50+ Free Directories For Your Blog | The Monday Marketing Tip

a listing of directories for your link-building efforts, with Renzie Baluyut.

Link-building is a handy skill for marketing professionals, online entrepreneurs, small business owners and web administrators- it's great for making your site more search-engine-friendly, it also helps build your credibility and authority, and hopefully, all this improved traffic into your site translates into increased participation, inquiries, leads or even sales.

Link-building is a part of search engine optimization (SEO)- the science and art of getting your blog or website to the top of the search engine results pages (or at least as high as you can), which works on the premise that those listed at the top of search engine results pages (or SERPs) actually get more incoming traffic, and therefore, improved business.

We'll definitely get into the intricacies of link-building strategy in a later post. For now, you have to remember that part of your blog SEO strategy is to get as many incoming links into your blog as you possibly can.

For your convenience, Martin Preece and the good people over at WebSEODesign have compiled a number of free directories for you to visit, so you can register your blog or website. Martin's got some very useful notes about each of these sites, so go right ahead and check those out.

Here we go, 50+ free directories for your link-building efforts:

1. AllTheWebsites Directory | http://allthewebsites.org
2. R-TT Directory | http://directory.r-tt.com
3. Exactseek.com | http://www.exactseek.com
4. Directory World | http://www.directoryworld.net/
5. Wiki Directory of the Web | http://www.wikidweb.com/

6. Jayde B2B Search Engine | http://www.jayde.com/
7. CANLinks | http://www.canlinks.net/
8. All Free Things | http://allfreethings.com/
9. Geeks on Steroids.com | http://www.geeksonsteroids.com/directory/
10. IllumiRate.com | http://www.illumirate.com/

11. InfoListings | http://www.info-listings.com/
12. Iozoo Web Directory | http://www.iozoo.com/
13. Consultant Directory | http://www.consultant-directory.com/
14. Find Hound Directory | http://www.findhound.com/
15. A Free Directory | http://www.a-free-directory.info/

16. SoMuch.com | http://www.somuch.com/
17. Open Directory Project | http://dmoz.org/
18. All Links Directory | http://www.all-linksite.com/
19. LDMStudio.com | http://www.directory.ldmstudio.com/
20. Joe Ant | http://www.joeant.com/

21. Tsection Web Directory | http://www.tsection.com/
22. Directory Link | http://www.directory-link.info/
23. UK Directory - Business Listings | http://www.uk-web-index.co.uk/
24. Weblog Directory | http://www.yourwebloghere.com/
25. Hedir Web Directory | http://www.hedir.com/

26. Megri Web Directory | http://www.megri.com/
27. Feed Pub | http://www.feedpub.com/
28. RSS Mob | http://www.rssmob.com/
29. Fabaroo Directory | http://fabaroo.com/
30. Add URL-Free.com | http://www.addurl-free.com/

31. Quicksilver | http://www.quick-silver.org/
32. Beginner's World | http://www.beginnersworld.com/
33. Software Pointers Directory | http://www.software-pointers.com/
34. Apexoo Directory | http://www.apexoo.com/directory/
35. High Class Blogs | http://www.highclassblogs.com/

36. Webmaster Resources | http://www.webmasterlead.com/
37. Directory Delux | http://www.directorydelux.com/
38. Bulletize | http://www.bulletize.com/
39. RealState 4 Real Estate | http://www.realstate.ws/
40. Add Your Site Free | http://www.addyoursitefreesubmit.com/

41. gDotz | http://www.gdotz.com/
42. SgtSearch.com | http://www.sgtsearch.com/
43. Level10s Internet Sites | http://www.l10s.com/
44. Search Sight | http://searchsight.com/Directory.htm
45. BYS.NET-Internet Directory | http://www.bys.net/

46. DirectoryRecreation.com | http://www.directoryrecreation.com/ --> also gets listed in...
47. ...Shopping5.com | http://www.shopping5.com/
48. ...LookDirectory.com | http://www.lookdirectory.com/
49, ...FunRecreation.com | http://www.funrecreation.com/
50. ...DirectoryB2B.com | http://www.directoryb2b.com/

51. BusinessSeek.biz Business Directory | http://www.businessseek.biz/
52. Directory On | http://www.directoryon.info/
53. Business Web Directory.biz | http://www.businesswebdirectory.biz/
54. Site Pro News Webmaster Resource Sites | http://www.sitepronews.com/wresources.html
55. buzznick Web Directory | http://www.buzznick.com/

56. Global Weblinks Directory | http://www.global-weblinks.com/
57. Gamsis Human Edited Web Directory | http://www.gamsis.com/
58. Add Your URL Directory | http://www.addyoururl.org/
59. Lonely Way Directory | http://directory.lonelyway.com/
60. www.treatment-centers.net | http://www.treatment-centers.net/links/index.html

61. List 'n Click.me | http://www.listnclick.me/
62. NicheLister | http://www.nichelister.com/

Much thanks again to Martin Preece's team over at WebSEODesign.com. In addition to the listing of free directories, they also have lots of great stuff for all things SEO.

Incidentally, there's also this webinar that I'm attending, a certificate course on link-building organized by ProFora Media. Should be fun. You guys might want to check it out as well.

Cheers, everyone!

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Wanna Get Into Internet Marketing? Start a Blog!

yet more reasons to get into blogs and blogging, with Renzie Baluyut.

In a video entitled "Social Media Revolution", which I have shared not too long ago, on a previous blog post, we see that there are over 200 million blogs all over the world right now- and those numbers are growing.

Still a couple more hard-to-ignore facts: 54% of bloggers post content or tweet daily, and 34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands.

I wonder if marketing professionals realize what kind of word-of-mouth and buzz all this activity potentially generates. Here's another fact: more than 1.8 million pieces of content- web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.- are shared on Facebook every single day.

Wouldn't it be great if people talked about you or your company as well?

Social media has indeed changed the way we saw things as marketing professionals. We have to engage our market in a conversation, learn to listen to them and draw out what we can from their experiences with our respective brands.

If you're new to internet marketing, or just about making that shift from traditional marketing to e-commerce and new media, then you're best off starting your new marketing efforts by creating a blog.

This is what Aaron Wall- leading authority in search engine optimization (SEO), blogger, author and international speaker -recommends. In fact, he had even gone as far as giving us seven reasons why new internet marketers should start a blog now.

1. Blogs are easy to set up and update. There are so many free and easy-to-use services available to anyone on the internet now. Plus you're in control of the content, so you can put in new content anytime you want, as often as you want. Pretty much, you're your own author, editor, publisher and marketer, all in one.

2. Blogs have many feedback mechanisms. You know right away if what you're doing is spot on, or if it needs improvement. Because anyone can comment on any of your posts, or jump in on any ongoing discussion, you have a legitimate means to get feedback from your audience.

Knowing is definitely half the battle. All you have to do now is put all that feedback into good use. Remember, listen first. Then sell.

3. Blogs are easy to track and monitor. Thanks to RSS, you can easily keep tabs of other blogs and bloggers just like yourself. All you have to do is subscribe to other blogs that are relevant to you, and use an aggregator like Google Reader or Pageflakes. Even this blog works as an aggregator for all my favorite internet marketing/productivity-related blogs.

Similarly, it's easy to keep track of the activity on your own blog. There are so many available analytics tools online that can give you an idea of your blog's activity over time, where readers are coming from, and how they find their way to your blog.

4. It's easy to join the conversation on blogs. Because there are so many blogs around the world, and because you can know right away which blogs talk about the same things you talk about, joining in on a conversation online has never been easier.

There's definitely a whole community of bloggers out there, and even smaller niche communities for more specialized topics. There's definitely an appeal to all this- you know you're talking to other human beings- other regular people, not corporations or companies- that share the same interests and passions as your own.

5. There's many different ways for ideas to spread. Blogs are all about shareability and discoverability. If you create compelling enough content- readers will definitely pass your message on.

Remember, as you build your authority through your blogs, you will get more readers who trust you, or who feel like they have a connection with you and what you write about. Blogs make it easy for people who like you to share the stuff you post online.

Because of social sites like Facebook, MySpace and Multiply, microblogging services like Twitter and Plurk, and social bookmarking sites like Digg, Technorati and StumbleUpon, and because everyone spends so much time on all these sites, you can count on them passing on links, videos, blog posts, pics, etc. to all their other friends and associates.

6. Blogs have many signs of social proof and value. According to the good people over at Copyblogger,

From a marketing standpoint, social proof is the basis of both buzz and large sales figures. Without it, there’d be no “grapevine” in the first place. It’s also why testimonials are so essential in direct marketing.

Social proof is ultimately the most powerful force involved in growing a successful business blog that helps you sell products or services. The quality of your content is still the most important element, but other subtle influences may well dictate whether you turn a new visitor into a subscription or bookmark.

7. Reading blogs don't feel like you're reading an ad. Again, we go back to the importance of trust. At a time when the mass media landscape- and even the online environment on the internet- is actually getting more and more commercial, readers are always on the lookout for sources they can trust.

For businesses and organizations, word-of-mouth is a force to be reckoned with more than ever: 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations. And only 14% trust advertisements.

With all this going on, the question for traditional marketers is: why aren't you blogging now?

If you'd really want to get into blogging, and know more about setting up your own blog right away for marketing purposes, you can check out this webinar, an online workshop on blogging set up by ProFora Media right here.

Check out more of Aaron Wall here on his very own channel on YouTube. You'll find lots more stuff on blogging and search engine optimization, as well as links to his blogs and other associated sites.

Cheers everyone!

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Social Media Explosion

some hard facts on social media usage, with Renzie Baluyut.

Do you still think social media is a fad?

They're already calling it a revolution-- the social media revolution. Quite possibly the biggest socio-economic shift since the Industrial Revolution.

I've been a traditional marketer for the better part of my radio career. While I've started blogging and getting into Facebook and Twitter some two-and-a-half years ago, I've only realized the value of social media for small business owners, entrepreneurs and internet professionals several months into immersing myself in the whole media scene.

I hope to post some compelling facts about new media usage in the Philippines in the near future. In the meantime, you may want to watch this video from TeacherTube.com.

This particular video was posted about a month ago (09 Sept 2009).

The video was made to some tuneage from Fatboy Slim. "Right Here, Right Now" was released in 1999, from Fatboy Slim's second studio album, You've Come a Long Way, Baby.

A similar post appears on my other blog, The Life and Times of The Renzie Man | A Blog on an Independent, Proactive and Stress-Free Lifestyle.

Cheers, everyone.

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Learn More About SEO with Janette Toral

essential online learning for the digital entrepreneur, with Renzie Baluyut.

Here's a snippet of a post I wrote up over at another blog of ours, inviting digital entrepreneurs from all over to check out this interesting webinar series on Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

So you have a blog, you got all kinds of social media going on, but why is it taking you so long to get any real traffic coming to your site?

Search Engine Optimization (or SEO), while a relatively young industry, is a very high-demand skill among internet marketing practitioners. SEO involves bringing in quality traffic to a blog or a website from search engines through natural (or more appropriately, “organic”) search results.

Companies and organizations scramble everyday to achieve the topmost spot on a search result page, with the notion that the earlier your site appears on the list of search results, the more visitors you will get from the search engines. In effect, what you’re really after is web presence. SEO helps your blog or website achieve just that. Greater traffic potentially means increased sales, or at least an increased involvement with your target internet audience.

Search Engine Optimization is not only a great internet marketing tool, but is also a highly marketable skill set- sought after much by all kinds of companies, even BPO’s and foreign clients.

The Certificate Course on Search Engine Optimization Techniques will be conducted by none other than Janette Toral, one of the leading authorities on e-commerce and internet marketing in the Philippines. Know more about Janette Toral here.

The course will be conducted as a series of webinars-- online workshops and discussions- which means anyone can register and conveniently join in from just about anywhere in the world, as long as they have a good enough PC or laptop, as well as a reliably stable internet connection.

The hands-on webinar series will touch on tips and techniques to essentially get your blog or site to the top of search engine rankings-- search pages on Google, Yahoo, and Bing- and stay there.

Topics that will be taken up for The Certificate Course on Search Engine Optimization Techniques include:

• An introduction to search engine marketing & optimization
• Identifying niche positioning for products and services that you'll sell, how to target customers, buying frequency and motivation.
• Keywords discovery, attractiveness analysis, and implementation.
• Improving your website structure and navigation.
• Improving your website page titles, description, menus, body text, other assets, and good content (on-page optimization)

The course runs for three days: October 6, 8 and 10- a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, from 6 to 8pm, local Philippine time (GMT +8:00). October 6 and 8 will focus more on theory, discussions and demonstration, while October 10 will touch more on comments on work submitted to the speaker for assessment and feedback.

More details on the SEO Certificate Course can be found here on the webinar series' event page. Or you can go right ahead and register for the course straight away.

Cheers, everyone!

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The Art of No-Cost Marketing, Part 1 of 2

marketing essentials for entrepreneurs and business-folk, with Renzie Baluyut.

Marketing is something every single entrepreneur has to deal with. Particularly so if you're running the show all by yourself, and you have to wear all kinds of hats in the workplace.

The importance of marketing for small businesses and entrepreneurs? We talked about organic growth last week, the importance of building up and getting the most out of your customer base. Marketing helps you achieve just that. People need to know about your products and services, they need to try it out, and if they do like their experience with your brand, you'd definitely want them to keep coming back.

Usually, however, the challenge is this: most start-up companies and even small businesses have to deal with having a very limited marketing budget. Sometimes, with even no marketing budget at all.

Allow me to share with you some tips on how to come up with a modestly effective marketing campaign with hardly any money shelled out from your end.

The Art of No-Cost Marketing: Ten Tips To Jump Start your Cost-Effective Campaign.

For the first part of two on my no-cost marketing feature, let's focus on building and creating. Before you actually get the word out, you need to have a variety of marketing materials available for your target audience, should they decide to check you out to see if you're worth their while.

1. At the very least, start with a logo. Something that speaks about your company, or your products and services. Yes, you can have someone do this for you, but if you're handy enough with a PC, you can come up with a simple yet effective logo for yourself.

2. Have prepared written blurbs about your company, as well as whatever it is you're pushing at the moment. Write-ups about individual products or services are good, but also have something written up about the company. Take it a step further: figure out your mission, vision and philosophy, come up with a tagline, and even put together a short elevator pitch.

3. You will want business cards. Again, you can make some from home using a PC and a printer, and some board paper. Put your logo on it, the name of your brand, and most importantly, your contact details should potential customers want to reach you and do business with you.

4. Put up a simple website or a blog. These days, with so much free blogging services available online, you can come up with a simple, yet fully functional and interactive website for any customer to check out 24/7. In fact, these days, you simply *must* have a blog or a website. Put everything there: your logo and your blurbs, all the contact details you have, related news and updates, even pictures, video, and podcasts later on.

5. Create other useful things which visitors or potential customers can have for free: a free downloadable list of tips, or a guide to doing something better, a recipe booklet, essentially anything of value to your target market. Even better: produce useful and informative podcasts or videos. Maybe a sample of your product or your services. Get them to try you out and get into the habit of coming back for more.

6. Take pictures and video. You could have shots of your team in action, or you in an event- anything to highlight your products and services, and to show how other customers are having a positive experience with your brand.

7. Social media and social networks: go right ahead and put up your Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages. Don't forget to fill these up with all kinds of useful things (see #5), so not only can your market try you out, they can even tell their friends about their experience with you. Take it a step further: go for Multiply as well, or a photo service such as Snapfish or Shutterfly, try out LinkedIn, or even touch base with potential fans of MySpace and Friendster.

8. Brochures and Flyers. Come up with handy print copies for your clientele. It could be a menu, or a list of products and services you could offer. Don't forget to put all your contact details, including your web address, and the URL's to all your social media services.

9. Come up with a media kit- this is most particularly useful for when you'll be doing all sorts of media placements or strategic partnerships and tie-ups later on. The point is to put everything you have about your company or your product/service line into one convenient kit for potential partners, sponsors, and even customers if you wish. Include samples, as well as your brochures and flyers, and pretty much anything else you'd feel putting in that kit.

10. Put together a database. Sure for now you can probably put together the emails of your more immediate friends and family, but in time as you gain more repeat business as well as more customers, you will find that having a customer database will help you with all kinds of marketing and promotional activities.

That's it for now. Part 2 of The Art of No-Cost Marketing Coming right up, as we talk about Getting The Word Around.

Photo courtesy of our friends over at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Cheers, everyone.

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That's How You Do a Flash Mob

flash mobs never fail to amaze me --Renzie Baluyut.

You gotta give credit to the guys who managed to pull off this stunt.

Here's a little background of what had gone down: Oprah kicked off her 24th season with the Black Eyed Peas' live performance of "I Gotta Feeling" on this stage they set up on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, IL.

But as you can see on this video, it had a special twist:

A well-executed flash mob is always such a joy to watch. Credit for this stunt goes to Michael Gracey- whose past flash mob-organizing credits include putting one together at a Liverpool train station that was used for a phone commercial.

This particular event had about 21,000 fans- with a number of local casting agencies tasked to enlist dancers to help make it happen.

Cheers, everyone!

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Celebrating One Internet Day 2009

advocating the internet as a means of empowerment, with Renzie Baluyut.

It's called One Internet Day, a day to celebrate the power of the Internet to bring people together. It's about connectivity, empowerment, and synergy. One Internet Day encourages us to step back a bit to appreciate all the things we can now do online- whether for business, learning, discovering and sharing, or for recreation.

Janette Toral of Digital Filipino first came up with the idea in 2000, reaching out to around 300 people in Manila, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Davao City to celebrate One Internet Day by providing updates on the development of e-commerce in the Philippines.

One Internet Day 2009: Empowering Filipinos Globally with the Internet

Incidentally, Digital Filipino celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and once again, Filipinos are encouraged to continue the legacy of One Internet Day 2009. According to Janette of Digital Filipino:

To celebrate that milestone, I—in partnership with ProFora Media—will conduct a series of free webinars that will cover the state of e-commerce in the Philippines, website best practices, Internet as a research medium for children, software process improvement and making money from blogging, among other topics.

From the ProFora Media website:

The webinars for the day feature an interesting selection of topics: e-commerce, outsourcing, internet marketing, training, even video production, web development and blogging. The series is a must-attend for entrepreneurs, professionals and business-folk, as well as for new media enthusiasts, students, and members of the academe.

If you'd like to show your support for One Internet Day 2009, it would be appreciated if you could help spread the word and encourage folks to check out the webinars lined up for September 17. In fact, with the availability, convenience and cost-effectiveness of webinars, more speakers have been encouraged to share their expertise and connect with an online audience.

Also, it can be expected every year hereon and we will call on more individuals to share their knowledge online during this day.

Here are the webinars lined up for One Internet Day 2009:

• “Introduction to Software Process Improvement” by Janette Toral of Digital Filipino PH-SPIN | 9:00am to 10:00am, Sept. 17, 2009.
• “State of E-Commerce in the Philippines” by Janette Toral of Digital Filipino | 11:00am to 12:00nn, Sept. 17, 2009.
• “Website Development Best Practices: A Briefing on the 3rd Digital Filipino Web Awards (2009)” by Janette Toral of Digital Filipino | 2:00pm to 3:00pm, Sept. 17, 2009.
• “Managing Training Effectively and True ROI” by Karthik Subburaman, Country Manager of The ECC International | 3:00pm to 4:00pm, Sept. 17, 2009.
• “Internet as a Research Medium For Children in Elementary and High School: A Briefing on the Philippine Schools Cyberfair 2010″ by Janette Toral of Digital Filipino | 4:00pm to 5:00pm, Sept. 17, 2009.
• “Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Outsourcing in the Philippines” by Gio Carino of Prodigy AE | 5:00pm to 6:00pm, Sept. 17, 2009.
• “Video Editing For Profit” by Mary Tolentino of Client First | 6:00pm to 7:00pm, Sept. 17, 2009.
• “Blogging For Money: How To Make Money Writing Reviews and News Articles” by Janette Toral of Blog4Reviews | 7:00pm to 8:00pm, Sept. 17, 2009.
  

About The One Internet Day 2009 Webinar Series:

Attending the Digital Filipino One Internet Day webinars are easy and convenient- anyone with a decent PC or laptop can register online, and then plug in from anywhere with a stable internet connection, and join the sessions from the comfort of home, office, or even at a coffee shop or a wi-fi-enabled resort.

You may want to check out the One Internet Day 2009 event page on Facebook right here, so you can reserve your slot for the webinar series on Sept.17.

For details and registration, you might want to check out the official websites of Digital Filipino and ProFora Media.

Cheers, everyone.

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Focusing on Organic Growth | The Monday Marketing Tip

tips on small business marketing with Renzie Baluyut.

Welcome to The Monday Marketing Tip. Starting today and for the next several Mondays, I will be sharing insights and little notes on marketing communications- little bits of advice for small business owners, entrepreneurs and online professionals.

Marketing, I believe, is something every digital entrepreneur and freelancer should get into. How else do you suppose could people learn about your expertise, products and services? You don't need a large budget to run with the big dogs- all you need is some creativity, some diligence, and ruthless efficiency.

Focusing on Organic Growth

Marketing a small business is totally different from planning and executing a marketing plan for a much larger corporation.

For starters, most small businesses operate on a much smaller marketing budget, or sometimes even no budget at all. And while there are a number of low- to no-cost ways available out there, the objectives remain essentially the same.

Remember: the end goal of marketing is to increase business for the company. This can be achieved by putting together a suitable marketing plan and simply following it through. You might be amazed- many organizations out there don't give marketing and business development any serious thought.

In fact, putting together a marketing plan for any small business isn't too difficult. All you have to do really, is focus on organic growth- increasing your customer base, increasing your output, and increasing your sales. This is by far, the most effective way to grow and expand your business.

How do you achieve increased organic growth? Laura Lake of About.com shares with us four ways to get it done:

1. Acquire more customers
2. Persuade each customer to buy more products
3. Persuade each customer to buy more expensive products or up selling each customer
4. Persuade each customer to buy more profitable products

These four basic tasks only serve to increase your company's revenue and profit. Of the four, it is recommended that the first-- acquiring more customers- should be the focus of any small business. More customers only mean a larger customer base, and having a larger customer base translates to a higher potential revenue.

So for this week, ask yourself: How can I acquire more customers? In your case, you can even be as specific as possible: How can I get more people to know about, and actually get to try our products and services?

There are several ways you can achieve this. Just to rattle off a few low-cost suggestions:

• Harness the power of the internet, social media and social networking tools. Facebook, Twitter, Multiply are all effective marketing tools when used correctly.
• Have a website. Update it regularly and keep it relevant for your target market.
• Even better: have a blog, and allow your target market a means to interact with you.
• Look within your personal network. Know someone who writes for a newspaper? Or works for a radio station? Find out how you can get free plugging, in exchange for a few modest media values.
• Join conventions, trade shows, workshops and seminars. Scope out potential customers here and get your calling cards, flyers and other handouts passed around.
• Collaborate with other small businesses that hit your target market. Remember that there's power in synergy.
• Tap into communities and organizations that would find your services relevant. You can find them online, or among the people in your neighborhood.

All you need is a little imagination really, and the will to follow your plan through. Be creative, be diligent and be efficient. Give yourself challenging yet realistic and achievable goals-- I will bring in ten new customers this week, or I will join three new communities this month and spread the word about the company. Hold yourself accountable, and you can see your business grow slowly, but steadily.

The best part is, you just grew your business without a huge marketing budget-- by working hard and working smart- and you did it all by yourself.

Special thanks to Laura Lake of About.com for inspiring this blog post.

Cheers, everyone.

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Looking For Royalty-Free Music?

scouring the web for worry-free music with Renzie Baluyut.

I was working on a bunch of promotional videos just earlier on- nothing too fancy, just a few clips to promote our upcoming events. It's been some time since I've done any significant work editing video anyway. But it's always fun- I miss the days I get to do work on audio and video.

Anyway, for those of you putting vids together, with plans of uploading your work up on video services on YouTube, MySpace, Vimeo, etc., you know that one of the more important concerns is making sure you don't step on any copyright toes. Also great if you're in the business of creating and producing your own podcasts and video-blog entries.

There are a lot of great resources for all kinds of royalty-free music available online. One site I've managed to find is Kevin MacLeod's Incompetech.com. His work is licensed under Creative Commons "Attribution 3.0". Which generally means it's cool to use his music as long as you give him proper and due credit.

I've managed to get a good number of tracks from Kevin MacLeod's site. And I've actually found a particular piece just perfect for my video project. But just like any business-savvy netrepreneur, you will probably want to have several sources of royalty-free music bookmarked.

I hope to compile a good list of these sites soon for all to share and support. That's the least we can do for these forward-thinking musicians, artists and fellow entrepreneurs who have made our lives easier with what they do best.

Cheers, everyone!

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Webinars Are The Way To Go

new ways to do business with Renzie Baluyut.

I have recently attended some webinars with ProFora Media- a virtual events company based in the Philippines. There are advantages to being able to attend online workshops and seminars right at the comfort of your own bedroom. All you need really is a stable internet connection and a good enough PC and laptop.

There were quite a number of good topics this week: there were talks on social Media, e-mail marketing, setting up Amazon aStores, blogging and others. Our speaker was broadcasting live from Australia, and we had participants from all over the Philippines- Metro Manila, Bacolod and Cebu. The audio was fairly seamless, there was a good degree of interactivity, and all in all, the webinars were executed rather well.

I just realized that, particularly for small businesses and entrepreneurs, there's simply a huge potential for it. Other than the obvious purpose of holding all kinds of online seminars and meetings, I thought this platform can also be used for:

• Managing several branches or outlets all over the country.
• Keeping tabs of your sales team no matter where they are.
• Building yourself as an authority on a particular topic or subject matter, as a means of extending the reach of your blog, website or company.
• Chat party sessions, or town hall meetings- great for all kinds of communities from anywhere around the world.
• A great way for artists and musicians to meet their fans

And any of these can mutate in so many other different ways.

The challenge for webinar event organizers, however, in my opinion, is to get people to try out webinars and experience it for themselves. Webinars are a convenient and cost-effective way to get learning, at the very least. It's still a great way to do networking for those who want it, and I've already laid down some ideas for anyone with a business or organization.

For those who want to give webinars a try, the guys of ProFora Media and Digital Filipino have a series of online talks, in celebration of Digital Filipino's 10th anniversary- The ProFora Media Lightbulb Sessions- on Thursday, 17 Sept 2009. The webinars for the day include:

• 11am - 12nn "The State of E-Commerce in the Philippines" by Janette Toral of Digital Filipino
• 2pm - 3pm "Briefing on the 3rd Digital Filipino Web Awards (2009)", by Janette Toral of Digital Filipino
• 5pm - 6pm "New Trends in Outsourcing", by Gio Carino of Prodigy AE
• 6pm - 7pm "Online Video Marketing", by Mary Tolentino of ClientFirst
• 7pm - 8pm "Blogging For Money: How To Make Money From Writing Blog Reviews and News Articles", by Janette Toral of Blog4Reviews

Interested parties can contact ProFora Media directly, by checking out their Facebook page over here, or emailing them here: info@proforamedia.com.

As a public service, here's a little something about both Digital Filipino and ProFora Media, in the event you'd like to check them out:

Digital Filipino started out as an e-commerce resource website, run by Janette Toral, but has since then evolved into a community of web professionals, online entrepreneurs, new media enthusiasts and educators all over the Philippines.

Digital Filipino also serves as a venue to marketing Janette's books, articles, events, and advocacies. This site started last September 17, 1999 and continues to help a lot of people with their respective e-commerce and internet marketing needs.

Visit the website: http://www.digitalfilipino.com/
Join the community! http://digitalfilipinocom.ning.com/
Check out our blog: http://digitalfilipinoclub.blogspot.com/

ProFora Media is the Philippines' premier virtual events company, providing organizations, professionals and knowledge-seekers with new and innovative ways to learn and do business that are cost-effective and productivity-efficient.

Find out how webinars can work for your company today! Contact ProFora to attend one of our webinar, or arrange for a demo for your organization today.

Our website: http://www.proforamedia.com/
Check out ProFora on Facebook!
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ProForaMedia

Cheers, everyone.

Read more...

Make Yourself a Star With Social Media

hop aboard the social media bandwagon with Renzie Baluyut.

In a recent post on Mashable, Stan Shroeder gives us "P. Diddy: To Be a True Star, You Must Also Be a Facebook Star".

In case you just emerged from a time capsule, or crawled out of a cave after several years of hibernation, let me fill you in on P. Diddy.

P. Diddy (also known as Diddy, Puff Daddy, Puffy or by his real name Sean Combs), is one of the world's most successful R&B/HipHop artists- having seen action in the industry as a recording executive, performer, producer, writer, arranger, clothing designer, and even as a Broadway actor.

Now, Diddy has built up a massive empire that includes record labels, talent management, fashion lines, movie production and even restaurants.

Diddy's latest venture is a new American Idol-esque talent competition on MTV called Starmaker. But besides the usual judges, theme nights and viewership votes, Diddy will be putting more emphasis on social media and social networking tools, just like Facebook.

According to Diddy:

“Before, it was just at live shows, now you have to be able to do a great live show, you have to be able to do a great online interview, you need to have a great Facebook page, you have to have a great television performance.”

Very well said, Diddy. The sad fact is that many artists, record labels, and even the record industry itself have been underutilizing social media and social networking.

Now is a great time for any band, anywhere to use an array of free tools online- Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogger, Wordpress, etc. to promote anything from a brand new single, to a bunch of live performance venues, or just about any branding effort imaginable.

All this social media made available to anyone with an internet connection has leveled the playing field. You don't need a team of publicists anymore- just a genuine desire to share your artistic vision and your music, a few loyal fans to champion your cause, and regular, periodic updates, blog entries and other things fans can share and enjoy.

The same holds true with just about any business. A band, or a record label, or a concert, is just like any small business venture- whether a quaint little coffee shop or a laundry service at the corner. Social media is the way to go. It's essential marketing for a brave new world.

Cheers, everyone.

Read more...

10 Sites with Free Images for your Blog

notes on Blogs and Blogging by Renzie Baluyut.

This post was originally published in my other blog in December of last year. Since then, there had been changes with that site's general direction, prompting me to move much of the original content over to this blog right here.

Digital Photography and Blogging go hand-in-hand. It is not uncommon for bloggers to take their own pics and post them up on their own sites.

Still, there are a lot of bloggers out there who aren't that much into digital photography- I just got into it myself earlier this year with my trusty Canon. So where else can you possibly get photos to use on your blogs?

Here's a list of ten sites you can go through if you're looking for pics to use on your blog:

1. Flickr. Flickr is Yahoo's very own photo storage service. It's quite popular, and many Flickr users offer their photos for use to the public.

2. Stock.Xchang. I've been using Stock.Xchang for years, as far back in my days of radio sales and marketing, finding images for powerpoint presentations. Lots of royalty-free stock photos, and easy to navigate around.

3. Image After. Another collection of free stock photography.

4. Google Images. Google's own database of online photos. There's a whole lot of pictures here, but since they have different types of copyright, it means that not all would be available for free use.

5. Buzznet.

6. PD Photo.

7. Open Photo. An excellent stock photo community, with lots of categories to browse through. Creative Commons licenses apply to different photos.

8. Our Media.

9. Free Stock Photos. Great site for free stock photos, but rather limited in terms of its selection. Still, free is free, and you can't beat that.

10. MorgueFile.

In any case, it's always wise to review each site's Copyright policies- as it always is when you visit sites with pics you'd want to use for your blogging efforts.

Thanks to the guys over at AboutWeblogs for the tip.

This post, by the way, was originally published The Status is NOT Quo | RenzieBaluyut.com in December of last year. At the time, that blog of mine had a lot of articles on a whole lot of topics. It's been streamlined since then, and all posts on Marketing, New Media and Entrepreneurship were moved here to KeyboardMonkeys.com.

Cheers, everyone!

Read more...

20 US Towns With The Most Money

talking about money and places with money, with Renzie Baluyut.

CNNMoney.com just released an article on 6-Figure Towns in the United States, and while there are quite a number of these town on the list, we're featuring a quick look at the top twenty on that list.

Clicking on each individual town or city brings you to that town's page on the special report, which gives you an overview, a list of key industries and key occupations in that particular town, and links to an interactive map and even more town data if you're interested.

1. Holmdel, NJ
Population: 16,500
Median family income (per year): $159,633
Median home price: $600,000
image courtesy of the PNC Bank Arts Center

2. Southborough, MA
Population: 9,880
Median family income (per year): $148,297
Median home price: $455,000

3. North Potomac, MD
Population: 24,909
Median family income (per year): $147,594
Median home price: $550,000

4. Redding, CT
Population: 9,365
Median family income (per year): $141,609
Median home price: $625,000*.

5. Western Springs, IL
Population: 12,629
Median family income (per year): $139,758
Median home price: $513,500
image courtesy of the City of Western Springs.

6. Hockessin, DE
Population: 13,772
Median family income (per year): $137,998
Median home price: $408,000

7. Hermosa Beach, CA
Population: 19,414
Median family income (per year): $137,941
Median home price: $1,135,000

8. Lone Tree, CO
Population: 9,159
Median family income (per year): $137,310
Median home price: $435,000

9. Sammamish, WA
Population: 35,242
Median family income (per year): $137,137
Median home price: $610,000
image courtesy of the City of Sammamish.

10. Birmingham, MI
Population: 19,040
Median family income (per year): $135,426
Median home price: $256,869

11. Chantilly, VA
Population: 46,708
Median family income (per year): $132,603
Median home price: $360,425

12. Greenburgh, NY
Population: 90,178
Median family income (per year): $131,619
Median home price: $575,000

13. Franklin Park, PA
Population: 12,023
Median family income (per year): $123,139
Median home price: $273,000
image courtesy of Franklin Park Borough.

14. Chanhassen, MN
Population: 23,720
Median family income (per year): $122,609
Median home price: $288,830

15. Plano, TX
Population: 260,796
Median family income (per year): $121,988
Median home price: $201,842

16. Johnston, IA
Population: 15,261
Median family income (per year): $120,776
Median home price: $208,000

17. Lake Oswego, OR
Population: 36,698
Median family income (per year): $119,630
Median home price: $456,250
image courtesy of the City of Lake Oswego

18. Morrisville, NC
Population: 13,361
Median family income (per year): $118,545
Median home price: $263,000

19. Alpharetta, GA
Population: 49,662
Median family income (per year): $117,002
Median home price: $297,450

20. Montgomery, OH
Population: 10,210
Median family income (per year): $116,871
Median home price: $254,000*

Other towns in CNN's list of 6-Figure Towns: Ponte Vedra, FL, Whitefish Bay, WI, Hanover, NH, Kailua, HI, Granger, IN, Overland Park, KS, Holladay, UT and Edgewood, KY.

This has been a special report from the editors of Money Magazine, courtesy of the good people over at CNN.com.

Cheers, everyone.

Read more...

Scam Alert: The South African Banker Email Scam

phishing alert with Renzie Baluyut.

Here at KeyboardMonkeys.com, we take online business and entrepreneurial efforts seriously. Unfortunately for us digital business-folk, we still get the occasional phishing/email scam, no matter how careful we are.

So beware of this scammy piece of email, if ever it somehow makes it through into your filters.

Here it is:

Am a banker in South Africa requesting
to present you as a beneficiary to my deceased client
with a balance of about $17.4M with my bank.
Late DR.GEORGE BRUMLEY, an American who died in
2003 in an air crash with his family and others.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/20/kenya.crash/

If you can help you will receive 40% of the $17.4M.
If willing provide your full names,address,age,occupation,
phone & fax numbers to contact you for further proceedings.
Regards.

Mr.Andrew Modise.

I suppose if you're stupid enough to give out all those contact details they were asking for, you'll be stupid enough to give out other sensitive information (bank info, social security, etc.).

Do your part and tell your family and friends to be a lot more suspicious of phishing scams like these. Remember, not everyone is as tech-savvy and/or cautious as you are.

Cheers, everyone.

Read more...

Great Blogger Templates at Our Blogger Templates

blog-building tips and advice, with Renzie Baluyut.

There must be a lot of other bloggers out there like me- those who may have also spent a great deal of time trying on different blog templates for their Blogspot blogs.

It's both a good thing AND a bad thing: editing your blog template on Blogspot is fairly easy. Whether you make your own, or you choose one of many available free (or paid) blog templates already online, you can go right ahead and pick whatever design that suits your fancy.

Conversely, because it's so easy to customize a blog, you could just as easily lose yourself in selecting a template for your site. Or fall into the trap of changing every so often.

In any case, if you are looking around for a new blog template, you may consider these guys over at Our Blogger Templates. They got all kinds of free templates (and not just for Blogspot), so go right ahead and check them out.

In fact, I had gone right ahead picking one out for this blog, and a couple others. This one is for an old blog I plan to resurrect soon.

This one is for an entirely new blog. Generally, I'd say I'm pretty happy with how it all looks.

I almost always go for a 3-column design, with room for widgets on the side, and then put in some RSS feeds so I don't have to keep jumping from one site to another on a particular topic.

So go right ahead and check out Our Blogger Templates. They have so much going on that there's bound to be one you'd absolutely like for you blog.

Cheers, everyone.

Read more...

Time To Do Some Spring Cleaning On Your Blog

tips from bloggers and experts from all over, with Renzie Baluyut.

Guilty as charged. I am guilty for leaving parts of my blogs (even entire blogs altogether!) unmaintained and unmonitored for quite some time.

As Darren Rowse of Problogger.net so shared on a video he put up on YouTube, just like your sock drawers, you need to go through your blog and throw out widgets that don't work anymore, work on links that don't match, and basically just get rid of all the clutter that otherwise distracts potential readers from reading the rest of your blog.

I've only started doing some spring-cleaning myself, and while I know it's going to take a while, I know I'll have a much more functional, much more user-friendly blog once I'm done.

Don't you think it's about time you did some cleaning on your blog too?

Cheers, everyone.

Read more...

Reasons Why People Blog | Blogology 101

blogging basics, with Renzie Baluyut.

Getting into the blogging lifestyle today is easier than ever, with so many resources online and books on the topic. You probably have a number of friends or colleagues who already blog.

There are several reasons why you might decide to get into blogging.

• You might feel like having a diary, or a journal, where you can put in your thoughts, experiences or opinions about everything going on in your life.
• Or you might want to have a notebook filled with all kinds of things- recipes, wishlists, pictures, poems, short stories, pieces of art, etc.
• You just might decide one day to just share everything you know on a particular subject matter you're passionate about- a hobby, a profession, an industry, or a particular lifestyle.
• Sometimes, you might feel so strongly about a particular cause or issue, and use a blog to tell the world how you feel about things.
• It's also possible that you have a business going on, and you'd want to have a blog to talk about your trade, and what your company is all about, even promoting your goods, services and promotional activities.
• Others use blogs to market themselves and establish themselves as an authority figure, or at least to build credibility, for a particular profession or industry.
• There are also those who make a legitimate business out of blogging, whether blogging or maintaining a blog for another company or organization, or working out the nuances of blogging for money by themselves.
  

These are all valid reasons for your wanting to start your own blog. In fact, it can even be a combination of any of these.

The beauty of blogging is that you have absolute freedom with your own blog. You can write whatever you want, on whatever topic you feel like, even go ahead and include all kinds of pics, links and video if you so wish.

There's a difference, however, between a personal blog, and a blog meant for more commercial or professional purposes. And again, exactly what direction your blog will take is completely up to you.

Cheers, everyone.

Blogology 101 is a special section within Keyboard Monkeys dedicated to inspiring and empowering beginner bloggers to get into the blogging lifestyle by developing better blogging habits and to educate them on techniques to build better blogs.

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A Message To Those In Traditional Media: Evolve Or Die

lessons in marketing and media, with Renzie Baluyut.

a former colleague of mine in the FM radio industry in Metro Manila shared this video he found on YouTube (thanks Vince!). It's a video by Holland Cooke, and it serves as a wake-up call to anyone who's worked in radio.

I suppose I was fortunate to have left the radio industry early enough to make a transition elsewhere. The Philippine radio industry has been in decline for quite some time now (let's not mince words here), and for many reasons. Sure a few stations are still able to turn out a profit, but the vast majority have been performing poorly for years.

And it just isn't radio. Print media has also been hard hit (do you remember the last time you actually bought a newspaper or magazine?). TV is even more cutthroat than ever. Heck, people hardly even use their TV anymore for the purpose of JUST watching TV (think downloaded content, DVDs, live streaming, DVRs, XBox, etc).

The Situation, For Real.

Times have changed. More than ever, advertising budgets are going towards internet spending. Everyone has the latest in portable music players, or at least wants to get that shiny new iPhone. Social media usage is off-the-charts. The shift has gone from radio-controlled content, to content users decide to put together.

And let's talk about user-generated content more a bit: with so many resources and tools readily available online, anyone with a little imagination and a great desire to share can have a podcast, a blog, or a video channel, and all kinds of people from all over the world can have access to it.

Anyone can be a DJ, announcer or commentator, from anywhere, anytime. Now that's on-demand, user-generated content for you.

The business of traditional media is in the toilet right now. Of course, traditional media companies will streamline, and some will even embrace the whole new media approach, but things will definitely get worse before they get better.

So when Holland Cooke says "Prepare to get fired."? He's actually right.

The Good News Is...

If any user anywhere has the power to get in on blogging, podcasting or viral video production, then that means you, as a media professional, can get into it as well.

In fact, while others are struggling to put out a piece of work online, you already have the skillsets to come up with something so much better. After all, you are a professional.

• Radio folk are not only great at public speaking, they can also write for an audience, and put digital editing skills to use as well. This can easily translate into podcasts, or blogs filled with lots of interesting content.
• Newspaper and magazine folk are even better at coming up with all kinds of stories and articles, and usually have access to information or personalities regular people can't get to. This definitely makes for even better content.
• TV folk look great in front of a camera, or can at least handle a camera so much better than most people. Add to that great storyboarding and editing, and you can easily make top-notch videos than anyone else can.
  

If you want a tip from me, I'd say look for opportunities to synergize and collaborate with others. You're probably kickass all by yourself, but think of how much more ass you'll all be kicking if you work together?

In Closing...

This is a new and exciting time, particularly for us traditional media folk. Holland Cooke has already pointed out how radio people can carve out a niche for themselves in this brave new world of new media and Web 2.0. And this pretty much applies to all our other colleagues in print and TV.

Take time to look for opportunites to learn and collaborate. Holland has even gone so far as to recommend some books to read, even gear you can plug into your PC/laptop to get you started.

All you have to do, really, is take a more active role in your evolution as a media professional.

On a personal note, consider this as an invitation to all of you, my colleagues in radio, print and TV. If for some reason you need my help or advice in anything related to blogging, podcasting, social media or internet marketing, I'll make myself readily available. If I can't help you, at least I'm sure I know people who can.

So are you ready to evolve for your own good?

Cheers, everyone!

Read more...

Keyboard Monkeys, with Renzie Baluyut

about this blog, and the blog author- Renzie Baluyut.

Hello, and welcome to my latest project, Keyboard Monkeys: Tips, Tricks and Advice for the digital entrepreneur.

The concept for Keyboard Monkeys first came about almost two years ago, when I was working as a copy writer/ researcher and SEO peon for an Australian-based e-commerce company.

I was part of the content development team (that's the rest of them, shown above). Search Engine Optimization was (at the time) a brand new concept for us all, and all these new and exciting concepts in Search Marketing and Social Media were definitely on the rise.

I had just left the local FM radio scene at the time (after seeing some 14 years of action), and I felt like I stumbled upon a completely new passion. Blogging, since then, has been my life.

I was a casual blogger at first- wrote about pretty much whatever I felt like and posted them all online without any system or regularity. Then after putting together a blogging workshop, I realized that blogging can be a legitimate money-making opportunity. Meeting several other local professional bloggers later on only made a bigger impact on me later on.

It was then that I found out that being a professional blogger also meant several things.

• You have to be exceptional at developing content, no matter what your blog is all about. Copy writing and editing, podcasting, even the production of viral videos all make for great content if executed well.
  
• You have to know how to market your blog, which means you need to know at the very least, some search engine optimization, how to use all kinds of social networks, etc.
• A knowledge of digital photography and blogging goes hand-in-hand.
  
• Even better: you add more market value to yourself if you actually know some programming.

• Serious bloggers are also knowledgeable about technology: at the very least, laptops, PCs and mobile devices, as well as removable storage media, peripherals and accessories- whatever helps with their blogging pursuits.
  
• A professional blogger actually knows how to make money online, or at least use his skills to make money off the internet, balancing their blogging efforts with work, or even working from home.

• Even more serious bloggers synergize their blogging and internet marketing savvy with other entrepreneurial endeavors- online or otherwise.
• Being an entrepreneur, in turn, entails a familiarity in running your own business, and so small business management and personal finance comes into play as well.
  

With those realizations came this blog. What I actually did at first was compile most of my entrepreneurial-related content from all my other earlier (read: amateurish) blogs, and put them all here.

While I would need to re-tag and re-categorize most of these earlier posts, new content will definitely be the priority. I have figured out that topics for KeyboardMonkeys.com will play around the following subject matters:

• Building a Better Blog.
  
• Buzz Marketing.
  
• Copy Writing.
  
• Digital Photography.
• Freelancing.
• Guerilla Marketing.
• Guides and How-To's.
• Internet Marketing.
• Making Money Online.
• Online Entrepreneurship.
• Personal Finance.
• Small Business Management.
• Social Media.
• Tech for Entrepreneurs and Small Business.
• The Business of Blogging.
• Working from Home.
• Writing Guides and Tips.

With that, I bid you all welcome to KeyboardMonkeys.com. I hope you find something useful within these pages, and I urge you to share what you can and even drop a comment, or join a discussion or two.

Cheers, everyone.

Read more...

Renzie Builds a Better Blog in 31 Days

blog-building techniques with Renzie Baluyut.

I have recently set out to get a few references to help me out with my blogging. I already have the books from The Huffington Post and the first Problogger book- which are both great, by the way, but I thought I needed a more structured, step-by-step approach on how to get things done with my blogs.

I decided to take Problogger.net's 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge. I've been a fan of Darren Rowse ever since I started blogging a few years back. You can read more about him, as well as all his great advice on all things blogging on the very popular Problogger.net.

You can get your very own copy of Darren Rowse's 31 Days To Build a Better Blog by checking it out right on Problogger.net. At the time I got it, it set me back roughly USD 40 (plus S+H), as it was bundled with Online Marketing Inside Out (by Brandon Eley and Shayne Tilley).

By itself though, the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog workbook costs USD 19.95 (and can be purchased via PayPal). Darren's got a few bonuses tied in with the book, so go check out Problogger.net now.

Cheers, everyone.

Read more...

I Call It Social Media Overload

I didn't quite realize it at first, but it seems that you can actually have way too much social media on your hands.

I was recently updating my profile on MyBlogLog, a great tool for bloggers like myself, and there was a tab that was, harmlessly enough, asking you to enter all your other profiles on other social media sites, supposedly for the purpose of letting other bloggers know where you are online.

Looking at all the social media services to the left part of the screen, however, you can't help but feel overwhelmed by all the social media services present, or realize how far behind you lag in the social media scene, and therefore feel pressured to sign up for ALL those damned services.

At least, that's how I felt.

Taking a step back, however, it occurred to me that getting myself involved in each and every single social media service is a near-impossibility. Sure you can sign up for all of them, but can you nurture, develop and maintain communities in each and every single one?

The reality is, we probably have a few favorites- like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, for example. Two to three might actually be enough for most at any given time, I would imagine.

Then you probably have five to ten others you might visit in a week or a month: Flickr or Photobucket to upload and share new photos, read a few of your favorite blogs on Blogger or Wordpress, and listen to some music on Blip.fm.

And then you also have to consider the fact that more social networks, online communities and other social media services are being created every day (some would turn out to be more popular or useful than others, you might guess).

So don't get overwhelmed. Try out several services, if you like. But ultimately, stick to a few, particularly those you find most useful to your line of work, or your general lifestyle. Spread the word, and tell others all about it- as social media is really more fun with a lot more friends involved.

My Personal Favorites:

• Facebook.
• MyBlogLog.
• FriendFeed.
• Ning.
• Pageflakes.
  

Here is my attempt to keep track of, as well as categorize, the many social media services available online (at least, those that I know of).

Online Photo Services:

• Flickr.
• Picasa Web Albums.
• Photobucket.
• Snapfish.
  
• Shutterfly.
• SmugMug.
• Webshots.
• Zooomr.

Social Bookmarking:

• delicious.
• Digg.
  
• Furl.
• Ma.gnolia.
• StumbleUpon.
• Technorati.
  

Blogging Services:

• Blogger.
• Bloglines.
• Livejournal.
• TravelPod.
• Tumblr.
• Vox.
• Wordpress.
• Xanga.
  

Status Updates and Microblogging:

• Plurk
• Twitter

Music-Oriented Social Networking:

• Last.fm.
• Blip.fm
• Pandora

Video Services (video hosting and sharing):

• Vimeo.
• YouTube.

Reviews:

• Yelp

Other Sites and Communities, many of which I haven't even checked out yet:

• ActiveRain. A good site for those in the business of real estate.
• Bebo.
• Brightkite.
• Disqus
• DOPPLR
• deviantART.
• eBay.
• Evite.
• Friendster. Particularly popular in the Philippines as well as the rest of Asia.
  
• Goodreads.
• Google Reader.
• IntenseDebate.
• Jaiku.
• Jumpcut.
• Kiva.
  
• LinkedIn. A good site to do networking with other professionals.
• Multiply.
  
• MySpace. Very popular in the United States, particularly among younger users.
  
• Netflix.
• OpenID.
• Plaxo.
• reddit.
• Second Life.
• Seesmic.
• Shelfari.
• Slideshare.
• The DJ List.
• 30 Boxes.
• ThisNext.
• Trulia.
• TypeKey.
• Upcoming.
• Wakoopa.
• Wink.
• Yahoo Answers.
• Yahoo Updates.
• Zillow.
• Zorpia.

I'd sure love to hear what your favorite social networks are, or which social networks you find most useful. Do you feel overwhelmed with all the social media services available online?

Cheers, everyone.

Read more...

Beware of Phishing

advice on avoiding online scams, with Renzie Baluyut.

Despite our best efforts to keep our mailboxes secure and spam-free, we still get the occasional phishing email that slips through the cracks once in a while.

According to the guys over at Google, phishing is a form of fraud in which a message sender pretends to be a representative of a legitimate organization in an attempt to trick the recipient into divulging important personal information like a password or bank account number.

Sometimes these fraudulent individuals don't ask for your passwords or bank account numbers or social security numbers right away; the usual tactic it would seem is to send out a mailblast (like the ones we provided below) in order to goad some seemingly harmless information about you.

But if you're gullible enough to fall for that crap, what's to stop them from, say, impersonating someone else and conning your passwords/account numbers from you?

Here are a couple of examples of phishing scams done via email:

Good Day,
I am contacting you for a business transaction involving GBP £17,000,000 (Seventeen Million Pounds Sterling) hoping that you will
contact me at your earliest convenience for a possible business deal.

I am presently the External Auditor of Bank Of Scotland Plc, with your sincere assistant and co-operation, I am determined to work this deal with you if you can do the business.

At the moment, I am constrained to issue more details about this business until your positive response is received. Please take a
moment of your time to read this and send your response. I assure you that this deal is worth taking and highly profitable.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Warmest regards,
Leith Fraser
External Auditor,
Bank Of Scotland Plc.

Here's another example of a phishing attack via email:

FROM: Mr. Gordon Russell
E-MAIL:gordonrussellll@gmail.com

Dear Partner,

I am Gordon J.L Russell, an attorney at law. A deceased client of mine that shares the same last name as yours, who here in after shall be referred to as my client, died as the result of a heart-related condition on the 1st October 2004. His heart condition was due to the death of all the members of his family in the Gulf Air Flight Crashes in Persian Gulf Near Bahrain Aired August 23, 2000 -2:50 p.m. ET as reported on: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0008/23/bn.08.html

I have contacted you to assist in distributing the money left behind by my client before it is confiscated or declared unserviceable by the Finance company where this deposit valued at Twenty Seven million Two hundred Thousand sterling British pounds (GBP£27.2 million pounds) is lodged. This Finance company has issued me a notice to contact the next of kin, or the account will be confiscated.

My proposition to you is to seek your consent to present you as the next-of-kin and beneficiary of my named client, since you have the same last name, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you. Then we can share the amount on a mutually agreed-upon Percentage. All legal documents to back up your claim as my client's next-of-kin will be provided. All I require is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through.

This will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from many breach of the law. If this business proposition offends your moral values, do accept my apology. I must use this opportunity to implore you to exercise the utmost indulgence to keep this matter extraordinary confidential, whatever your decision, while I await your prompt response.

I will like you to acknowledge the receipt of this e-mail: gordonrussellll@gmail.com as soon as possible and as well treat with absolute confidentiality and sincerity.

I await the pleasure of your response.

Best regards,
Mr. Gordon Russell.

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