Teletech Philippines To Get A New Zealand Directory Assistance Account Next Year

In mid-2008, Teletech will be opening a new directory assistance account that will serve Kiwi Customers. This early SITEL's call center operations management has announced that their Yellow Pages account will be shutting down because of the client's decision to award the oursourcing contract to call center rival Teletech in the Philippines.

Sad news for Palmerston North residents in New Zealand but great news for Filipino call center agents in the Philippines looking for a day-shift job. Since it is still very early, no other news can been dug from this story but my best guess is the account will be located in the newest call center site teletech is developing in Sucat Paranaque. It would likely be a 24/7 operations but with the bulk of the shifts in the morning as New Zealand and the Philippines have very little time difference.

To get more updated and follow up news about the latest call centers in the Philippines:

Enter your email address:

Read More

Caloocan Call Centers

There's been a featured news article in the abs-cbn news website that Caloocan City Mayor enrico Echiverri will launch a call center in Caloocan City. As I read through the article, I got confused as what it really is. The headline says call center but the body of the article indicates call center academy!

Those 2 things are very different. If it is really a call center, then a lot of Caloocan residents working as call center employees would really benefit from this great opportunity. If it is just a call center academy then it doesn't make any difference. It's just going to be another one of those low quality training centers that are just out to make money out of prospective call center applicants in the job market. I haven't really seen any notable assistance from these so-called call center training schools.

Can somebody from Caloocan clarify this matter?

Source: New Call Center To Open In Caloocan - ABS-CBN News

Read More

Call Center Crime

Haven't we all heard of things like these in our work environment? From petty theft to credit card fraud. Personally, I've witnessed some very serious ones in my lifetime. Like the one incident of credit card fraud by one of the agents in my account in one of the call centers I worked for.

Being in a sales account, we were all exposed in vital credit card information of customers. This one agent had the guts to funnel funds from several customers' cards to his own Paypal account. His biggest mistake was he did the crime on his own workstation using his own computer name and password. The result? One week after funneling over $1000 dollars to his account, NBI agents and Police SWAT stormed our account floor to "pick-up" this dumb fraudster in the middle of of his call. The stupid part about the whole thing is: when he was asked why he funneled funds, he replied that he wanted to get into the call center business because he wanted to learn the ropes of outsourcing because he wanted to put up a call center of his own! Least to say, this hombre might be lacking a few bolts in his coconut in the first place. The guy faced credit card fraud charges files against him by U.S. authorities. We never heard from him again.

Of course I've worked with people who admitted collecting credit card numbers and information and used it for variety of reasons. From buying items in Amazon to sending funds to a SMART money card. But that was years ago when I was still an agent and credit card security was not that elaborate.

But I can name 2 incidents that takes the cake in call center crime. Not surprisingly, both are from other countries.

If you work for HSBC recently, you would know why the HSBC call center suddenly got stricter with their employees and requirements. To be able to a bonafide HSBC employee, you would have to present everything from your birth certificate, certified grade school records up to your last certificate of employment. The same thing is required from other HSBC employees in other countries. This was after an HSBC employee from India transferred millions of British Pounds from HSBC customers to his own bank account. The Indian was apprehended and charged. After that HSBC thoroughly screens present and prospective employees through a third party First Advantage.

The best and funniest incident of call center crime was the most recent one I've heard! A guy working in a call center in the U.K. was running a drug dealership and money laundering business from his call center desk in Sheffield. This was not small scale and petty drug dealing. This guy Shoukat Ali Yaqoob was making phones calls in relation to supplying 50 kilograms of pure heroin to at least a couple of towns Yorkshire and Glouchester. This story was featured in BBC. Although the guy was not caught red-handed doing the bad deed while working on his desk. It was kinda funny how other people would use such a mundane type of work for a more lucrative yet dangerous line of work. No guts, no glory right? LOL

If you like this blog post, please consider bookmarking my blog or subscribing to updates by typing in you email address above. Thanks!

Read More

Does Google Control The Web Now?

It's kinda sad what I found today... A friends high-traffic blog has been bitch-slapped by Google AGAIN to nothingness! It's kinda sad because it had to happen to the person who opened my eyes to all of this. I mean blogging, blog design and some SEO. It's from him that I learned about PR and how important it is... well it was it webmasters. His blog was hit by Google demoting it's rank from PR4 to PR3 last October. Today I find his blog having PR0. It might be a glitch but I think Google is is up for more bitch-slapping primarily for those who participate in Text-link ads selling and PayPerPost (the company). Good thing I never did those in any of my blogs.

Not only that, I also saw a very big dip in my friend's traffic and Alexa ranking. Could it be an aftershock effect of Google's actions? Most probably not but one can't help but think it's inter-related because of the chronology of the events. Or it might be because his niche is starting to lose it's fan base.

It seems that more and more Google is becoming a dictator on the internet. Why else would you see a lot of people bitching and moaning about how they couldn't care less if Google reduces their blogs to PR0 trash? For as long as people talk about Google Pagerank, it is a significant and an integral part of net today. As long as you got that little green toolbar up there in your browser, it means you care about because you look at it. A lot of other people and companies want to come up with an alternative to Google Pagerank but it seems that PR and it's algorithm is still the best out there and it is backed-up by the biggest search engine.

It so ironic that people who were constantly monitoring and waiting for the next Google PR update not far back are the ones who are spitting at it now. There's a strong a campaign to disregard Google PR altogether. But again, It's Google's Pageranking. No matter how you look at it, it's Google's so whatever they decide to do with it, people just have to suck it up and deal with it.

Read More

For A While? ...What? For A While!

Read this article by a recognized World Business News website author --->
Does Philippine Call Center Success Translate to BPO, Software Development, and ADM Success?

When I read this article, I felt proud that our call center agents here in the Philippines get recognized for the language proficiency or at least the acquired ability to neutralize regional accent if not mimic a perfect American accent.

But the highlight that really made me both laugh and cringe in embarrassment is the fact that a lot of our beloved call center agents use the phrase "...For a while." During a conversation with the Filipino agent, the author almost believed that he was talking with an American during the whole time and could detect any slip of accent. But then the Filipino agent said "for a while" instead of "hold on" or "please wait a moment". As a manager myself, I've listened to hundreds of live and recorded calls and I must attest that this incident is very very wide-spread and I always slap my forehead everytime I hear this phrase. Sometimes I just couldn't help but laugh too!

It's sad that no matter how extensive and stringent our language training for our call center people is, there will always be minor slips like "for a while." My best guess is it is a "cultural thing." Something that people may have incurred during their studies in school or maybe environmental like hearing it on T.V. and other forms of media.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not "mayabang" because I feel embarrassed or disgusted by language errors like these by my fellow Filipino call center employees. I wrote this as a wake up call and I want you readers to be aware of this so you will not commit the same. We're not in the business of tricking our customers that they are talking to Americans. But since we've already gone a long way in adjusting the way we speak to them and we've already worked hard to neutralize our accents, why don't we go all the way and make sure we speak and do everything perfectly. Ofcourse, nobody's perfect but without a goal, what is a man?

Read More

GENPACT Alabang: ramp-up on-going!

Ready to work before 2008 starts? Check out Genpact in North-cybergate in Alabang. They're ramping up and they need fresh new faces to fill out customer service rep posts. This was informed to me by one of the successful applicants and now a manager at Genpact.

Hiring is on-going and will continue until mid-December 2007. All interested can apply by emailing kuh.valentin@gmail.com. She can facilitate speedy processing of your applications. Goodluck and hope you land that job before Christmas!

Read More

I'm Officially a professional blogger! Woohoo!

I can't stop feeling excited about this new found career that I made for myself! I just wished I took this much much earlier like say 4 years ago. If I did, I would have been in the same ranks as Darren or Shoe! Haha! Nevertheless, the blogging world is still open wide for pro bloggers like me who want to quit their day job and work for themselves in their own convenient time. Pro blogging in the Philippines is virtually unknown even after T.V. shows showcased what blogging was all about. I still remember Abe Olandres appearing in one for the popular TV talk shows to discussing about blogging. But even until now, pro blogging still hasn't taken off in the Philippines. Not yet!

For some reason I have this gut feeling that Filipino pro bloggers now are intentionally keeping this business for themselves. Maybe to lessen the competition? This type of work is a gold mine in the making if only more Filipinos knew how much they can earn in this business. I've have several jobs in this past but none have made me more excited about my prospects than blogging and the almost endless earning potential of this type of "work"

But what does it really mean to be a "Pro blogger"? To me, it means freedom to work whenever I want without sacrificing my own needs. It means possibly earning as much and if not even more than working in a call center. It means working at home and having more time for my family. It means getting paid in U.S. dollars for the things I do. And more importantly, it means no paying taxes for the hundreds of dollars you get for doing this gig. Ain't that sweet? No government regulator can tax me for jobs they don't even know I do. It's the perfect side-line to say the least! I'm proud to say I'm up to $300 in pay per post earning alone in less than 3 weeks. And this is just my first three weeks in monetizing my blogs.

A good Filipino blogger friend of mine admitted to me that there is some form of politics in the Pinoy blogging world. Some bloggers will deliberately put you down once they know you have a hot gig going on for yourself. To me, I don't want to be recognized or get involved in anybody's politics. I just want to earn me a living to pay the bills and probably tag along some people who want to join me in my newly found quest to make this my new home-based career and probably help each other out along the way.

Fast facts:
1. There are only less than 78, 000 Filipino bloggers around the world. Majority of them blog only as a hobby and are not monetizing their blogs to their full potential.
2. The best and highest rated Filipino blogs can be found in Ratified.org, in which yours truly is number 35 out of 500 blogs that are rated.
4. There are More Chinese bloggers than any other nationality in the world.
5. The most widely read blogger is a Chinese actress turned blogger.

If you like this post and blog, please consider bookmarking this page so you would remember the address quickly if you want to come back. You may also enter your email address above to subscribe to emailed updates from this blog. Thank you much!

Read More

My discoveries in linking strategy

If you have a blog that you want to make popular for whatever reason, building and seeding links to other websites is a major task you should know. For my 2 blogs, I have almost "turned every rock upside down" to make sure other sites will be linking to them. Making other websites linking to your blog is very important because of several things:

1. It can drive traffic to your blog.
2. An inbound link from a high Pagerank website can dramatically improve or give you an awesome PR.
3. It will give your blog more link popularity.

If bloggers really want to see "results" for their blogs whether monetizing it or gain more readership, "seeding" their links in other websites is very essential. It can gain you more regular readers, subscribers and maybe fans later! :D

To make the most of "seeding" your links and get the results that you want. You have to make sure you "seed" it in high PR pages. It is not necessary for bloggers to "seed" their link on every chance they get. I'll share with you an experience. When I started my Olympic blog early August 2007, I went all out in putting my links in whatever website I can find. I did this because I wanted to get a high PR when Google updates the pagerank. Little did I know I might have been doing my blog more bad than good. I was fairly successful in building my link popularity but I found out that the I could have gotten a better PR if I picked the place to "seed" my link. In "seeding" links, there are two almost opposite goals you may end up with. If you choose to seed your link in as many website's as possible, you probably will end up with more traffic. But if you choose to seed your link to only high PR pages, you may only get very few traffic from it BUT it raises your chances of getting a high PR on the next PR update. Let me cite an equation to make things a little bit clearer:

If you "seed" you links to high PR websites only the likelihood will be this:

PR5 + PR4 + PR6 + PR5 + PR4 + PR5 = probability is that you're blog is going to get a high PR next time. This is because only high PR websites link to you.

PR0 + PR0 + PR5 + PR2 + PR0 +PR4 = ( if you multiply this equation a hundred times ) probability is that you may get the traffic you want but since a lot of PR zero's are linking to you, this may not give you a good pagerank.

The smarter way of linking is making sure you seed your link in high PR pages. I'm not just talking about the homepage but the actual page you're going to put your link in. For those who will be serious in getting their blog popular or at least get some more exposure here's some advice on how you can get started:

1. Get the Firefox with Google Toolbar on the right column. The Google tool bar has a pagerank checker which displays the PR of any website you are viewing. This will give you a quick look and assessment if the website is worthy seeding your link to.

2. Check your blog's backlinks to see which websites to see which websites or blogs are already linking to you.I recommend using iwebtool's back link checker.

3. Contact blogger's with similar niche as your blog to see if they would want to exchange links with you. Usually, I do this by commenting on their blogs and asking if they want to exchange links.

4. The best places to seed your link to are those blogs hosted by new organizations like BBC. I have a valuable backlink from BBC because I made a comment on a high participation discussion in one of the blogs there. You can also seed your link in high particpation threads in forums. The key word here is "high-participation".

I hope I've shared some valuable information to help you out in your blogging. If you like this post and blog, please consider bookmarking this page so you would remember the address quickly if you want to come back. You may also enter your email address above to subscribe to emailed updates from this blog. Please check out my Olympics blog if you have time. Thank you much!

Read More

For The First Time I Shook The Pinoy Blogosphere

This makes me feel very proud! For one day, my Olympics blog moved "the earth of the Pinoy Blogosphere"! I'm referring to the ranking of my Olympic blogin in the most recognized and toughest ranking website exclusively for Filipinos, ratified.org. Here's what that Olympic blog has done since it was accepted in the rankings:

1. On the first day of it's acceptance last October 27, it broke into the Top 100 blogs in the Philippines! Landing at number 42 and ranked as high as number 38 which was 2 days ago.

2. As reported by Abe Olandres of yugatech.com, a lot of Filipino blogs got "demoted" in Google Pagerank and only handful increased in ranking. My blog was the biggest gainer of Pagerank in the "known Filipino blogosphere". By known, I meant those who are recognized and ranked by ratified.org. By gaining a rank of PR4 from PR N/A, I was only 1 out of two in the Pinoy blogging world to do that! The other one was a photography blog.

3. In ratified.org, even if it currently ranks the top 486 Filipino blogs around the world, only displays the top 100 at a given time. My Olympic blog was able to beat the photography blog that made it to PR4 as well. Which makes my blog, the biggest winner in rankings after the PR update.

4. My Olympics blog is the highest rated Filipino Sports blog in ratified.org and possibly in the world!
These achievements, made me very happy and inspired to get better at what I try to do. I started that Olympic blog August 3, 2007 and yet it has achieved so much in just a considerably short amount of time. I hope this serves a good example for those who want to try blogging and earn money while doing so. I would like to say that even in a short amount of time that I've been blogging, I've been dead serious about what I do and I never wanted to stop learning. Even at this early, I humbly offer to share the knowledge I gained through all these to those you would be kind enough to read my blogs. A lot friends helped me to be a better blogger and I want to return it in a sort of "pay-it-forward" scheme.

With that said, please come and check out my Olympics blog by clicking on the image below:

If you like this post and blog, please consider bookmarking this page so you would remember the address quickly if you want to come back. You may also enter your email address above to subscribe to emailed updates from this blog. Thank you much!



Rate Me on Blogowogo

Read More