Ubiquitous

I Blog for UBC

// November 21st, 2008 // 11 Comments » // Academic, Online Experience, Work/Volunteer

Indeed, it’s the epitome of geeky blogger pride. People sometime elevate me to the status of a campus celebrity, but seeing no photos of myself have made it on my UBC blog yet, I highly doubt it.  However, it is a very special/odd feeling when my friends or classmates come up to me and say, “hey! I read your blog!”

There’s a bunch of us blogging for the University of British Columbia (the theme isn’t too sleek and professional, then again, UBC’s edgy like that XD)  in fact. The entire blogsquad of 10 or so people is going out for an awesome night of laser tag and sushi tonight =D But I digress. UBC was recently ranked the #34 top university in the world (Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge claimed top place, surprise surprise). To make it sound more important than it really is, you might be wondering what it’s like to blog for a world-class university, to be the tech-savvy face for all current freshmen as well as incoming highschool students?

Well to start, we use Wordpress and premade themes LOL. Aside from skimming over juicy details of alcoholic consumption and latenight m/o sessions (ew, gross), we pretty much have freedom in whatever we say. It’s so casual and awesome, I love it. I use the same conversational tone I always do. I’m free to rant and rave as I wish. Recently, one of my entries got featured in a New to UBC newsletters sent to all 6000 first year undergrads. THEY DIDN’T EVEN WARN ME *goes back to edit out all the grammar mistakes* Too bad we can’t put adsense blocks on the site to generate $$$ from all the clicks.

Now the reason I mentioned this is because it’s my excuse for the sparse updates on Ubiquitous since the start of the school year. I’M SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME.

P.S. - for those who still remember the university dilemma/drama from a few months back… Berkeley, I’m so over you. UBC’s my new love now =P

Popularity: 10% [?]

Brainstorming

// July 13th, 2008 // 11 Comments » // Online Experience, Personal, QOTW, Work/Volunteer

Is it just me or has blogging/commenting died off now that summer has rolled around? I know I’ve been wandering around the four corners of the world (okay, more like two) so Ubiquitous has taken a backseat.  I’ve got to get back into the “blogging habit” again, instead of just staring in awe at all the fashion pieces in my Google Reader feed.

Anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of brainstorming in the last little while, about possibly starting a small (read: minuscule) business. Blogging for money does not count. And no, I’m not dropping out of university silly. It’s just something small on the side that may need a lot of time and effort at the startup, but will eventually just self-propagate forward while bringing in much-needed revenue. I had it on my to-do list this summer to form an idea and a structure, since I’ve got all this post-IB free time/utter boredom.

The obviously possibility is doing something design-related on the Internet. Whether it’s providing web design service, selling premade layouts, or - if I must stoop so low - selling teen-bopper glitter graphics (brb, need to puke). Watch me go underground and resurface as some ditzy fourteen year-old selling BlEnDz & gLitTeRz of Keira Knightley… or was it Ashley Tisdale who’s in fashion at the moment?! Lmao. *shifty eyes* Okay that HOPEFULLY, won’t happen.  As for the other options, since I haven’t even bothered to fully customize the layout for my BLOG, I doubt I will proceed to design others. It’s no that I’m bad at coding or designing (I’m rather proud of my contribution to Youth Parliament as the Minister of Internet Affairs - what an er… interesting title *cough*), it’s just I’m not sure it’s my calling. I’ve made a meager amount $1200 bucks doing web designing in the last few years. A lot of the sites I did were volunteer/non-profit work, so I didn’t charge for them. I could still take on contracts, but this isn’t what I’m looking for for an enterprise.

The next idea is something that a friend has been pitching to me on MSN for the oh… past 2 agonizing hours. Ladies and gents, don’t you find yourselves under attack once you let the world know that you can put together a website? What my friend wanted was a niche site that works as a rebate program for large businesses such as Ebay, Amazon, or Chapters. Basically, we link products on our page and offer discounts (original discounts from the Giants mentioned above, sort of as affiliate marketing) to a target audience which we decided will be college students. The margin between the two discounts is our profit. I told him that from a business perspective, it’s a good and simple idea. But from the programming/e-commerce standpoint, it’s just not worth the effort. What we have to consider are Search Engine Optimization, PageRank, site programming, manual updates (eep!) etc. I’ve always been the pessimist who believed that little business startups do not win when they 1) compete against or 2) work with big corporations, a lesson taught by experience. Oh I miss the naivety shown in my peers which I used to possess.

Option number three will be left for future considerations, as I missed my opportunity this summer. In succint terms, I would basically purchase bulk quantities of unique and trendy goods (purses, handcrafted random things, cards, ipod covers and whatnots) as well as raw materials from China at a very discounted price - haha knowing all the hidden meccas with cheap goods really come in use now - ship it over, and sell them online either as is (Ebay) or remade (Etsy, for the raw materials). I will start small of course as I can

• Ship in my own luggage whenever I go back
• Get my friends (I swear 1/2 of the ppl at my IB Prom are in China right now) to store it in their luggages, and pay them a small service fee
• Or ship in bulk containers - isn’t that what Walmart is doing?! Lol.

Hmm… now that I wrote this down, it sounds like I’m about to open my own Online Dollar Store. OKAAAY! I seriously need something totally less lame/cliché/financially impossible. All those ppl on Etsy who are becoming rich with handcrafted items one sale at a time - I really admire them.

I could always try some subscription thing, start a new magazine (oh boy!), join affiliate networks (read: SCAM!!), or well… get a job.

QOTW: Have you ever wanted to start a business (of ANY sort)? What kind of ideas did you have and how did they turn out?

Popularity: 6% [?]

Why Niche Blogging Isn’t for Me (and You)

// March 29th, 2008 // 37 Comments » // Online Experience

Niche blogging is basically only blogging about a specific topic. The scope can be quite broad such as “life skills” or very narrow, like “-insert celebrity’s dog-”. It can be seasonal like “Paris fashion week” or year-round like “US Election and the economy”. Niche blogging supposedly helps the writer develop authority on his/her subject and ensures that the readers don’t have to dig through a pile of posts before finding something useful - because almost everything is on topic. However, as awesome as blogs like Zenhabits and Problogger are, and as juicy as blogs like Perezhilton has become, there are several reasons why niche blogging may not be for me (and you).

Topic restriction and lack of flexibility. After you pick a niche, your posts must nearly always be on-topic. If you are someone who like creativity and flexibility, this limit may even contribute to your blogger’s block.

Amount of topics available. The two biggest niches out there today blogs-about-blogging and make-money-online-blogs. Yawn. It’s getting old folks. I know for most topics nowadays, you can get ten posts right off the bat. But in a few months? Will you still have a steady source of ideas?

Demographic target and size. Most of the lovely people I have on my blogroll (updated, check it out!) have been on there for almost a year. A good number are students like me and we’ve been commenting on each other’s blogs for as long as Ubiquitous existed. If your website shifts from a personal blog to a niche blog, rest be assured that your reader demographic will change. From teen-bopperitis to obiesity to blogs-about-blogging, the audience varies drastically.

Competition. A healthy competition is a good thing, but is the business so cut-throat that a horde of people will shut you down as soon as you open your mouth? I stand by my belief that the make-money-blogging sites are a lost cause with some hefty giants in the field like JohnChow who’s “been there, done that”.

Personal pleasure. Your blog pretty much defines you. A niche blogger needs passion, dedication, and determination. I’m not sure I’d still love blogging if it becomes a part-time job.

Questions niche bloggers have to ask themselves

1. What is my target audience/potential audience?
2. What do I bring to the field that’s unique and attention-worthy?
3. Will I be able to maintain consistency in post quality?
4. Am I passionate about this topic?

Most people who make it big have a niche. As Amanda pointed out below, niche blogging in a loose sense can also be lifestyle blogs about a career (eg. lawyer blogs, mommy blogs) or person (eg. you). So is niche blogging really for you? Or are you just more of a personal life recorder like myself? You decide. Keep in mind though, never stop blogging!

Popularity: 6% [?]

Blogging Money & Traffic - My Experience Part 2

// March 15th, 2008 // 10 Comments » // Online Experience, Review

In Part 1 of Blogging Money & Traffic, I gave a detailed review of some of the popular paid blogging websites out there, including PPP, Smorty, ReviewMe, Sponsered Review and many others. This time, I’ll be delving into the two other big components of the e-market: advertising and traffic. Being more of a personal blog, Ubiquitous only tried out a fraction of the available websites, so feel free to suggest others.

TRAFFIC

(more…)

Popularity: 6% [?]

12 Awesome Blog Category Ideas And Others

// March 10th, 2008 // 13 Comments » // Online Experience

Blog categories, we hate them and love them. They’re the internet’s filing cabinets. But how can a few generic words sum up the deep, provocative, and earth-shattering thoughts that we humans are able to make materialize through hours of meditation and isolation with no companion but a dark, humming machine? On second thought, maybe Crystal is just high on chocolates. I for one tend to agonize over my blog categories and have no inspiration and/or is adamantly against creating new ones. So I surfed around on a few of my favourite blogs and found a few lovely ones to share. Credits all given, hopefully, probably, maybe.

Normality

The static categories are the *yawn* ones that appear everywhere. We can’t do without them, though depending on the theme of your blog, you might have different ones. (more…)

Popularity: 29% [?]