Since its creation in 2016, The Scribbling Geek has undergone significant content expansion and restructuring.
I still view it as a blog but with over a thousand posts covering everything from Singaporean festive events to products reviews to movie reviews and photo essays, I think I’m not wrong to say my site is now closer to being a mini lifestyle and entertainment portal, with an emphasis on Singaporean content.
This latest profile rewrite, my fifth attempt, focuses on introducing myself and the site in a more, erm, professional way. I will also share my current editorial focus and scope, and more importantly, offer you an idea of what to expect should you wish to collaborate with me on content creation, reviews, event announcements, etc.
And because I’ve finally acknowledged that few people … wanna read a 2500-word profile, however well-written, I have a long and short version this time around.
Have fun reading! Or click to jump to the relevant sections.
- The Scribbling Geek Introduction – The Short Version
- The Scribbling Geek Introduction – The Extended Version
- 1. Who Are You?
- 2. What Are Your Professional Capabilities?
- 3. What Kind of Site Is The Scribbling Geek?
- 4. What Is Your Writing Style?
- 5. Are You Published on Other Sites?
- 6. Are You Active on Social Media?
- 7. You Have So Many Topics! Why Don’t You Focus on Just One or Two Niches?
- 8. What Is Your Content Focus for 2023/2024?
- 9. What Sort of Content Do You NOT Accept Submissions For?
- 10. What Happens When I Submit a Press Release to The Scribbling Geek?
- 11. What Are Your Requirements for Content Submission?
- 12. How Do You Review Products?
- 13. How Do You Feature Events?
- 14. Do You Accept Sponsored/Paid Content?
- 15. Do You Have an Editorial Calendar?
- 16. Back to Yourself. Why Do You Rarely Post Pictures of Yourself?
- 17. Any Favourite Books, Movies, Travel Destinations, Etc?
- 18. What Are Your Site Statistics and Is There Anything Else You Wish to Say to Your Readers?
The Scribbling Geek Introduction – The Short Version
I’m a content creator with over 20 years of experience in marketing communication, copywriting, and graphic design. My site began as a blog mainly featuring mainstream movie reviews but has since evolved into a mini Singapore lifestyle and entertainment portal with readers mainly from Singapore, the United States, the East Asian Region, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Currently, I welcome press releases and editorial submissions for Singaporean events, promotions, campaigns, etc., on the following topics:
| Arts & Music | Comics (American and Japanese) | Consumer Electronics |
| Content Creation | Digital Music Production | Food & Beverage |
| Home Decor | IT Accessories | Movies |
| Mythology | Singapore Attractions, Festive Events, & Workshops | Singapore Staycations |
| Storytelling | Video Games (Console & PC Only) | World Culture/Mythology |
I also welcome collaborations (reviews) for the following products and services:
- Consumer Electronics
- Food & Beverage
- IT Accessories
- Lifestyle Gadgets
- Movies
- Singaporean Attractions, Workshops, Events, etc
(Refer to sections 8 to 13 below for more details on submissions)
Frequency of Posts: I average 3-4 per week.
Rate Card: As I currently do not accept paid content and advertisements, I do not have a rate card.
Preferred Communication: Email me at cyong74@scribblinggeek.com.
The Scribbling Geek Introduction – The Extended Version
1. Who Are You?
I always struggle with this question, despite my marketing communications (marcom) and commercial writing experiences. I never do seem to know how to describe myself.
But if I must …
I’m a Singaporean writer and ex-entrepreneur; yup, I used to operate a small marcom agency. The famed Myer Briggs test consistently describes me as an INFJ, or “Advocate,” so theoretically, I’m wired for jobs that focus on communication. Writing, photography, music, design, content creation, etc.
Like most INFJs, I’m prone to overthinking and burnout; I rarely go to bed without something still in my mind. Thank goodness, though, I’ve learned how to moderate/harness these negative aspects in recent years.
2. What Are Your Professional Capabilities?
I have a messy academic and professional background—I’ve no shame in admitting this. I started writing fiction in secondary school and was decent enough to be selected for the Creative Arts Programme by the Ministry of Education in JC1. After my national service, however, I majored in communications instead of arts/literature. My academic focus, back then, was communication research.
After I obtained my degree, I did another about-turn and started a small marcom agency. That stuck for over 15 years and to be honest, are the years that I try not to remember.
But running that tiny company did refine my current skillset, which for the moment includes reporting, fiction and non-fiction writing, copywriting, photography, graphic design, SEO, and office cleaning. (I’m superb at keeping a small office clean and organised!)
In the context of The Scribbling Geek, this means I’m an equipped content creator. I can create a full-length post for just about anything, with decent photos and videos and SEO optimisation and all. Whatever I create will at least look semi-professional too.
3. What Kind of Site Is The Scribbling Geek?
I started this site with mainly movie reviews and short rants. The rants are long trashed but I still post 3-4 movie reviews each month. To that, I’ve added Singaporean festive photo essays, product and service reviews, pop culture listicles, Singapore event/attractions write-ups, travel articles, video game articles, Yamaha Electone music posts and videos, and so on.
It’s a big basket of many things from eggs to hammers to TVs, I know.
But it’s not all messy. For the moment, I would liken this site to the “Life” section of a broadsheet, albeit one with a smaller scope. Like most such sections, I have columns featuring niche content too. Such niche content would be my Electone arrangement posts and video game travel write-ups.
I’m an ambitious person. Down the road, I will progressively add more topics.
3a. Target Audience and Demographics
As far as 2023 is concerned, 70 percent of my daily traffic is from Singapore, the United States, Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Singapura takes up the lion’s share of this, no pun intended.
Each year, I enjoy reasonable traffic from Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Taiwan too.
It’s hard for me to further define my readership, though, or pinpoint my target audience as I write about a lot of things. Generally, I would say readers visit my site for details and pictures about Singaporean events, attractions, promotions, etc. Part of my readership is also here for my product and movie reviews, and my free Yamaha Electone music sheets.
In short, this site provides an informational service.
3b. Rate Card
I don’t have a rate card as I’m currently not accepting paid content and advertisements.
3c. Frequency of Posts
I average 3 posts per week.
4. What Is Your Writing Style?
For this site, I typically use an informal voice; one that’s conversational too.
For my other content on sites such as Owlcation, I adopt a semi-academic tone. If not, I stick to a standard news-writing style. (I was a campus reporter for 3 years …)
Obviously, having worked in the industry for so long, I can spew corporatespeak even when asleep. But I avoid doing so.
Whichever style I use, I try to be straightforward, informative, objective, and minimal with florid embellishments. For example, for reviews, I’ll always tell you what I like and dislike about the product. But I will never glorify. Neither will I condemn.
5. Are You Published on Other Sites?
Other than The Scribbling Geek, my content can be found on several vertical sites of The Arena Group. These sites are part of HubPages, one of the brands of The Arena Group and as of 2023, still one of the most resilient revenue-sharing writing sites of the United States.
(Forgive me for bragging. I have over three million views at these sites)
Apart from the above-mentioned sites, I’ve also written for Your Japan and Taste of Cinema.
Lastly, like so many online writers, I have a Medium account. But I rarely publish there.
6. Are You Active on Social Media?
I’m antisocial, so I’m not.
I’m kidding. I have accounts on all the usual social media platforms, but YouTube is the only one that I regularly create original content for. The rest are more or less avenues where I promote Scribbling Geek content.
I do have substantial engagements for my Pinterest account, though. And oh, my ranking and views are pretty high on Google Maps and TripAdvisor as well.
7. You Have So Many Topics! Why Don’t You Focus on Just One or Two Niches?
Yeah, ain’t that the truth … But as I mentioned earlier, I intend for The Scribbling Geek to be alike the Life/Entertainment section of a newspaper. So …
8. What Is Your Content Focus for 2023/2024?
Please refer to the short version of this profile for the topics I welcome press releases, editorial submissions, and professional collaborations for. These topics indicate what I will focus on till end 2024.
9. What Sort of Content Do You NOT Accept Submissions For?
With apologies, I decline submissions for the following topics:
- Business & Entrepreneurship (Not really my thing anymore; don’t think such topics will do well here too)
- Finance & Investment (I’ve unglamorously lost more money than I’ve ever made)
- Love & Relationships (Absolutely appalling track record on my part)
- Medicine (Absolutely no expertise)
- Socio-Political (Had enough of politics to last me several lifetimes)
- Adult Entertainment (Although I’m a very adult person, believe me)
10. What Happens When I Submit a Press Release to The Scribbling Geek?
As much as possible, I try to reply to all submissions. If I forget and you really need an answer, please email me again.
Should I accept your submission, one of two things will happen:
- If it involves an event that I’ll be attending, I will first put up an Announcement/Promotion post. After the event, I’ll either supplement the original post with new pictures and text, or do up a new Diary post, i.e., a special feature.
- If your submission is purely informational, I’ll just put up an Announcement/Promotion post.
Please note that for Announcements and Promotion posts, I’ll be mainly using your submitted text, with appropriate changes for house style, tone, etc. If you need to be credited, please let me know in your initial email.
For events that I’ve attended and posted about in my Diary category, I will also put up social media posts down the road, so as to stretch the publicity duration.
11. What Are Your Requirements for Content Submission?
I don’t want to make life/work difficult for anybody, so I’ll only ask for the following:
- Your submission can be in MS Word or PDF format. For the latter, please do not protect the file. If I have to retype, I wouldn’t share your press release.
- Submitted images should be high-resolution and at least 1000px in width. I have AI software that can intelligently enlarge images but there’s only so much my digital buddies can do. We cannot enlarge a 200px picture five times and ensure it still looks good.
- If your pictures are stored on the cloud, please let me know if there’s an expiry date.
- I do not wish to impose a word limit, but obviously, an announcement that’s a mere 200 words long isn’t going to do well as a post. I think 600-700 is the bare minimum.
- Please, please ensure that you have the right to use whatever content you submit. If I kena copyright complaints from publishing your submission, I will seek redress in a most antagonistic way.
12. How Do You Review Products?
Nowadays, I read reviews for practically everything that I buy and what I hate most is when reviewers bury their opinions under jargon. Or focus so much on expounding technical features, personal experiences are neglected.
My product and service reviews therefore always focus on my user experience. I also minimise the use of technical terminology and exposition. This style, in turn, means my reviews are meant for general audiences. I am not the right writer for reviewers targeting niche audiences. That is, unless I am part of a niche audience. (For example, the Electone market)
Being a … positive person, I always focus on what’s great about a product or service. That said, I think today’s learned population will immediately be sceptical if I do nothing but sing maudlin praises. In other words, if there’s something that’s “not so great” about a product or service, I will mention it if relevant to my user experience. I will do so in an objective, neutral manner, and leave the full evaluation to the reader.
Lastly, I think it’s tough for most readers, myself included, to fully grasp the worth of any product without some sort of comparison. You bet a person evaluating Smartphone Awill constantly be wondering how A compares to Smartphone B and C, and so on. Thus, if necessary, I will mention competing brands. But again, I will do so in a neutral manner.
12a. The Low-Down
When I review something, I review. I will not hard sell. Neither will I swoon nor condemn, or trash the competition. I share my user experience.
12b. Turnaround
My standard turnaround is two weeks. If I require longer, I will inform.
13. How Do You Feature Events?
Since The Scribbling Geek is ultimately still a lifestyle blog, my event features are alike mini travelogues. Here are some samples:
By the way, if I attend your event, I will definitely feature it ASAP. That is my professional assurance.
14. Do You Accept Sponsored/Paid Content?
I’ve long welcomed sponsored/paid content. But the following keeps happening:
- Submitted articles are written in terrible English. I spend more time editing these than writing the darn articles myself.
- Worse, some submissions contain stolen pictures, plagiarised text, fraudulent claims, etc.
- This one takes the cake. I get all these backlinking agencies writing to me proclaiming how much they love my content, etc, and then they propose online gambling and CBD content. I.E., topics that’d get me prosecuted if published in Singapore.
So nope, I’m not accepting sponsored/paid in the foreseeable. It has simply gotten too annoying.
15. Do You Have an Editorial Calendar?
I wouldn’t call the following an actual editorial calendar; my news writing prof will grade it a C at best. It’s more, of a list of what I’ll definitely write about each calendar year.
For all, deadline of submission is two weeks before the big day. If you submit beyond that, I might still publish the info and I’ll inform you if I wouldn’t. However, to be fair to all, your info will be listed last.
| January | Chinese New Year Celebrations Light to Night Singapore |
| February | Valentine’s Day |
| March | Ramadan (Please note that Ramadan “shifts” earlier each year) |
| April | Mother’s Day |
| May | Father’s Day Chinese Dragon Boat Festival |
| June | June School Holiday Events i Light Singapore and related events |
| July | National Day Celebrations |
| August | Singapore Night Festival |
| September | Mid-Autumn Festival |
| October | Deepavali |
| November – December | Christmas and Year-End Celebrations |
16. Back to Yourself. Why Do You Rarely Post Pictures of Yourself?
Like I said in previous versions of this profile, I rarely post pics of myself because I’m unglamorous and awful looking.
I’m not regurgitating this as some sort of lame humour. My real message: I can’t do glam shots. And so when I feature a product, I can’t include glitzy shots of myself using it. The same goes for events.
17. Any Favourite Books, Movies, Travel Destinations, Etc?
I don’t have any favourite books or movies; I’m in love with too many. My favourite travel destinations are Japan, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and Italy.
Tragically, I’ve never been to the United States and I really, really love to spend an autumn in New York. You know, hanging out with lawyers at Hell’s Kitchen, taking selfies with babies at the Dakota, finding the quickest way to Harlem, interviewing the city fathers over supper, and so on.
Well, maybe after my retirement.
18. What Are Your Site Statistics and Is There Anything Else You Wish to Say to Your Readers?
Average traffic, domain authority, etc, for The Scribbling Geek can easily be obtained for free at sites like Similar Web and Ahrefs. I welcome all to take a look.
To my readers, I hope you find the information you’re looking for on this blog. If not, I hope my content entertains you! If you have any topic or event that you’d like me to cover, please drop me an email at cyong74@scribblinggeek.com.
Ced Yong
