Being and Becoming in the Internet Age

 “Like the printing press, the telephone, electricity or the automobile, the Internet is a revolutionary technology that is transforming our world”. – Bill Gates, 2000

Being the visionary that he is, Bill Gates had indeed captured and aptly described how the internet would have come to revolutionize how we live our lives and conduct our businesses.  This technology has continuously broken down trade and knowledge barriers by providing individuals and businesses seamless access to vast resources and opportunities.  As Gates said from over a decade ago, we are on that phase where large companies have their most efficient systems in place for their employees, customers and suppliers anywhere in the world, while smaller businesses have the chance to find and build customers all over the world. The internet has indeed shrunk the world and unlocked boundless opportunities.

Taking a hint into this opportunity, it is the best of times for us and our businesses to be “online” - that is to be seen and felt in the internet. The norm of the times is that businesses and individuals that are easy to find online have the greater edge.  And we are not wanting of the means that we can tap to get ourselves and our businesses on board. Several social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, to name a few, have been seen to have contributed enormously to the business strategies of top companies and industry leaders. According to experts, being in these media is no longer just a choice for most businesses, but is seen as a competitive advantage, a true value that can be capitalized in and is expected, ultimately to bring a difference for you or your company.  

Contrary to the unfounded fear that online interactions have made business transactions less personal, the internet-based platforms have, in fact, allowed individuals and businesses to engage with their customers on a more personal level by reaching out and providing customized solutions that customers immediately connect to. Real, dynamic working relationships are constantly being developed and nurtured in these business platforms. Putting ourselves and our businesses out of obscurity could be the best strategy we can employ to be where we want to be – on TOP.

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Quality and Reliability in the Virtual World

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Let’s Skype, Let’s Work

Without doubt, Skype is one business tool that has spurred the growth of virtual work in the planet.  Latest reports have shown that there are approximately 42 million Skype users online each day. While not all are using it solely for business purposes, suffice it to say that a considerable percentage of this figure covers parties who are online for business-related reasons.

Skype is a voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) service and software application.  The software is available for free download from the Skype’s home page.  Skype allows users to communicate online with text chats (or instant messaging as others are apt to call it), voice calls and video calls --- all for free.  It has also grown more popular because of additional features that have consequently been integrated to the system like easy file transfer, voice or video conferencing and screen sharing. Again all basically for free.

Video Conference through Skype

Phone calls to landlines and mobiles, as well as text messages are also possible with Skype but this time it comes with a fee. The rates, however, are very reasonable and there are subscription packages to choose from that come laden with extra benefits. 

With a growing number of people doing business online, utilizing Skype’s full potential, is proving to be hugely beneficial for business enterprises mainly because of the following reasons:

• Cost Benefit – Since it’s basic VOIP services are free, this provides for savings in international phone calls and even domestic toll charges.  Skype calls are amazingly stable and clear.  As it is an internet application though, stability and clarity will be relative to the quality of internet connection users have.  Furthermore, it allows for multi-party conferencing even from different locations.  Thus, collaborations and consultations among remote business associates can be arranged quite easily.

Screen Sharing through Skype

• Ease of Use - Skype has a very friendly user interface.  One can easily install it unto a computer and navigate through its functions in no time.  Its privacy features can also be tweaked easily to settings that suit the user best.

• Valuable Features – Skype’s video calling and screen sharing features are one of the strongest in the market today.   Through screen sharing, business associates can actually show a particular presentation or walk the other party through a process quite easily.  Note however that group video calling is also available but is a paid service.

Instant Messaging through Skype

• Potential to Enhance Business – Skype can help improve a company’s customer service particularly businesses that are on an international scale.   Providing clients with your Skype ID allows them to reach you and lets them know when you are available online.   This is also a good way to build contacts.

While there are a lot of softwares nowadays that are of the same nature, Skype has remained one of the more popular systems.  It has evolved from being a communication tool to a platform for collaboration as well.  Having been recently acquired by Microsoft in May 2011, Skype has since then been incorporated as one of its division. At this point, whether this new structure will bring Skype to new heights still remains to be seen. In the meantime, let’s take a deep breath.

Want to get Skype? Click HERE

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Quality and Reliability in the Virtual World

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On Being Successful

The concept of success is relative. What may be successful to you may not be the same to some. Perhaps the most important aspect of the term is the measure we have for it in our own lives. Often, we tend to think that we will be successful when… While it is good to set goals for such, a certain life coach taught me to look at this differently. Instead of waiting for that moment, why not take stock of what you are successful in your life right NOW. When you look closer, you will discover that you are successful more than you ever thought you were.

The following poem attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson just about sums it up:  

“Success”

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

(attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson)

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Working with Tag Clouds

Image Created in Wordle

Ever wondered what this kind of visuals are called? Up to a few months ago I had the same question in mind too.  A tag cloud, also known as a word cloud or a weighted list in visual design, is a visual representation for text data. Tags are usually single words, and the importance of each tag is shown with font size or color. Through this format one can quickly perceive the most prominent terms in a set of text. In principle, the font size of a tag in a tag cloud is determined by its incidence. Thus, tags that occur in higher frequency appear with larger fonts in the cloud.

The use of tag clouds has evolved since its conception.  Aside from providing visual analysis, they are also used in advertising and in certain creative endeavors. Today there are a number of tag cloud generators available online mostly free. You will be amazed on the many ways you can tweak a presentation using different fonts, layouts, font sizes and color.

The image you see above is actually the result of running the whole text of the Gettysburg Address in Wordle (one of the popular tag cloud generators).  You will note from the sizes of the fonts that foremost in the speech writer’s mind was the nation, people and dedication.  There are limitless approaches one can use this tool for.  The only limit I can think of is one’s imagination.

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On Starting Your Online Presence

Ain’t it true – everything that you ever wanted to know can indeed be found between Google and YouTube. You can learn almost anything you want by diving into the internet; all for free!

I came across this YouTube video from Marie Forleo’s site and found it quite engaging. Marie Forleo is a best-selling American author, speaker, web TV host, and trainer in personal development, entrepreneurship and marketing – and a fabulous woman at that. I just love the touch of humor that she has injected to this video.

Hope you’ll enjoy watching the video (length = 05:04). Ever came across a free resource in your foray between Google and YouTube? Do share it with us in the comments below. 

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/user/marieforleo)

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Learning the Art of Tweeting

Twitter is definitely one of the more popular online social networking services nowadays.  It was ingeniously set-up as a micro blogging service that enables users to send and read text-based messages of up to 140 characters known as "tweets".

Have you just joined the Twitter world? Here are 5 tips that we have picked-up as we continue to learn the finer points of this service: 

1. The most basic rule when tweeting is not to annoy those around you with irritating tweets.  The great thing about Twitter is that you can use it in any manner that serves you best.  It can be a personal narrative, a marketing tool or a way to keep in touch with friends, or get updates on events and favorite personalities.  No matter which way you play it, the adage of thinking before you leap; in this case tweet very much applies.
2. Don’t tweet mundane and irrelevant details. Personally, I don’t feel it is right to give a play-by-play account of your life.  Nobody really needs to know that you are having a headache, or just drank this or ate this. Try to make your tweets informative and interesting to others.
3. Don’t flood feeds.  If you really have so much stuff to say then perhaps Twitter is not the right stage for you. You might want to consider creating your own blog instead.  Sending dozens of tweets a day will most likely get you unfollowed.
4. Correct Attribution. More often than not you will come across interesting Tweets. Share it with your followers by using the Retweet (RT) function or you may choose to paraphrase it but still acknowledge the source with a “via”.
5. Establish Meaningful Connections. Follow those that are really of interest to you. This goes full circle to the intention of striving to send informative and interesting tweets as this will help you gain more followers. 

These are but 5 basic rules that keep us going in the Twitter game.  Would you like to share one of yours too?  We can all learn a thing or two from each other.  Just leave it in the comment space below. Please share your Twitter account too.

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Quoting Zig Ziglar

Hilary Hinton "Zig" Ziglar was a famous American author, salesman and motivational speaker. When he passed away back in November 28, 2012, an outpouring of emotions and tribute flooded the net.  It is comforting to know that his legacy will remain with various websites keeping his quotes and other life works for future generations to visit and refer to hereon.

Here are our top 3 favorite business quotes of his.  What’s yours? Please share by leaving a comment below.

You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. ~ Zig Ziglar

Image Source: http://bit.ly/XZ37u2

There are no traffic jams on the extra mile. ~ Zig Ziglar

Image Source: http://bit.ly/10sCi2V

When you throw dirt at people, you're not doing a thing but losing ground. ~ Zig Ziglar

Image Source: http://bit.ly/11uUBA7

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General Transcription - Not Just About Typing Speed

Is transcription really just about accurate typing speed?

While the ability to type as much as 70 wpm, 80 wpm and even 90 wpm and beyond is a skill in itself, there has been a growing awareness of how essential the ability to really listen and comprehend what the speaker wants to convey in their piece is.

In these changing times, the new breed of transcribers need to cultivate and incorporate within their work the following skills: 

• Comprehension of the gist of the message

• An innate sense to re-listen or replay parts of the audio if they think what they typed did not make sense

• Good grammar skills and the common sense to run their completed transcription through a spelling and grammar checker if they are in doubt of their own skills and

• The down-to-earth common sense to get into the speaker’s head and truly  understand what they meant to say. 

Transcripts that are provided as part of a course, a teleseminar or a webinar are provided to the client's audience as a PDF file. These are consequently saved to their computers, printed out or viewed online. An effective transcriber should keep this in mind to ensure that all the elements within the transcript are in order and makes sense. The overall purpose of the transcription is really fulfillment of the client's expectations, the sincerest intention to be true to the intended message and longevity.

The above skills often come before typing skills. This is something of course that can't be taught overnight. However, they can be cultivated if one is just willing to learn and expand their outlook in life. While it takes time and some effort, it will result to a more rewarding experience for both the transcriber and the client. 

As is said, typing speed comes with practice; the really important common sense stuff is something that is individually imbibe at will. In the end, the quality of the end product will definitely show the difference.

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Our Services (as of April-2013)

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."

- Charles Dickens

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Musings of a Hesitant Online Soul - Influence

A series...

Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another. – George Elliot

I have many men and women in my life that influenced me but there was one that left a profound, indelible mark in me, whose life, struggles and values I draw inspiration from. She was my first teacher on the intricacies of growing up, of finding love, of independence, of facing life’s battles.

She has lived her life so ahead of her times and I was and I still am at awe at her strong will and independence as a woman who survived manmade and natural disasters to head her family of old parents and brothers. She lived to raise her children on her own because she chose not to marry a man who can’t live monogamously. She was enterprising on her own ways and settled to live by her own means, albeit simply.

She’s definitely an epitome of a determined woman and I am grateful to have been brood under her wings for the most significant years of my adulthood. She taught me lessons in life which I strive to live by – to find beauty in simplicity, to not be ashamed of dirty and callous hands because it means one is capable of tending for her own self, to not be afraid of love and yet to not rush in the matters of the heart because there is so much in the world to explore. 

She lived to an amazing hundred years old and in her passing, I didn't have the emotional strength to pay her tribute. But, I vowed to tell her tale to my children and their children; that there was once a woman whom I watched my first movie with. 

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Musings of a Hesitant Online Soul - Connections

A series...

I love everything that’s old – old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine. – Oliver Goldsmith

In this highly commercial world where there’s insatiable quest for something new, it is easy to get lost by all the materialism and fleeting encounters. It’s so ironic how we have so much more in our times than ever before the generation before us had, in terms of possessions and relationships but feels downright more empty handed, unfulfilled and wanting.

This is why I strive to stay connected to my past, to keep my relationships with the people who were part of my journey alive. These people and the experiences we had together make me appreciate where I have been, how I came to be now, of how much has come my way. It is always bliss to get reconnected to old friends, old classmates, old family relations who oftentimes are the ones I easily severe ties with. For me, there’s no other thing as nurturing for my being than a trip back to a childhood home.

I have come to realize that every moment, every relationship, every experience in my life makes me whole. When I ran off from any of those that I once had, whether it’s a friendship or an intimate relationship, or a memory - it’s a chip off my fulfillment. It’s not about holding on to the past but of accepting what was and making it an integral part of what I am and will still be in this life. Keeping my connection to the people that touched me in certain ways is truly living in the present.   

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Musings of a Hesitant Online Soul - Life As I Know It

A series...

As I begin my journey into a new phase in my personal and professional life, I’m recalling and reliving the snippets of learning that life threw my way so far.

My pursuit for happiness is never equated with self centeredness. Allowing myself to be happy ultimately allows me to bring out and cause happiness to the important people in my life. 

Everything in this world will come to pass. I have learned to easily accept pain, loss and failure as I know the feeling will soon pass and the only mark to remember by are the valuable lessons and experiences gained. I appreciate and enjoy what I have while I have them, and is grateful for all there is, so that when these things pass, I can honestly say I was done and over with them.

Though I strive to be the best of what I can be, I know we all have a place in this world to take and the role I will take doesn’t make me any greater or lesser than the next person.  But in life’s stature, I contend myself that there will always be someone greater and lesser than myself and keeping this in mind makes me grounded and humbled.

I believe there is always something for everyone. I always cultivate an attitude of abundance, where sharing what I have and what I know will never mean that I will have less in my bucket.

Finish the game. This is a special anecdote which I hold close to my heart. It inspires me no end to never stop striving, to always finish whatever endeavor I am at. Winning or losing is secondary; the driving force is taking on the challenge to the finish. 

So my journey to life's next learning begins. 

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Musings of a Hesitant Online Soul - Big Leaps

A series...

“Man is free at the moment he wishes to be” – Voltaire, French Writer

I couldn’t agree more on this fitting statement as I face what I personally declared a good year of big changes.  As I entered the Year of the Water Snake, it was all big changes unfolding for all the people close to me and myself as well.  These changes resonate to the fact that we all effected these changes when we exercised our innate freedom to do what we really wished and desired.

I was free at that moment I knew I was ready to leave the doldrums of the constant rush and seemingly endless concerns of the corporate world. It was a big decision to make but it was more than liberating to truly hold together the more important facets in my life – of being truly present to my children on their growing years, of being able to support my husband with his own challenges.

From changing your career midway in your life to pursuing your interest, to accepting new challenges, to capping your career, to leaving your place of comfort to journey into a new one – these are the freedoms that we have been seeking all our lives. We are free to embrace what we truly desire, to live it, to enjoy it and to be in that moment – we only have to know that we are free to do so at the moment we wished for it. To take the big leap is to begin again. 

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Musings of a Hesitant Online Soul - Transitions and Integrity

First of a series...

Telecommuting was not new to me having worked for over a decade on a remote work set-up for a corporation. Transitioning to freelance work after leaving the corporate world was especially different as it now involved multiple clients with varied needs of expertise and services. The only striking similarity between the two is that both operate in a fast paced working environment.

It caught me by surprise though as I learned after several applications later that contrary to what I initially thought, it was not that easy to get your first break in online work. It felt like starting on a clean slate no matter how meaty your credential is. Finding the best fit for your skills from a pool of job postings was the first hurdle I had to face. Getting clients to notice your profile amidst a sea of contractors was just as challenging. In the virtual world, the earliest challenge is to rise above obscurity and receive the gift of a first successful client interaction. Afterwards, you work your way to be identified as credible virtual professional.

One of my earliest realizations too in the virtual world is that it operates on sheer integrity. I find it to be highly remarkable and believe it is one of the highest forms of integrity at work; when you never see each other personally yet trade services, entrust confidential information and process payments much like in the real world. In retrospect, being honest with myself, expanding my capabilities and performing with a sincere desire to be of service to my clients, are what I truly believe are keys to building my continued presence online. This is my reality now.

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