Typhoon Pedring Arrives, 2nd Year After Ondoy

Metro Manilans brace for Typhoon Pedring

Yup! Classes were suspended by lunchtime on Monday, 26th Sept. due to Typhoon Pedring (International Name: Nesat). Not that Filipino-Chinese schools had classes. They're celebrating Teacher's Day. As if to join the celebration, Pedring was upgraded to typhoon intensity by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) in an 11 a.m. bulletin. Metro Manila was then placed under Storm Signal No. 1.

By evening, the Department of Education (DepEd) has suspended all classes in primary and secondary levels in Metro Manila on Tuesday because of Typhoon Pedring. The metropolis was placed under public storm warning signal number 2 because of the typhoon. And as of the latest 11 pm bulletin from PAGASA, public storm warning signal number 3 has been raised in 8 provinces in Luzon that includes Aurora, Isabela, Cagayan, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino.

At times like this, we only hope and pray for everyone to be safe. We could still remember the devastation that was caused by Ondoy two years ago. I hope this time around, everyone will be better prepared.

Be safe! Till next time... ta-tah! ^_^

Filipino-Chinese Schools Celebrate Teacher's Day 2011

Filipino-Chinese schools in the Philippines observe Teacher's Day annually on Sept. 28th. This coincides with Confucius's birthday. Confucius is a great Chinese philosopher, thinker, and educator who is honored for his many contributions in education. I found a good article if you want to read more about the topic.

Anyway, for this year, my private tutees won't have classes tomorrow, Sept. 26th and on Tuesday, Sept. 27th in order to celebrate this occasion. I'm sure the children are joyous to be taking a break from classes and school work. It's going to be work as usual for me, though. School break is a perfect time to catch up on enhancing my students' skills that are lagging behind. ^_^

It's a perfect time to stop and thank all the teachers who have made a difference in our lives. I know that I personally want to thank more than a few of them. ^_^

Happy Teacher's Day

to all the wonderful

teachers!

The Year That Was...

I started doing online marketing a year ago. In this first year, I must say I learned a lot. Naturally, there was a lot of trial and error during that period. I have joined a few programs, that although sound, are not really working out for me. :(

In one program, I even joined a huge team that promised to give me ten down lines. With a team working together, I thought what could go wrong? Oh boy,  I was not right.! Apparently being a huge team has its downside too! LOL! ^_^ You can't say I'm program hopping as I've waited a year to really give the program a shot. But it has hurt me financially already as I'm investing in a tool that has not given back any ROI. Boo-hoo!

In another occasion, I relied on other marketers' judgment and joined a site they promoted with zest, but one wherein I had qualms on. I did promote with gusto, but the program went down as program owner wasn't quite capable of running it. Boo-hoo-too!

I've tried another one which is a cycler that cycled quite well the first few months I was on. From one position, I now have seven positions. Unfortunately for me, some members seemed to have bled the program dry. I haven't cashed out and now it has gone to sleep. I'm still waiting as to when it will start cycling once again. Boo-hoo-hoo!

Now on my second year, I've decided to cut down on some expenses. For one, I now have my self-hosted site. Since I like blogging and maintaining my site, I'm making that my priority. Fortunate for me, my site's hosted at GVO. Just recently they launched GVO Host Then Profit -- a sort of starter package for online marketers. For only $9.97 per month, you enjoy the benefits of having complete marketing tools -- autoresponder, video producer and video hosting, prospecting system, live training.

For now, I will be focusing on that plus my own email series that I'm slowly pushing out. You can sign up and join me in "Keeping Up with Rain."

http://cash2track.com/go/?s=205

I hope to see you on the inside! ^_^

Ms. Universe Beauty Pageant - Venus Raj & Shamcey Supsup

I'm not usually one to watch beauty pageants, at least, I'm not as fond of them as when I was a kid. I did enjoy watching international beauty pageants 'coz it was like watching Barbie dolls live on stage. I most esp. like the evening gown portion where you get to see lots of lovely ladies all dressed up. But these past two years, I suppose there's much to be proud of, mainly 'coz Philippine candidates have made it to Top 5 for two years in a row now. 

Maria Venus Bayonito Raj is a Filipina beauty queen. She was crowned Binibining Pilipinas (Miss Philippines)-Universe on March 6, 2010 during the pageant's Grand Coronation Night at the Araneta Coliseum. She represented the Philippines in the 2010 Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and placed fourth runner-up.

Venus Raj

Venus is a rather controversial candidate as she was almost stripped out of her crown due to some question about her nationality. Her father is Indian and mom, Filipina. But she grew up in Camarines Sur with her mom.

Venus Raj in evening gown

It was a good thing that the issue was cleared up and she got to represent the Philippines in 2010. Her winning was quite a surprise, and it made everyone in the Philippines proud, as we haven't had a top candidate in the Ms. Universe pageant for a while now.

Shamcey Supsup joined Binibining Pilipinas 2011 and won the Binibining Pilipinas-Universe title in the pageant held at the Araneta Coliseum on April 10, 2011. This victory entitled her to represent the Philippines at the Miss Universe 2011 pageant held in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Shamcey placed third runner-up in the pageant.

From what I've read she's not only pretty but also quite smart. She graduated from the State University - University of the Philippines - Diliman (also my alma mater he-he) and was a magna cum laude. She's also a licensed Architecture graduate and placed top in the board exams.

As compared to last year, there seemed to be more excitement over this year's competition. Venus's winning must have piqued everyone's interest and the country was indeed more glued to this year's competition which was held in Brazil.

Expectations were higher this year. And true enough, we weren't disappointed. Shamcey topped Venus's win to garner a position higher. There was even controversy going around here in Manila as locals thought Shamcey deserved to win the crown as Ms. Universe 2011. Personally, I'm okay with her win. At least she made it to Top 5. Two years in a row is pretty good for us. This however raises the bar higher. Next year's candidate will have pretty huge shoes to fill. LOL! ^_^

The country awaits the return of Shamcey. I believe I heard from the news that there will be some sort of grand welcome parade or the like. Ah, Filipinos' love of celebration.. and celebrities.. indeed! especially of international newsmakers.. LOL! :D

Oh before I forget, lately there's a new trend. If last year the newsmaker was Venus's "major major" punchline, this year it's Shamcey's "tsunami walk" pertaining to how Shamcey swayed her hips as she walked the ramp. LOL! ^_^

Ahhh, life! It's just great to be alive. Ha-ha! Enjoy your weekend! ^_^

And Your Horoscope For Today Is...

Horoscopes

Friday, September 9, 2011 By Rick Levine

Gemini (May 21 - Jun 20) 

It feels as if your head is finally coming out of a fogbank as the clouds dissipate today, allowing you to see the distant horizon. This is a day of reconnecting with your life purpose since your wide-angle vision allows you to gain more perspective. Don't be afraid to choose your new direction now, even if you don't think that it's a final decision. You are closer to the truth than you think.

 

Ah, my horoscope for today. I must admit it entertains me so that I've subscribed to receive it daily via my twitter account. Yup! I found twittascope on twitter. What I find amusing is that there are times when it very closely reflects my thoughts for that particular day. Sometimes, it gives me really good advice, esp. when I'm stumped. But don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those people who would be relying completely on horoscope before living my life. LOL! ^_^ True enough I'm a bit more reflective today.. been thinking of my goals in what I do.. I've come up with this goal as far as my online marketing ventures are concerned -- maximize earning potentials and minimize operating costs! ^_^ Perhaps it's truly time to reevaluate the programs I'm currently promoting.. choose the path I wish to take.. be more focused and definite in my steps.. I may after all be closer to success than I think!

 

Well, it's another weekend, so do take time out and enjoy it with your loved ones and family! Till next blogging time... ta-tah!

Website Traffic Is Not The Key To Success

Here's another article that's worth reading... and sharing... take time out to read it.

Website Traffic Is Not The Key To Success

By: Mike Burke

Website traffic is deemed the single most important factor when it comes to the success of a website but that statement needs to be qualified. Although it's true that a constant stream of traffic is the lifeblood of a website, the quality of the traffic is far more important than the quantity.

Of course, any amount of website traffic is better than no traffic at all but even if you have the most perfect website, your site is doomed to fail if you are not getting visitors that are looking for the products or information you have available on your site.

It's easy to get caught up in a numbers game. It's exciting to see the number of visitors to your site climb from a few a day to a few hundred a day. On the surface, this looks like exactly what you want but if your visitors are looking for something other than what you are offering, for the most part, your website traffic is wasted.

You could have a great website design, compelling copy, the lowest prices and fantastic specials but all your efforts will be useless unless your website is drawing traffic that is interested in what you are providing or promoting.

What you need are visitors specifically interested in your product or service -- you need 'targeted traffic'.

 

Don't think of targeted traffic as a sub-category of website traffic because they really are two separate entities. If you're marketing plan is designed to drive as much website traffic as possible to your site, no matter what kind of traffic it is, then you're not making effective use of your time and you're setting yourself up for disappointment. The web is a very different venue than a shopping mall. A shopping mall relies on unfocused traffic, wondering from store to store, not looking for anything in particular but willing to spend it's money on an impulse. Believe it or not, people surfing the web will leave a website after viewing it for only about 2 seconds. They're looking for specific items or information and if they don't quickly find what they are looking for on your site, they'll click out of your site and go to one of the other millions of sites on the web. That's why most of the successful websites are tightly focused on their 'niche' and their marketing plan is focused on driving people to their site that are looking for what they offer - they understand the importance of 'targeted traffic'. Of course, targeted traffic and a website focused on a particular 'niche' go hand and hand. Think about your website. Does it really lend itself to a specific product or service, or is it so broad that it tends to confuse potential customers? Here are a few tips to help you prepare your website for targeted traffic: Design your website to promote one particular product or service as your main item. Determine the type of people that will be interested in your product or service and adjust your website to be attractive to them. Establish the items or services that are 'closely' related to what you're promoting on your website. If you think that they would be interesting to your visitors, offer those items on your website as well. Keep a constant flow of free content, that your visitors will find useful, on your website and add new content and information often. Invite your visitors back to your site to see the new material you're constantly adding. Keep in mind, a website that's focused on a particular 'niche' item or service lends itself to targeted traffic simply because there is something specific to target and the more targeted traffic your site receives, the more productive your site will be. There are many conventional and many not so conventional ways to drive targeted traffic to your website but we'll explore them in other articles. The purpose of this article is to point out the difference between website traffic and targeted traffic. More isn't always better and if you focus your marketing on 'targeted traffic' you'll quickly find that the hits your getting on your website aren't just empty numbers - they'll be potential customers and, more importantly, sales. For more website traffic tips visit www.starttheprofits.com Author Bio Mike Burke is the author of numerous articles and has an affection for website marketing. Learn how to drive tons of targeted traffic to your site without spending a dime on advertising. Visit us at http://www.starttheprofits.com Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

 

Social Evolution! Set Twitter Afire Like Your Own ATM!

There has never been a system like this.

TotallyTweetable is the ultimate system for every person who markets ANYTHING.

No matter if you have been online for a while, or this is your first day.... A fact you will know soon enough is that the old traditional ways of reaching people online have changed. They have changed so dramatically that companies as big as Google and Facebook have moved with them. The days where an opt in form was delivering high quality email list subscribers has passed. The Era where social acceptance and social recommendations are the key is here.....

So let's get you on the right methods with some social evolution techniques that have just been released and are changing the way we market as of right now.

It is a fact that more people will buy from you or join up with you if they were recommended by a friend, or they see some one they respect and follow endorsing what you have to say.... We see this on TV all the time right...?

So, what if we could get hundreds of people, endorsing your messages.... and sharing them with their inner circle?

A dream....

No -

It is now a reality. 

The incredible value that this site has - will blow you away.

I am talking about an explosion of exposure....

reaching people you have never met through the miracle of Social Evolution.....

I saw a Tweet go out that read.... "OMG! These guys just got 200 people to tweet for me (and it was f*r*e*e!!) So I was intrigued..... And when I got to the site and saw that it was real, I could not believe my eyes.

So let me say the same thing. THESE GUYS JUST GOT 200 PEOPLE TO TWEET OUT MY MESSAGE FOR ME!!

Have you ever stood in line for something and checked your phone?

Of course you have.

Seen anyone in the street on their phone? checking Facebook or Twitter?

No Doubt!

Imagine now for one second that those people were reading one of your marketing messages.... that it was tweeted to them, or they saw it on a friend's profile page and were interested.

We are talking about reaching people in the way they want to be reached.

THAT is TotallyTweetable!
Totally Incredible
Totally Un-miss-able

Totally........ F*R*E*E

You got to get in now.

P.S. - If you plan on doing anything significant online - this is the must have site. EVERYTHING you promote will benefit