Best of 2014: Top 10 Blog Articles

As we step into 2015, let’s look back at some freshtrax highlights from last year. Below are the top 10 blog articles from 2014 in no particular order.

1. Becoming an Entrepreneur in Silicon Valley (Part 1)

We sat down with four co-founders from various stage startups (from seed stage to IPO) in a fireside chat at JapanNight VII to learn about what inspired them and how they built their company.

Photo by: Mark Avery

2. How to Sell Online in Japan

Japan’s e-commerce market is one of the largest and most mature in the world, comprising 10% of global online retail transactions. In 2013, Japanese B2C e-commerce sales totaled $119 billion, growing steadily at 10% annually and projected to reach $135 billion in 2015. So how can your company capture a piece of that pie, particularly if you haven’t entered the Japanese market yet?

3. Top 8 E-Commerce Marketing Trends for 2015

The more often a company tries to push a sale and the less time they spend showing passion for both their product and customers, the less likely potential consumers will spend with that business. This article describes a few ways that new technology will change how companies can find champions and customers alike, while avoiding wasted ad dollars and pushy sales.

4. The Most Popular Websites in Japan

Nielsen announced the ranking of domestic internet services by number of visitors on December 25, 2013. They conducted research based on Mobile NetView, which is the information provider of audience ratings on smartphones specialized in audience ratings for computer devices. The rankings of the number of desktop visitors are as follows. The results are calculated according to monthly desktop visitor numbers (from home and work) from January to October in 2012.

Photo by: Les Taylor

5. Driving Japanese E-Commerce Traffic & Revenue

This article is a continuation of the “Selling in Japan” series. In the previous article, we talked about how to get started in e-commerce in Japan and the different platforms you could use to sell. But once you’ve set up your online store, then what? This part of the series is based on our eponymous webinar by btrax CEO Brandon Katayama Hill and e-commerce consultant Ayaka Matsui.

6. Selling in Japan: Converting Traffic into Sales

In the previous article of the “Selling in Japan” series, we talked about how to drive traffic to your online store in Japan. Now that you have traffic, how do you convert visitors into customers?  This article will cover some of the most common and effective ways to convert visitors into paying customers in Japan.

7. 10 Slides for a Killer Startup Pitch Deck

This article shares proven tips on creating a high-impact pitch that gets investors excited and sharpens how you think about your own startup. The 10 slides are based on my experiences working with startups of every stage and across many verticals over the past 8 years, combined with best practices from influential investors Dave McClure, Paul Graham and more.

8. Xiaomi and the Power of the Fan Economy

China’s blockbuster smartphone company Xiaomi owes its success and rapid growth to their focus on building a fan economy (粉丝经济 in Chinese). This is when brands intentionally develop, invest in and nurture a fan community that drives purchases through lifestyle affinity.

Photo by: Jerry Lai

9. Three Key Ingredients for Business Innovation

What does innovation mean within an organizational setting? According to FastCompany, “Innovation is the process through which value is created and delivered to a community of users in the form of a new solution.” Here, innovation is described as a process, and in this article, we will look at ways to facilitate the process of generating solutions with new ideas to drive value for businesses.

10. Top Chinese Websites in 2014

China’s internet usage penetration has grown over the last two years. Currently, 46.03% of nearly 1.4 billion of the world’s largest population in China uses the internet. That makes a total of 642 million internet users, up from 2012’s 538 million at 40.1% penetration. This is more than two times the number of internet users in the United States, which is ranked second in terms of total internet users at 280 million (data as of 2014).

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This blog publishes articles on cross-border design, technology, business, marketing and more by btrax staff and guest contributors. The published articles are read by 270,000 people every month.

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Photo by: Kristina B