[Dailyssimo] A Piece of Garden Called Social Media

Have you ever noticed that the social media we know today have the meaning that is quite different for each user? Maybe if it’s about basic definition by only pointing to Facebook and Twitter, everybody would understand immediately but do you ever dig what they actually understand about social media?

Quoting from a conversation with a ex-Yahoo! fellow, Jonas Del Los Reyes who currently resides in the Philippines, you probably can imagine what the situation is here. The quote is as follows, “…our market is still young, definitions are scattered, everyone running with their understanding.” Yes, I think that’s exactly what is happening in this region. I might say it’s chaotic but in a good way.

Maybe you still remember what was done by General Motor (GM) a while ago just before Facebook took the historic step to enter the stock exchange (IPO). GM decided to discontinue its advertising investment on Facebook Ad worth $10 million. GM said that while it decided to stop the investment in advertising, it won’t leave Facebook but would be more focus on content strategy that would keep being distributed via its Facebook Page.

Continue reading [Dailyssimo] A Piece of Garden Called Social Media

[Dailyssimo] Sebidang Taman bernama Social Media

Apakah Anda pernah memperhatikan bahwa social media yang kita kenal pada saat ini punya arti yang cukup beragam dari para pengguna. Mungkin jika hanya definisi dasar dengan menunjuk Facebook dan Twitter semua orang langsung paham, tapi pernahkah Anda menggali apa yang mereka pahami tentang social media?

Kalau mengutip hasil pembicaraan saya dengan rekan sesama ex-Yahoo!, Jonas Del Los Reyes yang sekarang di Filipina, Anda mungkin bisa membayangkan situasi seperti apa yang ada di sini, berikut kutipan singkatnya, “…our market is still young, definition are scattered, everyone running with their understanding”. Yak, saya pikir memang itulah yang terjadi di wilayah ini. I might say it’s chaotic but in a good way. 🙂

Mungkin Anda masih ingat dengan apa yang dilakukan oleh General Motor (GM) beberapa saat lalu tepat sebelum Facebook melakukan langkah bersejarah mereka untuk masuk lantai bursa (IPO), GM memutuskan untuk menghentikan investasi iklan mereka di Facebook ad yang bernilai 10 juta Dollar. GM mengatakan meski mereka memutuskan untuk menghentikan investasi iklan, mereka tidak akan meninggalkan Facebook, namun akan lebih fokus pada strategi konten yang akan tetap didistribusikan lewat Facebook Page mereka.

Continue reading [Dailyssimo] Sebidang Taman bernama Social Media

[Dailyssimo] Does A Blog Need SEO?

These last few days, I was involved in a discussion in a Facebook group that I found quite interesting and quite eye-opening about the point of view of digital strategists in this country.

One of the topics discussed was the application of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on a blog and this elementary topic spurred reactions that I can consider representative of most people’s perspective.

Do you think a blog needs SEO? The easy, fast and without further thinking answer is: Yes! But does a blog really need SEO?

The essence of a search engine is collecting and collating (indexing) the popular, and much sought after words on the list. The more popular a word, the more likely it will be on the top of the list. So if the word we’re looking for is the full name of a blog complete with the link then what we need to be on the top list of the search result is indeed, popularity.

Continue reading [Dailyssimo] Does A Blog Need SEO?

[Dailyssimo] Apakah Blog Perlu SEO?

Beberapa hari ini saya terlibat diskusi di sebuah Facebook Group yang cukup menarik dan cukup membuka mata saya tentang sudut pandang para pelaku jasa strategi digital yang ada di tanah air kita ini.

Salah satu topik yang dibahas adalah mengenai penerapan SEO (Search Engine Optimization) pada blog, dan topik sederhana ini benar-benar mengundang reaksi yang saya bisa bilang merepresentasikan bagaimana cara pandang kebanyakan orang.

Menurut Anda apakah sebuah blog membutuhkan SEO? Jawaban mudah, cepat dan tanpa perlu pemikiran panjang adalah: Ya! Tapi apakah benar sebuah blog membutuhkan SEO?

Hakikat sebuah mesin pencari adalah mengumpulkan dan menyusun (indexing) kata-kata yang populer dan banyak dicari pada list mereka. Semakin populer sebuah kata, maka akan ada di urutan teratas. Jadi bila kata yang kita maksud adalah nama sebuah blog lengkap dengan link-nya maka yang dibutuhkan agar bisa masuk dalam urutan teratas dalam hasil pencarian, ya popularitas. Dengan kata lain, sebuah blog harus cukup populer, cukup banyak dicari orang untuk bisa masuk ke dalam urutan teratas daftar pencarian, that’s how we play the game…..fair and square. 🙂

Continue reading [Dailyssimo] Apakah Blog Perlu SEO?

[Dailyssimo] Stand Out, Folks…!

The word lay-off or termination will probably always be the scourge of the professional workers who depend their lives on a company. Perhaps we still remember a short while ago when Yahoo! laid off 2000 employees worldwide, and Sony followed – but has nothing to do with what happened at Yahoo! – by laying off 10.000 of its own employees.

We can imagine how the employees affected by the layoffs suddenly have no income and at a crisis in their lives, especially those who have families. Yes, it’s terrible if all of the sudden, we are in that position without having any lifeboat.

Many tend to believe that layoffs occur due to reasons caused by the employees themselves but this is clearly not true because there are plenty of reasons for layoffs to occur. Don’t be surprised when you see a top employee getting laid off seemingly without any clear reason.

When the financial crisis hit the United States a few years ago, we saw how the wave of layoffs happened, with a rapid domino effect and within a few weeks, reached my workplace at that time (at Yahoo! Southeast Asia) and for the first time in my life, I saw how a company lays off employees in the interest of the company itself on a large scale.

Continue reading [Dailyssimo] Stand Out, Folks…!

[Dailyssimo] Stand Out, Folks…!

Kata-kata lay-off atau PHK (pemutusan hubungan kerja) mungkin akan selalu jadi momok bagi para pekerja profesional yang menggantungkan hidup mereka pada sebuah perusahaan. Mungkin kita masih ingat beberapa saat lalu ketika Yahoo! mem-PHK 2000 karyawannya di seluruh dunia, lalu menyusul Sony – meski tanpa ada hubungannya dengan apa yang terjadi di Yahoo! – juga melakukan PHK terhadap 10.000 karyawan mereka.

Bisa kita bayangkan betapa karyawan-karyawan yang terkena PHK tersebut tiba-tiba tidak punya penghasilan tetap dan berada pada posisi krisis dalam kehidupan mereka, terutama yang sudah memiliki tanggungan. Ya, memang mengerikan jika tiba-tiba kita berada dalam posisi tersebut tanpa memiliki sekoci apapun ya.

Banyak yang menganggap PHK bisa menimpa seorang karyawan karena sebab-sebab yang dilakukan oleh karyawan tersebut, tetapi anggapan ini tidak benar, karena banyak penyebab seorang karyawan bisa kena PHK. Dan jangan kaget, bahkan seorang karyawan teladan sekalipun bisa terkena PHK tanpa diri mereka tahu apa yang terjadi.

Continue reading [Dailyssimo] Stand Out, Folks…!

[Dailyssimo] E-commerce in Indonesia, What We Need Is a Service That We Can Trust

Opening an online shop is much easier than opening a regular shop; at least it can be measured from cost factor. However, inviting buyer to come and be a customer of a store is much more complex than just opening it. Let me invite you to examine from various point of views.

For a buyer, money is something sensitive. A buyer would never want to give their money in exchange for an item if they do not want the item or if there is something that makes it hard to get the goods after they made the payment.

Just imagine, if you want to buy a music CD, the options are to purchase it at nearest CD store or at on online shop. What do you think will be the consideration?

Continue reading [Dailyssimo] E-commerce in Indonesia, What We Need Is a Service That We Can Trust

[Dailyssimo] E-commerce di Indonesia, Kami Hanya Butuh Layanan yang Membuat Kami Bisa Dipercaya

Membuka toko online memang jauh lebih mudah dibandingkan membuka toko ‘reguler’, setidaknya bisa diukur dari faktor biaya. Namun mengajak pembeli untuk datang, membeli dan menjadi pelanggan sebuah toko jauh lebih kompleks dari hanya membuka toko. Mari saya ajak menelaah dari berbagai sudut pandang.

Bagi seorang pembeli, uang adalah sesuatu yang sangat sensitif. Pembeli tidak akan pernah mau memberikan uangnya untuk ditukarkan dengan sebuah barang jika barang tersebut tidak ia inginkan ataupun ada sesuatu yang membuatnya susah mendapatkan barang tersebut setelah ia melakukan pembayaran.

Coba bayangkan jika Anda ingin membeli sebuah CD musik, pilihannya adalah membeli di toko CD terdekat dan di sebuah toko online, apa kira-kira yang jadi bahan pertimbangan?

Continue reading [Dailyssimo] E-commerce di Indonesia, Kami Hanya Butuh Layanan yang Membuat Kami Bisa Dipercaya

[Dailyssimo] Yahoo!, Big Boat In A Big Wave

April 5, 2012 may be a judgment day for half of Yahoo! employees in the context of internal policy changes in this Internet-based company. Yahoo! lay off 2000 employees including the ones who worked at Yahoo! Indonesia. This is the first time that the decision to lay off employees has an impact on Indonesia. There were at least three lay off storms had hit Yahoo! during my work at the company which impact also reached its regional office in Singapore.

Running an internet-based company is like surfing where we have to be smart to know how big the waves are coming and how quick we have to maneuver. This information is important to know not only for decision maker but also, in my opinion, all employees so they know what to prepare for their personal survival because in the end… if something bad happens then they have to rely on their own parachutes.

Continue reading [Dailyssimo] Yahoo!, Big Boat In A Big Wave

[Dailyssimo] You Are What You Share

Have you ever try to find out why people are following/liking you on social media service? Many said with common assumption; because they know them personally, because of their profession or even looking at the average content shared on the timeline.

For figures which personalities are already defined on traditional medias, entering the social media may reveal some of their real personality (in this case, if they handle their own account). In example, when a media moghul, Rupert Murdoch decided to use Twitter, his figure that is well known for being a power of media with all its misteries, slowly melts through his chitchat on Twitterverse. Many said that Twitter is ruining Murdoch’s reputation because we’ve lost a figure that has been shaped before. But I personally think that Twitter, on the contrary, is actually turning Murdoch’s figure far more human and showing his true character as one Rupert Murdoch. Continue reading [Dailyssimo] You Are What You Share