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....

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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 real2010.04.10 Did you not know that dreams are real? If...

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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...

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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....

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