If an app were a person, I would consider Photoshop to be my inamorata, spending more time on it than my real romantic relationships (even before I had one).

I’ve been a Photoshop user since PS2 (circa 2005) and PS is a needy companion keeping me from committing to a Linux distro for good in exchange for beautiful designs I just couldn’t achieve anywhere else.

As a marketer in a brand new world where Flat and Material are in and skeuomorphism is out, sometimes all we need are simple brochures, flyers and marketing media that can be achieved with a cloud-based solution.

Advanced designers wouldn’t mind using Photoshop for its unlimited possibilities. The real reason why most businesses prefer Canva is that it’s much easier for them to outsource work to virtual assistants without having to hire a designer. Being a designer myself, this is bad news for me (LOL) but as someone who...

You’ll never know how much “pause” you need until you’ve got so much work to do that pressing the brakes can only lead to disaster.

It was a lengthy absence, 2 weeks I guess. My commitment to writing hasn’t faltered a bit, so I’ll be publishing some posts I’ve written offline. Thanks to my overprotective bank, I’ve been having problems with online purchases, thus a brief pause in my Svbtle subscription.

Speaking of hiatus…

One guy I met at Bumble told me about his life being stagnant at the moment. He belongs to the travel industry, which isn’t going full steam due to current events.

His sentiments reminded me of my younger years, when I was still figuring out if I could really make a career out of web design, and the ratio of 50 cover letters to zero client responses debunked my “Pareto Principle”: that sending out 20 applications will finally lead me to one interested client.

...

Because it’s good for your soul. Because writing is a powerful skill. Because why not?

I’ve read stories on reddit of bloggers who used to actively write blogs a couple of times each week and had creative blocks the moment their blogs gained traction. There’s pressure in knowing that someone is reading your content, but don’t let this stop you.

Don’t overthink writing long posts and structuring that post into something cohesive. Don’t let the illusion of perfection stop you. Even the best digital marketers I know don’t create original content every day, a lot of their content is curated.

Why should you worry about writing content for something like 15 readers (5 of which your friends you pestered to read, the rest is you re-reading your content 10 times this week).

Don’t overthink the quality and length. Just publish something valuable and helpful. And don’t even get started with...

In this day and age where messaging goes instant, writing a letter in ink is not the most convenient way of communication. But just like anything vintage, the rarity of writing a letter gives it more value. As our handwriting gets worse with age and in comparison to the crisp fonts in our favorite messaging apps, taking the time to grab a pen to write those words on paper can be bliss.

I used to write letters to friends and family to accompany gifts with a thoughtful gesture. There’s so much thought and energy channeled in that pen– an unmatched sincerity when you’re expressing words without having to open your lips. The pen is the channel, my writing an extension of my soul. Instant messaging just couldn’t match that.

Letters are a form of sincerity because they’re a physical representation of your thoughts and feelings. They’re a physical thing you can hold in your hand. There’s a...

Disclaimer: I just changed the title of this post from “Not Everyone is Worthy of Your Help”. I just realized that it misrepresents what this post is all about.

I often talk about looking for opportunities to help people, but I always forget to include an important disclaimer: not everyone is worth helping.

You should aim to be able to help everyone, but you should know that not everyone is worth your time and effort. You will find that those who are worth helping usually behave graciously and acknowledge your help.

Don’t get me wrong, but there are also those smart social engineers who are really good at faking gratitude. But real gratitude goes beyond words. Building a relationship with someone goes beyond the transactional.

A transactional relationship goes like this: A friend comes to you for help, you give help and they give something to you in return. And once the transaction...

When the pandemic hit, the digital agency I formerly co-founded, MK, felt a huge blow after our biggest client’s sales plummeted to 30%. My UK-based partner was a smart and charming guy with a very strong network. I attributed most of MK’s success because of him, and our partnership was a kind of apprenticeship that trained me to go out there and connect with people.

Although I’ve been in the marketing industry for 10 years, I have always avoided customer-facing roles. As the founder, I had to talk to potential clients to seal the deal. It was a far cry from my introverted life as a freelancer.

The thing about being in marketplaces as a freelancer for years is that clients come to you, you don’t go to them. The relationship is pretty much transactional. If you’re a freelancer, your portfolio speaks for itself. For me, there was no urge to build a network, let alone cultivate a...

It’s hard, isn’t it? When you’re too nervous to join a small crowd in an event or to speak in front of new people and a friend gives you that helpful advice to calm your nerves: “It’s alright. Just be yourself.”

“Be myself?” you ask in utter disbelief. It’s as if “your self” is the best spirit to summon in this scenario, you thought.

I often tell my friends the same words. Usually when they’re about to meet a new client or go through an interview with the hiring manager, I’d tell them to chill, to be themselves. Why? Because I appreciate them when they’re in their most authentic… because they’re beautiful when they’re comfortable expressing themselves in the safe space of our friendship. And I think that that authenticity will really work its charm when they’re in any pressing situation.

But what is Authenticity, really?

Authenticity is unapologetic acceptance of who you are— your...

If you have a job that gives you a high level of flexibility in choosing which one of your tasks you should prioritize first, choose the one that gives you the most stress.

Schedule your entire day placing higher priority to tasks that are giving the heaviest emotional burden— pressure, guilt, anxiety.

In the name of pain and pleasure principle, the toxic tasks that are yelling for our attention are the ones that we usually put off for later. We usually procrastinate on tasks that are either not fulfilling or draining the soul. We put them off until they become urgent. And when they gain that urgent status, their toxicity seeps into our personal lives.

You will find that tackling them head-on first thing in the morning is really draining. However, being able to finish the most pressing tasks will give you a higher sense of satisfaction that will fuel your momentum as you face the...

Being able to do what you love while working in a full-time job is easier said and done.

We’re awake an average of 16 hours a day. Eight of those hours we dedicate to work, around three hours spent on the humdrum like quick gossip and transportation, and around five hours of what I call “life time”.

But what do we do with this little life we have each day? What tasks can we squeeze in our meager 300 minutes per day?

“I deserve a break.”

It’s easy to say that you’d slip a passion or two. Perhaps you could use it to learn dancing or play the guitar. You’d think you could work eight hours per day and spend 4-5 hours on that self-paced online course…

Until of course life happens. You come home from a long day of work feeling like you deserve a break. You won’t have time to pick that guitar up or learn that skill— you just need to rest. Besides, you just spent the majority of your day...

Why less than 500 words? And why disregard grammar?

I have written blogs in the past, for myself and for clients. Writing is not new to me. I’m not an A+ writer, but I was a literary editor in the student publication in high school and I spent most of my adult nights journaling before bed.

I basically write a lot of content per day. I am hoping that one day I can take these journals with me while enjoying my remaining years in an elderly home.

I know writing can make me a better and more expressive person, but there were too many things on the line for me to post stuff online. I felt that I needed to create perfect articles, that I should make my thoughts more cohesive by outlining topics and that I should work more on my grammar skills.

There were too many things I was planning to do before starting that I never got to start writing.

This year I promised myself that I will start...