.JPG "cagayan de oro philippines white water rafting sleek in the city mark delgado victory group")
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
15 Photos That Will Make You Believe That White Water Rafting in Cagayan De Oro is Awesome
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
10 Tips To Get Your Slides Featured on SlideShare's Homepage
How I got featured on SlideShare’s Homepage?
Actually, there is no exact science as to how SlideShare chooses their featured slides. They said they handpick the slides one by one.
When I got featured, the number of views for my deck rose from 100 to more than 1,000 in just a couple of hours. If you are strategically preparing your slides for this kind of stardom, of course, you are also increasing the possibility of getting more fans and followers for your Facebook Page and Twitter account (if those touchpoints are in your SlideShare page).
Here, though, are few personal tips that I want to share with you on how I created the deck that got featured.
1. Understand clearly what the topic is all about.
Before I start any deck, I take a considerable amount of pause and then ask myself, “What is the topic really all about?” As speakers, sometimes we get too excited to share our ideas and miss the whole point why we got invited on the first place. There is a reason why we get invited as speakers and the audience also got needs that we can suffice. The key is in knowing clearly what we can contribute to their knowledge through our talks.
2. List down all the ideas that you want to share about the topic.
Personally, I always want to give my audience an exhaustive list of all the important lessons that I have learned about the topic that is assigned to me. Therefore, I start by creating a long list of important lessons coming from my head and heart and then, I choose.
3. Choose the best ideas.
Yes, I choose from the list. It depends on the amount of time I was given. Sometimes, I group similar ideas into groups and discuss them by group. Sometimes, I just discuss them as a list. The key is in choosing the best ideas that speak to you the most and then, sharing it to others.
4. Transform each idea into impact statements.
Transforming each idea into impact statements is very important. First, you are helping your audience remember your ideas. Second, you are helping yourself become tweet-able (so think 140-characters or less). And third, you ultimately are helping yourself. I’ll tell why in the next item.
5. Use the impact statements as your talking points.
Because you will use the impact statements as your talking points, you don’t have to memorize or read your whole talk. All you need to do is keep yourself posted through these talking points which you may read through your deck flashed overhead. Each impact statement should go right through your heart and to your audience’s hearts. Once this happens, that’s when you should start talking.
6. Pick the most thought-evoking image that you can find for each talking point.
A picture paints a thousand words, they say. If that is so, choose the right images that will support your talking points and you will be spared from too much talking.
7. Give your deck a catchy name.
The name of your deck is the first text that shall be read by your audience, unless you show something else. Make it a goal to catch their attention using this word or phrase.
8. Match the name with a perfect image.
Focus on the feeling that an image will evoke once the audience sees it. If it feels right with your deck title, use it.
9. Leave your contact information on the last slide.
Believe me, if you decided to follow the previous items, people will want to contact you.
10. Put your social media touchpoint on each slide.
Your Twitter handle and a hashtag will come very handy on each slide. If someone likes one of your impact statements, there is a fat chance that you will be quoted on Twitter.
Below are some more tips that SlideShare shared.
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ABOUT THE BLOGGER
Mark Delgado (@iammarkdelgado) is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
Actually, there is no exact science as to how SlideShare chooses their featured slides. They said they handpick the slides one by one.
When I got featured, the number of views for my deck rose from 100 to more than 1,000 in just a couple of hours. If you are strategically preparing your slides for this kind of stardom, of course, you are also increasing the possibility of getting more fans and followers for your Facebook Page and Twitter account (if those touchpoints are in your SlideShare page).
 |
| Click on this link to view the deck featured on SlideShare. |
Here, though, are few personal tips that I want to share with you on how I created the deck that got featured.
1. Understand clearly what the topic is all about.
Before I start any deck, I take a considerable amount of pause and then ask myself, “What is the topic really all about?” As speakers, sometimes we get too excited to share our ideas and miss the whole point why we got invited on the first place. There is a reason why we get invited as speakers and the audience also got needs that we can suffice. The key is in knowing clearly what we can contribute to their knowledge through our talks.
2. List down all the ideas that you want to share about the topic.
Personally, I always want to give my audience an exhaustive list of all the important lessons that I have learned about the topic that is assigned to me. Therefore, I start by creating a long list of important lessons coming from my head and heart and then, I choose.
3. Choose the best ideas.
Yes, I choose from the list. It depends on the amount of time I was given. Sometimes, I group similar ideas into groups and discuss them by group. Sometimes, I just discuss them as a list. The key is in choosing the best ideas that speak to you the most and then, sharing it to others.
4. Transform each idea into impact statements.
Transforming each idea into impact statements is very important. First, you are helping your audience remember your ideas. Second, you are helping yourself become tweet-able (so think 140-characters or less). And third, you ultimately are helping yourself. I’ll tell why in the next item.
5. Use the impact statements as your talking points.
 |
| Click on this link to view the deck featured on SlideShare. |
6. Pick the most thought-evoking image that you can find for each talking point.
A picture paints a thousand words, they say. If that is so, choose the right images that will support your talking points and you will be spared from too much talking.
7. Give your deck a catchy name.
The name of your deck is the first text that shall be read by your audience, unless you show something else. Make it a goal to catch their attention using this word or phrase.
8. Match the name with a perfect image.
Focus on the feeling that an image will evoke once the audience sees it. If it feels right with your deck title, use it.
9. Leave your contact information on the last slide.
Believe me, if you decided to follow the previous items, people will want to contact you.
10. Put your social media touchpoint on each slide.
Your Twitter handle and a hashtag will come very handy on each slide. If someone likes one of your impact statements, there is a fat chance that you will be quoted on Twitter.
Below are some more tips that SlideShare shared.
Mark Delgado (@iammarkdelgado) is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
Monday, September 23, 2013
3 Lessons Coach Jim Saret Taught Me About Fitness, Life and Digital Marketing
Who is Coach Jim Saret?Coach Jim was catapulted to stardom when he was chosen as one of the coaches for The Biggest Loser: Pinoy Edition alongside Chinggay Andrada. During the Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2013 where I first saw him in person, he told us that he coached for the Biggest Loser team where the “seniors” belonged to, while Chinggay coached for the younger ones. Despite the odds, Larry Martin, a former police officer and a member of his team, bagged the title as the first ever winner of the competition.
Why I listened to him?
Even from afar, you will see Coach Jim’s dedication to helping more people live a healthier lifestyle. Despite his fame, I did not see any hint of pride for himself or any ambition to become a showbiz personality. All I see is a man married to his passion and that passion is to help others live better lives. During his talk he said something like, “Hindi mababayaran ang experience na makita ang isang tao na makita ang sarili niya na nagbago ang pangangatawan.” (Seeing a person see the changes in his body is a priceless experience.)
He was very real and authentic in person. He came without a presentation and only brought with him some photos and videos to show to us. In the middle of his talk, he funnily admitted that he can’t operate a Macbook and also fondly calls Ms. Janette Toral as “JT” whom he had formed a really good relationship with, as his digital marketer and personal friend.
Coach Jim may look very tall and well-built but he is very down-to-earth and humble.
1. The power of the right motivation.
Eat and exercise to become strong, not to lose weight. I was taken aback when he said this. When you look everywhere, many products and services are being advertised to help people lose weight and look better. But Coach Jim thought differently and I believe him. Why? The Biggest Loser: Pinoy Edition is the first ever franchise that allowed their finishers to go topless during the end of the competition. Other franchises cannot do that to their finishers because of the usual case of excess skin when someone loses weight. But Coach Jim’s program made his team look good while losing weight. And all these became possible because of the power of the right motivation.
He further explained that strength-training is the key. If you train your body to become strong, you are training yourself to enjoy sustainable exercise for a longer period of time and before you know it, you are not only losing weight, you are also feeling stronger and enjoying exercise itself, not growing tired of it.
I believe that this is also true in everything that we do in life, may it be in digital marketing or other fields of interest. We must aspire to “strengthen” ourselves in whatever we do and not focus on external motivations and rewards. Being strong allows us to do more. And the more we do, the better we become.
2. Everything is possible.
Coach Jim told us that he was able to design a fitness program that burns 600 calories in 4 minutes. Nobody believed in him, of course, for that seems impossible. But as you know how stories like this turn out, he was able to prove it in front of many people through a demonstration. In the end, he was able to redeem himself and everybody was happy.
At this day and age, we are given with so much knowledge and resources that we can use to improve things, including lives of other people. Coach Jim is an innovator in his own respect. I believe that we, in our own fields of interest, can be innovators too. And we must not be afraid to introduce new things despite the odds against us. If we know that our ideas will help others, we must share it and not let the odds bring us down.
3. It doesn’t have to be too tough.
If there’s anything Coach Jim taught me during his talk, it’s the fact that exercise doesn’t have to be tough. I can be fit and healthy without complaining about it. In fact, doing it the hard way is sometimes, the wrong way. If something is very difficult for us to do, we won’t be able to enjoy it and thus it won’t be sustainable for us to do in the long run. The key is enjoying what we do. If we don’t enjoy it at first, we can find ways to make it enjoyable.
In life, the things that we do don’t have to make us suffer. If we are suffering at work, we must find a way to make it easier and more enjoyable for us. If we are pushing ourselves too hard, there may be something wrong somewhere in the equation.
Thank you Coach Jim and to everyone who attended and supported us during the recently concluded Digital Influencers Marketing Summit 2013!
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Mark Delgado (@iammarkdelgado) is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
3 Lessons in Life, Social Media Marketing and Customer Service
This post summarizes my talk during the 2nd Digital Influencers Marketing Summit held at the SMX Convention Center last September 21, 2013.
Today, I’d like to share with you three most important lessons that I have acquired in my life as a social media marketing and customer service professional. I started blogging back in 2010 and then I became a CBSME student. After graduation, I was hired by a local ad agency as a Digital Marketing Manager before I was absorbed by Globe Telecom as a Senior Community Manager. Now that I decided to do things on my own, I founded a startup called Mediactiv8, an agency that envisions to promote digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines.
The Age of Listening
For many years, marketers and customer service professionals are just great talkers. We have successfully mastered the art of talking to consumers through billboards, emails, in-store ads, magazines, phones, radio, television and others. But with the advent of social media, the game has changed. The challenge for us now is knowing how to listen more.
The Age of Listening: Social Media Marketing
Stop marketing. Start listening. It will be very difficult to succeed in social media marketing if you don’t know your consumers well. You have to know the answers to simple questions such as “What time are they active online?” and “What types of content do they usually like, comment on and share?” For you to know your consumers well, you have to learn how to “listen”.
Facebook Insights, Google Analytics and others are some of the tools which can help you understand your consumers better.
The Age of Listening: Customer Service
Master a listening tool. Did you know that social media management tools are also called “listening tools”? In Globe, we were able to “listen” to what our subscribers say about us because of these tools. If someone tweets that there is no Globe signal in their place, our tools will be able to detect the tweet and then we’ll proactively engage the subscriber.
Sprout Social and Lithium are examples of listening tools.
Best of Both Worlds
There are two worlds: the offline and the online. Because of the clear distinction between the two, they are often made mutually exclusive and separated. But to think about it, there really are no purely offline campaigns as much as there really are no purely online campaigns.
Let me convince you. What has the capacity to become popular online, also has the capacity to become popular offline. On the other hand, what can be a talk-of-the-town online, may also be a talk-of-the-town offline. There is a common ground between the two worlds and the best social media marketers and customer service professionals are those who will be able to find it.
Best of Both Worlds: Social Media Marketing
Marry the two worlds. One of the measures of a truly successful social media marketing campaign is if it was really able to create a buzz in the offline world. On the other hand, an offline campaign may also be called successful if people talked about it in the online world. This is what marrying the two worlds is about. The challenge for social media marketers is to create a synergy between the two worlds and to maximize the conversations that will be produced from them.
Best of Both Worlds: Customer Service
Humanize the experience. This means stopping from hiding from brand logos whenever engaging with consumers and also means going out of your way to create a relationship with them even outside social media.
We had been doing this in Globe. We use our own profile photos in our official Globe Twitter accounts that we use in engaging our subscribers. In creating genuine relationships with our subscribers, we also organize contests for them and then ask the Twitter team to hand the prizes to the winners personally.
It Takes A Village
There is an African Proverb that goes like “It takes a village to build a community.” Same goes for social media marketing and customer service. A social media marketing or a customer service campaign will not be successful without the people who will support it.
It Takes A Village: Social Media Marketing
Build a community. Build a campaign. As much as you are thinking about your blog, think about your readers. As much as you are thinking about your brand, think about your consumers. As much as you are thinking about strategy, think about culture. Did you know that culture eats strategy for lunch? Without community and culture, it will be hard to make anything successful in social media. Good thing there are Facebook Pages, Facebook Groups, Twitter and forum sites that allow us to establish our communities.
One very good example of this is the Top 10 Emerging Influentials of 2013. Without a community of bloggers who will vouch for these blogs, not a single one of them be able to make it to this writing project.
It Takes A Village: Customer Service
Create a culture of helping one another. In Globe, we created a community of subscribers through a forum site where they can get help from fellow subscribers about their concerns. Starting a culture that allows people to help one another creates a community that is sustainable and not dependent on the very few customer service representatives that a company employs. If you help the people help themselves, you will be rewarded.
Be the good influencer.
We have all the resources that we need at our disposal. The challenge for us is to become digital influencers of the good kind. There are people who would rather talk about people and problems. On the other hand, there are people who would rather talk about idea and solutions. I hope you make the good choice.
Let’s keep in touch through www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
ABOUT THE BLOGGER
Mark Delgado (@iammarkdelgado) is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
Today, I’d like to share with you three most important lessons that I have acquired in my life as a social media marketing and customer service professional. I started blogging back in 2010 and then I became a CBSME student. After graduation, I was hired by a local ad agency as a Digital Marketing Manager before I was absorbed by Globe Telecom as a Senior Community Manager. Now that I decided to do things on my own, I founded a startup called Mediactiv8, an agency that envisions to promote digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines.The Age of Listening
For many years, marketers and customer service professionals are just great talkers. We have successfully mastered the art of talking to consumers through billboards, emails, in-store ads, magazines, phones, radio, television and others. But with the advent of social media, the game has changed. The challenge for us now is knowing how to listen more.
The Age of Listening: Social Media Marketing
Stop marketing. Start listening. It will be very difficult to succeed in social media marketing if you don’t know your consumers well. You have to know the answers to simple questions such as “What time are they active online?” and “What types of content do they usually like, comment on and share?” For you to know your consumers well, you have to learn how to “listen”.
Facebook Insights, Google Analytics and others are some of the tools which can help you understand your consumers better.
The Age of Listening: Customer Service
Master a listening tool. Did you know that social media management tools are also called “listening tools”? In Globe, we were able to “listen” to what our subscribers say about us because of these tools. If someone tweets that there is no Globe signal in their place, our tools will be able to detect the tweet and then we’ll proactively engage the subscriber.
Sprout Social and Lithium are examples of listening tools.
Best of Both Worlds
There are two worlds: the offline and the online. Because of the clear distinction between the two, they are often made mutually exclusive and separated. But to think about it, there really are no purely offline campaigns as much as there really are no purely online campaigns.
Let me convince you. What has the capacity to become popular online, also has the capacity to become popular offline. On the other hand, what can be a talk-of-the-town online, may also be a talk-of-the-town offline. There is a common ground between the two worlds and the best social media marketers and customer service professionals are those who will be able to find it.Best of Both Worlds: Social Media Marketing
Marry the two worlds. One of the measures of a truly successful social media marketing campaign is if it was really able to create a buzz in the offline world. On the other hand, an offline campaign may also be called successful if people talked about it in the online world. This is what marrying the two worlds is about. The challenge for social media marketers is to create a synergy between the two worlds and to maximize the conversations that will be produced from them.
Best of Both Worlds: Customer Service
Humanize the experience. This means stopping from hiding from brand logos whenever engaging with consumers and also means going out of your way to create a relationship with them even outside social media.
We had been doing this in Globe. We use our own profile photos in our official Globe Twitter accounts that we use in engaging our subscribers. In creating genuine relationships with our subscribers, we also organize contests for them and then ask the Twitter team to hand the prizes to the winners personally.
It Takes A Village
There is an African Proverb that goes like “It takes a village to build a community.” Same goes for social media marketing and customer service. A social media marketing or a customer service campaign will not be successful without the people who will support it.
It Takes A Village: Social Media Marketing
Build a community. Build a campaign. As much as you are thinking about your blog, think about your readers. As much as you are thinking about your brand, think about your consumers. As much as you are thinking about strategy, think about culture. Did you know that culture eats strategy for lunch? Without community and culture, it will be hard to make anything successful in social media. Good thing there are Facebook Pages, Facebook Groups, Twitter and forum sites that allow us to establish our communities.
One very good example of this is the Top 10 Emerging Influentials of 2013. Without a community of bloggers who will vouch for these blogs, not a single one of them be able to make it to this writing project.
It Takes A Village: Customer Service
Create a culture of helping one another. In Globe, we created a community of subscribers through a forum site where they can get help from fellow subscribers about their concerns. Starting a culture that allows people to help one another creates a community that is sustainable and not dependent on the very few customer service representatives that a company employs. If you help the people help themselves, you will be rewarded.Be the good influencer.
We have all the resources that we need at our disposal. The challenge for us is to become digital influencers of the good kind. There are people who would rather talk about people and problems. On the other hand, there are people who would rather talk about idea and solutions. I hope you make the good choice.
Let’s keep in touch through www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
Mark Delgado (@iammarkdelgado) is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
5 Tips to Improve Your Talks
This blog post is inspired by Ms. Janette Toral's blog entitled "Speakers are not heroes".
1. Share fresh ideas.
Truth is, people come to seminars to learn new things. So make sure that your are sharing with them something new and substantial, something that is drawn from your own unique experiences. Avoid generic titles and motherhood statements. Introduce new perspective. Challenge the status quo. And forecast the future.
2. Show your passion.
Nothing replaces passion. Passion is contagious. If you're passionate about what you're talking about, people will know and bigger is the chance that you'll make them agree with your thesis.
3. Tell stories.
Connecting is as important as communicating. When you hit the podium, make sure that you don't just talk. Tell stories. Connect to your audience. People love stories. It makes them imagine and think. Telling stories is much better than merely reciting a list of ideas that you have. Find your audience's sweet spot and you'll be rewarded with an attentive set of listeners.
4. Talk about your failures and successes.
Part of telling stories is being open in sharing what really happened. May it be a failure or a success, make sure that you provide your audience with a clear insight of what they must do and not do when they are about to cross their own bridges. One day, they will thank you for your honesty.
5. Be a mentor, not a hero.
Ms. Janette Toral told us that she read a book called Resonate, written by Nancy Duarte. The book tells us that as a speaker, you are wearing a hat of a mentor, not of a hero. The audience is the hero, not you. If you are the mentor then you have the burden of teaching and guiding the heroes in front you. If you hone them right, they will be perfect arrows that will hit the bull's eye.
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ABOUT THE BLOGGER
Mark Delgado (@iammarkdelgado) is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
1. Share fresh ideas.Truth is, people come to seminars to learn new things. So make sure that your are sharing with them something new and substantial, something that is drawn from your own unique experiences. Avoid generic titles and motherhood statements. Introduce new perspective. Challenge the status quo. And forecast the future.
2. Show your passion.
Nothing replaces passion. Passion is contagious. If you're passionate about what you're talking about, people will know and bigger is the chance that you'll make them agree with your thesis.
3. Tell stories.
Connecting is as important as communicating. When you hit the podium, make sure that you don't just talk. Tell stories. Connect to your audience. People love stories. It makes them imagine and think. Telling stories is much better than merely reciting a list of ideas that you have. Find your audience's sweet spot and you'll be rewarded with an attentive set of listeners.
4. Talk about your failures and successes.
Part of telling stories is being open in sharing what really happened. May it be a failure or a success, make sure that you provide your audience with a clear insight of what they must do and not do when they are about to cross their own bridges. One day, they will thank you for your honesty.
5. Be a mentor, not a hero.
Ms. Janette Toral told us that she read a book called Resonate, written by Nancy Duarte. The book tells us that as a speaker, you are wearing a hat of a mentor, not of a hero. The audience is the hero, not you. If you are the mentor then you have the burden of teaching and guiding the heroes in front you. If you hone them right, they will be perfect arrows that will hit the bull's eye.
-
Mark Delgado (@iammarkdelgado) is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
5 Lessons I Learned from Extreme Productivity Preaching (Victory Ortigas’ Proof Series)
1. God doesn’t want us to be lazy.The Apostle Paul gave a strong warning against idleness to the people of Thessalonica.
"In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: 'The one who is unwilling to workshall not eat.'" -Thessalonians 3:6-10
2. God wants us to be fruitful.
Jesus wants us to be fruitful. But we can only be fruitful if we stay with Him.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." -John 15:1-4
3. Your identity will lead you to your purpose.
Pastor Rico said that the unique talents and skills that we have is the key to discovering our life's purpose. Our talents and skills are God's gift to us and He wants us to use them for His glory and honor.
4. Our gifts must cause us to work harder.
Pastor Steve Murrell said in his blog that being gifted is not a call to be lenient, instead it's a call to hone that gift to be more productive. Sometimes, we have the tendency to become lax and overlook the things that we are particularly good at. Because we know that it's easy for us, sometimes we fail to understand that it's the very gift that God wants us to develop. The greatest tragedy is looking for other gifts when God's gift for us is gleaming in front of us. When this happens, of course, there is no other way to solve this problem but to come confidently to the Father who loves us so much and will open our eyes to see our gifts given by Him.
5. Worldly achievements, when offered to God, become great things.
Before Pastor Rico's preaching ended, he showed to us a video of girl who studied filmmaking in UP. Her story inspired me a lot. She said that on the day of the filmmaking, they encountered so many trials such as rain and muddy location. But her mother prayed with her. The situation was beyond their control that time, but certainly not beyond God's. In short, they lifted up in prayer their petition and that is for God's will to be done. In the end, the girl graduated from college, got superb comments from the defense panel who graded her film and lastly, her film got recognized in the Manhattan Film Festival. What a victory it is when we offer our winnings to Christ!
Sunday, September 15, 2013
3 Important Life Lessons Jenni Epperson Taught Me During the 2nd Mompreneur Summit
When Jenni Epperson walked up the stage, what I saw is a picture of an elegant high-fashion woman who wears a cheetah printed coat, red lipstick and carefully chosen accessories. This woman made it to the top, I said to myself. But when she started talking, Jenni is actually so much more.She was more than what met my eye. She was funny, witty and real. She may be high-fashion, but she’s also very down-to-earth. Her authenticity radiated all over the place and it even occurred to me that this woman is actually famous but that didn’t go to her head.
I learned a lot of things from her and I got surprised with myself for taking down notes- something that I don’t usually oblige myself to do unless, something is really really noteworthy. In fact, her talk was noteworthy and this is me sharing to you all the gems that I found during her talk.
1. Self-discovery is a journey.
Just like any regular human being, Jenni found herself wanting to “find” herself too. There were just too many things that she wanted to do and one day she just felt confused and lost just like what happened to many of us too. She, then, decided to resolve this by going on top of a hill somewhere in Laguna and, uhm, apparently nothing happened. But for sure, a series of events occurred after that that made her the “Jenni Epperson” that she is now. She told us that knowing one’s self is important. How much do we really know ourselves? If your answer is not so much, it’s alright. What’s important is the willingness to “begin” the journey that entails trying many things along the way until we get there. Success happened to her. It can happen to us too.
2. It’s ok to be passionate about many things.
I am one of those people who frowns whenever told “Find your passion and make it your profession.” Problem is I do have a lot of things I am passionate about. I love business, singing, social media and writing. Which one should be my profession? Sometimes I beat myself for liking too many things. I call myself things such as happy-go-lucky, irresponsible and uncommitted. But when I listened to her, I found an ally and she said that it’s alright to like so many things and feel confused at times. The key is to try these things as much as you can. Again, this is a journey and not everyone will figure out their passions early in life. Some will take years to figure it out but the journey counts as much as the destination itself. Jenni also said that she took so many roles too. She became a receptionist, writer and whatnot and she was not ashamed to tell us about all of these things. She also said that trying out different things will help you do a process of elimination. The more that you eliminate, the more that you become aware of the things that you don’t really want until you’re down to the really few things that really speak to your heart.
3. Be your most authentic self.
Finding yourself is worth it. One of the benefits of the journey is that you learn to become your most authentic self. At the early stages of our lives, I believe that we don’t have yet or we are not aware yet of our identities. We usually look up to people and then imitate them. We were once superman, spider man and wonder woman. As we go on in years, we learn more about ourselves and Jenni believes that this process is very crucial. The more that we know ourselves, the more we can become authentic. I believe that being authentic and real to ourselves is one of the best gifts that we can offer the world. Oscar Wilde once said, “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.”
Thank you so much, Jenni.
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Mark Delgado (@iammarkdelgado) is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
For Janet Napoles
Dear Janet,
I don’t have much to say about you. I actually am one of those Filipinos who isn’t much into politics. We have different reasons for not being too involved. Some are just extremely busy. Some may just want to be ahead of the game by getting involved in other ways. Some just don’t get politics. Some had just given up. I believe I am a mixture of all four.
Janet, I don’t know if you have the slightest idea how popular you had become in the online world. I used to not really care about the lives of celebrities and politicians that appear on my timeline, but you had consistently been there in the past few days. Your name is all over the place. I think it even trended on Twitter too. Your photos had been used in so many memes. As a social media marketer, I know how difficult it is to make someone or something popular online. But yours was a curious case for me. You are hated. You are supposed to be “unpopular”.
Janet, you have angered the people.
You have touched a very sensitive part of their souls. Them, the taxpayers. They were just busy working for their lives one ordinary day. Until, your story.
I don’t have much to say about you. I actually am one of those Filipinos who isn’t much into politics. We have different reasons for not being too involved. Some are just extremely busy. Some may just want to be ahead of the game by getting involved in other ways. Some just don’t get politics. Some had just given up. I believe I am a mixture of all four.
Janet, I don’t know if you have the slightest idea how popular you had become in the online world. I used to not really care about the lives of celebrities and politicians that appear on my timeline, but you had consistently been there in the past few days. Your name is all over the place. I think it even trended on Twitter too. Your photos had been used in so many memes. As a social media marketer, I know how difficult it is to make someone or something popular online. But yours was a curious case for me. You are hated. You are supposed to be “unpopular”.
Janet, you have angered the people.
You have touched a very sensitive part of their souls. Them, the taxpayers. They were just busy working for their lives one ordinary day. Until, your story.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Southbound
Dear Abba,
A few months ago, I was able to visit the South. Thanks to Geraldine, my longest-running high school friend who I still keep in touch with until now. It was a real treat that we were friends since I find it really hard to believe that an extrovert and an introvert can be friends like us.
But we are! And we still enjoy doing those dates together just like what we did during our CMLI days in Baguio. Those were the good times! She was my best buddy, my loyal supporter, my photographer and everything in between. How can I ever thank her enough? How can I thank you enough for her?
The day we went to Westgate, it was also a surprise to meet Harold again, our former batch mate during high school and now her schoolmate in the aviation school. She used to say that she never expected to be friends with him counting the many years of being out of high school where they also both barely know each other. How surprising life can be and how time flies so fast!
Abba, always be with Geraldine. You know the desires of her heart and I know how special she is in your eyes. She used to declare that she was "your" favorite. How many girls in the world have that kind of assurance in their hearts? I am amazed by her sometimes. You two must have spent too many good times together.
I know that you have in store so many good things for her. May you grant her the patience that she needs until the perfect time comes for her to receive the fullness of your blessings in her life. May she always seek your face, more than anything else.
Thank you for keeping these two friends of mine safe always.
Excited to fly soon with her in the aviation school,
Mark
Friday, August 30, 2013
Until My Voice Is No More
Yesterday, I got invited by my brothers to their Application Night in the Music Ministry. In Victory Ortigas, we call "Application Night" the night where the new members of the Music Ministry shall "apply" the lessons they have learned during the 3-week "training" with the leaders of the ministry.
My own Application Night is still fresh on my mind. At first, I thought that "Application Night" was the night when we'll know if we made it to the ministry or not. I can still remember how big of a surprise it was for me to know that I was wrong. There's no more cut off. It was a real treat from you, Abba. Thank you so much.
I was so blessed to see my 2 brothers, Jhon and MJ, lead the song "Here in Your Presence". I told Jhon that he will always remember his Application Night every time he will step on stage to lead the worship services. The first time I led "Here in Your Presence" on stage, I still can remember how filled I was with your love that tears actually fell from my eyes. My heart was touched when the people started to sing even without leading them and I thought that is the job of every worship leader. To lead the people to worship you, and to not just lead the song. In fact, I felt that I can already go down the stage and worship with the people once they started singing but you are also the God of order, so we also observe orderliness during worship services and a worship leader can't just step down. But that's how I felt. Once the people started to sing, my job was done. The next thing to do is to worship with them knowing that you will always receive our worship, not because we are so good at doing it nor because we sing so well. It is because of the Son who you gave to us 2,000 years ago for the salvation of our sins, that whoever believes in Him shall be saved. And thus, your grace and truth flowed from him to us, covering us with his most precious blood. This is the reason why our worship is pleasing to you. It is because you see the blood of the Lamb in us, not because of any of our good works.
I thank you for the gift of music. I have told so many people how amazing you were when you allowed me to be admitted to the Music Ministry, even without much knowledge about music. I can't tell them enough how funny I thought of myself during my auditions that I even did prayed my own prayer of acceptance that it's okay if I don't pass the auditions. But you did it for me! You let me in the ministry! I can't believe you! You are truly the living wonderful and amazing God!
Whenever I think about your faithfulness, I can't help but cry. I want to shout to the world about your goodness and greatness and your faithfulness! When I can't, you always can. When we have seemed to have forgotten our own dreams, you will remind us of those dreams and you will use those dreams for your glory and honor and praise!
Abba, use me and my brothers for your glory. Use our voices, our knowledge and whatever we have to proclaim your greatness in all the earth. We are small, a speck of dust, a vapor in the wind. But because you are with us, we can do anything.
Thank you for being our God, the God of love and the only God. Forever and ever.
Will sing praises to you until my voice is no more,
Mark
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Thankful Thursdays
Is there something that you want to thank God for? If yes, we hope that you can join us every week as we transform your ordinary Thursdays into Thankful Thursdays!
All you need to do is Like our Page at www.facebook.com/Letters4Abba and then watch out for the poster above where you will place your comment with the things that you are thankful to God for.
It's fun and you will be blessed for sure! Afterwards, we can pray for each other and then go to bed with a grateful heart.
Our first run is set this coming Thursday, August 29. I hope you can help us share this to your loved ones.
Thankful for your support,
Mark
A Prayer in the Desert
Thank you for the desert, the season of being in lack. I know that the path that I chose wasn’t easy. I left my job in the corporate world for the desire of becoming an entrepreneur. I have no savings, no business plans, no business partners nor investors- I only have you. And that’s why I feel I have more than enough.
What’s amazing about being the desert is knowing that you are there to watch over me. I know I have lots of things to learn yet in this life and the fact that I am feeling all sorts of difficulties right now is because you are still in the process of refining me as a person. I know, one day, I will become fully what you intended me to become- a mighty man of yours.
Abba, I remember how you provided for your people in the time of Moses as it was written in the Book of Exodus. In the desert, you provided manna, quail and water. Despite the discontentment and the sinfulness of the Israelites back then, you never ceased to care. The cloud of your care and the firewall of your protection remained with them until they reached the promised land.
I thank you for your faithfulness. I thank you for the desert. I thank you for the time of lack. If there’s a place that this season in my life had brought me- that place is my end, a place where I have met my limitations as a human being. I can’t keep my money. I can’t keep my health. I can’t keep my shelter. They aren’t my security. You are. And the more that you take away from me, the more that I learn how limited and fragile and helpless I am. The more that I know about it, the more that I become dependent on you. And the more that I depend on you, the more that I get near the truth- that you are the God who is the source of everything and that you are the God who is more than willing to provide for us.
I thank you for you are my God. You are the God who loves me no matter what. You are the God who provides in the middle of the desert, despite the disobedience after disobedience after disobedience after disobedience.
You gave and gave and gave and gave to us. What can you not give if you had already given the Son 2,000 years ago to be the fountain of grace and forgiveness for us? Because of him, we can now approach your most Holy of Holies anytime in the temple that you have built within our bodies. You have also written the law in our hearts and that law is called love.
Thank you for being the mighty provider in Ararat, in Sinai, in Calvary, in Zion and in the desert.
Holding on to you,
Mark
Children of the Island of Fire
I still don’t know how to thank you enough for the beautiful experience you have given us last July when we visited the island of Camiguin, the so-called Island of Born of Fire. You have blessed the island with so much precious gifts such as the warm and gentle-speaking people, the rich marine life, the beautiful bodies of water such as the fall and the springs, and the lanzones fruit which you know my mom loves so much.
What are the odds that in the middle of our “rest” during our second day, you will give us a special mission to fulfill?
That night you gave us the children of Camiguin who were playing beside the sea. I know how special is the place in your heart that you have given the children. The moment I saw them, I knew that you sent your Spirit to us to approach them and minister to them. This is something that I will never even think of doing during my old life. Indeed, you have made me your new creation.
I thank you for my brothers who have the hearts for the kids. We used to say in our church that the Kids Church is the best church in the world! I agree on this. I will never forget the story on how you welcomed the children in your arms when your disciples told them to stay away from you. How you talked about becoming like them, the children, to be able to enter the kingdom of God. How fiery yours might have seemed when you told the people about the penalty for anyone who will defile those innocent ones. The children will always have the most special place in your heart.
And while we are sinful and undeserving of your grace, you allowed us to minister to your little ones and prayed for them during that night. I thank you for bringing my Spibu (spiritual buddy), Marvin, with me to whom you endowed so many talents. He taught the kids new worship songs as well as the dance steps that went along with it. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
And before the night was over, you poured out your Spirit unto me. PB had always encouraged me to ask for higher gifts, for that was your will for us. You take delight in giving us your blessings as our loving Father. You take delight in giving us gifts for you know that these are seeds that we’ll use, in turn, to bless the church.
I have never asked for higher gifts before but that night I knew that you wanted me to prophesy for the children. You wanted me to speak words of blessings and protection and hope for them, for it will help them be lifted up from the hard life that they have in the island. You are witness to their pains and poverty and I thank you for using me, small as I am, to bless them. They will grow up to be fine young men and women who fear your name.
Your Spirit was with us during that night. Beside the calm sea and above the velvety sand of Camiguin, we uttered a prayer for the children. A few moments more, we heard them sobbing altogether. At the innermost room of my heart, I praised your name. For how many times may we be given the chance to pray for the children and then hear them sobbing while at it? I knew that you were with us that night. You were speaking directly to the hearts of your little ones while we pray to you.
Abba, you are amazing. Words aren’t even enough. Tonight, my heart goes out to all the children in the world. Thank you for always being their protector, their defender, their banner. Send the evil ones out of their way and guard their hearts for always.
Your child always in awe of you,
Mark
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Her Secret Place
A few weeks ago, Jie Jie (Chinese for big sister) and I had a date in her “secret place”. It’s called Casa Roces in front of Malacañang Palace, where the president of the land lives.
It was a joy to see her. I told her she is blooming. In Chinese, she’s “yue lai yue piaoliang”. I was being sincere when I said that. She looked really calm and happy that day.
She asked me to pray to you for her new venture. I think that she’s really built to be an entrepreneur. It delighted me a bit when she told me she already resigned from her previous post in the government, not because I don’t want her to serve the people. But because I think that she’ll be able to serve more people if she’ll do what she does best. I think she’ll be a good businesswoman.
When I visited her family business in Camiguin, there’s a writing on the wall that said “Profit with honor.” When I asked around for the person who wrote it, they said it’s the owner. I knew it. It runs in her blood.
That night, she treated me with really good food, the names of which I can't remember anymore. I know though that when I ask her about it, she’ll know right away. It was her “secret place”.
Thank you for giving me a big sister. Because of you, I have an older sibling in Spirit.
Thank you for always being with her anywhere she goes. You have been to all of her “secret places”. This gives me the assurance that you’ll always know where to find her whenever she calls your name and no matter how "secret" is the place where she can be found.
Thank you for being the good shepherd who constantly looks after us.
One of your sheeps,
Mark
Friday, August 23, 2013
The Letters 4 Abba Project
Dear readers,
If you will write a letter to God right now, what will it be about? Is it about you, your family, your church, your community, your country, the world? Will you write in the form of a note, a prayer or a song?
This is how the idea of creating The Letters 4 Abba Project came to me. My dream is to compile 100 letters written to God by different people and then publish it into an e-book.
I hope that you are one of those people that I am looking for. Our goal is to encourage others amidst the darkest of times and to let them know that God is just a prayer away from them.
To join, please submit the following to markjosephdelgado@ymail.com:
• Your letter to God using no more than 1,000 words
• A title for your letter
• Your photo (preferably in landscape format)
• Your short bio using no more than 5 sentences
• Your nickname
Please help us spread the word by sharing this to your family and friends.
You are loved,
Mark
P.S. Special thanks to Jenny for helping me refine the idea for this project.
First Letter
Dear Abba,
Thank you for creating this blog with me, for me. Make this piece an everlasting prayer of praise for you. Thank you for loving me no matter what.
Sincerely,
Mark
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
10 Ways to Get the Most Out of a Webinar
1. Invest on a good headset with microphone.
If you see yourself attending a lot of webinars in the future, a good headset with microphone should be your next best investment. When scouting for one, look for the one that is comfortable in the ears even for a long-time use and the one that has a good microphone quality.
2. Choose a quiet place.
Assign a place that you will be your “webinar space”. It must be quiet, free from distractions and if you can, get a good couch where you can comfortably sit on.
3. Research a little about the topic before a session.
Reading a little about the topic that will be discussed in the webinar can do wonders for you. Not only that it can help you spark more interest for the topic, it can help you formulate questions beforehand that you can ask the facilitator during the webinar. Questions and points of information enrich the discussion. Practice becoming a good webinar attendee.
4. Make sure that your computer doesn’t block webinar programs.
Some anti-virus programs block external programs such as the ones for webinars. Make sure that you check your computer for these blockers before any webinar session.
5. Check your Internet connection.
In a webinar, you will be accessing files and links; listening; looking at the presentation; and doing some talking. You need a good internet connection to be able to do all these things.
6. Close unnecessary programs.
It is best that you close other programs during a webinar. Not only that this can help you get a better Internet connection, it will help you focus too.
7. Maximize the use of boxes and buttons given to attendees.
Sometimes there are boxes and buttons being made available for attendees such as chat boxes, question boxes, “Raise your hand” buttons and others. Know how to use these boxes and buttons and use them well.
8. Take down notes.
In fact, do everything to learn as much as you can from a webinar. If you learn better by taking down notes, do it. If you learn better by just simply listening, do that too. You need to adjust a little bit because webinars are different from what most of us were used to - ordinary classroom discussions.
9. Ask if you can take screenshots of the slides.
Do this cautiously because some slides are copyrighted. But some facilitators are generous enough to allow students to do screenshots. Some even allow students to download the slides. All you need to do is ask.
10. Ask for a file or link to the recording of the webinar.
Some webinars are being recorded to be accessed by the students who weren’t able to make it to the webinar and for others who need to revisit the session again. If you can, ask if the webinar shall be recorded before the session even starts.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Delgado is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
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| "You need to adjust a little bit because webinars are different from what most of us were used to - ordinary classroom discussions." Photo: www.excellenceinwriting.com |
If you see yourself attending a lot of webinars in the future, a good headset with microphone should be your next best investment. When scouting for one, look for the one that is comfortable in the ears even for a long-time use and the one that has a good microphone quality.
2. Choose a quiet place.
Assign a place that you will be your “webinar space”. It must be quiet, free from distractions and if you can, get a good couch where you can comfortably sit on.
3. Research a little about the topic before a session.
Reading a little about the topic that will be discussed in the webinar can do wonders for you. Not only that it can help you spark more interest for the topic, it can help you formulate questions beforehand that you can ask the facilitator during the webinar. Questions and points of information enrich the discussion. Practice becoming a good webinar attendee.
4. Make sure that your computer doesn’t block webinar programs.
Some anti-virus programs block external programs such as the ones for webinars. Make sure that you check your computer for these blockers before any webinar session.
5. Check your Internet connection.
In a webinar, you will be accessing files and links; listening; looking at the presentation; and doing some talking. You need a good internet connection to be able to do all these things.
6. Close unnecessary programs.
It is best that you close other programs during a webinar. Not only that this can help you get a better Internet connection, it will help you focus too.
7. Maximize the use of boxes and buttons given to attendees.
Sometimes there are boxes and buttons being made available for attendees such as chat boxes, question boxes, “Raise your hand” buttons and others. Know how to use these boxes and buttons and use them well.
8. Take down notes.
In fact, do everything to learn as much as you can from a webinar. If you learn better by taking down notes, do it. If you learn better by just simply listening, do that too. You need to adjust a little bit because webinars are different from what most of us were used to - ordinary classroom discussions.
9. Ask if you can take screenshots of the slides.
Do this cautiously because some slides are copyrighted. But some facilitators are generous enough to allow students to do screenshots. Some even allow students to download the slides. All you need to do is ask.
10. Ask for a file or link to the recording of the webinar.
Some webinars are being recorded to be accessed by the students who weren’t able to make it to the webinar and for others who need to revisit the session again. If you can, ask if the webinar shall be recorded before the session even starts.
-
Mark Delgado is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
8 Things to Consider Before Starting a Blog
1. Purpose
Why do want to blog? If you have a determined answer to this question, considering the rest of things on this list will be a breeze. It is very important that you know why you want to start a blog or your blog will just be a parked domain uploaded on the web. Don’t be just a parked domain-owner. Be a dedicated blogger. Maybe you want to earn money through blogging or you want to put up a blog that can help other people. Whatever your reason is, be sure that you know it full well. And then the rest of the bullets will guide you.
2. Interest
Is there something that you are genuinely interested in that you want to write about? I tell you the truth, once you started blogging about that interest, you will get more of it. I suggest that you really be serious in picking out an interest that you’ll be writing about. Remember the verse in the bible “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)? It’s the same with blogging. You can only successfully blog about something that your heart is naturally full of that you want to express it and share it to the world.
3. Commitment
Let’s get this straight. Do you really have time to blog? Do you sincerely commit to it? Of course you can always start a blog and then just get back to it when you’re able to find time again, right? But if you do that, how different your blog will be from parked domains? I believe that a blog is a mirror of an author’s life. We live every day. I believe our blogs should live every day too. It can’t be just a parked domain that we’ll get back to when we’re free. You must have a commitment to your blog. How much time can you allot for it in a week? How many posts do you commit to write in a week? The minimum acceptable post per week (as per my last check) is 3. If your answer is below this number, I highly suggest that you rethink about your plans. Maybe you should start with your own Facebook account first or maybe create a Facebook Page for now. You will need both of it nonetheless when you are really ready to start blogging. It won’t be wasted, believe me.
4. Readers
One thing that I’ve learned about blogging when I was still a beginner is that I must be able to think about my readers more than I think about myself. A blog is not just an Instagram account full of selfies. Even a personal blog cannot always be just about you. What do I mean about this? Your readers must find value in your blog. Using a single word, you must be able to describe what you want your readers to get out from your blog. Is it advice, inspiration, knowledge, suggestion or tip? When you write, don’t just think about yourself. Think about your readers. Believe me, if you consider this, people will, well, visit your blog. And bloggers become satisfied when they know that people find value in what they write.
5. Online Community
The online world can be a difficult place to explore alone. You need allies. Good thing there are so many blogging communities out there that can help you in your journey. These people started out like you so don’t be afraid to ask questions when you find one. Join online communities for bloggers or maybe even found your own. Click here to see my blog post about 5 Keys to Founding Your Own Online Community.
6. Expenses
This bullet surprised me myself. Aren’t blogs supposed to bring income and not expenses? When I look back to the day that I started as a blogger, I realized that blogging incurs expenses too. Not only that you need to invest talent and time to it, you need to invest your treasures too. For example, if you are really serious about being a travel blogger, please don’t think that someone else will sponsor all your travels just because you call yourself a travel blogger. Please don’t get me wrong. I believe that this is possible but you need to show credibility and results first before you can demand something like this. As a beginner, you will have to shoulder the expenses that you will incur for your blogging. There are ways to lessen the expenses though, like you may join other travel bloggers. So you see? Belonging to an online community is very important. Before blogging, please consider the expenses. If you don’t plan to shell out that much for this new activity of yours, I suggest that you pick a niche that you can write naturally about even without attending events, eating out or travelling.
7. Creative Tank
Blogging requires a certain degree of creativity. You must at least have a little interest in lay-outing, photo-editing and of course, writing. If you feel that you need to work on these things first, well, I say that blogging itself can help you start becoming interested in these things. Don’t be scared in getting your feet wet at this point. You may now open a blog and learn everything that you need to learn from there.
8. Readiness to Learn
Some people talk about blogging as if it was very easy. I say, yes, it can be easy only if you are ready to learn. But it can be excruciatingly difficult for a beginner who is not open to learning. For example, you may not fully like blogging if you are not open to learning a little about coding or HTML. I tell you, even this little thing is very important. You cannot always rely on someone to do this for you even if you have a lot of riches to hire someone for this task. I suggest that you embrace this hobby wholeheartedly. There is no getting away from small things that entail blogging such as HTML, lay-outing and photo-editing.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Delgado is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
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| "Whatever your reason is for wanting to start a blog, be sure that you know it full well." Photo Credits: www.tumblr.com/tagged/solo-travel |
Why do want to blog? If you have a determined answer to this question, considering the rest of things on this list will be a breeze. It is very important that you know why you want to start a blog or your blog will just be a parked domain uploaded on the web. Don’t be just a parked domain-owner. Be a dedicated blogger. Maybe you want to earn money through blogging or you want to put up a blog that can help other people. Whatever your reason is, be sure that you know it full well. And then the rest of the bullets will guide you.
2. Interest
Is there something that you are genuinely interested in that you want to write about? I tell you the truth, once you started blogging about that interest, you will get more of it. I suggest that you really be serious in picking out an interest that you’ll be writing about. Remember the verse in the bible “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)? It’s the same with blogging. You can only successfully blog about something that your heart is naturally full of that you want to express it and share it to the world.
3. Commitment
Let’s get this straight. Do you really have time to blog? Do you sincerely commit to it? Of course you can always start a blog and then just get back to it when you’re able to find time again, right? But if you do that, how different your blog will be from parked domains? I believe that a blog is a mirror of an author’s life. We live every day. I believe our blogs should live every day too. It can’t be just a parked domain that we’ll get back to when we’re free. You must have a commitment to your blog. How much time can you allot for it in a week? How many posts do you commit to write in a week? The minimum acceptable post per week (as per my last check) is 3. If your answer is below this number, I highly suggest that you rethink about your plans. Maybe you should start with your own Facebook account first or maybe create a Facebook Page for now. You will need both of it nonetheless when you are really ready to start blogging. It won’t be wasted, believe me.
4. Readers
One thing that I’ve learned about blogging when I was still a beginner is that I must be able to think about my readers more than I think about myself. A blog is not just an Instagram account full of selfies. Even a personal blog cannot always be just about you. What do I mean about this? Your readers must find value in your blog. Using a single word, you must be able to describe what you want your readers to get out from your blog. Is it advice, inspiration, knowledge, suggestion or tip? When you write, don’t just think about yourself. Think about your readers. Believe me, if you consider this, people will, well, visit your blog. And bloggers become satisfied when they know that people find value in what they write.
5. Online Community
The online world can be a difficult place to explore alone. You need allies. Good thing there are so many blogging communities out there that can help you in your journey. These people started out like you so don’t be afraid to ask questions when you find one. Join online communities for bloggers or maybe even found your own. Click here to see my blog post about 5 Keys to Founding Your Own Online Community.
6. Expenses
This bullet surprised me myself. Aren’t blogs supposed to bring income and not expenses? When I look back to the day that I started as a blogger, I realized that blogging incurs expenses too. Not only that you need to invest talent and time to it, you need to invest your treasures too. For example, if you are really serious about being a travel blogger, please don’t think that someone else will sponsor all your travels just because you call yourself a travel blogger. Please don’t get me wrong. I believe that this is possible but you need to show credibility and results first before you can demand something like this. As a beginner, you will have to shoulder the expenses that you will incur for your blogging. There are ways to lessen the expenses though, like you may join other travel bloggers. So you see? Belonging to an online community is very important. Before blogging, please consider the expenses. If you don’t plan to shell out that much for this new activity of yours, I suggest that you pick a niche that you can write naturally about even without attending events, eating out or travelling.
7. Creative Tank
Blogging requires a certain degree of creativity. You must at least have a little interest in lay-outing, photo-editing and of course, writing. If you feel that you need to work on these things first, well, I say that blogging itself can help you start becoming interested in these things. Don’t be scared in getting your feet wet at this point. You may now open a blog and learn everything that you need to learn from there.
8. Readiness to Learn
Some people talk about blogging as if it was very easy. I say, yes, it can be easy only if you are ready to learn. But it can be excruciatingly difficult for a beginner who is not open to learning. For example, you may not fully like blogging if you are not open to learning a little about coding or HTML. I tell you, even this little thing is very important. You cannot always rely on someone to do this for you even if you have a lot of riches to hire someone for this task. I suggest that you embrace this hobby wholeheartedly. There is no getting away from small things that entail blogging such as HTML, lay-outing and photo-editing.
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Mark Delgado is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
Friday, August 16, 2013
5 Keys to Founding Your Own Online Community
Why bother?
In Seth Godin's book called “Tribes”, he argued that the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a social unit from the past that is called, well, tribes. Because of these so-called “tribes”, ordinary people were given authority and power in the online world. In his book, he urged everyone to be “tribal chiefs” of their own online communities.
What is an online community?
An online community is an established online group of people who share common ideas and interests. As a blogger, I know how important it is to belong to an online community. In my own blogging community is where I can find my most passionate readers. This is also where I can find my best critiques, friends and mentors. This is because I have the same passion that these people have-blogging. I can sincerely say that if someone didn’t invite me to belong in a blogging community a couple of years ago, I may not be the digital influencer that I am now. This blog post is dedicated to helping people discover, or even establish, their own online community.
1. Begin with an idea or interest.
As defined, an online community is an established online group of people who share common ideas and interests. In order to find one, you must first be able to identify an idea or interest that you feel strongly about. Make a list of them if you need to and then examine them carefully, one by one.
2. Look at your phone book.
Before you go searching for clues online, I highly suggest that you exhaust all possibilities that you have offline. Look at your phone. What kind of people are you in touch with? What common ideas or interests connect you with each other? Are there people in your phone book who are mountaineers, photographers and teachers? Jot all these ideas and interests and start thinking from there.
3. Tell me who are your friends.
First, look at your current friends and repeat the questions asked to you from #2. What common ground can you find with them? Second, look at the people who are adding or following you. Are there any insights that you can draw from thinking what kind of people you “attract”? Why did you think they added or followed you? Do you have common ideas or interests that connect you with each other? Think along this line. Do this to your other friends and followers in Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Plus and other Social Networking Sites (SNS).
4. The people and pages that you followed.
Now this is “their” turn. Turn the table around and look at the people and pages that you added or followed. Why did you add them? What “attracted” you to them? Who are your common friends?
5. The kind of blogs and websites you love to visit or write about.
If you are subscribed to or are currently writing on a blog, this will be extremely helpful for you. What kind of topics do you love to read, think or write about? Do you love fashion, gadgets and selling stuffs? What kind of people are subscribed to your blog (read: Liked your Page, followed your blog’s Twitter and etc.).
Have you found any interesting insights upon carrying out the suggestions given above? Is there any idea or interest that stood out among the many that you have in mind or jotted down? If there is one, I say, that you are ready to be the "tribal chief" of that online community.
Whether you are a blogger, entrepreneur, marketer or hobbyist, belonging or establishing your own online community will be immensely beneficial for you. If you are a blogger, your best readers, critiques and mentors are your fellow bloggers. If you are an entrepreneur, your next business partner, investor or supplier can be your fellow online community member. If you are a marketer, your next social media campaign must be rolled out to an online niche group that you have established. If you are a hobbyist, yes, your next best buddies can be in your online community too.
Whatever pursuit that you have online, for sure, you can have your online community as your support group behind you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Delgado is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
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| Whatever pursuit that you have online, you can have your online community as your support group behind you. |
In Seth Godin's book called “Tribes”, he argued that the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a social unit from the past that is called, well, tribes. Because of these so-called “tribes”, ordinary people were given authority and power in the online world. In his book, he urged everyone to be “tribal chiefs” of their own online communities.
What is an online community?
An online community is an established online group of people who share common ideas and interests. As a blogger, I know how important it is to belong to an online community. In my own blogging community is where I can find my most passionate readers. This is also where I can find my best critiques, friends and mentors. This is because I have the same passion that these people have-blogging. I can sincerely say that if someone didn’t invite me to belong in a blogging community a couple of years ago, I may not be the digital influencer that I am now. This blog post is dedicated to helping people discover, or even establish, their own online community.
1. Begin with an idea or interest.
As defined, an online community is an established online group of people who share common ideas and interests. In order to find one, you must first be able to identify an idea or interest that you feel strongly about. Make a list of them if you need to and then examine them carefully, one by one.
2. Look at your phone book.
Before you go searching for clues online, I highly suggest that you exhaust all possibilities that you have offline. Look at your phone. What kind of people are you in touch with? What common ideas or interests connect you with each other? Are there people in your phone book who are mountaineers, photographers and teachers? Jot all these ideas and interests and start thinking from there.
3. Tell me who are your friends.
First, look at your current friends and repeat the questions asked to you from #2. What common ground can you find with them? Second, look at the people who are adding or following you. Are there any insights that you can draw from thinking what kind of people you “attract”? Why did you think they added or followed you? Do you have common ideas or interests that connect you with each other? Think along this line. Do this to your other friends and followers in Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Plus and other Social Networking Sites (SNS).
4. The people and pages that you followed.
Now this is “their” turn. Turn the table around and look at the people and pages that you added or followed. Why did you add them? What “attracted” you to them? Who are your common friends?
5. The kind of blogs and websites you love to visit or write about.
If you are subscribed to or are currently writing on a blog, this will be extremely helpful for you. What kind of topics do you love to read, think or write about? Do you love fashion, gadgets and selling stuffs? What kind of people are subscribed to your blog (read: Liked your Page, followed your blog’s Twitter and etc.).
***
Whether you are a blogger, entrepreneur, marketer or hobbyist, belonging or establishing your own online community will be immensely beneficial for you. If you are a blogger, your best readers, critiques and mentors are your fellow bloggers. If you are an entrepreneur, your next business partner, investor or supplier can be your fellow online community member. If you are a marketer, your next social media campaign must be rolled out to an online niche group that you have established. If you are a hobbyist, yes, your next best buddies can be in your online community too.
Whatever pursuit that you have online, for sure, you can have your online community as your support group behind you.
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Learn from the most influential "tribal chiefs" in the Philippines-slash-people behind successful online communities such as Mommy Mundo, Mercato Centrale, PhotoMarket Philippines and DigitalFilipino.com! Join the 2nd Digital Influencers Marketing Summit. For more information, please visit www.influencersummit.digitalfilipino.com.
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Join our blog communities online!
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To get Seth Godin's book "Tribes", please click the image below.
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Mark Delgado is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
Monday, August 12, 2013
5 Types of People Who Make Good E-Commerce Entrepreneurs
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| "There is no substitute to hard work. Embrace it." Photo Credits: www.flickr.com/people/kevdiggs |
If you can't stand hard work, any kind of work will just be too hard for you. No work is easy. People who know this truth are always a few steps ahead of the game. The sooner that you embrace this truth, the sooner you will advance in your game. The quicker that you advance in your game, the quicker you'll succeed. There is no substitute to hard work. Embrace it.
2. People who are willing to fight for their freedom.
Freedom can take many forms such as freedom to decide, financial freedom, freedom in time and other things that entrepreneurs enjoy and those that an ordinary employee doesn't. A lot of people dream of becoming their own bosses not only for the sake of becoming their own bosses. Some of them fight for their freedom to decide on their own. Some want to earn while doing what they are passionate about. Some just simply want to have more time with their families and ministries.
3. People who believe that there are many earning opportunities outside their 9-5 jobs.
Most of us, Filipinos, were raised by our parents to become employees. We endure 17 years or more of formal schooling just to be employed. Sadly, not too many of us were taught of the value of working only for a few years to acquire new knowledge and skills and then afterwards build our own business. What's sadder than this is that we tend to choose popular courses that we think will take us to another country only to land in a local company that shall require us to do things that are totally irrelevant to our degrees. If there can be anymore sadder than this, it is the fact that there are more graduates every year than jobs being generated.
Despite these things, opportunities still abound. Graduates who won't be able to land to a job right away may think of other ways to earn such as accepting projects or putting up a business, may it be online of offline.
4. People who believe in the Internet as a game-changing tool for entrepreneurs and marketers.
Did you know that no single individual or organization owns the Internet? Thus, no one has an absolute control of it. This also means that anyone can succeed in the Internet provided that he has the right skills and tools as well the right products to offer the market. Although you have to make minimal investments (i.e. domain, Internet subscription, laptop and etc.) to build your presence online, the Internet has given way to more people to earn for a living. It has been good to small businesses too. The Internet has given them opportunities to promote their products aside from the usual media such as TV, radio, print, Out of Home (OOH) ads and Point of Purchase (POP) ads which are relatively more expensive.
5. People who know the importance of taking a leap of faith as a prerequisite to success.
All ventures require a certain amount of risk. Thus, only those who are ready to take a leap of faith can truly succeed. While it is true that not all startups will succeed, still there is no substitute to the experience that failure can teach us. I say, let’s embrace failures and risks. Let us always remember that a faith even as small as a mustard seed can move mountains.
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If you can identify to at least 1 type of people given above, then you can become a successful E-Commerce Entrepreneur. In fact, I believe that anyone can be an entrepreneur but having at least one of the 5 characteristics given above can make it easier for you to decide if you are contemplating to be one.If you are ready to become an E-Commerce Entrepreneur, I suggest that you take DigitalFilipino.com’s E-Commerce Entrepreneur Program. Ms. Janette Toral, founder of DigitalFilipino.com, had been an E-Commerce Specialist since 1997. She is often dubbed as the “Mother of E-Commerce Law in the Philippines” and she can truly help you in your dream of becoming an online entrepreneur some day.
Combine your entrepreneurial gifts with technical know-how’s that this course can offer you. To get more details about this course, please click the link below. Classes start on August 19, 2013.
DON'T MISS THIS CHANCE: www.certified.digitalfilipino.com
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Mark Delgado is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur (CBSME) who is passionate about consultative works, creative writing, events management, ideation, startupreneurship, strategic marketing and training. He founded Mediactiv8, a startup social media marketing company that advocates digital marketing education and entrepreneurship in the Philippines. To see more of his works, please check out www.facebook.com/Mediactiv8.
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