It is just an amazing story for me…..but the China dream may not be over its kind of like that godfather mafia…..just when you think you’re out…they keep pulling me back in! But really, I am going where the money is….the opportunity…and after a crazy 2010 traveling and searching….China is still where its at…

Going back and forth between Dong Guan, Guangzhou, & Hong Kong as well as some trips to Philippines seems like will be my new route….sprinkled with my friends and business contacts in Shenzhen. Gonna be exhausting….but still doing what I’m doing.

Internet marketing and ecommerce….I am getting inquiries from USA and other countries who want to warehouse in China, as that is what I am predicting the future will be…..fulfilling directly from China….and foreigners will need allies inside China to get it done….this is going to be a main trend coming the next few years…and this dong guan ecommerce center will be where its at!

So what is Photogaph.com all about? We hope to launch by end of Feb 2011, and I will be responsible for SEO and foreign sales and marketing…I guess this has been my job for all projects…this is my passion, and skill. So I’ll synergize everything….

Also working on the big “ecommerce package” I’ve been talking to my guys at merchant solutions llc – for entrepreneuers who want to sell online…..give them all they need in 1 package….merchant account , shopping cart solution, product sources for drop shipping from China or USA. Its just such a complex thing…and after years of building connections and knowledge between both USA and China ecommerce and internet marketing…..

But the dream is getting closer…ready to rock….I can keep saying I wish this came together sooner…but like I said, its part of my MBA these past few years in China…..except 10 times better, faster, more precious. And who knows what the future will bring, what 2011 will bring….but photograph.com will be a rockstar website selling professional studio accessories online direct from China.

Right now I’m working on keyword research, market survey, getting the site indexed (it was a parked domain for years), looking for guest bloggers, content plan, sitemap. Lots of work, but already what I love to do, and have building up to for years.

I am perfectly positioned to do this in the Philippines, and have been working on a more standard package for businesses to talk to me about. AND I LOVE SOCIAL MEDIA, I live it, breath it…..integrate it into my life, and see the power of it.

Reading an inspiring article this morning from one of my daily reads, websitemagazine.com here it is:

Small Businesses: Facebook as Important as Facetime

Uncertain at first, and still somewhat reluctant overall, small businesses are increasingly implementing social media into their marketing strategies.

A recent survey conducted by Constant Contact revealed that 63 percent of nearly 1,500 small business owners cited Facebook as an important element of their activities during the fall, while more than 30 percent said the same about Twitter. Those numbers were up from 50.5 percent and 25.6 percent, respectively, when the survey was last conducted in March 2010.

The Fall 2010 survey also showed modest increases in more traditional small business marketing strategies such as email marketing, event marketing and online surveys, while direct mail, telephone conversations and in-person interactions all saw modest declines.

In fact, 62 percent of the respondents stated that a Facebook presence is now equally as important to their small businesses as are face-to-face interactions with consumers.

While 2010 was a difficult year for small businesses, most respondents have high hopes for 2011. More than 50 percent of those surveyed have reduced their operating expenses in 2010 – 39.7 percent have reduced their travel and entertainment budgets, and 39.4 percent have reduced their marketing expenditures. Nearly 75 percent, however, expect their businesses to grow in the next year.

This is what disappoints me about Chinese internet filtering. How can I possibly offer this as a service to clients in a country where its illegal to access?

Anyway, Filipinos love this work, I chat to them all day on facebook and twitter….and they are hungry to get involved in projects I am working with. Just packaging it, standardizing it, and measuring it has been the challenge.

But social media is real, and it is here to stay!!!

It was great to see his operations, parents are both actively working in the office.  Met with his inhouse web marketer, Nat, and used a few hours in the conference room going through marketing online.

The fascinating part to me was not my passion, internet marketing, but instead the after effects of his having a baby with his wife and starting a family.  He said how much his life has changed, his eyes have opened to life in a whole new way.  He loves his new addition to his family, and has put it way ahead of his current business…..making him find new ways to manage his business that has been consuming the past 5 years of his life.

We have been in touch even while I was overseas in China / Philippines, and have discussed ways I could help too.  Its also especially difficult for him, because just as he is having his new baby daughter, his father, who started this family business – is coming into retirement…thus adding more stress / responsibility on his plate.

In his shoes, I wonder what I would do.  Its his family business, who have put all their time and money into growing and building this business.  Yet his father is the one who started it, has the sales and client relationships, now its passing on to him.  And at the same time, he is in love with his wife and new baby, who demand more TLC (tender love and care) and the work is piling up.

This is one of those hard (maybe easy to some) decisions you have to make

MONEY  OR LOVE / FAMILY

And it makes you think, what is life all about?  He and I were driving around a bit today, and in cars seems when real stories come out.  We both seem to agree money isn’t everything, and that Americans are under false sense of security with their jobs, home mortgages, nice new cars, and other possessions.  Money comes and goes.  So do possessions.  I think they can be replaced rather easily.  But life, love, family…those are things that we have to think about….can’t get time with our family back.

And this is another reason I am waiting for marriage, sure everyone says you can’t time things, and it happens when you least expect it, but….right now I have to develop business…and still “Find myself”.

Having too many choices has been confusing.  I talked to my friends in China, and they are jealous of American freedom, especially mine that I utilize (As most americans don’t really appreciate/realize/use their true freedom), to go where I want to go, get loans rather easily, and do the job I want to do.  In China, friends tell me they have to work a certain job in order to save money, to pay for family, to pay back debts, etc.  But we have this in USA as well.  ITS CALLED AN EXCUSE if you ask me.

Its hard to do what you really want to do in life.  Even me now…I am hesitatnt to think I can really do what I want to do, and make money with it, for fear that it won’t make much money, or that I won’t impress my friends and family.

So back to Mike Andrews, he is a guy in a crossroads as well…..trying to live up to his family’s hopes and desires by maintaining and growing the family business, yet at the same time, in love with and wanting to spend more time and attention to, his wife and daughter.

What would you do?

Incoming search terms:

• running a business and having a baby
• baby and family business
• start a business with new born
• start a business with a newborn
• running a business with baby
• running a business after having a baby
• New baby and running a home business
• how to start a business with a new born
• having a business and a new born baby
• having a baby while running your own business
• having a baby while running a business
• went home for a while to manage the family business

Hung out at the Teak bar meeting old friends stopping in and out – it was great to see so many faces after such a long time. Richard Persaud stuck with me most of the night, and we had our traditional Johnny walker black and coke drinks! I’m such a traveler, brought my backpack to the bar, which was a rather upscale yuppie bar, and I am in there looking like a college student with my stuffed backpack holding my laptop and change of clothes. Just living life on the road, my friends all said I looked the same as I had left, even younger! Jeez, all over the place in NY and NJ I’m getting ID’d – as I look in my teens or early 20s…..unbelievable. I know, I should be thankful that I look young- I’m almost 30 years old and people think I’m 18 or something!!! Haha…. gotta live with what we got and make the best of it.

Sunday had a lot of meetings to catch up with people in Hoboken.  and again Social media helped me meet and connect with more people – sunday morning grabbing coffee I checked in on foursquare and James Runkle saw I was 1 block from his apartment and asked to meet up – we grabbed coffee and walked around, talking internet, social media, sales cooperation, etc.  It was really cool and amazing.  And this is why I love twitter, facebook, blogging, foursquare, linkedin – its all about not only making NEW connections – but strengthening current relationships….

Anther great thing is the FOOD – I have been going to these buffet stations where you can grab anything you want, they charge you by the pound – so I’m grabbing things I haven’t had in China / Philippines like cottage cheese, macaroni and cheese, salmon (cooked a certain way here), and all kinds of random things.  SO AWESOME!  jeez…i’m probably gonna gain more weight here…..

So after hanging out with Lily,  Richie, alan, cindy, James runkle, Mike Andrews, Nornalie, Lauren, and Silvio Laccetti – man just working deals – met some professors at Stevens Tech…..hope to work more closely with Stevens as they do an exchange program in China – maybe I can help them do something like this in the Philippines…but then again, not sure if its financially possible.  Just want to make things happen and make win-win deals.

ended up buying a NEW PHONE….signing a 2 year contract for US phone service, since I can pause it when I’m not here and it just adds to the time (meaning you cannot escape using 2 full years of service, but can pause it) – I ended up picking t-mobile phone service with an android operating system (google’s new system) – on a samsung galaxy S phone  – a complete copy of the iphone shape/style.  I am a little nervous using a 100% touchscreen – because of prior bad experiences – but the sales rep told me this has a special material, and he threw one on the ground on front of me and it worked fine afterwards.  So lets hope.  The one negative thing is that it doesnt have a flash on its camera!  And I am noticing battery life is only about 7 hours….I need to charge it in the same day I am using it….But I love being wired all the time, as I got the data plan with unlimited data and text messages.

Just still soaking in all the changes and feelings of being back in USA!  Especially New York, I love this crazy hyperactive city.  But I really need some rest, been an intense 4 days.

Incoming search terms:

• hoboken new jersey
• teak bar hoboken
• teak hoboken
• hoboken teak bar
• teak bars

I am so attracted to it because SO MANY PEOPLE ARE SCARED OF IT.  That means its my opportunity, my differentiating factor.  That is how many companies in the past have grown, they have jumped in the middle of industries and sectors that large corporations are afraid to touch!

Reading the news these days – you will continue to see the USA search market decline, and I am always hearing about Chinese factories and trading companies selling DIRECTLY (B2C)…

What does this mean?  It means to further convergence of these 2 internet worlds.  And it seems almost that the 2 governments don’t support it fully….with the Chinese government blocking certain foreign websites (facebook, twitter, etc), and then with USA companies (not government, that we can confirm) making it difficult for chinese companies to enter the USA market directly (ID card, banking, trust its not fraudulent) – I hope I can be a connector of these 2 worlds.

Going to be quite the challenge, but I enjoy that.  Here is a recent article about the declining total search volume in USA.  This means basically that there are less people searching online in the USA.  So a company trying to get customers, is going to have a smaller pool of customers……with what I would assume increasingly fierce competitors both in domestic USA market, as well as overseas markets trying to sell directly to end consumers…

Overall U.S. Search Growth Down Again

---

The latest numbers from comScore show that overall search volume growth in the U.S. fell to 7.6 percent in March, a 2.8-percent difference from the previous month and a considerably steeper drop from March, 2009:

•    March, 2009: 33.1%
•    June, 2009: 21.8%
•    September, 2009: 17.3%
•    December, 2009: 16.5%
•    January, 2010: 12.4%
•    February, 2010: 10.4%
•    March, 2010: 7.6%

Source: Website Magazine

Also, during my presentation in Xiamen Internet Trade Show, in a full conference of Chinese companies attending to learn more about how to sell directly online, and to Western (USA , European) companies…..so many people are there, studying, taking notes, asking questions, and learning more advanced skills and services…..

News Coverage on Chinese Sina a piece is posted here:

Shadstone公司CEO演讲

2010-04-09 14:56:51　来源: 网易科技报道 跟贴 0 条 手机看新闻

Shadstone 公司CEO迈理倪

网易科技讯 4月9日消息，2010厦门全球搜索引擎营销大会今日在厦门举行。网易科技作为独家门户网络支持媒体对大会进行图文直播。

Shadstone公司CEO迈理倪（Michael Michelini）出席本次大会，进行了题为“如何把SEO/SEM技术应用于国际贸易与采购”的主题演讲。

Here you can download my ENGLISH presentation How B2B Chinese Companies Can Differentiate Themselves on the Internet.

It is great to hear about someone wanting to start their own online biz, and while I get a lot, this specific question posted asked me to outline the basic steps of starting an online business, which I then answered:

Answer
Hi Howard,
thanks for your question – well your question is rather open ended, and books are written about this, but i think you want a simple step by step process, here is my best shot:

1) pick a product line
normally, you want to do keyword research (http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com) and competitive analysis on this industry. But also keep in mind if its a product you want to deal with EVERY DAY, so you should have an interest in it. And even if its highly competitive, doesnt mean you can’t find a niche. Maybe you can take sneakers and target working class women who want to have a commuter style shoe.

2) wholesale / drop ship / affiliate -

will you buy your products up front (wholesale)? That may require a lot of upfront cash.  Plus you’ll have to warehouse the goods, and you or someone you gotta convince / pay to do it for you!

Drop ship is where a wholesalers allows you to resell their inventory on your own website / sales channel. Only when you get a online order, then you buy it directly from the wholesaler and they ship direct to your customer, as if it were your own shipment.

affiliate – this isn’t really ecommerce as the customers are sent to other peoples websites to buy, and you are paid a sales commission.

all of these are balanced by risk/reward in their margins. if you are wholesaling, normally you see the max profit margin but the highest risk of upfront capital outlay.

3) choose your sales channels & choose website / brand
i assume you will sell it online, via your own webshop website. But also consider multi sales channels, such as amazon and ebay. For your own webshop, choose a website domain that is catchy, but also contains keywords in the industry you’re targetting.

4) install / setup your webshop
This can be easy, or difficult. Its like anything, you can by a stock car and not customize it, or you can build your own hot rod. Depending on your budget, or your technical interest/ ability these are some choices:

prostores.com – connected to ebay, this is a scalable model as it allows you to start at $10usd/mo and work up as you grow. But I have some friends who take this website to really high levels and then have issues with customizing it

yahoo stores - another big one, i know a lot of people using it, but haven’t yet.

oscommerce / zen-cart – this is a bit on the “do it yourself” or “pay high price for technical people to do it” level. I would recommend this only if you are very advanced in ecommerce or have a big budget to pay someone to do it for you.

5) how will you collect customers money? (merchant account)
probably to start, you will just want to use paypal.com – as there aren’t any setup or monthly fees. But if you want to process a credit card, you will need a merchant account. Paypal does have one, but I would recommend a traditional one. I personally use merchantsolutionsllc.com and they have good staff and help you with questions.

6) promoting your website
this is obviously KEY – and should be in mind from the beginning. How will you tell people about your site? Internet, offline? How will you get people to buy? Online , there is advertising

(paying for it) – google.com/adwords – pay per click (doesnt mean they will buy) can be tricky, and can cost a lot of money quickly. watch closely.

organic - hit the pavement, get links to your site. get bloggers and other websites telling people to go to your site. Normally its done by daily work and passion – that is why you should be interested in your product, as this requires you promoting it daily.

social media (friends) – not as established, but getting more popular, as people recommend products/services to others.

7) warehousing / shipping – if you are stocking your products (wholesale), will you put it in your garage? rent your own warehouse? There are also businesses called “ecommerce order fulfillment” or 3rd party shipping centers that will warehouse and ship your products on your behalf, so you can focus on sales / marketing.

I hope these help, like i said at the beginning of this post, books are written about each of these points!

good luck!
Mike

Well, there was that answer. Hope my friends / blog readers get something out of this. I do have a passion for this ….but unfortunately I don’t have time to do it for everyone I know. I can give some direction / advice. And if you want to pay me enough, I can even do it for ya! Always looking to do some cross promotions or cooperations too. Love making business happen.

More Bank of America Fights – International  Travel Issues

Thank You For Calling Bank of America

*Image, credit,  found from PPC for Hire blog

Now, originally when I posted about my issues, I didn’t expect to get such a strong effect in google.  but I am ranking for many terms, such as Bank of America international travel, bank america international travel, bank of america online banking issues, and international phone number, the list goes on and on as I check my server log and traffic stats.

Here’s a specific example, out of 37 million pages, this blog is #4 for Bank of America international travel.

And the blog post that is there in Google is talking about ………..PROBLEMS I AM HAVING WITH BANK OF AMERICA………

Now, why doesn’t an internet marketing person at Bank of America contact me???  Its been there for a year at least now…Reputation management must be address by these large companies.

What is reputation management?  Basically its MONITORING YOUR BRAND.  With the internet being so open, and so many people going to Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other web destinations – bloggers and people are there. Talking, discussing their customer experiences with businesses.

A good company MONITORS this.  They RESPOND to what people are complaining about,  or at the very least , address it and say its something that has to be this way for a certain reason – legal, policy, blah blah.

But, imagine for a minute – that on my blog, I receive a comment from a Bank of America marketing representatitive.   They would address the issue I have been having, explain why it is the way it is, maybe even FIX IT.  Or note it for their management meetings.

That is what is support to happen.  And the companies that are most active on SOCIAL MEDIA and responding to the blog posts, twitter messages, and facebook chats – as well as  ton of other websites – they will gain valuable connection to their customers and differentiate themselves from their competition.

I know….. BANKS, INSURANCE COMPANIES, they don’t care about their customer, the customer has to put their money somewhere, has to get insurance.  But I hope one day there is a disruptive new bank or insurance company that is more “online aware” and I see many internet people, bloggers, and younger generations will sign up

Lets see – maybe this latest post will get some attention at Bank of America.  I want to test them, I have no problem putting a note at the end of those earlier blog entries saying I am impressed Bank of America contacted me about my issue and at least explained why its the way it is (government, security, legal, policy, etc)  That would make my day.

Incoming search terms:

• bank of america reputation
• bank reputation management
• 2010 bank of america management email addresses
• bank of america check
• server bank google
• reputation management for banks
• reputation management examples
• banks reputation management
• bank of america global management
• example of global reputation management
• reputation management banks
• bank of america check payment to a person

“Destroying” is a bit harsh….i think the mba school class room would call it “distruptive technology”, but saying destroying is more attention grabbing.
So…..what is a service company to do? One good example is a law firm who created low cost packages of legal documents, some even free! And then if you needed serious help, the firm offered its full service…..
This reacts nicely to the disruptive technology of the internet – it says, if you cant beat em,, join em. And it gets the small biz guys startup help and outlines, and the big guys who need serious help have the full service as well
Anyway, i so many times get people asking for help, but with the internet so many of the questions can be answered quick and easy

I quickly start to re-upload a backup of the site I have in my computer, as it was before this hacker code was inserted on the page. Then I see its FLAGGED ON google results. Luckily the rankings have not been affected, but as you can see below – THERE IS A WARNING on the top of the page that my site may be have harmful viruses! I can only imagine that this is going to do to my site traffic…..

I have fixed the problem, and resubmitted to Google Webmaster tools, lets see how long this takes to be removed from the google results…I’m told from 1 friend this happened to him before, and it took 2 – 3 days!

Also, I’m doing a virus scan on my computer right now, and it found a trojan virus in my TENCENT QQ instant messenger files. Must have been downloaded in a chatlog. This business of hacking has been picking up, I’ve been hearing and reading that blackhat SEO people are hacking sites, pumping them with malicious codes to benefit themselves (not exactly sure though)

Is this in response to the tough economy, and people finding ways to earn cash the evil way….sad….

I also hope none of my website visitors on newyorkbarstore.com were affected. The internet can be a scary place. I understand google and the search engines have to protect their users, its just horrible this scumbags can hack my site and place this malicious code there.

Keep on.

Incoming search terms:

• invisible iframe
• iframe invisible
• hacking sites
• pictures of hacker sites
• thomas j raef
• hacking code
• my website has iframe trojan
• invisible iframes hacking
• Malicious code website
• exploit iframe
• qq malware
• qq messenger virus malwares