Public Service Announcement

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 9/14/2010 11:28:00 AM

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Lately, my millions of fans have been requesting that I blog more often. I'm really trying, but because of time constraints its difficult to sit down and write all that I want. I've honestly started several entries that haven't made it to the public, simply because I didn't finish. And then when I get around to finishing them, they're no longer relevant. So they just sit in my private blog list waiting until I pass away, so that my beneficiary can make public all my rambles, finished and unfinished.

But, I've also been blogging for the clothing company, A.Creation, whenever I get the chance. It's not as personal or in depth, but if you want to support me and see what i'm up too, feel free to check it out in the meantime.

Here's a link to my most recent post: Let's Have A Toast For The Scumbags!

Love,
B.

Twitter Tips

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in , , | Posted on 9/09/2010 06:51:00 PM

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My long-time friend, who is also someone I respect in the Online Marketing industry, wrote this article. I thought he had some good "Twechniques" for marketing yourself/your brand/your company via Twitter, and I felt compelled to share. Enjoy!


13 Simple & Effective Twechniques for Gaining Thousands of Targeted Twitter Followers


These are some tactics that I use to cultivate a targeted twitter following. I welcome your thoughts and feedback and urge you to add your own techniques in the comments!

1) Having your twitter username reflect what you’re about is key.

  • You can change your twitter username in settings. However this may confuse your followers who will then see a different name. I changed my username early on and It didn’t have much of an effect if any on my followers, but this step is not without risks so you have to make your own judgment call here.

2) Make sure your Bio reflects what you tweet about.

3) Upload a background photo to your twitter profile that reflects what you tweet.

4) I try to tweet as on-topic as I can.

  • This is just a preference of mine, I try and limit the number of “eating a turkey sandwich and enjoying the sun” type tweets but that’s just me.

My motto is follow to be followed, I don’t care about my twitter ratio because I use twitter to network and keep my ear to the street. I would rather follow tons of people who are in the same industry in order to share ideas with as many industry professionals as possible. I use twitter for 2-way communication.

5) Follow those that follow you; use socialtoo and/or tweetlater to automatically follow your followers.

6) Follow the super stars in your industry; I use wefollow to find the superstars.

  • Most will not follow you back but you will learn allot.

7) Unfollow those that unfollow you. (socialtoo/tweetlater)

  • Except the superstars (totally up to you)

8.) Follow those that are interested in the same topic(s), I use monitter to search for those who mention things I’m interested in as well.

9) Follow the superstar’s followers

  • This is key, if someone is following a superstar in your industry they are most likely interested in the same things as you and are more likely to follow you back.

More and more tweeps are following those that follow them, this is the base of the “follow to be followed” technique. I also see that when I follow someone interested in the same industry as myself they tend to follow back.

When you find a superstar in your industry (before you start following their followers)

10) Click on those that you follow; and start unfollowing those that do not follow you back.

  • You can’t DM those that don’t follow you back so just remove those that Don’t say “Direct message”
  • You can do this automatically with socialtoo, you can even give it parameters like “unfollow those that don’t follow me back after ____days.

11) click the superstars twitter profile. Read their latest tweets to get a feel for what they are all about.

12) Then tweet something that you feel will resonate with their tweeple. If the superstar tweets about international business then find an interesting article from the economist and tweet about it. This way when you start following their followers, the first tweet they will see from you will be on-point and this will increase the chances of them following you right back.

13) If you are a blogger; blog about the topic of interest, then tweet about it before you start following the superstars followers. This way the first tweet they will see from you will send them to your blog about a subject that they are interested in.

Add your own tactics in the comments, I would like this to be a free flowing list of ways to use twitter.

If you don’t want to do all of the manual tasks there are some tools that can help here is one called tweetsbot


source: http://internationalseo.biz/twechniques-for-targeted-twitter-followers/

Clean Your Balls With Axe

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in , | Posted on 9/08/2010 11:45:00 PM

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Just saw a shorter version of this commercial on TV tonight. Hilarious? ...yes! But did Axe take it too far or is does it keep them on the same level as Old Spice's marketing?



Money, It's Gotta Be The Shoes.

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 7/06/2010 12:24:00 PM

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Is it true that you like boats? I heard you are known as the philipino gilligan.

Posted by Brandon Lagao | | Posted on 6/04/2010 09:35:00 AM

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Actually yes, this is true. I subscribe to Yacht magazine. When people look at me they think 2 things:
#1: This dude likes boats.
#2: I want to beat him up.

Although I haven't heard the comparison until now, i'm very much a Filipino Gilligan.

Ask me anything


New York Post Cover - May 23rd, 2011

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 5/24/2010 11:00:00 AM

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Holy Crap.





ArtistiCreation News

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in , | Posted on 5/18/2010 04:38:00 PM

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Here's my latest blog on ArtistiCreation:

http://theartisticreation.com/the-hawks-might-be-out-but-were-just-getting-started-in-the-atl/

Leave a comment over there, the more support the better!

A Lil' Nugget of Wisdom

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in , | Posted on 5/18/2010 11:15:00 AM

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"Rely on yourself. It's the difference between following the car ahead of you and mapping out the directions yourself. The first way may be faster, but you never really know where you are."
-Article in Mens Health Magazine

I Should Work For The Government With Ideas Like These:

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 5/13/2010 04:55:00 PM

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You know those guys that carry the signs on the side of the road that advertise for businesses? Everyone has seen them: $5 Hot & Ready Pizza from Lil' Caesars, Model Homes, Foot Massage $25, anything! There are even a bunch of real professionals who dance, do flips, and other tricks with their sign. Although it might not do anything more for the advertisement, its still pretty entertaining for those waiting for the stoplight to turn green.

So anyways, like 5 years back or so this form of advertising started to become very popular. And because of its popularity, that also meant that it created quite a few jobs. Yeah they pay little and they are most likely only part-time, but nevertheless it's still a job. Well I was thinking, what if companies advertised those jobs to the homeless/transients/bums? They'd be so good at it! Their resume consists solely of standing on the street holding a sign! It's a perfect match.

I'm just saying Obama, if you need an idea guy for this job creation stuff, start reading my blog!

Video Killed The Radio Star

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 5/06/2010 12:35:00 PM

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While I was driving into work this morning the radio station I was listening to was playing video clips. At first I thought it was a joke, but soon realized that they were dead serious. Did I miss something?! Video on the Radio? Hmmm.

I get that they were probably doing it to drive traffic to their website where the video links were. That in my opinion is smart. What isn't smart to me is the fact that they were playing these clips, as some sort of teaser to get us to go to their site. Wouldn't it just be better to explain it? Geez, that really grinds my gears. Who makes these decisions?

Yeah that's right Channel 933, I'm calling you out!

Omelette Parlor Is Closing!

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 5/05/2010 10:18:00 AM

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It's a sad day. Apparently 17th St. needs more groceries because Vons just gave The Omelette Parlor in Costa Mesa a 30 day notice to peace out. The reason? Because they are building a bigger Vons. Nice. On that street alone there is a Vons, Ralphs, Ralphs Fresh Fare, Mothers Market, Promelis Market, and a Trader Joe's! There are plenty of options to buy your groceries, but how many places do you know where you can get their famous Apple Butter with your delicious breakfast?! This is a travesty if you ask me.

Favorite OP memories I'll never forget:
  • Going there alone early in the morning midweek for some coffee and breakfast, just to read the newspaper and act like i'm old. Just wanted to get a taste of the retired life.
  • Early morning business meetings, where we got nothing done. Just an excuse to eat there.
  • During the college days, hanging out with friends and drinking. Deciding to stay up all night until they opened at 6am to grab breakfast and bloody mary's. Falling asleep at 5am and never going.
You will be missed :(


Here's a link to the full story:
http://fastfood.freedomblogging.com/2010/05/04/omelette-parlor-to-close-doors/60417/

6 Months And Not Once Have I Snapped Into A Slim Jim!

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 3/29/2010 04:23:00 PM

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I've officially been a vegetarian for 6 months today. Crazy to think I only planned on trying it out for 6 days...! For the most part it's been a simple transition...I can only think of one major temptation i've had to eat meat over these past 6 months and here's my story:

First off let me just say, if you are not a vegetarian and you are not eating a California Burrito on a regular basis, you either don't live in SoCal or you are really blowing it at life. To clear up any previous claims, Lolita's Taco Shop makes thee best Cali's. They consist of: carne asada, cheese, sour cream, and fries, all wrapped into a massive flour tortilla...delicious! So anyways, a couple of months ago I had a long day and all I wanted to do was eat dinner and go to bed. My normal schedule is something like wake up at 6:30am, work until 5:15pm, gym until 7:30pm, and home around 8:30pm...it was a typical day, but I was abnormally hungry. I stopped at Lolita's on my way home for a potato taco and bean burrito. Once I got home, I sat down to eat and pulled out my burrito to see that it was an all too familiar, abnormally big burrito. Something was suspect, so I carefully bit into it only to taste a fry. Immediately I was like, NOOOOO! They gave me a cali instead! How dare they tempt me with one of my favorite meals ever! So I looked at it, thought about just quitting this vegetarian thing all together, and then eventually put it in the fridge to give to my brother the next day. It was a pretty tough experience I must say.
But anyways, so yeah, 6 months. I've learned a lot and I finally feel that I have at least a little reasoning behind why I am doing it. I still don't think it will last forever, but I know some of this lifestyle has been permanently ingrained in me.

ArtistiCreation Fashion Show @ Fluxx Promo Video

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in , | Posted on 3/24/2010 11:14:00 AM

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My Thoughts While On A Run...

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 3/20/2010 02:59:00 PM

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how crazy would it be to look up and see a pterodactyl flying over you?! good riddance dinosaurs...the world is a safer place without you.

Ahhh!
Not as scary...

Too Busy To Sleep

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 3/16/2010 09:39:00 PM

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The funny thing about having a blog is that when life is the most interesting and there is a lot going on, there really isn't much time to sit down and write about it. I really, really want to, I just can't seem to find the time. I have honestly been keeping a list of blog topics and just enter them into my Blackberry throughout the day whenever something interesting comes to me. SO MUCH RANDOM STUFF! There has to be at least 100 topics on my list... So i'm basically just writing this as a reminder to take some time out of my day and blog. And also as an apology to my 1 Million+ readers, who come to my site daily only to be disappointed with the same post from a month ago. I'll update soon on all the sweet and rad things interfering with my boring life.

The Rock Career Fair

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 3/01/2010 02:52:00 PM

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I know a lot of my SD friends have been affected in this downturn economy. If you're looking for work there is a career fair open to the public at The Rock Church tonight from 6-9pm. And if you know some one who is looking, you should pass on the info. Follow the link for more info and a list of employers.

p.s.- if i were you, i would bring a resume and dress for success :)

http://www.workingfortheman.org/

The Importance of Marketing in a Downturn Economy

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 3/01/2010 02:46:00 PM

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For reasons I'm not entirely too sure of , I have a passion for Marketing. Some times I come across an article that i'm interested in reading. Here is one of those articles:


The Importance of Marketing in a Downturn Economy
By Kathy Klossner


Smart business owners continue to market in good times and bad. It seems logical to spend money on marketing in good times, but more importantly you need to spend on marketing in bad times as well. Companies that keep their names and logos in the public eye during a slow economy are more likely to be perceived as successful, enduring and solid. Strong marketing strategies will pay off in the future.

Marketing consist of market research, advertising and public relations. Experts suggest changing the marketing mix, but not the overall budget. For example, in down times a business may not know exactly who is buying and why. So market research is critical in a downturn economy.
Likewise, a business should find out what forms of advertising are producing sales and then increase the budget for those while reducing the others. Tracking and monitoring systems need to be in place to figure out which forms of advertising are giving your business the biggest return.

Even in downturns, folks are still paying attention to the news. Public relations can help to keep your business name out there. Or start to research your own ways in receiving free press. The Internet provides a vast opportunity to connect with your customers.

Tips on Marketing in a downturn economy:

1. Spend more money and time on your market research. Areas to pay attention to is opportunities in new markets. Consider the hot "Green" market.

2. Update your web site and offer discounts. People are shopping for deals and are looking for ways to stretch their dollars. Be sure to have a time limit on such discounts.

3. Start a frequent buyers program and give those members special deals in appreciation for their loyalty. This will also allow you to keep your business name in front of these customers.

4. Join Network groups on the Internet. Network groups offer the potential to open new doors to new markets and keep your business name out there with little to no costs.

5. Start or continue to be involved in community or charity work. This will give your business name more exposure and offer opportunities to receive some free press. People always want to do business with businesses that give back.

6. Holiday gift giving. When most businesses are cutting back on gift giving to customers, now is your chance to step-up with a unique corporate gift. Consider giving custom sandals with your business name or logo printed on the flip flops. It's an inexpensive gift and very unique - and it's the thought that counts.

Downturns in the economy can actually open doors to new opportunities. Work smart and be creative. Most importantly, don't cut the marketing budget - just be smarter about it.

Original Link

The Aliens Adbucted My Hip!

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in , | Posted on 2/08/2010 10:07:00 PM

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I just want to go on the record and say that the laziest exercise/machine at the gym is for sure the Hip Abductor Machine. I've felt this way for a long time. You just sit down and open and close your legs repeatedly. i don't know, it just annoys me to see girls use it for like 30 mins straight...and funny to see a guy on it. there's got to be a better exercise that works those muscles and others at the same time.

...a close second would have to be the ab bench thingy. you know what i'm talking about, the one with the handles and neck pad that moves up and down. it's not that the exercise itself is lazy, its more the people who do 5 crunches and then lay there for 5 mins talking to their friend.

(Best part of this post is the title.)



Update: Just googled, "hip abduction machine is the worst." and found this...

The Seated Hip Abductor Machine

"The myth: This machine is the best way to work your out thighs, including your glutes.

The truth: Because you’re seated, it trains a movement that has no functional use. And if done with excessive weight and jerky technique, it can put undue pressure on your spine.

The alternative: Work the same muscles, but while standing. Simply loop a resistance band around both legs, and position the band just below your knees. Now take small steps to your left for 20 feet. Then side-step back to your right for 20 feet. That’s one set. This is much harder than it sounds, but you can do it anywhere, and it’s also a great warmup for any sport."

"Hammer" Those Keys

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 2/06/2010 01:38:00 PM

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My boy Hammer on the keys covering the Rugrats Theme Song. Just hearing this took me back to a magical place.


Jerusalem Cows, Are Happy Cows.

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in , , | Posted on 2/04/2010 09:44:00 PM

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I was eating a vegetarian burrito today and I was by myself, so naturally I started thinking about something random. I started to think, "I'm pretty sure Jesus was a pescatarian." I've never done any research on this, but i couldn't recall ever reading in the Bible that Christ ate meat. One story that came to mind was, "The Feeding of the Multitude" or "Miracle of the five loaves and two fish". Wikipedia just told me that it's the only miracle, apart from Jesus' resurrection, that is present in all 4 Gospels...must be why I thought of this story. Anyways, what had happened was, there was a crowd following Jesus but all there was to eat was a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. So He said something like, "Let me see that son!(referring to the bread and fish)....BAM!" And the bread and fish were able to feed 5,000 men and who knows how many women and children...pretty cool stuff.

So I was thinking about all this and thought, "Well, if Christ was a Vegetarian, he wouldn't have multiplied the fish. He must be a Pescatarian!" JUST LIKE ME! That's as far as I got. You see, i've been on this whole "no meat" thing since late September and I'm still searching for the reason why i'm doing it. It hasn't been difficult for me, but at the same time i'd like to have a reason other than its just me being masochistic. Here is what i've come up with so far:

1. I really do love vegetables and fruit...seriously, i do.

2. I'm very sensitive to the sight of dead animals. Read the 2nd paragraph of this EXAMPLE to see what i'm talking about. I think i've just been conditioned to not think twice about a dead piggy or cow. But I just read an article in Men's Health about how much beef the average person eats in his/her lifetime and the total amount of cows that would add up to. I don't remember the exact number but i'm pretty sure it was something like 80,000+! I kind of felt disgusted after that. I'll update this once i find the exact number.

3. As a result I'm eating healthier. Not that I ate that bad before, but this lifestyle forces me to be a little more selective about what I eat...which translates to less late night, after party runs to grab mexican food.

4. And now I can add to the list that i'm more like Jesus! He was a pretty good dude, why wouldn't I want to be like him? He's probably fist pounding me from Heaven right now for my choices...

You know, I like that I have a little more clarity, but i also love the fact that i'm not the kind of person who flaunts this lifestyle. Hopefully i'll never be one to be "preachy" cause I already think there are way too many people who are taking life way too seriously, and I don't want to add to that.


Here was an interesting article I just read on Jesus being a vegetarian: Holla!

excerpt:
"The early Christian fathers adhered to a meatless regime...many early Christian groups supported the meatless way of life. In fact, the writings of the early Church indicate that meat eating was not officially allowed until the 4th century, when the Emperor Constantine decided that his version of Christianity would be the version for everyone. A meat eating interpretation of the Bible became the official creed of the Roman Empire, and vegetarian Christians had to practice in secret or risk being put to death for heresy. It is said that Constantine used to pour molten lead down the their throats if they were captured. Ironic indeed that pagan Rome here would have this longstanding influence upon Christianity.

In any case, I think we can all be thankful that it is a lot easier today to be a vegetarian. The occasional rudeness and social disapproval a vegetarian must tolerate is a pretty small inconvenience in comparison to Constantine's way of dealing with vegetarians."




Sidenote: Just went to search "was jesus a vegetarian" in google, and I got to "was " and the suggestions popped up as usual. Here's what it thought I may be searching for:

#1- "was lady gaga born a man"
#2- "was hitler jewish"
#3- "was jesus black"

in my opinion, i think it would've been cooler if the #1 suggestion was, "was lady gaga born of hitler, and was hitler black? jesus was jewish. obvious."

Times Are Tough. Gotta Hustle.

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 2/02/2010 10:53:00 PM

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As many of you may have seen on my facebook status earlier, while I was at the gym there was some lady who was slangin' girl scout cookies. Seriously? I looked around the room to see if anyone else was as perplexed by this situation as I was. And I was amazed to see that nobody else was...is this normal? So I just chuckled quietly to myself as I walked by the small crowd of girls buying the cookies, and thought how just a few of those Samoas would counterbalance all the calories burned during that Turbo Kick Boxing class(or whatever it was)the girls just came from. I feel like the stunt this lady pulled is a close equivalent to buying a shot for an alcoholic. But hey, times are tough and you gotta do what you gotta do!

This did actually remind me of a story from when I was in the Philippines though. I was with my family out there and we were at one of the Supermalls of course(that's where everyone goes when its hot and they're looking for something to do). We all split up at one point and my Grandpa and I went off together. I had to go to the bathroom so gramps was waiting for me outside. I'm just going to put this out there: I had to go #2. Hey, everyone does it...well, everyone except for pretty girls. But that's a whole other story. Anyways, so my family fed me very well when I was visiting and it was that time...so I was in the bathroom, looking for a stall. There were probably 10 stalls or so and I went into just about every one. No toilet paper! So, naturally I went to grab some paper towels. Only hand dryers! This was messed up. Then I noticed something on the wall at the entrance. I walk over and to my disbelief I see a dispenser full of little bags of tissue paper...THAT YOU HAD TO PAY FOR! I've never experienced this in life, not even in some of the less developed areas of the Philippines...not even in Mexico. So I finally gave in and bought my last resort. I guess everyone is on their grind these days, gettin' their hustle on.

The part that brings joy to my heart even now, was when I walked out and gramps says in his thick filipino accent, "What happened to you? Did you fall in? AH HA HA HA!" Ahh, miss that guy.

Chase Community Giving

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in | Posted on 1/29/2010 10:12:00 AM

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SD Represent! I just wanted to note that myself and some friends dominated an Invisible Children Dodge Ball Tourney in the early stages of their movement. I take a lot of credit for that victory, but we also did have a current NBA player(Jared Dudley) on our team. We ended up winning an Apple Computer and donated it back to them...i'm sure they can buy quite a few computers now!


Here's the story:
"Facebook users selected San Diego-based charity Invisible Children to receive the top award of a $1 million grant from Chase in the final round of Chase Community Giving, a popular corporate philanthropy program on the social networking Web site.
More than 2 million Facebook users participated in Chase's online voting program.
Invisible Children works with the support of U.S. high school and college students to advocate for the rescue of children in central Africa who have been kidnapped from their homes and forced to serve as soldiers in a civil war in Uganda. More than 30,000 children have been abducted to become both the weapons and the victims of this tragic war. The organization, which will use the funding to build African schools and microeconomic programs as well as raise awareness in North America, received 123,990 votes in the program's second round.
To celebrate the victory, the nonprofit held an event Wednesday morning at Invisible Children Headquarters in downtown San Diego."

Link: http://www.sddt.com/News/article.cfm?SourceCode=20100128tga

NBA Jam Returns!!!

Posted by Brandon Lagao | Posted in , | Posted on 1/05/2010 05:00:00 PM

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This probably means nothing to most people, but to those that it does, here's the story: http://mashable.com/2010/01/05/nba-jam-nintendo-wii/

So Excited I bought a Wii now!