Facebook makes promising improvements to right column ads

Facebook did well when it introduced news feed ads. They were big, encouraged engagement, and compatible with mobile devices. When I saw how effective they were, I started using the ads on the right column less and less. They just weren't worth the trouble anymore.

But Facebook has announced that they're making changes. The column ads will be bigger, and as a consequence, fewer ads will be displayed. The image size wil also be akin to that of the news feed, so I'll only need to prepare one image for both.

I like these changes. I'll start using those right column ads again; hopefully, the ROI on that ad unit would go up.

Read more about this at Venture Beat

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Startups need time for soul searching

Like many business students, I was taught to first plan, then execute, then measure. It looked amazingly simple in that marketing or strategy textbook that weighed a ton in your bag. This basic model applies to many areas and philosophies of business, whether it be TQM, business planning, change management, or Kotler's 4Ps. But, after having worked with some startups, I can tell you that things aren't so linear in real life.

Startups often rely on the passion that their founders overflow with. And, indeed, many a great company has been built on it. But that passion is rarely refined at startup stage. In many cases, companies go through a trial-and-error process to find their true place in the world. One only has to look at some big brands that shifted their initial positioning to see that it's not a bad thing. There's Facebook, which confined itself to Harvard in the beginning. There's IBM who, after making it big in the hardware business, is now a software company. There's also Marlboro, which started as a women's cigarette. Not every startup will do a radical repositioning later on, but it's likely that most will have to refine their business offerings to adjust to the unforeseen.

This has several implications for startups:

1. Plan as much as you need to, but don't overdo it. Extreme granularity won't be much use when you realize you need to adjust at the strategy level.
2. Incorporate business plan reviews and employee/customer research into your plan for the first years. Listen to the market, then adjust.
3. Make sure you have enough fuel for the startup process. A lot of businesses close because of a lack of working capital, and it'll happen sooner if you don't factor in time for the soul-searching stage. For some, it'll be months before operations turns in a profit. For some, it could be years.
4. Capitalize on your founder's intuition, but move towards making that intuition explicit as time passes. You can extract models and business processes from intuition if you take a step back (i.e. stop and think about what you're doing) regularly. Don't drown in the dailies; contemplate, ruminate.

Is your startup in soul-searching mode? I hope that you make progress in clarifying your company's mission in the world. Feel free to comment about your experiences.

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Think Big, Love Big

Last Saturday, my mom was watching Bo Sanchez preach on TV. I was fixing up my room at that time. Fortunately, my door was open, because I heard Bro. Bo say these words in his bold, distinct voice:

Big thinking either comes from a big ego or big love.

I'm not exactly the Catholic-charismatic type, but I've always liked the way Bo Sanchez makes me examine my own life. He made me think very hard when I heard him say this line. I've just started a business and soon, I'm starting my own family. Both start from small seeds and grow big in time. But the question remains: why am I doing this? Is it because I just trust myself too much, or do I really have a desire to serve?

On the surface, big is big, but what motivates that big-ness spells the difference for a person's soul. Pride and love are opposite poles. Pride will frantically create a big beast that I could claim as my own creature, while love will push me to give myself in a big way. Either mode will make me look like a woman driven to succeed. But what is it that drives me?

I have to think big because I love big. Or, maybe I should say that I have to love big so that I'll think big.

Get rid of that 'small-town' outlook. Enlarge your heart till it becomes universal, 'catholic'. 

Don't flutter about like a hen, when you can soar to the heights of an eagle.

- St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, pt. 7

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My new company

My company, Magnetic North Enterprises, is now almost five months old. I'm quite happy with the way it's gone. Not entirely smooth sailing—my business registration started last year with getting swindled by a few thousand Pesos—but OPEX is already breaking even at this point. And I'm not even doing business development yet. That's much better than I had hoped.

When people ask me what my business is all about, I get more blank stares than I usually do. And believe me, I'm a person who receives more blank stares than most people, even in ordinary conversation. What I have in mind for my business is rather hard to explain because it's new. I can't say it's a laundromat, or a home massage service, or a call center. The most succinct way of putting it is that it offers marketing communications services to ordinary people and organizations. That still gets blank stares, and understandably so. It's too abstract for most people to imagine because no one really does that yet—at least not in the way that I envision.

The best way to explain is to demonstrate. I'm currently incubating the components that will comprise the business model, and when they're ready for prime time, I'll have no need to explain. But in the meantime, here are a few lines that will give you the rationale for my business.

• You know how web design companies make expensive, complicated, and hard-to-maintain websites for small businesses and individuals? I make professional websites at low prices. You'll also be able to maintain this simple website yourself, so you won't need to pay me monthly retainer fees. And what? No hosting fees? Yup, no exorbitant monthly hosting fees.
• You know how (expensive) ad agencies do great branding strategies and communication companies for their clients? Small businesses could never afford these ad agencies. But you'd be able to afford my branding and communications services. I do brand strategy, graphic identity (logo, business cards, etc.), websites, social media and other communications services at an affordable price.
• You made flyers for your community activity by designing it in Paint, printing it using your inkjet printer, then photocopying it on colored paper. They don't look nice. But you think to yourself, it's ok, I don't have a big budget anyway. What?!? There's a way to make professional-looking communications without breaking the bank. I'll tell you how.
• You have a personal blog where you'd like the world to be influenced by your opinions. But no one reads your blog except your mom, your sister, and your best friend. I have the solution for that.
• You have expertise which you'd like to share with other people, and possibly make money out of. But you don't know how. I know! Let me help you.

I know I may have left you hanging off a cliff right there. Unfortunately, mother hen is still warming up her little chicks, so we can't disturb her just yet. When the eggs are about to hatch, I'll let you know. Stay tuned.

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Hello, world! (again)

As my corny friends would put it, this is the return of the comeback!

Yes, I am busy, and I've tried time and again to keep up a personal blog. I've never been successful, and you  think this is just another short burst of blog posts that will gather dust for two years. Give up, Joy.

I really am busier than ever before. I already blog here, here, here and here. But ironically, this frenzy has given me a reason to have a personal blog again. I realized that all of the other places where I blog demand a lot of research and a content plan, and in this blog, I DON'T HAVE THAT!!! I CAN WRITE ABOUT ANYTHING I WANT!!! HURRAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

So, I am back, and ready to kill you with the typing skills I learned from Mrs. Maranan in 1st year high school. Believe me, she did well.

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Dreams are real

Since I'm reciting the following poem tomorrow, I thought I might as well post it here. It's one of those things that pop out of my head when I get struck by mental lightning. Thanks to Gli Carpio for her valuable inputs on this poem :)

What does this have to do with building, you ask?

Much. Builders have to know how to dream.

Dreams are real

2010.04.10

Did you not know that dreams are real?
If they tell of true happiness,
they're as real as a mother is
to a child who sleeps in her arms.
And so for food and love he yearns,
not at all certain how he could
but entirely sure that he would,
so sure that he solemnly sleeps.
The woman gazes as she weeps,
her eyes on the fruit of her love,
which none dare convince her out of,
despite the storms that line their way.
Oh! What a smile it is that lay
about those cheeks so satisfied:
in his dreams as though glorified
beyond what his frail hands could reach.
A smile that simply serves to teach
a hope that rests on love received—
the reason of what is believed—
dreaming a dream entirely real.

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A time management lesson: say no

I've collected many nuggets of wisdom from the marketing communications profession. One of them is this: that if you want to be something, you have to not be other things. And if you want to be everything, you'll end up as nothing.

So it is with the rest of life. It's pretty obvious that we don't have time for everything; all we need is a game of Plants vs. Zombies and we'd see several hours disappear into thin air (which is why I don't touch this game at all—no offense to the PvZ fanatics out there). We need to choose what we do. If we want to live a meaningful life, it also means that we have to pursue the most meaningful aims. Our top priorities need to dominate life lest we waste it entirely.

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Hello, world!

Hello, world! Amazingly, this is the first post of a blog that started way back in 2006. Let's just say I went shopping for other options and found blogging paradise in Blogger (thanks to Google for such cool and simple tools!). Okay, I know, I'm really a Google fan, so this is just one more in a string of praises from an avid user.

As this is my first post, I might as well introduce myself a bit. I'm a marketing communications professional. I really love what I do. But one thing that sets me apart from my colleagues is that I love to build. I mean, really, I love it! I don't only "do" marcom, I build with it. But since building isn't really a one-track thing, I've had to dip my feet into technology, organization development, and other management disciplines. No house gets built on just one pillar. Yes, that makes life a bit harder for me, but it also makes work a much more fulfilling. I thrive on working on things that have lasting value.

And Lego? Yup, I love that too.

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