Thursday, December 30, 2010
Boney M star found dead December 30th, 2010
Boney M star Bobby Farrell found dead in St. Petersburg Russia December 30th, 2010 while on tour. The star was 61, and was famous for singing "By the Rivers of Babylon." Cause of death is unknown.
Advertising firm incharge of Obama's campaign gets purchased
Blue State Digital, the communications firm responsible for coordinating President Barack Obama’s online fundraising and social networking campaigns in the 2008 election, has been acquired by advertising giant WPP. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the company's annual revenues are 12.8 million with offices in New York, London, Washington, Los Angeles and Boston.
http://www.bluestatedigital.com/
http://www.bluestatedigital.com/
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Skype announces video calling for iPhone, iPad & iPod
iPhone 4.0 devices will be able to initiate calls over 3G, unlike Apple FaceTime which requires Wifi. iPad and iPod Touch will only be able to receive video calls due to the missing front facing camera.
Visit Skype's website for more information
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/index-iphone/
Visit Skype's website for more information
http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/index-iphone/
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
SSH Find and Delete
Here's the command you want to use if you want to find every .htaccess file recursively and delete it.
I used this command to remove .htaccess files that a spider virus placed throughout my web server. If I didn't use this method the only other way would be to individually go through each folder and delete file that was causing all my hosted websites to redirect to a rogue website.... and that wasn't possible because I host hundreds of websites, each with hundreds of recursive folders.
find /path/to/base/dir -name \*.htaccess -exec rm {} \;
I used this command to remove .htaccess files that a spider virus placed throughout my web server. If I didn't use this method the only other way would be to individually go through each folder and delete file that was causing all my hosted websites to redirect to a rogue website.... and that wasn't possible because I host hundreds of websites, each with hundreds of recursive folders.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Lunar Eclipse 2010 - A Lunar Romance
We had just finished watching the movie The Town, when my wife and I remembered there was a lunar eclipse happening tonight.
We walked over to our second bedroom that was south facing and opened the balcony door. The brisk air rushed inside when we caught a glimpse of the moon being swallowed by the earth's shadow.
We rushed back into the bedroom and headed to grab the warmest clothes we could find. I with my fo-fur lined hoodie, and her with her white body length parka. Mitts, scarfs and toques followed with a hurry, thoughts that we were missing out ran through our minds. Confident that we were as warm as we could be we headed outside and slid shut the balcony doors behind us.
The sky was so clear, the air was clean and the darkness was silent only to be broken by the bright moonlight.
We stared into the sky and looked at the awe of our moon, suspended in the vast sky. "Hun, can you imagine what people must've thought the moon was hundreds of years ago?" I asked, while admiring the beauty of my wife. I couldn't help but think how she looked like a bond girl. "Yeahh" she replied with an extended sigh… "They must've thought it was a god." We paused… "Just imagine how comforting that is though, knowing that there is a god that you can actually see every night." I added..
The day in age we live in where we have scientific answers for mostly everything. How having an answer for almost everything, takes the magic out of the beautiful things nature shows us all the time. And how magical things must've been to the ignorant.
I completely support that we are better knowing things than not knowing, because being aware allows humankind in general to make better decisions. Not irrational decisions based on religious presumptions.
"I'm going to grab my camera", I ran inside and fitted my Canon 7D with the biggest lens I had. I didn't think i'd get any good results, but figured it was worth try. I came back outside, my wife still staring at the sky. Lifted my camera up and stretched the lens as far as it would reach into the sky, twisted the focal ring and… there he was… the man on the moon.
His smile become bigger and sharper with every twist of my wrist. Seeing his smile infected mine, the crisper he got, my smile grew larger. I looked over to my wife "You gotta see this hun…" and handed her the camera… she peeked inside the camera and her smile grew like mine.
She snapped a few photos and let the camera rest on her chest.
We stood there… staring into the sky… "I'm glad I'm sharing this moment with you hun." "Me to hun, she reached out and locked her fingers in mine. We both knew a lunar eclipse on winter solstice wouldn't happen for another 19 years.
We walked over to our second bedroom that was south facing and opened the balcony door. The brisk air rushed inside when we caught a glimpse of the moon being swallowed by the earth's shadow.
We rushed back into the bedroom and headed to grab the warmest clothes we could find. I with my fo-fur lined hoodie, and her with her white body length parka. Mitts, scarfs and toques followed with a hurry, thoughts that we were missing out ran through our minds. Confident that we were as warm as we could be we headed outside and slid shut the balcony doors behind us.
The sky was so clear, the air was clean and the darkness was silent only to be broken by the bright moonlight.
We stared into the sky and looked at the awe of our moon, suspended in the vast sky. "Hun, can you imagine what people must've thought the moon was hundreds of years ago?" I asked, while admiring the beauty of my wife. I couldn't help but think how she looked like a bond girl. "Yeahh" she replied with an extended sigh… "They must've thought it was a god." We paused… "Just imagine how comforting that is though, knowing that there is a god that you can actually see every night." I added..
The day in age we live in where we have scientific answers for mostly everything. How having an answer for almost everything, takes the magic out of the beautiful things nature shows us all the time. And how magical things must've been to the ignorant.
I completely support that we are better knowing things than not knowing, because being aware allows humankind in general to make better decisions. Not irrational decisions based on religious presumptions.
"I'm going to grab my camera", I ran inside and fitted my Canon 7D with the biggest lens I had. I didn't think i'd get any good results, but figured it was worth try. I came back outside, my wife still staring at the sky. Lifted my camera up and stretched the lens as far as it would reach into the sky, twisted the focal ring and… there he was… the man on the moon.
His smile become bigger and sharper with every twist of my wrist. Seeing his smile infected mine, the crisper he got, my smile grew larger. I looked over to my wife "You gotta see this hun…" and handed her the camera… she peeked inside the camera and her smile grew like mine.
She snapped a few photos and let the camera rest on her chest.
We stood there… staring into the sky… "I'm glad I'm sharing this moment with you hun." "Me to hun, she reached out and locked her fingers in mine. We both knew a lunar eclipse on winter solstice wouldn't happen for another 19 years.
Friday, December 3, 2010
The DJ who couldn't speak. FireText an extension of own body...
I thought this was the most remarkable story when our customer told me this. I couldn't wait to share this with all of you.
I received an email several months ago, a potential customer was asking us all the standard questions about our FireText text message to screen software. Features, pricing and how to get it all setup within his venue.
Everything changed when I picked up the phone and decided to call his number listed in the signature in the bottom of his email. I spoke with enthusiasm and introduced myself as a FireText sales agent. I never got a reply, but could hear some rustling around and background noise. I narrowed down who I was again, speaking a bit louder "Hello… I'm FireText the text messaging software company that allows your customers to send text messages to your TV screens"… still nothing. Then I heard a click. The customer had hung up on me.
Moments later I received an email saying, "Thanks for the call Raoul, I'm really glad you reached out to me, but I can't speak. So we'll have to keep our conversation over email".
My heart just sank to my heals, and I felt a tingle shoot up the back of my neck. I quickly sat up, and wrote back to him.
"Hey Ryan!
Thanks for the email back. I thought I had the wrong number when I called you.
Ryan… may I ask what you are going to be using our software for? maybe I can provide you a bit more information so it's an easier integration with your hardware setup."
Minutes went by, and I kept refreshing my inbox to see if he had replied. Nothing. So I got up, went to the cooler and refilled my cup with water. Thinking to myself, "holy crap… what's he going to do with FireText??"
When I came back to my desk, I saw his email… nearly spilled my cup of water while putting it down, he wrote.
"Raoul, thanks again for your quick reply… well, I as you know already I can't speak and I'm looking for a way to communicate with my audience. I was hoping I can use your Text to Screen and Text Song Request features so my audience can send me play requests, and I'd be able to reply back to them via your software.
This is my biggest hurdle, because right now I have to write down a reply on paper, and it takes too long.
I know using FireText will speed things up, and I'm hoping it will land me some bigger gigs."
I was absolutely amazed when I read this, that, here we are a Text Message to Screen Entertainment Company. Serving clients such as WWE Wrestlemania, Formula One Racing, NHL Teams, NFL Teams, Corporations… but now, we've become an extension of one's own body… a voice for a person who can't speak.
After this, I'm proud to say FireText has implemented a new product strategy, appreciating the diversity of our customers needs.
Follow me on Twitter
@bhattmaan
I received an email several months ago, a potential customer was asking us all the standard questions about our FireText text message to screen software. Features, pricing and how to get it all setup within his venue.
Everything changed when I picked up the phone and decided to call his number listed in the signature in the bottom of his email. I spoke with enthusiasm and introduced myself as a FireText sales agent. I never got a reply, but could hear some rustling around and background noise. I narrowed down who I was again, speaking a bit louder "Hello… I'm FireText the text messaging software company that allows your customers to send text messages to your TV screens"… still nothing. Then I heard a click. The customer had hung up on me.
Moments later I received an email saying, "Thanks for the call Raoul, I'm really glad you reached out to me, but I can't speak. So we'll have to keep our conversation over email".
My heart just sank to my heals, and I felt a tingle shoot up the back of my neck. I quickly sat up, and wrote back to him.
"Hey Ryan!
Thanks for the email back. I thought I had the wrong number when I called you.
Ryan… may I ask what you are going to be using our software for? maybe I can provide you a bit more information so it's an easier integration with your hardware setup."
Minutes went by, and I kept refreshing my inbox to see if he had replied. Nothing. So I got up, went to the cooler and refilled my cup with water. Thinking to myself, "holy crap… what's he going to do with FireText??"
When I came back to my desk, I saw his email… nearly spilled my cup of water while putting it down, he wrote.
"Raoul, thanks again for your quick reply… well, I as you know already I can't speak and I'm looking for a way to communicate with my audience. I was hoping I can use your Text to Screen and Text Song Request features so my audience can send me play requests, and I'd be able to reply back to them via your software.
This is my biggest hurdle, because right now I have to write down a reply on paper, and it takes too long.
I know using FireText will speed things up, and I'm hoping it will land me some bigger gigs."
I was absolutely amazed when I read this, that, here we are a Text Message to Screen Entertainment Company. Serving clients such as WWE Wrestlemania, Formula One Racing, NHL Teams, NFL Teams, Corporations… but now, we've become an extension of one's own body… a voice for a person who can't speak.
After this, I'm proud to say FireText has implemented a new product strategy, appreciating the diversity of our customers needs.
Follow me on Twitter
@bhattmaan
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Traditional Advertising Sucks - Better Marketing Methods
Marketing using traditional media has become so ineffective now a days due to customers being saturated with advertisements.
I've found myself spending thousands of dollars only to have returns in sales that doesn't even come close to covering my initial investment. I've sat there scratching my head trying to figure out what's happened, whether my customers have lost interest in my products or whether I needed to revise my advertisements to capture their attention again.
This over spending on my behalf was due to old habits and a closed mind to these new forms of media, and using them to getting my message out.
I've always thought nothing could top traditional glossy magazine print, television and radio, I thought these were still the most effective ways of advertising. They were a effective way to get my message out to new potential customers up until 3 years ago. Then I found myself with a drained advertising budget, not being able to experiment with my current ads and couldn't continue traditional advertising methods because my budget wasn't replenished.
Coming to the realization that we live in a very different world then we did just 3 years ago. Where people are being captivated in new ways, the web, Facebook, Twitter, cell phones. I needed a way to get my message in front of them. I did some google searching and found a software called FireText.
FireText is a BULK SMS Software that's downloadable on your computer. The install is a snap, basically I just connect my cell phone to the computer using a USB cable, and FireText uses my cell phone to send and receive text messages. The great thing about FireText is that I don't have to pay a per text message fee like all other online companies that offer simpler services.
I imported my list of customer phone numbers which I've been collecting in an Excel spreadsheet and created my first Bulk SMS message. The coolest thing I found with FireText is the ability to specialize my Bulk SMS Messages, so each person that receives my text message can have it start with their name. I found this to be a nice personal touch, because I'm always about winning the hearts of my customers.
FireText offers other tools which helped me build up my list of cell phone numbers, these are clever features which took me from my list of a hundred cell phone numbers to thousands. All within a month of using FireText.
Once I got comfortable with the software, I didn't want to use my personal cell phone anymore, so I spent a little bit of money and went for their FireText SMS Transmitter. It's a little USB dongle that plugs into your computer, it was a hassle free option for me and allowed me to get my cell phone back.
Targeting my Bulk SMS customers is big for me too, there is grouping features, auto responders to deliver instant coupons upon keyword detection, and short code options if I wanted to upgrade one day when I reach millions of subscribers.
This has been a great addition for my business, and allows me to completely reduce my advertising expenses. Increase profits and target my customers with specialized text messages on their mobile phones.
The only advertising I use now is FireText Bulk SMS, Facebook and Google Ads and I'm making more sales than ever.
Follow me on Twitter @bhattmann
I've found myself spending thousands of dollars only to have returns in sales that doesn't even come close to covering my initial investment. I've sat there scratching my head trying to figure out what's happened, whether my customers have lost interest in my products or whether I needed to revise my advertisements to capture their attention again.
This over spending on my behalf was due to old habits and a closed mind to these new forms of media, and using them to getting my message out.
I've always thought nothing could top traditional glossy magazine print, television and radio, I thought these were still the most effective ways of advertising. They were a effective way to get my message out to new potential customers up until 3 years ago. Then I found myself with a drained advertising budget, not being able to experiment with my current ads and couldn't continue traditional advertising methods because my budget wasn't replenished.
Coming to the realization that we live in a very different world then we did just 3 years ago. Where people are being captivated in new ways, the web, Facebook, Twitter, cell phones. I needed a way to get my message in front of them. I did some google searching and found a software called FireText.
FireText is a BULK SMS Software that's downloadable on your computer. The install is a snap, basically I just connect my cell phone to the computer using a USB cable, and FireText uses my cell phone to send and receive text messages. The great thing about FireText is that I don't have to pay a per text message fee like all other online companies that offer simpler services.
I imported my list of customer phone numbers which I've been collecting in an Excel spreadsheet and created my first Bulk SMS message. The coolest thing I found with FireText is the ability to specialize my Bulk SMS Messages, so each person that receives my text message can have it start with their name. I found this to be a nice personal touch, because I'm always about winning the hearts of my customers.
FireText offers other tools which helped me build up my list of cell phone numbers, these are clever features which took me from my list of a hundred cell phone numbers to thousands. All within a month of using FireText.
Once I got comfortable with the software, I didn't want to use my personal cell phone anymore, so I spent a little bit of money and went for their FireText SMS Transmitter. It's a little USB dongle that plugs into your computer, it was a hassle free option for me and allowed me to get my cell phone back.
Targeting my Bulk SMS customers is big for me too, there is grouping features, auto responders to deliver instant coupons upon keyword detection, and short code options if I wanted to upgrade one day when I reach millions of subscribers.
This has been a great addition for my business, and allows me to completely reduce my advertising expenses. Increase profits and target my customers with specialized text messages on their mobile phones.
The only advertising I use now is FireText Bulk SMS, Facebook and Google Ads and I'm making more sales than ever.
Follow me on Twitter @bhattmann
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Public Speaking Ideas - Better Public Speaking with Twitter to TV Screen
As a person in business I've found myself involved in many seminars where I have to speak in front of people. I'm always striving for unique ways to captivate my audience.
I've found the key to keeping my audience's attention is to be entertaining while delivering my message, and most of all I try not come off too pushy or self promoting. I focus on ways the information I'm giving my audience can help better themselves as individuals, whether in their carrier or topic being discussed.
The biggest problem I've had in the past has been dealing with a shy audience. Even with lots of reassurance that no question is a dumb question, I feel I've missed connections because people were too timid to ask questions in front of the rest of the attendees at my events. Now this problem has happened to me in the past whether I've been speaking to 20 people or 300.
I found a tool that's allowed me to increase entertainment at my seminars, captivate my audience and allow my audience to discretely ask questions using nothing else but their cell phones. FireText has developed a tweet to screen or Twitter to Screen software that don't know the lingo, Tweet to screen has changed the way I put on my seminars from upside down to right side up.
FireText allows my audience to send twitter messages to my video screens. It's a downloadable application that installs on a laptop, which then connects to a projector… just like Microsoft Powerpoint.
The beauty of FireText is people can discretely ask questions using their cell phones. Shy audience members are able to hide behind the comfort of their Twitter screenname and avatars. Their message along with their screen name and avatar shows on my screen so I can identify them and reply accordingly. Not only has this been instant, but it's allowed me to add some comedic value when I pick apart their twitter screen names show on my video screen.
Some of the coolest features of FireText Tweet to Screen, is that I can customize the incoming messages, fonts, colours and video screen background graphics to match the theme of the topic I'm speaking about. I've also used FireText's hash tag, or #(airport code) features to stream in all the tweets in the specific city I'm speaking in. I love putting in a keyword of my sponsor's name. This one speech I was giving was at a Cocacola suppliers conference and I placed the hashtag #Cocacola within the FireText software. While I was talking my audience was amazed at all the messages about Coca cola that were streaming from around the world behind me.
I've benefited other ways, like, every person that tweets in my twitter screen name @bhattmaan is automatically added to my follower list. The ability to add negative keywords prevents any messages I don't want showing up on my screens, which has been a life saver.
The guys (and girls) at www.FireText.com are always advancing their software, Twitter to TV Screen is just one of their message to screen softwares. Other great tools I've used in my public speeches are Text to Screen & Text Voting.
Follow me on Twitter @bhattmaan
I've found the key to keeping my audience's attention is to be entertaining while delivering my message, and most of all I try not come off too pushy or self promoting. I focus on ways the information I'm giving my audience can help better themselves as individuals, whether in their carrier or topic being discussed.
The biggest problem I've had in the past has been dealing with a shy audience. Even with lots of reassurance that no question is a dumb question, I feel I've missed connections because people were too timid to ask questions in front of the rest of the attendees at my events. Now this problem has happened to me in the past whether I've been speaking to 20 people or 300.
I found a tool that's allowed me to increase entertainment at my seminars, captivate my audience and allow my audience to discretely ask questions using nothing else but their cell phones. FireText has developed a tweet to screen or Twitter to Screen software that don't know the lingo, Tweet to screen has changed the way I put on my seminars from upside down to right side up.
FireText allows my audience to send twitter messages to my video screens. It's a downloadable application that installs on a laptop, which then connects to a projector… just like Microsoft Powerpoint.
The beauty of FireText is people can discretely ask questions using their cell phones. Shy audience members are able to hide behind the comfort of their Twitter screenname and avatars. Their message along with their screen name and avatar shows on my screen so I can identify them and reply accordingly. Not only has this been instant, but it's allowed me to add some comedic value when I pick apart their twitter screen names show on my video screen.
Some of the coolest features of FireText Tweet to Screen, is that I can customize the incoming messages, fonts, colours and video screen background graphics to match the theme of the topic I'm speaking about. I've also used FireText's hash tag, or #(airport code) features to stream in all the tweets in the specific city I'm speaking in. I love putting in a keyword of my sponsor's name. This one speech I was giving was at a Cocacola suppliers conference and I placed the hashtag #Cocacola within the FireText software. While I was talking my audience was amazed at all the messages about Coca cola that were streaming from around the world behind me.
I've benefited other ways, like, every person that tweets in my twitter screen name @bhattmaan is automatically added to my follower list. The ability to add negative keywords prevents any messages I don't want showing up on my screens, which has been a life saver.
The guys (and girls) at www.FireText.com are always advancing their software, Twitter to TV Screen is just one of their message to screen softwares. Other great tools I've used in my public speeches are Text to Screen & Text Voting.
Follow me on Twitter @bhattmaan
Twitter to TV Screen #mademyeventawesome
As a person in business I've found myself involved in many seminars where I have to speak in front of people. I'm always striving for unique ways to captivate my audience.
I've found the key to keeping my audience's attention is to be entertaining while delivering my message, and most of all I try not come off too pushy or self promoting. I focus on ways the information I'm giving my audience can help better themselves as individuals, whether in their carrier or topic being discussed.
The biggest problem I've had in the past has been dealing with a shy audience. Even with lots of reassurance that no question is a dumb question, I feel I've missed connections because people were too timid to ask questions in front of the rest of the attendees at my events. Now this problem has happened to me in the past whether I've been speaking to 20 people or 300.
I found a tool that's allowed me to increase entertainment at my seminars, captivate my audience and allow my audience to discretely ask questions using nothing else but their cell phones. FireText has developed a tweet to screen or Twitter to Screen software that don't know the lingo, Tweet to screen has changed the way I put on my seminars from upside down to right side up.
FireText allows my audience to send twitter messages to my video screens. It's a downloadable application that installs on a laptop, which then connects to a projector… just like Microsoft Powerpoint.
The beauty of FireText is people can discretely ask questions using their cell phones. Shy audience members are able to hide behind the comfort of their Twitter screenname and avatars. Their message along with their screen name and avatar shows on my screen so I can identify them and reply accordingly. Not only has this been instant, but it's allowed me to add some comedic value when I pick apart their twitter screen names show on my video screen.
Some of the coolest features of FireText Tweet to Screen, is that I can customize the incoming messages, fonts, colours and video screen background graphics to match the theme of the topic I'm speaking about. I've also used FireText's hash tag, or #(airport code) features to stream in all the tweets in the specific city I'm speaking in. I love putting in a keyword of my sponsor's name. This one speech I was giving was at a Cocacola suppliers conference and I placed the hashtag #Cocacola within the FireText software. While I was talking my audience was amazed at all the messages about Coca cola that were streaming from around the world behind me.
I've benefited other ways, like, every person that tweets in my twitter screen name @bhattmaan is automatically added to my follower list. The ability to add negative keywords prevents any messages I don't want showing up on my screens, which has been a life saver.
The guys (and girls) at www.FireText.com are always advancing their software, Twitter to TV Screen is just one of their message to screen softwares. Other great tools I've used in my public speeches are Text to Screen & Text Voting.
Follow me on Twitter @bhattmaan
I've found the key to keeping my audience's attention is to be entertaining while delivering my message, and most of all I try not come off too pushy or self promoting. I focus on ways the information I'm giving my audience can help better themselves as individuals, whether in their carrier or topic being discussed.
The biggest problem I've had in the past has been dealing with a shy audience. Even with lots of reassurance that no question is a dumb question, I feel I've missed connections because people were too timid to ask questions in front of the rest of the attendees at my events. Now this problem has happened to me in the past whether I've been speaking to 20 people or 300.
I found a tool that's allowed me to increase entertainment at my seminars, captivate my audience and allow my audience to discretely ask questions using nothing else but their cell phones. FireText has developed a tweet to screen or Twitter to Screen software that don't know the lingo, Tweet to screen has changed the way I put on my seminars from upside down to right side up.
FireText allows my audience to send twitter messages to my video screens. It's a downloadable application that installs on a laptop, which then connects to a projector… just like Microsoft Powerpoint.
The beauty of FireText is people can discretely ask questions using their cell phones. Shy audience members are able to hide behind the comfort of their Twitter screenname and avatars. Their message along with their screen name and avatar shows on my screen so I can identify them and reply accordingly. Not only has this been instant, but it's allowed me to add some comedic value when I pick apart their twitter screen names show on my video screen.
Some of the coolest features of FireText Tweet to Screen, is that I can customize the incoming messages, fonts, colours and video screen background graphics to match the theme of the topic I'm speaking about. I've also used FireText's hash tag, or #(airport code) features to stream in all the tweets in the specific city I'm speaking in. I love putting in a keyword of my sponsor's name. This one speech I was giving was at a Cocacola suppliers conference and I placed the hashtag #Cocacola within the FireText software. While I was talking my audience was amazed at all the messages about Coca cola that were streaming from around the world behind me.
I've benefited other ways, like, every person that tweets in my twitter screen name @bhattmaan is automatically added to my follower list. The ability to add negative keywords prevents any messages I don't want showing up on my screens, which has been a life saver.
The guys (and girls) at www.FireText.com are always advancing their software, Twitter to TV Screen is just one of their message to screen softwares. Other great tools I've used in my public speeches are Text to Screen & Text Voting.
Follow me on Twitter @bhattmaan
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Unpaid Invoices... Avoiding the Shady Businessman
Shady businessmen are all around us, like the wind, they have essentially carved the landscape we do business on today. Through shady dealings, business to business relationships have painstakingly evolved from ‘gold as gold’ hand shake policies, to prepayment and escrow practices. Unless you’re the type that enjoys drama, a good cliff hanger, with the hero dying at the end; if you run a business and don’t have any of the last two practices set in place, you’re taking a gamble with every customer and project you take on.
Good news though! I’ve discovered patterns in these shady businessmen, for the dramatic purpose of my blog, let’s call them scam artists.
So here it is, the qualities of a shady businessman...
If the achievements they chant don’t add up in your inner vibe-o-meter, check them out on google or www.ripoffreport.com. A quick search saved me a half a day meeting I had with one of these potential clients, it ended up this client had 14 negative reviews all over the net.
On becoming aware...
I laugh at my experiences, and take them as donations for life lessons earned. The best advice I can give you right now is...just get over it. And to make the healing process as quick as possible, think about all your good clients. Oh yah...and don’t do it again
I define the ‘scam artist’ as a person that doesn’t respect the value of your hard work or any hard work in general. I believe work on the path of dishonesty...doesn’t count.
I’ve crossed by 6 of these people in my life, and through self reflection while sorting through their unpaid bills, have come to see patterns; while each scam artist casts a shadow in a different angle, their mannerisms, way of speaking, and ego are generally the same.
I’m proud to say I’ve had thousands of wonderful clients over the decade and a half of running my businesses. Those years of sacrifice have given me the experience and social intelligence to categorize the qualities of shady business men.
If it happens again to you, don’t worry about it, even I, have been ‘had’ 5 more times after the first time before I established by rules.
It’s a small world, I strongly believe if you’ve had a negative experience with a business, talk about it with everyone, the same as you would a positive business experience. Shady businessmen pray on peoples embarrassment to speak up. Through conversation you’ll learn from their experiences and they’ll learn from yours. With these shady people, you’ll be surprised how many people have also been unfortunate to have crossed their paths, and like you, have been ripped off, which figures, like all of us, scam artists are creatures of habit too.
Now, this doesn’t mean you have to turn down a paying customer, this just means, get your money up front and get the expectations down in writing. (Don’t worry, you probably won’t even get to the stage of having to write up an agreement, they’ll refuse your services, earning you back a whole lot of time that would’ve been wasted.)
The marvelous moment, by turning this client down or setting your rules, you’ll feel great and the satisfaction plus the peace of mind you’ll feel is immeasurable.
An honest customer will respect your talents, pay you your going, negotiated rate for your time, and will have no problem prepaying for your services.
Smaller clients leads to bigger ones, but if you’re just building up your business the easiest way to work up the ladder is to spend your ‘pro bono’ time for a good cause such as charities or cultural communities. Scam artists only know scam artists, so don’t waste your time.
Also, don’t cave into their just dumped emails after you reject them as a customer... they’ll try and keep at you...
Feel free to share your comments and experiences below.
Follow me on Twitter @bhattmaan
BlogCatalog
Good news though! I’ve discovered patterns in these shady businessmen, for the dramatic purpose of my blog, let’s call them scam artists.
So here it is, the qualities of a shady businessman...
- The quick talkers
Conversations with them are usually one sided, they preach to you, and you have no choice but to listen like a helpless lamb. Don’t even bother contributing your ideas or thoughts, because they know what they want, and your only existence is to absorb every bit of their glamorous achievements and knowledge.
- Unnecessary praise
Throughout your meeting you’ll feel as if someone has attached a air hose to your butt and is giving it a pump every few minutes. Scam artists love to praise, even unnecessarily and awkwardly until you melt like the fine chocolate that you are.
- Dealing with them will make you rich
They’ll give the impression that they know hundreds of powerful people that will spend money with you at a wave of their hand. This is far from the case, they don’t know anybody, have no friends or any respect at all from anybody, not even their wife. So charge them full price, don’t give them any breaks.
- They just got back from some place super exotic
Now, everyone takes vacations, BUT they talk like they’ve traveled the world, how they just got back from some place so exotic, it’s not even on the map, and googling it wouldn’t do it justice because you’d never understand anyways...
They have probably only scrimped away enough to take a 3 day trip to Cancun to fill their Facebook page full of “life style” photos. Oh don’t be surprised if they are developing property or have some business in this mysterious foreign land.
- They need it so quickly, you’d better buy a flux capacitor.
Shady Businessmen know how to close a deal quickly, they’ll push push push... remember they know, dealing with them will make you rich. And they’ll make you work for every dollar from the million they are going to throw your way... one day.
The client will call you 5 times, email you another 5 times within a 6 hour time span, just to make sure you are prioritizing his project over your other clients. Oh yah, he’ll probably pop by your office too, because he was in the area between his investor meetings.
- Brand name clothes and a base model BMW
His shirt will cost more than it costs to feed 50 homeless people; his car will be the latest base model BMW; Why? because somewhere along the lines of their education, they learned that it’s ‘important to portray success’, and not actually earn it.
- Even though you’ve Van Gough, Shakespeare or Warren Buffet, your work wasn’t up to par
This client knows your abilities, has seen your work well before ever meeting you. He’s given you clear instructions and you’ve delivered. You think it’s amazing and so does everyone in your home or office, but it just wasn’t good enough for him. Now, he’s only doing this because he knows it’s getting closer to payday for you.
- His partner in business is coming by to pay tomorrow.
Tomorrow will never come, you’ll never age; you’ve just been given the fountain of youth.
Your client has what he needs, and got it in a remarkable turn around time, but his ‘partner’ will take his time to pay. Months will go by, and then his partner will say, when you call him up, that, it’s the other guy that should pay. This will go back and forth, until your client confesses to you that he’s had enough of his ‘partner’s’ crap and never wants to be seen with him.
Don’t worry though, you haven’t broken up any friendships... they are still partying together.
...still though...you haven’t been paid.
If the achievements they chant don’t add up in your inner vibe-o-meter, check them out on google or www.ripoffreport.com. A quick search saved me a half a day meeting I had with one of these potential clients, it ended up this client had 14 negative reviews all over the net.
On becoming aware...
I laugh at my experiences, and take them as donations for life lessons earned. The best advice I can give you right now is...just get over it. And to make the healing process as quick as possible, think about all your good clients. Oh yah...and don’t do it again
I define the ‘scam artist’ as a person that doesn’t respect the value of your hard work or any hard work in general. I believe work on the path of dishonesty...doesn’t count.
I’ve crossed by 6 of these people in my life, and through self reflection while sorting through their unpaid bills, have come to see patterns; while each scam artist casts a shadow in a different angle, their mannerisms, way of speaking, and ego are generally the same.
I’m proud to say I’ve had thousands of wonderful clients over the decade and a half of running my businesses. Those years of sacrifice have given me the experience and social intelligence to categorize the qualities of shady business men.
If it happens again to you, don’t worry about it, even I, have been ‘had’ 5 more times after the first time before I established by rules.
It’s a small world, I strongly believe if you’ve had a negative experience with a business, talk about it with everyone, the same as you would a positive business experience. Shady businessmen pray on peoples embarrassment to speak up. Through conversation you’ll learn from their experiences and they’ll learn from yours. With these shady people, you’ll be surprised how many people have also been unfortunate to have crossed their paths, and like you, have been ripped off, which figures, like all of us, scam artists are creatures of habit too.
Now, this doesn’t mean you have to turn down a paying customer, this just means, get your money up front and get the expectations down in writing. (Don’t worry, you probably won’t even get to the stage of having to write up an agreement, they’ll refuse your services, earning you back a whole lot of time that would’ve been wasted.)
The marvelous moment, by turning this client down or setting your rules, you’ll feel great and the satisfaction plus the peace of mind you’ll feel is immeasurable.
An honest customer will respect your talents, pay you your going, negotiated rate for your time, and will have no problem prepaying for your services.
Smaller clients leads to bigger ones, but if you’re just building up your business the easiest way to work up the ladder is to spend your ‘pro bono’ time for a good cause such as charities or cultural communities. Scam artists only know scam artists, so don’t waste your time.
Also, don’t cave into their just dumped emails after you reject them as a customer... they’ll try and keep at you...
Feel free to share your comments and experiences below.
Follow me on Twitter @bhattmaan
BlogCatalog
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Getting into Creative Writing... Writing my own reality.
I came to the realization that I am actually writing my own reality, my perception of the world, my opinion, widely accepted or not, to myself, this is my reality.
With my new found grasp on reality, I realized that I don’t need to live the words that everyone else has written for us. But it’s my occasion to write down my experiences so everyone else gets a chance to live the reality that I do.
A quick tweet or an short-winded blog, it’s about mastering my words. Translating my every day interactions to font; this curiosity has come a bit later in my life, but none-the-less I look forward to spraying ideas and experiences over our net, as vast as it extends with alphabet.
This isn’t my first punch at telling stories. I’ve pounded right and left mouse clicks, scuffed up my mouse pad through Photoshop, manufactured visual stories for governments, businesses, products & events, and caramelizing it to glossy paper; to spread messages of the people that paid me to create them. When asked what I do, “I am a commercial artist” I’d always say, an artist that was commissioned everyday for 15 years, who's art augmented economies, but today at the age of 30, I know I was just whore.
On my road to becoming a pro, and to grasp my reality, (I’ve actually calculated this out, day dreaming between art commissions) would take 2 hours, spanned over 3 years, considering the probability of you spending every day with me. I could then share with you what I’ve seen, the places I’ve walked by, where I’ve looked up, and thought to my self, “that design is mine”, and with the time it’d take to blink twice, shrugged it off and kept walking. I’ve always been secretly envious of students who felt the awe and could celebrate their art; where I, had a long list of clients waiting for me to produce their work.
So I figure, with the understanding that experience, shared verbally can come off as ego, and professionalism converted to print earns respect. I write my own reality and much like my visual stories, can fly freely, be replicated and shared an infinite number of times.
~
Raoul
Follow me on Twitter @bhattmaan
With my new found grasp on reality, I realized that I don’t need to live the words that everyone else has written for us. But it’s my occasion to write down my experiences so everyone else gets a chance to live the reality that I do.
A quick tweet or an short-winded blog, it’s about mastering my words. Translating my every day interactions to font; this curiosity has come a bit later in my life, but none-the-less I look forward to spraying ideas and experiences over our net, as vast as it extends with alphabet.
This isn’t my first punch at telling stories. I’ve pounded right and left mouse clicks, scuffed up my mouse pad through Photoshop, manufactured visual stories for governments, businesses, products & events, and caramelizing it to glossy paper; to spread messages of the people that paid me to create them. When asked what I do, “I am a commercial artist” I’d always say, an artist that was commissioned everyday for 15 years, who's art augmented economies, but today at the age of 30, I know I was just whore.
On my road to becoming a pro, and to grasp my reality, (I’ve actually calculated this out, day dreaming between art commissions) would take 2 hours, spanned over 3 years, considering the probability of you spending every day with me. I could then share with you what I’ve seen, the places I’ve walked by, where I’ve looked up, and thought to my self, “that design is mine”, and with the time it’d take to blink twice, shrugged it off and kept walking. I’ve always been secretly envious of students who felt the awe and could celebrate their art; where I, had a long list of clients waiting for me to produce their work.
So I figure, with the understanding that experience, shared verbally can come off as ego, and professionalism converted to print earns respect. I write my own reality and much like my visual stories, can fly freely, be replicated and shared an infinite number of times.
~
Raoul
Follow me on Twitter @bhattmaan
Sunday, October 10, 2010
D'Lish Urban Kitchen and Wine Bar... and night with Steelwood
Last night I was invited by a friend to come down to D'Lish, he plays in a band named Steelwood, and he was playing there last night, which also ended up being the restaurant's soft re-opening. D'Lish has been around for while as a meal assembly studio, where busy professionals could stop by and pickup a meal to take home. I don't really know the details because I never did get a chance to check our their previous setup, although highly recommended by many people. First impressions of the new D'Lish, it looked fabulous. The atmosphere was calming, the decor was well thought out, everywhere you looked was beautifully detailed; and it was spacious, yet intimate. I have never been the type that enjoys large commercial venues, so this was nice.
The servers were pleasant, my wife was also popping in for the opening, she only had 15 minutes, to eat and go, so I pre-ordered a dish so it'd be ready by the time she'd arrive. Upon checking the status of my order, by mistake the server doubled it, it was just a misunderstanding, he thought I wanted one for each of us, but graciously insisted that he can cancel the second order and bring me whatever I like. I went for the Gnochi, being vegetarian that was the only selection I had if I wanted an Entree.
The menu had a wide variety of tapas, wine and a few entrees to choose from, which gave me the impression that they are aiming to be a wine and tapas joint. I went for the cheese dish after my entree, not because the portion was small but because I was there for a while and just had a craving to compliment my wine with some sharp tastes. I was given a list of cheeses to choose from, I didn't know which ones to go for so I told the server, just pick your 3 favourite ones and surprise me. It was brought out on a black slate, the presentation was wonderful and came with a side of wine grapes, grated cucumber in a dressing, and soft, hearty sliced herb bread. A good sized portion, it was enough to nibble on for the evening and still have some to take home. Next time a single choice of cheese would be plenty of a snack for just me.
The night was wonderful I spent 3 hours having some great conversations with friends, while listening to the soft rock of Steelwood. I felt like I could have easily stayed another 2 hours until shutdown, complements to the pleasant atmosphere and the great music.
Steelwood @ D'Lish from firetext on Vimeo.
I really like the location of the place, 124th street and 104ave. If you live in the west end, and you want to break away for a taste of downtown atmosphere without the hassle, this is definitely the place to check out. I'll definitely be planning another evening here for some wine and tapas, maybe a date with my wife, a night with friends.
Follow me on Twitter @bhattmaan
The servers were pleasant, my wife was also popping in for the opening, she only had 15 minutes, to eat and go, so I pre-ordered a dish so it'd be ready by the time she'd arrive. Upon checking the status of my order, by mistake the server doubled it, it was just a misunderstanding, he thought I wanted one for each of us, but graciously insisted that he can cancel the second order and bring me whatever I like. I went for the Gnochi, being vegetarian that was the only selection I had if I wanted an Entree.
The menu had a wide variety of tapas, wine and a few entrees to choose from, which gave me the impression that they are aiming to be a wine and tapas joint. I went for the cheese dish after my entree, not because the portion was small but because I was there for a while and just had a craving to compliment my wine with some sharp tastes. I was given a list of cheeses to choose from, I didn't know which ones to go for so I told the server, just pick your 3 favourite ones and surprise me. It was brought out on a black slate, the presentation was wonderful and came with a side of wine grapes, grated cucumber in a dressing, and soft, hearty sliced herb bread. A good sized portion, it was enough to nibble on for the evening and still have some to take home. Next time a single choice of cheese would be plenty of a snack for just me.
The night was wonderful I spent 3 hours having some great conversations with friends, while listening to the soft rock of Steelwood. I felt like I could have easily stayed another 2 hours until shutdown, complements to the pleasant atmosphere and the great music.
Steelwood @ D'Lish from firetext on Vimeo.
I really like the location of the place, 124th street and 104ave. If you live in the west end, and you want to break away for a taste of downtown atmosphere without the hassle, this is definitely the place to check out. I'll definitely be planning another evening here for some wine and tapas, maybe a date with my wife, a night with friends.
Follow me on Twitter @bhattmaan
Friday, October 8, 2010
New Cineplex UltraAVX, 111mins of my life in Red
So, I got to checkout the newest released to the public innovation in Cinema entertainment. When I first logged in, sorry I mean walked into the Cinema building, the night became a whole new experience.
Earlier in the day my wife emailed to say she won 2 tickets to the movie RED. I didn't think anything of it, because at first, I didn't hear anything about the movie, and I've been to the theatre it was playing at dozens of times; so the night wasn't going to be a new experience, it was just going to be another lovely night with my wife. Let me get this out there too, I've been on this new thing the past few years where I try and not know anything about a movie, that way when I get to see it, its like a surprise.
But, the night was different the moment I walked in the movie theatre, the ticket seller took our double postcard size tickets and asked us where we would like to sit, while presenting us a layout of our theatre on a 12" blue screen that laid in front of us. The seller highlighted 2 seats with his touchscreen; we weren't happy with the seats he had chosen for us, so we asked for a different set of seats, a pair on the other side of the theatre and about half way down. After a bit more thinking, we switched back to the set he picked, seemed this new feature of airplane like selection brought on too many choices to make a easy decision while on the spot. The seller handed us the official tickets and we were making our way towards the red rope, but not before I told the seller that this was a "classy experience." He laughed...
Through the red ropes, under the banner draped entrance and cutting through the aroma of fresh paint. We were definitely walking into a brand new not-a-single-popcorn-kernel-on-the-floor space. The theatre was beautiful, I felt like I was walking into the control deck of the Star Trek Enterprise. Just needed to order "Take us away Commander"....after a quick look around to take in the new setup, we made our way up the far stairs and to our seats.
My isle was The Nile, I couldn't believe the amount of real estate I had, I knew when I come back I'd probably be paying a bit more for my ticket then I normally would for a seat. But it made sense though... wouldn't it be better to fit one less row of people, and offer your customers more comfort. Because really, how often is the movie theatre completely packed that you can't afford to sacrifice a few spaces which is taken up by stragglers anyways. Brilliant thinking Cineplex! I know you must've cut like 5 rows to get the space that you are offering us, but you know we'll gladly pay for the comfort. Speaking of comfort, the seats were nice, I'm the type that prefers a hard bed, a hard seat, hard pillow so this was nice; also I really loved the fabric, a nice vinyl material that felt more like tightly stretched leather. I'm really glad they didn't choose fabric, because I don't think it fabric really ever gets cleaned. Sitting on those fabric chairs, there was always a bit of doubt that would linger in the back of my mind, usually between creeped out stickiness and weird dark stain on the chair thoughts. This time it was great, they had a bit of a lean-back setup to it, I'm not sure why you'd ever use it to lean back, just for it to automatically spring you back upright again, well i guess for anxiety relief during a really good suspense movie.
The sound system was all Bose, the speakers definitely were all about substance over size, but there was a lot of them and with the brand, when I saw the brand, I knew I was up for a great surround sound experience.
EasyRock 102.3 FM was hosting the pre-screening for the movie, RED, you'd figure for being one of the first 100 people in Edmonton to experience this new UltraAVX technology that they'd set out a few roman candles, maybe some wine and cheese at the least. Come on! Let's celebrate this new Edmonton attraction; sadly they handed the microphone over to one of Cineplex's representatives where she talked, then tested the audience on facts about this UltraAVX theatre. I did throw up my hands twice, but then didn't bother after I saw she was just giving cheap posters promoting that promoted the movie. Now if it were a t-shirt, maybe I would've put my hand up the 3rd time...
The visual experience was great though! I thought 3D was a vibrant experience, but this UltraAVX screen was so bright and crisp that it almost looked as if it were 3D, and objects jump right out of the screen when they played the promotional video for the Cineplex UltraAVX technology. Awe-inspiring for sure, which sparked me to uttered a slow woooow, I had a similar experience the time I saw Avatar as my first 3D movie, this was the same, just without the need for 3D glasses. The screen was enormous too, it filled the entire wall of the room, edge to edge; i didn't think it would make that much of a difference by removing the black frame, but it enhanced the experience, by pulling you into the movie.
I've never seen such video clarity that was so darn large and with seats so spacious. I did the couples test too, I tried to snuggle with my wife in various ways, and the arm support height, spacing, rear tilt and leg room made getting close no problem at all. This is important to me, as I'm sure a lot of other people, because this is a theatre that could be a second or third date location, (after the first, because you'd want to at least spend time talking with them). Also a few other things I thought were really cool was the ability to pre purchase your seat location over the web, it definitely brings back that "night out" experience back to the theatres.
Great work Cineplex, just wish I got to see "Watchmen" in this theatre. This isn't really a review about the movie RED, but it was a good movie, be sure to take your parents they'd like it too.
Tweet
Here's some locations on where you can check out the Cineplex AVX theatres.
Cineplex Odeon Queensway Cinemas
1025 The Queensway (at Islington)
Toronto, ON
SilverCity CrossIron Mills & XSCAPE Entertainment Centre
261055 CrossIron Blvd (at CrossIron Mills)
Calgary, AB
Cineplex Odeon South Edmonton
1525-99th Street NW
Edmonton, AB
Cineplex Odeon North Edmonton
14231-137th Avenue
Edmonton, AB
Earlier in the day my wife emailed to say she won 2 tickets to the movie RED. I didn't think anything of it, because at first, I didn't hear anything about the movie, and I've been to the theatre it was playing at dozens of times; so the night wasn't going to be a new experience, it was just going to be another lovely night with my wife. Let me get this out there too, I've been on this new thing the past few years where I try and not know anything about a movie, that way when I get to see it, its like a surprise.
But, the night was different the moment I walked in the movie theatre, the ticket seller took our double postcard size tickets and asked us where we would like to sit, while presenting us a layout of our theatre on a 12" blue screen that laid in front of us. The seller highlighted 2 seats with his touchscreen; we weren't happy with the seats he had chosen for us, so we asked for a different set of seats, a pair on the other side of the theatre and about half way down. After a bit more thinking, we switched back to the set he picked, seemed this new feature of airplane like selection brought on too many choices to make a easy decision while on the spot. The seller handed us the official tickets and we were making our way towards the red rope, but not before I told the seller that this was a "classy experience." He laughed...
Through the red ropes, under the banner draped entrance and cutting through the aroma of fresh paint. We were definitely walking into a brand new not-a-single-popcorn-kernel-on-the-floor space. The theatre was beautiful, I felt like I was walking into the control deck of the Star Trek Enterprise. Just needed to order "Take us away Commander"....after a quick look around to take in the new setup, we made our way up the far stairs and to our seats.
My isle was The Nile, I couldn't believe the amount of real estate I had, I knew when I come back I'd probably be paying a bit more for my ticket then I normally would for a seat. But it made sense though... wouldn't it be better to fit one less row of people, and offer your customers more comfort. Because really, how often is the movie theatre completely packed that you can't afford to sacrifice a few spaces which is taken up by stragglers anyways. Brilliant thinking Cineplex! I know you must've cut like 5 rows to get the space that you are offering us, but you know we'll gladly pay for the comfort. Speaking of comfort, the seats were nice, I'm the type that prefers a hard bed, a hard seat, hard pillow so this was nice; also I really loved the fabric, a nice vinyl material that felt more like tightly stretched leather. I'm really glad they didn't choose fabric, because I don't think it fabric really ever gets cleaned. Sitting on those fabric chairs, there was always a bit of doubt that would linger in the back of my mind, usually between creeped out stickiness and weird dark stain on the chair thoughts. This time it was great, they had a bit of a lean-back setup to it, I'm not sure why you'd ever use it to lean back, just for it to automatically spring you back upright again, well i guess for anxiety relief during a really good suspense movie.
The sound system was all Bose, the speakers definitely were all about substance over size, but there was a lot of them and with the brand, when I saw the brand, I knew I was up for a great surround sound experience.
EasyRock 102.3 FM was hosting the pre-screening for the movie, RED, you'd figure for being one of the first 100 people in Edmonton to experience this new UltraAVX technology that they'd set out a few roman candles, maybe some wine and cheese at the least. Come on! Let's celebrate this new Edmonton attraction; sadly they handed the microphone over to one of Cineplex's representatives where she talked, then tested the audience on facts about this UltraAVX theatre. I did throw up my hands twice, but then didn't bother after I saw she was just giving cheap posters promoting that promoted the movie. Now if it were a t-shirt, maybe I would've put my hand up the 3rd time...
The visual experience was great though! I thought 3D was a vibrant experience, but this UltraAVX screen was so bright and crisp that it almost looked as if it were 3D, and objects jump right out of the screen when they played the promotional video for the Cineplex UltraAVX technology. Awe-inspiring for sure, which sparked me to uttered a slow woooow, I had a similar experience the time I saw Avatar as my first 3D movie, this was the same, just without the need for 3D glasses. The screen was enormous too, it filled the entire wall of the room, edge to edge; i didn't think it would make that much of a difference by removing the black frame, but it enhanced the experience, by pulling you into the movie.
I've never seen such video clarity that was so darn large and with seats so spacious. I did the couples test too, I tried to snuggle with my wife in various ways, and the arm support height, spacing, rear tilt and leg room made getting close no problem at all. This is important to me, as I'm sure a lot of other people, because this is a theatre that could be a second or third date location, (after the first, because you'd want to at least spend time talking with them). Also a few other things I thought were really cool was the ability to pre purchase your seat location over the web, it definitely brings back that "night out" experience back to the theatres.
Great work Cineplex, just wish I got to see "Watchmen" in this theatre. This isn't really a review about the movie RED, but it was a good movie, be sure to take your parents they'd like it too.
Tweet
Here's some locations on where you can check out the Cineplex AVX theatres.
Cineplex Odeon Queensway Cinemas
1025 The Queensway (at Islington)
Toronto, ON
SilverCity CrossIron Mills & XSCAPE Entertainment Centre
261055 CrossIron Blvd (at CrossIron Mills)
Calgary, AB
Cineplex Odeon South Edmonton
1525-99th Street NW
Edmonton, AB
Cineplex Odeon North Edmonton
14231-137th Avenue
Edmonton, AB
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Fuelling the Tech Wildfire
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Raoul Bhatt’s software proves that texting isn’t just for kids. It’s for marketers, too
By Caitlin Crawshaw
Raoul Bhatt has a client roster that would make entrepreneurs twice his age choke on their coffee. Think LG, Smirnoff and Garnier. He has staff in four different countries. Yet Bhatt maintains that he’s “just a little Edmonton guy.”
You might raise an eyebrow; obviously he’s anything but typical. Bhatt is the guy at your high school who made it before you snagged your first internship. He’s the smartest guy in the class who decided against university and proved that classroom learning isn’t everything. Today, the 28-year-old has used his strong business instincts, curiosity and guts to create a burgeoning tech empire.
Bhatt owns FireText, a business named after its flagship product: text-to-screen software. It’s similar to online chat rooms: people can compose a text message, send it to a specific phone number, and almost immediately it will be displayed on screen.
If you haven’t heard of it, you’ve probably seen it: this winter, as you tensely awaited the third period of an Oilers game, you may have noticed people taking their eyes off the ice long enough to send a text message to the Jumbotron screen to vote for the game’s most valuable player.
If you’ve recently visited clubs or pubs, you may have spotted a public screen with a hodgepodge of unrelated messages, from communication between friends (“Bob, meet me at the bar”) to spicy flirtation (“To the girl in the pink tube top: you’re hot!”).
Denis Byrne, owner of Edmonton club The Druid, describes FireText as ultimately “a flirting tool,” like a kind of dating service. It entertains patrons, but also helps the bar maintain relationships long after last call: when users send a text, they subscribe to a promotions list and receive information on upcoming events (if they don’t unsubscribe).
But don’t be fooled: FireText is not just for kids. Since taking its first shaky steps two and a half years ago, the company has accumulated about 4,000 customers from a wide range of industries around the world. Large conferences have used the technology to allow participants to send questions to speakers. It’s used at large concerts, like recent gigs by Foo Fighters and 50 Cent. A pizza company recently approached FireText with an idea to have customers vote for their favourite toppings. Communications giant Shaw has approached the company to create a late-night text-messaging chat service.
Speaking over veggie burgers at a Whyte Avenue café (Bhatt is a life-long vegetarian), I believe him when he insists he’s just an Edmonton guy who’s done some neat stuff. His modesty isn’t put on. His charm seems rooted in an honest confidence and curiosity about the world. He has the warmth of a yoga instructor and the enthusiasm of a child in a sandbox. While Bhatt doesn’t deny that money is a happy consequence of his work, it’s the joy of the work that makes it worth it – though it makes work-life balance tricky. “I can get lost in work,” he says. “I could work for 24 hours.”
It’s hard to pinpoint where Bhatt’s career began. In the course of working for the family business, advertising agency HugePhoto, Bhatt cut his teeth on marketing, advertising and design work. Bhatt learnt what he needed in the field while accompanying his dad, Harish, to business meetings, or he taught himself.
Before he’d finished high school Bhatt was taking on projects for the business. At 17, when most teenagers are flipping burgers, he and his older brother Raju designed marketing materials for a new Edmonton music hall, the Winspear Centre for Music. Shortly after, they were asked to design a large poster (about 120 by 60 feet) for a multi-faith conference.
On both occasions, the Bhatt brothers rose to the challenge. “Customers believed in us, and we grew. And the more we grew, the more they believed
in us.”
It was encouragement by both customers and his family that formed a solid foundation for Bhatt’s unshakable confidence. “The real opportunity my father gave me, and my family gave me, was being there for me. That encouragement. It wasn’t financial. It was a shoulder to lean on when you’re at the point of burning out,” he says.
His success seems effortless on first glance, but he readily admits that it’s taken many long nights to make things happen. It took a year to develop the technology and finding local staff was tricky. Ultimately, Bhatt travelled to India to explore outsourcing.
“I went with an empty mind and open eyes to see what was going on, how these guys were doing it. Mercedes, Microsoft, Ford – all of these guys are over there. The greatest asset the East has, which we don’t have, is manpower. Here, we’ve got all kinds of resources, but we don’t have the people,” says Bhatt. “I’ve tried local staff, but the problem is that no matter what you pay them, they don’t work as hard as they do over there.”
It helps that Bhatt speaks Gujarati (his family origins lay in India). The connections he made, however, were entirely the result of cold calls. He hired a team of programmers and web developers and bought a house for office space.
As soon as the company secured its first client – a club in El Paso, Texas – it didn’t take long for FireText to take off like, well, wildfire. It took longer to find local clients, possibly because text messaging has taken longer to become popular in Canada.
“For the first year and a half we didn’t have a single customer here,” Bhatt says. “We had customers in Latin America, China and the U.S. No one here. It didn’t matter how much we tried to convince people. It didn’t matter. We were almost in tears.”
It was a big surprise when Edmonton clients began to find their way to him, and now the market is growing rapidly. He credits much of this success to his overseas staff. People in India are proud to work for an international company and can often support a large family on the income. They’re also bright and good at what they do, he adds.
Today Bhatt has team in Uruguay and a sales team in Philadelphia. The creative aspect of the business remains in Edmonton, with help from his brother.
FireText continues to diversify; soon you may see it in movie theatres, radio stations and shopping malls. And soon FireText will be about more than its flagship product; Bhatt is currently developing four other technologies. (Details are hush-hush for now.)
While you might think a 28-year-old kid would want to sit back and enjoy the first wave of success, Bhatt is determined to continue exploring new options. After all, he says, the most successful people he’s met have been those who are always seeking out new ventures.
“I think when you get to a certain stage, you plateau. The happiness is in the growing stage. It’s learning and discovering new things,” Bhatt says. “They [successful people] don’t stay with one thing…. At 50, they’ve still got that youthful excitement. That’s what I never want to lose.”
By Caitlin Crawshaw
Raoul Bhatt has a client roster that would make entrepreneurs twice his age choke on their coffee. Think LG, Smirnoff and Garnier. He has staff in four different countries. Yet Bhatt maintains that he’s “just a little Edmonton guy.”
You might raise an eyebrow; obviously he’s anything but typical. Bhatt is the guy at your high school who made it before you snagged your first internship. He’s the smartest guy in the class who decided against university and proved that classroom learning isn’t everything. Today, the 28-year-old has used his strong business instincts, curiosity and guts to create a burgeoning tech empire.
Bhatt owns FireText, a business named after its flagship product: text-to-screen software. It’s similar to online chat rooms: people can compose a text message, send it to a specific phone number, and almost immediately it will be displayed on screen.
If you haven’t heard of it, you’ve probably seen it: this winter, as you tensely awaited the third period of an Oilers game, you may have noticed people taking their eyes off the ice long enough to send a text message to the Jumbotron screen to vote for the game’s most valuable player.
If you’ve recently visited clubs or pubs, you may have spotted a public screen with a hodgepodge of unrelated messages, from communication between friends (“Bob, meet me at the bar”) to spicy flirtation (“To the girl in the pink tube top: you’re hot!”).
Denis Byrne, owner of Edmonton club The Druid, describes FireText as ultimately “a flirting tool,” like a kind of dating service. It entertains patrons, but also helps the bar maintain relationships long after last call: when users send a text, they subscribe to a promotions list and receive information on upcoming events (if they don’t unsubscribe).
But don’t be fooled: FireText is not just for kids. Since taking its first shaky steps two and a half years ago, the company has accumulated about 4,000 customers from a wide range of industries around the world. Large conferences have used the technology to allow participants to send questions to speakers. It’s used at large concerts, like recent gigs by Foo Fighters and 50 Cent. A pizza company recently approached FireText with an idea to have customers vote for their favourite toppings. Communications giant Shaw has approached the company to create a late-night text-messaging chat service.
Speaking over veggie burgers at a Whyte Avenue café (Bhatt is a life-long vegetarian), I believe him when he insists he’s just an Edmonton guy who’s done some neat stuff. His modesty isn’t put on. His charm seems rooted in an honest confidence and curiosity about the world. He has the warmth of a yoga instructor and the enthusiasm of a child in a sandbox. While Bhatt doesn’t deny that money is a happy consequence of his work, it’s the joy of the work that makes it worth it – though it makes work-life balance tricky. “I can get lost in work,” he says. “I could work for 24 hours.”
It’s hard to pinpoint where Bhatt’s career began. In the course of working for the family business, advertising agency HugePhoto, Bhatt cut his teeth on marketing, advertising and design work. Bhatt learnt what he needed in the field while accompanying his dad, Harish, to business meetings, or he taught himself.
Before he’d finished high school Bhatt was taking on projects for the business. At 17, when most teenagers are flipping burgers, he and his older brother Raju designed marketing materials for a new Edmonton music hall, the Winspear Centre for Music. Shortly after, they were asked to design a large poster (about 120 by 60 feet) for a multi-faith conference.
On both occasions, the Bhatt brothers rose to the challenge. “Customers believed in us, and we grew. And the more we grew, the more they believed
in us.”
It was encouragement by both customers and his family that formed a solid foundation for Bhatt’s unshakable confidence. “The real opportunity my father gave me, and my family gave me, was being there for me. That encouragement. It wasn’t financial. It was a shoulder to lean on when you’re at the point of burning out,” he says.
His success seems effortless on first glance, but he readily admits that it’s taken many long nights to make things happen. It took a year to develop the technology and finding local staff was tricky. Ultimately, Bhatt travelled to India to explore outsourcing.
“I went with an empty mind and open eyes to see what was going on, how these guys were doing it. Mercedes, Microsoft, Ford – all of these guys are over there. The greatest asset the East has, which we don’t have, is manpower. Here, we’ve got all kinds of resources, but we don’t have the people,” says Bhatt. “I’ve tried local staff, but the problem is that no matter what you pay them, they don’t work as hard as they do over there.”
It helps that Bhatt speaks Gujarati (his family origins lay in India). The connections he made, however, were entirely the result of cold calls. He hired a team of programmers and web developers and bought a house for office space.
As soon as the company secured its first client – a club in El Paso, Texas – it didn’t take long for FireText to take off like, well, wildfire. It took longer to find local clients, possibly because text messaging has taken longer to become popular in Canada.
“For the first year and a half we didn’t have a single customer here,” Bhatt says. “We had customers in Latin America, China and the U.S. No one here. It didn’t matter how much we tried to convince people. It didn’t matter. We were almost in tears.”
It was a big surprise when Edmonton clients began to find their way to him, and now the market is growing rapidly. He credits much of this success to his overseas staff. People in India are proud to work for an international company and can often support a large family on the income. They’re also bright and good at what they do, he adds.
Today Bhatt has team in Uruguay and a sales team in Philadelphia. The creative aspect of the business remains in Edmonton, with help from his brother.
FireText continues to diversify; soon you may see it in movie theatres, radio stations and shopping malls. And soon FireText will be about more than its flagship product; Bhatt is currently developing four other technologies. (Details are hush-hush for now.)
While you might think a 28-year-old kid would want to sit back and enjoy the first wave of success, Bhatt is determined to continue exploring new options. After all, he says, the most successful people he’s met have been those who are always seeking out new ventures.
“I think when you get to a certain stage, you plateau. The happiness is in the growing stage. It’s learning and discovering new things,” Bhatt says. “They [successful people] don’t stay with one thing…. At 50, they’ve still got that youthful excitement. That’s what I never want to lose.”
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