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This post serves a few purposes:

One is to test the WordPress mobile app. So, if you are reading this then it works.

Two is to announce a collaborative writing partnership in the next couple of weeks. Very exciting.

Also in a couple of weeks (which brings us to no. 3) is the launch of a solution-based service to better serve the Latino (and everyone) community. Super exciting.

Wepa!

WARNING: Read at your own risk. Some material here can be graphic and explicit, and may be offensive to some.

A few years ago I went to the Dominican Republic on a family trip and was awed by a freshly killed pig hanging in an open market as we drove by. We pulled over and enjoyed the tastiest meat we’ve ever experienced.

You see, I’ve never been inspired by meat coming out from the supermarket. The killing of live animals is a deeply rooted cultural practice – ritualistic. In some cultures we’ve sacrificed them, revered them as holy, and have dedicated parts of a religion to the cleanliness of such actions. Meats in supermarkets are a perversion of such traditions: they are prepackaged, stored for long periods of time, and there are concerns of quality, steroids, and more recently drug resistant bacteria (25%).

Enter Viveros.

At a younger age, my parents took me to a vivero around 116th street and I was overwhelmed with its intimacy: The close proximity of chickens hanging upside down; the variety of animal parts displayed in plastic containers all conveyed a message of respect and thankfulness for food – they were displayed in their full glory and not packaged up to be hidden away in some icebox.

Just be honest with yourself - isn’t fresh meat just more natural? The argument of this being a barbaric practice is nonsense; an average American consumes 110 pounds of meat a year, and whatever is not consumed may be applied to a woman’s face as makeup.

For a couple of years now, I’ve been musing about viveros.  My wife thinks I’m nuts, because I’ve told her countless times that I wouldn’t mind doing the deed myself, and given the opportunity I’d buy my own vivero because I think it is a great way of getting back to nature; it can also be a very good business, especially with all the problems we have with meat these days (thankfully, Mark Zuckerberg adds some modern day and cross-cultural validity to all of this as he’s only eating meat that he has killed himself).

That last statement now brings us to the reason of this post. The marriage of the old and the new can produce some quite compelling outcomes (look at social media today as a revamp of conversation).

Here’s are 10 thoughts (in no particular order) on how/why viveros can be a great business for our day and time:

1. Offer the meat for delivery via online/mail order to increase reach
2. Viveros are ‘different’ than many meat businesses: Market the vivero as the freshest meat you can buy
3. Tap into multiple interest groups online
4. Positive publicity: Create a clean, modern environment for the butchering of animals
5. Celebrity endorsement: Get Mark Zuckerberg to support (okay, he may not bite here but a celebrity spokesperson – Mark Zimmerman? – is not a bad idea)
6. Text or video testimonies add credibility: Make available as an extra service allowing customers to kill their own meat
7. Tap into niche markets: Make natural menus and recipes (moms, cooking, foodies, lifestyle etc…)
8. Tap into the different cultures and provide traditional recipes made from non-traditional meat parts (sopa de médula, tripas, etc…)
   
9. Use social media tools to tap into relevant conversations and promote
10. National reach: Market this to Hispanics and especially non-Hispanics

I think with a sound campaign that taps into people’s conversations and concerns can make this traditionally local business a viable internet/mail order business. Vivero-franchises anyone?

What do you think?

UPDATE 06/01/11: A comment about the post prompted me to put up a warning for readers of possible offensive material.  I’ve also learned that vivero in Puerto Rico is used for the selling of plants (gives reason to why I saw all those pictures of plants on Google).
UPDATE 06/02/11 0: Another comment has informed me that what I outline above more or less DOES exist on the West Coast. I’ve also learned that LA is very ethnic oriented when it comes to food and the East Coast is more interest orineted (marketing/foodie).  And further, they use the term carnicerias. Don’t you love the internet?

I firmly believe that there are not many new ideas. Most ideas are a mash-up and repackaging of old ideas and account for over 90% of innovation.

That being said, whenever I see a meeting/seminar that I’m interested in, but am short on the time I go to Google and search the topic. Usually, I find most of the information already present online in readable format which saves me a lot of time I would of taken out to attend a seminar that I could of learned from the comfort of my own home.

Caution has to be taken here that the information found is relevant and timely. An immediate con is you loose the networking opportunity and anything a speaker may say that is unique. Other than a major conference most of these events can be circumvented in this manner.

Somewhere, somehow blogs became less sexy in pop-culture.  I can understand why, but as social media matures there will be more.

Here are two new blogs that hit the pavement:

The Orange County Register – It can be difficult for us to connect with each other. So we have created this blog in an effort to help bring together the many segments of Latino Orange County, the many viewpoints and the many experiences.  We want it to become a place where the many voices of Orange County’s Latino communities can be heard, where people can come, exchange information and ideas and get to know each other. We want it, too, to become a welcoming place for anyone who seeks to share the warmth, hospitality and confianza that makes us who we are.  OC Latino Link

El Pasajero – Responding to an increasing Latino population and ridership, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Friday launched “el pasajero”, the nation’s first blog in Spanish from a major transit agency. “We have to recognize that the majority of our customers are Latino,” said Marc Littman of Metro. “We want to put a Latino face on Metro, so people can identify that it’s not just white bureaucrats running this agency.” (A little known fact is that I once had a Transit Blog covering NYC transit – don’t bother searching as it’s down and was a very long time ago.)

This event just appeared on my radar:
The 3^rd Annual iConomy Expo: A Business, Career, Finance & Technology Event

Featuring moderated panel discussions and seminars on such topics as: money & finance, entrepreneurship, social media, technology, home based business opportunities, effective networking, career options career development, real estate, education, health, consulting, secondary income opportunities and how New York politics & policy affects our communities.

This just appeared on my radar, and it’s happening this Tuesday.

Like all business owners, entrepreneurs face challenges with sales, marketing, financing, staffing and a host of other issues. Building on the success of HPNG networking events, HPNG Entrepreneur events will deliver live, one-on-one interviews with successful entrepreneurs and government officials. We’ll discuss business strategies, sales and marketing and ask our guest speakers to share best practices and learn how they overcame their business challenges.

After the interview, attendees can network and service providers can showcase their products or services by way of exhibits and a learning theatre. This learning theatre allows exhibitors to deliver a 3-minute elevator pitch to the audience about their product or service.

I’ve been informed that there’s an opportunity for two (2) bloggers to attend for free an meet NYC Small Business Commissioner Robert W. Walsh.

Contact me through the options on the Contact tab if you don’t already have my number.

Subtitle: At the right place, at the right time

There’s as much opportunity to network as there is desire to do so, but some choices are better than others when reaching your goals.

The above photo is a case in point.  The larger stack of business cards are what I obtained from 3 days at the  Hispanicize 2011 Latino social media & Hispanic PR conference vs 3 days at South by Southwest (SXSW).  Both conferences were great, however the Hispanicize conference yielded more contacts and opportunities as the event was directly aligned with the content and direction of my blog, business and social media endeavors.

It helps to focus on what your goals are and identify the opportunities that arise to help you reach them.  From there, the decision should be easy.  It’s a matter of choice.

The Architect: …as you adequately put, the problem is choice. But we already know what you are going to do, don’t we? Already I can see the chain reaction: the chemical precursors that signal the onset of an emotion, designed specifically to overwhelm logic and reason.  - The Matrix Reloaded

If you’re a blogger or business whose focus is on the Latino market you really need to be at the Hispanice 2011 Latino Social media and Hispanic PR Conference, otherwise I doubt you’re a solid “player,” and are losing a HUGE opportunity.

Just look below at the sick array of brands and businesses that are sponsoring or supporting Hispanicize (and there are a ton more!), not to mention being backed by the Hispanic Public Relations industry.  Latino social media has entered a new beginning, and it’s pretty hardcore.

If this is not your thing, then it’s not your thing.  See you at another event.  But if this is your playground, then you really, really need to go -  tickets are almost sold out!

So if you’re serious about building your business, brand or blog and are concerned more over money, than hanging out in the digital space I hope to see you there.

Check out the official flagship website by the way – Hispanicize, and Facebook page and Twitter.

Recently, I’ve met individuals who are doing some great things.  Most were unknown to me, but they are cut from the same cloth – they understand that they can have their cake and eat it too.

Please, help me meet more individuals in the Latino community who have something new going on, or have the confidence to take on something new and are looking to make something happen.  There’s a lot of opportunities around and the cake needs to be passed on.

So if this means you or you are reading this and know anyone please feel free to refer them to me.  You can either do it through the contact form, FB, comments, etc…