A Beginner Friendly Guideline to Increase Monthly Listeners on a Spotify Profile

I have been, as you know, striving to become a small part of the musician community and contribute to it, especially in Kolkata, for a few years now, in whatever way I can. Through my varied interview sessions and a few event coverages, I have started to know several musicians and their plight in the recent ongoing of the industry – especially post-2020. As an individual with a 9-to-5 digital marketing job, I couldn’t help but wonder how the intricacies of the Spotify profiles work to help me and the supremely talented musicians make their mark in this increasingly digital-dependant world. So, today, I wanted to write down what I already knew and what I have recently researched about getting your monthly listener count high on Spotify!

In today’s time, whether you’re an artist or someone with a record label, or a band, who wants to grow in popularity, digital streaming platforms (DSPs) like Spotify can be of immense help. It not only looks good on your resume as a performer but also acts as an excellent conversation starter with future clients for collaborations and even with fans. As easy as it sounds at the moment, curating a Spotify profile viable enough to showcase to the world is a job that requires a dedicated amount of time every day. While there is no top-trade secret here that would get you to the position you want, I have come across a few things that can help you increase your monthly listener count. 

1. Playlists: First things first, you need to submit your work to playlist curators. Yes, this might seem like a tedious task that has no meaning, but trust me when I say I have seen this work for a lot of people. They will see your work for sure, even when they aren’t able to reply, and your job is to make your work stand out of the crowd. Curator playlists can break a song or an artist if you can get hold of the right one. If you don’t want to go through that much trouble and want to keep things to yourself, then go all-in. If you ask me, there can be nothing better than creating your own playlist. This not only helps trade your tracks with other curators but also increases your presence amongst people you think are your peers. 

 

2. Identity: For the next step, you need to think of yourself as a brand. Yes, you need to have a strong brand image on social media, especially when you want to make it big on Spotify. It can help you showcase your music to a larger audience and let them know that you are worth it. A verification blue tick on your Spotify artist profile acts as an added bonus as you present a graphic charter or several press pictures as part of it. This gives a professional yet personal touch to your profile. As for me, speaking from a digital marketing point of view, I would want you to keep updating your bio as well. This will let the Spotify algorithm know that you are serious about your work. 

 

3. Spreading the Word: Now that you have a verified artist profile on Spotify, a somewhat okay brand presence across social media, and several playlists to your name, it is time to start sharing. Well, yes, I know what you are thinking – she wrote this very thing in the last paragraph, so why on Earth is she repeating herself? Well, the thing is simple – both the points are different. Reaching out to a new audience is not something you can do through just your social media. You need to contact music blog owners and give them a glimpse of what you are upto. Send them a track or two of yours in .mp3 format (if possible) and attach your Spotify playlist link with the mail as well. You can also contact websites such as SubmitHub to come up with a good promo package that has your press release, bio, press shots, and your music for the same. And while we are on the subject, always keep a good promo package or press kit handy, you never know when you would need it.

 

4. Your Peers:  Another crucial thing that most people aren’t aware of (or somehow neglect, over time) is admiring the work of your peers. See, the thing is simple. You want people to listen to your work, right? How will that happen if you don’t listen to others and commend them on their achievements? Sharing is helping, and the first step to build a brand around yourself is by making yourself visible and showing your support for others. You don’t want your peers to call you an egotistical person who cares for your work and not the industry, do you? Believe it or not, even the smallest of actions matter. Following the artists you like, and letting your peers know that you like them is something that can make you visible as well. Don’t believe me? Try it out to know more. 

 

5. Promotion: This is textbook material, but I couldn’t have stopped myself from mentioning it. Record labels, trust me, have playlists on Spotify where you can pitch your music to. If someone is interested in the kind of work you do, you never know, they might sign you for an album deal. While you are at it, go all-in when it comes to emailing your followers, fans, and prospective clients about your musical whereabouts. This can bring a personalized touch to your routine and can make the recipients feel heard. You can also come up with a strategy for the same and send across different variations of a track to see how it fares to a partial audience. Always remember, self-promotion is better than no promotion. Blatantly share your Spotify links everywhere, and include QR codes, embed player links, and follow buttons as part of your CTA (call-to-action). You will be surprised at the results. 

At this point, I feel that I can go on and on about this subject, but it is already over 1k words and I should stop. I would rather be up for a meaningful conversation with some of you reading this and answer any questions you might have on the subject so that we both can learn something from this experience. 

See, at the end of the day, it is your piece, and you know the best on how you want to promote it. As far as where I stand is concerned, your piece is your baby and is the best – so it deserves all the promotion possible to help you build a brand on any digital streaming platform.

So, here’s hoping this could be of little help to your intentions and I could play even a small part in it! Looking forward to hearing about your music and if you allow me to, write about it as well.  

Bengaluru Poetry Festival 2016: bringing poetry to the world!

They say that poetry is the essence of life and that without poetry life cannot be explained. There was once this time when poetry used to be the soul of every being but then books took over and poetry somewhere fizzed out. I feel glad to be in this industry during a time when poetry is coming back in form and that too in a way, never to go back again.

Media Coverage

The Bengaluru PoetryFestival 2016 was a celebration on poetry, for poets, of poets. Held in one of the finest places of the city, Leela Palace over the first weekend of August (6^th and 7^th August), Bengaluru saw the best of what the world of poetry had to offer. With the likes of Javed Akhtar and Piyush Mishra gracing the event on Day 1 and Day 2 respectively, there couldn’t have been a better place for all the poetry to be together as one.

The Bengaluru poetry festival 2016 was about all forms of art and not just limited to poetry. The festival had Poornima Kaushik who is an exponent of the Vazhuvoor styles of Bharatnatyam perform for the audience who was enchanted with the performance.

The audience also got to see Padma Bhushan Teejan Bai performing what she does best-Pandawani, which is basically a traditional form of performing art. With musical accompaniments by her side, age is not a matter for her because it is art that she lives for.

Since the festival was essentially a poetic affair, RainDrops Company (the publishing partner for the festival) launched its anthology titled Po’try. The best part about this particular collection of poems is that this collection was commissioned specially for the festival by the makers and the published poems a part of a competition held by the association and the publishing house across different social media channels. A total of 157 poets carefully chosen from different parts of the world and from different professions were introduced with this particular collection. A well critiqued actress and poetess, Kamalinee Mukherjee graced the occasion and launched the book.

The release of the poetry collection- Po'try

Kamalinee Mukherjee launching the book

Apart from so many activities happening in and around the festival, there were many workshops that were taking place for both the kids and the adults. These were specially conducted by various well known poets from the industry. Since the release of the collection of short poems by Bengaluru Poetry Festival 2016 and RainDrops Company happened at the venue, there has been a huge rise in the sales of the book, making the venture a huge success. After the festival wrapped up, the collaborators are looking forward to a new year full of new poetry to fill the soul.

Finding Juliet by Toffee: a promotional tour!

RELEASE BLITZ- FINDING JULIET BY TOFFEE

Title: FINDING JULIET

Release Day: APRIL 23, 2016

Published by: JUGGERNAUT BOOKS

Genre: ROMANCE

Blurb: An incredibly nice guy turns into an irresistible flirt and learns the fine art of seducing women. A hilarious and heartwarming novel with some surprising nuggets of wisdom.

Cover: 

Links to the book will be available after the release of the Juggernaut app! 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Toffee is just another Indian youngster who became an Engineer first and then discovered his true calling. He was a typical Sharma ji ka Ladka, until Engineering happened and changed his life completely. After surviving college, he joined a reputed MNC as a Software Analyst, but a dramatic turn of events made him an author. Toffee is passionate about writing, so much so that he writes code by the day and books by the night and does everything else in life in between. A huge Rajkumar Hirani fan, he loves writing stuff that is both entertaining and insightful. And through his books, he wants to narrate stories that touch people's hearts and change a part of their life, forever.

Toffee’s first book titled ‘An Idiot, Placements and IntervYOU’ was published by the Times Group Books and it went on sell around 5000 copies. ‘Finding Juliet’ is his second book and Juggernaut Books is publishing it exclusively on their mobile app.

AUTHOR LINKS: 

FACEBOOK / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / EMAIL / GOODREADS

Hosted by: 

The Readdicts Book Blog Along with Vanya's Notebook

Mind Rain- bring out the photographer inside you!

What are your first thoughts when you read the phrase “Mind Rain”..? I have varied thoughts. It starts with my mind where there is a steady stream of thoughts which quite often than not I forget to write on paper or even recapitulate. It is a phrase that brings with itself and is an amalgamation of creativity and passion. Creativity of everything around us and passion for our talent and the creation that comes forth because of the passion.

Some of us are writers, while some are photographers, different people have different talents but there is one thing that is common in all these talents and that is the passion to do their work and the creativity that is needed. An artist is what we term them. Art can be divided into two forms.

1)      That has a lot of meaning and complex to the naked eye.

2)      That has a lot of meaning but very simple to look at.

And the fact that both the types are reproduction of what a very simple thing, coming from our daily lifestyle can look from a different angle is all what art is about. www.mindrain.org focuses on art. What kind of art, if you ask me then I would say that they have no type. A group of creative people who are connected with one single love- photography- are the people behind the site.

The main aim of the site is to encourage everybody to click. For the owners of the site believe that when everybody comes together then the power created by it cannot be described. They swear by the power of photography and they want the world to know about the power too. With the inception of the site the owners have come up with a competition. Why competition to begin a website with? I asked them. Motivation, Was their prompt reply. In this ever competitive world, the best way to put your talent in the forefront is by competing.

Even though wonderful prizes are to be won this whole idea is to reach the masses like the amateur photographers who click for sure but they aren’t motivated enough to show it to the world. “Come out of the closet and show the world what you have. For fear keeps us behind but passion brings us forth” this is the main motto of Mind Rain.

With registrations coming from all over the world in just a few days of its release, Mind Rain has already stepped ahead of reaching their aim- to motivate the photographers to click. This site is a dream for photography enthusiasts. Amateurs and professionals- Take Note! The registrations for the competition are open. You just need to click a picture that you like, write a catchy caption to go with it and submit it. 15^th June 2016 is the last date for registrations. So, what are you waiting for? It’s high time that you break free from the confines of the dilemma of good and bad and fly away to the world of appreciation waiting for you...

I have submitted my photo and registered myself. Have you?

How to turn good mornings in to gold mornings!

It has been always an issue for me to wake up early in the morning and get ready for the daily household chores and for work. Adding to the misery, I never had something that would give me instant freshness and energy. My problem came to a solution with #Colgate360GoldMornings.

It is a new product by the well known and trusted worldwide brand, Colgate and people can use it without thinking twice on what the effects will be. The toothbrush that Colgate has now come up with has more than one special feature. The most interesting feature that I have to mention here is the 360 degree angle. As #Colgate360GoldMornings have a 360 degree angle, the brush goes to the insides of our mouth and cleanses our mouth, tongue, gums and cheeks giving us, the users, a fresh burst of energy inside our mouth.

Along with the 360 degree angle of the toothbrush, another feature of the toothbrush is the unique cheek and tongue cleaner which normal or usual toothbrushes fail to incorporate in their toothbrushes, thus making the #Colgate360GoldMornings the best toothbrush to go for if we want a clean, fresh and germfree mouth early in the morning. It surely is the best way to make Good mornings- Gold mornings.

We all know and feel that if our mouth is not well rinsed the first thing in the morning, then along with the different issues that might happen to our hygiene, we also don’t get the much needed freshness and energy. Our mouth and our face are the two things that are the most essential part of our body. If they are not clean and fresh then our mind will not be ready for the whole day.

For our face we always have the different kind of creams and face-washes that instantly energizes and freshens our skin. The interesting part here is that, whenever we talk about our face and the different types of things that energize it, there is one element that falls on top of that list and that element is none other than Gold. Yes. You read that right. Gold is one element that finds its place on top of every element whenever we are about to mention something that energizes and freshens something.

Similarly, with the #Colgate360GoldMornings, we are sure of the fact that it would energize and freshen our mornings and will leave us with a great day ahead. With the #Colgate360GoldMornings we are sure of the fact that it would turn our Good mornings to Gold mornings.

On the top of the world

After ruling the market with their high speed 3G network, now Airtel is launching 4G in India. Isn’t this great? I am jumping like anything after hearing the news that finally I am going to use 4G. And the best thing about it is they are challenging that is going to be the fastest and if any network can beat their speed they will pay their telephone bills for lifetime. But I know no one can beat them, because they are Airtel.

Asking me to write about what I will do if I get an Airtel 4G is like asking a two week starving boy what he would like to eat. I will do almost everything which I had gave up trying in my current network. Let’s start from the map. I am person who spends time in home when she is tired and I can’t count how many times are there when I need a map to find my way even in Kolkata. But whenever I tried opening one in my current phone, it starts to irritate me with its circles which I hate like anything. After trying for at least fifteen minutes I usually go to a nearby cop and ask the route. But trust me I try every time. If I had an Airtel 4G I will use the map anytime anywhere, to find the route, to find a café nearby or even find a restaurant and most importantly I will be able to stay away from the boring faces of the cops.

The next thing I will do if I had a 4G is download movie. I am a movie freak. Yes, freak is the correct word to describe me. I watch movies depending on my moods and believe me I have terrible mood swings. Like, one day I decided to see Dabbangg at night and had downloaded it through all day and at the time of playing the movie I felt like watching Black. Can you imagine, from Dabbangg to Black, isn’t it terrible? This happens to me quite often. And after having Airtel 4G I will download movies anytime I want. Whenever I feel like watching a movie I will download it straight way.

Now a days, not only me I can bet that ninety percent people can’t spend their idle hours without their cell phone. What they do with their mobile phone is browsing. Surfing through websites. Going through different channels, watching videos online. And obviously I can’t do any of those properly with my dumb network connection. I will be able to see episodes of my favorite soaps at hotstar without buffering if I had an Airtel 4G. The certain thought gives me goose bumps. If I had Airtel 4G under my hood I will be on the top of the world.

P.S.: http://www.airtel.in/4g/.

A honey diet makes for a healthy living

The mantra of today’s time is something we all should follow and we do follow- Money is honey! Yes, I know it is a much exaggerated version of the real life thing that is going on but this is the truth. Money is surely honey but do you know that it is the same vice versa? Honey is money too. Let me tell you a real life story of mine which will make you understand why I say that honey is money too.

I am a working lady. My work timings are usually 10 AM to 7 PM and after that, I also overtime till 9 PM every day. After I come back home at around 10 PM, trust me, I don’t have any energy left in myself to take care of my body and health. In the morning, I usually wake up at 6 AM and do my household chores and then leave for work by 9 AM. In this way, the 24 hours of my life passes. I am one person who has always been known for being efficient in whatever she does and I am never late. Punctuality, efficiency, effectiveness being my middle names.

My work also includes a lot of statistics and data and thus, I have always been known as the to-go person whenever any kind of data or statistics is involved. There was this one day when I had a meeting to attend but I was so sick due to the late night workings I had done and by not taking care of my body and health that I couldn’t get up from the bed only. I had instructed my assistant to go about the meeting and give my proxy but it was then I realized that the importance of taking care of the health is utmost important.

In the beginning days, when I took the vow that I will take care of myself first and then work, I was very confused on how to go about taking care of myself. I had seen my friends failing numerous crash diets and I didn’t want to be like them. It was then that my mother suggested me an awesome cure about it. Guess what was it? Honey! She told me that honey is the solution to all my problems.

Having my doubts on that, I started having honey on a regular basis. I started with having warm water with honey every day with a dash of lemon in the morning. Then I substituted sugar in my tea with honey. Believe it or not, it actually worked. I started feeling refreshed and could carry on throughout the day without slumping or being tired. Today, I do not miss a single meeting and I do not feel sick also. This is how I got to know that Honey is Money too. I would suggest everyone to follow the Honey diet and lead a healthy life.

Note: this article is a part of  http://www.daburhoney.com/

For all cricket lovers; redesigned UC Browser!

Cricket is a religion and Sachin is God. I have grown up hearing this, but I have never grown interest in watching eleven guys running for one ball hit by another. I had started watching cricket because of the historical six sixes which changed me. Trust me, I am not writing this just because Yuvraj is there in the video, but he is the one for whom I have started watching cricket. He is cute, isn’t he? I started to learn the way the game is played just to see him playing.

Now, I can’t live without cricket. It is addictive, more than drugs. I can’t think how I had spent earlier days without watching this thrilling game. And Yuvraj is still my favorite player. You know the feeling of the first crush or the first gift or the first ride, then you would surely know how I feel about Yuvraj. I was the happiest when Yuvraj lifted the trophy and he was given the Man of the Series of the World Cup. A player with such calibre can’t be taken out by a mere cancer, I knew he will come back for the very first day when he was dropped. I prayed for him every time when I saw Indian playing without him.

Then came the day when it was official that Yuvraj is making his comeback. But certainly I was out of state. I was devastated with the thought that I would not be able to see him batting in his comeback match. Then I felt the requirement of an application which will keep me up to date about what’s happening in the match. Believe me there is not one such application in the market which has everything I need. Few had scores update but didn't have scoreboards, few had scoreboards but didn't have highlights. Can you imagine I had to almost miss Yuvraj’s comeback match which unfortunately India lost. From that day I was waiting for an application which will fulfil my requirements and I don’t have to install three application for one purpose.

Then came UC Browser. At first I couldn't believe a browser offering such features. But after getting recommendation from a trusted friend I downloaded the browser. First thing first, I loved the look. From the color combination to the font style I loved everything. And the browser is smartly designed. I didn't have to search for anything because almost everything is there right in front of me in that one browser. One touch in theUC Cricket and you are in. Live score updates with auto refresh option. Can you believe it, all this you can do through a browser not an application? I simply loved it and felt that this browser is made for me and all the cricket lovers. So it would be my suggestion to all my readers, download this super browser and enjoy cricket!

P.S.: This article is a part of http://www.ucweb.com/

The day that changed the course of my dreams!

In the world where living a life all alone is as tough as living with other people, all we need is someone or something pushing us towards a more optimistic life when all things fail. I am glad to have a few very treasured people in my life who tend to push me towards positivity and goodness whenever I lose hope. One such person is my fiancée. I am glad to say that I have got the best. The man in my life, though being a man of a few words, can fill my life with positivity and hope.

There was one such situation that brought us together and I can never forget that day. It was the day when I wanted to share my heart out to him. I wanted to tell him about my future about what kind of a future do I envision. I knew, after a much heated debate with myself that the kind of future I want wouldn’t actually be the perfect future one envisions for a partner or for a daughter but then I knew that I could never do something that I don’t want to or rather won’t be able to. So, gathering all those thoughts inside my mind and finding a reasonable moment to say, I gave my heart out to him.

I told him about what I want to do, what the situation is and what I am expected to do. I told him what I want to quit and what I always wanted to do. There is no doubt about the fact that I was damn scared when I was saying all this. But the fact that all this was on the phone actually helped. After I was done telling him everything, all he asked for was 20 minutes to call me back. I disconnected the line and was crying my heart out in the comfort of my home. I was scared as to what would happen.

But just then I got a call from him asking me to come down. It was 9o’clock at night and I couldn’t believe my ears when he said that he is in front of my house. The 17kms that distanced our houses was covered in just a matter of 15 minutes and he was there. As I went down and I saw him standing there, I couldn’t resist myself and I went on to hug him. He whispered in my ear “I love you” and at that moment that was all I needed. We found a place to sit in the nearby locality and as he held my hand tightly, he explained to me the pros and cons of every step I want to take.

Along with that, he also told me that he is there beside me in every step of my life that I take. I was really scared to what my mothers’ reaction would be when I will tell her about all this but he cooled me down and told me to go about this slowly. He even assured me that he will talk to my mum regarding all this. That was the perfect motivation and strength that I needed at that moment. I couldn’t stop the tears of happiness that were shedding from my eyes. That moment of relief had it all, the passion for my dream and the love of my fiancée. I was surprised to see that even then he hadn’t forgotten to bring me my favorite chocolates to cheer me up. As I went up to my room and he went back to his home, I was comparatively calmer. After dinner, I told my mother everything and even she was calm and she understood.

Today, as I sit here and recall the incident; I know. If that day, the man of my life wouldn’t have been there, I wouldn’t have been able to follow my dreams the way I am today. Such moments, with near and dear ones fill your life with positivity and happiness when you need them the most. I am really glad; I have not one but many such people in my life.

Note: this is a part of https://housing.com/.

Change is the only thing that is constant

As history has it, change is something that is constant in every situation. Sometimes the change is good and sometimes bad. Sometimes, it might be for the good and sometimes for the bad. No matter how good or bad change is, the one thing that we can be sure of amongst all this is that, change is something that is one of the biggest contributions that our life gets in order to shape up our future in a more concrete way. There have been so many changes in one person’s life that it is next to impossible to keep a track on every change. But, there has to be certain good changes that have affected us in such a way that we can’t help but remember it and be thankful to it throughout our lives.

Men and women, both, go through changes in their lives in all stages. Women are one part of the society, who belongs to everybody. In one stage of their life, they are daughters. In the next stage, she is a sister. Following it, she is a wife. And then finally, she is a mother. In the circle of all these stages, she manages to be herself, be a woman. Today, being a woman, I would like to talk about the most significant change in a woman’s life. The day they get married. After years of living in their father’s home, uncontrolled, like a free bird, there comes a time when  they have to leave all that and go to a completely unknown house. Live with them; be theirs, as their daughter in law. This change brings with itself loads of other changes in the life of every woman.

The way they live, changes. Their mornings change, so does their nights. A girl who is used to live on her own now has to live on terms. But then, the change is for the better. Today, the person they are is a reflection of the kind of family they belong to keeping a side of their own house too. I remember, my best friend was a very tomboyish before her marriage. She was one girl who always used to run around, do random things without even caring about what others might think. She was sad, and lonely, I knew because I used to be her confidante. I still remember the day she got married, crying herself out and not letting me go. But today, when I see her with her husband and her 2 year old naughty kid, I know. She is one happy woman in her life. She had everything that she always wanted to. Her life has changed a lot she has become more responsible and more down to earth.

There was line which I wrote long back and the quote I made, still rings in my ears very often – “The girl who sits on the wedding seat, is entirely different from the woman who emerges from it…!” Changes, give way to a new confidence in everyone’s life that we never knew were there. Whether it is good or bad, the only thing that is in our hands is to accept the change and embrace it, for we should know that it will help us form our future in one strong way.

P.S.: https://housing.com/.

Positivity still reigns!

If we look into the dictionary and search for the meaning of ‘Optimism’ we usually get an idea of what it is. The idea of looking on to the more favorable side of events or conditions is the basic definition of the word. But to think of it, how many of us are actually optimistic when situations come? How do we see the glass at a glance? Half full or half empty? It might be any of the two, but the hope of positivity is something that gives a meaning to our lives and fills our heart with happiness. Among the many other stories I have, there is one favorite incident of mine that I want to recall but before that, I would like to thank IndiBlogger for bringing forth this wonderful topic to write upon and giving us all a chance to tell our story to the world.

Today, when we see the world around us, we see loads of mishaps happening. Incidents starting from rapes of women of all ages to road accidents and many more are coming into view like hot cakes. We, the citizens, sit back home and probably do nothing other than discussing what others should do and what they should not. We think of not letting the women of our lives go out late at night and impose certain rules on them. But do we ever think about the victims? How they are coping up? What should we do to avoid these things rather than suffocating the women of our family at home? The answer is NO!

One day, a group of friends were discussing about the issue. They were all trained in martial arts. They wanted to do something for the women of our society. If not anything drastic, they wanted at least to arm the women of their safety when they are out of their homes but they didn’t know what to do. They knew, the pessimistic world wouldn’t allow them to do anything. But they believed in finding positivity among all the negativities surrounding the environment. They wanted to break the shackles of pessimism. They planned on moving ahead with the plan they had made and visited each and every household of the neighborhood so that they allow the women of their family to join the self defense class they have started.

No one allowed the women of their family to join. You know the reason why? The founders of the class were boys! Days passed by but their classes weren’t getting any students. They were starting to give up when one day a girl went on to them and asked them to give her classes. As they started giving her the self defense classes, many more women of the area started to open up and come forward for the classes. Slowly, word spread out and today, there are almost 50 women and girls of all ages who come in batches and learn self-defense. They have their branches in many places and they plan to expand too. The charge is free, allowing women from all kinds of households to join the classes.

A few days back, when I accidentally met one of the founders in an event and talked to him about the whole scenario and the things they are doing, I felt that positivity still reigns. Optimism is the key to a wonderful future ahead!

P.S.: https://housing.com/lookup.

I would always prefer chatting over a phone call!

New in the city? Transfer from work? No budget to buy new things to set up your home? Quikr.com has taken care of these problems for a long time since its inception. In today’s time, Quikr.com has become one of the most used sites where one can sell and buy items of their choice. Not only that, you have a valley of options to choose from and you can also take anything for rent. Real estate, gadgets, appliances etc are something’s that are very common to the site.

Even after all these pros of the site, there is one thing that is a very big con of the site. The con is that all the communications that has to be done for buying, selling or renting items from the site has to be done through phone calls. This problem has been there with the site for a long time. People don’t have enough time or the facility of talking any time over phone to negotiate deals and that’s why the complaints have been ticking in. To solve this problem, as a remedy, Quikr.com has come up with Quikr Nxt. This service is more like an application that is available under all platforms. The service is a sigh of relief for all the sellers and buyers at quikr.com.

The biggest facility that Quikr Nxt gives is that all the communications that has to be done with the prospective sellers or buyers can be done through chats. I personally have used the facility and am very satisfied with it. I would always prefer a chat over a phone call for many reasons.

1)      With respect to the field I am in, I am mostly outside or in different meeting where attending a phone call is something that I can’t do all the time. It is not possible. It might be that I am outside or maybe in a very important meeting or doing a work or may be sleeping and then a call comes. It is sure to say that I won’t be able to receive the call or calls which can make me lose the confidence of the buyer and I might not be contacted again. To solve this, chats are way better where we can talk anytime without any disturbance to the situation I am in or to the buyer.

2)      There are many moments where the prospective buyer wants to see the pictures of the product I am supposed to sell and its features via a photo but the e-mail is not accessible every time. For such moments, Quikr Nxt’s application has a photo sharing feature which allows us to share the photos in a jiffy within the chat and that doesn’t even waste time.

3)      For the last reason I would prefer chat over a phone call is that, I am very forgetfull by nature. My scheduler is something that I look forward to whenever it comes to meetings and other important schedules. Among those important schedules and the numerous calls, it is almost impossible to jot down the important points given by the prospective buyer and what I have told to whom. The chat feature of Quikr Nxt is one feature that helps me revisit the chat history anytime for different buyers so that I can anytime know what has been told to whom without much hassle.

Apart from these, there are many more such reasons on why I would prefer chat over a phone call. All thanks to Quikr Nxt for coming up with such a feature for all the users. I would like to recommend the same for every perspective buyer and seller out there.

Note: This article is a part of  http://www.quikr.com/.

Fight Pimples the Garnier Way!

Being a girl of the 21^st century, I, personally have to face a lot. My face is an open book. It reflects what I feel. It knows how and when to go under a mask and when to become fully written pages. Whatever stress I have or even the slightest bit of tension, shows directly on my face in no time. 

Mental stress teamed up with the pollution and dirt all around disturbs my sensitive skin and pimples start to show up. I would be wrong if I say that it doesn’t affect me and my daily routine because at times it surely destroys everything. I thank IndiBlogger and Garnier for giving me the opportunity to write about these.

Pimples are something that is more like the black spot on the moon. No, I am not calling myself the moon but I believe the face is like the moon- soothing and talkative. Our face is like the first impression that we give on people. And a face with pimples is really not the exact much anticipated first impression. I have noticed in many places that a pimple spoils everything. If I have a pimple or two and I am supposed to meet anyone or go for a meeting, it actually stops me.

Pimples are something that is very difficult to hide. Make-up and concealers only do worst for the pimples in place of correcting them. People notice our pimples first before looking at us. I had once become tired of hiding those pimples under glasses and with dupattas. A pimple can be a very big turn-off when on a date. Pimples stay for a day or for even months. I thank Lord, for my pimples doesn’t stay for long but it at times leave s apart that is not much easy to remove.

Garnier Pure Active Neem Face wash is something that I tried on an advice by a cousin, when I had a few pimples and trust me; I was really shocked with the results. The effect started in an instant and in just a few days time, my face was pimple free. From then on, I started using the Garnier Pure Active Neem face wash twice everyday and that surely gives me a glowing, smooth and pimple-free skin. Today, I can proudly go in front of the world rather than hiding my face from them because now, I fight pimples. I recommend Garnier Pure Active Neem face wash to every girl and boy so that they can go in front of the world, carefree. Cheers to Garnier!

Note: This article is a part of bit.ly/GPABlogLinkIndiBloggerActivity and bit.ly/GarnierPureActiveNeemWebsite 

How do you plan to propose your crush on Valentine’s Day? The bold the better!

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, just a few days and the atmosphere will be such that there will be love in the air. For me, the preparations start a bit early each year.


Saraswati Pooja; which comes before Valentine’s Day is called the Bengali Valentine’s day and so being a Bengali, Bengali valentine’s day is celebrated by me. This year, everything was special. Just to mention, this would be me and my fiancée’s first anniversary and 2nd Valentine’s Day together. For the same reasons, I was very confused as to what special shall I plan for him. I thank IndiBlogger for giving me the opportunity to write about this because this made me actually think about with my plans.

For the special day, after loads of thinking, I have come up with an idea. Knowing that we both are not too much extravagant at our choices, I wanna spend the afternoon, brunching with him at a roadside junk food stall. Before all, I plan to do everything that he likes; starting from wearing the color he loves to eat at the places he likes. I wanna then, take him to that place where we had seen the light of our relationship. Both of us are not too expressive in front of each other, so by the mighty Ganges, I wanna sit there, holding his hand and placing my head on his shoulder. I wanna see the river Ganga with him and see our future through the waves of the river. I wanna see our life there as the sun sets and the darkness engulfs us.

I wanna hold his hand tight and look into his eyes and say “Life’s like the water of the Ganga. It’s pure yet it’s impure. It’s clear yet unclear. Everyone has problems in his/her lives; it’s upon us to decide what we want to do with it. Lead it with dignity and love by taking whatever comes to us with a smile or just leave it like that. I want us to face all those problems together; I wanna grow old with you… I want you to live for me, for I live for you…”

Following which I would like to gift him the surprise I have planned for him. I would love to see the glow on his face when he will open the gifts I got for him. Finally, I plan to end the day with a quiet dinner by the river side. For I feel, after a whole day full of love; sharing from the same plate and feeding each other can only be the perfect end to the perfect date. When he comes to drop me home, I wanna hug him tight and whisper in his ears “I love u…”

Note: This article is a part of http://cupidgames.closeup.in/

Rise Above your fear..!

“Fear is a fact and one has to take risks in life to succeed.”

I totally agree to the line stated above. Fear is surely a fact that exists and one has to take risks in life to be able to succeed the mission and rise above the fears. Fears can be of different things, different people depending on the person. Some might fear stray dogs, for some might fear something big but life doesn’t stop. You cannot stop going to a road that leads to your destination because your fear is more dominant in it. Overcoming the fear is something that everyone should do to succeed in life. For me, I fear so many things, some things really silly while some where threatening. But there is one fear I had overcome while on a vacation with my family.

Hill stations, I love them. Once, on a vacation with my family I had visited this lesser known hill station. Steep narrow lanes through the mountains led our way to the destination. It was night by the time we reached our hotel. Having nothing much to do, sitting by the bonfire we spent the whole night, never knowing what the next day morning had in stock for us.

Mornings at hill stations are quite serene if we can call it so… Beautiful, enriching, lively. It is something that one can die for. So enticing that one can stare at it for hours at a stretch. But I had lots of things to do that day so I didn’t have the time to sit and stare at the morning passing by. We had to move to our sightseeing.

After a whole day of sightseeing we finally went to a place that was mostly like a fountain. Rocks, pebbles and water. After one point, all I could see was water running down the mountain and I knew, if anyone slips, he/she would be dead and the chances of finding the body were weak. Very weak.

I am a kind of person who loves clicking pictures and capturing moments. That day, on a photography spree I went ahead on two three rocks to click pictures, and through the cam lens, saw the whole view. Suddenly, I heard panic. As I looked back, there were so many people pointing at one direction and shouting ‘save him’

I tried going back to my original place, and was going to slip once or twice while going. Somehow I managed to go back to my place. I ran to the place where people were standing to get a better view of knowing what was happening. As soon as I saw a boy, in his early teens struggling to hold a rock to save on his life, I ran to the safety department of the spot.


Life savers came and pulled the boy back to the rock, thus saving his life. His parents, who were howling till then, sobbed hugging their
son back. Kissed him. And hugged him as if it was the end of the world. Everyone had tears in their eyes. And that day, I overcame one great fear I had… The fear of losing a beloved! Because then I knew, when it’s not the time, no one can take anyone away from a person, every one conspires to keep them together.!


PS- This post is a part of https://www.facebook.com/mountaindewindia

Submissions for Read Fingers!

For the people of today's 'literary' world, being known and being published is one of the biggest goals in life. For all those who are reading this now and having the same wish, here is a wonder opportunity for you all...

Dear Friends,

This is to announce the launch of Read Fingers, a platform for writers, publishers, readers from India and around the world.

In its first edition, Read Fingers are inviting writers to submit their work in following topics : Season of Love, Personal/Political, Crime Fiction, and Poetry. Translations from other languages into English will also be considered. We accept excerpts from longer pieces, such as chapters from a novel, provided it stands alone as a complete work, we will not publish incomplete stories.

The Preferred word count can variable though; prose pieces have an upper limit of 6,000 words.

Deadline: December 31, 2014.

Email your submissions to info@readfingers.com, with ‘RF Submissions’ in the subject line.

Ensure the following and you can get published:

• You may submit up to three pieces of work at a time, under different genres. 
• Please ensure that the work you send us is free of spelling errors, typographical errors, grammatical errors or syntactical errors. 
• All submissions must be original and previously unpublished. 
• Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis (not clear), and the date of online publication is the sole discretion of the editorial board.

We are a penniless start-up, so we don’t pay. We promise to discontinue this practice as soon as we can. So we request you to be with us till then and enjoy the journey.

For more information, visit www.readfingers.com

I am sure this opportunity will bring out the best in you! Awaiting your amazing writeups! 

A healthy child makes a happy home

I kept on thinking and thinking. I didn’t know which incident I shall write about. I didn’t know how to write about it. And then finally I got a chance. Indi Blogger Happy Hours has given me a chance of coming out of the confines of my confidante and expressing my feelings to the whole world. The feelings of holding a new born baby in my arms, the feeling of seeing the baby grow up to be a fine gentleman. The baby I am talking about here is the son of my cousin sister, my nephew! To be frank, he is the first kiddo of our family after me and we have a huge age difference. More of a son-figure to me, he is one gem of my life.

His birth brought with himself loads of memories, loads of love, laughter, happiness. One of the most loved, pampered boy he is. Whenever he comes around, all we see is laughter, fun going around. One bolt of fresh air he is. Ultra talkative, he can’t even sit quietly for a sec at one place. Such a boy he is. He is learning to write, going to school and he always has a bunch of stories to tell to everyone around him.

Even the quietest of the quiet lot of kids become notorious when he is around. When he goes back home from our place, his laughter echoes through the corridor of the rooms. Our mostly quiet home again becomes quiet. One day, he was scolded a lot for being notorious when a serious discussion was going on and tears welled up in his eyes; and witnessing that scene everyone had wet eyes. Our gem was upset.

One day, he scratched me hard and I shouted in pain. I didn’t scold him but all people around me scolded him a lot for scratching me, he started crying and guess what? All his demand was that he wanted to come to me. I was quite upset that day because of people scolding him and I closed the door of my room and was sitting alone. Suddenly I felt someone tugging at my feet, I realized it was him with a plate of food (he was only 2years old then). I pulled him up to the bed. All he did was he took the food and tried feeding me. Trust me, as I type this today, around 2years have passed of that incident, but I still have tears in my eyes. I had hugged him tight that day.

Once I heard that he was not well. For time constraints, I couldn’t go and meet him but when after few days he came to my place with my sister and I saw him; he looked really sick. He had fever. He had gone thin. The laughter and smiles that used to be there when he came were no longer that day. I tried cracking jokes, playing with him but all I was getting was frail attempts from his end. I couldn’t see him like that anymore. All the smiles were gone, all the laughter had vanished. I cried to sleep that night.

A few days had passed when my mom called up my sister to know about their whereabouts and I could hear him shouting my name from there. We all were so relieved. Next time when he came to my place, everything was back to normal. Everything was just as it always was and I couldn’t have been much happier.

This incident and a few more of them make me think and feel yet again that yes, a healthy child surely makes a happy home!

PS- This post is a part of
https://www.liveveda.com/daburchyawanprash/.

WordBite and Vanya's Notebook Book Giveaway #2| Operation Mom | by Reenita Malhotra Hora

Operation Mom! What is the first thing that comes in mind when you get to hear these words? No no! It’s not Operating Mom or something like that. It’s a simple story of a 21^st century teenage Ali Zafar Groupie daughter trying to get her mom a man and a ‘life’… Seems Interesting, isn’t it? For more insight on it, here’s the blurb for you-

When you try to set your mom’s life right. Be prepared to have your own turned upside down. Seventeen-year-old Ila Isham has serious problems. There’s the angst of being an Ali Zafar groupie, for one. Then there are the extra layers of fat she owes to her Punjabi roots. Add to this, parents who have separated; an enthusiastic best friend whose idea of variety is dating three guys at the same time; and her mom’s best friend, Aunty Maleeka, whose good intentions and savvy ways throw up more problems than solutions- and Ila’s got her hands quite full. When her mother flips out over her plans to stalk Ali Zafar, Ila decides she has had enough and sets out to create a few distractions to keep her mom busy. With a little help from BFF Deepali, Aunty Maleeka and Dev of the inviting chocolate-pool eyes, Ila will have to brave everything from Lagaan.com and OKCupid profiles to meeting handlebar-moustache colonels and middle-aged psychos, as she tries to set up the perfect parent trap for her unsuspecting mother.

Eager? Eager to read it? Hands itching to get hold of the book? Guess what? Here is an opportunity! We, in association with The WordBite are giving away copies of this book to some of you lucky readers! But before that, let’s play a game! Rules are mentioned below and trust me, it’s not that tough! Just a few steps… ready? Here we goooooo……

1.      Ok! To Begin with, you got to like The WordBite’s official FaceBook page HERE!

2.      With that done, please do not forget to follow Vanya’s Notebook at our twitter handle @vanya4all HERE!

3.      And now the real game begins—All you got to do is tweet your first thoughts on the book with the hashtag #OperationMom and tag @vanya4all in it!

Trust me, the people with the best answers would be chosen personally by the authoress and they would receive a copy of the book with a Personalized message from the author for them!

And yes! Do not forget to post your review once you are done with the book!

For any queries, please comment on this post and we will get back to you!

You have time to post your tweets till 4th of November'2014! Hurry up!!

Pssssstttttt—For all you guys who are still unsure, don’t think much An interview of the authoress, a review of the book and a few words on the book are somewhere out there in the blog, just keep scrolling down!! J