While it’s easy to overlook, opportunity cost is a force to be reckoned with. It can have big implications for your company. But what, exactly, is opportunity cost? Simply put, opportunity cost is the value of whatever you give up to make a certain decision. It is involved in every decision any person makes. Sometimes it is monetary and sometimes it is harder to measure, but it always affects our decisions whether we realize it or not.

When we make decisions, we choose to give up something scarce (usually our time or money) in exchange for something we want. We ensure maximum profits by minimizing opportunity cost losses. For example, consider the implications of throwing a party for employees during work time. The monetary costs of throwing a simple party include decorations, food, prizes and maybe some entertainment. However, you must also take into account opportunity cost—by throwing the party, you are reducing productivity and paying employees for work they aren’t doing. This could amount to thousands of dollars lost and is thus a factor to determine when planning your party. You may choose instead to do it after hours or cut the party short to decrease costs.

Once you understand opportunity cost, it’s easy to see how it influences business planning. If you invest $1,000 in a certain stock and lose $500 in the first month, you might think your total loss is $500. However, you have also lost the money you would have made had you invested that money elsewhere. If you had invested that $1,000 in stock that has doubled in value over the last month, you would have made $1,000. Thus, you must add that $1,000 to the $500 you lost. When you take opportunity cost into account, you see your real loss is closer to $1,500. When planning for your company, be sure to take into account opportunity cost to determine actual risk and increase your likelihood of success.

First, the picture must be clear and sharp. The lighting must be right, not too bright and not too dark. It can be hard to see details if there’s not enough light or too much light. It is generally best to shoot in daylight because it is natural and usually adequate. The best light for shooting photos is early morning or late afternoon. The bright noon-day sun creates dark shadows under the eyes and nose.

Make sure the background of your picture does not detract from the most important part, the image of your item. If you have a messy kitchen or a shirtless uncle in the background, it takes away from the product. If the background is too light when you take the picture, it can fool the camera’s automatic light sensor into thinking it needs to close down the aperture. The result is that your product in the foreground looks dark.

The number of pictures is also important. Normally you want between one and three, but it all depends on the nature and complexity of your product. Ask yourself, “If I was buying this product, what would I want to see?” At the very least you want an image for the gallery. This is the thumbnail sized image that shows up next to the title.

If you are trying to sell a car, for example, you’ll want to include several pictures and show every detail of it. Including a picture of the front of the car, the back of the car, the sides of the car, the interior of the car, the dash, under the hood, would not be too much. On the other hand, if you are trying to sell tickets to an upcoming concert, you do not need to include pictures of the front, back, and sides of the tickets. One picture will usually suffice for those types of products. When in doubt, place yourself in the customer’s position and think about what kind of photos you would appreciate and how many there should be.

How to use a search engine

Without search engines, the vast wealth of knowledge that is available to us online would be useless.  If we can’t find the information we need, it might as well not be there.  Learning how to effectively use search engines is one of the most important skills an internet user can develop.  Here is a link to an article that demystifies search engines: http://www.learnthenet.com/how-to/search-the-web/index.php.  There is even a website dedicated to using one of the most popular search engines in the world: Google.  Check out www.googleguide.com to learn everything you need to know about conducting searches with Google specifically.

How to send an email

Email is one of the most common ways people use the internet.  As a child, I remember having an email service for at least a year before my family finally got an internet service that allowed actual surfing.   A great guide on how to send emails is located here: http://www.learnthenet.com/how-to/send-email/.

How to bookmark a website

In your internet exploring, you will undoubtedly find websites that you want to be able to return to quickly and easily.  Bookmarks are place holders that you can add to a list on your web browser that will allow you to return to your sites with one click.  There are free services that you can use to organize your bookmarks like www.delicious.com or www.google.com/bookmarks.  A simple article that explains bookmarking for beginners can be found at http://www.learnthenet.com/how-to/bookmark-websites/index.php.

How to subscribe to an RSS feed

RSS feeds are indispensible for people who find themselves frequently returning to the same blogs or websites to check for updated content.  With RSS feeds, readers can choose to subscribe to frequently updated blogs and websites.  All newly posted content will be automatically sent to the user’s RSS feed and they can read them all in one place rather than visiting each separate website every time they want to read the new content.  Guidelines for setting up an account with an RSS service are outlined here: http://www.learnthenet.com/how-to/subscribe-to-rss-feeds/index.php.  Some of my favorite RSS reader services are www.google.com/reader, and www.feedreader.com.

How to start social networking

Social networking is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family or even to market a business.  On social networking sites, internet users can create personal profiles that house their own pictures and information.  Users can interact with other people through their profiles and create “groups” for individuals with similar interests.  Businesspeople can market their products for free on social networking sites by creating profiles for their businesses and inviting people to become “fans”.  Here are some tutorials on how to use the most common social networking sites: http://www.learnthenet.com/learn-to-social-network/, http://www.aarpmagazine.org/lifestyle/facebook_step_by_step_guide.html?CMP=KNC-360I-MSN-ATM&HBX_OU=52&HBX_PK=how_to_use_facebook&utm_source=MSN&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=how%2Bto%2Buse%2Bfacebook&utm_campaign=MSN-ATM%2B-%2BLifestyle.