Friday, March 30, 2007
Sorry for the lack of updates, but Nuffnang.com.my has really been keeping me busy!
So many things are going on.
We now have about 600 blogs and counting and 2 new team members at Nuffnang Singapore! That brings up our total headcount to 7!
On the technical end, we're continuing to optimize our code so we can work faster and more efficiently with less. I'm sure the results of this hard work is already apparent. At the same time, we're building in new features to be launched soon.
On the marketing end, I've been in KL the whole week, going for meeting after meeting with advertisers of all types!
It has been INCREDIBLE so far. Both the experience and the results.
Our typical morning starts at 8 with a hearty breakfast, and a review of all our reports from our backend, technorati, google and of course blogs! Morning call with our technical team. Wash up and we're out by 9, for meetings that for some reason are always scheduled at either 10 or 11am.
We get there, and are given about an hour to impress on the marketing executives and directors, why they should choose the nuffnang network. Or why they should even consider online advertising as a medium.
We start off by giving them a powerpoint presentation I prepared, giving them the main points like our network coverage figures and other details which I shall leave out.
After the presentation, is a question and answer session.
This is the most enjoyable part of the meeting for me.
A chance to interact. To market. To ease and banish any doubts. To turn those doubts into belief and reality.
To be honest, I get such a high from this part of the meetings. When you have connected with the person you are speaking to and he agrees. There are fewer better feelings.
The easiest way to do this in my opinion is to be frank. To be sincere and honest. You need to be confident of your own product, understand it inside and out. The strengths and the weaknesses. To sell and market the strengths, but at the same time, not to be afraid of highlighting any potential issues. But before doing so, to ensure you provide a potential solution to these issues.
I call then issues and not problems because issues represent a challenge to solve.
We met up with the representative of a financial institution. And she asked us, why two graduates from the University of London had decided to embark on a business venture like this instead of being bankers.
Timothy replied, it was because of passion. I said it was the chance to interact with so many people on so many levels. Bloggers, advertisers, affiliates.
Anyway, every single meeting went well. So that is a piece of good news for bloggers in our community. Negotiations are still taking place, but we've got some very very interesting advertisers, with global credentials talking to us. KEEP ALL YOUR FINGERS CROSSED and pray hard. There is strength in numbers. In all things. Prayer, and blog advertising included!
After a deal is concluded. It is just the start for me and tiam. We will have to monitor the campaigns, suggest improvements, and provide after sales support. Which includes getting them to execute a second campaign! And third, and fourth!
When the time comes, I hope the blogging community in Nuffnang will show our advertisers, that the faith they put in blog advertising and Nuffnang in particular was not misfounded. That we are a credible medium that deserve more.
NUFFNANG! Which incidentally means, "Real Good" in jafaican. You'll read all about it on our revamped public pages soon enough!
(4 COMMENTS)
Saturday, March 17, 2007
I've been so busy with the launch of Nuffnang malaysia, I've hardly had time for anything else.
If it isn't talking on the phone to Ewe Tiam, it is meetings with potential advertisers and programmers, or company administration work, the list goes on.
However ... there were two events in the week I simply had to attend! And two during which I tried not to strategise about how to make our bloggers money. My favourite of all affairs!
Yes, I know Josh is going to call me a poof the next time he sees me, but I really enjoy attending
WEDDINGS!I seem to be getting invites to my fair share of them too!
All in all, I've attended about 9 weddings in the last 9 months! What is going on!? Hehe, not that I'm complaining.
Anyway, on Sunday, it was off to Shangri-la for the union of Sharon and James. Sharon is Darren's sister. Darren is one of my closest friends, and he had reminded me of this joyous occassion since last year.
There he is, with me, in my pyschedelic tie (which incidentally belongs to my father, but has since been requisitioned by me!). Is nang (cool) no?
Therein lies the first reason why I like attending weddings. You get to dress up! I mean seriously, if I had the chance, I'd don my Tuxedo (Which I've worn only once) ALL the time! When I got one tailored for my brother's wedding, it felt oh soooo good.
And I promised myself, when I made it, I would go to the tailor everytime I felt like shit.
Of course I wasn't the only guy decked out. The whole gang looked like they had come of age!
The second reason why I love attending weddings is this. The guys dress up, but it is really the ladies who are the stars of the show. Without yang, there is no yin.
And boy, did they dress up. Take a look.
From left to right, the stunning Ezann, Tania and Sophia.
There might have been 500 other ladies there that evening, but I am sure these three commanded the room (save the bride of course!)
And they obliged lucky me, for a photo too! YATTAAA!!!
Anyway, the wedding banquet was a grand affair from start to finish. The shangri-la ballroom was filled with a thousand guests! And the whole atmosphere was splendid.
The first thing I noticed was this box on our table. Now I lurpe innovative wedding door gifts. You know, anything besides a fruit cake. This box looked like it had a massive fruit cake in there ... :-(
Opening it up however, i was surprised to see it contained this ....!
10 sachets of instant coffee! Customized! With their names, and the image of a rose. And a quote from Lao Tzu that read ...
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage."
I love anecdotes like these.
Let me skip on to the second wedding. Which was more of a trip down to the registry of marriages.
Not quite as glamorous as the previous one I had attended, but one of my army friends who knew I was into photography, has asked me if I could be the photographer for the day.
I readily agreed months ago, and I appreciated the honour.
The registry of marriages is one building in singapore they have got to change. It looks more like a clinic or government bureau than a place you seal the union with your life companion.
I mean check this out!
Its a que system! Sure its efficient! But can't you dress a guy up outside and call out names instead ... man ... no lomantic at all!
Hehe. Inside the a rather simple office, sat the solemniser.
I think my friends were amused at the solemniser's awkward use of mandarin, and they couldn't help laughing ... but they soon put on serious faces when a fiesty grandma standing behind put them in their place!
That din't hold up for long, and when they faced each other to exchange vow, they just cracked up! (The fiesty grandma gave up on them)
Two signatures, Two rings, and one kiss later ....
They were husband and wife.
Two weddings in one week gave me energy and joy for the hectic week that unfolded.
Ahhhhh ... don't u lurpee weddings!!!?
(7 COMMENTS)
Friday, March 16, 2007
WHAT AN AMAZING DAY IT HAS BEEN FOR THE NUFFNANG NETWORK!!!!
We have officially tied down some advertisers (Exact numbers I cannot reveal).
At the same time, we have had contact with numerous others. A significant proportion of them called us up themselves to enquire!
None of this would have been possible at all without the immense support of the bloggers themselves.
The job is far from over however. In fact, it has only just begun.
Advertisers are interested in advertising on the nuffnang network because it is new.
To ensure that they continue to do so afterwards, we need to ensure that their campaigns are successful.
Therefore to all bloggers, it would be great if (teeny weeny request),
1) Your ad units are placed correctly in the prominent positions.
2) When the ad runs, perhaps egg on your readers to check it out.
3) We will also be contacting directly bloggers who have answered "not sure" in their demographics survery. This is to ensure that the advertiser targeting is done correctly.
We will be engaged the whole of next week in talks with certain blue chip advertisers, so keep your fingers crossed!
We're saving the best for last.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
Together, we are going to make the Nuffnang network heard!
p.s. We now have over 300 blogs in the network. Malaysia boleh!
(0 COMMENTS)
Monday, March 12, 2007
Sorry for the long break in my updates! I've been terribly busy with the launch of Nuffnang.com.my
The report card so far!? Its been simply amazing!
We started out with a modest aim of attracting 300 bloggers within three months. Barely two weeks on, we have 250 in the fold, and counting.
Malaysian bloggers from all walks of life have come together to support a local product they hope will succeed. And its been simply heartening.
The greatest joy for me is meeting the faces behind the blogs.
I got the chance to do so at the latest Blog meet. "Together Gather" blog meet organised by Wingz and his committee.
I took the trip down specially for this meet, because firstly, I wanted to Thank first hand, the bloggers who had supported us. And secondly, because Nuffnang had set up a booth to service queries and signups.
It was to be a whirlwind trip. Left Singapore on Fri morning 730AM, left KL on Sat morning 8Am. I had a wedding to attend in Singapore ( I lurrpppee weddings).
Anyway, it was going to be a long night for me and tiam, but chee giat so kindly made us chicken soup for the soul!!! I drank it up, so mindful of the support we were getting from all quarters, and that helped me smile throughout the night!
In my last entry, I wrote about the people who gave me strength. My dad is one of them. I took him away from his favourite Korean Drama serial the night before to help me put together my press kit!
He is adept at making CD labels, so I got him in on designing one for my kit, since there was word the press would be at the blog meet. Check it out.
Anyway, after drinking up our chicken soup, we set off. We gave ourselves plenty of time to get there as we did not want to be late, and there was alot to set up.
The function room at the federal hotel was looking spectacular. We were in for an event, i thought to myself.
The team we had hired, got around to setting up our backdrop and signage. Me and Tiam did up the table, putting up our lovely premiums, which Tiam had been in charge of putting together.
This is the end result!
Hey, we like it!
I met soo many people, was quite busy running around, that I din't have the chance to take photos with many of them ... :-(
At least I got one with one of our earliest supporters! And a pretty girl too! Cely! Ok, so Jason and Bryan were in the photo too. Hehe, excuse me for my lack of excitement (I don't quite swing that way).
Thank you all for your support. Over the next few entries in this blog, I will be highlighting the key features of Nuffnang.com so the full potential of the site is realized. Stay tuned!
(6 COMMENTS)
