Content Writing- Career & Institutional Connect to Companies

The Idea!

Well as you know I work in education, if you didn't know that you know it now. :) Last week I had an idea of  how to popularize blogging in young individuals and connect the Writing Center at Parvatibai Chowgule College with this initiative.

The Chat with local businesses 

I shared with with two Directors running two companies here in Margao Goa. I came across something interesting! The companies are interested in content writers and people associated with the web to do regular posts and work on various platforms like tweeter, facebook, websites  associated with their businesses.

 

http://tweakyourbiz.com/marketing/files/shutterstock_126540911.jpg

Humor Connects!

I started reading about content writing and came across these to companies who are Content writing Companies! Godot Media and  Word Play Content.

These companies have clients and outsource the work to them, and all the Content Writing Company does is  write for them and write well! I particularly found Word Play Content very innovative, blunt and sarcastic and off course funny! So it looks like humor is what they use or like to use to connect to the users.

More ideas

There are two more companies in Margao , Goa excited about the idea of informing students the various possible ways content writing and associated postings can be exciting , creative and can be great part time jobs for freelancing and earning money! 

And this is the best way a College can connect to the Industries to build internships and if  the college becomes good at it, it can  further act as professional institutional consultants  too providing content writing and allied services.

The Plan
The Plan is to work on this idea with Interested students ,  help companies get some good writers and help students learn the Online way to write, blog, post and earn! 
  
To know more about Content writing as Career  please use the following Links , Link1 and Link2


Cheers! 
Vasant 
Twitter handle: @Gurugastro

Blogging- Need of the Hour- To Inform Young Individuals

This is Sheena - She was curious about this blog and kept looking at me when I wrote this blog . She is 13 months old now (this is her old pic):) 

New Start

It been a while that i did any writing. But you know what blogging is dynamic and I only write when I really feel that I should share something exciting and new.

Online World and Ideas

I was restless last few days, going through TED.com videos, reading articles and blogs online. Came across innovative and modern ways in which young individuals (I don't like calling them as kids, coz they may know far more than any adult at any given point of time and the term kid sounds some one who is ignorant or naive) teach themselves to learn through technology. Sugata Mitra is a huge inspiration to my restlessness. Well, did I mention that I was also very happy being restless? You may be wondering but I was! :)

Being restless is also being happy because, when you are restless to find something new, or in search of an idea , all you have to do is to keep reminding yourself that you are going to find the idea and be happy. So, yes I was happy thinking that I am gonna be happy after a while. :)  Does it make sense? Never mind! :)

So after googling and reading and reading more, I have come across this idea  and realized that, we don't write(or should i say express) as much as we all surf and read (at least I dont! ) And we all need good writers, for good ideas to be exchanged. Also we know that writing in this particular way helps us to connect people.  And there are not many young bloggers like Mr Gloson 16 years who can write effectively and also make lot of money from it. Actually I am excited to see if young individuals just start writing their ideas, how to make the writing effective and make money from it  is the next task .  I strongly feel that the young individuals should be told about how to make money by writing/blogging and that can act as an amazing incentive for them to write and write well.
All the new kids on the block know how to generate revenue from their write ups. I am still figuring that out! :(

How College can help locally in Online Space 

I work at Parvatibai Chowgule College, (which is an undergraduate and a post graduate College for Social Sciences, Languages and Sciences) as a marketing officer/corporate communication officer and I rather like to see my job as to add value to the current education system. The last few days of googling, viewing , listening and reading has helped me to figure out that I have a passion of working with young individuals, who further are going to be the leaders of our  Global society and making them know about writing is going to enlighten me and make me happy! :)

Blogging which sounds more cool to writing is important to be discussed with young individuals. I also feel that we must share, the money one can make through blogging.
Blogging is one aspect of the internet, where you are constantly aware of your own identity, feel confident to put forward your views, innovations, ideas and also know  that some one else is going to read your blog post/article and get some information, if not atleast get a point of view and having a point of view to know that there will be several points of views is the sign that you are becoming a more informed individual in further making a choice of buying a product/service or nurture an idea.


So My plan of Action is as follows:
1) Read more about blogging and how to make money
2) Read how it can benefit the young individuals (Also the ill effects of Blogging if any for Risk Management! )
3) Start Blogging more often and also learn the techniques of making money from it to act as a role model for many new bloggers.
4) Locate schools in Goa and visit them with this idea.
5) Share this idea with the writing Centre at Chowgule College and connect the Writing Centre to help the kids write effectively.
6) Local businesses like book publishing companies, IT companies, real estate agencies, travel agencies and many others need good content writers and we as an institution can act as resource hub in serving the needs of these companies. 
Share and feed more ideas to the Global society.


Love you all
Vasant
Twitter Handle @Gurugastro 

Cover Story- Gangs of Wasseypur

What every entrepreneur can learn from Gangs of Wasseypur

Guest Author | July 16, 2012 9:30 pm

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Learnings for an entrepreneur from the Hindi Movie- Gangs of Wasseypur
“Gangs of Wasseypur”, to me is a spectacular entrepreneurial story, of a man’s enterprise and quest for power. It is a classic story of a man, who went on from being a “nobody” to becoming the most powerful man in Wasseypur.
When he entered, the market was already taken but Sardar Khan wrestled out market share from Ramadhir Singh and became the biggest player in the “gundagardi” product-space.
How did he do it? What was it about Sardar Khan that helped him grow and take control of the market? What can we entrepreneurs learn from him?
1. Get Purpose, Get Focus
Sardar Khan had just one goal, one purpose for his enterprise – revenge. He wasn’t chasing anything else – money or glory. All those were incidental to the purpose.
And because he had that focus, the strategy came naturally to him – just go after Ramadhir Singh; loot his petrol pumps, encroach his land.
It’s extremely important for us entrepreneurs to know exactly why we started our venture. What is that one purpose – is it money, is it glory, is it freedom “to do it my way”.
I have often found entrepreneurs confused on this question. They want freedom but theychase money. Atleast in the initial phases you can’t chase both – so get rid of the conflict and try and stay focused.
2. Play to your strengths
Sardar Khan had no money, no power, no political backing. All he had was an image, a brand called Shahid Khan. It was his only strength; it was the only thing about him that scared Ramadhir Singh.
That was all that Sardar Khan played on. He just went on strengthening that image (of fear). From the killing of the pehalwan, to slapping JP Singh (Ramadhir’s son), to the “kasampaidakarneyvaaleyki” episode, Sardar Khan repeatedly built up on the fear quotient.
Startups have to compete at every level, be it hiring, or marketing and sales and there is no way you can win if you play on your competitor’s strength.
3.    Get the differentiator
Sardar Khan had the differentiators that gave him the advantage. Be it the skills of Pappu Punjabi the bomb maker or the “desikattas”, it was this advantage that allowed him to counter the Qureshi threat.
Sultan was not so much afraid of him as he was of Sardar’s technological advantage. He could not retaliate because he was forced into submission by a superior product.
A differentiated offering is what helps businesses scale. It helps you dominate in the market. It is what makes or breaks you, just like it did in the case of Sardar Khan.
4.    Get a co-founder
Needless to say that Sardar Khan could not have achieved anything without Azghar Khan (the cousin). Azghar was there everywhere; when they killed the pehalwaan, when they escaped from the jail. Every single one of Sardar’s plans was executed with help from Azghar Khan.
And surely enough, one of the things that got Sardar Khan killed was the one thing where Azghar had disagreed and then reluctantly acquiesced.
Get a team, or a co-founder you can trust, who compliments you and perhaps even challenges you occasionally. 
5.     Location Matters
“He is the local goon of some Dhanbad politician. If you kill him in Wasseypur itself, there is no problem”
Sardar Khan could only do what he could because it was Wasseypur. The location was critical because it provided him the culture needed to run his venture; culture that was as fervently defended by the Qureshis as by him.
There are just some places that are better suited for your venture to take wings. Location matters.
There were other qualities of Sardar Khan, like speed of execution, like finding opportunity, like a delusional ego; that coupled with all the circumstances caused his rise and eventual fall.
Author:
Vikram Bahl, Founder, Yavvy.com

Young Budding Tiger! :)

Hi Friends,

Vishnu Chari  is one of the talented young artists I have come across. He is currently doing his second year BA in Chowgule College. He is planning to start art classes for kids. The classes are going to be in the Chowgule Campus. 

This is Vishnu! Self Portrait! AMAZING ISN'T IT!

Vishnu's work is really fantastic and I don't think anybody will disagree that his work is full of innocence and passion.

I am already his big  fan. Please spread the word so that he can teach his art to many more youngsters who love to draw and paint!:)


Ill be back with something new as always!

Bye for now

Dance with this Goan Entrepreneur!!!!

Hi All,

I had a great time meeting one of the most energetic, soft spoken and determined entrepreneurs in Goa, Snaden Shawn.
Ya ya you guys guessed it right......., one who started Dance Goa Dance show and now it is organized every year by Sanden Shawn  Dance Academy.

with Snaden Shawn at Kala Academy Panjim

A commerce graduate with a Post graduation in event management  started dance workshops back in 2007 when others told him to do MBA. He says "I dont remeber what made me to choose dance and start my own workshop but I just felt it was for me. "
He always felt that more than having his personal dream of having Goa's biggest dance school; he always dedicated his efforts to get the quality of dance, taught and learnt ion Goa to a new level.

He gives lot of credit to his mother (a teacher by profession) for being the inspiration and that's how he discovered of training others to dance and enjoyed  teaching some one else who appreciates and respects the art. He is currently employing 8 people as co-trainers at his dance academy in Mapusa, Panijm, Margao and Ponda who train 700 people all over Goa.

Besides being passionate and dedicated to his profession one of the most important things Snaden wants to tell that makes him a true professional is his punctuality to work and the sense of responsibility that brings the best in us.  Also he says initially ion business profits should not be significant to a budding entrepreneur. One should be driven by his  passion and have fun in what he is doing.
he has been doing Dance Goa Dance since 2009 and its going to be big this year in november!

All I want say that this guy is honest and a motivation to all others who aspire to be entrepreneurs of  near future! :)


Take care guys....ill be back with some more news! :)
Long Live Dancing! :)
Cheers! 

Building Entrepreneurship - Trekking Club

Hi Folks. ......Well well well!!!!!!!! I am super excited today! The reason for it is I discussed the idea of starting a trekking-culture-food club with my vice principal, Sawant Sir and he liked the idea. 

The whole aim is to have a one day activity to acheive the following:

We start the trek from chowgule college 

1) Trekking experience- socialize and learn team building through games and other group activities
2) Student will organize the event - The students from different departments (for eg. history, geography, botany, zoology) would provide details about the flora, fauna, history, geography of the trekking place, they would have the first aid kit, maps and other requirements of the trek.
3) Mentors, teachers, students or any trek members can share important information like using of satellite navigation system, how to treat snake bites, how to save some one from fatigue, or any other technological aspects of the trek.
4) We can invite a specialist like a geologist, ornithologist, zoologist, wild life photographer,  who is working in industry and share some vital information for the trekkers.

After the trekking expedition we come back to chowgule college.

5) A small cultural event organized by students to show any special Goan dance form or song.
6) A small documentary on goan trivia, about a great goan achiever, or some rare piece of information (we can get such information from any department in chowgule college) trivia  about Goa which most people are not aware of.
7) Exhibition of artists from chowgule college; paintings or any artifacts like crafts to be exhibited for open public.

Every trek member gets a holistic experience of trekking, some interesting information, gets an insight of the culture, gets an opportunity to appreciate art and craft and support the artists by buying the exhibition items.
Most importantly the students who are involved in managing the activities become proactive and take interest in taking this to the next level. They would develop invaluable skills in event handling, negotiating,  utilising resources, research skills and most importantly believing that they can start a business venture with such an idea.


I want to make this a success! But it cannot be done without your support so please comment and spread the news.


On the rocks,

Green garden

Hey Guys!

How you doing.....well I have some news on the work in progress of Tiger's Union. Yes...I am very keen on this. I feel like a kid working to make this a success.
We had some brain storming done today and two clear ideas that could be started as an Incubation Centre appeared prominently.

1)Green House:
College has a green house and it could be used to cultivate beautiful (which has a good market value) flowers, nursery plants,mushrooms and lawn grass. We can add more things, but initially want to start with flowers. Mr.Adsul from the Marathi Department, at Chowgules is knowledgeable in this regard and would play an important role in making this a success.

2) Goan-food and culture trekking club
A trekking club to be established in the college that would involve trekking, food,music,dance associated with Goa.

Well we need to bring these ideas to practice.


Rest all good! long live Incubation Centre!:)

Cheers

Students Union

Students Union

Hi Friends, m back!

Hey today I've been struggling to get some ideas on having student activities that will make a students community.

I am working with the students group here in college and want them to be involved in activities that would give them experiences regarding; starting a business, volunteering opportunity, internship opportunity,  growing a hobby, community work, appreciating music and art besides getting the academic.

Well I am not short of ideas!!!!!!!!! ;) Kidding guys......i really need help in finding ways to get this community under one roof. I am going to propose to the college to have infrastructure for the Student's Union.


A place made by students and for students, where they have a committee and organize activities that would help them utilize college resources  and also play a part in contributing to the society and learning things from successful people from the society.

See you soon....


On the rocks!

Entrepreneurs!! Who are they!!!!!!!!!!!???

Hi Friends.....m back with some news on entrepreneurs. 

Well, if some are wondering who are they, they are the ones who always think of an idea and know how to make money (setting a business) out of that idea. They are the ones who set up companies and give jobs to people!

Isn't that super cool!

I am sure it is. Because most of the times students see that the studies as a mandatory thing they have to do to get marks  and also because their friends are doing the same. How about students who have ideas of starting something and selling it. We can have entrepreneurs developed in any field whether it is IT, Hotel Industry, industries, retail, fashion, art, anything that you can think of.

Well well well......if that is the case how cum nobody did not tell us when we were young!? Sadly thats the truth that we were not aware of the fact that we can become an entrepreneur , just like being a doctor or an engineer.

There is a huge myth associated with entrepreneurship within our society; that is Entrepreneurs are born and not made! Guys...........you must know this.....this is absolutely not true. Entrepreneurs can be developed if young people are groomed by mentors in industry and trained to do the managerial aspects of setting a business.

So lets open our minds and support the idea of working entrepreneurship in kids and young individuals to have abetter economy and have a dream India :)


See you soon............

Employability of Students - Mission Critical aspect of Collges

Hi again,
Well....today i am doing some brain storming and research in the direction of people mind sets towards careers and secondly, providing employment opportunities to students at the college level.

Goa is one of the well educated states in India . However it is sad that in a place like Goa, the general notion in the community is that Engineering and Medicine are the only two streams considered as professional  careers; rest all professions are considered mediocre and useless.

Once we have such a mind set towards other professions, the students who are a part of our society  and perusing other professions ( either Hotel Management, BSC, BA and BCOM , Bachelors in Fine arts and architecture) consider their professions as inferior and not worth doing.

Hence it is very important that we should change our thinking towards other professions, because every profession is rewarding and fulfilling if you are interested in it.

Secondly creating opportunities of employment in colleges and working towards bridging the gap between colleges and industries should be the mission critical statement for all the colleges in Goa. Industries should also try and invest time and effort in helping colleges build confident individuals by having programs like work shops, internships seminars and on a larger scale MOUs with colleges. This would be part of the corporate social responsibility of the companies.
 There should be Career and employment department in every college that would provide infrastructure and facilities  for such programs between college and industries to be implemented.


Are we all ready to start this  happening?


please spare a thought.....we need winds of change sooner then later!!!

Thanks ...Ill be back! :)

Amazing College Life

Long Live College Life--My new job at Chowgule College and towards helping the Students community

Hi Folks,

Its been a while that I have written any blog. Today's  my first day  in the new job as a marketing officer for the Chowgule college here in Goa. I remember clearly my send off after my XIIth std science in 2001. Its been 11 years and yet i don't feel that I had left this college ever. 

We had great time and we studied hard and enjoyed a lot in the chowder college campus. Today brings back all the fond memories of past and makes me nostalgic.

I am extremely excited about this opportunity and want to help the students community in all possible ways so that they have a great student experience when they are studying here at Chogule college and also play my role in getting best of the companies so that the students get best placements in campus. 

I have realized that helping people get great opportunities and seeing them excel gives me lot of satisfaction and pride. I can see myself very successful in my aspirations towards motivating students in getting the best of them and the college in near future.

Ill write more. 

Cheers! 

Long live colleges!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looking for a guide to find delicious food in India??

Hi friends,

I was searching online to find places where I can eat delicious food in India. I am a foodie and enjoy reading and writing about food and and off course eating good food.

I particularly wanted to find a guide to find good food in India. I came across various websites which gave details and links about indian cuisine, recipies and restaurant links. Most of them were flooded with information and I was confused until I came across a website called 'Foodlets' which is a visual guide to some amazing food we could find in some awsome restaurants in India.

I think this is a very good website for food lovers and is still new and gets updated with new recipes on a regular basis. It is also very user friendly and anyone can join and also add photos of food they ate in a restaurant.
So all hungry people go and taste awsome food on foodlets!:)


I will be back with some more food news soon! 

Are you attending a Social Media Internship Interview?

An amazing day for my dream job search. I attended the interview with company Bluw-i in Farringdon London moments ago.

It was a good experience and I must say I was hoping for such an opportunity for a long time to be a part of the Social Media Revolution
It was for an internship which later grows into an apprenticeship and  then ultimately into a full time job. I was good to answer the questions thrown at me by Tina(HR interviewer) and Jay (Technical interviewer) but surely lacked the knowledge about digital and online marketing. There were questions like 'what is social media to you in brief', 'why do you want to work with Bluw-iand how social media affects the company, 'what have you done in creative writing', 'have you worked on any online/social media campaigns' etc.
I answered these questions quiet well but did show lack of exposure in this domain.
However I was successful in communicating my aspirations and interests  and desire to learn clearly to Tina and Jay.
 I also  mentioned about working with company called foodlets.in and learning about social media analysis through them.
My past experience with Fairtrade Foundation London was also very helpful in communicating my ideas and my interests.
I am looking forward to take my UK experience to new dimensions and hoping for a positive reply from the Bluw-i team.



Good Luck for all other interviewees with their social media internships.

UK Outdoors - Jacket potato & French baguette Part 2

Tasting british food has been an experience so far. I want to take you on the journey of the street food which i think is amazing here.
After jacket potatoes

, today we have two new members ; French Baguettes and English breakfast special.

French Baguettes: A cylindrical shaped bread stuffed with salad and
meat or cheese. We can say its the 'wada paav'
of UK streets. Healthy and equally tasty.

 

English Breakfast special : This is the staple food for breakfast and it is 100% british. Pork sausages, bacon and egg pan fried and enjoyed with a bread and butter . This is easily available anywhere is UK and it is loved and eaten during any time of the day.I will be back with  some more interesting stuff. Enoy!!!!!!!!:)

PLEASE DONT READ.......if you dont love potatoes!;)

Street Food,UK Outdoors- The Jacket Potato Story

Reference: Google Pictures

Jacket potato is basically a whole large potato roasted in oven with the skin and then served hot with butter and a filling stuffed in its belly.


Tweet
The filling can be anything you can think of. People love sweet beans, cheese, chicken gravy,different chicken types such as Mexican chicken,spicy chicken, sweet chilly chicken.

I had amazing jacket potatoes in Coventry and Birmingham Town Centre where they are served by people having traditional stalls. 
The best part of this dish is that the roasted potatoes are kept steaming hot in a aluminium foil in the oven and you can get the hot beans and gravy on order stuffed. Have it with a cup of hot chocolate and your tummy would surely say, YUMMY!:
To cook a delicious recipe at home check out Jamie Oliver

Reference: Google Images