SPENDING TREND - DUBAI

Philippe Dauba Pantanacce - Snr Economist, Standard Chartered Bank Dubai

In a recent interview Philippe Dauba Pantanacce stated that the current global recession has hit consumer spending in Dubai. So are the purse strings being tightened? According to the outcome of this years Dubai Shopping festival the shoppers were still out to spend, proving that when the going gets tough, the tough still go shopping.

Pantanacce commented on the 2009 dramatic change in housing due to the collapse in rent. He noted that Dubai is going through the process of stabalisation between contradictory forces. We are now seeing rent in Dubai differentiate area to area whereas before there was a board nominal cost. Rent is now as you would expect to find it within the global hub i.e. areas with better housing, better amenities and a higher standard of finishes command the higher scale rent charge.

Consumers have now migrated into Dubai from the surrounding Emirates, taking advantage of the lower rental costs.

Rent dropping in Dubai is a welcomed change since the salaries have also dropped while the cost of living is on the rise.

SUCCESSFUL BLOGGERS

The world is at your fingertips and some clever people have carefully crafted their blogs and/or websites to entertain us, educate us and some of them have become part of our daily routine.

Some blogs can be highly profitable therefore it is now common to find professional bloggers making sitting at their laptops a full time job. It is certainly an attractive idea and many of you will be thinking, yeah I can do that. SO go on. My thoughts to you are simple… if you want to blog just go right ahead and do it. Below are the profiles of some very successful blogs.

1. Boing Boing

“Advertising costs range from $350 to display a small button ad for one week to between $2,000 and $3,000 for the minimum 170,000 impressions on banner ads, all sold exclusively through Federated Media. Frequent posting—the four authors update the site 20 to 40 times each day—drives high traffic to the blog.”

• Launched: January, 2000
• Niche: Humor/Cyberculture
• Revenue: Over $1 million a year
• Traffic: 22 million pageviews/mth
• Alexa Rank: 2,180

2. Perez Hilton

“He may also be the hardest-working blogger making fun of show business, with 24 posts on an average day—and as many as 40 on a day with talk of a Britney Spears meltdown. “Advertisers come to me because I get a lot of traffic. I get a lot of traffic because I work hard.”

• Launched: September, 2004
• Niche: Celebrity
• Revenue: Estimated $111,000/mth
• Traffic: 4 million pageviews/mth
• Alexa Rank: 929

3. Overheard in New York

“Although Overheard brings in cash, he says, “I’ve always approached it more as a community than a business. I want to make enough so we can invest more to grow. I’m not trying to build a Web 2.0 company that I can sell for millions of dollars.”

• Launched: July, 2003
• Niche: Humor/Urban Culture
• Revenue: Estimated $8,100/mth
• Traffic: 6 million pageviews/mth
• Alexa Rank: 30,122

4. Mashable

“Cashmore says it’s the most-trafficked blog on the subject. But he didn’t expect to make a living from it when he began. “The idea that top bloggers would be making large sums was laughable,” Cashmore says. “The folks who held on, however, are doing pretty well these days.”

• Launched: July, 2005
• Niche: Technology/Web 2.0
• Revenue: Estimated $166,000/mth
• Traffic: 4 million pageviews/mth
• Alexa Rank: 1,493

5. Go Fug Yourself

“The mechanics are simple: They take celebrity photos from a wire service, add snarky comments about the getups, and click “publish.” The result? Some 3.5 million unique visitors a month, a book coming out in February, and two full-time jobs.”

• Launched: July, 2004
• Niche: Celebrity
• Revenue: Estimated $6,240
• Traffic: 4 million pageviews/mth
• Alexa Rank: 14,237

6. I Can Has Cheezburger?

“If you hit a niche and you can build a community, you might not have a $1 million idea, but you might have a $10,000 or a $100,000 idea,” says Nakagawa, who gave up his job as a software developer to play Cheezburger full-time.”

• Launched: January 2007
• Niche: Humor
• Revenue: Estimated $5,600/mth
• Traffic: 15 million pageviews/mth
• Alexa Rank: 4,996

Business Weekly report on full time bloggers:

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/07/0714_bloggers/index_01.htm

SHAKE YOUR MONEY MAKER

Ok so you want to make a million, save a million and spend a million. You can do it.

I read recently that a million is just a number and you know something? It is. So my take on it is you might as well decide to make 10 million and go for it. Now here’s the thing… you can do it. Why not start your own blog? Build a website? Write an ebook and make video clips and get them onto youtube for your audience that awaits you. Making your money is today easier than ever and how you do it is up to you. However, the secret to having the money other than wanting it is simply this: TAKE ACTION and follow it through. That’s it. That my friend is all you have to do to make your money.

Your brilliant idea is worth gold however if you sit back on it, I can guarantee you that your idea will come and go. How do you think Sir Richard Branson makes his money? or Donald Trump? They both have the guts to get out there and do it. It is the "doing it" that brings the money honey. There are no 2 ways about it. If you really want your million… go out there and get it. It’s waiting for you!

"Funny Money"

Which type are you>>>?

A. Money Maker

B. Money Taker

C. Money Faker

Well lets break each down, the money maker is the humble worker, the entrepreneur type, the money taker happily lets others take care of them and the money faker is all flash and no cash living life on credit credit credit.

Perhaps you’ve been all 3 types? -I have and after experiencing each I have to say that being the Money Maker is by far the most secure and happy place I’ve been. Self reliant wins hands down!

HELLO WORLD!

Welcome to my GOT BANK blog! :)
I am excited to journey with you along the route of blogging. In 2005 I moved to Dubai from Scotland to experience my life in a diverse society and explore my skills as a designer. The architectural projects are spectacular so it has been a privilege to be part of this incredible expanding city. I discovered and learned how to live the life I want in the most amazing 4 and a 1/2 years. I lived the high and low life and would like to share with you my move towards making bank!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!