My pound of flesh
August 23, 2004
I have this funny role thrust upon me - tech support guy of Indian bloggers. I guess it happened because I foolishly volunteered assistance to tech newbies who wanted some guidance in getting their blogs up and running. And running. And running some more.
Ahem.
But it's a thankless job. I work behind the scenes to help set up blogs, move to MovableType, fix broken shit, put new designs into place, add some nifty feature, clean up HTML and CSS, and a whole lot of other crap. I do it mostly anonymously, and more importantly, for free. Why? I'm not even sure myself. Some freaky altruistic streak, I guess.
Anyway, while I don't expect money (you cheapskates!), I can at least ask for the odd favour from you folks. I just need some help getting a decent google pagerank for my restaurant web site, and through that, some more business, I hope.
So here's what I'm requesting: Please post a small blog entry on your site with the following text:
If you're in Bangalore, please visit Madhu's new restaurant, Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine that serves good Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean food. The restaurant is on CMH Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore.
To make it all very easy for you folks, you don't even have to figure out the HTML. Just copy and paste the following into your entry:
<p>If you're in Bangalore, please visit <a href="http://www.madmanweb.com">Madhu's</a> new restaurant, <a href="http://www.shiokfood.com">Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine</a> that serves good Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean food. <a href="http://www.shiokfood.com">The restaurant is on CMH Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore</a>.</p>
Of course, feel free to add any paeans to my tech genius in the post as well. Though I can't deposit compliments at the bank, it's still a good feeling. :)
As for the people I'm talking about, here is just a selection of them. ;)
Pleas for help also go out to All the Cartel members, and anyone else who is generous enough.
Thank you! I love you all!
Can you tell me or give me that superb noodles you served me and a friend that day?
Mee Goering, I think.
Posted by Ravages at August 23, 2004 5:19 PMHey Madman,
Neat! You just might win "the best online marketing campaign of the year" award!
Muthu
p.s
Dont you do "Chinese"?
the best online marketing campaign of the year
If Anil can do it why can't we? There you go, Madhu, one from me too. :)
Posted by Nilesh at August 24, 2004 5:01 PMdone that. not that you helped me directly by either setting up my blog or putting in any nifty feature or any other design / css value, yet I have been coming to this blog and reading, so I decided to give back some that I have taken.
Posted by Sumeet Singh at August 24, 2004 5:32 PMHi
congrats on the restraunt. can't wait to visit Bangalore next.
You could look at joining www.ryze.com - its an international business/social networking site. and it has a Bangalore network with over 2000 members http://bangalore-network.ryze.com/
It takes 5 minutes to join.
Harini
Posted by Harini Calamur at August 25, 2004 11:54 PMMade my way in here via Anita's blog, Madhu. You've refuted many myths by giving up your techie career and going on to follow your dreams...and I do know it takes more than gumption. A hard-core Bangalorean myself, I'm longing to come by and savor your delicacies. Also, I will come back to read more of you. Congratulations and wishing you much success!
Posted by Ranjini at August 26, 2004 6:53 AM"it happened because I foolishly volunteered assistance to tech newbies "Never mind. You condescending %^&*. Well, I wrote about Shiok even before you asked for links. What do I get? It IS a thankless world man. See you soon. Just settling down and struggling to find an apartment. Posted by suman at August 26, 2004 5:04 PM
SIGH I hd done that long long long back !!! posted and posted about your place...
Posted by Pallavi at September 1, 2004 6:25 PMHey Madhu,
Done albeit a lil late. Hope no probs here :p
Madhu, Will definitely put those lines up on my website!
I will be in B'lore in Nov. Will definitely dine at your place.
-SR
Posted by Shyamal at September 3, 2004 7:43 PMOne more from B'lore! And this is viral marketing at its best!
Posted by Mind's Eye at September 6, 2004 1:34 AMHey madhu,
've placed ur ad on my blog. Howz traffic & what's your conversion rate like?
Cheers
Muthu
Hmm so you do food AND html. Now that's talent.
Will definitely drop by if I ever go to B'lore... :-)
Posted by Wings at September 9, 2004 7:37 PMSo I'm a bit late on getting on my weblog. Do tell about your traffic.
Posted by Ron Zeno at September 19, 2004 7:06 AMThat's an excellent idea and you have so many well wishers!
Posted by Alka at September 28, 2004 1:01 AMLeave a comment
Note:
- Disagreement is expected. Abuse is not.
- If you use SMS-speak (u, l8r, newaz, etc.), I will delete your comment. Use proper English!
- Your IP address is logged.
- HTML is allowed in comments (but certain tags are filtered out.)
- Your email address or web site URL will be visible for others to see.
Who is MadMan?
My restaurant - Shiok
The LinksMatic - daily links
My food photo gallery
Send me email
Reader comments