Sunday, June 10, 2012

Life In the Philippines

Life in the Philippines

The past week has proved to me that the contractor who installed my gate is not to be trusted as he substituted a poor quality gate instead of what was specified, the installation is crude, and it will be virtually impossible to upgrade for remote control.

The Philippines celebrates it independence day on Tuesday, and our routine shopping day, yesterday was interrupted dues to road closures caused by processions with bands and dancers who were also celebrating the foundation of the state of Zanorte. Our quest was to find a book store where we could purchase a holy Bible King James version in English.

Books are hard to find in Dipolog city and looking online we found references to a book store in Friendly Mart, so we went there and the store guide pointed to the fourth floor, but no sign of any books, however a further search revealed a small section in the stationary department and I was able to purchase a English(US) dictionary, but no sign of a bible.

When locals refer to English here they are actually talking about American English many do not realise that, English spellings and meanings are different in American English. Words such as colour spelt as color and trousers are referred to as pants in American.

Security in out gated sub-division is being beefed up following a couple of break ins in another estate, until now the security guards tended to let anyone in. they are now planning a possible wireless entry system, security cameras and also radios for the security guards rather than mobile phones.

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+63659082832
'The' online community and worldwide hub of professional marketers!


With everything we do in our lives, motivation is the biggest determining factor of whether something will get done or not. This could be any task no matter how large or small. Let's say you own a home based business. What is defined to be the drive for success? How do we stay motivated to succeed? With your own business it is very easy to get sidetracked and become lazy. After all, you are the boss right? Procrastination takes its course embedding the mind with non-productive thoughts to steer away any and all motivation.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Life In the Philippines - alternative to Local TV

Life in the Philippines
TV in the Philippines

I am so happy that I can get access to UK television programs here in the Philippines, the main providers here such as Cignal, Globe and cable TV serve up a mix of local and US based series. the programming of which is unreliable as they change the program mix in your subscriptions on a regular basis and often cancel scheduled programs.

The weather here with heavy rainstorms also result in programs being interrupted sue to loss of signal. I have also been comparing watching formula 1 on ESPN HD with BBC1 and its great to be able to watch an event without adverts which often appear at critical moments.

New TV's are available with Internet and wireless connections so it is getting easier to send Internet action to larger screens, I for one have plans to have a new TV in my office, which I will also be able to use as a computer monitor as, just have to work out where I am going to position it.

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+63659082832
'The' online community and worldwide hub of professional marketers!


Productive work is what will make you money for the long term. Busy work is a waste if time which has no guarantee. Of course in the long term, that so called "busy work" might pay off; yet, in the start of building a business from home it is crucial to use the phone and talk to real people and have actual conversations to build rapport and trust. This is the key to building a successful home based business.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Life In the Philippines

Life in the Philippines
End of another Month

We have now been in our house for four months and it is still not completed, its nearly their Mediatrix did not finish their work inside the house, otherwise we could sign it off as complete. They did however request that we apply a sticker to our car so that security will not stop us from entering. I pointed out to the management that it would be better to have an automated barrier system operated by a tag or card, which provides better security. I do not want to have a sticker on my car as it identifies where I live which could cause potential problems for my personal security where kidnapping is a risk. am automated barrier would also relieve the gatehouse from having to always open and close the gates.

Talking of gates yes I have my gates installed but they still have to be painted, but I am not happy with the installation because as soon as I ran my car over the gutter a piece of concrete cracked off. I had been assured that a metal gutter had been installed, but no its just concrete. the whole gate saga has been a bit of a fiasco with the contractor telling lies. The original gate was supposed to be made from aluminum and shipped across from Cebu, but the contractor used the money for another project and then had a steel gate manufactured locally and it has been a problem ever since.

I have now been in the Philippines for over a year and my visa expires in September to when my local paper advertised low cost airfare from Cebu to Hongkong at 448 PHP I jumped at it, but like a lot of advertising it was a bit of a con as for two people the return flight was 1952 PHP plus 6902.14 PHP for tax, fuel surcharge and fees. 1450 PHP for baggage and to add insult to injury 400 PHP for booking via the Internet. Yes there is a saving of 1911 PHP per sector so booking now saved me a total 7644 PHP. But I would prefer the Cebu Pacific website be a little more truthful about the actual cost by including the main elements such as tax fuel charges etc in their advertising, which are unavoidable cost. We did opt out of additional costs of seat reservations and hot meals.

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+63659082832
'The' online community and worldwide hub of professional marketers!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Life In the Philippines

Life in the Philippines
The weekend

Finally this weekend it seem that things are falling into place, A gang of men have worked through the weekend uncovering the pavement that runs in front of the house, it has been buried for the past year. the job is note quite finished as mud from the empty lot next door also needs to be cleared away.

The electrician is due today to fit blanking plates in the spaces where the old switches were removed. So the only outstanding work to complete our house is the sink top in the main kitchen, which needs to have the concrete removed so that it functions correctly.

Our front gates are due to be completed today, however based on history of the job I think this will drag out over another week, but the end is in site.

I have waited patiently for quotes for house insurance and it was a worthwhile exercise, in fact the final quote was not only the cheapest but also offered some valuable extras such as limited medical coverage and liability insurance plus a hotline for the like of household repairs, so I will be confirming the policy with the Metrobank today.

Saturday marked another day without electricity, so we went out in search of a waterfall, which is supposed to be a good place to swim. Unfortunately we had no map and I was unable to download information from the Internet. we tried a few different routes but ended up returning to the coast at Dapitan and having a snack before returning home. the Falls will have to wait for another day.

Till the next time

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+63659082832
'The' online community and worldwide hub of professional marketers!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Life In the Philippines - leisure

Life in the Philippines
Conquering Linabo Peak

mediatrix hills I have had a goal of climbing Linabo peak for over a year now, as it dominates the horizon when viewed from my house in Mediatrix Hill. I finished my daily business routine early and as the set was shining, set of with Jasmin and a friend to climb the 3003 steps.

We drove to the foot of the hill and signed the visitors book to start the climb. Concrete steps make it quite easy and there are 15 stations where you can take a breather plus a few toilets for those who get caught short. The climb was quite easy and even in the heat I hardly broke a sweat, but the two girls had quite a struggle, puffing and blowing. Arriving near the top the steps were replaced by a concrete path through a small hamlet with an elementary school before it terminated below the wireless masts that dominate the ridge. The final section was a steep rocky path with topes set up as handholds , and this was the highlight of the trip, together with the 360 degrees views from the top. One can really appreciate just how small Dipolog city really is, surrounded by extensive rice fields. Away from the coastal zone stretches mile upon mile of coconut trees and the like stretching towards distant hills, with virtually no tracks, although I can feel the urge to explore as there are occasional houses.

The return was a little harder, steps down put a lot of strain on the knees, so I just relaxed and let myself go at a steady jog keeping my knee bent. Meeting up with the girls at the bottom to drive home for lunch.

The Contractor fixing our gate arrived in the afternoon to finish fixing a channel for the gate to run in and I went into town on my mountain bike to pick up my house insurance policy. all in all a good day.

Till the next time

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+63659082832
'The' online community and worldwide hub of professional marketers!

Monday, May 21, 2012

Life in the Philippines

Life in the Philippines
Kick Ass Day

A number of events have been leading up to today. i have been waiting for my house to be finally completed and also waiting for insurance quotes, so first task of the the day was to visit the PNB bank and find out why they had not processed my application.

Yes sir we had some questions and need pictures of the house, so why did they not come and take some pictures and supply me with a draft copy of the policy. Ah the manager has been on two weeks compulsory leave. No excuse you have had my application for six weeks, just come round today and take your pictures.

Next visit Metro Bank, ah yes sir we tried phoning but no reply... what about using the postal address, and why is your website and email no longer working. Left house telephone number and updated information and now have to wait for them to get back to me again.

Next stop immigration, here I thought it was going to be a quick stop and go to extend my visa, but office was closed mad it looks as if I might have to make a long overland trip to Zamboanga city in the next couple of days to get the renewal completed. not good news.

Returning to Mediatrix and handed in the latest list of items to be completed before we can finally accept the house is complete. as lo mentioned that swimming pool is style lying empty, apparently awaiting landscaping to be complete, so I suggested they just fill it up so it can be used, to cool off, not to worried about the landscape that can be done later. I also raised a security issue in response for house owner to purchase an entry sticker for cars. this is not a good idea as it advertisers where I live and it is better to keep a low profile in this part of the Philippines. I suggested that they consider an entry card/key system with automated barriers, as a better alternative.

Till the next time

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+63659082832
'The' online community and worldwide hub of professional marketers!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Free Seminar on Business Marketing

Thomas Prendergast
Veretekk CEO

This Wednesday at Noon (May 16, 2012) at 12pm noon PST I will be hosting a special open house for the newly subscribed and seasoned members of Veretekk.

This event will cover the V2 Integration capabilities that have recently become even more powerful than ever. (And you can plagiarize this you have my permission) Integration

You are hearing a lot about integration within Veretekk especially with the launch of V2. But most people do not fully grasp the term and how it plays in V2. Let me try to illustrate this powerful aspect of V2. in·te·grate
[in-ti-greyt] Show IPA verb, in·te·grat·ed, in·te·grat·ing. verb (used with object)

  1. to bring together or incorporate (parts) into a whole.
  2. to make up, combine, or complete to produce a whole or a larger unit, as parts do.
  3. to unite or combine.
A note about my background and experience: I started into Marketing at a very young age. In a thumbnail, I was born to be an artist. My parents were horrified about this claiming that artist starve to death. This freaked me out. So I bought many books on marketing art and marketing in general. One of those books, "Confessions of an Advertising Man", by David Ogilvy I purchased in 1980. That book changed my life. In 1984 Soon after I acquired my first computer and the quest to merge was on.

I coined the term back in the 90s as Data Base Marketing, but today, with the advent of a progressing Internet, and related technologies, what was a tactical or strategic action in the 80s today is represented by a digital counterpart.

Today's Internet Marketer is by far a lot less qualified to be in marketing than his counterpart 20 years ago. Today one can just claim to be an SEO master or an Internet Marketer simply because the information to discover the basics and intricacies to do so are at everyone's fingertips. This does not diminish the effectiveness of today's marketer over the marketing agency of 20 years ago, it just establishes that things have changed on a massive scale.

20 years ago it took a Marketing Department to accomplish what most Internet marketers set upon themselves to do today on their own. (This is why so many fail and/or have a chronic case of ADD; Attention Deficit Disorder). NOTE: "I suffer from this myself"

The marketing tools of the Internet, the ability to measure results, the ability to research on the Internet is a dream come true to a seasoned and long time experienced ad man as myself. But it also brings with it a serious risk potential and that is the undertaking of keeping track of and updating each of the aspects that compromise Internet Marketing today.

Back before the Internet an ad agency had many people for each respective responsibility, one department for sending direct mail, another for tradeshows and conferences and yet another for display advertising and printed material, press releases, radio ads, conventions, etc.....

This is why the majority of Internet marketers are tactical (focused mostly on one aspect like SEO) instead of being strategic, having a full focus of research, analysis, multifaceted campaigns using all the tools required for full scale Internet marketing, keeping it organized and processing the constant information caused by such a campaign.

Tools ie:

  • Hosting for domains and websites
  • Auto responders email for follow-up communications
  • Web Conference Rooms for live meetings, educational seminars, training connecting.
  • SEO systems, back links, authority sites, forums, blogs, etc.
  • Display advertising
  • A social networking system and management
  • Lead generating systems or resources for a steady inventory of leads.
  • Contact data management system, calendars, reminders component.

The need to integrate all these aspects is paramount otherwise the marketing campaign is limited to a tactical approach, with poor management and even worse results. IE: hit and miss attempts, scattered approaches caused by lack of a solid strategy, impulsively running from one idea to another, the results are mediocre at best and worse, forgetting what was done in the past as this method also lacks tracking the posts, ads, and tactics, etc. used.

I have seen competent SEO marketers run from one domain to another, buying more domains and creating sites just for posting more content on pointing to other sites pointing to other sites creating a mass of gibberish that at best might increase an Alexa ranking to some degree but never really amounting to anything but time wasted.

This same phenomena can be seen with many people on the Internet running from one business idea or opportunity to the other. With no clear-cut objective, this is why most Internet marketers fail.

When you integrate the entire process, from research analysis (keeping track of that), keyword analysis, targeted content, pre written letters ready for your sequential mail auto responders, team building with a symbiotic group, videos and audio animations and screen captured demos, capture pages (tested with your group in our Bull Pen: focus groups increase the overall effectiveness of design and strategy), blogging and other partners in your group blogging on your behalf, back linking strategies and keeping track of the thousands of authority site memberships for additional effect, ratings with Google Page ranks and Alexa ranks and tracking that, traffic tracking, running display ads and managing that, running Google adsense ads, Facebook Ads etc and tracking, radio ads and cableTV ads. Whew!

All of this seems very overwhelming to accomplish 'on your own'. However the very core of Veretekk and it's services and benefits allows you to run full throttle professional campaigns like this without resorting to hiring an agency to do it, or having a dozen or so unrelated services in an attempt to run something akin to this on your own

This level of marketing is what you will see from top income earners and the very successful among the halls of the top ranked members of Internet Marketing. This is the "why" for why we built Veretekk.

It is called integration. The entire Veretekk system is completely integrated so you can ramp up and run a far more effective marketing campaign. Ad to this the Market Manager and the fact that V2 social network element gives you the added benefit of building a symbiotic group to make your efforts that much more powerful.

This Wednesday May 16, 2012 at 12pm NOON PST I will be conducting another 2-3 hour seminar

To attend this free seminar Click Here and scroll to bottom of page enter you name and select the event

12:00 PM - Veretekk Inc. V2 Marketing Integration
You are hearing a lot about integration within Veretekk especially with the launch of V2. But most people do not fully grasp the term and how it plays in V2. At this seminar I will illustrate this powerful aspect of V2. Invite your guests. It's open house