pandemic

How to Market During this Time of an Unprecedented Pandemic?

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Speaking from experience, a week after Covid-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), Mahal and I stopped our Tuscany Highlands business. The halt per se wasn’t as abrupt, but, day by day, we just found ourselves not working on the business. It started when our farm people told us that the most recent consignments of fresh oyster mushrooms at various stores in Claveria were being returned because no tourists and customers were visiting Claveria and no one was buying. The shops where we were consigning are located on tourist spots and along the highway where local and foreign tourists usually visit and drive by. With everyone being asked to stay at home, there were no more customers visiting these shops. So all fresh oyster mushroom harvests were sent back to the farm to be dried and stored for future use instead.

Then the sale of our mushroom products like MUSIGA (Mushroom Sili Garlic Paste), PALAMI (mushroom Palapa), Mushroom POLVORON and Mushroom CHIPS stopped as well. Despite our efforts to market, no sales were coming in.

Then our Mushroom Hands-On Cultivation Training was put on hold indefinitely for fear of spreading the coronavirus.

So one day, we just stopped our business from running and concentrated on surviving this pandemic as a family. We have our savings, extra food and other supplies, plus I still have a little bit of income coming from my online work so we’re still okay.

But do small businesses really have to stop marketing? Do we really have to completely stop doing business? Is it being tone-deaf or inconsiderate to continue selling stuff at this time when no one seems to be buying non-essential stuff?  Continue reading →

happy sunbathing

An Epilogue To My COVID-19 Nervous Breakdown

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I must admit that the previously growing anxiety inside of me since the emergence of Coronavirus has hampered my productivity and creativity levels. I mean aside from my own work, motherly tasks and house chores which are the only productive things I do these days, I haven’t done anything else. Before, I was also busy with other things like:

– continuous marketing for Tuscany Highlands and Training Workshops CDO.
– I was actively reading my books and attending online courses I bought.
– I blogged and I did my journal
– I did creative things like making designs for our future home.
– I concocted marketing strategies for Tuscany Highlands
– I planned future family travels, family projects and what-not.

But since this deadly coronavirus emerged and wreaked havoc on every nation, I found myself operating on survival mode: WORK. TAKE CARE OF TUZ. DO HOUSE CHORES. REPEAT. WORK. TAKE CARE OF TUZ. DO HOUSE CHORES. REPEAT.

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Lying on the beach

Covid-19: How It’s Affecting My Mental and Emotional Health

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OVERVIEW

While most of you have probably been in quarantine / lockdown for about a month or so now, I’ve been imposing it on and off upon myself and my family since I first heard about the coronavirus in the news the last week of January. We were preparing for another batch of Hands-On Mushroom Training at that time when the Coronavirus Outbreak began circulating in the media. My “prepper” instinct tingled and I started having worst-case scenario visions in my head. (“prepper” is a person who believes a catastrophic disaster or emergency is likely to occur in the future and makes active preparations for it, typically by stockpiling food, ammunition, and other supplies.) That was the time I started buying a little bit more than the usual number of masks and alcohol bottles we use for mushroom training just in case the outbreak becomes an epidemic, or worse, a pandemic. And because we had plans of going back to Cebu to set up another Mushroom farm, I almost decided not to go for fear of contracting the virus during our travel. This was around Jan. 25-28 when the rest of the world didn’t care much about  the Coronavirus yet, and much less about preparing for it.

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Horizon

Updates in the Midst of Covid-19: My Health, Tuscany Highlands, Training Workshops CDO, BuQid, Travels and Celebrations

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This is probably the longest I haven’t blogged. It’s been so long that I have to read what I wrote last time coz I don’t remember anymore, lol. And it made me cringe a bit that my last post before this was about my health and my suspicion of having Dengue which happened before all this Novel Corona Virus, now called Covid-19, started hitting the news.

Anyway, as an OC person, I want to have some semblance of chronology about what has been happening to me the past several months so this long overdue blog update might be a bit long. Just bear with me. I’ll try to only give you the summaries and I’ll just write more about them, one topic at a time, on my next blog posts. For now, here are the abridged versions:
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New Year

Dengue Fever Suspicion This New Year, What To Do, and Other Updates

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

It’s a week into the new year and boy oh boy what a crazy schedule it has been!

I’m actually under the weather right now, not because I’ve not been taking care of myself. On the contrary, this time around, I’ve been sleeping 8-12 hours a day since the new year (except the other night when I only had 5 hours of sleep because Tuz won’t let me sleep…) It is because I am suspecting myself to have contracted Dengue because I caught a mosquito with black and white stripes as I was brushing my teeth last night! Prior to that, in the afternoon, I started feeling joint pains and aches. I thought it was because of the chicken I ate (I avoid chicken and other meat as much as I can but Mahal brought home some so I ate..  it has high uric acid content that’s why the doctor advised me before not eat meat anymore, tsk, tsk.) Then I had a mild fever. I thought that maybe I was just feeling sick because Tuz also has cough and colds and his temperature the other day was higher than usual (about 88-95 degrees Fahrenheit which is not considered fever yet but his skin was just a little bit hot to touch). I was just feeling so tired and achy all over so I tried to rest. But when I caught that black and white mosquito last night, my suspicion grew so we immediately decided to go to the hospital so I can have myself tested. That was 9:30 PM. We were supposed to come back after 3 hours but the moment I hit the bed after our little hospital trip, I felt so tired again that I woke up in the morning. I still couldn’t do my usual tasks except for a couple of social media posts and rested until this afternoon. I plan to get the blood test results this evening so as to avoid the crowd and I can head to the emergency doctor instead of lining up to go see one of the regular doctors in one of the clinics. At least I can rest some more at home and do some social media tasks for work, and yes, blog, lol.

I paid P2,178 to have the following lab tests last night: Continue reading →

Techstars Startup Weekend Bukidnon

Techstars Bukidnon Startup Weekend – Getting Out of My Comfort Zone [PART I]

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Yesterday, I gave you several ideas about what I want to blog about first in connection to these last few months that I’ve been super busy. So many things have happened in almost all areas of my life and finally, I’ve decided to tell you first about the most exciting thing that ever happened to an introvert like me. It involved 3 days of out of comfort zone experiences, a chance to contribute big to the agricultural sector of our society, and the grand prize of flying to Singapore for more opportunities. This is Part 1 of that journey…

Last September 27-29, 2019, I attended the Techstars Bukidnon Startup Weekend for Women. I’ve always been on the lookout for things that will help me get out of my comfort zone as long as my extra time will permit it so when I saw their ad on FB, I was really thinking about joining it. I honestly have no idea what a “startup weekend” is. All I know is that I wanted to bring my Momtraneur business to the next level and the startup weekend could be the way. Women of various ages and backgrounds will be there, and it would be nice to get out of my home office, smell some fresh air in Bukidnon, and maybe make some new acquaintances and friends along the way. I thought it would be fun, and by that, I meant, socially and entrepreneurially fun.

So I paid the fee (P800) via paypal then I got this email: Continue reading →

hustle and bustle

Hustle and Bustle of a Momtraneur’s Life

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Hiiiii!!!! I’m back!!!! How’s the holiday season going for you so far?

Back in September, when I said my calendar was fully booked, I didn’t realize that that was nothing compared to what was ahead of me the following months — October, November, December. I know I’ve always been the busy kind of gal ever since I can remember (I’ve been a busy bee since my grade school years, lol!) but really, the past few months until today (and I predict including the coming days ahead until April at least!), have been nothing but a blur… I’ve been ultra, mega, super, duper booked with activities, business stuff, family hooplas, usual work, and other extra-curricular activities that a week would pass me by and I don’t even feel like it’s been a week! One week is like one long day for me! And there are times when all I wanted was sleep because honestly, I don’t know anymore how I’m still alive with so much lack of sleep in my system. I feel like one day, I’ll just drop dead from all this overfatigue!

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Seagate and Dahua Smart City Surveillance

SEAGATE AND DAHUA PARTNERED TO BRING SMART AND SAFER CITIES

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Mahal and I have been talking about getting CCTV cameras for the farm and our future Tuscany Highlands city office when CDO Bloggers got invited to a Seagate and Dahua event. I, of course, said yes, I will go! This happened last Sept. 20, 2019. I did mention on my previous post that those last two weeks of September would be very busy for me and in fact, my hectic life never stopped since! I’ve actually been so sleep-deprived the past month but nevertheless very productive and blessed, that I feel compelled to share this event with you (instead of getting my much-needed rest), as it also commenced a series of other exciting, mind-blowing, amazing opportunities for me and Mahal.

So back to Seagate and Dahua event first. (And yes, after this, I shall rest na talaga.)

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Blogmeter Top

Momtraneur is the Featured Blogger at Blogmeter Top + My Fully Booked Calendar [So Blessed!]

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It’s Friday here in the Philippines but I think my blog is on a different US Time Zone, lol! Anyway, before this week comes to a close, I just want to share with you that my blog, MomTraNeur, is currently the featured blog at Blogmeter Top and I’m still so thrilled and honored that my interview made it to their weekly blog feature!

I hinted about this around two months ago when they emailed me about an interview they wanted to do with me. And now it’s finally here!

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Musiga Outlets

Musiga Outlets, Future Mushroom Products and Tuscany Highlands Office

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To continue from yesterday’s post…

After that successful early Christmas and 2nd anniversary online giveaway we did, our Musiga outlets also increased.

Although we do sell online nationwide via LBC and J&T shipping, we are also blessed to have partner outlets for our products.

So, where can you buy our MUSIGA and other Tuscany Highlands’ Products here in Misamis Oriental?

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successful online giveaway

Tuscany Highlands x Momtraneur Successful Online Giveaway + Yummy Musiga and Mushroom Polvoron Reviews

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September is really one busy and blessed month! And it’s just the middle of the very first Christmas month this year… 3 more months to go… not that I want it to end since this is my most favorite quarter of every year. I just wake up every day with more zest, more energy, despite the million tasks I have to do because of the many exciting things happening for us. Praying to God to always guide us in this exciting endeavor we’re venturing into.

Anyway, I just want to update you with the latest happenings in our part of the world…

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