This is where many young village girls end up if they leave the family farm. China has thousands of factories that manufacture every product known to man (and some that are not known). These factories employ a mostly female workforce because women are easier to control.
The workers are paid an average of 1000RMB per month plus housing and food. Since these factories are huge and the only things near by are more factories, there’s really no where for the girls to spend their money. Most will send the funds back home to help their families.
The jobs are very repetitive and I’m sure extremely boring. However, it pays many times more than working on the farm back home. Add in the fact that the living costs are zero since the company provides food and housing and the girls find themselves in a situation many American workers can’t seem to reach - positive cash flow.
The Nameless City Worker
Jobs in the city pay more than jobs at the factories. However, the cost of living in the city is much higher as well. It’s not uncommon to find 4 or 5 people sharing a small apartment. Most unskilled jobs in Shanghai pay 1000 to 2000 RMB per month. Because of the low wages for unskilled workers, business create a lot of redundancy by employing a bunch of them. The restaurant industry is a prime example. They’ll have multiple greeters at the door and who knows how many more waiters inside. On our train ride to Suzhou, there was a greeter at every single train car.
While the unskilled city worker may have access to far more entertainment choices than one of the 250,000 workers at the iPod factory, they generally don’t make enough to really entertain themselves.
The English Speaking Worker
In a city like Shanghai, being able to speak English opens up a world of new possibilities for the Chinese worker. Speaking English also means more money - 3000 to 5000 RMB per month. For example, in order to work at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, all employees (except cleaning staff) must be able to speak English or another language. The Grand Hyatt pays a lot more than a local hotel. Then again, they charge a ton more too!
A worker can make more money if he has a collage education. However, even if the worker is unskilled, as long as he can speak English, he’s worth more than three times an unskilled worker.
The Western Educated Worker
At the high end of the working class is the western educated worker. An English speaking employee with a western education is highly prized in China. Wages start at 17,500 RMB per month and many times, the company will pay for all or part of the housing cost. In a country where the average factory wage is 1,000RMB per month, starting at 17,500 puts these workers in a very elite class.
It used to be that most western educated Chinese student would stay in the West after graduation because the opportunities are greater. However, this is no longer the case and most students now choose to return home after getting their degree. Look at it this way. A new grad will make the same wage working in the US or China. However, the wage of the new grad in the US isn’t 17.5 times greater than the average US factory worker. Chances are, the US factory worker makes more than the grad.
The great need for educated employees has allowed many US and Canadian citizens to seek work in China. You can expect your wages to be about the same as what you would make working at home. However, because the cost of living is so much lower, you can live pretty high on the hog. That is, as long as you stay away from Pudong.
This Post Was Brought To You By
Best Credit Card Offers Get up to $250 or even FREE round-trip plane tickets by signing up for hot credit card offers and bank deals!
Put Your Website to Work - Monetize your traffic today! Join Neverblue Ads and access 1000’s of high quality offers. With advertisers in every vertical, you’re sure to find some high converting ads to help monetize your traffic.
So, you’ve got a kick-ass idea for how your new website should look and you have it all designed in PhotoShop. Unfortunately, you don’t know the first thing about HTML and CSS, so you really have no clue how to convert your design into any sort of usable web code. This is precisely where a service like that offered by W3-Markup comes into the picture. As you’ll soon find out in this review, they may know their stuff, but W3-Markup also has its limitations.
Why Hire W3 to Code Your Site?
Even if you are reasonably familiar with CSS/HTML production and how to convert a PSD file into something that can work for the web, it can be a time-consuming and frustrating experience. At least, that’s what W3-Markup says on their page that answers the question of why you should choose them. They promise that they will deliver what you need with hand-coded production using any style that you want. They guarantee on-time delivery and they are able to offer a fast turn-around.
In addition to coding your website, W3-Markup is also able to offer “numerous core competencies to more quickly grow your site to profitability.” These include social media marketing, conversion rate optimization, copywriting, user experience web design, and Linux web hosting. They say that they are able to help you save time and earn more. “It’s money in your pocket.”
Where Have I Seen Their Work Before?
When looking at web designers and coders, it’s always important to check out some of their previous work. This gives you a good indication of what they are capable of doing and gives you better peace of mind that they will be able to handle your project. Looking at the examples page, we discover that W3-Markup has worked with a wide variety of companies and individuals, including our good friend Neil Patel.
I’m assuming that all the customers featured in the examples section volunteered to be featured as such, because when you click on one of the examples, like Neil Patel’s QuickSprout, you are greeted with the design of the site, as well as the raw HTML/CSS code for the design. Doesn’t this just make copying the design so much easier?
It should be noted that while W3-Markup is perfectly happy to convert your Adobe Illustrator, Fireworks, or Photoshop artwork into CSS/HTML code (and optionally coding it for various content management systems), they don’t design websites. They say that they want to focus on code production only.
What about Customer Support?
There are no fewer than three ways to get in touch with the W3-Markup team. They have a company blog that doesn’t appear to be updated very often. Presumably, this is where they are going to post any sort of company news and announcements that may be of interest to current and potential customers.
The second option is the live chat. This, of course, only works when there is actually someone on the other end. The third and final option is through the contact form, where you will also be able to find their 888 phone number. Having a toll-free number really adds to the professionalism. Strangely, there do not appear to be any names on the W3-Markup site at all. It’s such a faceless entity.
How Much Does It Cost?
Slicing PSD into HTML doesn’t come cheap. Considering that you’ll still need to do all the designing yourself, W3-Markup is not exactly one of the cheapest options out there. Going to the submit order page, you can customize your order and get a precise price quote. A single page with a 7-day turnaround costs $139. Bump that to a one-day turnaround and it’ll cost you $369. Additional pages come in at the same price, but they may be a multiple page discount applied as well.
That price provides you with the basic HTML and CSS files. Beyond this, you can add options like liquid layout width ($14), Safari compatiblity ($9), drop-down menu navigation ($9), and favicon creation ($19). As you can tell, these layout, coding, and advanced options really start to add up. Getting the code in a form other than XHMTL/CSS also costs extra. For example, translating the code into a WordPress theme comes in at a $279 premium. You can see how a single design with a few options and WordPress integration can easily run you as much as $1000. You get a 5% discount for full payment up front. Otherwise, you need to provide a 50% deposit.
While I appreciate the professionalism presented by W3-Markup, I find it unfortunate that they don’t have any in-house design services and the various “options” almost sound like they’re trying to nickel and dime you. That said, you probably get what you pay for. W3-Markup seems like they have some pretty happy customers, including Microsoft!
I invited Michael Jiang of Blog In The Wall to join us for dinner. Michael is one of my readers from Suzhou. I don’t know how many readers I have in Suzhou but Michael was the only one who emailed me asking for a meet up. We went to a restaurant near my hotel and had a traditional Chinese dinner.
Meeting readers is something I never get tired of. One of the reasons I started this blog was to meet new people. The blog has allowed me to create many new friendships, many of them will last a lifetime. While you maybe able to put a price on the money this blog makes, you can’t put a price on the friendships it has created. Friendship is priceless.
I would have liked to take Michael out to a bar or club after dinner. However, China is in three days of mourning for the victims of the earthquake. All bars and clubs are closed. It was great to meet up with Michael. I hope to meet more readers as I continue on to Taiwan.
This Post Was Brought To You By
Put Your Website to Work - Monetize your traffic today! Join Neverblue Ads and access 1000’s of high quality offers. With advertisers in every vertical, you’re sure to find some high converting ads to help monetize your traffic.
Best Credit Card Offers Get up to $250 or even FREE round-trip plane tickets by signing up for hot credit card offers and bank deals!
This post was guest blogged by Nick Sullivan of Internet Babel.
One thing I always try to keep in mind when writing a new post or coming up with a site idea is being different. You have to remember that most things you have said or are about to say, or can think of saying, have been said. Many times. By many people. Which is fine. It’s extremely hard to come up with content that is literally 100%, absolutely, indisputably unique in every sense… the web is just too old already. But what you can do, is stand out from the crowd; By saying the same stuff in a unique way. Take this post for example, what I’m saying in this post isn’t particular special, there are lots of posts about being unique. But I bet the title probably made you want to read because it provokes you to want to know HOW to stand out. Also, the way I’m writing this post hopefully makes you want to keep reading…
Being unique in such a way as to make people double take can be challenging. It can be done however with some effort, time, dedication and creativity. If you think you’re not creative, think again. Everyone is creative in a way. Even if you don’t have a supreme way with words or incredible talent, your best asset is the ability to say things in a way that other people can’t. Which you can always do. There’s always something about an individual that makes them unique, it’s just about employing your own unique qualities into whatever you do.
I’m starting to veer off into unfamiliar territory here though, sounding cheesy and philosophical; So, I’ll get back to Internet marketing now. Or more specifically, blogging! Here’s 3 ways you can help you and your blog stand out. No doubt this has all been said before but don’t worry! It’s all good.
1. Post prolifically.
One method of gaining readers seems to be constant, non-stop posting. I’ve seen some blogs like… covered in AdSense, pretty scummy content yet because they post about 5 times a day… people subscribe. It’s quite a weird physiological quirk but seems to work. So add this factor to GOOD content and you will stand out.
2. Get a unique design.
There are lots and lots and lots (and lots) of blogs on the Internet. One very obvious way to stand out is to get a unique design. And I don’t mean get a free Wordpress theme and tweak the CSS. I mean actually pay top designers to make a design that absolutely defines your blog. Such a way that it gives your blog character.
They all have designs that define them and their blog. They give the blogs personality and you feel you can recognize and affiliate a certain aspect to their blog that you can’t with others. Most blogs don’t have this quality. If you have the cash, splashing out on a proper design is well worth it.
3. Be controversial.
Obviously being controversial will get you noticed. But don’t do it in a bad way. You can be controversial without being an a-hole! Just voice your opinion, subtlety call people out, disagree with things you ACTUALLY disagree with. All makes way for serious debate, long discussion and of course; Attention. Write passionate posts about things you are passionate about, it will come out a lot easier and you will also be able to voice your real opinion with more ease.
If you actually look at successful bloggers, business men or really ANYBODY successful in any conceivable subject, art or other; They all have one thing in common. They stand out. The Beatles stood out because other people didn’t sound like them, Mike Tyson stood out because other people couldn’t fight like him, Einstein stood out because other people couldn’t think like him. You have to find a way of separating yourself from the common bunch. Learn to live with your habits and use them to your advantage because unless you do, you will end up stealing other people’s habits subconsciously and making their work, your work. Becoming a member of the common bunch, turning no heads and raising no eyebrows isn’t a good thing. Don’t worry what other people think, do what you think is right, voice your opinion at all times on the web and follow through on your ideas.
If you currently own a blog, have just read this post and have just woken up to the fact that your blog doesn’t stand out. Change it! Focus obsessively on being different until you actually are different. Being unique is very important these days, especially in blogging, especially on the Internet and especially in this niche.
While almost everyone will know what Shanghai is, most people wouldn’t have a clue where Suzhou is or what’s it’s famous for. Chances are, that mouse and LCD screen you’re using right now, came from Suzhou. Logitech has their plant in Suzhou, as does Benq and a bunch of others.
However, I’m not in Suzhou to visit the factories of my sponsors (that would be a cool idea, however). Instead, I’m in Suzhou to see what old China looks like. Suzhou has many old gardens and temples dating all the way back to the Ming dynasty. I’m also here to meet up with a John Chow dot Com reader. I’m sure I have more than one reader in Suzhou. However, he was the only one who emailed me so I’m taking him out to dinner. See you guys later!
This Post Was Brought To You By
Put Your Website to Work - Monetize your traffic today! Join Neverblue Ads and access 1000’s of high quality offers. With advertisers in every vertical, you’re sure to find some high converting ads to help monetize your traffic.
Best Credit Card Offers Get up to $250 or even FREE round-trip plane tickets by signing up for hot credit card offers and bank deals!
