Having both experienced being a business owner (when we still had our internet café) and a customer (we’re always buying stuff, right?), it gives me an idea about being on both sides of the coin.
As a seller of services or products, you always strive to make your customers happy with what you offer them. With our internet café, we provide quality in our work especially with encoding of documents. This was what kept our clients coming back, since we even correct their grammar and spelling if possible. We also had to deal with customers who act as if they know more than we do. As an example, you’re focused on doing their job order while they sit behind you and tell you to do this or that.
As a customer, I’ve experience many times good service and have bought products that I’m satisfied with. Of course, there would be those not-so-good products or services that would sometimes send you off to a bad mood. Sometimes, mistakes and errors made by an establishment could be forgivable, it really depends on how they handle your complaints.
As a business owner, one should be sensitive about their customers’ needs and preferences. They should have the initiative to plan ahead on how to grow the business with their clients in mind, whether you’re selling burgers, fashionable clothing, cell phones or car lifts. Looking forward and beyond the usual services and products offered by everybody else will make a business stand out from the rest.
Finally, I did something I’ve been putting off for the longest time, editing and resizing some photos. I really wish, hope and pray to have my own digital camera… I want to take really nice photos and the 3 megapixels point and shoot Sony Cybershot is not that appealing anymore as it used to be when it first came out. More digicams are coming out in the market at much lower price and they have even better features. If ever I’ll be buying a new one, it would definitely be a Canon.
Already started late in the evening with the WordPress tutorials. And I thought I would sleep early but thanks to Small Potato’s very organized lessons, I was able to keep on. I previously ended with Lesson #4 (Header Template) and continued this time with Lesson #4b (Header Template Continues). Learning the tutorial can be addicting! Oh look at the time now…
P.S. I’m sleeping with little C again.
Update: Slept at past 2AM and finished 13 lessons in all, from #4b to #8 (How to Validate). Yey! I’m so excited to continue with the next topic which is what makes WordPress themes attractive, the CSS part.
Amazing how technology keeps on upgrading in just few years or even months. For instance, mobile phones used to be big and bulky, but now they’re getting so tiny and slim enough for your palm. And they’re packed with loads of features than their predecessors. I wonder what would be the next mobile phone feature aside from being loaded with camera, mp3 player, organizers and other nifty details. I know the research guys at Nokia are always thinking ahead and envision future mobile phones to be mini-computers, capable of more advanced features that every businessman or gadget freak would be happy about.
Laptops are evolving fast as well. I often think of having a mini-laptop for those days when I’m on the go. My HP Pavilion notebook which I fondly call “Pavi” is slimmer compared to most notebooks but in contrast to the mini-laptop, it’s just heavier and bulkier. And now, USB flash drives keep increasing their data sizes. From MBs (Megabytes) of data when they first came out, flash drives are now available up to 16 GBs (Gigabytes). That’s a lot of data storage and the prices are even more affordable.
I love it when I am focused with my tasks and today is one of those work-filled days. I did a lot of catching up with pending work and also did some accounting.
I woke up early at six and bravely had a shower despite the icy cold water. While some would need a warm bath, I prefer a cold one… the colder the better! I just like it when the icy shower hits my face and gives my body cells a bit of shock. An officemate once suggested that washing the face during lazy afternoons at work helps to ward off drowsiness and I tell you his advice really worked.
I also had a nice long nap in the afternoon. Thanks to Juv for looking after little C while sis and I slept. Aaaahhh… the simple pleasures of napping and relaxing.
I plan to continue with the WordPress tutorials but I just feel so tired now. It’s just about 10pm but I can’t rub off this drowsiness. Maybe the Vitamin E pills are making me crave for sleep? Hmmm… BTW, I’ll be sleeping with little C tonight.
More people are into healthy eating nowadays. For instance, I have a friend who decided to go vegetarian, although the last time we met, she already included fish in her diet. She claimed that her diet which consisted more of vegetables and fruits made her dry skin look healthier. I also sensed a glow on her face as we talked. She was also scheduled for a detox and I admire her determination about eating healthy.
I wonder what she would say about detox pills? Imagine having 31 toxin-removing super detox agents such as aloe vera, apple cider vinegar, lemon, green tea, noni fruit, papaya, raspberry, mangosteen and parsley in a single pill of Orovo detox. Detoxifying supplements are body cleansers which improves metabolism and aids in losing body toxins that add up to those unwanted pounds.
It’s the season of red again. Aside from the festive mood of Chinese New Year set to be celebrated here in Bacolod from January 23 to 26, the upcoming Valentine’s Day on February 14 gives more meaning to the color red. Malls and other business establishments are decked with red for the Chinese New Year and pretty soon it will be red all over again for Valentine’s.
On love day, all dining establishments will be filled with romantic couples again, and even families. After all, Valentine’s Day is not just for lovers. It’s really a special day and most of the ladies would want to look and feel good on that day, and with few weeks left, they might think of using Apidexin or some other fat burners to help them slim down.
Hmmm… my reason for losing weight is not really because of Valentine’s Day. I will be going to Cebu next month and meeting some of my former officemates and friends. I know they would notice that I’ve gained some weight if they see me now. Sigh. I really really really need to lose this unwanted belly fat. Help!
I love long afternoon naps. Today though, I wasn’t able to get this luxury since we had to rush to the bank before it closes at 3pm. It’s a sort of errand day for us and after the bank, off we went to another office for the final payment for my sister’s lot. I can see the relief and happiness in her after the transaction. Finally after few years of paying monthly, they now own a prime lot near the sea and just few minutes from the airport.
Next, we went to SM to scout for an electric kettle. After going through their displayed choices at the SM Appliance Center, we checked out Ace Hardware. We were not satisfied with the choices and agreed to buy the Nikon brand at Robinson’s Appliance which we saw days before. Mom also met us at SM and we went to Libertad to buy a sack of rice which she gave to the seminary.
As always, little C is so excited every time the van would stop at the parking area. She wants to go out immediately. For instance, she was sleeping during the ride from the seminary to Robinson’s but as soon as we opened the doors at the parking, she immediately woke up and wanted to go down. Lagawan gid nga baby! 
The Nikon kettle we bought is now in its rightful place, beside the Microwave Oven. Mom is not so happy about it since it wobbles when put in its base. Maybe it was designed like that so it would be easier to pull out? Hmmm….I dunno. We’re still having second thoughts about it. I felt tired this evening so I didn’t do any of those WordPress tutorials. *yawn*
Shopping for stuff can sometimes be tiring; whether it’s an Ipod, a new bed or an LCD mount. We always aim for our money’s worth with our purchases, yeah? And that means not settling for the first brand or model we see. It’s always a must to compare the details and the price, though low price doesn’t equate to a good buy. Sometimes quality comes with a shiny price tag that could intimidate you.
Anyway, our electric kettle broke just last week. Dad, being its frequent user, keeps reminding us to buy a new one. Well it seems like scouting for a replacement is not as simple and easy as we thought it would be. We opted for the same brand and model, but it’s not available anymore. So we will be checking out other stores next time.
Morning was spent with doing an accounting of personal finances (which also includes my other siblings’ accounts). This activity is a must for me and should be at least done every three days. Usually I would get mixed up or forget a lot of expenses if I go lax with my accounting tasks. You can see a satisfied me every time the cash on hand and my computations match. So yes, today I am satisfied and happy.
I was also tied up this morning with answering to a comment in my travel blog. It was about the evening bus schedule and I realized I made a mistake about the time. Tsk. Having grammatical errors on blog posts can be forgivable sometimes, as long as the general message is readable, but when you deal with facts like date, time, people and places… that’s just not fine with me. And to think I did it on a high traffic blog. Tsk again.
Afternoon was a bit lazy as I took a nap which dragged on to more than an hour. It was my body craving for rest since I slept late the night before. After dinner, we attended a healing Mass at 7pm which is scheduled by the parish every 19th of the month. Afterwards, Mom and Juv attended a wake for one of our community members while Dad, Dy, little C and me headed home. We also stopped by one of the fruit stands by the roadside to buy green papaya.
Anyway, I always promise myself not to stay up late but well… I did another web thingy tonight. I started learning how to make a WordPress theme. Yeah! So brave of me, huh. Though I’m not really that genius when it comes to techie stuff especially IT matters, I am not that difficult to teach though.
Last month, I already did a search of most tech blogs giving tutorials on making WordPress themes and I choose Small Potato’s tutorial “So you want to create WordPress themes huh?“among the rest. I like the way he presented the lessons, straightforward and very organized. Before the first lesson though, one of the requirements is to install Wordpress locally on my computer. This makes editing the theme easier without having to go online. Using Xampp Lite and following the instructions, I was able to install it to my laptop which runs on Windows Vista and the program worked beautifully.
The setup for the WordPress account locally in my laptop took just few minutes. Next was going through the steps in Small Potato’s tutorial. It’s almost midnight and I already feel so sleepy… so I’m stopping at Lesson #4 (Header Template). Can’t wait to start the next lesson tomorrow. Goodnight!
How often do companies think about their clients’ welfare? These days, you can just name a few companies that think ahead when it comes to customer service. Sometimes their employees just go on with their daily assignments mechanically such as most bank tellers do. Seldom do you see employees ready with a smile to serve you, showing that they care about your needs.
There are also companies and establishments that don’t make an effort to upgrade their services and facilities. You go to the same restaurant and notice that they still haven’t fixed the washroom faucet. These are just some things that contribute to the clients’ dissatisfaction and turning to other service providers.
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It’s past midnight and the house is so quiet…the only sound I can hear is from my laptop’s keypad as I’m typing away. The weather’s getting cold these days, reminding me of Baguio where most of the locals wear jackets, scarves or beanies to keep them warm. I should be snuggling in bed by now but I’m still up and about after browsing on some sites and checking on my travel blog happysteps.net’s visitors and statistics. Looking back on the previous year, I couldn’t say I’m really happy with my sites since I haven’t updated them regularly as planned. Life got in the way of my online ventures but I do hope this year will bring much better results, not just for my online but offline projects as well.
The New Year is a sort of fine line where one jumps over and crosses, a boundary that divides the past and what’s to come, and inspires most of us to become better despite failing on some resolutions the past year. One can be cynical about making goals for another new year, or he can be more passionate and determined about his dreams. As what I’ve read from a friend’s blog, let’s just keep on and never give up.
I’ve read many years ago about an article discouraging New Year’s resolutions and why they don’t work. Well, it actually depends on you. If you’re the type who needed to write down your plans and goals as reminders, then by all means make a list of what you plan to achieve for 2009. I still haven’t made definite plans for this year, but for sure healthy cooking and healthy eating is on my list.
My cousin who’s currently based in Canada visited us recently and aside from the usual chitchats, our conversation topic led to paying bills online. She’s used to making her payments just a mouse click away while I complained about the hassles of having to go to a bank or office to pay the bills. Sigh.
For instance, I was lining up at the cashier for our quarterly insurance payments and inquired from the staff if I can pay the bill at a bank near our home instead of having to travel all the way to another city just to make the payment when somebody behind me told me NO. It was my relative who was our insurance agent. She explained that if I pay at the bank, it would be difficult for her to get the money and blah blah blah. So that answered my query. Tsk… things are not so high tech in this part of the planet after all even with affordable term life insurance quotes or the tiniest gadgets around.
Our family happily welcomed the year 2009 together. Looking back and reminiscing those months of 2008, I feel thankful for the many events that happened especially having traveled to Europe during summer. Early 2008, it was a busy one too since I did some interior designing of my bro’s condo and stayed in Manila for more than a month. You could say I spent less on my online projects but no regrets. I’ll just focus and do more for this year.
