Are you extremely beautiful?  There is a dating website for you.  Are you a dog lover?  There is a dating website for you too.  Are you ugly?  Until recently the answer was, “sorry there is no dating website for you.”  TheUglyBugBall is one of the newest niche dating websites that targets “aesthetically challenged” individuals.  The concept may sound harsh, but after attracting 1500 people in its first day – I’m not so sure.  I’ve visited the website and did a search of women aged 18-25 and didn’t see anyone that deserved to be called ugly in my book.  So much for beauty comes from within.

Howard James, the founder of TheUglyBugBall, may just be a genius for opening a site that approaches the untapped market of ‘ugly’ people and those who are self conscious of themselves.  James says that by using TheUglyBugBall, “they might actually find a compatible partner – instead of spending years paying for dating sites they have no hope on.”  I have to agree with James on that one.  I would say that this idea is a lot better than opening a dating site for virgins that was opened a few months ago.

For more visit:  NY Daily News, The Sun, and YourTango.

We had to postpone the development on the website for a little bit due to an idea that I had.  It’s not a revolution of any kind, but I think it’s going to help out the site a lot.  It brings a more social aspect to the site, but not only that – it helps define what you’re looking for when it comes to the type of person you want to meet/date or whatever else.  This pushes the completion date back another month or so, which I’m not too happy about because we have to wait for the website to be finished before we can start on the mobile app.  I’m not sure how long that will take, but it shouldn’t take too long since we’ll have the database and web features to interface with.  My goal is to have this all completed by the time I go home in November.  Once I’m home I can film a few YouTube videos that I’ve been thinking about.  The question is, how do I make these videos exactly what I want them to without making it look like I’m just attracting attention…

I can’t say that I’m ready for any negative feedback on any part of this project, but I’m optimistic that people will enjoy the services I am going to offer.

Here’s to the next step!

To be more precise, I mean the Internet.  We reached milestone one and are coming up on milestone two shortly, so we should have a preview of what the site will look like and be able to tweak the UI from there.  I’m really looking forward to seeing the final product and being able to mess around with it.  Again, I suffer from the reality of not having great Internet service out here so I’ll have to find a way around it if I can’t view the site properly from the system I am using now.

Like everyday, I continue to write down marketing ideas that I think will help the website grow.  I write down everything, and I mean everything that pops into my head – even if it is an idea that I don’t have a whole lot of faith in.  The reason for this is because that not-so-good idea could develop into a great idea, so every possiblity is worth a look into.  What I’ve found is that many ideas that I have are already ideas that have been developed by others, which is both bad and great.  It’s bad because, well, I can’t plant that flag on the idea and call it mine.  But on the other hand, I can look what that person or company has done with the idea and change it to make it better.  Most ideas nowadays are built on someone elses idea anyway – just look at all the movie remakes.

So continues the journey…

I cannot wait for the day that I order something online and can receive it within three to five days.  It seems like forever since I went on a book shopping spree and I am in desperate need of reading every one of them.  In addition to my new hobby of reading everything that pertains to business (if Amazon looked at my most recent purchases they would think I was some kind of entrepreneurial math student), I have begun writing various articles about relationships and romance.

I launched a new website called When in Romance that features articles giving its readers tips on dating advice, romantic ideas, online dating, and more.  I’ve also taken a page out of Get Connected, and signed up for a few article websites that I can submit the articles to.  The goal is to create a website with real advice that can help its readers.  All of the ‘romantic idea’ websites out there seem really cheesy and outdated.  I try to mix realism with romance to make articles that make sense.  Some things may seem cheesy, but it’s just because of the topic.

Even if you don’t need help in your relationship, or talking to women/man etc, I urge you to go and read a few articles and then tell me what you think of them.  Feedback will help me create better articles.  Creating better articles means better advice for everyone.

We usually receive mail Mondays and Thursdays, so hopefully tomorrow I’ll be receiving a fairly heavy box from Amazon.  This past Monday, however, I did receive ‘The Facebook Effect‘ by David Kirkpatrick in the mail.  I’m just about finished and will post a little about it afterwards.  This book could not have come at a better time in my life - where I am in the process of becoming a successful entrepreneur.

I just finished reading Get Connected: The Social Networking Toolkit for Business, and I have to say it’s a great book for anyone trying to get into social media marketing or beginning any type of business online.  The first eight chapters gives the reader a “how to” use social media approach, while chapter nine provides reviews of the most popular social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Hall gives you great reasons on why you need to be using social media in the ever-evolving world that is Web 2.0.    I found the reviews chapter to be very helpful because it lets you know the demographics of the sites users, and gives some pro and cons about the website.  This enables you to look at your marketing plan and see if the website is fit for your plan.  You wouldn’t want to market your brand whos main demographics live in China and you only ship to the U.S.

I especially enjoyed the case studies in the last chapter.  Reading about success stories from other small  business owners is always inspirational, it even includes Starr Hall‘s success story which I think makes the book a little more personal.  Whether you’re a newbie or a veteran to social networking you’ll find that Get Connected is a quick read that serves as a fantastic reference down the road.

For those of you who don’t know or haven’t seen The Lion King - it means no worries.  This weekend I went to Zanzibar, Tanzania for vacation and although it was a little short, it was amazing.  The sands are white (whiter than I am) and the water is a shade of blue that I’ve never seen before.

We landed at the airport in Dar Es Salaam, passed through immigration and made our way over to the PrecisionAir booth to grab some tickets to Zanzibar.  However as we were walking, some fairly aggressive locals came our way asking about flying to Zanzibar and telling us they had cheap tickets.  They were wearing airport ID’s so it seemed ‘official’, but at the same time – suspicious.  So, what did we do?  After a few minutes of discussion we decided to go with them in their taxi to the domestic terminal - it’s about a two minute drive.  After we arrived we bought ’tickets’, which if you ever have been or ever plan to travel in Africa, it is sometimes a little shady.  Laws are not strictly enforced and people tend to act a little aggressive.  Our names were written down on a paper, and we were shown to the airplane.

After taking a little propeller plane over to Zanzibar International we had finally made it.  The view from the plane was amazing!  Flying over the blue water and seeing other little islands – I couldn’t wait to hit the beach and check it out.  After landing we exchanged some money and hopped in a cab to go to BlueBay Resort.  It was a long 45 minute drive to the resort, but the spot we picked out was great.  It has these private club houses that are divided into 4 spacious rooms each – a great getaway from modern cookie-cutter hotels.

Breakfast and dinner are provided by the hotel (half-board) and are pretty decent.  Each night has a different theme, we experienced Italian, Indian, and ‘Far East Fusion’ nights and they each offered a good selection of foods.  Breakfast carried the normal varieties of food you would expect:  eggs, fruits, pancakes, waffles, sausage, and breads.

After we ate dinner the first night we stopped by the Guest Services office to ask about the kinds of tours they had and what we could explore on the island.  They have a company on the island called Safari Blue which offers excursions, snorkeling, etc – and we set up a tour with them through the hotel.  At the time the hotel said there were about 5 other people going, but we didn’t realize that meant 5 people from our hotel alone.  So, when we actually got to the beach site where the tour began it was more like 40 people.

The Safari Blue team took us out for guided snorkeling at different areas (which makes me want to buy an underwater case for my camera).  Our guide focused mainly on us, which was great.  He would point out different animals/coral and explain what it was.  It was my first time snorkeling, so it was a good experience for me.  The water was very clear and calm, perfect water for swimming around looking at the fishes.  After snorkeling at different spots they brought us to another beach where they had been BBQing seafood – lobster, squid, and other kinds of fish with rice and sauce.  The dessert was various fruits from the island and they gave explanations of each one we were about to eat.  After eating they gave rides on an outrigger which was a lot of fun.

We then hopped in the boat to another island for a quick swim and then headed back to the main island.  The total trip time took about 10 hours.  After we arrived back at the hotel, we asked the driver if he would take us to Stonetown the next day.  The hotel tour prices were very expensive – if I recall correctly it was about $112 per person to tour Stonetown.  The driver not only drove us there, but got us a tour guide as well – which costed $110 for the whole day.

The guide (who was very nice) walked us around for a few hours and told us the history along the way.  We took a boat out to Prison Island, where they would take the Slaves when they misbehaved, and it also has a lot of tortoises there.  It wasn’t too exciting, so you wouldn’t regret skipping this.

He also took us through several small markets in town, which included many shops for souvenirs.  Be careful when buying because many of these shops have the exact same items – I’m not sure if they are manufactured somewhere or they are truly created in nearby villages like they say they are.  Whatever you do, haggle with the shop keeper.  We bought two paintings from one shop and nearly got the second one for ‘free’.  There is another thing that we could have skipped, and that was “The House of Wonders”.  Unless you’re a big history person, skip it.  A quick five minute story about the place will suffice, but make sure you go up to the second story balcony to see the view.  You’ll have to pay about $3 per person to get in, but I think it’s worth it.

Some things we didn’t see that we would have if we had more time:  spice tour, and the tour to see the Red Colobus Monkeys.  There will be another time to see them.

Our last morning ended with massages from the hotel, and another adventure of buying tickets at the airport.  Overall, I would go back again.  The entire experience was great, but the views alone made the trip a worthwhile expense.  Sadly, I’m using the old version of Photoshop CS4 – so the RAW I was shooting in can’t be opened with it.  Only the last day of our trip I turned on RAW + JPG – but it was too late.  I’ll post some of the pictures after I upload them tonight.

Another adventure is about six hours away!  I’m off to Zanzibar, Tanzania where I will spent a glorious weekend soaking up the sun on a nice warm beach.  I’ve got my Ape Case 2000 ready to be field tested, along with the t2i and Sony TX7.  If you’ve never heard of Zanzibar (which you probably haven’t) I suggest you look up some pictures on flickr.  It’s absolutely gorgeous!

Also, I can officially call myself an entrepreneur as my LLC has been approved by the California Secretary of State!  So I think I’ll be celebrating that as well.  Anyway, enough of that.  It’s time to roll.  I may or may not have Internet at the hotel I’m staying at, but if I do I’ll make sure to post whatever shots I can. 

I just finished reading Guerrilla Marketing and honestly, I have mixed feelings about it.  Obviously I am not an expert in the field of business, and have no basic knowledge on the subject either, so this probably wasn’t the best book to start off with but – it did open my mind to the types of marketing businesses use.  The type of business that I am starting is mainly online, so many of the offline strategies that Levinson offers did not pertain to me.  Marketing methods like billboards for example, aren’t necessarily what I would use to advertise my company – at least not yet.

The most relevant part of the book to me was Part IV: New-Media Marketing, which talks about Internet advertising, social media, getting involved in affiliate programs, etc – and as an experienced user of these methods, and obvious observations as most web sites have thrown it in my face over the years, it didn’t really explain too much.  I know this book isn’t geared towards the advanced computer user, as Levinson suggests at one point in the book towards the use of desktop publishing software that if you can’t do it yourself, your child could probably do it for you.  So with that being said, if you’re getting into business and know the in-n-outs of Internet marketing and are expecting to be learn more about it from this book, I would suggest looking for a book that is strictly dedicated to Internet marketing.

However, there is a lot of useful information that will give you insights of how different types of businesses market.  This book is definitely old school, but you can apply the principles and tactics taught in this book for years to come.  So my final verdict:  Buy the book, read it, but read it in conjuction with other business books that will compliment it.  Although it was updated in 2007, it doesn’t do much justice for the Web 2.0 marketing techniques that are being used right now.

As I begin the journey from the ground up, I realize how much is involved with starting up a company, its operations, marketing, etc., which is quite possibly why I just went on an Amazon shopping spree for a ton of business books.  Here is the list of what I bought; I have a lot of reading ahead of me:

• Limited Liability Companies For Dummies
• Form Your Own Limited Liability Company
• The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself
• Guerilla Marketing on the Internet
• How to Win Friends & Influence People
• The E Myth Revisited – Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About it
• Duct Tape Marketing: The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide
• Strategic Planning For Dummies
• The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World

A lot to read indeed!  Lisa Barone over at outspokenmedia.com posted 10 Books to Read (or Re-Read) This Summer which has some of the books above, and some more books that I’m going to have to order… Except for BBQ Makes Everything Better – I’m sure it would be delicious, but my budget is only currently allowing educational materials.

I can’t tell you how ready I am to start developing Romanticity.  I’m still waiting on several proposals from companies/developers on Freelancer – after I receive them, read them, and ask few more questions I’ll finally choose who I’ll go with.  It’s obvious that I’m being very selective here.  More selective than when your mom goes to the store and when she buys milk and has to crawl to the back of the freezer in the dairy aisle to grab that coldest/freshest carton.  What?  I think all our moms do that.  Jokes aside, I don’t think I’ve ever been more serious about something in my life.  I’ve been working non-stop on ideas, planning, reading everything I can and soaking up all the information so I can put it to use.

Those are the reasons why I’m so antsy right now – I want to these ideas to materialize so I can build upon them and hopefully satisfy not only my customers but my own perfection.  I think it’s those two key factors that drive me to want to create a fantastic product for people to use, and not just use but talk about and convince others to use it as well.  We’re doing a lot of research into what people want, an interesting but not surprising feature users want is identification verification.  There are a lot of scammers on dating websites, especially free ones, posing as people, which in turn wastes that other persons time.

We’ve come up with an interesting way of verifing a persons identity and I think that will add to the user experience in a way other websites cannot.  So anyway, that’s just a piece of what’s going on in the ever evolving world that is my life.

As promised, here is the logo that was created for us by Alex: