E-Commerce Talk at Chiang Kai Shek

I just got asked by Geoffrey Chua to deliver a talk about e-commerce at Chiang Kai Shek highlighting various examples that students can be made aware of.

However, as I'm currently out, thankfully Geoffrey said that a video will also do and here it is.

E-Commerce Talk Part 1

Find more videos like this on DigitalFilipino.com Social Network


E-Commerce Talk Part 2

Find more videos like this on DigitalFilipino.com Social Network

Thank you: DigitalFilipino.com Christmas Get-Together

My sincerest thanks to DigitalFilipino.com Club Members who managed to squeeze in some time to join our last get-together for the year.

Find more photos like this on DigitalFilipino Club Community

Many thanks to our gracious host, Yehey.com, for making the event possible. What made the event further fun are the various contributions members gave to this small affair such as:

• Lechon (Yehey!)
• Fruitcake and dessert goodies (MyLittleBaker)
• Cake Pastries (Cashsense)
• Pizza (Chikka)
• Pancit Malabon (Acclaim Butterflies and Randy Manaloto)
  

Raffle items:

• 3G Phone (GeiserMaclang)
• iPod Shuffle (Optimind Technology Solutions)
  
• Concert tickets (Titik Pilipino)
• Photo Canvas (Gallery 7 Digital Studio)
  
• Black and Decker toolkit (Avanza)
• Wine (Anton Diaz and PAGCOR)
• Bags (Belo Medical Group)
• Butterfly gift items (Acclaim Butterflies)
• Book (Ronnie Ravelo)
  
• Gift items (Fleishman Hillard)
  
• Gift item (Carole Li)

There were a lot of announcements made during the event about our activities this 2009 and will email the details to the club members and post in our club social network directly.

Other post made by members about the event at:

• Digital Filipino Christmas Party & Busby SEO Test
  
• Digital Filipino Club Christmas Party 2008
  
• DigitalFilipino Xmas Party
  
• DigitalFilipino's Early Christmas Party

Planning the DigitalFilipino and Bloggers Networking Events in 2009

I am now in the process of fixing our calendar for the DigitalFilipino 2009 Roadshow where we intend to visit a minimum of 16 locations in and outside of Metro Manila throughout the year. However, to be able to pinpoint the target places and get the word out, we need to know if you will be interested to attend in case we will go to your location.

I will very much appreciate if you can fill-up this DigitalFilipino Roadshow 2009 form so we can plan effectively and keep in touch. I look forward in hearing from you.

November 20: DigitalFilipino.com Club Networking Event

The DigitalFilipino.com Club will be a having get-together this November 20 Thursday from 6 to 10 pm. I already e-mailed our club members about the venue. This will be our last one for the year.

Program as follows:

5:30 - 6:00 Registration
6:00 - 6:30 Socials and Dinner
6:30 - 7:00 DigitalFilipino.com Club Report (Janette Toral)

• Website competitiveness evaluation lessons learned in the DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards.
• E-Learning program updates (e-commerce, Internet marketing, blogging, etc.)
  
• Plans for next year - 2009.
  
  • A lot of suggestions have been given to us such as being involved in 3 major events. The 1st one coming up is E-Services Philippines (February 2009). We have three services that will be launched at this time and will give you a snapshot.
    
  • Filipino Internet User Report 2009
    Some of you have been inquiring whether we have plans of updating our 2003 report on this topic. We've done a 1000 user face-to-face survey before and yes it can be done. However, this would require resource pooling and would like to put this on the table upfront.
  • DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Networking event nationwide
    
  • Suggestions on programs that we can undertake that will benefit the business interest of club members shall be discussed too.

7:00 - 7:20 Yehey.com presentation
7:20 - 7:40 Raffle
7:40 Socials

Club members are encouraged to pot luck on food and/or donate raffle prizes. Some contributions we got confirmed so far are:

• Lechon (Yehey!)
• Fruitcake and dessert goodies (MyLittleBaker)
• Pastries (Cashsense)
• Concert tickets (Titik Pilipino)
• Black and Decker toolkit (Avanza)
• 3G Phone (GeiserMaclang)
  
• I'll be updating this as I get more confirmation.
  

I look forward in catching up. Merry Christmas! (of course will be giving out our gifts at this time)

Post-Eyeball: DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Manila Networking Event

Find more photos like this on DigitalFilipino.com Social Network
(if you have photos taken at the event that we can add to the album, kindly upload and include its description.)

The last leg of the DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Networking Event in Manila was participated by close to 150 bloggers at the Forum Hall of PAGCOR near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

My heartfelt thanks to PAGCOR and its Parañaque team for hosting us. This company, in its audio-visual presentation, also announced its upcoming project - the Bagong Nayong Pilipino Entertainment City.

I'll be updating this post to include write-ups and photos from those who joined. If you made one, let us know and will include it. Cheers Manila!

Video:

• Live Video Streaming of the Manila Bloggers Networking Night at PaGCOR (Azrael)
  

Photo:

1. DigitalFilipino.com at PAGCOR Paranaque (Gino)
   
2. Digital Filipino Club and Bloggers Fellowship Night (Nicely)
   
3. Digital Filipino Club and Manila Bloggers Networking Event at PAGCOR (Anna)
4. Blogger's Fellowship @ Casino Filipino (Carl)
   
5. Digital Filipino Club and Manila Bloggers Networking Event at PAGCOR (Anna)
   
6. DigitalFilipino Event Part 2 (Ada)
   
7. Bloggers Night (LAD)
   
8. DigitalFilipino Event Part 1 (Ada)
   
9. Philippines Top 100 Blogs Recognition (Jehzeel)
   
10. DigitalFilipino.com Clug and Bloggers Manila Networking Event (Azrael)
    

Posts:

1. DigitalFilipino.com Club Manila Networking Night in PAGCOR-Paranaque (Annalyn)
   
2. Seeing a Sitti Delight (MC)
   
3. Filipino blogs suit up for business (Anna)
   
4. If You Wanna Know More About Blogging (Maki)
   
5. Digital Filipino Manila Bloggers Networking Event (Edelweiza)
   
6. A Two-Fer (Marcelle)
   
7. DigitalFilipino.com Club networking in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao - whew! (Annalyn)
   
8. Learning Poker while attending a blogging event (Mon)
   
9. When your boyfriend is younger than you are, remember not to take him to the casino with you (Yza)
   
10. Digital Filipino Bloggers Networking Event (Errol)
    
11. An Unforgettable experience with my First Blogging Event (Angel)
    
12. Great Sabado Night: Bloggers Manila Networking Event (Tonyo)
    
13. The DigitalFilipino Event: I Came a Stranger, Went Home With Lots of Friends (Roel)
    
14. digital filipino event (Agnes)
    
15. Social climbing with Janette Toral (Reynz)
    
16. DigitalFilipino Manila Fellowship Night (Sabrina)
    
17. My First Time (Mon)
    
18. My Digital Filipino Club Fellowship and Networking Night Experience (Fitz)
    
19. My Digital Filipino Club and Bloggers Fellowship Night Experience (Snow)
    
20. FOTD (Anna)
    
21. Chris A's First Blogger Event in PAGCOR (Chris)
    
22. Digital Filipino Club and Filipino Bloggers Manila Networking Event (Mica)
    
23. I am not proud of my blog (Gary)
    
24. Tips from Top Bloggers @ DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Manila Networking Event (Dine)
    
25. Digital Filipino's Networking Night at PAGCOR (Lace)
    
26. The Manila Fellowship Night (Ada)
    
27. Dumalo ako sa Manila Bloggers EB ng DigitalFilipino.com Club (Ederic)
    
28. Digital Filipino Club and Bloggers Manila Networking Event (Anna)
    
29. Digital Filipino Club and Bloggers Networking Night Manila (LAD)
    
30. Philippines Top 100 Blogs for 2008 (Jehzeel)
    
31. Aftermath of the DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Networking Event Manila in PAGCOR (Chris)
    
32. DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Manila Networking Event (Azrael)
    

Website Competitive Evaluation Workshop

All DigitalFilipino.com Club members are invited to attend the forthcoming Website Competitive Evaluation Hands-on Workshop this October 27 and 28 at the Alfox Internet Cafe (beside Chowking), Kamuning Road, corner Edsa, Quezon City from 9 am to 5 pm.

There will also be a meeting session this October 24 at Bo's Coffee Shop, Ayala Center, Cebu City 10 am to 12 noon for our Cebu-based club members.

Those who are into website enhancement or project planning may find this workshop useful. Club members have the option to only attend either day. However, attending both days will further reinforce what will be learned. This is also to support the judging stage for the DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards.

DigitalFilipino.com Club SME members can send 1 representative while Corporate members can send 2 representatives.

Individual club members can attend a one-day session. Please confirm for food count purposes.

The training program shall be as follows:

• Website Competitive Evaluation
• Search engine ranking
  
• keyword strength
• Website popularity
  
• page strength
• traffic
• Content analysis
  
• mind map
• Website structure
• Website performance
  
• What makes a great website
• DigitalFilipino Web Awards
• Judging criteria
• Assignment of categories

Club members are requested to confirm their attendance for food count purposes.

Several of our club members in Davao attended the session last October 21, at Arturo's Bed and Dine.

We also had a briefing in Cebu where two of our club members joined at Bo's Coffee Shop Ayala Center last October 24.

Post-Eyeball: DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Cebu Networking Event

Find more photos like this on DigitalFilipino.com Social Network
(if you have photos taken at the event that we can add to the album, kindly upload and include its description.)

Around 110 participants joined the Cebu meet-up last night at Teatro Casino, Waterfront Hotel, Lahug, Cebu City. They came from diverse background but all share common interest in blogging.

Cheers to our very kind host, PAGCOR and its Cebu management, for their generous hospitality.

We were able to show PAGCOR's video presentation. It shared its history and how this government corporation has evolved while actively funding programs of the government. In addition to the website launch this December 11, PAGCOR intends to be active online for promoting its services to tourists visiting the country and regular clients.

As we have another event this Saturday, the deadline for nomination to the DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards will be up to October 26 (Sunday).

Congratulations as well to the Cebu Bloggers Society for making their strong presence felt last night. I'm excited on the potential of this group and look forward to their activities.

I'll be updating this post to include write-ups and photos from those who joined. If you made one, let us know and will include it. Cheers Cebu!

Pictures:

• Digital Filipino Club Fellowship Night (Bugits)
• DigitalFilipino Club Event (Kristine)
  

Posts:

1. Digital Filipino Fellowship Night Waterfront Cebu (Jun Rhy)
   
2. Cebuano Pro Blogging (Zeniamai)
   
3. An Offline Gathering of Bloggers (Rheythm)
   
4. Cebu Bloggers Conference
   
5. DigitalFilipino.com Club and Cebu Bloggers celebrates the night (Paul)
   
6. Rest Days and Pay Day (Wilhelmina)
   
7. Cebu Blogger's Society and the October 23 meet-up (Zigfred)
   
8. The DigitalFilipino Club Networking Event in Cebu and the Cebu Bloggers (Icymar)
   
9. Life Exposure (Diem)
   
10. Janette Toral and the DigitalFilipino.com Event (Kristine)
    
11. Blogger Ko Bai! (Tiborsho)
    
12. DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Cebu Networking Event a Success! (CBS)
    
13. DigitalFilipino Club Fellowship Night in Cebu City (Beejing)
    
14. 1st ever Cebu Bloggers Networking event (Rodel)
    
15. Digital Filipino at Teatro Casino Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino (Francis)
    
16. Digital Filipino Club Fellowship Night (Aileen)
    
17. Digital Filipino Club and Bloggers Fellowship Night (Empress)
    
18. Digitalizing Cebu in Just One Night (Kevin)
    
19. A Gambler Blogger (Athan)
    
20. DigitalFilipino Club Networking Event in Cebu (Reynold)
    
21. Digital Filipino Club Cebu Networking Event (Iggy)
    
22. PAGCOR is the new Digital Filipino (Ethelbert)
    
23. Digital Filipino Club Fellowship Night (Athan)
    
24. DigitalFilipino.com Gathering attended by Cebu Bloggers Society was a Success! (Athan)
    
25. DigitalFilipino Club in Cebu City (Nick)
    
26. For the First Time (Sinjin)
    
27. Digital Filipino Event
    
28. DigitalFilipino Club and Cebu Bloggers' Night (Orville)
    
29. A night for Cebu Bloggers (Lance)
    
30. Digital Filipino Club and Cebu Networking Event (Jorich)
    
31. Nang-atake! (Clarence)
    
32. DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Cebu Networking Event
    
33. DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Cebu Networking Event Was a Total Blast! (Rodel)
    
34. DigitalFilipino Club Networking Event in Cebu and the Cebu Bloggers (Xerxes)
    
35. The DigitalFilipino.com Club and Cebu Bloggers Society Networking Event (Arnold)
    

Post-Eyeball: DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Davao Networking Event

Find more photos like this on DigitalFilipino.com Social Network
(if you have photos taken at the event that we can add to the album, kindly upload and include its description.)

The Davao meet-up was a blast and great to see peers in the community so relaxed. Around a hundred bloggers attended the event and many thanks to our gracious host, PAGCOR and its Davao management, for making it a memorable one.

During the event, PAGCOR showed an audio visual presentation and shared what the government corporation does. In addition, they gave a heads-up about the launch of their new website this December 11.

Also, please don't forget that the deadline for nomination to the DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards is this Sunday, October 26.

I'll be updating this post to include write-ups and photos from those who joined. If you made one, let us know and will include it. Cheers Davao!

Video

• Digital Filipino Club Group Blog (Aice)
  

Photos

• DigitalFilipino.com Club Networking Event (Meiyah)
  
• DigitalFilipino.com Club and Davao Bloggers Networking Event (Eric)
  
• Candid, Group, and Pictorials at the Davao Blogger Event (Charles)
  
• Digital Filipino Club - Bloggers Eyeball (Raphael)
  

Blog post

1. Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Migs)
   
2. A very candid picture (Shierly)
   
3. DigitalFilipino Club and Bloggers Networking Night in Davao (Ronnie)
   
4. Bloggers Eyeball Night (Rowena)
   
5. Meeting other Mindanaoan bloggers
   
6. The Bloggers Eyeball
   
7. DigitalFilipino Fellowship Night (Kath)
   
8. Digital Filipino Club in Davao (Kevin)
   
9. The Night I Used My Bacarrat Knowledge for Good of Mankind (Ria)
   
10. DigitalFilipino.com Club Fellowship Night (Blogie)
    
11. DigitalFilipino Club and Davao Bloggers Networking Event (Rixx)
    
12. Davao, Bloggers Networking and Slot Machine (Governor)
    
13. Business like Other Aspects of Life is an Ecosystem (Mary Grace)
    
14. Grand Regal, Bloggers, and More - an epic (Kevin)
    
15. Bloggers Networking Event (Jedmeister)
    
16. Digital Filipino Club Event (Neolle)
    
17. DigitalFilipino Club Davao Bloggers Networking Event (Denxioz)
    
18. DigitalFilipino.com Club Networking Event at Grand Regal Hotel (Meiyah)
    
19. Me & My Food at Blogger's Night (Badz)
    
20. Bloggers Networking Meet Ups
    
21. DigitalFilipino.com Club - Bloggers Networking Event (Ara)
    
22. DigitalFilipino.com and Davao Bloggers Networking Event
    
23. Davao Bloggers Networking Eyeball by DigitalFilipino.com Club (Lyle)
    
24. Digital Filipino Club Networking Event (DeeJames)
    
25. Blogger's Fellowship Night (Louraine)
    
26. Food, Fun, and Cash at the Digital Filipino Club Bloggers' Eyeball (Kathy)
    
27. Davao Bloggers Eyeball at PAGCOR (Bambam)
    
28. DigitalFilipino.com Club - Blogger Eyeball Photos (Mary Grace)
    
29. People at DigitalFilipino.com and Davao Bloggers Event (Charles)
30. Digital Filipino and Davao Bloggers Networking Party Last Night (Charles)
    
31. DigitalFilipino Club - Bloggers Networking Event (Dennis)
    
32. The DigitalFilipino Club - Mindanao Bloggers Fellowship Night (Gagay)
    
33. Just Got Back from a Bloggers' Networking Event (CyNurse)
    
34. DigitalFilipino Blogger's Gathering at Grand Regal Hotel (Rhodilee)
    
35. DigitalFilpino.com Club and Bloggers Davao Networking Event (Oliver LV)
    
36. DigitalFilipino.com Club - Bloggers Eyeball (Raphael)
    
37. Ratified.org Top 100, We're #10 (Kevin)
    
38. DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Davao Networking Event (Cesar)
    
39. DigitalFilipino.com Club networking event (Migs)
    

October 25: DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Manila Networking Event

The DigitalFilipino.com Club is organizing a fellowship/networking event where e-commerce industry players and bloggers can catch up and exchange updates. This will be on October 25, Saturday, 6 to 11 pm at Forum Hall, Casino Filipino, PIRC Bldg. Ninoy Aquino Avenue, Parañaque City. Shuttle to the venue is available. Pick up time will be at 5 pm and 6 pm at Starbucks 6750. Please contact Janette at digitalfilipino (at) gmail (dot) com should you be taking the shuttle.

This event is sponsored by our club member PAGCOR.

6:00 - 7:00 Registration and Dinner
7:00 - 7:30 Guest introduction / plugs
7:30 - 8:00 Updates by Janette

• DigitalFilipino Web Awards 2008
• DigitalFilipino.com Club Updates (online workshop and other efforts)
• Ratified.org Philippines Top 100 Blogs 2008 (blogs that had big moves in 2008)
  

8:00 - 8:30 - PAGCOR launch Internet/E-Commerce project
8:30 - onwards - Raffle, Networking, Games

Bloggers are welcome to attend this event for free. Just reply to this post with your name and blog address.

October 23: DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Cebu Networking Event

The DigitalFilipino.com Club is organizing a fellowship/networking event where e-commerce industry players and bloggers can catch up and exchange updates. This will be on October 23, Thursday, 6 to 11 pm at the Teatro Casino, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino, 1st Salinas Drive Lahug, Cebu City.

This event is sponsored by our club member PAGCOR.

6:00 - 7:00 Registration and Dinner
7:00 - 7:30 Guest introduction / plugs
7:30 - 8:00 Updates by Janette

• DigitalFilipino Web Awards 2008
• DigitalFilipino.com Club Updates (online workshop and other efforts)
• Ratified.org Philippines Top 100 Blogs 2008 (blogs that had big moves in 2008)
  

8:00 - 8:15 - Updates - Cebu Bloggers Society by Kevin Ray Chua
8:15 - 8:30 - PAGCOR launch Internet/E-Commerce project
8:30 - onwards - Raffle, Networking, Games

Bloggers are welcome to attend this event for free. Just reply to this post with your name and blog address.

October 21: DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Davao Networking Event

The DigitalFilipino.com Club is organizing a fellowship/networking event where e-commerce industry players and bloggers can catch up and exchange updates. This will be on October 21, Tuesday, 6 to 11 pm at the Pantawan Hall, Grand Regal Hotel, Lanang, Davao City.

This event is sponsored by our club member PAGCOR.

6:00 - 7:00 Registration and Dinner
7:00 - 7:30 Guest introduction / plugs
Welcome Remarks - PAGCOR Branch Manager Arthur Malatag
7:30 - 8:00 Updates by Janette

• DigitalFilipino Web Awards 2008
• DigitalFilipino.com Club Updates (online workshop and other efforts)
• Ratified.org Philippines Top 100 Blogs 2008 (blogs that had big moves in 2008)
  

8:00 - 8:30 - PAGCOR Updates by President and COO Rafael "Butch" A. Francisco
8:30 - onwards - Raffle, Networking, Games

Bloggers are welcome to attend this event for free. Just reply to this post with your name and blog address.

Get paid to read Philippines news

I'm currently looking for folks who are avid news, blogs, and website readers who would like to earn on the side. The work requires the following:

• Submit links of the news you read and include a paragraph summary or opinion on what makes the news item interesting.
• Post relevant comments on other news items.
• Vote on interesting news items.

Fees are paid based on number of news link, comments posted, and submission popularity.

Parties interested can e-mail me at digitalfilipino(at) gmail (dot) com.

Content development program opportunities

With the experience gained in the DigitalFilipino Web Awards, I recognized that there's not much content available online today that caters to a wide array of topics that Filipinos and Internet users all over the world may find of great use.

In this regard, this content development project, first offered to club members (last March 17, 2007), is now open to anyone interested.

To join, one has to do the following:

• Propose a topic of interest (based on categories in the DigitalFilipino Web Awards) and submit an outline broken into 20 article proposal.
• Once approved and agreed upon, the articles have to be written and submitted in 20 days. Each article should be no less than 500 words.
• We will pay US$100 for the 20 article series.

Terms:

• Content developers must comply to editorial changes as requested.
• Copyright of articles belongs to DigitalFilipino.com / Janette Toral.

E-mail your proposal to digitalfilipino (at) gmail (dot) com.

E-Commerce, SEO, Blogging, Social Networks, Web Operations Hands-on Workshop

All DigitalFilipino.com Club members are invited to attend the forthcoming E-Commerce Hands-on Workshop series this July 23, 25, 29, 31, and August 5 at the Alfox Internet Cafe (beside Chowking), Kamuning Road, corner Edsa, Quezon City.

Whether you are preparing a holiday season campaign or simply improving your website, I'm certain that this can be useful to your needs.

DigitalFilipino.com Club SME members can send 1 representative while Corporate members can send 2 representatives.

Individual club members can attend a one-day (or two half-day) session. Please confirm for food count purposes.

The training program shall be as follows:

July 23: E-Commerce Project Planning

• E-Commerce Purchasing Trends
  
• Developing a requirements document
  
• Identifying needs
• Setting goals
• Features list (prioritization)
• User identification and needs
• Competition identification
• Direct
• Indirect
• Keyword performers
  
• Source of revenue
• Content plan
• Project Plan creation
  

July 25: Internet, SEO, and Social Media Marketing Workshop

• 9:00 - 12:00 E-Mail / Newsletter Marketing
  
• Introduction to E-Mail Marketing
• Components of an E-Mail Marketing Campaign
• Hands-on exercise
• Introduction to Newsletter Creation
• Creating a newsletter
• Hands-on exercise
  
• 1:00 - 3:00 Search Engine Marketing
  
• Search engine optimization
• Keyword research
• Keyword placement in web site or blog
• Content is key
• Writing good titles, description, and articles
• Re-directing pages
• Sitemap creation
• RSS creation
• 3:00 - 5:00 Social Media, Lifestreaming, Paid Campaigns for promotion
  
• Social Network
• Creating a campaign page in a social network site (Facebook, Multiply, Friendster, MySpace).
  
• Social Media
• Lifestreaming
  
• Internet Advertising (paid placements)
  

July 29: Blogging Workshop

• 9:00 - 12:00 Blogging 101 and Set-Up
  
• Introduction to Blogging
• Type of blogs highlighting the popular ones
• Platform
• Blog creation
  
• Blog ethics
  
• Copyright
  
• Advertising
  
• Re-publishing
• Blog content
• Purpose
• Topic tracking
• Writing
• Monitoring performance
  
• 1:00 - 5:00 Blog Promotion and Marketing
• Ping
• Advertising
• Social bookmarks, networks, and media
  
• Contests
• Google Reader
• Comments

July 31: Accepting Payments Online

• 9:00 - 12:00 Introduction to Online Payments
  
• Ways to accept payments online
• Demo of online payment systems (email billing, web-based payment, mobile payments)
• 1:00 - 5:00
  
• Evaluating online and mobile payment providers (comparative analysis)
• Fraud detection

August 5: Improving Website Performance and Navigation

• 9:00 - 12:00 Improving Web Site Performance
  
• Factors that cause slow-loading Web Sites
• 14 rules for fast website performance
• Hands-on exercise
• 1:00 - 5:00 Improving Web Navigation
  
• Web navigation problems
• Mechanisms and type of web navigation
• Improving web navigation design
• Hands-on exercise
  

All training materials shall be posted at the club member site and also at our social network for online interactive learning purposes.

Interested non-members are requested to sign up as an Individual, SME, or Corporate member prior to the workshop and confirm attendance for food count purposes.

Self-Publishing Guide: A practical guide for aspiring writers

I just created a draft version of "Self-Publishing Guide: A practical guide for aspiring writers" and uploaded it in our club members site.

Publishing a book is a rigorous process and not one stage in the life-cycle should be taken for granted. Else, realizing a book project's full potential shall be jeopardized.

Here's the guide outline:

• Introduction
  
• Why publish?
• Publishing Process
  
• Development of manuscript
• Research
• To publish or not?
• Write the manuscript
• Edit the manuscript
• Prepare the book for printing
• Cover Design
• Layout
• Registration
• Permission
• Printing
• Sales and Marketing
• Retail and Distribution
• Promotion
• Conclusion
  

The guide can now be downloaded by club members and discuss further.

Winners of Free Delegate Pass: Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2008

Last month, we made a small writing project encouraging bloggers to join and possibly win a delegate slot for the Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2008 scheduled this May 20 and 21 at the Hotel Intercontinental, Makati City.

The two winners are:

• Why we should be at the Social Networking and eBusiness Conference (Gwen Nava)
  
• Social Networking and eBusiness Conference 2008 (Joan Pinon)

Congratulations and many thanks to everyone who joined!

May 14: Davao E-Commerce / E-Business Owners Meet-Up

The DigitalFilipino.com Club is organizing a networking event where e-business and e-commerce industry players can catch up and exchange updates. This will be on May 14, Wednesday, 4 to 7 pm at Toto's Bar, 6th floor Casa Leticia Hotel, J. Camus St., Davao City.

Who can attend?
Anyone interested in e-commerce or e-business (entrepreneurs, business/technical decision makers, ad agencies, media advertisers, Internet marketers, payment gateway service providers, bloggers, web developers, web designers, Internet and e-commerce trainers / instructors) are more than welcome to attend.

Why attend?
Meeting local e-commerce entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, service providers, online movers and shakers. Let's network for fun and professional purposes. Talk about developments in the industry. Any excuse to meet like-minded people on a Wednesday late afternoon.

This networking event is free. If you are interested in signing up, just post a comment in this post and give an intro on what you do (so that others will know also).

Please email me at digitalfiipino (at) gmail (dot) com your name, position, company, contact number and website.

In Davao, you can also contact Blogie Robillo at 0918-5400878.

See you at the event!

May 13: Cebu E-Commerce / E-Business Owners Meet-Up

The DigitalFilipino.com Club is organizing a networking event where e-business and e-commerce industry players can catch up and exchange updates. This will be on May 13, Tuesday, 6 to 9 pm at Formo, Banilad Town Center, Banilad, Cebu City.

Our sincerest thanks to Microsoft Philippines (Independent Software Vendor - Developer Platform Evangelist Group) for hosting this networking event and sponsor the dinner as well.

Who can attend?
Anyone interested in e-commerce or e-business (entrepreneurs, business/technical decision makers, ad agencies, media advertisers, Internet marketers, payment gateway service providers, bloggers, web developers, web designers, Internet and e-commerce trainers / instructors) are more than welcome to attend.

Why attend?
Meeting local e-commerce entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, service providers, online movers and shakers. Let's network for fun and professional purposes. Talk about developments in the industry. Any excuse to meet like-minded people on a Tuesday night.

This networking event is free. If you are interested in signing up, just post a comment in this post and give an intro on what you do (so that others will know also).

Please email me at digitalfiipino (at) gmail (dot) com your name, position, company, contact number and website.

See you at the event!

May 9: Manila E-Commerce / E-Business Owners Meet-Up

The DigitalFilipino.com Club is organizing a networking event where e-business and e-commerce industry players can catch up and exchange updates in the industry. This will be on May 9, Friday, 6 to 9 pm at Microsoft Philippines 16th floor 6750 Ayala Center, Makati City.

Our sincerest thanks to Microsoft Philippines (Independent Software Vendor - Developer Platform Evangelist Group) for hosting this networking event and sponsor the dinner as well.

Who can attend?
Anyone interested in e-commerce or e-business (entrepreneurs, business/technical decision makers, ad agencies, media advertisers, Internet marketers, payment gateway service providers, bloggers, web developers, web designers, Internet and e-commerce trainers / instructors) are more than welcome to attend.

Why attend?
Meeting local e-commerce entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, service providers, online movers and shakers. Let's network for fun and professional purposes. Talk about developments in the industry. Any excuse to meet like-minded people on a Friday night.

This networking event is free. If you are interested in signing up, just post a comment in this post and give an intro on what you do (so that others will know also). See you at the event!

May 15 to 17: Low-Cost E-Commerce Website Development Workshop

Would you like to build a website but on a tight budget? An SME member just asked me last February on how to go about it and here's my response.

All DigitalFilipino.com Club members are invited to attend the forthcoming Low-Cost E-Commerce Website Development Hands-on Workshop series this May 15 to 17 at the Alfox Internet Cafe (beside Chowking), Kamuning Road, corner Edsa, Quezon City. Workshop time is from 9 am to 5 pm. For May 15, session will start at 10 am.

DigitalFilipino.com Club SME members can send 1 representative while Corporate members can send 2 representatives.

Individual club members can attend a one-day (or two half-day) session. Please confirm for food count purposes.

The training program shall be as follows:

May 15: E-Commerce Project Planning

• Developing a requirements document
  
• Identifying needs
• Setting goals
• Features list (prioritization)
• User identification and needs
• Competition identification
• Direct
• Indirect
• Keyword perfomers
  
• Source of revenue
• Content plan

May 16: HTML 101

• Text
  
• Links
• Colors
• Images
• Style guide
• Meta tags
• Tables
• Frames
• Video / Audio inclusion
• Animation
• Image maps
• Forms
• Scripting
• Style Sheets
  

May 17: DHTML, XML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

• Creating and using
  
• CSS
• DHTML
• XML
• Accessibility enhancements
  
• Testing, validation, and enhancement of web pages
• Presentation

Interested non-members are requested to sign up as an Individual, SME, or Corporate member prior to the workshop and confirm attendance for food count purposes.

Get a free delegate pass: Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2008

Fiera de Manila Inc. and the DigitalFilipino.com Club just collaborated to organize the Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2008. This will be held at Hotel Intercontinental, Ayala Avenue, Makati City on May 20 and 21, 2008.

We are giving away two (2) delegates pass to this event.

I'll be inviting more companies to contribute and increase the number of delegate passes to be given out in the weeks to come. Parties interested can e-mail me at digitalfilipino (at) gmail (dot) com. Those who'll be giving passes, shall be properly recognized here and be cited in one of our weekly updates.

Should you like to participate and hope to get one of the passes, this is what you have to do:

1. Make a blog entry about the Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2008 and cite why you like to attend this two-day event.
   
   
2. Your blog post must have a link to Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2008 at http://socialnetworkphilippines.blogspot.com.
   
   
3. Post a comment to this blog entry and give me the url link where your entry can be found.
   

Deadline for submission of entries is on May 8, 2008. The following are the entries we've received to date. This is updated weekly:

• DigitalFilipino Social Networking & eBiz Confab
  
• My Social Networking Scrap
  
• Social Networking and eBusiness
• Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2008
• Social Networking: Bridging its way to eBusiness
• Why we should be at the Social Networking and eBusiness Conference
• Social Networking and eBusiness Conference 2008
  

On May 9, Fiera de Manila and passes donors shall review the submissions and picked their most-liked post.

The winner of the two passes shall be posted here on May 10. I hope you can join and see you at the Social Networking and eBusiness Conference Philippines 2008!

Updated: International Payment Gateway Comparison Guide

The International Payment Gateway Comparison Guide has just been updated. This includes:

• I removed WebsiteWizard since it no longer has a default payment solution used. Although existing users of the site can switch to Paypal or get an Authorize.net account.
  
• Added AlertPay.
• Cited TrialPay as a secondary payment system.

I'll continue to update that report as soon as we spot more friendly payment systems online worth mentioning.

E-Commerce for Entrepreneurs Book: Coming Soon!

Many thanks to everyone who supported the DigitalFilipino E-Commerce Workshop E-Book (2004). An updated edition is coming out, E-Commerce for Entrepreneurs.

Will post more information soon.

E-Commerce Policy Development Workshop

DigitalFilipino.com Club SME and Corporate members are invited to attend the forthcoming E-Commerce Policy Development Workshop this May 2 at the at the CEO Suite, 37th Flr. LKG Tower 6801 Ayala Ave. 1226 Makati City. A repeat of this workshop is also scheduled on May 5 at the same venue.

DigitalFilipino.com Club SME members can send 1 representative while Corporate members can send 2 representatives. Please confirm for food count purposes.

This workshop is ideal for companies who would like to have an understanding of the E-Commerce Law. It will also tackle the creation of company policies in relation to electronic trading, employees' use of Internet resources, application design, and how to handle electronic evidence.

• 9:00 - 12:00
  
• Salient features of the E-Commerce Law
• Creation of Trading Partner Agreement
• Electronic Contracts Formation
• 1:00 - 5:00
• Creation of Company Internet Use Policy
• Privacy Policy (DTI DAO #8)
  
• Application Design for Electronic Evidence Admissibility
• Electronic Evidence Handling
  

Interested non-members are requested to sign up as an SME or Corporate member prior to the workshop and confirm attendance for food count purposes.

Site and Category Exclusion Tool in Google AdWords

One my favorite Internet marketing tool is Google AdWords. This is where, for as low as 1 US dollar per day, people like you and me can promote our products online. Of course, if you have a bigger budget, the better.

(Note to DigitalFilipino.com Club Members, we will be having a session on using Google AdWords hands-on workshop session this summer. I'll post the announcement soon.)

Advertisements placed in Google AdWords appear in Google search engine results as sponsored links on the right side. If you opted for it, also appear at websites or blogs who signed up as members of Google AdSense.

The challenge with Google AdWords is trying to attain more control as to where you don’t want your ad to appear. Lately, the site announced the release of its site and category exclusion tool.

Through this tool, you can deliberately block your ads to appear to specific web pages.

click on the image for a larger view

You can also mark topics such to stop your ads appearing from sites classified under:

• Conflict & tragedy
• Crime, police & emergency
• Death & tragedy
• Military & international conflict
• Edgy content
• Juvenile, gross & bizarre content
• Profanity & rough language
• Sexually suggestive content

click on the image for a larger view

You can also exclude specific page types such as:

• Network-types
• error pages
• parked domains
  
• User-generated content
• forums
• image-sharing pages
• social networks
• video-sharing pages

This is a welcome move and most appreciated by Google AdWords users like me. This gives us more control to ensure that the money we spent (and that of our clients) are placed in sites that can bring the most relevant traffic.

IPVG Acquires Prolexic Technologies and MegaMobile

I just got word that publicly-listed IT company IPVG Corp. (PSE: IP), who is also a club member, completed the acquisition of Prolexic Technologies Inc., a United States-based managed security service provider of distributed denial of service (DDOS) mitigation solutions. The acquisition represents IPVG’s roadmap of growing the company in key areas in the IP domain and global market. IPVG now offers a unique DDoS protection value proposition for customers of all industries, worldwide.

IPVG has also entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with the shareholders of MegaMobile, Inc., a local mobile technology provider and content developer.

IPVG has agreed to acquire 70% of the outstanding capital stock of MegaMobile for a total acquisition cost of P6.4M. IPVG plans to augment this investment further by infusing additional capital of an undisclosed amount to strengthen MegaMobile’s content pipeline, marketing programs and infrastructure. The acquisition is still subject to legal and financial due diligence on MegaMobile and for approval by IPVG’s Board of Directors.

MegaMobile represents IPVG’s fifth investment (through acquisition and signed binding agreement) in a span of only one year following: Globalstride Holdings, Inc. (call center facilities in the Philippines); IP-Converge Pte Ltd. (Singapore based IDC); Prolexic Technologies, Inc. (internet security provider with operations in the US, EMEA and Asia) and Interactive Teleservices Corporation (a US-based contact center with facilities in the US, Panama and the Philippines). From its corporate headquarters in the Philippines, IPVG has established presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India, Panama, United Kingdom and USA.

Blogging, Web, and E-Commerce Hands-on Workshop

All DigitalFilipino.com Club members are invited to attend the forthcoming Blogging, Web, and E-Commerce Hands-on Workshop series this January 31, February 1, 2, 5, and 11 at the Alfox Internet Cafe (beside Chowking), Kamuning Road, corner Edsa, Quezon City.

DigitalFilipino.com Club SME members can send 1 representative while Corporate members can send 2 representatives.

Individual club members can attend a one-day (or two half-day) session. Please confirm for food count purposes.

The training program shall be as follows:

January 31: Blogging Workshop

• 9:00 - 12:00 Blogging 101 and Set-Up
  
• Introduction to Blogging
• Type of blogs highlighting the popular ones
• Content plan and posting
• Exercise: Blog Critic
  
• Set-up your blog
• Blog creation
  
• Widgets
  
• Feedburner
• Analytics
  
• Technorati
• 1:00 - 5:00 Blog Promotion and Marketing
• Promote your blog
• Ratified
  
• MyBlogLog
• Facebook
• Entrecard
• Self-created programs
  

February 1: Internet Marketing Workshop

• 9:00 - 12:00 E-Mail / Newsletter Marketing
  
• Introduction to E-Mail Marketing
• Components of an E-Mail Marketing Campaign
• Hands-on exercise
• Introduction to Newsletter Creation
• Creating a newsletter
• Hands-on exercise
  
• 1:00 - 5:00 Search Engine Marketing
  
• Search engine optimization
• Keyword research
• Keyword placement in web site or blog
• Content is key
• Writing good titles, description, and articles
• Re-directing pages
• Sitemap creation
• RSS creation
• Submission to Web Directories
• Internet Advertising (paid placements)
  
• Monitoring Web Site Traffic

February 2: Accepting Payments Online

• 9:00 - 12:00 Introduction to Online Payments
  
• Ways to accept payments online
• Demo of online payment systems (email billing, web-based payment, mobile payments)
• 1:00 - 5:00
  
• Evaluating online and mobile payment providers (comparative analysis)
• Fraud detection

February 5: Web 2.0 Applications

• 9:00 - 12:00 Overview of Web 2.0 Applications
  
• Introduction to Machine Learning
  
• Applications
• product / content recommendations
• group clustering
• search engine
• needs matching
• decision predictions
  
• price models
• independent content matching
• Hands-on exercises
• 1:00 - 5:00 Building Web 2.0 applications
  
• Using Open Web Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
• Facebook Application Platform
• Google OpenSocial
  
• Hands-on exercises

February 11: Improving Website Performance and Navigation

• 9:00 - 12:00 Improving Web Site Performance
  
• Factors that cause slow-loading Web Sites
• 14 rules for fast website performance
• Hands-on exercises
• 1:00 - 5:00 Improving Web Navigation
  
• Web navigation problems
• Mechanisms and type of web navigation
• Improving web navigation design
• Hands-on exercises
  

Interested non-members are requested to sign up as an Individual, SME, or Corporate member prior to the workshop and confirm attendance for food count purposes.

January 22: DigitalFilipino.com Club 31st Networking Event / Birthday Treat

The DigitalFilipino.com Club will be having its 31st networking event this January 22, Tuesday, 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The venue shall be at the Penthouse, East Tower, Philippine Stock Exchange / Tektite, Exchange Road, Pasig City.

Many thanks to Chikka.com for being our venue sponsor for this affair.

This event is exclusive for DigitalFilipino.com Club members only and are requested to confirm attendance for food count purposes. Interested non-members are requested to sign up as a member prior to January 22.

5:30 - 6:00 Registration
6:00 - 6:30 Introduction and updates by each club member

6:30 - 7:00 Announcement of January to April 2008 activities and members participation (DigitalFilipino Web Awards, Philippine Schools Cyberfair, supporting iBlog4, Summer Outing, Young Filipino Internet User Survey 2008)

7:00 - 7:30 State of Online Music in the Philippines

7:30 - onwards Networking among members (my birthday treat)

Club members are requested to confirm their attendance for food count purposes.

Interested non-members are requested to sign up as a member prior to January 22 and confirm attendance for food count purposes. There are three types of membership: Individual, SME, Corporate.

I hope you can all join. Thanks!

Cebu: Web 2.0 and Internet Marketing Workshop

All DigitalFilipino.com Club Members are invited to attend the forthcoming Web 2.0 Applications and Internet Marketing Workshop this February 7 and 8 at CEBU INTERNATIONAL DISTANCE EDUCATION COLLEGE No. 11 Wilson St. corner Pasteur St., Apas, Cebu City, Philippines (location map).

DigitalFilipino.com Club SME members can send 1 representative while Corporate members can send 2 representatives.

Individual club members can attend a one-day (or two half-day) session. Please confirm for food count purposes.

The training program shall be as follows:

February 7: Web 2.0 Applications

• 9:00 - 12:00 Overview of Web 2.0 Applications
  
• Introduction to Machine Learning
  
• Applications
• product / content recommendations
• group clustering
• search engine
• needs matching
• decision predictions
  
• price models
• independent content matching
• Hands-on exercises
• 1:00 - 5:00 Building Web 2.0 applications
  
• Using Open Web Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)
• Facebook Application Platform
• Google OpenSocial
  
• Hands-on exercises

February 8: Internet Marketing Workshop

• 9:00 - 12:00 E-Mail / Newsletter Marketing
  
• Introduction to E-Mail Marketing
• Components of an E-Mail Marketing Campaign
• Hands-on exercise
• Introduction to Newsletter Creation
• Creating a newsletter
• Hands-on exercise
  
• 1:00 - 5:00 Search Engine Marketing
  
• Search engine optimization
• Keyword research
• Keyword placement in web site or blog
• Content is key
• Writing good titles, description, and articles
• Re-directing pages
• Sitemap creation
• RSS creation
• Submission to Web Directories
• Internet Advertising (paid placements)
  
• Monitoring Web Site Traffic

Interested non-members are requested to sign up as an Individual, SME, or Corporate member prior to February 7 and confirm attendance for food count purposes.

Rowell Luna: Plans to Convert Pandeli to Portal in 2008

Rowell Luna is someone I have known for quite sometime now. Like many dotcom players, his site Pandeli.com went through a stage of slow growth - gradually educating the market, suppliers, and bakeries on the benefits of promoting one's business online.

In 2007, he was able to resolve and decide on the most practical way of accepting payments online. For 2008, he plans to expand his site to a portal where bakeries, suppliers, and the likes will find it as a venue to find each other and interact.