PJ and KC Break-Up.. and Life Goes on...

When I thought about writing this post, I was thinking about how life does go on for ordinary people like me. Little did I know that it was true, as I will share later on towards the end of this post. True, after watching KC Concepcion's one-on-one interview with Boy Abunda on 'The Buzz' last Sunday, I was a bit saddened that my fave local showbiz celebrity couple PJ and KC (Piolo Pascual and KC Concepcion) headed Splitsville.

The news has been talked about in most entertainment circle I guess and I've come across quite a few written about it on the Net. There was even one whole article written just to share about the different reactions via social media sites Facebook and Twitter. LOL! Talk about people being into rumors and gossips esp of celebrities' private lives huh? ^_^ It's as if our own lives aren't interesting enough! Well, as a fan and supporter of both these celebrities, I am indeed disappointed, but then that's life I suppose. Showbiz is showbiz.. things aren't always what they seem.. and fairy tales don't always have happy endings -- at least not in real life.. although sometimes you wish otherwise. 

Perhaps if I could rewrite a different ending to this story, I would have. But hey I'm just a fan, an outsider. As curious as I am as to the real reason of the break-up, I don't believe I really want to know. I'll still be here to support their individual projects. After all, that's why I became a fan in the first place. Their personal lives, as far as I'm concerned, well, it's personal and private! ^_^ And life goes on...

Here's the irony.. before I was even able to work on this post, I was called away by the sounds of fire trucks in my neighborhood. I rushed out to see what the commotion was about... Lo and behold! The building right across from ours was on fire!!! I tweeted about it and expected electrical power to be out in a few. True enough the fire was so huge it lasted till almost 6 a.m (almost 4 hours). We had to stay up to make sure all will be well. I certainly didn't dare sleep while a massive fire was raging just across the street. LOL! ^_^ My brother has all the pics and videos so perhaps I'll get some copies and share them next time around. But just to let you know that this is not fiction, here's an article about the fire posted on Inquirer News:

P7M worth of properties destroyed in Binondo fire

At the end of the day -- or rather night, since the fire wasn't out till morning time -- we're just glad that all is well and we weren't in any way affected by it. And life indeed goes on...

 

 

Video Promotion for Winning Solos Text Ad Exchange

Try our slideshow creator at Animoto.

Yes, I've been working lately at coming up with ways to promote and grow Winning Solos Text Ad Exchange. So how do you use a text ad exchange? When you first sign up, look for the confirmation email in your mailbox and verify your account. Then log into your account to set up your advertising campaigns. The most tedious part in using a text ad exchange is the setting up of your banner ads, text ad links, and other ad campaigns. After the initial set up, you can log into your account once a day to claim the daily bonus points and send out ads.

You can earn points from several different ways:
 

A) By clicking Browse Text Ads.

B) By clicking Browse HTML Ads.

C) By clicking View Traffic Links.

D) By Clicking View PTC Links you will earn cash.

E) By clicking Browse Solo Ads.

F)By clicking on Featured Ads

G) By clicking Browse Admin Emails

H) By clicking on Banners

I) By clicking on Banner Buttons

J) By clicking on Top & Bottom Navagation Links

K) By clicking on Traffic Links

L) By clicking on Hot Links

Likewise, you can post several different ad campaigns that you have available to you. You can even trade your earned points for advertising! ^_^ Next time around, I'll post more about the different types of ads. Join Winning Solos today! I hope to see you on the inside...

 

Taking Over Winning Solos Text Ad Exchange

 

Thanks to my good friend John Harding for letting me take over one of his sites -- Winning Solos Text Ad Exchange. John is a very able online marketer and I'm glad to be working and learning with the best. For those who are not too familiar with text ad exchanges, they're programs you can join for free to promote and advertise your programs and opportunities. I use text ad exchanges in addition to traffic exchanges and safelists/mailers to promote online. There are, of course, various other ways of driving traffic to your website, but I will reserve those for future posts. 

Winning Solos offers:

• Full Page Login Ads
• Solo Ads
• Feature Ads
• Daily Bonus Ads
• Video Training
• Much More...

Referral Contest is in place till the site reaches 1000 members!

1st Place:

100 Solos, 20 traffic links x 100 Views
& 20 Banners x 1000 Views!

2nd. Place:

80 Solos, 12 traffic links x 100 Views
& 12 Banners x 1000 Views!

3rd. Place:

60 Solos, 12 traffic links x 100 Views
& 12 Banners x 1000 Views!

4th Place:

40 Solos, 4 traffic links x 100 Views
& 4 Banners x 1000 Views!

5th Place:

20 Solos, 4 traffic links x 100 Views
& 4 Banners x 1000 Views!

6th Place:

5 Solos, 5 traffic links x 100 Views
& 5 Banners x 1000 Views!

7th Place:

4 Solos, 4 traffic links x 100 Views
& 4 Banners x 1000 Views!

8th Place:

3 Solos, 3 traffic links x 100 Views
& 3 Banners x 1000 Views!

9th Place:

2 Solos, 2 traffic links x 100 Views
& 2 Banners x 1000 Views!

10th Place:

1 Solo, 1 traffic link x 100 Views
& 1 Banner x 1000 Views!

I will be working on growing and promoting Winning Solos in the next few days, weeks, and months to come. For starters, I am offering 100 FREE JV Upgrades to the first 100 Active members who will be joining Winning Solos!

 

I look forward to welcoming to my text ad exchange!

Money Talk

Quote of the Day

by The Free Library

Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five.
W. Somerset Maugham
(1874-1965)

 * * * * * * *

Seeing this 'Quote of the Day' on my main site gave me an idea for a blog. Indeed, what can one do with money??? Need I ask? I'm pretty sure each and everyone of us has an idea of what we would do if indeed we would have LOTS and LOTS of it!!! LOL! ^_^

Having money can... (hmmm) enable you to circumvent the law?? buy the latest tech gadgets in the market?? travel the world in style?? engage in whatever business you wish?? It's like what I always hear people say.. it takes money to make more money. Like it or not, it's a material world. And with the upcoming holiday season, people are going to be needing and spending more money once again. Ahh money.. money.. money.. indeed makes the world go round! 

I'd love to read your comments... pls. feel free to leave me some ^_^

On Philippine Politics and Headlines

Supreme Court allows Arroyo to travel

Government stops Arroyo flight 

I don't usually meddle in talks about Philippine politics. Sure I have an opinion or two just like the rest of the citizens of the nation, but I prefer to reserve my opinions to myself and comment privately instead of reacting violently on any public forum. Instead of detailing the issue at hand, just click on the two article links from above and read more about the topic. 

 

Philippine politics is truly interesting, with all the fanfare (a spectacular public display) and drama. It sometimes beats all the teleserye (soap operas) we love to watch on TV. The main difference is the teleserye we watch tend to have happy endings and the protagonist always wins in the end. In real life, however, how do we know who the protagonists or antagonists are? We sometimes represent opposing viewpoints, both of which could be valid and acceptable. The above-mentioned topic did leave a few questions on my mind... can the public still trust the Supreme Court? Given IF they were allowed to leave, would the Arroyos ever come back? Were the Arroyos in a rush to leave the country? (Sorry but it appeared that way to me!) Well, one thing for sure, this is one drama that should not be missed. We don't know how it would end, but I do hope and pray that whatever comes out of all the hype, the Filipino people would win in the end. ^_^

 

 

Are Web Traffic Exchanges Worth the Time and Effort? (A Reaction)

I have been slacking this past week and as such, I've been really trying to challenge myself to bounce back. So I took a little break here and there.. hey, I'm human too.. sometimes the real world catches up and you encounter issues that you deem are more necessary. Well, I haven't been totally back on track since slacking off.. LOL! But since then I have blogged about a cause to support a childhood cancer research foundation, some real life local news that seemed interesting -- at least to me they were -- and an original self-help article that was inspired from a newsletter I'm currently subscribed to. And now this...

Huh? What's this about? Well, I'm a web traffic exchange user, have been for a year. I'm not totally addicted to it, although surfing some traffic exchanges (TEs) is part and parcel of my daily schedule. I have not been surfing as many TEs as I used to. I have mainly chosen a few ones that I truly like and ones wherein I'm still upgraded at. Hey, I even have a lifetime upgrade at one of them!

Well, an associate shared a link to an article with the same title mentioned above -- for which I just added '(A Reaction)' as I will be sharing my own views about said article. Well most of us perhaps already know what a web traffic exchange is. For those who don't, a traffic exchange is a program that you can join -- FOR FREE, yes most of them are -- wherein you view some ads to earn credits so that your own ads will be viewed by others as well. The ratio on most sites vary, but an associate advised that 3:1 sites aren't usually worth the time.(3:1 ratio means you view three sites before your site can be viewed once.)

The personal opinion of the author of the article is that TEs aren't worth the time, effort or money that you need to put into them. It could be one way to get an increase in traffic numbers, but that there are definitely better ways to increase your traffic. As I mentioned, I've been a TE user for at least a year now, and I'm sure others who have been using them longer would violently object or react to the claims of the author. I, however, wouldn't totally disagree. True, advertising on TEs has somehow helped in "branding" me as I now use personalized splash and squeeze pages. And time and again, I have "met" some surfers on chat who would mention that they have seen my ads around.

However, there is the point that most of the visitors that your site will receive from TEs will not be targeted. And what you ultimately want and need are targeted visitors who are out there seeking exactly what you have to offer. A really good way to find targeted visitors is to consider other avenues wherein you could bring your site -- featuring your products and services -- to others searching for specific keywords. Therefore, undertaking an SEO campaign wouldn't be such a bad idea. You see, you spend time on surfing different TEs. Some of that same amount of time are also well spent on improving your site so that it gets searched better via the different search engines. In this day and age wherein competition is tough, we can't totally dismiss the various other ways of increasing web traffic. Putting effort into SEO is an effective long term plan. It does take time, effort, patience, persistence, perseverance, and many other terms you can come up with. If you're itching for a quick scheme, this is not the way to go, but you'll be thankful in the long-run if you did consider it.

Perhaps some gurus out there would disagree with me, but this is my personal opinion. Besides, I'm convinced that there are marketers out there that are not totally dependent on TEs alone. And that some who have already made it don't totally just rely on TEs for their income. I wouldn't be surprised if they too have other sources of income outside of TEs. 

 

 

I Love KC Concepcion at SEA Games 2011 Opening

This isn't the first time that I'm blogging about KC Concepcion. She is one of my most favorite local female artists as she's truly talented. Born and raised like a princess, KC is a National Ambassador of the United Nations World Food Program. She's truly admirable and amazing. I hope that one of these days I would also get a chance to meet her in person. 

So the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games held its grand opening night in Indonesia on Friday night. (It's now early Sat. a.m. as I'm blogging this.) ABS-CBN Kapamilya star KC Concepcion performed in the opening number singing "Together We Will Shine" with Agnes Monica of Indonesia and Jaclyn Victor of Malaysia. 

I credit Sony Music Phils. for the above picture that I found. KC is lovely in red! ^_^ After the performance, KC tweeted, “Backstage i was just so nervous performing in front of an int'l crowd..but once we stepped out on stage, I was just so PROUD TO BE PiNOY! :)”

I truly love it! Here's a nice video I found that shows the performance... sit back and enjoy! I just wish the TV camera took closer shots of the performers. ^_^

'Lolong' world largest captured salt water crocodile

'Lolong' world largest captured salt water crocodile, experts say | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

Time and again I find local news reports that are of interest. Aside from acclaims and awards from foreign bodies, the news about the measurement of "Lolong" by National Geographic experts caught my fancy. Months back, the capture of this huge crocodile was all over the local news. It was believed to have been responsible for the disappearance of a local resident and the killing of a carabao. 

Australian crocodile expert Dr. Adam Britton named "Lolong" as the largest and biggest captured salt water crocodile. But I believe that we still have to wait a few more months before the Guinness World Records officially recognizes "Lolong." 

How I wish Agusan del Sur isn't that far away from me so I could visit and take a peek at "Lolong." Tourism has apparently improved in the town where the world's largest crocodile is held -- Bunawan Eco-Park. At this time, however, "Lolong's" picture will suffice. Local croc hunters also claim that there's another large croc on the loose.. bigger than "Lolong".. makes me wonder if they would be able to catch it at all.

Philippine Beauties Recognized -- Gwendoline Ruais and Dianne Recio

Miss World Philippines Gwendoline Ruais finished runner-up in the Miss World 2011 pageant held at Earls Court in London on Sunday night (Monday morning in Manila).

Well, we were on vacation and I didn't find out about this news until the day after the win. It's good to know that our representatives to international beauty pageants are somehow being given the attention they deserve.

Miss Universe International Dianne Necio finished in the semifinals of the Miss International pageant held in Chengdu, China. She also won the Miss Web Popularity award for garnering the most number of online votes.

Taking A Long Weekend Break

I'm so guilty of slacking this past week and the past few days. That's mainly 'coz it was halloween week and the semestral break as well for most schools. My daily routine has somehow been disrupted and over the week I have somewhat formed some new patterns. Two weeks in a row of a long weekend is sure enough to send anyone down the lazy joint.

I don't want to add too much drama but daughter got stomach flu so a trip to a gastroenterologist was inevitable. Plus, I now feel a bit old as I do have this lower back pain to contend with that I don't feel like sitting in front of my pc for too long.

A birthday celebration is in order so we had a little family bonding away from home. It would have been more fun had it not been for a bit too much rain on Sunday afternoon. Nonetheless, I watched the kids swim away in the rain.

I didn't bring a camera -- not that I have a working one -- but still managed to find a nice picture of where we spent the weekend. It was cool except for the rather heavy rains in  the afternoon so we didn't trek anywhere else except the pool. LOL! A lovely view from the room.

I'm not too fond of swimming, esp. not in the rain. But the kids -- a teen and a kid really -- enjoyed it. I was just their "babysitter" and contented myself in sitting in a covered area while I watched the pool. 

The night was pretty quiet, except for a trip to a nearby food joint for dinner, a round of monopoly game with the teen and the kid while watching reruns of Supernatural on DVD. But I'm glad we didn't miss this...

Khalil Ramos on Gandang Gabi Vice

Yup! Khalil Ramos guested on night comedy show "Gandang Gabi Vice." It was such a short segment but nonetheless fun and hilarious. And here I was just wondering where and when his next TV appearance would be. 

Bummer the weekend had to end. LOL! ^_^ Taking a break was much needed, but it's a bit tough trying to get back on track.

Promoting via Mailers

Two mailer programs launched recently. Although I don't usually promote programs until I've tried them out for quite some time, I'm just excited to start using them so I'm sharing them here.

First one is from Marty Petrizza, owner of Website Traffic Hog and Hot Website Traffic.. it's called Email Hog.

GET YOUR $100 IN FREE ADS:
You'll Receive...
5000 Mailing Credits $50 Value
1 Login Ad w/1000 impressions $15 value
2 Solo Ads $20 Value
2 Text Links w/ 1K Ikmpressions $10 Value
2 Banner Ads w/ 1K Impressions $10 Value

Click the "Advertising" button and redeem Promo Code: newmail

The other one is from John Bell, owner of Traffic Swirl and Fast Cash and Traffic.. it's called Viral List Builder Plus.

--Schedule your mailings at any time, but have them sent only at the time YOU specify.
--Competitive credit and upgrade pricing
--Tracking comes standard! View the results of your last 25 emails.

Redeem Promo Code: openemail

Using mailers is one way of promoting your site or program. I do get good results from sending out mails. However, not all mailers are created equal. Whereas there are some that really work, there are others that aren't quite as effective. Track your ads so you'll know which ad campaign works best. Plus, head over to my main blog to read my latest series on 101 List-Building Tips.

 

 

Did You S.M.I.L.E. Today?

I wrote this post about a month ago at HubPages. That time, it got published and ran for around a month. Unfortunately, there are sites and directories that apparently prohibit commercial use. Thus, just recently, said post got "unpublished" due to "links to prohibited sites." Oh well, I just might as well publish it here. ^_^ My site is now four months old. 

**********

On a daily basis, I attend a small community group at a webinar called Branding the World Daily (daily 11am EST). It has become part of my daily activities for over three months now. In fact, it helped me a lot in starting out with my own self-hosted site. Yup, my site is also three months old today! Yey! ^_^

One of the lessons we learned at TE-Therapy was S.M.I.L.E. (Simply Maintain Integrity, Limit Excuses). That's pretty cool really. It helped me a lot in starting out my own email series. You see, I've had it in mind for awhile, but haven't really taken action. I'm glad I did too. In case you want to find out more about it, it's called "Keeping Up with Rain." Check it out for details --> It's Raining Gifts...Don't Miss Out!

Moving on, I've learned not only to come up with my own email series, but I've also come up with my own meaning for S.M.I.L.E. That is exactly what I'm sharing here today.

• S-hare a smile

Why not brighten someone else's day today? Smile and make someone feel better.

• M-ake a difference

We are but ordinary folks, but we can make a difference in our own little way. Support a worthy cause, join a campaign to help protect Planet Earth, and many more. Every little act can be huge when you put them together.

• I-nspire others

"People may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel." - Carl W. Buechner. Wouldn't it be great to be a person everyone wants to hang out with because you uplift their spirits?It's more fun to have a positive attitude. It's healthy too.

• L-ove love love

This does not pertain only to romantic love. Love yourself, love what you do, love the person that you've become. On top of that, love your family, friends, co-workers. Love the environment and everything else around you. They say love makes the world go round. Perhaps we just need to share more love to make this planet a better place.

• E-xtend help

Extend help if and when you can. It would be great to be able to share one's blessings with others. Just as you've received help, it would be nice to pay it forward. Besides, you have to admit it feels good to know you've helped someone.

So now, I ask again... Did you S.M.I.L.E. today? It's not too late. ^_^

4 Crucial Things You Need To Do To Build your List

Online marketing may have developed a sudden surge these past few years, but many in the know-how have felt its rise even from way back then. As more internet based businesses are put up, the need to develop new marketing skills and knowledge based on this new medium has arisen. More and more marketing strategies are being discovered and developed to cope with the changing face of business in the business world.

The demand for online marketing tips and strategies has drastically grown and a new form of business has been born, Internet marketing strategies. While there are companies that are all too eager to help your site and business build a clientele for a fee, there also many ways that can spread the word about your site in a more cost-free way. One of this is Opt-in email marketing, also known as permission marketing.

Opt-in marketing requires the permission of a willing customer to subscribe to your marketing materials. Materials take the  form of newsletters, catalogs and promotional mailings via e-mail. The more opt-in marketing mail is sent, the more chances there is to bag sales and more sales. To do this, you must build a list of all those who want to subscribe to your opt-in marketing list.

From your list, you will get your targeted customer. This is a good list since they already have shown interest in what you have to show and sell since they have willingly signed in for your list. These are the people who have liked what they have seen in your site and have decided they want to see more and maybe even purchase whatever product or service your company and site has to offer.

Many people would think that building their lists would take hard work and a lot of time. It takes time to build and collect names and addresses. It requires a bit of patience and some strategies indeed, but in doing this, you open your site and your business to a whole new world of target market. If increased traffic and good profits are what you want, an opt-in list will do wonders for your business venture.

There are many sources and articles on the internet available for everyone to read and follow in building a list. Sometimes they may be confusing because there are so many different ways. Different groups of people would have different approaches in building an opt-in list, but no matter how many diverse methods there are, there are always some crucial things to do to build your list. Here are four of them.

1) Put up a good web form on your site. Try to remember that your homepage should provide a quick good impression. If somehow a website visitor finds something that he or she likes, he/she needs a form to opt in so there's less likely for him/her to forget about your website.

You need an autoresponder service for the opt in form. You can create your campaign in your autoresponder. Customize the opt in form, which usually includes name and email address of potential subscribers. Adding some giveaway reports or e-books is a plus factor to encourage sign-ups.

2) As mentioned in the first tip, make your homepage very impressive. You need to have well written articles and descriptions of your site. Depending on what your site is all about, you need to capture your website visitor’s fancy. Make your site useful and very easy to use. Do not expect everyone to be tech savvy.

3) Provide good service and products. A repeat customer is more likely to bring in more business. Every now and then, a satisfied customer will recommend a business. Word of mouth advertising and recommendations alone can rake in more business than an expensive ad. As your clientele roster grows so shall your list. With more members on the list, the more people will get to know about what you have to offer.

4) Keep a clean and private list. Don't spam your list. Never lose your customers' trust. Remember, a good reputation will drive in more traffic and subscribers as well as strengthen the loyalty of your customers.

SEO Copywriting

Within this article today on SEO copy writing, we will look at the specifics of a search engine optimization world and how copywriting pertains to that.

A brief introduction toward search engine optimization is that its goal is to position your website well within the search engine page ranks so that you can gain a great deal of natural traffic to your website.  One important part of the high page rank work is developing good web content.  The importance of copywriting within this field is that you must be creative in developing web content so that it can meet the demands of both the consumer looking for information on the Internet as well as the demands placed on your website by search engine bots.

There is a great deal of writing on the Internet today which is very boring and does not interest people.  The key behind SEO copywriting is that you are looking to impress both the search bots as well as the people who are surfing the Internet and stumble upon your page.  You do not get a great deal of time to impress your site upon these people so what you have to say and how you say it is going to be the difference between a sale and another lost lead.

If you are interested in SEO copywriting, look into some of the following sources for more information. Here is the website of one particular company where you can learn more about SEO copywriting in a tutorial forum: http://www.seo-gold.com/seo-tutorial/.  To find many more resources, search the Internet using the following term: "SEO tutorials." You will have great success in learning more about this particular field.

Good SEO copywriting focuses on many different factors such as the good web content as well as keyword optimization.  Keyword optimization is making sure that your website has full use of a particular set of keywords so that when people search the Internet for these phrases, your site will be on the first page of results.  This is how you generate good organic search engine traffic.  This deal does go beyond just keyword optimization when looking into making a website work.  Take your time to learn more from the resources that were listed above.  This can give you a good idea of what you will need to become an SEO copywriter or give you some criteria on when to hire one.

Just as some general information, a good SEO copywriter should help you develop a high page rank within the different search engines as well as help build the sales at your website.  It is important to get traffic to your website but is also important that you have a good lead conversion ratio.  What this means is that you want more people to visit your sites and that gradually more of these visitors convert to quality sales for you.  By providing good content that sells, you are setting yourself up as a person who excels at SEO copywriting. Hopefully this article on SEO copywriting has benefited you. This can be a very lucrative field if you learn to market on the Internet.

Tips to Get Repeat Web Traffic

Here are some tips on driving repeat traffic to your website. Take note and follow as many as possible. Web traffic as you know is crucial to all online businesses. 

1. Update the pages on your website frequently. Stagnant sites are dropped by some search engines. You can even put a date counter on the page to show when it was last updated.

2. Offer additional value on your website. For affiliates and partners you can place links to their sites and products and ask them to do the same for you. You can also advertise their books or videos, if these products relate to your industry and are not in competition with your own product.

3. You can allow customers to ‘opt in’ to get discounts and special offers. Place a link on your site to invite customers to ‘opt in’ to get a monthly newsletter or valuable coupons.

4. Add a link to your primary page with a script ‘Book Mark or Add this site to your Favorites’.

5. Add a link ‘Recommend this site to a Friend’ so that the visitor can email your website link, with a prewritten title, “Thought you might be interested in this”, just by clicking on it.

6. Brand your website so that visitors always know they are on your site. Use consistent colors, logos and slogans and always provide a ‘Contact Us’ link on each page.

7. Create a ‘Our Policies’ page that clearly defines your philosophy and principles in dealing with your customers. Also post your privacy policy as well so that clients know they are secure when they visit your site.

8. Create a FAQ page that addresses most of the doubts and clarifications about your product or your company that are likely to be asked. This helps to resolve most of the customers’ doubts in their first visit to your site. 

8. Ensure that each page on your website has appropriate titles and keywords so that your customer can find their way back to your site if they lose the book mark.

9. Never spam a client, who has opted for newsletters, with unsolicited emails. Later if they decide they want to ‘opt out’ of the mailings, be sure you honor their request and take them off the mailing list. They may still come back if they like your products. But they will certainly not come back if you continue to flood their email box with mails they no longer wish to receive.