Time For Me To Get A New DSLR!

I got this renewed interest in dSLRs, seeing how my trusty little 5.1-megapixel Sony Cybershot can now be easily out-pixeled by a Nokia N82.

See, when a mobile phone can out-shoot your own digital cam, it’s probably time to get new hardware. Which is why I’m really out to find myself a nice little dSLR. On another blog of mine, I actually featured some of the cameras I looked up, and since then, I’ve been scouring the internet for the best possible deals as far as a dSLR goes.

It was then that I found this cool online site for people looking for cams (just like me!)- Camera World Auction. Turns out, it’s an online venue that aims to hook up anyone who wants a camera with people who have em. So it seems to me a great place to look for that Canon EOS 400D I want for myself- great camera for people stepping up from a compact digital to a dSLR, btw.

The site has other great stuff worth checking out- not just cams. And another cool thing is an ongoing promo where you can sign up and register to win a new iPod shuffle at Camera World Auction.

So go check it out, and don’t mind me scoping out a good deal for that Canon EOS 400D I want (pictured just above), with all kinds of lenses and accessories. Time to get my Cybershot a bigger brother.

Cheers, everyone!

What’s Wrong With The Way Bloggers Write?

I was with some bloggers last weekend over at Kape Isla in Serendra- and we were all hanging out with Butch Dalisay and the good people of the Blog and Soul Movement.  I’ll be blogging more about that later on, and probably in another blog of mine.

In a nutshell though, we were all hanging out that afternoon to learn more about Creative Writing and how that all fits into blogging and the blogging lifestyle.

Besides that, there were a lot of interesting stories and anecdotes and discussions that came about.  For me, there was this very thought-provoking tidbit:  thanks to blogging, almost everyone has become an author and publisher- but what you don’t have is a whole lot of editors.

I couldn’t agree with Butch more.  A recent post I’ve read (gotta find it so I could link it here) says that, in the Philippines alone, you already have an estimated 200,000 bloggers, up from just 40,000 from a couple years back.

It should be a great thing, right?  After all, I’m one for encouraging self-expression- and what better way than blogs?

So why is it that when I randomly visit blogs through Multiply, or on Blogspot or WordPress, and even worse, on Friendster, I can’t help but feel dismayed at how some of these bloggers write?  The list of atrocities can go on and on- but right there at the top- abyssmal grammar, diction and sentence construction, writing as if texting on a mobile phone, and straight-out plagiarizing.

So out of the 200,000 bloggers in the Philippines- how many are actually coming up with quality blogs?  20%?  5%? Ask yourself this question- out of the last 10 or 20 blogs you visited, how many of those to you plan to visit again?

I have to admit, I’m not perfect as far as English usage is concerned- and many more would admit to the same.  But what we all really need is an active effort to improve the way we communicate with others, especially our blogging audience.

Here comes the importance of really thinking about giving something back to your audience- a lesson learned, some valuable tips and information, at least some entertainment.  So yes, you can blog about “I woke up at 7am today and went to the gym…”, but in the end, it’s really about having a good story to tell, which your audience would also want to share with their other friends.

If anything, that afternoon with Butch Dalisay and the Blog and Soul Movement has inspired me to do something more with my blogs- I’d like to be able to help out other bloggers.  Not just with building blogs, but also with writing.

Definitely a project worth exploring in the very near future.  And I welcome anybody else who’s willing to work with me on this.

Cheers, everyone.

Make Use of Online Directories!

Just like any business entity- your continued success depends on your ability to get more people to know about you and your products, services, activities and ideas. It’s no different for your online assets- a steady stream of new traffic can only be good for you.

This is where internet marketing comes in- there are a lot of things you can do to drive traffic into your sites. You can do advertising- which makes for good results, but can be rather cost-prohibitive (whether you go print, radio or online), particularly if you’re still starting up, or if your promotional budget isn’t enough to support it at the moment.

Still, there are more cost-effective ways to get clients to find you and your website. Personally, I’m trying to find all these online directories to list my blogs in- and one site that looks promising is the Asian Business Directory. There are a whole lot of categories- covering pretty much a wide spectrum of possible businesses, and probably a lot more later on as more people sign up for its service.

Nevertheless, it makes good sense to sign up as early as now- get first-mover advantage, and all that. Take a look, for example, under ‘Blogging’- there are only a few entries under that category- about 15 blogs- when there are thousands of bloggers in the Philippines alone that could make use of a little more online publicity.

Remember that directory listings greatly help not only in generating traffic for your website (or blog), but it also helps boost your Google PageRank and your discoverability. And that can only be a good thing- particularly if you’re more into optimizing your site and monetizing it.

Cheers, everyone!

Why Shouldn’t Your Blog Be Your Home Page?

Google has always been my default home page for as long as I can remember.  Lately though, I’ve noticed that when I fire up my Firefox browser, I check out three things right away: mail (on my gmail account), Facebook (alright, so I’m probably marginally addicted…), and Multiply (…marginally addicted to social networking!).

From there, I’d go to check on my usual websites- check out some entertainment news, or the latest music chart movements, or the latest news in gaming- or do some online business like pay some bills or something.

The rest of my day will be spent blogging, and linking references into my blog, or checking out any other variety of social networking and social bookmarking sites from YouTube to Technorati.  I’ve gone to the point of actually spending more than 8 hours a day online- including the time I spend in front of the PC after work- which is to say I’m either playing World of Warcraft or doing even more blogging.

I suppose this is all really about putting some much-needed order into my life.  There’s just so much going on already, and there’s probably much more going on later on, so I suppose I’ll have to make way for new stuff coming through.

So the first order of business is to set this blog “The Life and Times of The Renzie Man” as my home page.  Let’s see how that works out.  Gonna work on getting this blog just a little bit more functional: at least as far as we can fine-tune it- the free version of WordPress doesn’t seem to support some of the things I’d like to have just now.

Gonna put more link lists, and RSS feeds and widgets on the side.  Just to make this an easier springboard to get into other sites. It also means more updates from time to time, probably on a more daily basis.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

Fixing and Re-positioning This Blog.

To be completely honest, I may have neglected this blog a bit- it’s been weeks since I last posted anything here. Mainly because I’ve been working on a few other projects these past couple of months.

The good thing is that is has given me a sort of clarity- an understanding of what this blog is supposed to be in the grand order of things.

I was just reading Aaron Wall’s SEO Book the other day (which is a highly recommended read, if you haven’t checked it out yet), and it sorta gave me an idea of how to go about fixing up my site.

Simply put, I have to consider three very basic things:

1. Who’s my target audience? Or more like, who would I want my blog to appeal to?

2. What do I plan to offer? Exactly what kind of content do I plan to put in “The Life and Times of The Renzie Man?”

3. What makes this blog different from all the millions of other blogs out there?

Those things considered, lemme go ahead and figure out what this blog really is all about. Here we go…

My Intended Target Market.

Who do I want to talk to? I want to reach out to an online audience who’d like to know how it is to live in the Philippines, from the point of a 30-something dude. That means reaching out to all kinds of travellers, locals interested in the bachelor lifestyle, my fellow Filipinos abroad who’d like to have a glimpse of home, and pretty much anyone genuinely interested in me- though I can’t imagine who, and exactly what kind of people those would be :).

What Kind of Content Would Be in this Blog?

This blog is a personal blog masquerading as a lifestyle-oriented piece of work. So while it is definitely something for shameless self-promotion, it aims to share useful tips, articles and opinions along the lines of…

• Bachelor Living in Metro Manila.
• Living Life Easier - Work-life Balance Tips and other useful bits of info to get the most out of our 24 hours a day.
• Workplace Woes and Worries- Don’t quit your day job- but don’t let your life revolve around work either.
• A Healthier Lifestyle- my attempt at losing the extra weight at least.
• Fun in Metro Manila- where to dine out, great spas to visit, local destinations, etc.
• My current projects
• Making money online- a little extra cash is always good, wouldn’t you agree?
• What I’m into- again, it’s all about me.

My Unique Selling Proposition.

The truth is, the blog is all about me, and therefore, I am selling me. This blog represents one of my first efforts in blogging. It is a true online journal of me and my little misadventures, not some blog meant positioned towards a particular niche. Of course I will come up with a concept blog from time to time, or pursue some online project- yeah, I’ll be linking it up here, so anyone who’s also interested can also check it out.

Now that I’ve pretty much figured it out, let’s get back to blogging now, shall we?

A Chat with Elaine of Yehey.com

The following post originally came out in one of my other blogs, “Blog. Blogger. Bloggest!”. Check out the rest of that blog for more insights on the world of blogs and blogging. Particularly useful for you who are just starting to blog, and those wanting to build better blogs. Enjoy!

Interaction outside the usual blog channels should always be a part of your development as a blogger. It is through interaction that you learn not only how your blog fares along with other bloggers’, but also far more importantly, gives you a chance to develop friendly, working relationships with other bloggers like yourself.

I see it as t