.

“Social commerce” is the future, and we are thrilled to be the first social media site to hold a patent to a unique combination we have yet to see on any current social media sites. E-commerce is a $500 billion industry led by Amazon and eBay. From a user’s point of view, combining social networking and e-commerce in one simple platform has limitless potential.

Direct selling is a $150 billion industry and growing. There’s a saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” We believe we all have something to sell. Why not place your unwanted items on your social media wall? You might have an unwanted used book; an old iPhone 4 because you want to buy that new iPhone 5; or a blouse that your gal pals just don't think looks good on you, but you can't find that darn receipt. How about that bike shop of yours down at the pier? Your social media page may have several thousand friends or followers already; they could visit “Your Shop” and take a look at some of those bikes you have for sale. Through simple PayPal transactions, the number of “friends” or “followers” you have become your buyers.

Sqeeqee.com has made it simple. With just a few clicks, a user can literally add any items he or she wishes to sell. The possibilities are endless for “social commerce.”

Sqeeqee.com plans to travel across this nation and continue to hold these town hall events at nearby college campuses. Please send us an e-mail to info@sqeeqee.us if you would like to book an event near your area.