For this walk, we’re going to start on the Harajuku backstreet that’s home to Eggs N Things, 6%DOKIDOKI, Neigborhood, BAPE, Undefeated, and Jack Rose. We’ll walk down this street until we hit the street with G2?, Nadia Harajuku, Romantic Standard, and AvantGarde. Taking a right at that street, we’ll head strait for Cat Street. We’ll make a quick left on Cat Street, just going far enough to catch h.Naoto, Putumayo, and a few other shops, then double back down Cat toward Shibuya.

Cat Street is one of the main shopping streets in Harajuku (along with Takeshita, Harajuku Dori, and Meiji Dori), so many of the area’s most famous shops can be found here. Just in the area between h.Naoto and Omotesando Dori we’ll pass Milkfed, X-Girl, Tokyo Bopper, Candy Stripper, Flamingo, The Circus, and many more shops.

Unless you’re a major news site, you may have noticed how hard it is to get comments on your blog. Even if you are part of a major news site, you may notice.  Every year, I see the number of comments dwindle.  Massive blogs that used to receive 600 comments a post now receive 50.  Blogs that received 50 now receive 15.  If you’ve got a small site like I do, then what may have one been 10-20 comments per post now rings in at less than a handful.

And yet… we all believe that comments have value in blogging. And they do! So maybe it’s time to put our best foot forward for 2014, and bring back comments.  Why should we… ?

As a blogger, you’re trying to build a community, right? An active, engaged community… it’s what we all fantasize about. Lots of traffic is great, but no one sees those numbers. They’re faceless, nameless persons who came, saw, and left our sites.  But our readers… those who leave comments… they’re gold.

So how do you feel when you don’t receive comments?  Without them, you don’t know whether your community is around. You can’t gauge what they’re responding to, or what they want to see.  Realistically, comments are the foundation of a community, and community doesn’t just exist on your site.  Being a part of community means taking your voice & thoughts to the blogs of others and sharing it! With a comment, of course.

How easy is it to skim through blogs – via email, via your feed reader, and never actually absorb the content?  Your eyes glaze over and it’s just about getting through the 300+ posts that have accumulated in the last day.

But really… what good is that doing you or the bloggers you follow?

Take the time to stop just endlessly consuming information and make time to INTERACT with it. If you think that’s impossible to do when you follow hundreds of blogs, cull your blog reader.  Focus on certain sites each day of the week. Actually READ the post. Think about what the blogger said. Can you respond to it? (If it’s complicated or controversial, step away for 20 minutes.) Formulate thoughts, and share them.

You may find that you’re more inspired by what you’re reading… and who doesn’t love a good dose of inspiration!

Comments represent you, your content, & your site.

That thoughtful comment you just left?  It represents your site. It represents YOU.

Every line we write online is a digital footprint back to us and our sites.  Your thoughtful, engaged comment isn’t just seen by the author; it’s seen by all of their fans.  If that’s the first comment you’ve left for a blog, this is your chance at a great first impression – for the blogger and their readers.

Make it count.

Relationships begin in the comments.

Relationships – that’s what blogging is about. If community is the foundation of a great blog, relationships are the glue that hold it together and keep it strong.

Building relationships with other bloggers, and comments are a natural way to build that relationship.  A relationship isn’t built by leaving one comment, nor is a new fan found that way.  It comes from continually reaching out and having something valid to say. It grows from there – to email, social media sites, and more.

But if you’re really looking to build your relationships with other bloggers, start with a comment.

Comments show you care.

There are a lot of bloggers who don’t respond to their comments. (I’m guilty of this – I went through a phase where where I couldn’t keep up with my comments because of my day job.)

Making the time to respond, even to a few readers?  It shows you care about what your readers have to say.  It tells your readers, “Hey! You’re golden. Thank you for responding, and I know you’re there. I can’t do this without you. Your support means everything.”  And wow… isn’t that just amazing to think about? How much your readers care for you and what you have to say?  It kind of blows my mind.

As you’re writing up goals & resolutions for 2014, put this one towards the top of your list. Be a better commenter. Rediscover the joy of connecting with your community.  It’s an easy part of blogging for us to put by the wayside. It also becomes the part of blogging we miss most quickly.

I know this is beating an obvious fact into the ground, but social media has firmly planted itself as a key form of communication in today’s society. As bloggers have evolved in their savviness around using social media to promote their blogs, so too have brands put time into learning how social media benefits them. Brands have turned a lot of their marketing department’s attention (and budget) to social media, and in working with bloggers active on Twitter and such. Brands are essentially paying to cultivate relationships with brand ambassadors. Influential ones, at that; those who aren’t just consuming social media, but turning around and sharing it with a sizable audience.

A few years ago, a brand sponsorship often only consisted of a sponsored post. Nowadays every brand is interested in far more than just a blog post or two. There’s social media content I’m asked to share across different platforms. At times there’s a “real-life” part to the contract which requires event duties – as simple as showing up or as big as a full speaking presentation on fashion and/or blogging. What does this all mean? It means brands are looking at more than just your blog – they’re looking at all the different places on the web you have an influential presence.

From my own experience with brand sponsorships, here are some ways in which brands might want to work with you on each of those sites – and what to tend to with each.

Twitter

Sharing tweets is one of the most common actions brand sponsorships will want you to take on social media. They’ll ask you to promote any blog posts you write. They will often include tweets crafted by the brand for you to send out through your Twitter handle, with specific hashtags related to this specific brand campaign. The tip here? Pay attention to your hashtags and use them every time! Hashtags are essential in keeping track of how well a Twitter campaign spread.

Facebook

The other most common social media ‘ask’ from a brand is Facebook sharing. Usually brands keep it pretty simple, requiring you to promote your sponsored blog posts to your FB page fans. Brands might also ask you to contribute to a Facebook live chat they host, or that you share some prepared status updates to your FB page. Make sure your blog’s Facebook page is fairly active, and make sure to appropriately tag them too! (How to tag pages on Facebook.)

Instagram

I’ve observed countless bloggers make some serious dough from Instagram campaigns alone. Brands will often ask bloggers for an Instagram photo/video set during a campaign they’re working together on. In it, the blogger captures anywhere from 10-15 Instagrams of various shots. Tag and hashtag correctly here, too, and do your best to create visually-appealing, evocative photos. Filters are your friend!

Pinterest

Sometimes brands will ask you to create and pin several images to Pinterest board on a specific topic, trend, or campaign keyword. I’ve also had brands request I embed one of their Pinterest boards into my sponsored posts. In either case, it’s a great way for brands to engage bloggers’ audiences and easily lead them back to their website.

YouTube

Brands might also request video content in your brand sponsorship, where you’re required to take footage of or share pre-recorded footage on your blog and other social media profiles. The bloggers who can bring some serious spunk and personality to their YouTube presence are often booked for brand campaign event host duties or other speaking presentations. You never know where that beauty haul video could take you!

What other unique ways might bloggers and brands work together on social media sponsorships?

Getting around in China can be tough for newcomers, and even tougher if you’re short on cash. As a fairly recent college graduate without much to spare myself, I’ve compiled 12 apps I used or really wish I had known about when I first arrived in the country. May your travels be merry and many!

Waygo is a translator with a specific vocabulary: food and transport. All you do is hold your iPhone camera over the Chinese text, line it up in the box, and when the app recognizes the characters, the box turns orange and you get a proper translation. Waygo doesn’t claim to be a complete dictionary, you just get a couple of words rather than a befuddling list of definitions — enough so that you know what you’re ordering or where you need to go. It’s far superior for these purposes compared to your average dictionary app and doesn’t require an internet connection.

You can also translate several lines of characters at once, which is a clear time-saver when you’re tackling a menu, be it a Western or Chinese cuisine. Your first 100 translations are free (each individual line of text counting as one translation), after which time you’re limited to 10 per day. If that’s not sufficient, then you’ll need to upgrade to the paid service, a one-off payment of GBP 11 ($18). An Android version has been promised for sometime, but isn’t available yet.

It was one busy Thursday and every lunch time, I always wonder what my lunch will be. Having a strict veggie diet for weeks is tough but I’m getting used to it, but sometimes having a cheat-day doesn't hurt. Luckily, a friend of mine introduced Foodie.ph to me – a 24/7 online delivery service that is user-friendly and has lots of restaurant choices. 

If I will opt for a delivery service, I decided to choose a restaurant just near my office in Ayala Avenue. Out of curiosity, I decided to order something from Osonho Portuguese Restaurant. I’ve heard a lot of good reviews about it and I wanted to try something different. 

Osonho Portuguese Fusion Restaurant is the one of the modern dining restaurants in Makati City, which serves delectable cuisine at reasonable prices and enjoyable portions. They also accept orders for delivery via their partner site Foodie.ph. They delivered it on-time and without any hassles.

For the main course, I ordered Peri peri Chicken on Fragrant Chicken Rice and Seafood Paella / Paella do Mar. And for my salad I chose House Greens / Casa Salada Verde.

Hello guys!