Greatness starts at home

My parents were the earliest witnesses of my insatiable thirst for blogging and social networking. I had been blogging since 2005 and I even used to blog at Tabulas back then. I also used to be online in Multiply and Yahoo! Messenger every day, especially during summer, chatting and having fun with my friends. My mom is usually the last person to go to bed (after finishing the chores) and usually is the first person to rise in the morning to prepare for breakfast. And in both instances every day during summer, she can’t fathom how I manage not to get any sleep at all and how I can stay wide awake in front of my laptop from dusk till’ dawn.

“Di ka ba natutulog?” she used to ask me every time she catches me in the morning clicking and typing in front of my laptop. I used to provide her a lot of explanations such as, “Ma, I’m nocturnal.”, “Ma, it’s summer. I have so much reserved energy.”, “Ma, this blog post can’t wait for tomorrow. This has to be posted already otherwise I’ll lose it.”

Despite my parents’s little worries about me having too much online activities and less relationship with my bed, I am so glad that they never planned, not even once, to have our internet subscription at home cut. In fact, they even bought me and siblings one of the early versions of Globe Broadband Tattoo which I am still using until now whenever I need internet outdoors.

My old but still very reliable Globe Tattoo Broadband had always been with me especially during my travels. It had been the partner of my laptop for the longest time. I use this for blogging and connecting to my social networks.  

My greatest moment of achievement started last year, 2011, when I was lucky enough to be picked to attend the online classes in the Ateneo-DigitalFilipino Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur Program  (CBSMEP) for FREE! I won this from a writing contest wherein I needed to answer the question, “Why do I want to become a Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur?”

My greatest moment!

Last February 2012, I created a blog activation campaign called Intramuros Bloggers Challenge 2012. My objective is to promote tourism in Intramuros, the Walled City of the Philippines, through blog and social media. The idea is to let the bloggers experience Intramuros through (a) food- during a free dinner at Barbara’s Restaurant, the only restaurant in the Philippines that holds daily cultural presentations; and through (b) travel- during a one-day walking tour with top-caliber tour guiding groups in Intramuros such as Celdran Tours, Castillan Tours and Mabuhay Guides.

This photo was taken during my briefing with the bloggers before the walking tour inside the exclusive Club Intramuros. This project was supported by the Department of Tourism and by various private organizations. To know more about Intramuros Bloggers Challenge, you may click here.   

It was none other than Ms. Janette Toral, an internet marketing guru in the Philippines, who selected my work from among the many entries that participated in the writing contest. And to top it all off, she, herself, became my mentor for the nine-week intensive training in blog and social media entrepreneurship certification.

I am thankful for this program. Because of this, I am now starting to learn how to earn from a hobby that I only used to enjoy doing at home- seven years ago. I am thankful for my parents too for being an inspiration for me to continue doing what I love to do, for reading my blog from time to time (my biggest fans) and also for giving me and my siblings the great gift of being “connected” with the world- through the world wide web.

The coolest parents!

This photo was taken during the summer of 2011 in the beautiful island of Boracay. Actually, my parents are heavy users of internet too. My father had been working in Mexico for a couple of years now and he only returns to the Philippines once a year- during summer. The only way for my parents to stay in touch with each other is through Facebook and Skype. Thanks to the power of the internet! My dad seems to be closer- even though he's miles apart from us.

I am now only less than two weeks away from attaining my dream of becoming a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur. I know this is just the beginning of my journey towards achieving more accomplishments in the future. I wish more and more parents will be able to realize the great gift that they can give their sons and daughters by just merely giving them the advantage of staying connected, at the comforts of their home, with the bigger world that is out there- the internet.

Greatness starts at home.

Part of the perks of being a blogger and a social media entrepreneur is meeting famous celebrities and notable personalities during "work". Posing with me is Carlos Celdran during the first premiere of his disco-themed play entitled "Livin' La Imelda Loca" last February 7, 2011 at Silverlens Lab where I was invited as a blogger.

Carlos also sponsored my blog activation campaign for the Walled City, Intramuros Bloggers Challenge 2012.

[Source:  http://blog.globe.com.ph  ]

About the Author
Mark Joseph Delgado is a Certified Blog and Social Media Entrepreneur in the making. He maintains three blogs namely, www.sleekinthecity.com, www.intramurosmanila.asia and www.bloggers4change.net under his online marketing company called Think Marketing Group. He is madly in love with Thai dishes and loves to cook pancakes.