GDays Mandaue 2014: Secrets of Gmail

Overview of GDays Mandaue here.

Participants of GDays were required to select a category upon registering. Google for Management, Business or Marketing. I, obviously, wanted to join all of them but that option wasn't available so I had to choose a topic that I was most interested in. At the time, I had been mulling over studying business on the side but the more specific aspect of business I was slightly obsessing over from a distance was Management.

Our segment was facilitated by Jane Vestil, a Google for Educators partner and Cheer Garciano, owner of Cebu Web Services and Digital marketing.

Jane Vestil talks about Google Collaboration and Productivity Tools

The talk started out with an overview of the basic Google tools we're all currently using such as Gmail, Google Drive and Google Calendar. As it progressed, they started talking about a Google Apps Account. How is that different from a regular Google account when you sign up for Gmail? The features are basically the same, being able to use Google tools and whatnot, the difference is just that a Google Apps Account will enable you to use tools powered by Google, like plug-ins submitted by developers for example.

The first Google tool they delved into was Gmail and this feature was such a surprise to me when they first introduced it. Google Advanced Search uses a set of queries that perform specific functions in Gmail Search. For example, you want to look for an email sent by thatperson@gmail.com to you with a file named testfile attached. Among the hundreds of mail you receive daily, it would be time consuming for you to browse through all the possible mails containing that person's e-mail. So, with the specifics in mind, you type:

from : thatperson@gmail.com filename: testfile

And boom! The mail that you were specifically looking for is presented. More keywords are listed in this documentation conveniently compiled by Google. Next up was something called E-mail Delegation, whose concept wasn't that new to me but setting it up was still quite hazy. Basically its being able to let someone view your inbox and reply to messages on your behalf. It's pretty convenient if you're a founder and have a business trip out of town with limited internet. You can give your co-founder or a trusted employee to keep you and your company updated by replying to important e-mails for you. Learn more about E-mail Delegation through this link ma'am Jane sent me after all my annoying questioning hehe.

A similar feature is forwarding where you can automatically forward your e-mails received from your website e-mail to your personal Gmail address for convenience:

e-mail sent to contact@me.com >> forwarded to >> me@gmail.com

After running through Gmail's built-in features, we then moved to Google Labs - experimental features created by Google Developers. A lot of them may have some bugs and imperfect features but you always have the option to disable them after you've installed them. Some labs ma'am Jane uses herself are Canned Responses, which enables her to create and use a preset response to a specific type of mail, and Quick Links, a lab that allows you to save and create a link of a frequent search result in your inbox. You can look through more Labs by going to Settings >> Labs in your Gmail page.

Cheer Garciano gives a short presentation about The Internet

I personally don't use this feature but maybe when I'm more embedded into my career, I see a future use for this feature. Google Tasks help you keep track of the things you need to do, set deadlines and even use e-mail messages as the reminder itself in Gmail Tasks. I raised my hand and being the kiss-ass, thick-faced chick that I am, I asked a few questions along with a few others in the room. Apparently, Google Labs won't work on mobile _{(unless some genius codes something for it)} and Google Apps aren't free either. To create an account, there's a $5 monthly subscription fee.

"Don't be impressed with technology. Be amazed by what you can do with it."

In between ma'am Cheer's talk, she mentioned something called Internet Penetration which basically just means how many people in an area have access or are using the Internet. This data is considerably important to digital marketers, with their efforts revolving around how many people they can reach.

"Think. Create. Engage. Optimize." Strategy of doing Digital Marketing.

Ma'am Cheer shared the general steps of using Digital marketing to gain customers.

1) Generate Traffic - get people interested in what you're doing and basically, have an audience.
2) Convert Traffic to Leads - Make this audience interested enough that they are willing to pay for your service.
3) Nurture Leads into Customers - Turn this willingness into action. Baby your prospective customers into actual customers.
4) After the cycle is done, Analyze the Process to look at what you did wrong, what you did right, and how to engage the next batch of customers.

Google Analytics is a great tool to monitor activity in your site. It shows you the number of viewers currently in the site, what they are doing, what category they belong to, their location and more. Consider signing up for Google Analytics to keep a better eye on your users and possible customers.

After the session, I was literally mind blown about all the things you can do with Google Apps and Tools. And to think what we discussed that day was just a fraction of the Management features Google has. I guess my overall reaction to everything I learned was that there really is no excuse for you to not build a kick-ass product/business. Every resource is available to you through the Internet. It's just a matter of being motivated, persistent and smart with your resources and decisions in life and/or in your career.

GDays Mandaue 2014: Musings on Innovation

Overview of GDays Mandaue here.

The first speaker up for the event was Wilson Ng of Ng Khai Development Corp. It was really inspiring for me to hear all the efforts he and his team made to pursue their desire for innovation.

"A businessman isn't necessarily an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is someone who creates new wealth through innovation."   -Wilson Ng

He first talked about how innovation starts businesses. What are your consumers' unmet needs and how do you, as an entrepreneur, fulfill it? For me, that guide question is something I've been mulling about for at least a year now. Starting my own business has always been at the back of my mind and I know, in time, I can do it, but what would it be about? An Internet Cafe? That'll be okay I guess but let's save that option as a last resort. An IT Solutions Company? Plausible. I mean, I know a few people I can work with if it comes to that but there are a few _{(abeit underground ones)} popping up here in Bohol and there are a ton in Cebu so it isn't something that hasn't ever been done before _{(in the two given provinces at least)}. I want to start something new, something fresh, something I'll love doing, but everyone wants to do that now, don't they. I guess I'll have to give that question 5 more years to think about.

"Open yourself up because business opportunities will come and go." -Wilson Ng

That is so true. I look two years back and I couldn't have gotten this far if I hadn't opened up to my first StartupWeekend or, if I look ever further, took the responsibility of being the Web Developers' Guild president, the opportunities that I got today, all the entries of this blog actually, wouldn't have happened. So thank you WDG :)

Mr. Ng mentions that there are two ways to do business: 1) Use proven techniques and 2) Try to do something new. Obviously, an idealistic person _{(such as myself)} would pick number two but is it really that easy? To do something no one has ever done before? The challenge isn't only the "how" but the "what", too. What hasn't been invented yet these days. You have to have a special mind _{(not a Beautiful Mind because that's just creepy if you get the reference)} to be able to think ways out of the box. Because face it, we use the phrase "think out of the box" all the time but do we actually know where the box is in the first place? Yeah. Think about it.

One misconception about innovation is that we think it's something totally new but in reality, it can be a marriage of two different ideas or the alteration of an existing idea where you can add or subtract something from it. The fact that you took time on renewing an existing business model or product to make it better is already a feat in and of itself. But just don't get it too over your head and end up actually making the product worse than it already was. That'll completely defeat the purpose.

And that's it for my musings on Innovation. Big thanks to Mr. Ng on giving us a "4-month course in 40 minutes" and for really getting my attention. This post will forever be in my "references for future life situations" column in my brain.

I suck at ending my write-ups.

GDays Mandaue 2014: My First Major Google Event

My Musings on Innovation.
Why I think Getting your business out there is important.
How Social Media Can Affect Your Business.
The mind-blowing Secrets of Gmail.

As the event opened with models strutting their stuff on the stage, fancy dresses and large John Lennon sunglasses, I was thinking dafaq? It was really cool and all _{(the designs were so fab but I could never think of being able to bring it if I ever get the chance of wearing them)} and after watching the fashion designer's, Bree Esplanada, video about being able to use Google to build his online presence, I thought sure, great for him but at the back of my mind was this is weird.

I'm sure everyone in the audience thought the same thing so, after the GBG Mandaue organizers caught on, Bjorn _{(thanks so much for helping me get in, I had so much fun!)} came up on stage after a few segments and explained why they had the fashion show. Erica and Lindsey _(sp?) from Google talked, through a video, to the GDays Mandaue attendees about a Google Transformation Challenge. To use Google in businesses, no matter how small or big, to enhance, it, digitize it and make it grow. If you lack the knowhow, GBG Mandaue will help you do just that. They assist businesses and professionals, like Bree's fashion designing, and take it to the next level. Contact GBG Mandaue and let them know what they can do for your business.

Photobooth manned by Ryan Orcullo

Right outside the venue was a photobooth with really cute cutouts of the different Google Apps which was really great and fun to mess around with. I took my turn on it, of course, but I couldn't find my pic on the GBG Mandaue Facebook Fan Page. Instead, I found this:

close enough

I ran into Ryan and Rey, friends who I got acquainted with during my StartupWeekend experiences, and got to talk about the new FabLab in Bohol _{(Hardware junkies in Bohol, leave me a message! We should schedule a meetup!)} and StartupWeeken Bohol among other things. I learned a lot from my short conversation with them by the door as we densely stood by the entryway as busy organizers who obviously had to be somewhere important were squeezing through. It's conversations like this, with like-minded people willing to give and take information on topics you are passionate about, that you get to appreciate and enjoy your field of interest.

The entryway we stood by

I ended up sharing a table with them and a few more awesome people like Jan, who I met at SWC2, and Giovanni, who I met while riding up the elevator _{(with weird buttons)}  going up to Lakwatsa Resto Lounge.

I later met Jhanis at the event proper during an ice-breaker activity the second speaker made us do _{(say hi to the person beside you and ask them what fruit they'd be and why. She's a pretty banana)}. She's an amazing blogger with really funny entries about her life as a mom of two kids. I really enjoy reading her work, and it really helps me relate to what my own mom thinks, too.

The event overall was so much fun with so many learnings. I'll meet even more people in the afternoon session in our Google for Management group, which I will be blogging separately about, and I even got to talk to the event hostess, Issa _{(who I thought, and still think, would make a great model)} after the event ended and got to splurge about each of our family businesses and frustrations.

Again, thank you Bjorn and Ruben for helping me attend! It was an awesome experience :D