Unique Present For My Dad’s Birthday

What happens if your dad or mom’s birthday is coming up and you don’t know what to get them? If you are sick of getting books, flowers, birthday cards and all sorts of commercialized stuff, then you can do what I did:

I got my dad a WORDPRESS blog for his birthday (last Thursday).

NgYeeSiang.com

My friends and family thought that it was an ingenious idea! So why don’t you give it a try?

Here are my guidelines:

• Never, under ANY circumstances, get the birthday boy/girl a FREE Blogger and Wordpress blog! It’s so insincere and almost anyone can get it for free! Get a self-hosted blog. Please don’t be such a cheapskate - a domain name on Name Cheap only costs $8.41/RM30 (using a name cheap coupon). If you are a niche marketer like I am, you should probably invest in a reseller hosting account (a hosting that allows you to assign unlimited domain names). If you feel guilty about spending ONLY $8.41, then you can appease your guilt by paying a designer to design a unique blog theme for the birthday boy/girl.

• Put up some photos or content on their behalf. You don’t have to write long essays. All you need is a presentable home page and fill in a profile on the about me page and you are all set. Good copywriting skills would be handy here. Remember, it’s the thought that counts.

• Tell them how important it is to have your own blog (in case they don’t see the value of your present). Gone are the days where people can live without a mobile phone. If someone hasn’t used a mobile phone before, they must be living under a rock. The same goes for E-mail addresses as well. If you don’t have an E-mail address, I’m sure people will give you a hard stare. One of these days, blogs will join the ranks of the bare essentials.

• Spend some time teaching them how to blog on Wordpress. Teach them how to use Windows Live Writer - it is very good for newbies. Granted, I haven’t actually started teaching my parents yet, but I have a very good excuse, my dad is too busy to blog. God willing, I’ll teach them how to blog the next time I pay them a visit.

The best thing about getting a blog for your parents is that you get to use up your Paypal funds (instead of cashing them out at a lower rate) and you get to show your parents that what you are doing is useful after all (remember, they don’t understand what Internet marketing is about and some might even go as far as to think you are doing something illegal because you are making so much money!). This would be a good opportunity to share with them about your Internet marketing career and educate them in the process.

Now I can add another item to my list - the advantages of being an Internet marketer

No prizes for guessing what I’m going to get for my mom on her next birthday. LOL

For now… Happy Birthday, Dad.