How to win friends and influence people… not pathetic at all!

Hey everyone,

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you had a chance to read my previous entry, it might interest you. Now you can learn how to dominate Google with Pay Per Click!

Back to this entry… The other night I was hanging out with some friends and we were talking about MLM. This guy started recommending a few books to me that are Must-Reads. One of them was Dale Carnegie’s ‘How to win friends and influence people’. He told me “I know it sounds pathetic, but it’s not, it’s a really good book!” and I totally believed him. Isn’t that what this whole new wave is about? Promoting You, Inc. and be known online? Well yes! And this book was published in 1936. People already knew about the power of influence.

The book has 4 chapters, below is a summary of each. Maybe this will draw your attention, and you might want to read the book in its entirety. Keep going and you’ll fine a download link at the end 😉

Part One

Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.

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Part Two

Six ways to make people like you

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.

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Part Three

Win people to your way of thinking

1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
2. Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."
3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
4. Begin in a friendly way.
5. Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately.
6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
8. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
9. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
10. Appeal to the nobler motives.
11. Dramatize your ideas.
12. Throw down a challenge.

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Part Four

Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

A leader’s job often includes changing your people’s attitudes and behavior. Some suggestions to accomplish this:

1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
2. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
5. Let the other person save face.
6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be "hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise."
7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.

If this has made you curious, just as it made me, then I invite you to go here and download the book :

How to win friends and Influence people

This book is a must if you are looking to develop your personality and your influence on others. And it’s not useful only from a business point of view, but also from a social one. This can actually help you open up to others, and become a better listener.

Cheers,

Carolina

Pay Per Click (PPC) Domination… You Should Read This

Hello readers, and especially business people !

If you are into Network MArketing then you must know Mr. Mike Dillard. If you don’t, then this should interest you even more!
Mike Dillard is an MLM expert who has revolutionized this industry with his several courses:

– Magnetic Sponsoring – Brings up the concept of Attraction Marketing to a whole new level
– MLM Traffic Formula – teaches people everything they need to know to succeed online
– Building on a Budget – The top 5 methods to build any business for less than US$500
– Black Belt Recruiting – Training people to become masters on the phone and sponsor people like crazy.

And his most recent course, which is about to be released on Monday January 19th…
Pay Per Click Domination.

There’s real value behind this and I’m certainly picking up my copy on that day!

Now, I’m going to focus on this new little jewel. As you all may know there are plenty of ways to promote your business online: Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Social Media in general, Aweber, e-mail newsletters, ezines, blogs, websites, etc, etc. However, Mike claims that the most powerful strategy, the one he uses most is Pay Per Click. Yes, it does sound very simple compared to all the others. They are all unbelievably powerful, but they take longer to bring results. On social media, in order to succeed you need to build a reputation and a “fan base”. You need to become someone known, and position yourself in people’s minds. This takes time, but once it occures it can be very powerful and effective.

However, since not all of us have time to be on Facebook or Twitter 24/7 to build that reputation faster, there are quicker techniques such as PPC. According to most Marketing Experts, PPC proves to be the most powerful tool out of them all. Why? Because you get instant exposure when the person is looking for the keywords you are promoting. For example, let’s say I want to promote my Layne Staley website (by the way, if you’re an Alice in Chains or Layne Staley fan, you are more than welcome to join us here) with PPC. I would have to manage to use the right combination of words to get the most attention everyone someone enters the keywords “Layne Staley”. Some people manage to have their Layne Staley site amongst the first results, because they are receiving plenty of traffic and have managed to optimize their presence on Search Engines. But if your website is not amongst those first results, then you can get on that ambitioned right side, or even on the top.

Pay Per click gives you the power to appear on the sponsored areas of the search results. That’s how you dominate google: you’re either amongst the first 10 results, or you are amongst the top sponsored results. And Pay Per Click domination is going to teach you not only how to do this, but how to actually draw people’s attention, and use the right keywords to get targeted traffic to your websites.

A lot of people are already using PPC but they’re not using it correctly. They’re spending money on these ads, yet no targeted traffic is being directed to their sites.

So, if you would like to be a part of this and learn the most effective ways to use PPC, then you cannot miss out on this chance.

Simply go here and sign up for your Free videos and be ready for the official launch on January 19th.

Cheers!

Carolina

Tips to build a good CV

Hello bloggers and readers,

Today I received a huge amount of applications to our Company. When you have to look at so many CVs a day, you can’t help but think “Jesus, who taught this person how to write up a CV? This is terrible!” or “Wow this person seems amazing for the opening we have”.  So, I decided to write an entry focusing on some tips for you to improve your CV and get more interest and more calls when applying to a job.

 

Tip number 1 – Less is More

No, I’m not talking about make up. When people add information about their academic background to their CV, many of them commit the following mistake: they include every useless seminar they have attended, where they did their Kindergarten, and even where they were taken for day care . Well ladies and gentlemen, this is completely Irrelevant! When speaking about your Academic Background, provide only the information that will be useful for a job. How do you know what’s useful? When looking at your CV, people will not care about your kindergarten, or about a seminar about wine catering that has nothing to do with your career. Several companies will not even care about your High School years. What matters the most here is your professional degree, what your thesis was about if it applies, and any seminar that added value to you as a professional, and anything that sets you apart from the crowd.

This tip also applies to your Work Experience. Here’s a big mistake that I’ve seen on several CVs. People just add everything and anything they have ever done, from handing flyers or promotional material on the streets, to selling cosmetics,  to wrapping up Christmas presents for a department store, to holding a managerial position. Well, let me tell you something. Think about the type of job you are applying to. If you are looking for a serious job, then dismiss the experience you have in babysitting kindergarteners. It will not give a good impression. If you are applying to a summer job where you have to promote a product or hand flyers on the streets or near beaches, then add your previous experience in this field. You may have years of experience in babysitting and sales, but if you’re applying to a company that has no interest in this experience, it’s better that you remove it. It’s very likely that the HR executive in charge of recruitment will overlook your relevant experience if it gets lost within the irrelevant one.

Tip number 2 – Highlight your skills

During my experience in recruitment, I have also noticed how some people never put any special highlight on their skills. What do I mean by this? People limit their information to adding their work experience and their academic background. You should always focus on any particular skills you have that make you good at what you do, be it leadership skills, programming skills, people management skills or language skills. Perhaps you studied art, but you are really good at using financial software, and not just photoshop. Now, don’t take this tip to extremes. If you’re an Engineer, then the fact that you can use MSN Messenger well is irrelevant. Think about your previous experience and what you did best at. Perhaps you were really good and handling pressure and respecting deadlines. Maybe you had good communication skills and always managed to convey the information to your clients and supervisor. Or perhaps you were really good at problem solving and trouble shooting. There is always something to highlight that can interest an employer. Again, don’t go to extremes and highlight things that make you a better professional and a better person.

Tip number 3 – Sell Yourself

This tip has proven to bring great results. People will reconsider your CV even if it has been rejected on a first round. How do you sell yourself? One very effective way is by adding a cover letter. A cover letter should include the following themes:

• Provide brief professional information . This includes your profession, your postgraduate degrees, and a brief on your previous work experience. Don’t go deep into detail here, as that should be covered in your CV.
• Explain why you are applying to this position and why at this company. It’s important to modify your cover letter depending on the job/company you are applying to. Having a standard cover letter that you can modify would be the best option. Show the recruiter that you have done some research on their Company by explaining what motivated you to apply there.
• Highlight previous achievements. Again, you shouldn’t go deep into detail here, leave that for your CV, but be sure to highlight your greatest achievements at other organisations with relevant characteristics.
• Tell them how you’d add value to their organisation. Provided you have done research on the Company, be sure to show them how You could be an asset to them. You can back this up with your previous experience, achievements or your background. Be sure to elaborate on what motivated you the most to apply, mentioning personal and professional reasons.
• Finish the letter with a strong argument as to why they should pick you. Maybe you have previous experience in the field; maybe you have the qualifications they require, or perhaps you are a loyal and perseverant leader. Show them that they will not find the qualities you possess in every applicant. Show them why they should call you up for an interview, even if you don’t end up getting the job.

Cover letters are important, but try to keep them short and interesting. One page is more than enough. If it’s too long and complicated, the recruiter will skip through it and might miss out on important details about you. So be sure to catch their attention from the start.

Tip number 4 – Contact information and References

Believe it or not, I have received CV’s from people who fail to provide a phone number and an e-mail address. Always put this information on the first page, either on the header or on the first paragraph. A phone number and a valid e-mail address is crucial if you wish to be contacted, as smoke signals aren’t very popular these days.

Professional references are always welcome. It’s not necessary that you provide a huge list of contact details for people you’ve been involved with professionally in the past, but two or three names and e-mails would suffice. You can also finish your e-mail with “References upon request”, and always have your list of verified references handy. Don’t include friends and family, as their opinion on you will be biased. If you don’t have previous work experience, then you can always provide information about your teachers and tutors at University. They will be able to highligh your skills and your performance while you were a student. This can help you in your initial quest.

Tip number 5 – Don’t add a photo

Although it has been prohibited in some countries to add or request a photo on a resume, some people still include them voluntarily. Unfortunately, and to their dismay, a photo can ruin a good CV. I have seen CVs with the most awful photos, and as they say “an image is worth a thousand words”. If you appear half naked or drinking at a party on this photo, it doesn’t matter how good the CV is if you are causing the wrong impression. I have received CVs where girls put full body pictures, as if they were posing for a magazine or something. Some people add angry photos that look as if they had just come out of jail. Now, I always try to ignore any prejudice when looking through a CV, but you might not be as lucky with other people. Don’t add a photo unless it’s a very professional one. You should ideally be dressed up, and the photo should be taken at a studio. Don’t smile too much, but don’t look angry either. Look professional without missing the You aspect. Again, it’s better not to add a photo at all, but if you feel the need, be careful.

Tip number 6 – Don’t add salary expectations.

This is also a very important aspect that you cannot miss. Adding salary expectations, especially when they are high, can mislead the reader. You have to be open to negotiate and always focus on your career growth more than the money you expect to make. Usually when I get a CV with high salary expectations I don’t contact the person, unless they are applying to a role where the salary requested is within the range. Be realistic and don’t overrate yourself. However, low salary expectations can also be misleading. If I receive a CV from a good professional who expects a very poor salary, it makes me think that they don’t value their own work. This is why my best advice is not to include them in your CV at all. They will be discussed in due time during the interviews. Don’t risk not being contacted because of this detail.

 

Well my friends, this are the first tips I’m giving you. I hope you can use them wisely, and be sure to comment after reading! Stay tuned for more on my next entry. I will also include a few interview tips.

Thanks for reading.

Carolina

Twitter… a few Tips on it.

Hi all,

I hope you’ve all had a lovely weekend, and that you’re spending your holidays with your loved ones. I had a 4 days weekend which I truly enjoyed. Unfortunately, I have to go back to work tomorrow!

Anyway, a few weeks ago, let’s say less than a month ago, I joined the hype of Twitter. I was hearing lots of comments from people, saying it was a “phenomenon” or something. Many people pointed it out to be one of the best ways to market yourself, your website or your business if you have one. It’s also a great way to keep in touch with people you know, as well as meeting new people. At the beginning I thought it was just like Facebook’s status option, but then I realised it was so much more than that. It’s a very simple but powerful tool. I’m still learning about it. And there are a few codes I’d like to crack.

First thing, how do people, regular people, get so many follows. I have checked their profiles and some people simply talk about every day stuff. One girl was even commenting on her period, which I thought was gross by the way. But she still has plenty of followers. Other people post tips to anything you can imagine. Tips on how to write better, tips on how to get traffic to your website, tips on life, tips about space, etc. And they have plenty of followers too.

Other people simply tell you what they’re doing on the go. These people are usually logging on from their mobile phones while they’re doing other things. Other people are fllowed because they’re “famous”. They have huge mailing lists, so they simply let their entire list that they’re on twitter. Next thing you know they got 4,000 followers.

Now, I’m interested in learning how to promote a website, but you have to deliver the right message, or else it will just get lost in the Universe of instant messages. So how do you go about it?

First of all, you need to bring value to people. The examples I mentioned above, well they all bring value. The tips, the famous guy who gives advice on business, the girl who describes her period and her problems. Other people feel related to them and what they’re saying, so they decide that they’re worth following. In case you don’t know much about Twitter, please check this article . That is also why I’m following some people, although I admit that I started following them randomly at the beginning. Then I realised some people followed me and then stopped following me immediately. I realised they had added me, expecting me to follow them back. Since I didn’t react quickly enough, they removed themselves from my list.

This obviously brings me to the conclusion that I’m not adding enough value yet, because so far I’m only posting random updates of what I’m doing. If the same happens to you, that’s the answer. Think of this. What purpose can you give to your Twitter account? What kind of platform do you want it to be? Do you have a business to promote? A blog that you want people to read? Or a website? Are you good at something and hence can you give people tips? Don’t you ever think that there’s nothing special about you, because there always is. There is always something we can do that other people can’t, hence we can help them.

Another important issue here is to draw attention. Post a link to something funny, like a video or a website. Post links to useful articles, giving a small description, e.g. “10 recipes for your new year’s dinner *insert link here*”. Of course, if you’re aiming to get followers who are interested in cooking, then post as many links to articles about cooking as possible, but make sure they’re valuable. Don’t just flood their update screen with useless articles. Keep the word value in your mind, always. After getting a few followers, start posting links to your own articles about cooking, and this way you will link people to your blog, or website. This will help you start a solid follower base.

So that’s how you use Twitter, if you want to use it as a marketing tool that is. I’m sure most people are simply catching up with friends, but a lot of people it’s all about how many followers they get. It makes them feel more “important”. As for me, I don’t mind having a small list of followers, as long as I’m keeping in touch with them and adding value to each other.

I will be posting more tips soon!

In case you’re wondering, here’s my link

Tweets by Carolucky

Have a great sunday and see you next time!

Carolina

New Year’s Resolutions… do people keep their promises?

Hello again,

I’m back on these pages. Well, keyboard. And screen.

I was on one of my music forums the other day, and noticed that someone had opened a New Year’s Resolutions topic. I immediately thought “ok, here we go…”. Main reason is because I never do new year’s resolutions. And that’s not because I don’t think I can keep the promises to myself or to others, but because to me, it doesn’t have to be new year’s to start over, or to make a change in my life. I think a lot of people use new year’s as an excuse to start over and it does work for some of them. And I’m glad it does. But for most people it doesn’t. I think it’s because it doesn’t matter whether it’s a new year or not, if people don’t want to change deep down inside. A lot of people promise to themselves that they will stop smoking, or that they will call their parents more often. Other people may say they will finally quit that job that makes them miserable. That they will tell people that they love them. And they believe in it, because it’s a new year and they can start over! To me the change has to come from within the heart, and not a calendar.

I think about it this way. Every day is a new start. Every time the sun sets, a day ends. And everytime the sun comes up in the morning is a new day and a new chance to start over. If I did something bad yesterday, then maybe today I can make it better. I don’t need it to be January to feel that I can start again. Hell, I could even start again in the next hour!! But if I don’t believe in myself, there’s no point in making those promises.

So, reading the posts on that topic, I realised that a lot people said they wouldn’t waste their lives away anymore next year, or that they’d stop smoking; some said they’d focus on losing weight. I’ve known those people for almost two years, and they made pretty much the same promises for 2008. Did they keep them? No. Hence, they’re making them again. Now, I’m not saying they don’t believe in themselves, they probably do. But why waiting until the new year. Why not promising these things to themselves in August. In September. In the middle of the week or the middle of the day. Time… it’s just a measurement. Time is meaningless unless we add value to it.

So, to all of you thinking about your list of New Year’s resolutions… think about how much you want to achieve them, and how much they mean to you if you put enough feeling and ACTION into it, then anything, ANYTHING is possible. Just Take Action, don’t just say the things you want. Do Them.

Thanks for reading.

Carolina

Saldos de Petrohue, X Region, Chile

Strategies this, Strategies that… it’s driving me nuts!

Hello all,

I hope you are having an excellent weekend. It’s 12:16pm on a lovely Sunday here in sunny Chile. Things have been a little crazy these days around the World with the usual Christmas insanity that  takes everything by storm. I have never liked this and I don’t think I ever will. Sure, I love giving and receiving presents, I love the Christmas spirit… but why do people have to go SO nuts and shop, shop, shop non stop! I mean, how can some people be sooo materialistic. And hypocritical. Many of these people will then complain that they’re in debt and that the crisis is hitting their wallets. That they can’t make it to ends meet, etc etc. Well, who the hell told them to go and shop like crazy!! From my point of view, there are two main factors here:

• Social pressure
• Marketing

That’s right. I have knowledge in Marketing because it was one of my main subjects at University. I had several courses on how to do Marketing and how to understand the consumer’s mind, our mind. Now, I always liked Marketing, I thought it was fun and cool… when done the right way. Marketing does not create needs. Marketing creates desires. Our needs have always been there, ever since we lived in caves: eating, drinking, sleeping, communicating, having relationships with others; even entertainment. But what Marketing truly does is to create desires in our minds, which most times make us need things we never needed before. Let’s look at some of the most recent inventions that we can no longer live without: the cell phone, and the internet. Desires are meant to satisfy our needs.

Now, communication has always been a need. As living beings, as social beings, we need to communicate to others. When phones were invented, we only needed to communicate when we were at home, or at work, or near a public phone. It never came to our minds that we would need to communicate from just about EVERYWHERE, right? But when cell phones were created, Marketing made us believe that we needed to be connected ALL the time. And we thought it was awesome! At least, most of us. Now most people simply can’t live without a cell phone, it has become a need. But it started out as a desire. Are you with me here? Ok. So, Marketing is what made you believe that you needed a cell phone. Truth is, you need to communicate, you don’t need a cell phone. And before you never needed to communicate from the supermarket, or your car, or a party, or whilst walking down the street. Right? You managed in other ways. But the cell phone sort of made things easier, right? Think about it. This is where the social part comes in. Many of my friends, for example, refused to have cell phones at the beginning. They were expensive, complicated and made them slaves. But sooner or later, society made them give in and they ended up buying cell phones too. Why? Because their mothers, friends, family, etc. needed to communicate to them no matter where they were, and started pushing pressure on them so they would get a cell phone. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know anybody who doesn’t have a cell phone. It’s crazy! I have one too, of course, but sometimes I really just want to throw it away. Sometimes I just don’t want to be found. And I can’t just turn it off, because then people would be scared if they can’t reach me! As I mentioned in one of my previous entries, life is one endless prison. We are prisones to the system, to the people, to our cell phones!! When I go out without my cell phone I feel naked. I really do. And I bet many of you feel the same. Then I just have to go back home and get it.

Now, it’s a similar thing with the internet. I have been using the internet for about 12 years, pretty much when it started to become massive in the mid 90’s. I was so excited! I was going to be able to communicate at a much bigger scale! I would be able to email my family in other countries, and meet people online seemed like such a thrill! Chatting was a big thing! People joining chat rooms and downloading chatting programs… I bet you remember ICQ, don’t you? I had more than one account ;). Then there was IRC, and then MSN messenger and yahoo messenger were created. I started creating accounts everywhere, without realising the consequences. I was becoming an addict, and addictions make us prisoners. Addictions don’t let us be free. I realised that the more profiles and accounts I created, the more of a slave I became, because I had the need to check what was going on on all of them! I had four different email accounts, I was on severa chat rooms, and on several forums. I had two different MSN messenger accounts, and sometimes I’d open both simultaneously, because I had different people on each account. I was aware of the problem, but I couldn’t stop. I remember writing an essay about it for one of my courses at the University. It was about how the internet, instead of giving us freedom, it was turning us into slaves. I was a slave of my multiple accounts that I had all over the net. Luckily, as I grew older (well, I’m 25 and I’m still using many of these), I learnt to control myself and my need to be online all the time. I’m still addicted so many online communities, but now I have some control over it.

So, to wrap it up a little, I’ll tell you what  the title of this entry is really about. If you have read some about me or my entries, you’ll know I am a home business owner. Well, I have a home business and also a full time job. I started my home business because I wanted to stop being a slave. And it looked like the best alternative at that moment. But I’m far from being free and I know that. And it’s perfectly ok. I’m happy about my choices. Time is my most valuable asset right now. Time and my mind. I don’t want to lose or waste either of them. Anyway, being in the Network Marketing industry can become a tad dangerous and is more complicated that it seems. What’s really bugging me is how all these people out there are going about their strategies, and how their strategies are the best thing you will ever learn. The best kept secret. The ultimate thing. It’s driving me mad and making me want to punch some of these people in the face. Many of these people are successful and are making money out of the poor people who buy their products and their trainings. I don’t even understand why they sell all that stuff, if most of them didn’t even create it in the first place. They gathered a bunch of information and put it together in a new and marketed package and sell it as if it were something new. They all claim to have the best strategies, that they have been using these strategies for years and that they work wonderfully for any home based business!. They say they’re sooo easy to use! And that you’d be a fool if you missed it, for the ridiculous price of $37 for something that has a value of thousands!! Ok. Well, I don’t buy it. I don’t buy it because all they’re doing is using lame marketing sales pitches to teach you NOT to sales pitch!! How hypocritical is that?? They tell you not to stalk people and not to pitch your sales. They tell you they have the best strategy ever! But it’s more of the same! And most of those people fail to tell you one thing. No course, no book, no super solution and no awesome strategy out there is going to make you successful unless YOU believe in yourself and create your own. Grab all that knowledge and create NEW knowledge. Yes. You know why? Because if you copy all their strategies you immediately become “another brick in the wall”. You have to get your own approach and your own thing going on. They tell you that they will teach you to stand out and how to be interesting and be noticed by other people and make money! Seriously, WHY?? Why do you need someone to teach you how to be interesting. You don’t need that. They just have experience making people believe that they’re cool. If enough people believe in something it becomes true! Seriously. Just because people think they’re cool. Now, you need to do your own thing. Get books, read stuff, learn new things… but create your own. And that’s what I’m working on right now, and I hope you will do that too.

Thanks for reading, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!

CAROLINA.

Caro in the south of Chile

I met MUSE

Hi all!

I’m in the mood of posting the stories of how I met my two favourite bands. A couple days ago you learnt how I met Bright Eyes, well, Conor Oberst. Now you will see how I met Muse.

I hope you enjoy the story! Again, this was written 2 and a half years ago, so don’t mind the grammar mistakes! Thank you! 🙂

I’m gonna tell you about my surreal meet-up with Muse! Well actually I only got to meet Matt and Chris. Unfortunately, Dom was ill that night, so he had to stay in the hotel. I’m Caro, just a normal girl from Chile, who happens to have friends in the Netherlands and a boyfriend in France. So this year I went to visit them! As I was going to the Netherlands, a friend of mine invited me to go with her and her friends to Lowlands Festival! That would be my ultimate chance to finally see Muse live, after waiting for about 4 years! So, the festival would take place from August 18th until August 20th 2006, and MUSE would be headlining the festival. another friend who was also going to the festival, proposed me to go sightseeing a bit around Holland on the 19th and then coming back to the festival on the 20th. There was a bar we really wanted to visit in Amsterdam, with nice music, so we went there and at the same time we thought maybe Muse would have arrived in Amsterdam that same day and might go out in the city or something… so we thought we could run into them somewhere, or that they could even visit this bar.

Anyway, around 8:30pm we arrived in Amsterdam and waited for this bar to open at 9pm. It was a bit empty, as it had just opened, but we just decided to sit there, have a drink and chat a bit, waiting for the live music to begin. As time went by, the bar started to get crowded. We were sitting at a table in the middle of it, between the entrance and the small stage, where a band was playing some music. I was constantly looking at the entrance, trying to see everyone who was coming in and out of the bar. But after about two hours my friend and I started to think that they wouldn’t come, so we just sat there and enjoyed the atmosphere… but suddenly, we see a guy in the middle of the crowd who, for some weird reason, looked quite a lot like Chris from Muse. My friend and I questioned ourselves for a few minutes.. “could that be him?” he was there with a girl, whom we asumed to be his wife! After a moment he left and then we stayed there in doubt, hoping he would return.

After several minutes the guy came back! I had no doubt anymore, it was him!! but my friend kept on hesitating, because he thought Chris looked different from photos, and because he thought he would be taller than that (my friend is dutch and he’s quite tall!). The guy we thought was Chris asked for a drink and stood by the bar and we kept on staring… my friend was still doubting until he saw undenyable evidence: he saw Matt Bellamy next to Chris!!! And since Matt’s appearence is so unique, we finally were sure it was them! O_O  OMG we started getting absolutely nervous, couldn’t stop staring, but at the same time we didn’t want them to notice, because no one else in the bar seemed to have recognized them. “What do we do!?? we have to meet them, that’s why we are here!!” we said to each other, but we were too shy.

So finally my friend Frank got up and said “follow me, bring your camera and your little notebook and a pen!” and so we moved through the crowd until we reached them. First we went to Matt, and my friend asked him “you’re Matt, right?” Matt said “yeah! yeah”, he was there with his girlfriend, so it was kind of uncomfortable to bother him, but it was our only chance! 😀 we said we were big fans and that I had come all the way from Chile, Southamerica to see them! And that they should go over there, because many fans were waiting! he was quite surprised about that! He said he’d like to go there, but didn’t really know when they will :(. We asked him for a picture, so first my friend took a picture of him and me, and then I took a picture of them both. Matt shook our hands 🙂 and afterwards we asked him for an autograph as well, and he said “yeah sure!” and signed my little book. Afterwards we apologised for bothering him and he said it was ok 🙂 and we said “see you at Lowlands! ”

Then we went to Chris! who was a bit further from Matt, standing by the bar with his wife. My friend Frank asked hm “excuse me? are you Chris from Muse?” he smiled and said “yeah!” haha. He seemed much nicer than Matt, less serious at least 🙂 we told him we were fans and stuff and that I had com to from Chile to see them! he said “wow! really?” haha. He introduced us to his wife, she seemed quite nice too, and we also asked him why Dom wasn’t there! He said he had the flu and so he stayed in the hotel getting better for the gig the next day, at Lowlands! We asked him again for pics and autograph. I was SO nervous that I almost spilled my drink on his wife haha, but luckily it just fell on a chair next to her 😉 He told us they never get recognised in Amsterdam, so we were surprised about that, and so were they! haha. We said bye to him and apologised too, he said “no problem :)” Then we went back to our seats, completely hyper and excited and SO happy!! Because we were so lucky to have found them there all of a sudden! After a moment they left and later we did too. Still had to drive back home and get ready to see them the next morning at Lowlands 🙂 🙂 It’s a weekend I’ll never forget!!!! 🙂

and that was it! My Muse adventure! I know a lot of people have met them, but what makes it extra special to me is that I met them casually, and not at some autograph session, or a Meet & Greet. Those are usually a little awkward, and not as special. I’ll always treasure that moment and keep it next to my most precious memories.

Cheers!

Carolina

The Story about how I ‘Finally’ Met Conor Oberst (Part II)

Hello my fellow readers! I said Part II was coming soon, and here it is! I wrote this in August 2007.

 

Not so long ago I posted the story about how I almost met Conor Oberst. Now I can finally say I met the dude. And he was awesome. How did it happen? Just keep on reading and you’ll find out. I must say though, the previous story was a lot more exciting… and funnier haha. There is nothing funny about this one. But I still gotta tell it.

I went to Europe this year for a holiday. I spent about 6 weeks there, in fact, I only got back yesterday! I spent a week in the Netherlands, where I visited my friends from there. Luckily for me, Conor was going to play two nights in a row in that country. So of course, before heading to Europe I made plans with two friends to go to both concerts, one night with each friend.

The first one took place on July 10th, and it was after this concert that I met him. It was just too easy. We arrived at the venue not too early, but not too late, to make sure to be on the front row. When they opened the doors we ran to get a good spot there. And we did manage to be on the front! We were in the left side of the stage. The concert was amazing and Conor was very talkative, telling jokes all the time. I really love that about him: the interaction he maintains with the audience.

Anyway, after the concert, my friend and I were so happy that we thought “let’s see if the tour bus is around, maybe we can wait for him!”. So we walked outside of the venue and indeed the tour buses were just around the corner behind it. There was a fence, so we couldn’t just stand immediately next to the buses, or next to the artists’ door. Even then we were close enough. Only about 10 people were waiting, which was pretty cool. I thought if there weren’t too many people there, then we wouldn’t scare Conor away. The first one we saw was Mike Mogis. He was a sweetheart, signed autographs for us and stayed talking to us through the fence. As I am a little shy I didn’t dare to talk much to him, but just stood there and laughed and pretended to participate in the conversations he was having with the other fans. I had a notebook with me, one that I sometimes use as a diary, and it was the only thing I had that they could sign. When I gave it to Mike through the fence to have it signed he kind of stared at it LOL. It was funny  he was like “WTF is this? Lol”.

After a few minutes Mike went inside the bus and we all kept on waiting for Conor, who usually is the last to come out. When he finally did I couldn’t believe it. Finally he was right there and it was my chance to talk to him. I knew I’d get his autograph, since all I had to do was to give him my notebook, no words would be needed. Would I dare to actually say something to him during those precious few seconds he would spend signing my notebook? When he finally approached to where I was standing, I gave him the notebook. While he was signing it I hesitated, but finally opened my mouth and said “I came all the way from Southamerica to see you!” He stopped what he was doing and glanced up to look at me (he is very small, I actually think he may be a couple centimeters smaller than I) and said “seriously? From where!?” My friend who was standing next to me said “She’s form Chile!” And Conor continued “Wow really?”

Then I quickly said that he just HAD to go there because there were fans waiting for him and all that. He said, in a very Conor-ish way “Man… I think I’m heading there, seriously. Don’t know when but… in my mind, I’m there, I really want to go there” he said that at least twice lol. And of course while he was telling me all that I got his lovely beer breath on my face LOL, which reminded me of the wet kisses that I got from him two years from that day. Before he moved away from where I was standing, I told him “This is the 4th time I see you here in Europe!” and again I caused an impression “seriously!?” he couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t gonna tell him that I just happened to be there by coincidence. He probably thought I had travelled from Chile just to see him LMAO. But anyway… that’s the story. Because of the fence I didn’t think about taking a picture with him… I definitely should have. But at least I have his autograph to remember 😉

It was great, he actually looked at me in the eyes and told me how much he wanted to come over here… what a nice guy, I’ve got to tell you. Despite all the things other people may say about him, he is a very cool guy! And very humble, above all.
The next night, July 11th in Amsterdam, I was really excited and thought I could probably meet him again if we could only find the tour buses. After the concert, my other friend and I walked around the venue but couldn’t find any buses…

So that’s it! Not such an exciting story, but I finally met him 🙂 Thanks for reading!!

I might as well mention that I met him again in July 2008, in Santiago Chile. That’s right, he did listen to me that night and decided to come to Chile and other countries in Latinamerica. That time I did manage to get my photo next to him… check it out J

 

Conor Oberst and I in Santiago Chile.

 

 

Thanks again for reading my story!!

I’ll be adding the story of how I met MUSE soon.

Cheers,

Carolina

The Story About How I ‘Almost’ Met Conor Oberst (Part I)

Hi all,

Ok, I’m going to post the first part of this story, well actually the second part is a different story altogether. But anyway, if you’re a Conor or Bright Eyes fan, you might find this interesting. I am a big fan of his, he has marked my life in several ways. And even if you have no clue who this Conor guy is, you might still find this stoy rather funny lol :D. I wrote this entry 2 years ago, so please excuse any grammar mistakes, and the excessive use of “lol” and “!!” ;).

Well I’ll start by saying how I first heard about Bright Eyes and Conor Oberst of course. Well it was in may 2004, when a girl in a MUSE forum where I regularly post, started a topic about this brilliant band she had just discovered. I saw the topic and thought I would have a listen to them! And so I first downloaded A perfect Sonnet, Lover I don’t have to love and Bowl of Oranges. Fell in love with all three of them. Then I wanted more and just downloaded everything I could find… When I was such a big fan around September that year, I was thinking that I’d probably never see him live, cause well, nobody knows Bright Eyes down here in this continent forgotten by all cool bands. I was applying for an exchange student programme through my University, in order to go to Germany for one semester, in 2005. Around October 2004 I had been accepted and so I started doing all the necessary stuff, you know, boring paperwork and such.

That same month, Bright Eyes had announced tour dates in February 2005 in Europe… I was already looking forward to the two new albums to be out in January… this girl who had started the topic about Conor was from the netherlands, where I also had many friends that I had met through that muse forum, and since I was going to Germany, I was gonna go visit my friends in the netherlands as well. It so happened that one of those tour dates would take place one day after I would have arrived in Germany… I was so excited and happy. This friend got me a ticket to the gig, and also some of my other friends got tickets for themselves also, so we’d all go together to that concert 🙂 It was bloody exciting, February 23rd 2005 :).

It was a nice concert and stuff, it as great to meet my friends in person… but I’m still not telling you people the story I’m meaning to tell by the title of this entry. That was only the first time I’d be seeing Bright Eyes. Ayla (the girl I mentioned) and I were so excited to have seen our idol, that we couldn’t get enough. So as soon as Conor announced the tour dates for Digital Ash we booked tickets immediately… but the nearest place to go was Germany, a city called Trier, which was about 4 hours from where I was living ( I was in a city called Dortmund). But we decided we’d go there no matter what! We met in a city called Düsseldorf and then took the train together to Trier. It was a long ride.

We finally got there, the venue was beautiful, it looked like an ancient Roman temple, which it actually was. And so during the concert Conor couldn’t stop talking about it “Make some noise for the romans!!” he’d say and also “make some noise for this whole look!” he really liked it… and he was really drunk! Anyway, we were in the first row, very close to Conor. There was a small space between the stage and the fence we were leaning against, so Conor would jump off the stage and run around that space with his mic. We were so excited and happy!! At the end of the gig, Easy/Lucky/Free was the last song… so Conor jumped off the stage and sang most of the song while being there. At one point he stopped walking, and stood right in front of me, with his hair on his face, I could only see his eyes and his mic… I looked at him right in the eyes, and suddenly he came closer to me, grabbed my head and gave me a big wet kiss on my left cheek!! That was so BRILIANT!! then he grabbed my friend, she was next to me and kissed her too! And so he did with two other people on the front row. That was awesome… then he went back on the stage, finished the song…and the gig was over… and I could catch my breath…it was breathtaking. By far one of the most exciting things I’ve experienced.

Anyway… it was around 11pm when we got out of the venue…there was a nice little park next to it, and the buses for The Faint and Bright Eyes (they were touring together) were right across the park. Our train back was at 4am or something, so we decided we’d sit there at the park and wait. Wait for Conor to come out. Many people passed us by.. people from The Faint, Mike Mogis! and other musicians. And the very last person to come was Conor…we recognised him from far away, we were sitting on a bench. I started getting a bit nervous, thinking “Wow this is my only chance to meet him!!! I gotta do it! he’s coming this way!”… but before he started walking towards us, two annoying girls went to him.. and so he started running away from them. Yes! running away, running towards where I was standing, and the girls were running after him. I thought I’d stop him from running and sya hi or something! But maybe two meters before he’d reach me, he stopped running and the girls got him. I just stood there staring in awe… when the three of them walked together, a bit further in the park, till they got lost in the darkness… I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t dare to say anything to him! Conor Oberst had just passed one meter away from me, and I couldn’t say a word!! And my friend, she didn’t really dare either, she was just still sitting on the bench. After a while, Conor’s crew started looking for him, he was still lost with those girls after half an hour. They were all yelling “Conoooooooooooor!! where are you???” and using flashlights to find him lol, it was hillarious to have witnessed sometihng like that. I told one of the guys, that he had ran away with two girls into the bushes. A couple minutes later, I was standing closer to where he had gone, and I see a shadow approaching. I couldn’t tell who it was… and then the shadow walks right next to me …. it was Conor…. again….for the second time, Conor had just passed next to me and I couldn’t say a word!!! What the hell was wrong with me!!!!!!
He started walking towards his bus, and I kept on staring… the bus was a few meters away.
Then he complained that someone had stolen his iPod.. lol… and then they all went into the buses and left… and I just stood there.

Then my friend and I went to catch our train and couldn’t stop being excited about the night we had just had. you don’t see Conor everyday, running around with some girls in a park LOL.

Well….if any of you read this whole story, thanks for your patience!! I hope it was amusing 😉

 

Part II coming soon!!!

Carolina.

Telethon… Pure Philanthropy?

Hello folks,

I meant to post this about two weeks ago! But I’ve been very busy lately and couldn’t finish it before! I’ll fill you in on that later 🙂

For you Americans, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend. Here in Chile, we don’t have that holiday, however, our yearly (almost yearly) Telethon took place last Friday and Saturday. The main goal of our Telethon (which has been going on for 30 years now) is to collect money to build rehab centers for handicap children. For 27 hours all TV channels get together, supplying their stars to organise a huge mediatic show. The entire country witnesses the moment when the goal is reached, yet sometimes surpassed. This year the goal was to gather over 13000 million pesos (in US dollars that’s around 20 million). The final amount of money gathered was over 16000 million pesos. In very rare occassions the goal hasn’t been reached, perhaps only once. However, it’s very unlikely to see such a big gap between the goal and the actual amount (which could still increase, as they’re not done counting the non monetary donations).

During those 27 hours, they present testimonials from families whose children were born with physical or mental problem, and that have turned to the Telethon foundation for help. These testimonies are so emotional that it’s hard not to shed a tear whilst watching them. I know I always do. Damn emotional me ;). But how could I not get emotional? It’s amazing what this institution does for this people, and it’s amazing to look at those children’s faces when they learn to do things by themselves 🙂

Anyway, if you have similar activities in your country, then you know that several companies donate money to these institutions, that’s how this charity can continue… but they all have a commercial interest, don’t they?

A few weeks before the Telethon starts, you start seeing commercials on television, and what resembles political propaganda on the streets. Companies embrace the Telethon spirit to raise money to donate to this great cause… but, incidentally it seems, they also raise the money in their pockets. “Let’s reach 10,000 sales today so we can donate 100 million!” “Eat 435897 McSomethings today and we’ll donate 100 million” and so on. Of course, it’s for a good cause and you certainly want them to donate that money… but some of us have a bittersweet feeling about it. We read between the lines… yet we have to follow.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think the Telethon is amazing and I love this cause. I also love it when very rich people make donations… This year, two multi-millionaire guys donate 1000 million each. You got that right, 1000 million each. One of them said it had been his dream since he was a kid, to go there and donate the biggest amount nobody had ever donated. And he did it…. but what happened next? Another multi-millionaire came right after him and donated another 1000 million. He wasn’t even thinking about donating that much! But I guess he got carried away by the momentum… and probably wanted some of that recognition too, right? Now, I do believe those two men did a very philantropic action, however, they went on stage in front of thousands of people, and now everybody talks about their outstanding donations.

What would I call a true philanthropist? The people who made outstanding donations and stayed in the anonimity. Those who didn’t care about receiving any sort of recognition. I’m not saying all the other people who donated huge amounts publicly didn’t do it to support the cause… but they’re actions weren’t completely selfless.

Now I would love to hear some stories about similar events going on in your countries, do you have a telethon too? How does it work? What do they do with the money?

Thanks for reading! 🙂

Carolina