Am I going to be caught in the middle of an internet war? In a way, i feel a bit strange, as i’m an american in china with google seeming to fight with the chinese government. and its seeming to become more policital then anything…..usa internet companies are siding with google / us government, and chinese internet companies are siding with chinese government / china culture.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Alibaba-says-Yahoo-reckless-apf-1224635903.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=

Alibaba says Yahoo ‘reckless’ on Google stance

China e-commerce giant Alibaba calls shareholder ‘reckless’ for support of Google

BEIJING (AP) — China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba turned on major shareholder Yahoo Inc. on Saturday, calling the American company’s support of Google in its standoff with China “reckless.”

Google has promised to stop censoring its search results in China, threatening to pull out of the country altogether if it can’t operate an unfiltered search engine. Yahoo has said it was “aligned” with Google’s position, though it’s not clear what that means.

“Alibaba Group has communicated to Yahoo! that Yahoo’s statement that it is ‘aligned’ with the position Google took last week was reckless given the lack of facts in evidence,” Alibaba spokesman John Spelich said Saturday. “Alibaba doesn’t share this view.”

Yahoo closed its own offices in China several years ago when it sold much of its business there to the Alibaba Group. Yahoo retains a 39 percent stake in Alibaba that represents one of Yahoo’s most valuable assets.

I hope I don’t get in the middle, sure i’m a small business owner in china. I love my staff, my team, what I have here so far. Took a lot of dedication and persistence.

China is a great market, a place of the future. I cannot leave that now. i will not turn my back on what we have here. There will be an answer.

Just wondering…what does this all mean…..its bringing some strange tension in the air. google china internet how will it all add up.

seems like I have to do it now…..i’m sure that the chinese government will retaliate and start blocking google services. already they have blocked youtube, blogger, and some others for over a year….but imagine google gmail, google english search.

too much risk for me to sit and wait….i need to at least develop a plan B.

talking to my friend Dustin down in Phuket, Thailand - he’s already in the internet world and wants to cooperate. Been already in contact with some other internet and ecommerce companies there.

I’m not gonna just bail on my China office / staff like Google seems to be doing (reports they gave a few months severance package already), I trust they will work well like they are doing….I have already re-organized the company here and seems they are working indepently now. I plan to visit regularly….Thailand isn’t so far.

maybe this is just a wake up call for me, i can’t be so settled down in China. I need to explore more, see more, develop international relations.

Maybe Ill come back, i am going to try to keep some operations here, sourcing some products, maintaining some projects. I care about my team and won’t let them down.

Just can’t sleep these days…and it came so suddenly…only started hearing reports 3 or 4 days ago about this baidu / google / china government showdown….

man….its all over the news these days…..Google is looking to exit the market in China….

its just gone that far in China….they are blocking my friend’s Chinese blogs here, they have blocked twitter, facebook and others….

it seems unfair, google is considered to be the last major foreign internet company in china….yahoo sold out to alibaba , so many others are blocked……

makes me start to wonder, how can i run an ecommerce internet company in china doing ecommerce and english promotion….when constantly blogs, facebook, twitter, and now google down.

how can i check my email - people all over the place here are backing up their email. its insane…..my company email is run on google apps for business. will my staff not be able to access their email.

so, i have to start thinking of what if….what if….

move to hong kong temporarily - i have some friends there. stay on their couch. decide what to do. i can continue to send money to shenzhen company remotely, i trust my staff to continue to go to the office. i will continue to pay them.

do i stay in hong kong. maybe thailand, or phillippines. i have some support and some friends in those countries. singapore is another.

or even back to usa. nah…..i have to stay on this side of the world.

am i over- reacting…..

i mean, i hope china then doesnt start to seize foreign companies in china. then again, the company is owned by the hong kong company, so the government wouldnt see me immediately as an american owned company here- they would see the company as hong kong owned.

just another day in china. is this another scare…..but it seems real, it seems a standoff between google and the chinese government. and i dont think google will win. Chinese government cannot change their censorship policy , it would make them look weak…….

been exactly 2 years since my first and only trip to beijing. not sure how it always ends up that i come here in the winter….for those not familiar with the location of various cities of china- i live in southern china (guangdong province, city of shenzhen) which is right across from hong kong. for the climate there, it never snows, and only for 2 or 3 months in the year you need to wear a jacket (lighter jacket at that) - so i parallel southern china to southern usa - florida or california type climate with palm trees, large rainstorms, and rather humid.

here in the capital city of beijing, its up in the northern region of china. somewhat similar to northeastern usa, but i think a bit cooler here then new york city - maybe closer to a boston winter.

but the really noticeable differences is the dry air!! again, i noticed it being here, i become desparate to drink some water - my throat is anxiously awaiting liquid! and then there is the traffic, just the sheer volume of people in this city - subways, roads - all jam packed almost any time of the day or night. To control it, the government has issues license plates that only allow certain cars to be on the road monday, wednesday, friday and the other set on tuesday, thursday, saturday. Still, the roads are just overcrowded, and taking a taxi across town has the majority sitting in traffic.

so what is my plan here in beijing? well, firstly, its been a while since coming to this capital city, and i have made contacts here i really want to see. plus jonny from the bronx, my nyc friend, is ending his mba exchange program semester here in a few weeks - so i can hang out with him and have a couch to stay on too. Plus its my friend Yuki Sun’s birthday this weekend, so have a party with her and some mutual friends.

on the business side, I have arranged some meetings with ecommerce companies, seeing if there are synergies and ways to cooperate with loadpipe and online fulfillment, distribution, and promotion.

also for electrapour and bar products, meeting some marketing people in the bar and nightclub industry, hope to get some more representation up in the north of china.

so, rolling with the punches, exploring, networking, and seeing if i can get some business developments - the whole living my job is the real deal. but while overworked, under pressure, and a tad bit stressed, i enjoy this type of lifestyle more then anything..always thinking business and strategizing.

…I can talk to the internet and it never gets bored………..I was going to write this as an internal staff memo, but why not make it a blog entry to share with anyone who cares to read! A lot going on, so hope to get to the point and not bore everyone:

I will first talk about our current projects and work here at Shadstone:

1) new office - today my friend Kitty Lee got me in touch with a great warehouse / office space outside of Shekou, near the Shekou theatre. Its an older building, high ceilings, 2nd floor walk up - but has lots of “character” and flexibility as office / warehouse. Think it will be perfect for our shipping and ecommerce projects. Plus customers can visit to see the products and buy on the spot.  I sent a list of questions to Jojo to talk to the owner about, this current lease ends in Feb, we will see what happens, not urgent but making plans.

2) looking to hire - we have a lot of work coming in for ecommerce, with loadpipe , electrapour, and other web promotion projects we need to keep the steady flow of good team members.  We are mostly looking for entry to mid level website HTML people to create and maintain domains.

3) Loadpipe - I made aversion 2.0 IT plan for the programmer, and also have him reviewing the bugs / revisions on the current edition.  Will bargain and discuss, hope to get some improvements on it soon.  Also, seems close to getting a few more regular customers, and discussing with multiple US fulfillment centers about cooperation - Webgistix company and I have been chatting over the weekend via email too.  Things getting interesting.

4) Electrapour - have the version 2.0 going to USA and UK after months of production. I have a phone call tomorrow with the New  York City patent holder to give him an update.  I am confident we will land some good sales and exposure, also developing a whole product line of LED bar products (glasses, ice cubes, and more) to cross promote and build value in the brand.

5) Samba Nights Bar - after talking to the restaurant owner of Gaucho, Tony, it is still in planning phase.  We did do a couple parties to get a feel for what people thought.  David Ho and I are talking about him taking more of a lead on this project.  Just a matter of “time” vs “ROI”.

6) New york Bar Store .com - I am getting back to one of my first ecommerce projects,  hoping to fix the financial crisis it is going through.  Restructuring, bargaining, and re-building the whole shopping cart and processing backend.  A good project, but consuming a lot of time.  Believe it will help the team learn ecommerce in USA and will be a fruitful return once things are streamlined.  Christmas holiday rush will be a strain though…..hold on to your butts and enjoy the ride!

7) Website promotion - we are doing a great job promoting all these projects and I am extremely pleased at how we are working as a team to get the job done.  Once we get even more organized, experienced, and familiar with how everyone works, it will be even bigger and brigher future.

Now….my schedule for the next few weeks is a bit crazy….while I work all weekend, weekday, and night, I do have a real LIFE, and sadly, my grandmother (nana!) has fallen deeply ill and was rushed to the hospital late last week.  My parents, and uncles are taking best care of her….but I feel I have to get over there and see how things are  going.

1) Hong Kong - my university friend from New Jersey is in Hong Kong for a week or so.  I am going to try to see her this Tuesday, meet her friends and family.  Also want to do some banking (HSBC is giving me trouble , again!) and check up on my Hong Kong company accountant (he is  too quiet….something is up, annual filing is due!)

2) Beijing - leaving this Thursday for almost a week.  Scheduling some meeting s with Internet companies, mainly to discuss loadpipe and integration on the internet.  Also, Jon Conte (most of the team met him when he came to Shenzhen) is finishing up his term at Beijing university, so he has a place for me to sleep & I can save on a hotel.  Plus its been since Oct/Nov 2007 since I was last in Beijing.  A good friend’s (Yuki Sun) birthday too.  So lots of business to attend to.

3) USA - seems to be more urgent then ever (been 1.5 years since I was to United States) that my Nana (grandmother) is sick, but its due for a visit anyway.  BUT I am filing my work permit….is this going to get in the way? Well first have to go to Florida to spend time with grandma….hope she gets well.  Then hope to do some business, see my university and coworkers in New Jersey, New York City.  then get up to Connecticut to see my high school and grade school pals.  Talk business of course too, with friends and people I ahve been networking with on linkedin, facebook, twitter, and finding me through my websites.  Hope to get some good business for all the projects open - especially loadpipe fulfillment and ecommerce.

Hope this keeps everyone up to date on what I am doing.  Glad I made this blog years ago, as Marie Balaan says….I can talk to the internet and it never gets bored!  sO I just keep on talking

I try not to get my emotions mixed into things…but life is life…and I am who I am…..I guess I genuinely care about the outcomes in life for others like myself……maybe that is why I get myself in difficult situations to begin with……

But right now, I am part of DBR Shenzhen Oy and I have been back from a meeting in Finland to discuss business. I feel like my ideas and strategic direction has not been put in place. But, unfortunately for me, I am not the majority vote, plus I am not the one investing the capital. So I have tried my best to work as hard as I can for the embetterment of the company.

I guess I have a strong personality when I am passionate about something, and I feel lately that I am being held back with office space, hiring / firing, and other decisions in the company. I try to understand all sides of the story, and I have considered that I am not the investor here. I have also considered others have to have a more clear idea and communication of how the operations are run….I really do. But I feel I was put into this group to contribute my experience in China and on the Internet. I do not feel those points were well taken, and my frustration has gone beyond what I can withstand.

So…a Fork in the Road, do I keep sucking it up, maybe not agreeing, and almost giving up my “backbone” and just accepting the current situation….or, do I cause a issue and make my voice heard.

I guess….I choose to speak up, and I am now caught in this tough situation…..to stay or to go….and how to settle the situation, current business, and everyone can live life happily afterwards?

The sad part is, these business colleagues have been or become my friends during these times. But business is business, and I have to speak up or just burst later……

But yes, I may be walking away from something big here……….I really hope it does become big. But right now, for me, I can walk away from money - I am not driven by money…..I left Deutsche Bank at 4.5 years, if I waited 6 more months, I would have been “vested” and I saw the money in the online profile in my HR online account….but I didn’t want that to be a reason I waited to make my move in my life / career.

These tough times makes us stronger, the more difficult conversations we have, the greater we become, and the wiser.

So I have been pushing my twitter, facebook, and all other social media tools like no other over the weekend. I start to really realize connecting to friends online now is big business, and its not really friends anymore, its the new link trading and public relations. I have been saying how facebook is copying twitter, and that facebook will probably win over time - as it has a bigger and more loyal userbase.

The main difference being that twitter is public profiles and information for the world to see, while facebook users are a bit more private and have to be friends before seeing their status updates.

Well, this Monday morning I head to my computer to check my twitter - and it was SUSPENDED!

I check into my API tools, maybe its tweetlater, as a few of my accounts have been suspended - so I check their blog - twitter account suspensions then I start to wonder, is it this tweetlater tool that is behind my account being suspended?

Then, just twitter posted an update about the situation and specifically said it is not tweetlater’s fault.

Its just amazing how this has become a part of my life, and so many others. And how people like to point fingers so quickly. Hope it all works out ok.

The 20th anniversary of Tiananmen massacre on June 4th is approaching, so it seems the Chinese government is adding more to the blocked list. My favorite new site, Twitter, has been blocked, as well as hotmail, the new search engine bing (microsoft), flickr, wordpress, and probably more we cannot find now. That adds to the list of blogger, youtube.

I noticed it a few hours ago trying to access twitter…and it was working here maybe 7 hours ago, as I was using it in the office earlier.

Luckily I have a way around the great firewall, but I have to pay extra money for it, as well as its a tedious workaround. I’m trying to upload images on my wordpress blog, but keep getting errors, will try later with my workaround, but too tired to do it now. unbelievable….but yahoo and google still work, so what is this preventing? maybe those are next. Guess the internet needs to be controlled by the government here, and we need to seek approval for any information posted. hope this blog isn’t next….

help, China blocked me in a box!

Its now 3am here on a saturday night / sunday morning….wow, i’m more of geek more then ever!!! Tomorrow (yes, Sunday!) the office is opened as the Chinese government made Sunday a workday due to Thursday and Friday being a holiday, so being here on a Saturday isn’t as bad then…

crazy damn bird

follow me on twitter @michelini

But this twitter….for months I’ve had a username, hearing about it, but I’ve put tons of effort learning it…and yes, it takes some time getting the hang of it. And most of my friends still think its pointless…..which actually makes me realize there is still upside and opportunity for it.

Here’s how I’ve gotten exicted about it:

1) SHORT messages….I HATE LONG EMAILS….this is straight to the point, like my A.D.D. attention span personality needs.

2) CAN SEE WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING - no need to “friend request” like in facebook or linkedin to see who they are and what they are doing.

3) most people on twitter are friendly and curious! you can shoot messages to random people, and get answers. And both people enjoy it!

4) real time search - I want to partake in conversations about china, beer pong, new internet products - I go to search.twitter.com and then plug it in, see what people are saying, AND THEN REPLY TO THEM! get some answers. Interact. And most are still amazed - “how did you find me?”

5) use it when you want - roll my sleeves up, log in, jump into my messages, direct tweets, streams, and real time search. Interact with all people from the world, perspectives. Ruffle some feathers, get some perspective. now this is life!

So i’m pushing to bring back to life many old websites, learning more wordpress, more 2.0 ways to get internet exposure.

THIS IS THE NEW INTERNET, are you ready? strap in and buckle up.

Going through the travels, and mainly I’ve been always “tiptoeing” around the internet, but maybe not confident to do it 100%. Mobatech I was getting into sales and marketing, which lead to new york bar store, to shadstone - and in shadstone I was going to make it a marketing company, but decided instead of doing marketing for others, I would market my own new import/ export business. This was because, well if I can get on the top of google for “bar products” and sell a bottle opener, then try to get on the top for “buy container from china” and make a bigger average order size. After almost 2 years trying to do import/ export I moved into 100% internet SEO and marketing. With a little bit of spyble, mixed with influences from friends and business partners, I was convince to go 100% into what I have a passion for the internet.

Then I wonder why I didnt do this earlier? I remember always doing other people’s websites, and being overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. Maybe its because I cannot sell the service correctly, maybe its because I cannot deal with people, or I’m a pushover / too nice. But I enjoy makeing internet technology, and getting people to interact with a website online.

Last week went to the biggest SEO event in china in the city of Xiamen, and was invited as a Speaker! Spoke about keyword tools, keyword research, and how to organize your website correctly. Met many like minded people and it made me wish I was doing internet marketing as a full time effort a lot earlier. better late then never!!

Dinner with the president of SEOMOZ.org - Gillian Meussig, aka “SEO mom”, visiting China from Seattle!

Speaking at the show, about 300 attendees.

In front of the entrance