racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

I’m now officially a columnist at the Manila Bulletin, under the TechNews section (edited by Art Samaniego, Jr.). My first article is entitled Netrepreneurship And The New Filipino Hero, and is about outsourcing, freelancing and government support.

The MB article seems to have been truncated, though. So after you read the TechNews article, here’s the conclusion:

Most of these people would probably have such a support structure, paid by their own tax money, farthest from their mind. But with the benefits considered, this may not be such a bad proposition. Any economist worth his salt may tell you that with taxation comes some deadweight loss. And those critical of government might say that our taxes go nowhere (or perhaps, more accurately, mostly into the pockets of corrupt officials). But still, I believe our sector merits taking care of. After all, in tough times, good jobs are hard to get by, and many people resort to going abroad just to earn money. Freelancing and online businesses provide Filipinos an alternative which does not require uprooting oneself and being separated from one’s family for long periods of time. Isn’t it high time that freelancers, entrepreneurs and small businesses are also considered heroes of our economy?

Being an economist (with whatever definition that might entail), I shall be focusing on the economic and business aspects of technology, and sometimes also how it affects our daily, personal lives, especially with regard to productivity. If anyone would like to give me tips on stuff to write about, please feel free to send me a message.

I was a resource person this Tuesday afternoon at Y4IT, where gave a 30-minute talk about IT entrepreneurship. Great thing about these events is not only do you get to learn stuff, but you also get to meet great people. Today I met Atty. Denny Roja of Acuity Ventures, who gave an interesting presentation on venture capital funding. His presentation came after mine. I was supposed to leave already (busy, busy, busy), but when I saw his first few slides I got hooked.

He gave tips on how to pitch ideas, which business plans VC’s like to support, and other options to pursue for funding.

Perhaps one of these days I’ll get to pitch some ideas to Atty. Roja. Who knows? One of my proposals might get accepted.

Yesterday after noon mass I headed to the UP Shopping Center branch of RCPI, which was a western union agent, to withdraw my September Google AdSense earnings. I was disappointed. Apparently the branch didn’t have the form needed for Quick Cash. And the manager said I needed Google’s account number in order to withdraw the funds (not only the Money Transfer Control Number). I’ve read about complaints about the latest way to withdraw Google AdSense earnings on some blogs, and I was expecting some delays.

So the manager had to call up their head office to request a fax copy of the Quick Cash form.

I decided to forego withdrawing my AdSense earnings for now because of these reasons.

First, I left my other ID in the car. I didn’t want to waste my time walking all the way to the parking lot and back to the RCPI branch just to get my other ID. RCPI/WU needed two valid IDs, and I usually only carry my driver’s license in my wallet. My other IDs (technically no longer valid, actually) I usually leave in the car for when I need to leave something at the gates of those exclusive subdivisions or school/company compounds.

Also, I wasn’t so sure about the form I was being asked to fill up. For some reason, the wordings on the Google AdSense payment details said MCTN or Money Transfer Control Number and Western Union Quick Cash, but “MCTN” wasn’t written anywhere on the Quick Cash form. So this started me wondering whether I should just use the regular “receive money” form instead.

Also, the person ahead of me in the queue was arguing with the teller, so I was expecting the wait to be longer. Teller says her PRC (Professional Regulatory Commission) ID had already expired last August, and was asking her to submit another ID. The client, however, didn’t carry anything with her at the moment. Seemed like she was pissed, especially since she’d been a regular client for the past few months already.

Here’s what’s funny. During the argument, she said

Ilang buwan na akong nagwi-withdraw ng pera dito, bakit ayaw nyong tanggapin ang ID ko. Dalawang libo lang ‘yan! Hindi ko ipagpapalit ang dangal ko sa dalawang libo.

This loosely translates to:

I’ve been a client for some months now, so why won’t you accept my ID as valid. It’s just PhP 2,000. I won’t compromise my dignity for just PhP 2,000.

Or something to that effect.

Seems like the system got the better of that client.

I almost wanted to hear the teller answer the client:

Hindi naman po dangal niyo ang kelangan namin eh. Valid ID niyo!

Which loosely translates to:

We’re not after your dignity, but only your valid ID.

LOL.

Anyway, I think in these cases it’s an issue with very valid arguments from both sides. The remittance institution is just ensuring the security of transactions. The client, meanwhile, is asking reconsideration because it might be inconvenient at that time to produce another valid ID, probably given her circumstances. Her ID had been valid only a few months ago, and in all likelihood the person on her ID (name, picture, address, etc.) is still her!

Ah, life!

Later today or tomorrow, I’ll be heading to a different Western Union branch and I’ll be sure to fill up that yellow form, hoping it’s the right one.

One big gripe I have with Google AdSense is that it doesn’t make EFT payouts to the Philippines. EFT means electronic fund transfer. I’ve been regularly using EFT on my bank accounts (via online banking) for several transactions, like when I need to send funds to relatives, or when I need to transfer across accounts (savings to checking, etc.). It’s safe, secure and funds are transferred in mere milliseconds.

So I had been wondering why EFT is still unavailable here locally. Publishers have to wait three to four weeks for regular checks to come in the mail. We can have checks delivered via DHL, but processing fee is a bit steep at $24 each. Well, it’s not cheap for those who get thousands of dollars worth everytime, but those who get a few hundreds would think the $24 is on the high side.

Abe Olandres writes that Google AdSense payouts via Western Union are now available. This is good news to us smaller publishers, since we can now expect our funds faster (a day after payment release), and it’s cheaper, too. Charges start at $16 from $100 to $300. Here is the fee schedule:

• From $100 to $300 : $16 fee
• For $500 : $32 fee
• For $600 : $50 fee
• For $750 : $56 fee
• For $1,000 : $68 fee

I agree with Abe that for those who get $100 to $300 per month, Western Union is the best option. Otherwise, you’d best stick with secure check delivery.

However, with check payment, you would still have to deposit the check with your bank, and wait the usual three-day clearing (for PhP) or more (for US$). So for those who need to get their funds in a jiffy, Western Union is perhaps the best option.

Now hopefully Google will be able to affiliate with local banks/banking networks so they can do EFT here soon.

Close to a decade ago, several of my dad’s high school friends who migrated to the US came home to the Philippines for a reunion of sorts. They were here to introduce a new web-based business system they were part of, called SkyBiz. This was actually a multi-level marketing system for selling web space and web builder packages (remember, that was the late 1990’s; think Web 0.9). We bought in, thinking of the great opportunities. I was, after all, techie-oriented. Dad was business-minded (ten years after, we’re a little of both!).

It turned out the business was a scam—a classic pyramid scam. True, a great number of MLM and direct-selling based businesses are legitimate (and big business worldwide), but this was just not one of them.

Distribution of $20 million dollars in consumer redress will begin in the near future for victims of SkyBiz, an alleged massive international pyramid operation based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The money for consumer redress is part of a settlement between the pyramid’s promoters and the Federal Trade Commission, which charged that their scheme violated federal laws. The settlement also bars the defendants from participating in pyramid schemes in the future, and bars them from misrepresenting business ventures. It bars one defendant from engaging in any multilevel marketing programs for life and bars three others from engaging in multilevel marketing programs in the for periods ranging from seven to 22 years.

I had actually forgotten about this for a few years, until I got curious about my online dealings in the past and Googled up a handful of names I could remember. SkyBiz was one of them. And the first few results were about the class action suit for SkyBiz. So I signed up. I couldn’t remember our actual account numbers and names, but the people over at the law firm were glad to help us get our needed information (we gave our full names, addresses, telephone numbers at that time, and the few keywords we recalled from our account names).

I then shelved the idea of receiving funds from them since we were advised it might take long to process.

So I was surprised to receive email just a few minutes ago that the SkyBiz Redress program was already sending out funds in the form of Mastercard debit cards. I’m not expecting a big amount, but the thought of justice being served, and that we were part of some benefits package, is comforting. I’m thinking the refund amount would at least cover for some hosting/domain expenses, and hopefully a full tank (or two) of gas!

But it’s in US Dollars, so I do hope establishments here won’t have a problem processing transactions with the card. Nonetheless, I do hope we get our cards soon!

My brother B.A. ran into some persistent callers a few months back, and he found out these callers were part of MLM business trying to recruit him. I advised him that there are legit MLM businesses, and I’ve actually tried these (another company, not SkyBiz), and there are scams. I posted a couple of comments because the comment thread had turned into a flamewar zone, I had to intervene (supposedly neutral, but hey I’m opinionated).

I quote a paragraph I wrote there. This is how I do business, the Web 2.0 way.

True, business almost always entails networking. But some people misconstrue “networking” to be the ol’ pyramid/binary type recruitment where you have to recruit at least two people, who would have to recruit two each and so forth. To me, networking means connecting to people, and connecting people. You don’t necessarily have to have business dealings with anyone. But the fact that you’re connecting–as friends, associates, business partners, colleagues–builds up your reputation and your network of people. You will almost always find people to help you out this way.

If any of you guys are part of the redress program, congrats! Tell me if you’ve received your gift cards already.