Mise En Scene

In the last decade, freelancing has emerged as a viable option for earning for a lot of people. From the US to Pakistan, the Philippines to India, and Europe to Africa, millions of people offer their services as freelancers. According to Exploding Topics ,1.57 billion people the world over are self-employed. Despite the upsides of freelancing, such as flexibility, convenience, independence, etc., there is a flip side. Here are some of the cons of freelancing: Lack of consistency: Sometimes, you will be working on several projects simultaneously; other times, there will be dry patches when you struggle to find work. This could be due to a lack of opportunities or lack of resources such as sales or bidding experts who can keep the sales pipeline full. Freelancers are usually a one-man army and they have to wear multiple hats. Simply put, sales may not be their cup of tea. Taxes and Expenses: Whether you are an employer or employee, you have to do the taxes. Different countries have dif...

  Desi films, or those made in South Asia, have mesmerized one-sixth of the world’s population for over a century. Each year it drives millions to the cinema. The actors working in the film industry are revered like angels. But despite its attraction, it has its flip side. Let’s look at when desi films lied to us: 1.   “Rainy” Songs Although monsoon is a staple of the climate of the sub-continent, our films have taken the liberty of exploiting this weather phenomenon. Almost every other film has a dance sequence in the rain where the poor heroine must get drenched (no matter the weather, i.e., summer or winter) to woo her heartthrob. No one bathes in the rain in public in the entire subcontinent. It comes first in the list of lies told by Desi films. 2.    No consideration for the weather conditions  The poor heroine has to wear skimpy clothes, especially a saree in the snowy mountains. One wonders how these songs are shot in the first place in that severe cold ...

Today, I am going to talk about a topic that is quite different from what I cover. I have been reading eBooks and read them from the first page to the last, literally not omitting anything—from the copyright info page to the final "About the author" page. AI image - Microsoft Edge Co-pilot One thing that stood out to me, and left me feeling a bit turned off, was the disclaimer by the author stating that they are not responsible for any damage arising from the use of their book. It reads something like this:  "The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, that is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book." It bothered me; how can you not be responsible for any damage that arises from your information? When something good happens to the reader, you proudly post it as testimonials and reviews. For example, Tom made $1000 f...

 Recently, I had an epiphany regarding job interviews. After one interview, I was told that I appeared uninspiring. I admitted this, but I also pointed out that many people struggle with verbal communication—millions of introverts, to be precise, who find it challenging to articulate their thoughts. The idea behind interviews is that candidates will clearly detail their experiences, skills, and qualifications when asked. It relies on the assumption that each candidate will verbally reveal this information without any hiccups, and the person who expresses it most effectively will get the offer. However, this concept is flawed from the foundation. Verbal communication is just one aspect of communication. When we learn any language, we actually develop five skills: speaking, listening, reading, writing, and comprehension. A person may be adept at writing but struggle with verbal expression, and vice versa. Even the most confident and expressive individuals can go blank during intervie...

I remember when I was in college (Colleges in Pakistan are equivalent to High School in the US; I'm not sure about other education systems, so please extrapolate accordingly), I read a line from an English textbook that stuck to my brain like glue. It read, "There is such a frenzy in the wasps’ colony/nest that they chew the rear of the larvae and feed it into their mouths." I don't recall the exact wording, but this bizarre idea clung to my mind for years. I would often wonder how some creatures could be so ridiculously stupid. That was until I discovered the hodgepodge of content on LinkedIn called collaborative articles. From the sublime to the ridiculous For those unfamiliar with collaborative articles on LinkedIn, they are AI-written articles or pieces of content. The other half of the articles are based on the experience, tips, and insights of experts. Well, that's what they're supposed to be. However, what 'experts' are doing is taking the AI-wr...

LinkedIn has changed from just a place for professionals to connect to a spot where people share lots of different things they create. But as this change happens, there's a big problem: many people aren't giving credit to the original creators. It's like how in Pashto music, once a song gets popular, everyone sings it without caring about who made it. Similarly, on LinkedIn, when someone posts something good, others often copy it or share it without saying who originally made it. This isn't fair to the person who came up with the idea and it raises questions about what's right and wrong when it comes to owning ideas. It's really important for people on LinkedIn to understand and respect the work of others. Giving credit to the person who made something not only shows that you appreciate their work, but it also helps create a community where people are respectful and work together. Even if you can't directly say who made something, just mentioning that it...

When you hear "digital marketing," what comes to mind? Google ads, sponsored social media posts, maybe even those pesky pop-ups that follow you around the internet? Advertising and paid media indeed play a significant role in digital marketing. However, I can't help but feel a bit angry whenever I come across a job post or content that narrowly defines digital marketing as just advertising. Jobs that harp on advertising are looking for shortcuts, whereas marketing is a long-term process.  Let's set the record straight: digital marketing is not just about ads. It's a subset of marketing, akin to a vast ocean with advertising as just one of its many channels. Imagine you've allocated a budget for advertising. You launch a campaign, hoping for immediate conversions. But alas, your campaign falls flat like a damp oily cake. Why? Because you skipped the crucial steps of strategizing, researching your audience, building personas, segmenting the market, selecting the...