Comments on: Being an ex-pat entrepreneur – it works for me!

By: Dave Starr

Dave Starr — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 07:14:09 +0000

Hi Bob, and Laurence, Fuuny I came here while searching for something else .. and once again ran square into the LiP blog. Your SEO mojo is working

Laurance, you have good idea there but a sBob has pointed out I don’t think it is going to be viable any time soon. =Eeven as a full-time resident my Filipino wife and I are stymie din traveling or even researching products to buy … it is not a problem of web design, there are many talented designers here … it is aproblem of businesses not only ignoring the ‘net but actively avoiding having a web presence. How to break this log jam? Your guess is as good as mine, it’s a fact that can’t be ignored, though.

And Scott, I can assure you there is money to be made from blogging. Bob gave you the basics, search for “pro blogging” or related subjects … it’s a fascinating world and in terms for ROI virtually astounding … virtually no investment at all required to get started …just the desire to share.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:03:18 +0000

Hi Laurence – believe it or not, even now in 2007, a lot of local businessmen just don’t believe that the Internet is important for their business. For people who have Inns and other travel related businesses, nothing could be further from the truth! The Internet is their most important key to letting their potential customers know about them, but few of them have a website or even an e-mail address. For some local hotels that I try to help promote on the web, they are even downright hostile toward getting their name known on the web. It baffles me.

By: Laurence

Laurence — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:51:21 +0000

Bob, I think the problem may be the lack of info on the web. I tried to plan a trip up around Banaue and Sagada but it was impossible to find anywhere to stay via the internet. All you can really go on is the guidebooks (and they’re out of date as soon as they hit the bookshelves). Perhaps I should start a business building websites for guesthouses!

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:34:44 +0000

Hi Laurence – you are correct, and it is a point I never thought of. Young people from Europe and other places backpack all over SE Asia – especially in Thailand, it seems. We don’t see them here, at least not many of them. I recall a number of years ago when I lived in GenSan a small group of European backpackers came to town. They had been backpacking Indonesia and hopped a boat to GenSan from there. As I recall, they were the only such backpackers I ever saw here.

I can’t say for certain why expats invariably fail at inns and resorts and such. It is just something I have observed, and also something that I have discussed with other expat friends. It’s even sort of a standing joke among us, a new guy will move here and we’ll ask each other “think he’ll open a resort?” and kind of laugh it off. A lot of expats open bars too, and I think the biggest problem there is that the expat owner tends to drink up all of his inventory!

By: Live In The Philippines! » Expat Entrepreneur in Action

Live In The Philippines! » Expat Entrepreneur in Action — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:27:43 +0000

[...] Yesterday, I posted about an article from the Startup Journal about how a growing trend is people moving to different countries, and starting up businesses that will earn them a living, and earn them the ability to stay in the country of their choice. I hear every day through e-mail from people who want to move to the Philippines, but most of them ask me how they will be able to make money. Well, let your entrepreneurial juices flow, think outside the box, and let your personal passions point you in the direction that can earn you some money and also make you happy in doing so. [...]

By: Laurence

Laurence — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 23:46:13 +0000

Hi Bob,

I was interested in your comment about expats who’ve run inns or such and haven’t been successful in the long run. What I noticed during my visit to North Luzon in 2005 was a distinct lack of European and Aussie/NZ backpackers. I believe that there is a huge untapped market there. They are all travelling in SE Asia, they just have to be enticed to hop over to Phil. I have plans to tap into this market in the next few years, but I’d be interested in your comments on why previous ventures may have been unsuccessful. Also, do you get many young European and Aussie/NZ tourists down in Davao ?

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:50:55 +0000

Hi Scott – there are number of ways to make money through blogging. The most common is through advertisements that are placed on the blog by sponsors. I have paid ads on a number of my blogs, I also advertise many of my own products and services on my blogs, which makes me money as well.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:39:34 +0000

Hi Bob,

I general terms how can you make money out of professional blogging ?
Just curious ..

Scott