Weird things people say if you are Nepalese!

I belong to this beautiful country and when I tell people ‘I am from Nepal,’ usually what I meet is confused stare that follows with the ‘blunders’ out of their mouth totally worth being put in the internet, and stay there forever!

Here are some of the glorious blunders that people have said, when I have mentioned I am a Nepali:

1. Oh, I never knew there was a country like that. Where is it?

Damn! You know about Buddha, Gurkha and Mount Everest among many other glorious things this tiny little country boasts about, but you are absolutely clueless about the very country they belong to? Dude, this is how you research on anything? This is how your knowledge is all about– this superficial, just scratching the surface? Had this been a job interview, I would have fired you before you were even hired.

*Calms herself and proceeds to write the next point.*

2. Oh, you mean India?

Nope, not India, that is why we have a different name– Nepal, you moron! In which parallel universe does Nepal sound like India?

I actually feel sorry for history teachers here, though, specially in India. Many of my India friends thought it was a part of India, or is an independent Indian state. They have literally argued with me when I had tried to explain otherwise. I mean how come you not know your own history? That’s sad, right? Plus, people just because we are sitting right next to our South Asian Big Brother, doesn’t mean we are part of it. We take pride in being a sovereign state throughout the history.

3. Have you climbed Mt. Everest?

Why not? Every weekend I hike right up to the summit and clean the mess that mountaineers from all around the world dump there. It is just 8848 m. above the sea-level, but it is no biggy because, I grew up in the country where Mt. Everest stands.

Come on! How many of you have been to every corner of the country, or even city you belong to, no matter how world famous it is? Nepal has 8 highest peaks but that doesn’t mean we climb all of them or that’s what our life goal is.

4. It must be so cold there.

Yes, you are right. Having mountain range lie somewhere geographically in your country is like, living in Artic, all you have is just snow and mountains. I mean thats what Europe is all about right? Alps and Artic?

Nepal is a country that is blessed with diverse terrain. You can feel the heat of Indian summer in it’s south and chills of Himalayas in the North, in a single day within 100 km. And yes most of the places have pleasant weather throughout the year.

5. How come you are NOT Mongol?

I hear this a lot, especially from my South Asian friends. Just because I live near China, near North Eastern India doesn’t mean I have to be Mongol. We are a diverse nation and we take pride in our diversity. That doesn’t mean I am not the Nepali that you envisioned. I think you should stop stereotyping.

6. So, your national food is MO:MO?

Do you ever, like ever ask to an Indian guy if their primary staple is chillies? Or to American if their national food is McD? Hope you got your answer. And if you are genuinely curious, ask a Nepali friend to cook for you, I am sure you will be deliciously surprised.

P.S: You are always welcome in a Nepali Home to join for dinner. We love sharing, without any prior appointment. 🙂

Next time you meet someone from a different place, respect their existence and their background, and think before you say something stupid. Try to know about them, who knows it ends up making you little more smarter than you were a minute ago.

Types of People in Social Media

Almost everyone I know is there in the social media – my parents, my cousins, distant relatives, colleagues, school-mates, friends from colleges, friends I never knew were my friends, and so on. Some are there to check what you are really up-to, some want you to know what they are up-to, and some don’t care, they just added you because they know you. Out of these hundreds of friends you have, there are only few who have added you to actually stay connected.

Well, you must be thinking why I am talking about this. It is because, same thing applies for the fans and followers a brand has in social media. Of many followers, only few are loyal fans and repetitive customers. Many just added you because they have heard about you, seen you in the market or just because you appeared in their news feed with paid ads! Here are some types of friends or followers in social media who make your social media world more interesting and social media strategies more complex:

1. The Tagger:

No matter what he posts, you and multiple others are going to be tagged in it. Your notification is cluttered with his tag posts and he will continuously and not-so-subtly keep on declaring that he is the King of Spam. Those Candy Crush invitations? Yes, that is from the Tagger of your group!

2. The King of Blues:

The sad statuses to clearly show how heartbroken they are from recent break-up or how sick they are with the burden of writing those one-liners, the Senti Ones always make sure to bring out the blue in the atmosphere. They are brand ambassadors of grief and even in happiest of moments, they make sure to show up with their ‘So Lucky you’ comments.

3. The Promoter:

This kinda connection clearly feels that all those scams of free iphones are going to work, at least for him! You would find them posting anything under the sun and everywhere, from your comments to photos.

4. The Chatter Box:

This person will never get your half-hearted, one-worded replies. Never. And, they will ping you any time of the day as if you two are best of the friends. Even if you ignore them, they will continuously ping you and make sure that you two become ‘best of friends.’ And yea, they STALK too. Either adding your parents or introducing themselves to your boyfriend as someone really important in your life, they know how to get hold of you.

5. The News Room

This person is in your Facebook just to find out what you are up to.  They would have news about every of their connection, if anyone had a fight with their friends, or had added new friend, or are leftist or supported the new movement. They would be the ones asking you personal questions as if you shared everything with them!

6. The Ghost

This person will lurk in the darkness of the social media never to be found by you. Usually happens with exes, who have decided to stay ‘friends.’ They can’t delete you, and would rather keep you restricted or offline in chats. Also, these are those people who are observing you yet keeping you where you can’t reach them. Talk about NSA keeping tabs on you!

7. The Critic

If this person was born to do anything, it was to criticise. Whether it is politics or you social updates, this person will find a way to peep through your grammatical mistakes or your opinion (how can you be so stupid!) and hang you in your words till they ruin the essence of what you have posted, how light-hearted it may be.

8. The Self-Obsessed

 Selfies. Loads of them… And those statuses to say about each and every breath they take. Need I say more!

Why Nepali businesses need social media?

With 32% of its population in social media, Nepali brands need to gear up for SOCIAL MEDIA, if they want to place themselves well in the upcoming biggest wave in the advertising, communication and branding sector. Here is why:

 

   

Why Social Media?

5 mistakes to avoid in Social Media

Social Media is wonderful when applied with some sense but can bite you back if not handled properly. Here are 5 mistakes that should be avoided in social media:

1. Not using ‘about me’ section properly

Bio section is there so that you can familiarise people with who you are or what your organisation does. Either way, it should be quirky and personalised so that people can relate to you instantly. This is one way of creating a long-term relation, so update the about me page with not just about you but also with the URL that can direct your audience to your site or blog. Do not write formal introduction that your company page has. You will not introduce yourself ‘robotically’ if you want to make friends, right? Give a human face to your social media presence and draft the bio in a way that it makes you approachable and in the same time advertise yourself.

2. Focusing on wrong target group

You may reach out to hundreds of people, but are they all really interested in you or your product? Understand, reaching out to immediate potential customer can help you expand your business, but to the ‘distant-relative’ of potential customers – your potential ‘potential customers’ who may like you in the course of liking your post is little far-fetched. Converting immediate target group who can go there and talk about you, use your product and services and advertise you should be your main concern.
There are hundreds of audiences waiting to be responded by you while you talk gibberish to engage ones that do not matter will do you no good.

3. Posts that hardly speak about you

Just because women who are your target group like fashion, doesn’t mean you (suppose a pharmaceutical/cosmetic brand) are going to post about earrings and shoes. But you can talk about those things while relating them to your product, like how to heal the ear skin allergic to certain metal. Bring related topic where you can focus on your product. At the end of the day, quality of audience matters more than the number. You should always bring back your product in their mind while engaging them. They should not forget about you while talking about you, this will make sure you stay in the top of their head and can make the most out of it when given the opportunity.

4. No sense of humour

Mechanical, politically right and diplomatic replies are done by computerised replies automatically answering the queries. Place a sense of humour in your page. Witty replies, funny posts and lively conversations give your social media page an extended personality. Everyone loves to share a laugh or two. Make conversation in your page a coffee-table-light-conversation, that will make you not just approachable but you will find yourself repeatedly visited.

5. Ignoring, deleting and delaying the responses

How would you feel if you are speaking to someone and that person barely looks at you, ignores and hardly replies to your comments, good or bad? Frustrated, angered, and irritated, right? People feel the same when not responded in the social media. If you have a page means you are available 24*7 and when you ignore them, they repeatedly bang your walls till it becomes a viral phenomenon. Anything left untreated becomes infected, so does the social media contents.

Avoid these mistakes and make sure you reach out to the right set of people, there will be no stopping then!

What Businesses Should Not Expect In Social Media?

1. Dozen millions of likes in a couple of days

Yes, you read it right, don’t expect to take social media by tsunami that can take servers down just because some competitor brand already has some numbers to show in their page. Million likes need a lot of homework and effort, not just from your agency but from you too. Thus, it is very essential to sit with your agency and understand their approach rather than just sending in your opinions and approaches. It is a team work and your agency is not just your vendor but your team too.

2.  Be star on all platforms all at once

Just because you trended in Twitter doesn’t mean you are going to take Facebook’s servers down. All these platforms work in different ways and need different approaches. It is very essential for you to understand how each platform works and how to reach maximum audiences in each of them. Also, understand that you have to take a step at a time rather than wanting everything to happen all at once.

3. Only positive comments

They are your customers and are not just few but million of them out there so do not expect everyone to be all gushy-mushy and happy with you. If people are being critical, take a step back and revaluate your approach. Even big brands and so called ‘good-will’ names have backlashes and dissatisfactions posted in their pages but hiding or deleting them is not the solution. Like here in Nokia India’s page you can see both positive and negative comments. Now it is up to brand to engage both the customers and turn them into something worthwhile, like sending a phone to review, calling them to ask their concern, etc. Social media will give your ample of opportunity to actually develop a long lasting relation even with most aversive of the customer.

 

Avoiding to face such situation or delaying to address them can rather exaggerate the circumstances, so it’s better face it. Understand the situation with your agency and consult them on how you can tackle this, uniformly with them. Be ready to invest a little to please your grumpy customers, listen to the advices that your agency is giving to go little out of your way to bring smile on their face. Remember, smile spreads equally in social media just like negativity!

 

4. Kickass campaigns every other day

You are not going to hit the headlines and trend every other day just because it happened once. It is better to concentrate on how to stay on the top of audiences’ mind. Look for events that are trending and use them, set a strategy and liberate your agency to practice them rather than not letting their creativity flow. Some investment and freedom can do miracles.

5. Safe Approach

If you keep thinking about your investment and keep getting risk-aversive you cannot advertise. Make some bold moves and get back on people. Just like Coke did in Halloween, know when and how to strike back and take spotlight in someone else’s show. Being all good, so-sweet Martha will not help! Be ready to put your out-of-the-box ideas on practice and invest in advertisement. Social media is not about turning likes into sales but creating a brand value which is a must for a long run. Thus you have to be foresighted  and be ready for a long haul.

6. TV effect in 1/100th of investment

Social Media is not free and no, you will not get the effect of TV in your calculated tight-gripped investment. If you want impact to be seen, be ready to invest. There are ads that can be run in social media, posts can be promoted, but not for FREE. More impact you want more ready you have to be to invest not just the money but also your time! Of course social media is not as expensive as TV ads but it doesn’t come without a price tag, this is something you have to live with!

7. You know creativity better

Do not take creativity for granted. If you had a flare in creativity, you wouldn’t be needing the agency to support you. What works for your other media or your competitors may not work for you. Do not strangle your agency when it comes to creativity, let them explore, understand that viral video was a result of exploration of an idea not confinement. When you are suggested something, suppress that need to show you know better or who the boss it, advertising especially in social media is not everyone’s cup of coffee and at times it may not be yours.

8. Turn those likes into whooping sales

Social Media interacts with your customers but it doesn’t mean those likes and fans will all convert into real time sales. It is not direct selling! Understand that the social platforms give your a glimpse of your potential customers and lets you realise the opportunities that you can exploit. It is a platform to create brand value, to be a known name and it will take really long (I mean really really long) to convert those into real time sales. All that can happen is next time when people are buying a similar product, they will think about you and scroll through the segments you have to offer and may be click some of them to their carts.

Understand Your Social Media Audience

Social Media

Have you ever wondered who your followers are and what is making them like you, write to you, or even crib about you at times?  Well, if it is the number that matters to you then you should think again. Not everyone who follows you is interested in you or is a loyalist to your brand.

It is true that being a brand you can never please everyone and not everyone who likes you in your Social Media page will increase your turnover in reality. Also, it is a tricky platform as now one single cribbing reaches many and comes back resonating harder.

But, if you understand the bio-diversity of your consumer base, you can actually exploit those number of fans who could actually speak for your and create a better echo for your Brand. Understand that Social Media has become paradise of a sort for attention-seekers, so know these attention-seeker and strategise your Brand’s social image.

Apart from ‘the Loyalists,’ who will follow you no matter what, here is the list of the social media audience that you should know: 

1. The Starstruck:

This one is mesmerised with your name. He is a potential customer who has your name in his wish-list or has just bought your product and is bowled over by the experience. He will passionately like and re-tweet your posts and would drop the one-worded bombs like “awesome,” “amazing,” “likes,” whenever he is not lazy enough. 

Urge him to speak more about you and his experience with you. You can turn his passive loyalist to an active brand ambassador.

2. The Casual Liker:

Don’t count on this one. He just liked you because he has heard about you or seen you in some ads. It is just a simple acknowledgement that you have heard about some one. He will simply like your post because it appeared in his news feed. He can be an easy switcher. Even if he uses your brand, he has many such in his mind and can easily go for any one that catches his eyes. 

He is a tough catch, this one. It will take a lot of effort from your end to start any conversation with him and make him talk about you, so why not look for easy ones?

3. The Self Promoter:

This fan has parasitic tendency. He would like your post because he knows you have better reach than he has and then use it for his benefit. Smart, yea?

He will post his promotional links, photographs, messages to promote himself via your page and comment threads. He will spam you with his self rants and smoulders. At times, he will irritate and confuse you to an extent that you will wonder if you should ban him and lose an audience or let him be there spamming your complete page.

He is a dud, leave him and focus on others. 

4. The Complain Box:

No matter what you do, this fan can never be happy. You talk to him, give him extra support, help him with his situation but he will find a way to play the victim and will always stay one. These kind of fans have either a lot of expectations from you or your product/service has distressed them enough. 

Usually these fans are ex-loyalist and still can be turned into one. A tactful dealing and warm response answering their issues always help. Understand that they have stopped feeling special that they once felt. So, go that extra mile with them. If it is the late product delivery that they are cribbing about then send a warm card with the product when it is sent for delivery, if they are complaining for rude behaviour of some executive, speak with them and make them feel special again, if it is your product, make a point and feature them in the reviews or changes that people would like to see in your product. 

It is just like inviting someone rather tough to your dinner and treat them as it is their best their of their lives. A little tricky one, but they are worth it. 

5. The Opposition:

These are not your fans and no matter how hard you try they will never stop ranting about your competitors in your page. No matter how good you do they will always find something better. Plus, they are everywhere, in comments, in posts and are sometimes very discouraging. 

Ignore them when required because you will end up feeling discouraged. But, at times answering them tactfully can turn the table. This one is your call. 

6. The Deal Seeker:

You run a campaign and this one is there as if he is the most active person in Social Media that particular day. He will only be there to speak about you when you throw some incentives at him and he will be there at someone else’s tent when weather is sunny there. He is not fan of yours but the goodies that you plan to give away. 

However, if he is an influencer, you might one to stay in his good books. 😉

7. The Answering Machine:

These are the best customer service potentials you can have without paying for one. They answer everything in your post, at times even the queries you might be clueless about. Appreciate them and also understand they can get into your nerves. 

They are the loyalists who feel they really hold a stake in company and quip from time to time with their feedbacks. They always have some thing to say, which makes them hard to shrug off and important to ignore.  However, a mild attention will quench their attention thirst and will make them feel special. 

8. The Abusers:

They are easy to notice with their every sentence starting with “what the f**k,” and ending with sarcasms. They are there to scare off every other visitor from your page even if they like you and your products. They think themselves to be smart ass and are never polite. 

These people leave trail messages and post for a while and then disappear. Nothing much to worry about but do take their concerns with seriousness; every client matters, right?

9. The Question Bank

They have questions that never seem to end. It is either about new product or whether you are planning to launch something pink or neon next year. No matter how silly the question may sound, they will not stop putting those question marks away from your page. Answer them and interact with them, it helps others who scroll through your page. Also, it gives a good vibe about you and your brand to anyone who visits your page.

Know your Interviewer!

In any given day, the internet has millions of tips for cracking interviews. But, the same is not the case with interviewers. If you look into the internet as an interviewer, other than some cliched tips, you will barely find anything helpful. Not just the internet, our education system and prevalent mindset too ask us to focus on how to give an interview and we are barely prepared for how to take one.

Interviews are one of the major challenge that I face at my work. Trust me, MBAs are trained to give an interview and are hardly taught to be a proficient interviewer. It is like being taught to be a follower when the sole purpose of the degree is to bring out the management leader in you.

Understanding from my own grief, I thought why not to share something from the perspective of an interviewer.

Here are some crucial things that you need to know:

1. Interviews are no fun, it means business to the interviewer.

When you are called for an interview, understand that the interviewer needs human resources and is looking at you as a potential one. It is difficult to find the right set of skills that the organisation currently needs. In other words, it is hard for them to find the right candidate as it is for you to find the right job.

Getting a right set of candidates means hitting a jackpot. It can be compared to winning a new client because it is equally important to run the business. So, understand the job is equally difficult for the interviewer too.

2. Interviewer is as clueless and as nervous as you are.

The outcome of the interview can never be predetermined. Interviewers are equally clueless about you and your thoughts as you are about them. Interview is just a way to know the candidate better. Also, there is pressure on closing on someone, similar to the one you have on getting through it. But their pressure doesn’t end with them but depends upon others as the selected candidate cannot be just anyone but  should be a proper fit to the requirement.

Thus, don’t panic if an interviewer asks you a lot of questions. It simply means the interviewer is curious about you and wants to know more about you. Resumes just open the door till an interview and an interviewer wants to justify if he is investing his time on the right candidate. It has nothing to do with testing your self-esteem by putting you through a tough situation. It is rather just a curiosity to about your employability. Those questions are actually the doubts and holes that the interviewer is trying to fill in while drawing your picture in his/her head. More information they get, more clear your picture becomes. This is where your personality, confidence and body language comes to play as they inverbally give the information about you to the interviewer.

3. They are equally concerned about their first impression on you.

Good candidates are like prey, precious and direly needed. Thus interviews are hunting one, if you spook the prey it is gone forever. Moreover, the impression that an interviewer will induce on you is what you will carry on as that of the whole organisation. So, an interviewer has to do his/her best not to spook you. However stern his/her demeanour may appear to you, understand that s/he is trying his/her best to make you as comfortable as s/he can so you open up and let him/her analyse your prospects in the organisation.

4. You turning for your interview in time matters equally for your interviewer as it does to you. 

When you are first mailed or called for an interview, it is assumed that you were well analysed and then communicated by HR or interviewer. When you do not turn up for the interview, it is either you were not well communicated by them or they failed to judge your sincerity. A timely and well presented interviewee is a pride for any interviewer.

5. You will matter more to your interviewer than to anyone else.

This is a fact, especially if it is a small team. Deciding to hire someone means the interviewer is putting his/her trust on you i.e his/her judgment concluded from that small interaction with you. It is like the interviewer has guaranteed in a way that you can be a good investment for the organisation. Ask any HR, when a candidate decides to move out just after few months of getting hired, it does hit their self-esteem however little as a good interviewer.

6. Short interviews means you are boring.

Trust me, there are times that candidates bore the interviewer and have nothing interesting to question further. Under such circumstances, an interviewer has to drag the process just to make sure the candidate’s esteem is not hurt. Thus, if you are asked a lot of questions, be happy. It is more likely that you are being taken as someone interesting. Take it like a date, short dates are always the ones that would end-up with nothing concrete.

7. If you are not called back, understand HR are humans and even they feel sorry on writing the rejection mails.

Rejection mails are never fun to write. Automated ones are whole different stories but when you write personalised rejection mails, it does make you little sad, if that is the right term. HR are the people who are in constant touch with you, hearing your anxiety, reading your resumes, and listening to your enthusiasm when you were called for that interview. Also, when interviews are taken, they take care of your personality and attitude frontier, trying to understand you better as a person than ones who are testing your technical skills. So it is always hard to write the mails, or at times they forget or are too lazy. In short, if you don’t get the call, don’t pester them but MOVE ON, because either way, they have!

5 Things MBA Freshers Should Know About Start-ups

1. They are looking for Jack of all trades and Master of some!

When applying for a start-up, it is better to make-up your mind that you would be working beyond your so called job description. It is ‘all hands on the deck.’ You have to be a team player and ready to dive right in.

There is no way out without rolling your sleeves and getting your hands dirty on whatever comes your way. You can be a HR and a Marketing person at the same time. So get your basics right MBAs. Those classes that your missed or free-rode on your friends are going to haunt you till you research and get well-versed with every tactics that needs you to help run the organisation.

P.S: Most of the time you have to build your own tactic and strategy. But some prior knowledge in the subject always helps.

2. The HELL of learning and growth will break but only if you want.

There is no way out other than to work your ass off in a start-up. Understand that working in start-up means being exposed to all the verticals and potential verticals a company could possibly have. You will have no hand-holding boss/mentor for you to name as your GODFATHER in near or far future.The circumstances with give you enough opportunity to get well-versed with every function that is needed to keep the company running and start competing well.

There will so much going around that you will either feel overwhelmed to collect all the speckles of business wisdom that will come across you or be exhausted by never-ending challenge to make you quit. It is easy to quit in start-up, people do it quite often. But what will matter is, if you see the company has a future, stick to it and keep working. Unlike big organisations, in start-ups your efforts get noticied. It is some place you can create a difference that would be counted and dreams come true, ask the founder!

3.  WORK means A LOT OF WORK

8 working hours are myth. If are not ready to work till you forget what time of the day and which day of the week it is, then hit backspace to that application mail as soon as you can. Work means you will have plenty on your plate. Be ready to sleep walk to your office in few weeks time, that’s how used to you will be of your work space.

But, parties and hanging out with office buddies are something you can mark your calendar with. It is work hard and party ‘good’ rule that keeps the start-up alive. After a week of caffeine induced energy to tackle the sleep and client’s tantrums, who would not want to catch up on some cold beers and few laughs with the people you spend all your days and night with?

4.  Your risk valuation skills will be tested 

Applying for start-up means taking a risk and no risk is worth without a thoughtful calculation. Usually, start-ups are in nascent phase and you never know how and till when they are in the business. Do a good research on the company and know the people they deal with, specially their client list.

Client list always shows if the company means the business or is just a Silicon Valley dreamer’s spur-of-the-moment start-up. Good set and number of clients show seriousness the company has to stay in the market and compete its way out. It is all in the calculations. Do it well.

5.  Pay matters. But does it, really?

There are two types of start-ups:

a. Funded ones come with the chances of you getting paid more than you would have bargained for a designation where you would have reached only after few months or after some years. But the trick is once you look out or try switching chances are that you will have settle for something really low. This is because what you would be getting from the funded start-up would not be justifying the industry norms or your experience.

Moreover, because of the money coming in, lot of hiring takes place and after some times you will be left with nothing interesting to do due to frequent and unwanted structuring. Also, when investors press in, your appraisals are of the size of peanuts and being benched or laid-off can be a Monday surprise.

b. Self funded start-up will may be pay you little less then you were hoping for. But the appraisals depend upon your hard work and how good is the company performing. In short, you will get paid for what you deserve because what you will be learning in next 6 six months will prove you practically knew nothing when you started.

Also, as mentioned above, it is really easy to get noticed for good and even for bad for that matter, in any start-up. It is like, the more you put in, more you are striving for better and preparing for the best.

Being a start-up, changes happen like the way London’s weather changes and you will never know when the appraisal will come up, may be tomorrow itself. Thus, look for the growth, I’m sure pay follows. Well, it did for me!