Some Landmarks and Turning Points
0 RatingsJanuary 18th, 2009
Time to Ogee
Some Landmarks
“Ibibo, which calls itself a “talent based social networking site”, is willing to bet that 2009 would be the year when targeting consumer on social sites will have a far bigger payout than any other media. Ashish Kashyap, CEO, Ibibo, has built traction for his site among the 14-28 year olds by running talent-based contests since its inception.
Such promotions and brand campaigns would be a major revenue earner for us in 2009″, says Kashyap. After just a year and a half of operations, Ibibo claims to have 31 lakh registered users, growing at an average 40 per cent month-on-month basis.” - Business Standard
Now ibibo.com is ibibo network.
Some Trends
Recession: Recession will generate more revenue for ibibo as web based online campaigns are going to be more cost effective.
Digital Media Emerging as New Mainstream Media
I came across some articles of Vin Crosbie. Following points are aggregated
from the articles by Vin Crosbie.
Internet is a different medium, it is different from print media, television
or radio station and yet it offers the advantages of print media or broadcast.
Web based media is no longer a sideshow, but it has become the mainstream media.
YouTube has triumphed over the traditional video networks online, despite all
their investments. Wikipedia, despite inaccuracies, has triumphed over
Encyclopedia Britannica and other publishers who attempt perfection. Google News and Yahoo News each have more users than the Web sites of any newspaper or news broadcaster. All because their content, although not perfect, is good enough.
In the online world, good enough is better than perfect.
If things are good enough, put them online now. Perfection is a fricative
that slows things down online. Perfection may have been a reasonable quest for
old media, but questing for perfection in new media causes hesitation, delays,
and too many lost opportunities.
Good enough now is better than perfection tomorrow.
If your content isn’t immediately online because you’re waiting for
perfection, get over yourself. Your content is probably needed now. Don’t let
perfection lose you the opportunity to satisfy immediate needs. If your content
is good enough now, it’s virtually perfect. And if conditions are good enough
now, even if not perfect, then this is virtually the perfect moment.
Don’t wait for perfection before putting all your content online. Don’t worry
about some unavoidable piracy. Don’t fret that the business model hasn’t yet
been perfected. Don’t even wait until your content itself is perfect. Put it
online now and make it immediately usable and relevant. Or else you’ll lose
truly perfect opportunities.
Once content is good enough to be relevant, it needn’t be perfect.
Online good enough triumphs over perfection because of its immediate
relevance and usability. Once content becomes good enough to use, it immediately becomes relevant to somebody on the Internet.
Attract sufficient numbers of consumers so that advertisers will pay to place
their advertisements either adjacent or interstitial to the content attracting
the consumers. The more consumers, the higher the rate an advertiser is willing
to pay.
Advertisers may not want to put their logo next to something that doesn’t
look good and isn’t produced well. And nobody wants to have their logo
associated with something that isn’t produced in a controlled, high-quality
environment.
Increased competition among social networks would lead to competition for
high quality and more probative content.
Some points are confusing and contradictory.
Anyways, in a short span of one and half years ibibo has been able to attract 31 lakh registered users through innovative methods. I wish ibibo would come up with clear guidelines, ethics policy etc for regular content providers to generate
accurate and engaging content.
I feel content providers should be compensated by advertising revenues. I feel
it is high time ibibo come up with equally smart model for revenue sharing. I
mean a comprehensive package deal for content providers. 
(Please, No pun intended in this blog post. So, please spare me from
misinterpretations!)
Enjoy!
Secret Gates to Heaven
0 RatingsJanuary 12th, 2009
Sixth Sense and the Scent of Lotus
Here is an interesting video showing secret gates and way to heaven.
Enjoy!
Some Dance, Some Haul
0 RatingsJanuary 3rd, 2009
Year 2009 - A Year of New Beginnings
Year 2008 was indeed a long haul. It was the year of intense transformation and change. Process of ascension which started in the year 2000, reached its peak during the year 2008. We shed whatever we could and severed old links that did not help us in moving ahead with life. We had our moments - some of them were happy and some of them were weepy. At times we acted wise and at times we were dork. Nonetheless we survived and reached our destination. Oh yeah, we got what we wanted the most, that is we found our place in the greater picture. It was a great feeling gaining greater perspective and discovering our role and purpose. Now we know exactly, where we stand and what is our worth.
Let us hope year 2009 brings us more clarity and purpose. Wishing you a bright and prosperous New Year.
Enjoy!
Bikram Yoga
1 RatingsSeptember 17th, 2008
Bikram Choudhury is once again in news, in a wrong way, as he referred to American Hatha Yoga Teachers as American circus clowns. Bikram Choudhury, the outspoken Yoga Guru, founder of Bikram Yoga has trained 6,000 Bikram Yoga teachers around the world. Bikram Yoga is a series of 26 yoga postures to be practiced in a room heated to 105°F (40.5°C) with a humidity of 40%. It also includes two breathing exercises. Bikram yoga classes are guided by yoga teachers trained by Bikram. Each class is of 90 minutes duration. Bikram has created accurate guidelines to be followed while practicing the series of 26 yoga postures. He has copyrighted this series as Bikram Yoga. Bikram believes in balanced lifestyle. "I don’t want to starve to death in India, and I don’t want to be a billionaire living in a mental hospital in the U.S. Maintaining spirituality and humanism are the keys to success. It’s a balance." says Bikram, who owns 35 Rolls-Royces. He believes in enjoying material comforts earned honestly and ethically. Born in Calcutta in 1946, Bikram learned yoga from Sri Bishnu Ghosh, the younger brother of Paramahansa Yogananda. He won the National India Yoga Championship at the age of 13 and he was undefeated for the following three years. At present he lives in Beverly Hills and spreads curative methods of Yoga therapy around the world. Bikram’s website describes Bikram’s Beginners Yoga Classes as: "…The most exciting, hard-working, effective, amusing and glamorous Yoga class in the world. Sweat, strain, laugh, and do more for your health, body, and general well-being…. " Bikram’s betterhalf Rajashree is also a five-time winner of the All-India Yoga Championship. She specializes in yoga therapy for chronic diseases. She also teaches yoga to deal with women’s emotional disorders. Her Pregnancy Yoga Classes are highly acclaimed. Yoga is India’s age old gift to feel healed, whole and complete. Yoga will never go stale. What form of health and healing do you follow? You can SMS me your comments. Enjoy!
Bikram in News Once Again
In Praise of Friendship
1 RatingsSeptember 15th, 2008
Apporva’s post about online relationships encourages me to write this blog post. He is intrigued and fascinated by the various options available on the Internet to explore various types of relationships like online dating, online friendship, different chat rooms and not to mention a bunch of matrimonial websites! Apporva is confused how far can we go and how fast can we go? How safe is it in terms of emotions and trust level? Are there possibilities of falling in love online and that too without getting hurt? Is it safe to register with various social networking sites, dating websites and matrimonial websites? My response to his dilemma is: " Internet is a cool place to find friends and begin an honest caring friendship. Dating, relationship etc only after meeting someone in person and knowing him/her for sometime. Rule of thumb while browsing the net is: do not get emotionally involved, do not get carried over, do not trust easily and never give too much personal details. It is better to be safe than sorry. I always advice my kids, take it easy and slowly. Do not go overboard…" I guess we can find meaningful relationships online. We can explore various options offered by the virtual world. Now a days there are good websites that verify their members’ credentials and offer paid membership options for selective access. I believe with cautious approach, we can find our soulmates online! Base elementary type of human beings are satisfied with food, sex and worldly possessions that money can buy. A civilized and cultured individual look for friendship, love and relationships. A healthy relationship may start as a friendship and transform into a romantic involvement. Sizzling romance may turn into holy matrimony. Or may end up as a futile endeavor. Healthy relationships motivate to excel in life. They encourage us to attain good things and be a good human being. They can be helpful in achieving success and spiritual growth. Sharing and caring initiates the process of self improvement. That look of appreciation in your loved one’s eyes makes your day. I feel, all fulfilling relationships should evolve in a friendship. Husband and wife, parent and child, Guru and Shisya..all meaningful relationships invariably end up as friendship. At one stage we have to set our loved ones free. It sounds cliche, but in spite of their freedom, if they chose to be with you, they become your true friends. Mobile is another wonderful invention that keeps you connected with your friends and loved ones. If that special person in your life is a highflier and always busy in meetings, SMS is like a boon. You can always buzz him or her with those passionate sweet nothings! What to say if mobile to mobile SMS are absolutely free. It is a blessing, isn’t it? Enjoy!
Who is Your Best Friend