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Splash of motivation: Luck didn’t make Abe Olandres a millionaire

November 4, 2009 | By travs |
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Who Is Abe Olandres?

Abe Olandres, the A-list blogger behind www.yugatech.com, graduated from Ateneo de Manila University in 2000 with a degree in Chemistry and Computer Engineering. Although he was named after Abraham Lincoln, in the blogosphere and in IT circles he is better known as “Yuga” – “really now?” or “ows?”, in his native Ilonggo – a name he got when he was the only dormer from the island-province of Guimaras, during his college days at ADMU. Yuga then started his first internet venture in 2003 with a local web hosting business, plogHost. During this time, Abe started blogging as well, although only turned it into a profession in 2005, when he launched yugatech.com, the first local blog reviewing techie products and gadgets. It has then grown to be the leading local authority on IT reviews, and Abe’s source of livelihood.

He has now expanded into consulting, internet marketing, advertising and organizing conferences. He’s been to several countries (Germany, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan) moderating seminars/workshops on blogging and new media.

After all that’s said and done, Abe is still down-to-earth, humble and definitely hilarious.
When asked what’s his greatest challenge?

Ever since elementary to high school and college, I’ve considered myself more of an academically-inclined person. Coming into Ateneo for college, I was expecting to excel like I did in elementary and high school. But it was a challenge because I had to choose between my extra-curricular, income-generating activities, because I was supporting myself.

When asked what’s his greatest success?

Being known in the mainstream media as one of the more influential people in the tech biz. In the ACET, my English was very poor. And for a guy who took up Chemistry, I can’t believe I ended up as a pseudo-journalist, as a blogger. I attributed it to due diligence, not to any training in journalism or mass communication.

Brushing Up

* Ironically, motivation to write better came after graduation. Every night, before going to bed, my goal was to write a nice, complete sentence or paragraph.
* Later on, I realized it wasn’t about grammar or composing sentences well. It was about discipline.

Luck Didn’t Make Me A Millionaire

* Around four or five years ago, I was career-hopping, going rounds in companies that I felt I would make a big difference in. So I went with the really small companies, with a lot of start-ups.
* I was looking for a big break. I read Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. He said if you wanted to become a millionaire, add up your salary and multiply it by 12 or 13 months a year, and then multiply it 5 or 10 years. And then, with that figure, ask yourself if you’re okay with that. If not, then what the hell are you doing?
* After I read that, I realized I needed to get out of the rat race. And then I came up with a plan – to raise money to get off the corporate ladder and go out there on my own. I did this three times, and they all failed.
* A lot of people told me I’m not lucky in business. But I said, that’s not true. I’ll do it for a fourth time.

The Beginnings of Yugatech.com

* I realized there was a need in the content industry. Every night, I’d go online and read the news. And I get disappointed every night because a lot of the stories they put up in the InfoTech section wasn’t really anything of interest or relevance to the Philippines.
* I thought, if they can’t give it, might as well get something relevant somewhere. And I thought, why not me?
* From there, I wrote a blog post saying that I would start blogging full-time. I said, if it didn’t work out, I’d go back to the province. But in three months, I was able to turn things around.
* I made a calculated risk. I made sure to calculate my finances. I had timelines, milestones, and goals to meet. With that in mind, you’ll know what to do.
* In three months, I was able to turn my $50 a month blogging into $1,000 a month.

Expanding For Growth

* I realized I could only write so much. So why not expand the business?
* I started representing other bloggers to advertisers, and I get a cut. I put up a business with HAVOC Digital
* When I quit my job, I thought I needed to market myself as a brand. My goal was that in three to five years, I would’ve made a mark.
* All of the earnings I got from advertising, I saved it all and bought a second-hand car. And I posted, “this is the car that blogging bought.”
* I take the craft of blogging seriously. It’s pseudo-journalistic blogging.
* Right there and then, I realized the power of word-of-mouth.

Luck and Superstition

* My grandparents and family were very superstitious. Instead of having a family doctor, we had a quack doctor.
* Coming from that kind of culture and family background, I would always experience culture shock, and would sometimes use this as an alibi when I was having trouble.
* A lot of people in our province are still poor up to now, because they attribute their way of life to luck and superstition.
* Before I entered Ateneo, I said I wanted to cut this kind of culture, that people are complacent because they have been used to this particular kind of life. I felt, you could always change your destiny as long as you fight for it and work really hard for it.
* My mom was an impulsive buyer. She’d splurge whatever my dad made. So I vowed to break that too. I scrimped on my allowance, and would get into a lot of revenue-making activities in school to support myself to augment my allowance

source: http://www.entrepbuff.com/week_by_week_session_12_luck_didnt_make_me_a_millionaire

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Category: Inspiration

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