Life Short Cuts

This was posted by one of my plurk friends a gazillion years ago.  It flashed into my head as a perfect analogy for a lot of online workers, especially those being looked down on because you don't dress up in morning in your stockings and heels.

A vacationing businessman asked a fisherman how long it took to catch fish.
Fisherman: Oh, a few hours.
Businessman: Why don't you stay out longer and catch more fish?
Fisherman: With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs.
Businessman: But what do you do with the rest of your time?
Fisherman: I sleep late, play with my children, watch ballgames, and take siesta with my wife. Sometimes in the evenings I take a stroll into the village to see my friends, play the guitar, sing a few songs...

Businessman: Look, I have an MBA from Harvard, and I can help you to be more profitable.

• You can start by fishing several hours longer every day. 
• You can then sell the extra fish you catch. 
• With the extra money, you can buy a bigger boat. 
• With the additional income that larger boat will bring, before long you can buy a second boat, then a third one, and so on, until you have an entire fleet of fishing boats. 
• Then, instead of selling your catch to a middleman you'll be able to sell your fish directly to the processor, or even open your own cannery. 
• Eventually, you could control the product, processing and distribution. 
• You could leave this tiny coastal village and move to Mexico City, or possibly even Los Angeles or New York City, where you could even further expand your enterprise.

Fisherman: But how long will all this take?
Businessman: Probably about 15-20 years, maybe less if you work really hard.
Fisherman: And then what, señor?
Businessman: Why, that's the best part! When the time is right, you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions.
Fisherman: Millions? Really? What would I do with it all?
Businessman: Then you could happily retire with all the money you've made. You could move to a quaint coastal fishing village where you could sleep late, play with your grandchildren, watch ballgames, and take siesta with your wife. You could stroll to the village in the evenings where you could play the guitar and sing with your friends all you want.


Amen.

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For Online Retailers: Ready, Get Set, Go Pre-Halloween Black Friday Mode!

Online retailers are on Black Friday mode even before halloween this year, according to a Consumer Reports article on Yahoo.  The report says some online retailers have already super slashed prices and generously added the free shipping treat for the early Christmas shoppers.

It's about how many weeks to thanksgiving, five?...  At this rate, someday we'll have black Friday sales as early as February.

Just giving you the heads-up that your competitors already have their hands in customers' Christmas Funds as early as now.

And what are you waiting for?  Shoo, time to strategize (if you still don't have any) and implement your Christmas sales programs ;-)


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Sighted: Home Office Designs

Sunrise view from my bedroom window

Can't tell it's hard to get a shot with the grills and screen, eh?

Online workers work at home all day, it would be ideal to have a nice spot in the house where you feel relaxed, beautiful and totally motivated to work. I hope you take some time to spruce up your home office.

I am totally intending to move my home office to my bedroom.  My rule has always been, no computers or TVs in the bedroom.  It is stressful to have those electronic thingys where you rest.  The brain won't be able to tell whether it's time to work or to rest.

But then, my bedroom has a view of the San Mateo hills and plateau.  It is a majestic view and very inspiring.  (If not for the ugly, AND red window grills that the owner has put on the windows.  Yes, there is also the aluminum screen. Sigh, but that is beyond my control and I digress.)  Yes, those hills are alive.  In the morning, it is totally beautiful with the sunrise.  And as evening rolls in, when I have the time I just sit there and not open the lights.  It is just as breath-taking, to see the snazzy orange sky during sunset.  A bit later, teeny lights on the hills wake up as the sky turns pitch black.

So now I am thinking what would be a nice look for my online work office.  I am devoting the whole wall with the windows to the home office.  Wonder what nice thing can be done besides the long work table and shelves by the wall...

Found this page for home office designs and there are thousands of pictures to get inspiration from. I'm still looking for an idea with big windows in front of the workstation.

And this blog rocks because it has pictures of home offices of real people .  Looks like I'll be getting ideas from this blog more than the designer pages.

From:  houzz.com

I'm having one or two of these shelves made.  My room design taste is very simple.

I want things to be utilatarian and no space for clutter (because I'm makalat).

Maybe I like it because it reminds me of the cubbyholes where I put my lunchbox in in kindergarten.

And of course, the work area, something like this.

From http://home.officesnapshots.com/2010/03/09/the-perfect-minesweeper-setup/

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Where to Buy Musical Instruments in Manila - Quiapo, Philippines

Summary:


If you are looking for musical instruments and accessories, visit Evangelista Street in Quiapo, Manila, Philippines for a smorgasbord of musical equipment. I think the prices are lower too.

Just came in from my little field trip in Quiapo.  My teen son is totally into music.  His birthday is coming up and I wanted to see what musical instruments were there in Quiapo.  I wanted to get him something related to his music, but wasn't able to get one today.  

I counted how many years he has been totally interested in music.  It has been 5 years since he went home and asked for a guitar.  When he bought him one, it turned out he already knew how to play.   We had no idea where he picked it up.

A year later, same thing with the keyboard.  He just knew how, we just had to get him the instrument.  He has shown his diligence in studying music pieces all by himself.  He watches how to do a song in YouTube and practices repeatedly everyday.  He is a far cry from how I had been with piano.  I had a teacher and I resented that the teacher had to eat up my Saturdays with boring piano lessons.  (Saturday shows are:  Thundercats, Fraggle Rock, Dungeons and Dragons the Animation, Rainbow Brite and my favoritest Shirt Tales, so yeah, I pretty much hated the lessons.)  I loved playing piano pieces everyday, but totally slept through the lessons and drillszzzzzzz....

So if you want high quality musical instruments and items and you want to get it for lower prices, you can try scouting around in Evangelista St. in Quiapo and ask around for prices.  I was in a rush so I didn't get to ask around for the prices of different instruments. I just asked around for the item I was looking for. Depending on your interest in this post, I can go back and note items for you.  But for now let's discuss

How to get to Evangelista Street, Quiapo

I took the FX to Quiapo (the Quezon Avenue - Espana Boulevard route). At the end of Espana Boulevard still coast along toward the curved road going left.  Your transportation will go through an underpass and 

• When you get up to the main road Quezon Boulevard, you will immediately see signs to the right saying Raon.  
• Get down and walk a little heading to the direction where you came from.  You won't reach the Quiapo Church, but if you reach the Church that is okay, you'll still easily get to Evangelista.  
• Today I got down 2 streets before the Church, G. Puyat.  If you enter another street from Quezon Boulevard, it's alright.  
• Just walk through the street a bit and the first adjacent busy street you will see is Evangelista.
• If you got down at Qiuapo Church, just go to the side of the Church and see the first parallel street beside the Church.  That is Evangelista Street as well.  
•  You will  know it's Evangelista when you see that most shops are electronics stores, motor stores, music lighting stores, speakers stores and sporting goods and music Stores.

There are about 4 Music and Sporting Goods stores near each other from where I emerged from in Gil Puyat.  There might be more but I did not trek Evangelista St. on both ends.

Musical Stores and Sporting Goods usually share a shop.  So if you see trophies outside a store, take a peek if there are guitars hanging inside.  You  have come to the right place then.

I did not see keyboards or pianos, but what I did see today are lots of guitars, drum sets, violins, saxophones, and other smaller percussion instruments.  Of course you can get the other accessories of the instruments there, like guitar strings and picks, amplifiers, drum sticks, cymbals, etc. etc.

Same thing with sports equipment.  If you need lots of trophies, score sheets, etc. for your sports fest;  or if you need exercise equipment, you will find them in Evangelista. I bought a sleeping bag there for my son. The price is about half? or 2/3 the price of a sleeping bag with same specs from sporting goods stalls in the mall.

If you are nearer to Quezon City and don't want to go to Manila, you may also look for musical instruments in Sta. Mesa.


If you have kids who are totally into music for a long time and you know they will do this for a long time, visit Evangelista Street in Quiapo and be surprised at the price differences in music stores that you can find in malls.



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Time to Listen to your Consumers

Summary:
Thanks to the internet, consumers can now rightfully participate in the marketing - and even improvement -  of a product.   Talk to your customers and listen to them.  By building relationships, you will be the one to be turned to for advice (and products! translating to later sales. *blink Dollar$ here*)  Below are some tips how to make it easy for you.

Last night, I have been reading some parts of "Age of Engage" by Denise Shiffman.  It talks about how online and offline marketing has changed (for the better, I think) because now, consumers have a say in how items or ideas are marketed to them.  In the past, with TV and printed media, a consumer has no control over the marketing tools and ideas shoved at them.  These days, thanks to the internet, and the power vested upon by consumers with social networking tools and other handy apps, consumers can rightfully participate in the marketing - and even improvement - of a product.

I am amazed at how Ms. Shiffman has put into words the social context that I, as an online marketer, breathe and live everyday. I totally appreciate how much consumers have the power these days to make or break a product with their comments and reviews.  As a consumer myself, I love that when I need something, I only have to ask Google if there are people who have been talking about that product or place.  I just look at what they have to say.  Always, I am comforted with the guidance before I seek out that product.  As a copywriter, should I even say a product review is a goldmine of inspiration for copy that sells? When I find a review on a product I have to write about, I feel like I've won the lottery.  Reviews are absolutely priceless.

A lot of the net-savvy companies have realized that these days, marketing products and ideas is a 2-way street.  If you are just starting to realize this and want to improve your relations with your customers,  here are some ideas to help you get started how to engage your customers:

•  Use social networking tools to reach out to customers.  These days, companies usually do blogs, email newsletters, Twitter, Facebook, forum participation, social bookmarking, etc.  You don't have to do all of these.  You can just pick one or two you or your staff can do consistently well.  Let people know you want to have conversations with them.
• Yes, let your staff blog or tweet or network your business.  Clients love seeing the people behind the business.  It warms them up and builds loyalty for your product or business.  You can issue some basic, fair guidelines for your employees since they will be speaking in behalf of the company.  But let them speak out their own passions about your business.  You might be surprised with how well the public will take to it.
• Be honest and show who you really are.   People want to know you and your company.  They can spot a fake a mile away.  So if you're a nice person, go.  If you think you are not that nice, let your staff do it for you. lol.  But seriously, for all of us, some people like us and some don't.  There will always be an audience for the real you.  So just be there and be you.
•  Please do not flood your readers with offers.  They are not interested in your products (At least, not yet).  Instead write helpful tips about your industry that they want to learn about.  Then when they need something, they will remember you.  Patience is a virtue and a customer magnet.
• Where to start?  Tip on what kind of engagement to start with:  I dare say the email newsletter is the most personal marketing for a person.  First, they have already agreed that you send them mail.  That's a biggie.  You just have to nurture the relationship.  They know you sent them something made specially for them. Studies have shown that people are often hesitant to Unsubscribe to newsletters they signed up for, even if they do not read the newsletter anymore.  It is strange, but many people are attached to newsletters.  Then of course, blogs abnd forums are a great way to inform people.  You can easily establish yourself as an expert with those formats.  In the US, tweeting about companies has caught on, and Facebook shoutouts have caught on too.  See what is most comfortable for you and use it consistently.
• And of course, listen to your consumer.  As I said it's 2-way now.  Responses are expected from you.  Out of all your followers, only 10-20% will bother to leave comments (the others will just read on) so if anyone does bother to talk to you, respond back.  Treat these comments as treasure.  Most likely, these comments indicate what the other 90% readers think about your your company or products.  (Don't even get me started on companies I encountered who detest criticisms or questions on their products.)  On criticisms on your product or business, be glad someone took the initiative to point it out to you.  It may feel bad, but think of it like having spinach caught between your teeth.  You're better off if someone points this out.  Besides the embarrassment, for business it'll cost you profit if you don't listen.)

If you are interested to learn more about how to build relationships with your clients, Denise Shiffman's Age of Engage will give you a great headstart on putting all this in perspective. Please buy from my Amazon store if you want the book. Shameless plug, yes. But that's me.




















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Sighted: "Evolution of the Geek"

Who would've thought geek would have its own time to be cool?

What kind of Geek are you?  (Doubleclick to see in its original size.)
Thanks to uber Book Geek Hecman for the sighting.

Do visit Flowtown, the Source of this graphic.  

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Why Do You Blog?

• I blog because I take pleasure in writing about things that interest me.  
• I also blog as a souvenir (that's for my parenting blog and Tumblr).
• I'd like to earn in Adsense too (I  haven't yet even if my blogs are years-old because I do not network).  Paid blog reviews are also fine by me.

Interestingly, blogging incidence has declined in other countries, but here in the PH, blogging is more alive than ever.  Why?

I noticed that there is this almost-mania about Philippine blogs being equal to freebies and events.  That is so strange.

I guess being invited to corporate events because of your blog is the new cool. 

1.  One of our blogger friends introduced herself as a blogger, then her new acquaintance asked "So, you have lots of events to attend and freebies then?"

2.  Saw in Plurk recurrently :  People asking how to be invited to events.

3.  Then I passed by this blog that had ONLY announcements of events and new products.  Obviously fishing for invites and freebies.

4.  Recently, there was this brouhaha about blogger events as a possible venue for corruption.  Although money was not directly involved, freebies and gift certificates were. But still, corruption is still corruption, cash or none.

Argh.  It's an online disease.

Me, I like events to get out of my dinky spot under the rock, once in a while.  My colleague takes me to her events.  I'm always the plus-one.  But after that, I blog about the event even if I just tagged along.  Freebies, I don't mind getting them, I don't mind if I don't.  

I don't mind getting paid for blogs (See an old article - On Paid Blog Posts) and getting perks.  So if you were able to scandalize ME about your corrupting ways, then shame on you.

How about you, blogger reader, why do you blog?


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Talaandig Day 2010 and Tribal Wedding

Went to the mountains to witness one of my besties from work get married to a datu. It's been a while since a datu got married in their tribe so it was a very special day for the Talaandigs.  Their wedding day also coincided with the day of the tribe so the atmosphere was really festive.

(Note for researchers who want to copy the pictures:  Please respect the Talaandig Tribe and use their pictures prudently.  They have their own rules about these things that I would not want to intrude on.)

Entrance marker to the Talaandig Ancestral Land.

Crowd was waiting...

I love that most of the tribe were wearing their beautiful dresses.

Program in the morning.

1001 Artworks Exhibit at noon before the wedding. 

Total number of artworks they got was 2000-plus since the nanays in the tribe also flexed their creative muscles. Media used on the canvasses are paint made from clay soil from their land and oil.

 Wood  and clay sculptures

A wall post in the tribal hall depicting the tribal members. 

There are more posts like this in the tribal hall. I think these are made of clay as well.

Painting of Talaandig warrior.

 Painting of Talaandig couple dancing

Another beautiful painting.  There are lots more.

By now, you may have noticed that the Talaandig tribe take their art and culture seriously. I was surprised at how each native REALLY looked at each artwork for a long time before moving on to the next. 

Wedding of Datu Anilaw and Lorie 

My friend Lorie works in an NGO advocating for Indigenous People's Rights.  Anilaw visited their office one day and the rest is literally history.

Start of the wedding. Groom waited at another house. 

They had their own pre-wedding rituals there. 

Then they marched on to the main hall where the bride and the tribe were waiting.

 Groom's march.

  Negotiation of the Dowry.

Money for dowry. Each family member contributes a coin. 

The bride's party also gave coins... Interestingly enough, the total from both parties randomly tied at the same amount (traditionally the groom's party's money should be greater... something indicative about equal standing there, I guess...) 10 chickens were also sacrificed but no one took pictures of that. And the chicken blood was brushed over the money.

 Blessing of the couple.  

Commitment of both families (in this case, the whole tribe) to support them and their family.

 First meal together, courtesy of the sacrificed chikons.

 Ladies of the tribe danced in the hall to seal the deal.

 First dance. I cried at this part. heehee.

 Everybody dance. 

Dances were usually inspired by the animals found in Mt. Kitanlad. I learned of the bird dance and monkey dance. I was with the bride so no dancing for me. I'm so kj.

 Tribal Disco after. 

Music courtesy of local resident artist-musician-poet Waway. Their music that night had reggae and rock beats.  The concert rocked on 'til 4am.

Mt. Kitanlad

We chanced upon several ladies in native dress. This lady is the daughter of a datu.

 Intricate beading on the dresses. 

I think they embellish their own dresses and headdresses.

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Geeky Love Joke

Boy: Is you're name Google?

Girl: No.  Why would my name be Google?

Boy: Because you are everything i'm searching for :) 

harharhar... Cheesy, but I like.  Snatched from my son's status on Facebook.  lolz. 



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Want to be an Ideas Leader? Share! Share! Share!

The other day, my teammate was asking why oh why some net people are just stingy with their knowledge. 

One person had this problem re: SEO, and was asking for help what to do.  This person had the "Experts" in his/ her friends list, so my teammate was expecting that these active proponents will answer the question posted.  But sorry to hear, those self-proclaimed experts did not even bother to answer this call for help.  These people ask a lot in terms of fees from companies so they can teach techniques regarding the internet.   And yet, they won't even help out a fellow online worker.  (And my teammate swears the stuff they teach for an exorbitant fee is not even updated.  LOLzzz)

When I started studying the best net practices 3 years ago, one of the first points I picked up as truly important is :  To succeed online, be useful to other people. Help others out as much as you can, and you will find your online experience very enjoyable and fulfilling.

This is what I see from my favorite net gurus.  They live what they preach.  The Ideas Leaders I truly admire are always friendly and ever open to share their knowledge.  They accept friend requests on Facebook, so I get updated on the newest stuff on the net that otherwise I would have found out about next year.  They also respond to questions in private messages and their walls.  They share what they know, and this sharing comes back to them tenfold.  They are truly recognized in the field as leaders.

Anyway, the ending of the story is, my teammate was exasperated with the lack of interest to help from these people.  Being the usual generous-hearted person she is, she answered all the questions and gave more tips how to handle the problem.

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Web Geeks PH Meetup Hosted by Ubertor

Renz and I attended the Web Geeks PH Meetup at the Fort last Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010.

I am thrilled to finally be out and about, from my perennial location Under the Rock.  I am happy I went, I met these bunch of enthusiastic and great people who are as into the Net as I am. I like that the interests and specializations in the Net of the people I met there are diverse.  There were Software Developers, Web Designers, students, online social networkers, etc etc.

For that night, the topics talked about are the importance of Social Networking to your Business and the benefits of using Agile in projects.  Great talks, very interesting.

I look forward to exchanging ideas and working with them in the future.

Thanks heaps to John Arce, the Web Geek regulars and the Ubertor people for this event.



Upcoming Events : Roofcamp and Web Dev Con

ROOF CAMP:  Saturday, October 23 · 6:00pm - 9:30pm

 Roofcamp is a venue for future looking, maverick, and fearless individuals, sharing and distilling ideas from concept to reality.

Speakers :

Scott Henderson @espressojunky
CTO, Bookmans/auctionsalacarte.com

Ibba Bernardo @ibba
Founder and Big Chief, E-Motion Animation
Chairman of BuhayKo.org

FUELED BY BEER 

DevCon :  Saturday, November 13 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Program:

• Registration
• Opening Remarks
• Lightning Talks
• Birds of a Feather (BOF)
• Raffle
• Geekup
• Closing

Speakers @ Lightning Talks:
(To be announced soon!)

Venue:

OTD Offices, 14th Floor, Picadilly Star

4th Avenue corner 27th Street, Fort Bonifacio Global City

Taguig, Philippines

*If any of you want to go, leave me a message.  Let's go together.


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Building Others Online, Neglecting Your Own Online Persona

I find it really strange that a lot of professional marketers are successful in building up their clients' online personas, but neglect to build up their own nicely.

I'm guilty of this.  My excuse is always, after building up others' sites, when I'm done for the day, I'm tired.

But really, it's because I'm such an introvert person deep down. (hahaha good one.)  What I mean is, I am extroverted and sociable where required.  But left on my own, I am an obnoxious island.

How about you, SEO-ers and e-marketers, I hope you are faring better than I am...   Have you been good to yourself and marketing yourself properly?



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Laser Tag in Greenhills, Manila, Philippines

For my niece's birthday, we took her to the Cosplay mania event in the SM MOA then some laser tagging after.  There are several laser tag arenas in the Metro, but we took her and the boys to the Lazer Maxx Laser Tag Arena in Greenhills Shopping Center Roofdeck.

Barney Stinson of How I Met your Mother loved laser tagging and why not, it brings out the natural predatorial spirit that humans repress.  It's quite safe because even if you shoot people, there is generally no impact (unlike paintball, I suppose, where there is some mild impact).

How Laser Tagging Works: The area is set up with obstacles and mazes.  The object of the game is to shoot as many players as possible, despite the obstacles.  It is up to you and your team to be strategic and shoot/tag people as many times as you can.  If you get shot, your laser system is paralyzed for a few seconds, so avoid getting hit.

Laser Tag Cost/ Price:  P190 for 15 minutes in the Greenhills branch (as of October 2010).  Minus P20 for each subsequent game after.  Iced tea is P25 I think, you will surely get thirsty from all that attacking.

What to Expect when you laser tag: 

1)  Pay for your game.

2)  Watch a 5-minute video for instructions.   You will also be provided your alias for the game.

3)  Suit up in the next room.

4)  Laser tag for your life and have fun.

5)  Remove suits

6)  Get the printouts of your scores (but your scores are also in the LCD screen in the lobby).

You have to wear one of these babies so you can play.

I don't think there are lockers there if you have bags with you but maybe you can request for assistance with the bags from the staff.   You can't laser tag lugging your stuff around, of course.

Bring an extra shirt if you want, the place is airconditioned but the adrenaline level will be high you will surely perspire from all the excitement.  Big kids and teen boys even had their yayas mop up their sweat when we were there.  Unkewl, if you haven't heard of self-reliance, it's in the dictionary. 

Yep, you are all lighted up so you can't hide in the dark.

How to get to the Lazer Maxx Laser Tag Arena -  Once in Greenhills Shopping Center, you can park in the open parking facing Ortigas Avenue.  Look for the old Shakeys at the corner facing the parking lot and Ortigas, and Chowking, you will find the entrance-stairway to the Lifestyle Center.  Go up a few floors, at the roofdeck you will find the Lazer Maxx Laser Tag Arena.

To those who are curious where the other laser tag arenas are, I think there are branches in Market! Market!, Alabang Town Center,  Star City and a new one soon to open in Eton Centris Walk in Quezon Avenue-EDSA.   Please add the other branches in the comments section if I missed any.

I hope you all have fun and leave your nannies behind when you go. 

If you want to ask Lazer Maxx Laser Tag Arena Greenhills for more details, call tel. no. 584-5958/ 727-9948/ 726-6517/ 0922-8764962

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Learning About Selling on Amazon

I've been learning the ropes about selling your own items on Amazon.

I am really grateful for the new knowledge.

Who knows, I might sell stuff regularly on the net someday.


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