Despite the numerous projects that I’ve worked on, there is a pattern to all this chaos and this has always been my focus since. A few things stuck out and one is blogging (or writing as others would prefer to call it). My passion to share knowledge to those who care to listen has always been there from the start. I’ve been very fortunate to have been given the chance to do so through this medium.

With this being said, I’d like to take this opportunity to share what I’ve done in the past and projects that I’m working on. Probably a little bit of history would be good too.

Humble History

It was 2002 when I first tried writing about my life online. The blogosphere was scarce and there were only a couple of platforms being offered. LiveJournal was my first home but eventually moved to Blogger. After a few years, I found Squarespace and this is when I decided to move to the next level and talk about my professional life at Call Center Blurbs and closed my Blogger posts to the public.

My first stint as a professional blogger was when Know More Media’s COO offered me a job to contribute to one of their blogs within their network - Call Center Script. I gave it a shot and this is where I got formally trained, met a lot of great writers and learned the business perspective of running a blog network. Despite the stressful lifestyle in the BPO industry, I wrote in the weekends and earned extra money. I even tried contributing to BizToolBelt, but my schedule didn’t quite fit in. Unfortunately, the KMM team had to part ways due to financial reasons.

My Projects Today

Fast forward to today, I’ve started and revamped niche’ blogs as a medium for me to continue sharing my knowledge. Wordpress is my platform of choice and have been using it since.

Call Center Blurbs still exists and when KMM ceased operations, some of my readers moved here. I’m thinking of how to continue on and provide more content to my readers.

I’ve always been an advocate of providing excellent customer service and Philippine Customer Service serves that purpose. I have so much content in my so called “writing den” that hasn’t been published yet. I’ve invited Paolo Reyes to be my co-blogger in the site, being someone who shares the same passion I have to elevate service in the country.

A Throb of Knowledge has been a hodgepodge of topics and was more of a placeholder for posts that don’t fit in any of my blogs. Originally called Knowledge Pulse, it was supposed to be focused on things I learn and discuss my new and shiny toy discoveries.

Philippine Webinars was born out of the need to connect it to my business. The world of webinars specifically for the local market.

One would think it would end there but I’ve just started a new one called Social Games Broadcast, a video blog site that showcases social games from different developers. I’m currently in the midst of adding more content but I’m seeing a lot of traffic already. This was born out of my experience from my current writing career within the gaming industry.

With so many blogs, managing my business, and planning to launch other projects (yes, there are more but not blogs), I am only one person. I’ve been branded as a “super woman” but we all know that super heroes need help from friends too. If you’d like to join in the fun, you know where to find me.

My first week involved three games, Mall World, Ranch Town and Birdland. Here is a list of links for you to check out to know more about these  games.

MALL WORLD
Mall World Guide
A quick start guide that will provide you with tips to play Mall World.

Several Ways to Earn Money and Increase Cash Flow
How to Maximize the Use of your Look Book
Earn More Profit from Buying the Right Collection

RANCH TOWN
Ranch Town Guide
A quick start guide that will provide you with tips to play Ranch Town.

What Multi-Purpose Machines Produce
How Neighbors and Gifting Help you Earn Coins

BIRDLAND
Birdland Guide
A quick start guide that will provide you with tips to play Birdland.

Tips on Playing Birdland’s Kitchen Game
What Activities Earn Coins in Birdland
How to Level Up Faster in Birdland

If you are interested in adding me as a neighbor in any of these games, you can add my gaming persona, Petal Mayer. I had to separate it from my personal account so that I can publish all game events to experience all aspects of the game.  If you are a game developer or publication that publishes articles on social games, I am also available to accept more writing assignments.

All guides and tips were published in Gamezebo.

A few years back, I discovered casual games and loved it.  It was a perfect way for me to relieve stress because it didn’t demand too much of my time.  Playing a new downloadable game every 2-3 weeks was part of my routine. Time management, simulation and strategy games were the usual genres I played.

Now, because of Facebook, I’ve become addicted to games within the site. From Farmville to Cafe World and even NanoTowns, I’m one among the millions in the world who checks daily and makes sure the crops haven’t withered.

Because of my addiction and passion for writing, I decided to write a guide for NanoTowns in my Throb of Knowledge blog. It stemmed from the fact that I didn’t find any guide on the game.  So, I started writing and thought it would benefit other NanoTown gamers.

Fast forward to today, I’ve been fortunate to have been contacted by Joel Brodie, the Founder and CEO of Gamezebo.  He saw my posts and gave me a chance to write for his website. It was a great opportunity! Not only do I get the chance to play and write, Gamezebo is home to me.  I’ve been a subscriber and loyal reader for years now. I accepted the job and enjoying every minute of it.

I currently write quick start guides and tips for new Facebook games.  If you want to know more about the latest, Gamezebo is the place to go.

Some people “twit” and not “tweet”.

Okay, before you start thinking I’m an elitist, hear me out.

I, at one point doubted myself.  I asked, “Am I tweeting or twitting?” Hey, it sounds right.  Twitter is the application and it makes sense to “twit” right? After extensive research (yes I actually spent time to look it up), I’ve found that people tweet and not twit. Because of Twitter’s popularity, there is a Twittonary and a site that lists Twitter words.

This is not the first blog post written on the subject and thought, “Hey, I’m not alone.”

But, does it really matter whether you say that you’ve “twitted” instead of “tweeted”? If I was Twitter, I would appreciate if the right word (verb in this case) is used. Like any language, if one uses the word in the wrong context, then you start confusing people of what you’re trying to say.  Besides, I wouldn’t want to use the four letter word because I am not a Twit (idiot).

Photo courtesy of Matt Hamm.

My first blog carnival starts within my call center blogosphere.  The Call Center Blurbs Blog Carnival will showcase blog articles written by call center professionals.  I was thinking if I should focus on one location but like any magazine, an issue can have a theme or focus.  I could have a Philippine Call Centers edition or probably a Humor / Comics edition.  The possibilities are endless.

As of this writing, I’m seriously considering another blog carnival focused on my other blogs.  The only hesitation comes from the fact that I don’t know if I have the time to maintain several carnivals.  Oh, and well it depends on how receptive my readers are on submitting their articles.

Join me in this experiment! Create your own blog carnival or if you have one, do share.

Thinking that most bloggers would know this, apparently not a lot take the time to configure their blog settings to check for spam. Though this is mostly taken care of by top blogging providers, there are some that are still primitive  or it doesn’t do it for you automatically.

Here are some of the things that help me spot a genuine comment from a fake.

1. People who don’t know your real name (see example in picture) is obviously a spammer.  They don’t even bother to read your About page. If someone’s intentions are real then they would make sure they are addressing the author correctly.
2. (dot) ru.  I see a lot of email addresses ending with .ru, accompanied by weird characters.  They are Russian.  I would normally delete any email that has that extension because of experience.  But, from time to time, I still check with a translation tool in case it is legit.
3. Appreciation. If the praise isn’t appropriate and seem “fishy” then it’s spam.  It feels good for a second but you will realize it’s not intended  to please or give feedback.  It’s easy to delete it then.
4. Bookmarking.  You will get messages that say they will bookmark your blog.  If it’s a one liner, I delete it.  If you want to seriously pat the blogger’s back then I’m sure you would say something else to support the praise.

There are more tips out there to help you combat comment spam.  Do share and provide the links so bloggers can get back their time and focus on writing and building relationships with their readers.

Just found an alternative (and could be the next best thing) advertising medium that makes a lot of sense. Introducing Magpie, utilizing Twitter to advertise your products and services.  It’s fantastic actually and makes a lot of sense.

They claim that their ads are likely to be clicked than your average banner or text links.  A graph is even shown to compare the click-through-rates between different online advertising mediums.

Interesting to note that they only use Paypal as a payment option for your campaign.  Oh, and it is in Euros not $US dollars.  Surprised?  I was.

“Better late than never!”, I always said.  With so much enthusiasm I decided to do it full time.  I left my high paying job just to have time to write.

Other than starting my book and hope to publish it someday, I focused my energies in blogging.  I started 3 years ago with 2 private blogs, created Call Center Blurbs, got discovered and was invited to write as a paid blogger for Call Center Script.  Now, I’ve created several more apart from this personal blog.

I decided to continue writing at Call Center Blurbs when Know More Media ceased their operations last August.  Decided to start a new one called Knowledge Pulse, which talked about gaining knowledge and enhancement of skills within the professional arena.  With the recent venture on entrepreneurship, I also write in Philippine Webinars, promoting the webinar and virtual events industry within the Philippine space.  The latest is Philippine Customer Service, which discusses about the state of customer service within the country, hoping to elevate its standards for better business and personal experiences.

It is going to be difficult to keep content fresh in each of the blogs but I know I just need to pace myself.  By creating structure and scheduling posts for each blog will help.  I’ve always been the organized freak anyway, so I might as well use it.

Do visit some or all of the blogs.  You might just like one that suits your taste.