Stephen Fung DOT NET

Happy New Year and Three Great Ways To Keep Business Buzzing During Slow Months

Stephen Fung — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 06:45:03 +0000

Happy New Year everyone!

Sorry for not blogging as much as I’ve wanted to and I’ve resolved to change that for 2013. Things have been extremely busy for me lately as I just got back from CES 2013 in Las Vegas just over a week ago and there’s a ton of follow up to do with all the companies I visited for Futurelooks and MEGATechNews. We also did some amazing coverage so you can check that out over here (Futurelooks CES 2013 Coverage) and here (MEGATechNews CES 2013 Coverage) if you’re into computers, gadgets and other techie stuff.

Like any business, there are periods of the year where things seem to die down quite a bit. In some cases it can be so slow that it can be quite terrifying for businesses that rely on more regular business. If you’re wondering what that looks like, just look at the picture above, courtesy of Michael Kwan. In fact, that’s what I look like this time of year because even my business goes through this slump around the January and February periods where advertisers start to cut back to reset themselves for Q2 when things start to pick up again. After the busy holiday season, people just don’t seem to want to look at stuff that they might want to buy, possibly putting them into further debt, which I totally understand.

If you do have a business that has a dip sometime during the year, it’s important to take some extra measures to ensure that it’s business as usual. And this might involve spending dollars that you might otherwise keep saved, in exchange for the potential pay off of more business down the road.

While cost cutting for those lean times is an effective means of riding it out, sometimes a bit of out of the box thinking is needed to stand out from the crowd. Let’s face it. Email blasts only go so far, especially with SPAM filters set to kill these days. Here are three good ways that might help your business out.

Use Snail Mail and Direct Mailers

You mean like a pamphlet? Of course! It’s proven that printed material is far more durable than an email. It gets passed around, left in weird places, and eventually, someone sees it. You’ll be guaranteed to reach someone out there, without the possibility that it might end up in the SPAM folder.

The key with a direct mail campaign is to make sure that what you’re sending is engaging and relevant to the person you’re sending it to. Make sure the graphic design of the flyers you’re mailing is well done so people will be inclined to open it. If possible, include some sort of incentive to get people to visit your site. Provide a coupon for 10% off or free shipping if you’re a site that sells something tangible like a product or service. For Futurelooks or MEGATechNews, I might do a contest or some sort of co-promotion with a brick and mortar retailer like NCIX. This might even let me shave a huge chunk off the mailer because I could potentially get them to pay for it because they get the sales, and I get the exposure.

If you do that, you’ll have a much better chance of people visiting your site, meaning you’ll have a much better chance at making some more sales or getting someone to stick around and enjoy your content, picking up a new reader you never had before.

Run a Contest

Another way, that we alluded to in the previous point, is to generate some business for your online business, is to run a contest!

You could hold that contest directly on your website, or you could hold it on your social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. In fact, just recently, Futurelooks teamed up with NCIX PC to giveaway a Sapphire HD3 Mini PC System worth over $399 US. The prize was donated by Sapphire USA in exchange for the eyeballs that both NCIX PC and Futurelooks could provide for their brand. We got a great prize, the help of a great partner like NCIX PC, and the costs were minimal. In fact, they were ZERO because our winner was a local resident and we simply met up with him to drop off the prize.

Regardless of how you decide to hold the contest, make sure you do it in a fashion that lets you get potential leads. That could be asking for referrals and holding a drawing, where every referral you get means another entry into the raffle. Or if you hold the contest on social media, you could do some sort of trivia contest, or even choose a random fan of your business who “Likes” a certain status and shares it with his or her friends. We really like contests that encourage sharing because it helps your promotion spread quickly. We did the same thing in our HD3 Mini PC contest by encouraging people to share the contest on their Facebook and Twitter in exchange for more entries. In fact, the winner of the contest won because he took that extra step to share it to his Facebook friends. Everyone wins.

If you’re not good with coming up with your own ideas, search the web or make sure you join up with a group of businesses that you can bounce ideas off of. This is something that Dot Com Pho is great for because you’ll have a bunch of people that “get it” to talk to about your ideas. Just make sure that your contest falls within the boundaries of the law (which varies by geographical location).

Go Viral but not a Flu!

It’s definitely flu season and nothing sucks more for a business than having your staff ill. Luckily, on-line businesses are less affected because we always find some way to jump on-line and work. But that’s not the viral I’m talking about.

Recently, a friend of mine, Buzz Bishop, had a YouTube video go viral. His clip of 25,000 teddy bears being tossed onto a hockey rink during a Calgary Hitmen game netted himself over 3 million views and he was prepared by immediately monetizing his video content when he uploaded it. He ended up donating the proceeds to his charity but that was a welcome surprise because who knows what goes viral these days? You know, like Gangnam Style.

It’s definitely a case of much easier said than done, but if you’ve got some extra time during the slow season you might consider dedicating time to try and make some content go viral. Creating viral content is about following certain trends, but also diving in to the unexpected, and therein lies the Gangnam Styles, Rebecca Blacks, and birds snatching children videos. One of the most important things to keep in mind when trying to create viral content is that you must be original. Again, I’ll point to my friend Buzz again because he wrote a blog post that was slightly controversial, but something that every parent is probably thinking: I have a kid that I love more than the other one.

As a result, he had both good and bad publicity, but most importantly, had big news outlets calling him for interviews and comments left and right. People won’t share something they simply believe is a copy or rip off of something else and this was clearly something that was original. I totally get it because as a parent, I do think it, but I don’t think I could admit it without some controversy, just like what Buzz experienced.

Whether you have viral content or never have viral content, the bottom line is to be ready to capitalize on the exposure and the feedback, good or bad. But most importantly, be ready to figure out a way to convert those views into viewers and readers for the long haul. Have something ready to roll just in case this happens to you, like a contest, or an email subscription drive to ensure that you can reach those people again.

Don’t Panic!

Although these are fairly general tips/points that I’ve made here, the most important tip is to not panic. If you panic, then you can’t be creative and think of ways to make sure that those lean times aren’t going to kick your ass. As a business owner, you’re in the drivers seat and it’s up to you whether you drive off the cliff during a tough turn, or drift around it Initial D style with a load of Tofu in the trunk, not breaking a single brick of it. Style, execution, and a cool demeanor will get you through.

Do you have any tips to share for those lean times both offline or online? Drop a comment below!

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The Powell River Harbour Guesthouse and Hostel

Stephen Fung — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:00:00 +0000

For our end of August getaway we decided to take a short ferry trip across the islands starting on the Sunshine Coast. Although I’ve been keeping my Twitter lit up with where I’ve been, I thought I’d take a little more time to tell you about this great place to stay called the Powell River harbour Guesthouse and Hostel.

Located in the heart of Powell River, near the ferry terminal to Comox (our next stop), and attached to the local Thai Restaurant (Thaidal Wave) this hostel is actually better than I had expected. When you think of hostels, you really lower your expectations. But based on the cleanliness, it really does seem more like a hotel in this respect. Where the Hostel aspect comes into play is with the amenities.

You have a common kitchen and dining area and a fridge/freeze. There is even a sitting area with hanging chairs, a breakfast nook (complete with a guitar if you want to jam out some tunes) and lounge/TV area where you can also find a computer if you need one. All of these areas where clean, tidy, and really made you feel at home. Towels are available if you are travelling light, there are two bathrooms (one with a tub), which are as clean and well kept as the rest of the property.

If you choose not to cook here, the Thai Restaurant just out front has some of the best Thai cuisine I’ve had in a while. There’s also a couple of greasy spoons within walking distance but I didn’t visit either one so can’t comment on them. But the area looks to be very safe and friendly so do go out and explore a bit.

The rooms were also clean and well laid out to sleep at least four people per room. It was actually cleaner than some hotels I’ve been to that charge three times the price. A family of four or five could comfortably fit into this room. There are two sets of bunk beds.

A shelving unit and a corner desk with chair fill out the rest of the furnishings. The lack of room furnishings isn’t really a big deal consider all the space in the common areas. The great view on the patio (perfect for the Summer) or the nice sitting areas in the rest of the common area will probably keep you out of your room anyway.

Private rooms are available for $55 a night and covers two people (kids are free) while singles are only $24 a night. There is WiFi available but if you don’t have your own computer, you can use theirs for a fee (which I think is $0.20 a half hour or something). I didn’t ask because I never travel without something Internet enabled. You can also rent out the entire place (which sleeps up to 24 people) from $350 – 450 per night. There is also plenty of parking in the area but make sure you find out from the front desk where these parking areas are because you can’t park behind or directly beside the building. But at least it’s free.

Overall, you can’t ask for a better deal in Powell River. I’ll definitely stay here again with my family. You can find more information about Powell River Harbour Guest House and Hostel on their website. Unfortunately, there is no Twitter or Facebook. I think the owner here is a bit old skool but he seems nice and was pretty helpful.

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Enter the Futurelooks and MEGATechNews GIGABYTE Motherboard Giveaway!

Stephen Fung — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:27:37 +0000

I had to push all the stuff that’s over a year old off the front page so I figured I’d use the last spot to let you know about an amazing contest. The top prize is one of GIGABYTE’s G1.Killer Assassin2 motherboards valued at $399 US!

Futurelooks and MEGATechNews have teamed up with GIGABYTE Technology to give away their flagship INTEL X79 motherboard. This board is aimed directly at hardcore gamers looking for an easy to setup, reliable, and purpose oriented board for their pwning needs. With enhanced networking, audio, and the ability to run up to three high end graphics cards, this board is an easy choice for a very high end gaming system build. It’ll be even better if you win it.

If you still aren’t convinced of its EPIC abilities, you can check out the video from the Futurelooks YouTube Channel (which I recommend that you SUBSCRIBE TO for all the latest on cool computer stuff)…

The contest has been running since July 30th, 2012 and finally closes down tomorrow, August 24th, 2012 at midnight (PST). In that time we’ve amassed over 5651 entries making it the most successful single give away that I’ve had the pleasure of running. But it’s still very much anyone’s giveaway as the result will be completely random.

Part of this has to do with the fact that we teamed up with other sites including LANcouver and eSports Collective Network, who have brought the contest some eyeballs that we may have not been able to get on our own. We’ll definitely be teaming up with more sites for giveaways in the future. It’s something that helps everyone out.

So what are you waiting for? ENTER NOW!

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It’s Time For a New Look!

Stephen Fung — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:00:58 +0000

Since I’m trying to get things going again here, I figured it was time to get a new look for this site. Actually, no, that’s not exactly the reason why I decided I needed a new look…

Apparently, when you don’t update your blog for 19 months or so, things tend to change, and updates tend to take place. As a result of updating the blog to the latest WordPress along with all the plugins, the site stopped working right. It was pretty horrible as things just starting breaking as I started to use them. Michael Kwan can attest to that. He was trying to post a comment and ended up trying to post it three times, each time, something weirder happened.

The theme is actually the brand new default theme for the next version of WordPress (4.0 I believe?). Morten from Pink and Yellow Media pointed me to it. At first, I wasn`t sure about the uber clean look, but I think it’s a good way to start fresh. I’m actually thinking of keeping it this way simply because it’s so different. It’s just so clean compared to any of the designs I`ve had in the past and I feel that anything I post is just amplified by the lack of clutter.

I guess we’ll have to see how things progress in the next week or so. There are still many tweaks that I’d like to make. Hopefully I don’t take another 19 month break after this post. I better pace myself.

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How Coffee Is Made – The El Trapiche Coffee Plantation Tour in Monteverde, Costa Rica

Stephen Fung — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 00:28:39 +0000

Ever wonder how coffee is made? On a trip to Costa Rica last year, I found out just how it’s done. I took a tour of the El Trapiche Plantation in Monteverde, Costa Rica and they showed us just how the process is done. With my daughter Lexi strapped to my chest in a Baby Bjorn, I managed to get as much footage as I could to put together the video below. Enjoy!

It’s interesting to hear that Costa Rican people don’t actually do any of the picking. Much of the labor comes from neighbouring countries. It was definitely cool to see how the wake up juice of most Internet entrepreneurs is made.

The plantation also grows sugar cane so part of the tour took us through that and talked about how they make products from it namely sugar and rum. We also got to make our own sugar cane taffy (but unfortunately, we didn’t get to taste any rum). Honestly, I must have done it wrong because that taffy looked so gross that I had to throw it out later. Even Lexi wouldn’t touch it. Guess we’ll leave sugar cane taffy making to the professionals.

It took me well over a year and a half to come back to my blog and write something. With all the things associated with being a parent and running my two very busy sites, Futurelooks and MEGATechNews, it’s been a long road back. I hope that this signals a rebirth of my blogging adventures here. I’m not sure what form it’ll take, but I hope you’ll come back for that really soon.

In the meantime, make sure you follow me on Twitter and subscribe to my YouTube Channel. I’m on Twitter quite a bit and I have a lot of personal videos from vacations over the last year that I still need to post as well as many stories to tell.

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