Blogging is a Mass of Niches

So another issue is rocking the Philippine blogosphere with a proposal to put together a National Bloggers Association. Creating an organization is well and good. It is best done when there is a good number of people who have the same interests. In the Philippines alone there are hundreds of trade associations and thousands of interest groups which people join based on their profession, interests or hobbies.

I have my reservations about joining a National Bloggers Association. Let me explain why:

1. Blogging for me is just a hobby. I've been writing since I was a kid so I just essentially use blogging as a platform to express my thoughts and share my ideas and as a journal too.

2. My blog is my own world and I do not want it to be subjected to a standardized code of ethics or metrics. I used to be editor in chief of our college literary paper and it was painful for both the editors and professors to give feedback to the writer. Our publication back then was like a volcano because of the different temperaments of writers and artists.  Writing is a very personal act and subjecting bloggers to a standard/code of ethics is like building multiple number of volcanoes across the country.

3. Section 4 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution provides, "No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances." (highlighting added). The law provides for our freedom of speech and expression already, and the press makes sure that this isn't tampered with.

5. Each person has his own set of beliefs and values. In the past 5 years everyone in the blogosphere thinks they are right even when others think they are wrong, but we end up doing anything we want anyway. Following the 10 Commandments is hard enough, maybe we should just all follow it and the rest will fall into place.

I thought I'd write about this issue after reading the failed attempt in Singapore to put together a bloggers association. The Media Bloggers Association in the US also never moved forward in 2009 despite having been tapped by the Associated Press as a partner. Reading about it made me realize why it never worked.

Blogging is a mass of niches.


In short, to each is his own. And this makes it hard for advertisers and companies who would like to tap bloggers for their digital marketing campaigns. What they should realize is there will never be a one shot deal with bloggers. And it's not about getting bloggers to post your press release, but getting them to write about their experience with your product/service. And, of course, you have to do your research on which bloggers to tap.

As my mentor, Dr. Ned, kept telling me a few years ago, "The future isn't about marketing to the masses. It's going to be about you talking directly to consumers who are interested in your product." So don't expect everyone to read a specific blog, because it has its own niche (hundreds/thousands of readers). Yeah it's hard, but at least you have added content online about your products/services.

So this proposal about a National Bloggers Association... I don't know, I think I'll stick to joining or participating in select projects/activities since any attempt in the past (this the the nth attempt) never really flourished. Besides organizations really work with just a handful of people moving (I've observed that with local professional orgs too), so its actually better sometimes to just have interest groups work with different projects to get more traction.

Well, it's a free country and everybody has a choice :)

What do you think?

Using Blogging as a Learning Tool

Two years ago I taught a communications class in De La Salle University and one of the things I required my students to do was blog. Back then they had to upgrade their school email into a Google Account so they could use Blogger for their blogs. Google has now included Blogger as one of the additional features of Google Apps (read more about it here).

I wanted to hit two birds with one stone when I asked my students to blog:

(1) To immerse them in new technologies for communication;
(2) As a learning tool, they had to post new discoveries about specific topics in their blog.

Some of them groaned since they didn't really like writing (I found out that most of them wanted to take another college course, but their parents forced them into it), but since it was part of their grade they complied. I actually discovered quite a lot of talent among my students. The quiet ones apparently had hidden arsenals within them and I used this as a way to bring them out of their shell.

And I think using blogging as a tool worked. Most of my students have graduated from college and I've been pleasantly surprised since most of them are working for businesses related to new media. Most of them are responsible for their companies online programs.

Awesome ;)

How Much is Your Blog Worth?

Ever wondered how much your blog is worth?

I did because a friend of mine broached this subject once because he received an offer for a buy-out. Got an idea on how to measure my blog's worth through Sasha and Sarah's blog posts where they based their blog's worth on Dane Carlson's ingeniuty.

An Apple a Day has a bigger worth, but here's how Stitching fared:

My blog is worth $36,130.56.
How much is your blog worth?

Da Marketing Code and Blogging

Last week I had the privilege of speaking to an audience of almost a thousand marketers during the 38th National Marketing Conference, aptly titled "Da Marketing Code".

It was no easy feat.

The conference theme was based on the movie "Da Vinci Code" and everything revolved around that... down to the title of my talk "Google Marketing Secrets". In their opening speeches, PMA President Ricky Alegre and NMC Overall Chair Donald Patrick Lim promised that the conference was geared towards unlocking the code to the best marketing secrets.

The 2-day conference evolved from the traditional marketing strategies to new media on the second day. I was unfortunately not able to attend all the sessions.


Below are some of the key points I spoke about.

1. Why it is important to be searchable online. Read more about search marketing in a previous posts I made.

2. How to get found in the resulting chaos through all the marketing messages that consumers get bombarded with. Find the answer here.

3. Google products and services that can help your business. Learn also how you can inculcate Google in your daily routine by reading this. Check out also links to different Google products at the right side of my blog.

4. Do an integrated marketing approach. It is a MUST to have offline AND online campaigns.

5. And, new media trends. What tomorrow's landscape will be.

Missed my talk? I'll be talking next month in the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association Philippines general membership meeting and I'm doing a workshop series with the Philippine Trade & Training Center.

Over lunch with bigwigs such as Mr. Mon Lizardo, VP-Business & Linkages of Inquirer.net, Mr. Ricky Alegre, President, Philippine Marketing Association, Dr. Nards Garcia, famous full professor of De La Salle University, Ms. Lizanne Uychaco, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, PhilamLife, Mr. Rene A. Espinosa, President/CEO, Powermax Consulting Group Inc. and Mr. Christopher Paris Lacson, President, Habitats, the topic veered towards blogging. I was quite surprised that they were very much interested on blogging (I kept mentioning during my talk that Euro RCSG Manila Managing Partner/COO, Mr. Ed Mapa has a blog). They had many, many questions about it and I indulged them and encouraged them to set-up their own blogs. (I even got an offer for a consultancy job after, but had to decline gracefully :p).

I told them about a discussion I had with a UP professor that there should be a project to preserve the minds of the silver generation, those who are experts in their own right, be it in business, parenting or what-have-you. It was a very exciting discussion and they've requested to have a "blogging for CEOs" workshop since they had to go back to the conference and I had to run to my meeting.

Game! :)

Mission Impossible Series: The Plan (Episode 1)

I was in a very engaging discussion with a UP professor yesterday about blogging and he brought up the problem of preserving the knowledge of those in the "silver years". And then I told him about having lunch with Mr. Jun Verba, former CEO of Globe, and the tales he told us over lunch. I feel it's really a privilege to hear great people talk about their accomplishments. It motivates me to do well and go for goals that would benefit my community.

The greatest, grandest influencer in my life is my Dad. He writes well and has published several law books and is about to come out with a book of his essays. His love letters to my Mom are so adorable and since I got them I know my Mom chose really well.

As with any executive, my Dad writes long-hand. He's definitely not techie, but he is a forward thinker. He was the one who actually encouraged me to dabble with internet marketing in the first place. In our family, he is the dreamer, the one who taught me to think big. And he has many stories and experiences to share.

So, I have hatched a plan to get my Dad to go online. Shhhhh! He doesn't know! (And he's definitely not online and won't read this post unless one of his friends find my blog LOL).

I've conspired with my siblings to purchase him a laptop and then I'm going to lobby for him to start blogging. I've broached the idea over lunch the other day, but he just shook his head.

That is my impossible mission this summer.

Good luck Dad, let's see who's the better influencer. :)

Lessons I Learned at the iBlog3

iBlog3 is the third Philippine Blogging Summit. It was held at the School of Economics in UP Diliman last April 13 and 14, 2007. I didn't get to sit-in the talks on the first day, but I sat-in all the talks for day 2.

What I spoke about...

(1) Be found!

Make sure you are searchable online. With the 200% increase in marketing messages that we receive everyday, it's easy to get lost in the pile. We blog because we want to get read, so make sure you are: (1) unique; (2) relevant; (3) and that you have a niche. In today's world, it's not about mass marketing your site, it's about finding the people who will "buy" what you are saying. To be found, do some search engine optimization (check Google's Website Optimizer) or advertise through Google Adwords. (And, of course, if you want to monetize your site, use Google Adsense).

Wanna be searched in Google? Add your blog's URL here. And check out Yehey.com's blog directory, coming soon.

(2) Janette's Question: What is it that you want bloggers to ponder on?

I adhere to what Anton said in his talk. He said, "Blog about what's beautiful" and that thought stuck in my mind while waiting for my turn to talk. Whenever I travel I only hear negative news about our country. I think it is our responsibility to share to the world how beautiful our country is and that it is safe to travel here. Aside from that, we should also blog responsibly.

(3) How much does blogging cost?

I heard this question asked again and again during the summit. Blogging is FREE! (Well save for connectivity fees, but you can always bum some airtime at a friend's place if needed). All you need to do is sign-up for an account in Blogger and then you can immediately start blogging.

I love using Blogger! You should too!

I've learned so much about blogging in the past few months! And the tremendous change in traffic I've been getting the past few months (1,100% growth!) has spurred me to blog more. Some things I learned in the past few months from professional and hobbyist blogger friends and from experience:

(1) Find a niche.
(2) Blog as much as you can.
(3) Labelling/tagging is very important.
(4) Check Google Zeitgeist for the latest trends in searches.
(5) Market your blog through networking, link lovin', commenting.
(6) Do a little SEO. Well, ask Marc. Check your traffic and where it's coming from once in a while. (7) Speak in a universal language.
(8) Don't be scared to write. Everybody makes grammatical mistakes.
(9) Got blog backlog? Do a rundown post instead.
(10) Got bloggers block? Play badminton with bloggers and the intellectual conversation around you will surely get your block unblocked. You'll be running home to blog in no time.

Things I picked up from the speakers:

Abe Olandres - he's been blogging for 7 years and originally blogged about personal stuff but eventually realized he had to strategize about what he wrote about. It was only in the past 2 years that he has managed to monetize his blog.

Anton Diaz - blog about what's beautiful!

Manuel Quezon III - he said that at the end of the day everything is political. Ergo, everything is about power.

Wilson Chua - he spoke about the importance of podcasting and making your podcasts searchable on the web.

Aileen Apolo - er, this is me, more about what I spoke about below.

Norman Agatep - 20 to 30% of the market are prosumers (the first movers) and they will be the ones who would convince the rest of the market to use or not use your product/service.

Alecks Pabico - he shared the difference between journalism and blogging. Journalists adhere to a strict discipline since they have to make sure all facts are true and all sources are credible.

J. Angelo Racoma - he reiterated that trust is important especially in social news.

Malou Mangahas - she said that new media is where everybody should go and that media has recognized blogging as an important tool and that's the main reason why GMA has set up their own blog network.

Marc Macalua - the founder of SEO Philippines gave tips on how to increase your traffic and shared his insights on how to monetize your website. Also, be an expert in your field, just make sure you don't decorate your blog in pink.

Jayvee Fernandez - Jayvee basically taught us how to make raket from blogging. He said that it's easier to blog than to write for a magazine and the pay's really competitive since aside from per article fees you also get commissions depending on the traffic your write-ups generate if you write for a blog network.

Gail dela Cruz-Villanueva - inasmuch as her husband's "controversial post" was discussed, Gail spoke about how to brand one's blog.

Congratulations to Janette Toral, JJ Disini and the other organizers for a very successful event!

Blogger, Why Do I Love Thee?

I was talking with Pierre during lunch at the iBlog3 Convention about sticking to Blogger. You see, his friends have been convincing him to switch to another blogging platform. This started our conversation on why we love using Blogger. (Hey Pierre, hope you wear your cool hat tomorrow!).

Blogger, why do I love thee?

Read more here.

Philippine Blog Awards

Photo by Chris Haravata

The Philippine Blog Awards was held last March 31, 2007 at the Carlos P. Auditorium, RCBC Plaza. The PBA was organized by volunteers headed by Abe, Gail and Jayvee.

Winners were as follows:

Main Category Winners

Best Personal Blog: Misteryosa
Best Home & Living Blog: Wifely Steps
Best Socio-Political Blog: Philippine Commentary
Best News & Media Blog: Inside PCIJ
Best Fashion & Lifestyle Blog: Bryanboy: Le Superstar Fabuleux
Podcast of the Year: HappySlip
Best Technology Blog: Leon Kilat: The Cybercafe Experiments
Best Business/Entrepreneur Blog: Reflections of a BizDrivenLife
Best Entertainment Blog: Retzwerx
Best Sports & Recreation Blog: Who rides a Vespa?
Best Travel Blog: Ivan About Town
PhotoBlog of the Year: Señor Enrique: Wish You Were Here

Special Awards Winners

Best Blog Design: Far from Neutral Notions
Best Free Custom Theme: Blu3zin3
Best Plugin/Extension: iPap
Best OFW Blog: Kwentong Tambay
Bloggers’ Choice Awards: MarketManila

Globe Broadband Awards Winners

Blog Achievement Award: The Mommy Journals
Pinoy Ako Blog Award: ederic@cyberspace
Family Blog Award: About My Recovery
Blogirl Award: Well Whatever
Deliblog Award: Dessert Comes First

Read my other post about the Philippine Blog Awards.

How to Earn from Blogging

This post is dedicated to a dear friend who's been asking about passive income for the summer. I know there are many ways to earn other income, but I thought since he's taking his Masters in English Language Education and I want to encourage him to utilize blogging as a medium of communication with his students, I suggested that he should start blogging.

It's easy my dear friend!

Create a blog in 3 easy steps!

Step 1: Sign-up for a Google Account here. Your Google Account also gives you access to other Google services like Gmail, Picasa etc.
Step 2: Go to Blogger and sign-in using your Google Account.
Step 3: Create your blog.

And then you can start blogging away! Got loads of photos you want to share? Download Picasa! I just love using the "I'm feeling lucky" button to fix-up my photos. Plus the buttons at the bottom make it easy to upload chosen photos and directly blog (through Blogger) about it. And Picasa has increased storage to 1 GB! Yipeee!!!

BUT! Of course, you want to earn from your blog.

First, you have to sign-up for an Google Adsense account (you'll find a link inside Blogger.com).

When that's been approved, don't forget to install Google Adsense in your blog, you can tweak this in the "layout" section for each other blogs that you create. Click on "add a page element" and then choose "add Adsense". Don't forget to save your changes!

For tips on earning from Google Adsense, visit Ely's blog and get inspired as well with these stories:

What Google Adsense Bought Me
http://wildthoughtsfaq.blogspot.com/2007/03/what-google-adsense-bought-me.html

The House that Google Adsense Bought?
http://www.jozzua.com/2007/03/05/the-house-that-adsense-bought/

Blogging and Social Computing Forum

Digitalfilipino.com
January 5, 2007

I attended the Blogging and Social Computing Forum sponsored by Digitalfilipino.com last Friday. Sacha Chua gave a very passionate talk on social computing. It would be interesting and useful to see a local version of www.upcoming.org - a site in Canada that aggregates local events as posted by its members. Noemi Lardizabal Dado shared her experience on personal blogging and how one can use it for advocacy. I surely enjoyed J. Angelo Racoma's talk on professional blogging venture and the four types of professional bloggers - corporate problogger, independent problogger, celebrity problogger and blog overlords.

I'm sure happy I could blog again! (Hope internet connection gets better in the coming weeks).