Influential Blogger

Week 3: The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008

2008-05-16T04:29:00.006+08:00

Here's the third week summary of entries and their choices/nomination in The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008. If you haven't submitted an entry yet, head on to our writing project page on how to join.

This effort will not be possible without the support of our sponsors. One of them is Filipino Yellow Pages. This site is a directory of Filipinos that conducts business in the U.S. Philippine-based businesses can also be listed in the site if they can give a U.S. address.

Week 3 only
For the third week, we received a total of 15 entries from Kevinraychua, Flowell, Carruthk, Charlie, JustCreativeDesign, Lynnae, MargaretSchaut, Geexie, Wavecritter, KristenForbriger, Tiffany, Superbong, Gabbeh, Jehzlau, and Markkamote.

A total of 59 blogs were cited from the 15 entries (excluding the additions made by some of the week 1 entries). They are:

The following blogs got one mention each:

Combined with week 1 and 2 entries, we now have a total of 35 writing project participants citing 120 blogs. This is the overall ranking of the blogs mentioned (including additions made by previous week entries), as of today:

All blogs listed in the previous weeks won't be re-posted unless it gets chosen again by entries submitted in Week 4 or still included in the total The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008.

If you haven't submitted an entry yet, head on to our writing project page on how to join.

The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008

2008-05-14T02:33:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone. I've decided to come up with a part 2 of this writing project of identifying new and emerging blogs that are making an impact to its readers in 2008. These are blogs that started anytime from July 1, 2007 to the present. They are gradually gaining a considerable amount of readership and influence.

This writing project will not be possible without the support of sponsors such as PRC Board Exam Results, RegaloService.com, and Filipino Yellow Pages.

Who can join?

Any blogger in the world. Only one entry per blogger.

Blog or website owner profile and e-mail is accessible or visible online.

To join this effort, please do the following:

Write a blog post and pick your choice of 10 (or less) emerging influential blogs.

Any blog in the world can be picked.

You can update the same post entry up to July 26. However, please inform us of any changes.

Old blogs who move to a new domain are disqualified

Blogs who remove their archives just to fit in the cut-off date are disqualified.

Include a link to this post to help spread the word and encourage others to participate.
Post a comment and let us know about your entry. Only one entry per blogger. Cut-off date and time for submission of entries is on July 26, Saturday, 5:00 pm (GMT+9:30). Afterwards, submission of comments in this page shall be closed.

Every week, beginning May 1, I will:

List the blogs that you've chosen. Only those that are blogs and created from July 2007 to the present shall be listed.
Feature one sponsor per week (logo and one paragraph blurb).

Each sponsorship slot is US$150.
Those getting more than one slot will have their logo appear at the sidebar of this blog.
Interested sponsors can email me at digitalfilipino at gmail.com

All entries will also be put in a master list on the 2nd week onwards.
I encourage you to subscribe to our blog and receive updates as this writing project evolves.

On July 27 to 31, I will:

Make a final review of posts. We will post a message in your entry to inform you that we've completed the review and no more updates shall be entertained afterwards.
Note that we have the right to disqualify entries and the citations they made, if we are not able to confirm or authenticate the blogger's identity on or before July 29. This is especially true to blogs with anonymous identities and those with pre-dated entries (versus its blog date creation).

On August 1, 2008, we will do the following:

List the The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008 based from your posts.
I will pick ten writing project entries in random who will get one hundred dollars (US$100) each. Prizes are transmitted via Paypal.

Joining a writing project has its own benefits that includes:

Getting link love.
Meet bloggers.
Receive traffic (especially to those who join early on) from current and prospective participants.
More than anything else, you will also be supporting a worthy purpose of spotting and promoting new blogs that are making great waves out there.

I hope you can join.

Mind mapping book projects

2008-05-11T22:29:00.000+08:00

Mind mapping can be an effective tool for aspiring book authors in sorting the content of their planned book and help put things in proper perspective.

I had to admit that my creative side is hungry and drained at the same time. Being able to jolt out of it required much better understanding on how the brain works that includes getting both sides working at the same time.

To help me get through this process, I'm using mind maps to plot out my ideas. Afterwards, I will write the text version of what is in the image to explain it further.

The last time I published a book was in 2004. Two books are in the making and dragging due to concerns with its content. As I got my first rough book layout for Blogging from Home and started converting it to a mind map (attended a workshop last Thursday), it dawn on me how scattered my ideas were.

So finally, I took the task of finishing the text version of the mind map just now and will be working on the final manuscript by reorganizing the content and adding a few more. Changes can still happen during this process.

I'm now contemplating of including a colored detailed mind map (with images) for easy reference. There are a few form templates in the book too and might included a mind map counterpart for easy visualization purposes.

Number of chapters have been reduced from ten to five.

The blog introduction part is the biggest and have been very tempted in reducing it. However, I can't allow the curse of knowledge to make me take for granted the target audience needs.

For the ethics part, I'm supposed to include personal conduct commitments online. However, I suppose that bloggers need flexibility to express how they feel at a particular moment.

This chapter has the assumption that the blogger is clear on the theme of their blog and ready to put structure in their ideas.

This part documents how I usually promote my blog. Amazed on the amount of work required just to ensure a blog's longevity.

I have my own niche in this online world and definitely do not belong to the a-list kind of crowd. That is why on matters relating to money and other sensitive concerns, I lumped it under insight to ensure that what I share at this part is based on practical personal experience and may not necessarily shared by other players in this field.

Today Impacts Tomorrow's Success

2008-05-10T11:05:00.001+08:00

John Maxwell highlighted in his book "Today Matters" how daily things, if not handled properly will impact any success desires we have tomorrow. The following are also misconceptions about success:

Success is

impossible

productivity
an event

Success comes from

luck
an opportunity

leverage

connection

recognition

Maxwell argued that success comes from making a decision early and manage it daily. The book Today Matters focuses on the daily dozen that if worked on and checked daily can make everyday a masterpiece and attain the success we desire tomorrow.

This includes checking on our:

Attitude that gives us possibilities

Choosing positive attitude
Change the negative ones
Show gratitude to other people
Express appreciation
Manifest positive attitude

Priorities gives us focus

Determine things that are:

required
better result
great return

Health gives us strength

Know your health situation
Improve your lifestyle for longevity
Follow correct health habits

Family gives us stability

Care for the family and give the priority it deserves
Communicate daily

Thinking gives us an advantage

Develop thinking skills
Interact with thinking people
Practice your thinking

Finances gives us options

Earn substantial enough to make life comfortable
Manage finances to avoid getting into debt and trouble

Faith gives us peace

Deepen our faith - strength and perspective
Live-out our faith. Overcome and prevail on tests.

Relationships gives us fulfillment

Reach out and build relationship
Invest in relationships by adding value and provide support.

Generosity gives us significance

Helping others, through part of what we have, makes our lives more significant.
Plan and do it regularly.

Values gives us direction

Knowing where our values lie, in support of the 12 items listed here, can help support whenever we have to make decisions in our lives and its impact to them.

Growth gives us potential

Developing ourselves to acquire new skills and further develop our potential to attain success goals.

I read this book when I was on my way to Manila from Adelaide last April 24. It is a good read and can help you assess how you live your life today.

Week 2: The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008

2008-05-09T11:14:00.001+08:00

Here's the second week summary of entries and their choices/nomination in The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008. If you haven't submitted an entry yet, head on to our writing project page on how to join.

This effort will not be possible without the support of our sponsors. One of them is RegaloService. A Winner in the APEC Digital Opportunity Center ICT Awards and DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards 2007 Gifts Category, RegaloService is a full-service online gift shop that offers globally-known brands and quality Philippine-made products. The site is known for its free Gift Registry service that can be used for any upcoming event. It also has "Gift Shopper" that helps busy buyers to purchase their "got to have" items. Shop now at RegaloService and make your gifts memorable!

Week 2 only
For the second week, we received a total of 8 entries from Manuel, Rhyan, Yoru, Apples, Winston, Luis, Blogie, and AJ.

A total of 34 blogs were cited from the 8 entries (excluding the additions made by some of the week 1 entries). They are:

The following blogs got one mention each:

Combined with week 1 entries, we now have a total of 20 writing project participants citing 67 blogs. This is the overall ranking of the blogs mentioned (including additions made by previous week entries), as of today:

All blogs listed in the previous weeks won't be re-posted unless it gets chosen again by entries submitted in Week 3 or still included in the total The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008.

If you haven't submitted an entry yet, head on to our writing project page on how to join.

Five Ways to Accept International Payments Online

2008-05-09T08:05:00.000+08:00

Online sellers can choose between CCNow, 2CheckOut, Paypal, AlertPay, and TrialPay to accept payments online. It is best to have more than one option for back-up.

CCNow is one of the pioneers in online payment. It is currently limited to the selling of tangible items and has tools like coupons and cross-selling of products. I started using this service in 2000 to sell my books and research reports online.
2CheckOut is one of the most comprehensive online payment solution today that accepts all forms of payment from electronic check drafts, credit card, to Paypal. It has its own debit card, as an option, that merchants can use to transfer their payment.
Paypal is a popular option especially when it added more countries to send and receive payments from. The primary challenge in using Paypal is its multiple layers of fees from transaction rate, transaction fee, withdrawal fee, and currency conversion. However, most merchants I know use their Paypal collection to pay their contractors and buy products online that lessens the need to withdraw that much and be subjected to the multiple fees.
AlertPay is new to me (mentioned in a CNN article). It intends to serve as a Paypal alternative. It is the only payment system I've seen so far that accepts e-gold as well. Its verification process requires submission of a valid id and proof of billing.
TrialPay is also new to me (mentioned in a CNN article). What makes this one unique is that it profits and give fees for the products it cross-sells. In my case, I decided to give a one-year individual membership in the DigitalFilipino.com Club for free to TrialPay users.

When my product was accepted, a special checkout page was made and Trialpay matches an offer to the product or service. If the customer accepts the offer, I get a commission and the amount should no less than the fee I indicated which I like to receive. However, if the buyer did not avail of the offer, they will be routed to my existing individual club membership payment page. So you can consider this more of a complimentary add-on rather than a payment system stand-alone.

A growing number of payment providers today do not ask for a sign-up fee and this encouraged more merchants to have more than one payment solution alternative. Healthy competition should be encouraged to avoid monopoly by any single player in the market.

Related:

Download the International Payment Gateway Comparison Guide

Persuading the unwilling

2008-05-06T09:43:00.001+08:00

"I'm afraid to drive
and I don't know why
I'm jealous of the people who
are not afraid to drive."

Sounds corny no? (That is the 1st paragraph of the song "Falling" and edited.)

I've always wanted to learn how to drive when I was younger. My Dad taught me once in Kalookan. After one round in our area, he left me inside the car and like any over-excited learner, I started the engine and my Dad chased me (of course, I stopped the car). He never gave me a driving lesson again.

My desire to drive also diminished with the following reasons:

Metro Manila traffic. I always had this reasoning that I might just die in a car accident if I'll ever drive.
I like to treat travel time as sleeping time. I always tend to fall asleep whenever inside a transportation vehicle unless I get engaged in an interesting conversation.
I'm afraid of myself. I somehow knew that I tend to exploit whatever skill I gained. Driving a go-kart twice got me overly excited that made me want to do it more if not for the hot weather and far venues. Please don't put up a go-kart area in Commonwealth / Fairview area!

So with that, learning to drive might push me to explore a road trip. Still my #1 fear prevails on this one.

But now that we have a 2nd home, at least up to 2010, in Australia, my partner is asking me again to learn how to drive. He reasoned that my #1 fear is unlikely to happen as the roads in Adelaide is completely the opposite in Metro Manila. There's no traffic either. The rules are more defined and observed by the citizens. There's even incentive or subsidy for using environmental friendly engines / fuel.

Upon return to Adelaide the last time, he observed my enthusiasm when Honda launches the VCM 643 as a friend got a project in relation to that and got me involved. He is now using this pitch on me to get the Aussie version of that vehicle. Now I'm not sure who influenced who.

I'm fixing my driving license this month so I guess I will eventually learn how to drive. It is inevitable.

Managing 1100++ mobile phone contacts

2008-05-04T22:59:00.005+08:00

When preparing for events, sending emails (days before the event) and text messages (reminder a day or two before and on the day itself) to contacts is important for communication purposes. The latter I do especially for evening activities.

When preparing for the May 9 E-Commerce / E-Business Owners Meet-up, I realized that my 3-year old mobile phone number has accumulated more than 1100 contacts. Mostly got added after I receive an important call and save their information.

When I was using a Nokia Communicator, I have created groups in my phone. However, upon switching to N95, I just realized that managing a contact based through it will be harder.

Gradually, I started using online text messaging tools again to communicate with friends and contacts for activity reminder purposes. This ranges from Twitter, Yahoo Messenger, and GTalk. One account I also activated is Chikka (downloadable and online).

I have been using Chikka since it started and enjoyed the free text messages allotment. Although I lied low for quite sometime. Upon discovering that I had more than 1100 contacts in my address book, I knew that I need to start to relying on other tools.

Trying out the all-new Chikka. It is a web-based version of the original Chikka Messenger. Some of its features:

Web-based
Universal messaging as it is compatible with other IM netorks from Yahoo!, Google Talk, AIM, MSN and ICQ. Signing in to all your IMs is quick and easy with the new auto-login feature.
Text for free to the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Guam, Saipan and the Philippines you can now text over 100 countries with rates starting only at 10 US cents per message sent. Simply sign up for a Chikka Wallet and load credits using PayPal to enjoy this feature.

What makes me eager further about this application is its ongoing program for working with web 2.0 and social network application developers. If such pushes through well, it means users will have more applications to use with Chikka.

Technogra.ph also notes of the Chikka weekly raffle where 3 users will win an iPod Touch, Nano (3G) and Shuffle. This will start this Friday, May 9, and every week till July 24. To qualify for the raffle, just invite and build your Chikka contacts.

I've always been proud of Chikka because it is a unique Filipino innovation and a pioneer in this type of service (patented). Here are some who have blogged about their Chikka experience:

Jehzeel

I also found the following on YouTube:

Chikka TVC ad for the US

Google and Chikka announcement

New Chikka 2.0

Week 1: The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008

2008-05-01T19:22:00.000+08:00

Here's the first week summary of entries and their choices/nomination in The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008. If you haven't submitted an entry yet, head on to our writing project page on how to join.

This effort will not be possible without the support of our sponsors. One of them is PRC Board Exam Results. The site has a comprehensive, fast, reliable, and accurate professional board exam results archive on the world wide web.

For the first week, we received a total of 12 entries from Filipinayzd, Benj, Kimsan23, Selaplana, Tonex, Joanjoycew, Joliber Mapiles, Rhodilee, MLQ3, Shari, Nick, and PinayMommy.

A total of 33 blogs were cited/nominated from the 12 entries. They are:

The following blogs got one mention/nomination each:

Note that next week, we will be showing two lists:

The list of blog entries and their choices for Week 2.
Updated Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs as of Week 2.

All blogs listed in week 1 won't be re-posted unless it gets chosen again by entries submitted in Week 2 or still included in the total The Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs in 2008.

If you haven't submitted an entry yet, head on to our writing project page on how to join.

Getting 100 True Followers, Fans, Members

2008-04-19T16:27:00.000+08:00

Kevin Kelly talked about creators (authors, artists, performers, among others) needing to have 1,000 True Fans in order to make a living. That made me think a lot from the aspect of manageability especially for "creators".

Quality versus quantity
In my case, instead of 1000, I've always strive to have the 100 members goal in my e-commerce community. Programs have evolved because of the needs of that 100. Perhaps that figure was also influenced by the Long Tail.

I guess my conviction with that small number is being able to give time and reply to concerns as necessary. I've joined paid membership programs on a trial basis and whenever I don't get a response to an inquiry or concern, I eventually give up. The feeling of being ignored is something I learned a paid member doesn't like. This reminds me of a topic in Malcolm Gladwell's Blink where patients who sued their doctors were more for the reason of being disregarded or the lack of empathy, rather than incompetence.

How to get 100 True Followers, Fans, Members?
There are several ways I've approached this such as:

Deliberately plugging and invite people to join through a mailing list or those who opted-in at the club site.
Time has to be invested in terms of continuously developing what you have to offer. If the product or service that you came up with is needed and of value, prospective new members naturally comes. Constantly finding out what people need is important.
Campaigns are only step-up when there is something new of value being offered. Otherwise, time is spent on product development.

Can having 100 True Followers, Fans, Members be profitable?
It depends on your business model. In my case:

Earning from membership fees.
Referral of new members and clients.
Short-term consulting work to fulfill a need.
Outsource within the community to avail of reasonable pricing.

The combination of the above was enough to make the whole community well worth it where there is a give-and-take relationship combined. This is the path where I have settled.

Related post:

When Edward De Bono Contradicts De Bono

2008-04-16T14:01:00.000+08:00

With its restricted dissemination, I somehow feel that Edward De Bono contradicted himself with the book The De Bono Code. (01/6) The book is all about using number or codes to impart a thought or intention to avoid misinterpretation. I agree with the premise that language, although it has allowed us to communicate with each other, has also become a barrier as there are situations where we have different understanding. Hence, description is not perception.

I feel that with the emergence of 140 character message services like Twitter, Pownce, and Jaiku, using the De Bono Code can help us in communicating with each other. But alas, despite what I know, I can't share the code and promote its use as license is required.

I hope that if Edward De Bono really wants the code to grow, it should be opened and shared (02/2). With that, it may spark further interest to the code and lead to widespread use. Else, there's no incentive for avid followers like me to remember and use when it can hardly be used to communicate with others as there's not much would know. Else, it will just become an elitist language.

FOCUS is needed to Influence

2008-04-12T07:31:00.004+08:00

B. Kim Barnes, author of the book "Exercising Influence," said that to become an effective influencer, one must have FOCUS.

Flexible

Be open to alternative means for as long as the outcome goal shall be achieved.
For example, this may include working with other groups, foster shared ownership, in order to achieve the goal.

Observable

Design in a way that you can see whether you are nearly achieving the goal or not, then adjust.
Have a clear target that you can control like achieving a revenue target or target number of members.

Courageous

It must be optimistic, with a degree of success or failure risk, to make the effort worthwhile.
Be ambitious in order to make it worthwhile, whether you succeed or fail.

Useful

Achieve longer term important results, not short term ego needs.

Supportive

Influence activities must be aligned with big picture goals.

13 Tactics to Influence People

2008-04-11T15:33:00.005+08:00

B. Kim Barnes, author of the book "Exercising Influence," said that there are eight tactics to influence people: tell, sell, negotiate, enlist, inquire, listen, attune, and facilitate. When our authority to do such is not established, we can also influence indirectly through other individuals, being part of a group, debate, disengaging, and humor.

However, influence is a two-way street and one must be both expressive and receptive at the same time. A one-sided influence is not sustainable. Those who fail to give back will lose their influence in the long run.

The first four are under expressive influence. This is when we voice out our ideas and energy to others. This includes:

1. Tell
- "Let's review every Friday until we complete the sponsors line-up." (suggest)

- "I need your outline for the book by Monday." (express needs)

2. Sell
- "That way, we can meet the sponsors cut-off date." (offer reasons)

- "With both of us working on it, we should be able to get the book concept reviewed by the publisher for approval." (refer to shared values or goals)

3. Negotiate
- "If you extend the deadline for another month, I could get 5 case studies that we can use as a bonus material." (offer incentives)

- "If you don't finish that by Sunday, the book won't be released on April 26." (describe consequences)

4. Enlist
- "I can see this election blogging project as a demonstration of citizen journalism." (envision)

- "You are the kind of person who can make government officials take bloggers seriously. You have the authority to make them listen to you." (encourage)

The next four are under receptive influence. This is when we invite ideas and stimulate action. This includes:

5. Inquire
- "What kind of online training programs will interest you?" (asking open-ended questions)

- "You said that charter change is an important issue in the next election. Tell me more about that." (draw out)

6. Listen
- "So from your point of view, the trainer has no experience in running a paid membership site that makes you uncomfortable with the whole thing." (check understanding)

- "I'm getting the impression that you detest the idea." (test implications)

7. Attune
- "If I were you, I will be concerned on how will this affect your business." (identify with other)

- "I did not take this seriously the last time we discussed this." (disclose)

8. Facilitate
- "It seems you are just continuing that project out of concern as no one else will pick up the ball." (clarify issues)

- "What would it take for you to sponsor this bill?" (pose challenging questions)

When our authority or personality to influence is not yet established, there are still means to do it indirectly such as:

9. Through other individuals
- Get a person who is in a better position to influence. They may not be as knowledgeable but they have the authority to bring the issue forward.

- "The industry needs a trusted champion who can lead this effort. We'll do the necessary back staff work to get you covered until the end."

10. Be part of a group
- Make a personal cause to a group cause especially if it has a widespread impact. This could be by joining an existing group or by forming one.

11. Debate
- Intended to influence the audience of an issue more rather than the person who pushes a specific position. For example, an unchallenged group is pushing for charter change. With no direct influence, you can put out a position to spark a debate. The audience will be the one to judge the winners of the debate.

12. Disengage
- Rather than go head-on about a particular issue, use time to further understand the concerns at hand and not immediately come to a position. Influence can still be exerted through other individuals and to the party directly.

13. Humor (joke, art, stories)
- Directed at a force or third party, but not sarcastic. There are cartoonists, artist, and authors who have done well in this field.

Related post:

Challenges in running a paid membership site

2008-04-11T13:17:00.005+08:00

Running a paid membership site can be quite challenging as you have to regularly produce good content, worthwhile programs, and keep your members happy. There is also the concern of expanding into new markets where your brand identity can limit your potential.

Last December 2004, I wrote a column piece sharing my thoughts on building and breaking brands based on personal experience.

Now, almost four years later, I am in this situation again with the DigitalFilipino.com Club. The above image is what the club is all about today. Some areas are not fully formed yet.

Research - when the club was first marketed in December 2003, I was gradually giving one research report per month as an incentive to join.

(Interviewed Reggie Bundang of RegaloService about online Christmas sales in 2007)

Training

Online Training

eBook - after landing a book publishing deal with McGraw-Hill Education Asia in November 2003, I used my e-commerce book as a free incentive for those who'll join the club early. In 2004, the same was done with the Philippine Internet history documentary. As my books are mostly assignment drive, I saw it as a means to conduct training.

Podcast / Video - whenever I get the chance to meet with members, I explore having a video interviewing them (example above and blogger series). This in addition to my experiments in coming up with video/audio lectures.
Training pages - most of the literature I created are in e-book format for download and will explore putting its entire content online. Perhaps this will also spark more active participation in the forum section.

Face-to-face training

Lectures - this is when interesting topics get discussed as a whole day workshop. (e.g. e-commerce policy development)
Hands-on workshop - as we have a club member who owns an Internet cafe, I started doing our free club member trainings there. (e.g. blogging, web, and e-commerce hands-on workshop)

Networking - this ranges from forum discussion, to eyeball or meet-ups, and creating groups within social networks. The purpose is to keep a strong presence of the group within these sites. (e.g. LinkedIn)
Promotion - this includes disseminating updates on what they are up to, directory listing, banner ads, low-cost sponsorship and advertising opportunities.
Publishing / Mentors program - Offer an incentive for members who joined way back when we started by developing a book/training program with them.

The community has become bigger compared to what it was initially intended. The new additions were also a response to growing needs by current and request by new members. Keep it together or break it apart? Or maybe I'll just form a new site while keeping this community grow as is, we'll see.

Related post:

Review of the Teaching Sells Program

2008-04-10T14:48:00.002+08:00

Teaching Sells is a program ideal for established authorities in their field and apply what they learn right away by offering programs where one capitalizes on knowledge. Otherwise, it is a helpful program to understand the business of paid membership sites and grow from there, either through capitalizing on existing skill or tap other resources.

That is my observation after signing up for the 7-day trial of Teaching Sells yesterday. I spent the whole day, up to this morning checking out the site's content.

I was skeptic when I first heard of the program last December. I've been operating a paid club membership site, that started in December 2003. I capitalize on personal connections and knowledge in building it. It is challenging to sustain a community especially as some members will outgrow you, sooner or later.

When Teaching Sells came out, I partly got worried as those who'll be taking the program might assume that it is an easy thing to do, "just like that", and offer it at a price like $97 per month which I find to be expensive.

However, after checking out the Teaching Sells program yesterday, I finally realize where its value is and learned a lot from it.

The program presents the necessary components in order to build a training program on the Web. It utilized a combination of audio, presentations, and text to discuss this.
The site has a library where around 300 e-books are available for download. The said resource can be used by members to understand the business of paid content and pick up materials that can be useful for their own endeavors.
The site also has an affiliate program where a minimum referral of 3 members may already be sufficient to sustain your monthly membership in the site. It also plans to have a private label program soon.

The challenges I find in the program includes:

I partly believe that the subject "online teaching" is limited looking at the materials available at the site. By the time I reached the advanced courses, I felt a sense of repetition and the content approach begins to sound like an "academic" paper. I'm sure that the pressure for content developers are high.
Will the subscribers stay long in the site? The only incentive I see for staying long is if there are new upcoming exciting programs and/or the affiliate program started working for the member - where the monthly fees required are already met by the affiliate commission.
Program for advance members. I think there'll be folks who'll be joining the program that have started their own paid membership programs already. Our concerns may already be different and e-books on private label rights offered by some of the known Internet marketing gurus are not enough.

I'm sure the founders have a lot of plans in the site that are not being announced to members yet. It will be interesting to see if the following are offered:

A community badge.
Something that can attest that a paid membership site program has been reviewed and recognized in the Teaching Sells community. As the badge points to an affiliate link, those who are curious to build one of their own may take the program. I haven't seen a body that reviews paid membership-based sites at this time.
Marketing opportunities.
Promote members and help them grow like having member sites who joined the program be listed in a page or have their banners appear in rotation to the founders' high profile sites. I think that will be beneficial and helpful for members.

I have many more to add but I think the above two will already make the program a big deal to encourage member retention.

As to the ideas I picked up, I got inspired to start updating my club membership site this weekend to add the following sections:

e-commerce glossary
E-Commerce for Entrepreneurs book chapters and make them as actual training pages (with links to the forum for Q&A)
Blogging from Home book chapters and make them as actual training pages (with links to the forum for Q&A)
offer a one-month, three-months, six-months membership fee choices as I will increase the fees after posting the materials above.

Ten Criteria for Moonlighting Online (and earn extra income)

2008-04-05T07:40:00.003+08:00

Digitally delivered information products, eBay, affiliate marketing, e-commerce stores, and blogging are five areas Yanik Silver and Robert Olic talked about in their book, Moonlighting on the Internet, and showed ways how one can make extra money from it. As Yanik had sold more than $10 million worth of information products, it made him an exciting author to read, page by page.

This book reminded me of Ed Dale’s Thirty Day Challenge where participants get exposed to various areas above and earn online. It is one of the best online activities I participated in 2007 and will join again this year. I also got its trial subscription but when my inquiry e-mails were not answered, I decided to put it on hold.

Yanik’s book is most useful to those who are creative, adventurous, bold to explore these avenues to earn online, and grow slowly. His criteria for finding potential moonlighting online business, that sets the tone for the rest of the book, include:

#1. Huge demand
The product must be something that there is demand for it - from various locations. This is something that have struck me when I started publishing books and create an online community. Gradually, it began attracting overseas members that created the need to come up with an international version of it. (still under development)

Exploring a demand includes doing:

Keyword research

Check out the ads that appears in search engine results.
Not seeing any ads is an indication that there is no demand for it.
Check out the forums.
Top sellers in Amazon.com (products that rank 5,000 to 150,000) and develop product that can compliment it. For instance, Yanik's book is rank #6308 in Amazon.

Sell your own or find products online to sell based on popular topics to sites like ClickBank.

#2. No need to bother your friends
Not all will agree, this is one angle that makes the book unique interesting. Most of us don’t want to rely on our friends to sign-up to various programs so we could just earn some commission.

#3. No inventory
Product gets delivered digitally or has a fast turn-around time.

#4. No employees
Most of the work can be outsourced and sold through affiliate marketing. Although targeted affiliates may work better if you’ll find other players who are in the field that compliments what you do.

I tried affiliate marketing with some of the loyal members in the DigitalFilipino.com Club although that did not click. I realized that they must also have something to give on top of my product in order to make it an irresistible offer.

#5. Residual income
Explore products that can be done one time and earn continuously from it.

#6. Low cost and risk
Investment does not have to be high and therefore risk is minimal. One way is to have bonuses by partnering with software providers and e-book developers who are giving their materials for free or for a low fee (and possibly re-brand it).

#7. Low maintenance
Explore business that can run on auto-pilot. If these are learning programs, this can be done through the use of auto-responders where messages are pre-filled or the lessons are posted online and will appear based on a particular schedule.

#8. Don’t have to be super-technical
One does not have to be an expert in programming and the likes to get started. Take advantage of available online tools that are user-friendly.

#9. Real business
It must have potential to become a good source of income.

#10. Fun
It must be enjoyable for you to do it.

For those who are serious in earning income online, Moonlighting on the Internet is definitely worth the read.

PayPerDigg and PayPerStumble: Get Paid to Stumble and Digg

2008-04-03T12:47:00.003+08:00

I just found out from Susan Gunelius that there are now programs that provide compensation to Internet users who submit sites and news articles to the likes of Digg and StumbleUpon. Subvert and Profit, pays around $1 for every assignment that contains a list of links. There is also Stumbleudon that gives free 15 stumbles in exchange for your account to be used in an automated manner to stumble other sites.

I believe that as content sharing sites mature, there will always be a way to monetize them, similar to how advertising has evolved in websites and blogs. The challenge with blogs is that if the readers opt to use an RSS reader, they hardly get exposed to the outside-of-the-blog-post ads. Being linked becomes more of a targeted campaign to increase your Technorati authority, search engine visibility, and traffic (depending on blog popularity).

From an advertiser point of view, spending 100 dollars may be used to do any of the following:

Run a Google AdWords campaign with a budget of 3 dollars a day.
10 to 15 text link ads appearing in various blogs (PayPerTextLink)
5 to 10 reviews (PayPerReview)
On a social news or content site submission/vote campaign, that would be good for 50 to 100 votes or submissions. (PayPerSubmission, PayPerVote, PayPerDigg, PayPerStumble)
On micro-blogging sites like Twitter, that would be good for 5 to 20 Twits reaching to no less than 5000 followers. (PayPerTwit, PayPerTweet, PayPerTwitter)

The ideal members of the above are active users of the tool and can use the revenue generation fees as income on the side. Users who opt to participate in such programs should take effort to ensure that their blogs and accounts will not be used for commercial purposes only. Else, they might harm their online status in the long run.

I still believe that each blogger is responsible for their own blog. Their blog is their own business and can do whatever with it. They are bound by their own rules, or the platforms, or of the blog networks, or the revenue programs they joined. If readers don't like what they see, they can easily tune out by not visiting your blog anymore or unsubscribe to your blog feed. The same may be applicable to social news site and micro blogging tools like Twitter.

The growth of ad networks, whether small/informal or big/formal, shall continue to thrive. It will seize on opportunities that shall promote their client's interest. We can either become consumers, critics, contractor, or creator of these networks.

Related post:

Friendster still number 1 social network in Asia

2008-04-01T12:38:00.003+08:00

Despite the growing number of social networks, pioneer Friendster.com thrives with 80,000 registrants signing up everyday according to its March 2008 at-a-glance brief.

The younger generation, especially in Asia, flocks Friendster.com that makes the site still leading today. While the grown ups got hook to what they consider to be their social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Multiply, Friendster.com still has its own clique especially among the young.

Some interesting facts to know about Friendster.com (based on its March 2008 brief):

65 million registered users.

Number 1 social network in Asia with 49 million registered users.

Asia users are at the age 16 to 30 years old. (or even younger than 16)

55% female, 45% male

26 million registered in 2007

Received 37 million unique visitors in February 2008 worldwide.

32 million monthly unique visitors from Asia.

17 million monthly unique visitors in 2007

8th largest website in terms of traffic
3rd largest social network, serving over 16.1 billion pages
1st in user engagement among the top global social networks

average of 206 minutes per visitor per month

YouTube (97 minutes)
Google (46 minutes)

Top 15 countries accessing Friendster are:

Philippines (Young Filipino Internet User Report 2007)
Indonesia
Malaysia
the United States
Singapore
Canada
India
Australia
United Kingdom
Japan
United Arab Emirates
China
Taiwan
Korea

Friendster is available in 6 languages

66% or three quarters of a billion can now use the site.

Despite everything that has been written on the politics and competition that had threatened Friendster.com's standing in the social network arena, the site still has much to offer and with a loyal community who puts value in it. And if Asia will truly drive the growth of the Internet, as said by Vint Cerf, then Friendster has a limited or unlimited, depending on perspective, window of opportunity in its hands.

On another note, David Jones, VP-Marketing of Friendster.com will deliver the keynote message in the forthcoming Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2008 this May 20. His colleague, marketing director Jeff Roberto, will also be giving an overview of the site's application development program on May 21. Friendster.com is one of the exhibitors and will be speaking for the first time in a Philippines social networking conference event.