Blog round-up and events to check out

There are so many things happening in the blogging community that I ought to share and spread the word. Some of them are:

• FilipinaImages partnered with WikiPilipinas for the Filipina Writing Contest. I encourage everyone who joined the W3O Filipina Writing Project to support this one and join. Deadline for submission of entries is on March 16.
  
  
• Regnard Raquedan also sent me an email about a forthcoming seminar that he is organizing. This is the Corporate Communications 2.0: Corporate Blogging. This will be on March 7, 2008.
  
  
• Our Davao friends are organizing the Davao Food Appreciation Tour this March 15 to 17. So for those who are into some gastronomic adventure, this is one activity you may want to join.
  
  
• Last month, I've decided to support Aileen by joining the You Got Tech volunteer bloggers. For now, I'm posting interviews I've done of other people and hope to be more active soon.

Browsing the Philippine blogosphere, you might find the following to be of interest:

• Cheers to Baddie for his new career. I wonder which of his mad skillz worked best. If I'll be able to write something as "astig" as he does it, I'll be very happy.
  
  
• I find Migs' twitter-style (or theme) blog to be interesting. I hope someone will create a similar template for blogger.
  
  
• Lestat shared his personal experience in reclaiming his blog's Google PageRank in one week.
  
  
• I enjoyed Lauren's intimate post about the girlfriend thing. I thought when you get settled down, that thing passes, but it is still there when there's so much love.
  
  
• Woobie shared an old post on the art of kiss and tell. It reminds me of Xerex.
  
  
• For those of you who are subscribed to so many blog feeds, Eugene shares a tip on how to organize feeds by priority.
  
  
• Have you seen a peel-away ad? Jepoy has one and it might be worth checking out.
  

Aileen Apolo: a great 2007 and busier 2008

Saying that 2007 was a hectic year for Aileen Apolo can be an underestimate. In the video enclosed in this post, she shared her humble view on how 2007 went but she is determined to outperform herself in 2008 and give more back to the community. Her being active also made me cite her several times through the year that includes:

• She received a special prize in the Filipina writing project.
  
• Aileen demonstrated that even new bloggers can do something big with the right connections and network. Her Taste Asia 1 and 2 at SM Mall of Asia are unbeatable events to date.
  
• Her blog leads the list of Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2007.
• She is one of the most popular Filipina using Twitter.
• She's a resource person in the recently concluded ICT training for women NGOs, iBlog3: the 3rd Philippine Blogging Summit. (She became one of my favorite resource persons after our successful Women on the Web, Wireless, and Outsourcing roadshow.)
• It was amusing to think that I once made a post calling for possible Valentine's Day date for her. Just to be surprised later on that that she found real love within the community.

How did your 2007 go?

Thanks to Filipino videographer Buddy Gancenia for taking this video shot.

Most popular blog posts and top problogger

Basapa's post on the most popular Filipino blog posts of 2007 and 2007 top Pinoy probloggers attracted my attention.

I am happy to see that the posts: top 10 emerging influential blogs of 2007, join the Filipina writing project, and winners of the top 10 emerging influential blogs of 2007 made it to that list.

These blogging projects came to life out of my desire to discover new bloggers and support efforts to boost the online identity of the Filipina. These activities also opened opportunities for blogging consulting projects and continuous flow of advertisers in our blog advertising network.

Browsing through Basapa's list clearly shows that 2007 is a year of contests and events that attracted bloggers attention. For those who have been blogging for quite sometime, you will see the connection between those posts as they have an effect on each other. It is also a reflection that despite the challenges and antagonisms, a lot manage to be proactive, respectful, humble, forgiving, and vigilant.

On the 2007 top Pinoy probloggers, I am happy to be in it but at the same time unsure if I should be there. I guess if it is a listing of blogs, ranking according to their blog juice, then perhaps I am. But if it is assumed that we pro-blog on the blogs listed and where we get our income, then that does not necessarily apply to me. Nevertheless, great to see that new bloggers who got cited in the top 10 emerging influential blogs of 2007 like Carl Ocab, Paolo Mendoza, and Juan Karlo Licudine made it to that list.

Will Twitter replace Yahoo Groups?

When I started using Twitter last April, it was a tool that I never took seriously. Upon reaching 100 followers today, I've realized the following:

• Twitter serves as a virtual chat room where you can post messages that can be viewed by everyone or addressed to friends that can be seen by mutual contacts.
• Use Twitter to disseminate job openings, new blog posts, and interesting articles. This has affected my Yahoo Groups usage drastically and am now considering inviting my subscribers to use it. The only dilemma is that I won't be able to view their messages to me unless I follow or track them too. That is not an easy task if all of them will join.
  
• Used Twitter as a means to remind people on developments regarding the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs and the Filipina Writing Project.
• Whenever I encounter online disappointments, I have a need to rant a little. Posting two messages in Twitter was enough to let it out.
  
• However, when these disappointments became big issues later on, Twitter became a means to clarify concerns and information asked by contacts.
  
• When there's tension between two Twitter users, breaking the follow connection is always a great relief and avoid any possible misinterpretation of messages.
• The more I used it, I felt an indirect closer connection as I get to know the people I follow better. I guess the same can be said vice versa. Aileen Apolo's unplanned YM conference birthday celebration last night would not be possible (for me to join) if not for Twitter.
• Unexpectedly, Twitter can also allow contacts to get to know people's perspective on issues.
  

Although there are now other services popping in the market that is similar to Twitter, I find it hard to use another one as updating it won't be easy. So is Twitter the new Yahoo Groups? If you are using it to disseminate updates, like I do, probably it will be.

Attaining search engine visibility for Filipina

This blog post is a guide for those who have joined or planning to join the Filipina Writing Project where one of its objective is to attain search engine visibility for Filipina. I encourage those who are good at search engine optimization to share some tips as well.

• Highlight the word Filipina (you can also use phrases such as Filipina women, Filipina dating, Filipina hearts, Filipina singles) in your blog post and link it to your entry.
  
• If you have several blogs, link to your entry from the sidebar and/or make a blog post about it. Use the word Filipina (you can also use phrases such as Filipina women, Filipina dating, Filipina hearts, Filipina singles) and link that to your entry.
  
• Ask fellow bloggers to link or make a review of your entry.
• If you are using Google Reader, add it to your shared items.
• Share your entry in The Filipina Images, Social Poster, Article Submitter, Yahoo MyWeb, Digg, StumbleUpon, Netscape, Del.icio.us, Facebook, Pinoyblogosphere, Noypi, Furl, Google Bookmarks, Astigg, among others.
• Submit your blog to various SEO friendly directories or use a directory submitter.
  

In gist, the more you propagate or spread the word about your entry, the higher the chance that it will attract readers and soon gain search engine visibility.

Supporting the Filipina campaign

Around two weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Dine encouraging support for her "Filipina" campaign. Peachy Herrin also shared this concern on our 2nd podcast. Dine and Noemi are also working together on The Filipina Images site with the intent of reshaping the image of the Filipina online.

I first heard of this campaign through Vonjobi who started it. At that time, all I could do is write a post about it.

Writing a blog post may help but I felt that there should be something bigger that needs to be done and hence the launch of the Filipina Writing Project. I'm encouraging everyone to participate and hope that this will also be a good preparation for an eyeball being set up on December 5.

When I posted this last July, it was supposed to be a pure search engine contest of sort. However, it is also a reality that not many are aware of SEO and may find the process complicated. Over the weekend, I began thinking of whether I will just scratch the project or convert it to something else.

This is where the writing project came to mind and perhaps may make more sense. Through quality content, I would like to believe, may be able to affect and influence search engine results. Whether that will be true or not remains to be seen.

I hope you can join the Filipina Writing Project.