Robert Collier’s Principles Of Success

Action
Begin to free yourself at once by doing all that is possible with the means you have, and as you proceed in this spirit the way will open for you to do more.

Affirmation
You must intensify and render continuous by repeatedly presenting with suggestive ideas and mental pictures of the feast of good things, and the flowing fountain, which awaits the successful achievement or attainment of the desires.

Conflict
One might as well try to ride two horses moving in different directions, as to try to
maintain in equal force two opposing or contradictory sets of desires.

Desire
Plant the seed of desire in your mind and it forms a nucleus with power to attract to itself everything needed for its fulfillment. The first principle of success is desire - knowing what you want. Desire is the planting of your seed. Very few persons, comparatively, know how to Desire with sufficient intensity. They do not know what it is to feel and manifest that intense, eager, longing, craving, insistent, demanding, ravenous Desire which is akin to the persistent, insistent, ardent, overwhelming desire of the drowning man for a breath of air; of the shipwrecked or desert-lost man for a drink of water; of the famished man for bread and meat…

Giving
You have to sow before you can reap. You have to give before you can get.

Imagination
Pictures help you to form the mental mold...

Luck
All of us have bad luck and good luck. The man who persists through the bad luck - who keeps right on going - is the man who is there when the good luck comes - and is ready to receive it.

Obstacles
The mere fact that you have obstacles to overcome is in your favor...

Planning
Make your mold. The best flux in the world will not make a usable shape unless you have a mold to pour it in.

Success
Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out...

Visualization
See things as you would have them be instead of as they are.

FYI, Robert Collier is an author of self-help and New Thought metaphysical books.

10 ways to recession-proof yourself

Sleep & Get Rich! Out now in all major bookstores (except Borders)

ABOUT THE BOOK

Did you know that you could earn thousands of dollars in a day? Did you know you could do so without leaving home?

Sleep & Get Rich! offers valuable money-making lessons from inspiring people who have mastered a balanced work/family lifestyle by working passively.

This strategy-packed guide will reveal powerful but simple methods for striking it rich. Exclusive interviews with entrepreneurs prove how easy it is to get started and build a lucrative enterprise. The techniques you will discover in this book are realistic and everyone can take the step towards making passive income. Just one or two of these strategies will add significant dollars to your monthly income. In no time at all, they will put you in a position of financial security that will totally transform your life!

The people you will meet in this book are ordinary people — from housewives to IT enthusiasts, who are making tonnes of money while they sleep. Their real-life advice will give you a complete step-by-step blueprint for breaking through the obstacles that hold you back from living the life you want!

Find out how a full-time mum turned her e-book into a passive income stream that gives her five-figures, auto-pilot! Learn how one man overcame adversity to make his millions on eBay and be mentored by a successful investor on the tricks to getting a high ROI (return on investment) on your money.

So many people are profiting right now from passive income streams and so can you!


CONTENTS

1. Stock Market Genius — Keane Lee, T3B System
2. eBay Millionaire — Benjamin Marc Wee
3. Insurance Hotshot — Merry Riana, Merry Riana Organisation
4. Innovative Inventor — Dr Ting Meng Choon, HealthSTATS
5. Digital Media Maven — Virpi Tervonen, Golden Publishing House
6. Best-selling Author — Catherine Lim
7. Angel Investor — Landy Eng, eAngelz.com
8. Internet Marketing Guru — Larry Lim, Marketing Sphere
9. Real Estate Magnate — Mohamed Ismail Gafoor, Propnex
10. Network Marketing Expert — Dora Hoan, Best World International


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After having authored her best-selling first book, Boss of Me!, Pearlin carved a lucrative passive income pie for herself by publishing, together with her sister, an e-book on post-pregnancy diet and fitness — concrete evidence that Sleep & Get Rich! offers a blueprint for success!

A former journalist at Singapore Press Holdings upon graduation, she had a brief foray as a technologist — as the founder of an online barter site in 2000 and as a business development manager for CNET Networks Asia. Craving freedom and recognising that there is more to life, she took a corporate hiatus and enrolled in a pilates course to feed her soul. When not hanging around inspiring people or travelling, Pearlin spends her time giving private pilates classes and dreaming up more million-making ideas.


*******

Praise for Sleep and Get Rich!

“This book offers more than just inspiration fuel but also a compass for others to follow and tactics that you can put into action now.”

Brian Schwartz
Author of 50 Interviews


“This book is fabulous to read, easy to read and a must-read! It is the only book in Singapore that has condensed the success principles and belief systems adopted by the top 10 passive income earners. It will definitely open your mind to create multiple streams of passive income, whoever you are and whatever occupation you are in.”

Cayden Chang Kheng Mong
Master NLP Trainer, Director & Founder
Mind Kinesis Management International LLP


“Pearlin has written a book that espouses the old-fashioned virtues of knowledge and hard work.”

Barry Jones
Principal, Maroon Ventures

A rebellious Internet millionaire's 10 rules of success

At the recently-concluded Asian Internet Conference (AIC), I attended the brilliant presentation of Jo Han Mok, a renegade who became an Internet millionaire at 26 and below are his 10 rules of success:

1. It can be done!
2. Success is counter-intuitive.
3. Conventional wisdom is usually wrong.
4. Thoughts and actions have consequences.
5. Acknowledge that man in the mirror.
6. Forgive yourself, you are not your mistakes.
7. Nothing personal, it's only business.
8. Success is rarely achieved in a straight line!
9. I don't give a damn about what other people think, except those giving me money.
10. I am the centre of the Universe, it's ok to get my way.

To that, I'd like to add: Be Foolish and Bold! These 2 traits have brought me far and I believe that if I had been more rational and less upfront, I wouldn't be where I am today and my milestone-making new project (more on this later!) would not have materialised!

To find out more about this unconventional Internet millionaire, go to http://www.johanmok.net

Do what you LOVE!

Whenever I update my friends on my latest projects, I always get the same comments. "It's amazing how much passion and drive you have for your work!" or "You're so lucky to be doing what you love!"

HELLO guys! You can too! No one is putting a gun to your head and making you go to work every morning? Maybe I was a bit luckier. I got my wake-up call when I was a tender 26-year-old. After 5 years in the corporate life, I realised that I SUCK as an employee. If there was an award for "Worst Employee", I'd win it 5 years running. Late for work? Check. Watching movies when I'm supposed to be working? Check. Faking MCs? Check.

Then Pilates came along and saved my life. I fell head over heels in love with the workout and envisioned myself as a Pilates instructor. Being young and rash, I decided to give it a shot and see if I could do it. Listen, it is not all smooth sailing when you are pursuing your passion. My beginning was rough. I invested my savings in a Pilates course and when I graduated, I didn't know where to find work. I tried putting an ad at the local Cold Storage but no one called. Luckily, I met a friend who had just opened a studio and he took me in. That was not all. My first pay check was a measly $60. A HUGE contrast from my last paycheck of $6,000. But, you know what? I was so happy doing my Pilates that I didn't even mind. I loved what I did and would have done it for free!

I'm still enjoying Pilates today, after almost 8 years of it. But I have also found another passion and that is writing. What I do currently fulfills my life's purpose which is this:

To inspire people with my business motivational books and to heal with my Pilates.

Trust me on this: when you are doing what you love and your life's purpose, everything makes sense. I jump out of bed every day raring to work and sometimes, when I am in the midst of a writing project, I get insomnia because I am so excited and my mind is teeming with endless ideas. Sleep is not important at this juncture and I thrive on my passion. Unlike my working friends who live for the weekends, I actually abhore them and public holidays because no one is working and I can't work too.

I've tried to counsel some unhappy corporate friends in the beginning, but after a while, I realise that it is no use. It's all in the mindset - whether you believe that you can or cannot, you are right on both counts! I hear excuses like, "But I'm too old to start" or "I have no time". Hey, you can always start on the side first and I believe time is what you make of it. And, don't talk to me about having too much at stake to follow your dreams. In my 4th book about Internet marketing heroes, I profile a 38-year-old corporate bigwig who left a $250,000 annual pay to start at the bottom of the Internet marketing food chain...and he has a family to support too! (I'm currently working on a new writing project with 8 of Asia's top Internet marketing gurus - this is my "new baby" that is keeping me up at night and I am so excited that I break out into a little dance when no one's looking whenever I think of it - but more on this later!)

When I told my husband, who is a DJ at Zouk, that I'll be able to support him next year and he can quit his job. He told me, "Errr, but I still want to work leh." Now that is what I call true PASSION!

Ebooks Extraordinaire

This best-selling E-book author and publisher has her migration from Finland to Singapore to thank for her online success today. “During my year-long maternity leave in Finland I was pondering what business I could start in order to work from home. Because everything I came up with felt too risky, I decided to continue my academic career,” explains 37-year-old Virpi Tervonen. Open to seeing what life has to offer, she, her husband and then 10-month-old daughter left Finland and came to Singapore in 2004. Both Virpi and her husband came here to work. “I was keen to explore the world for opportunities and Singapore seemed exotic and different from the US or Europe,” she says.

However, coping with the new culture, language and climate took its toll. “I had just come direct from Finland where I spent one year at home looking after my daughter. Working long hours and getting used to the demands of new work in an environment that was run in a completely different way than I was used to in Scandinavia was all a little bit too much for me to handle,” Virpi reveals. That plus the fact that her daughter was spending all the time with the maid pushed her to quit her job as a senior researcher at the National University of Singapore.

She was inspired to start an Internet Marketing business after reading the book, The One Minute Millionaire by Robert Allen and Mark Victor Hansen. The book describes four ways to become wealthy – go into real estate, start a business, invest in the stock market or do Internet Marketing. Despite the fact that her Internet knowledge only extended to “using Google a few times a week to check stuff”, she decided to go with Internet Marketing as it seemed to demand the least initial capital to invest and smallest risks. “You can work from home and the ways to make money are endless,” she says. Nothing prepared her for the steep learning curve that loomed ahead, which she says is a blessing in disguise. “Had I known what I was getting myself into, I may not have done it.”

Now, sales for her digital book about acupressure for pregnant women gives her five-figures a month on autopilot! In fact, she makes so much money that her husband has quit his job and now stays at home with her. “It took me a little bit more than a year to succeed. That may seem like a long time but compared to the time I took to get my Ph.D. to earn $5,000 a month as a researcher and now, when my income has multiplied and I have my dream lifestyle, one year is nothing,” she asserts.

Find out how she did it in Sleep & Get Rich! Out end of December in all major bookstores (except Borders) and Amazon.com

He made US$900,000 in one month on eBay!

Looking at his laidback manner, it’s hard to tell that Benjamin Marc Wee is a multi-millionaire with his fingers in several lucrative online businesses. “My entrepreneurial spirit started in school. I was studying at UC Berkeley and tuition fees were not cheap. To pay for them, I had to find ways to make money,” recalls the 36-year-old. At his university, students were required to clear their rooms after every term, so many of them threw their books out. Seeing a money-making opportunity, Benjamin bought all the old textbooks with his credit card and re-sold them to new students. He continued to do this for several terms, eventually doing so well that his business was bought out by a second-hand bookstore for US$200,000. Motivated, he continued to buy and sell; this time, gathering all the ‘junk’ dumped outside the student dormitories. “The school would hire a company to clear the stuff so I offered to do it for free. I hired Mexicans and carted all the goods, ranging from old computers to clothes, to eBay’s headquarters which was five minutes away. Then I sold them all online.”
When he returned to Singapore after graduating, friends and relatives were skeptical when he told them about his eBay business. “They told me to get a life!” Benjamin listened to them and got a job as a reporter at Reuters, writing energy reports. Then tragedy struck. His girlfriend back then had a miscarriage and passed away. Devastated, Benjamin stopped going to work and was fired. He was also evicted out of his apartment as he could not pay the rent. He moved in with his friend and after a few months of moping around, he decided that he could not continue living like this and he turned to what he knew best to make a living – eBay.
Leveraging on his creativity and skill, Benjamin designed websites selling digital products and sold ready-made web stores on eBay. They were a hit, and he sold 10 websites a month at US$3,000 to US$4,000 each.
A holiday in Japan changed his life and gave him the inspiration that netted him US$900,000 in one month on eBay! Find out what it is in Sleep & Get Rich! out end December in all major bookstores (except Borders) and Amazon.com

Sleep and & Get Rich!

Inside my second book, Sleep & Get Rich!, you will meet:

1.Stock market genius – Keane Lee, T3B System
2.eBay millionaire – Benjamin Marc Wee
3.Insurance hotshot– Merry Riana, Merry Riana Organisation
4.Network marketing expert, Dora Hoan, Best World International
5.Publishing maven – Virpi Tervonen, Golden Publishing House
6.Internet marketing guru - Larry Lim, MarketingSphere.com
7.Angel investor – Landy Eng, EAngelz
8.Innovative inventor – Dr Ting Choon Meng, HealthSTATS
9.Best-selling author - Catherine Lim
10.Real estate king – Mohamed Ismail Gafoor, Propnex

Sleep & Get Rich! offers valuable money-making lessons from inspiring people who have mastered a balanced work/family lifestyle by working passively. This strategy-packed guide will reveal powerful but simple methods for strik­ing it rich. Exclusive interviews with entrepreneurs prove how easy it is to get started and build a lucrative enterprise. The techniques you will discover in this book are realistic and everyone can take the step towards making passive income. Just one or two of these strategies will add significant dollars to your monthly income. And in no time at all, they will put you in a position of financial security that will totally transform your life!

Find out how a full-time mum turned her e-book into a passive income stream that gives her five-figures, auto-pilot! Learn how one man overcame adversity to make his millions on eBay and be mentored by a successful investor on the tricks to getting a high ROI (return on investment) on your money.

So many people are profiting right now from passive income streams and so can you! Sleep & Get Rich! will be out in all major bookstores (except Borders) and on Amazon.com for $15 from end Dec 08.

P.S. Excuse my lack of posts but I have been tied up at an Internet Marketing conference, waking up at 7am all the way till 7pm, after which I try to keep up with my social life before collapsing into bed.

Do you have what it takes?

"An entrepreneur is someone who works sixteen hours a day for himself (or herself) to avoid working eight hours a day for someone else." 

Laws of Boss of Me! individuals: 
1. Believe in yourself and always be nice.
2. Try everything as you only have one life - no rehearsals.
3. Always be the pioneer in everything that you do.
4. Help people passionately.
5. Thrive on challenges, not money.
6. Don't let adversity get you down, keep going forward.
7. Have an extraordinary idea...and the guts to pull it through.
8. It's better to feel like a million dollars than to actually have it,
9. Have passion and everything will fall into place.
10. Always give back more than you take.
11. Move up or move out.
12. Take risks and listen to your own judgement.
13. Never underestimate yourself and don't chase fame.
14. Never give up and don't be afraid to think big.
15. Hard work reaps rewards, there are no short cuts.
16. Make the most of what you have and think out of the box.
17. March to the beat of your own rhythm and exceed expectations.
18. Don't coast along, do everything to the best of of your ability.
19. Do well and you will be recognized and rewarded for it,
20. Be honest and stay true to your ideas. 

To find out more power secrets of successful people, check out my book, Boss of Me!, available at all bookstores (except Borders) in Singapore, Times in Indonesia, Books Kinokuniya in Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Amazon.com. 

Want to have your own autobiography? Check out my autobiography-writing service, Unravel, below.

1st, 2nd or 3rd child? Find out how it affects your business

Check out the Adler's theory about each of the birth order positions:

1. Self-starter. The only child is self-sufficient and doesn't mind playing alone. Though he is the center of attention, he will most likely express his uneasiness over it later in life.

2. Leader Material. The oldest child has a take-charge attitude and often functions as a leader when he is among his peers.

3. Driven Rebel. The second child is more competitive and wants to overtake the older child - so much so that he may rebel or try to outdo everyone. He is most likely the most driven individual in the family.

4. Tough Negotiator. The middle child may be even-tempered, assuming a "take it or leave it" attitude, and may have trouble finding his place. On the other hand, he could also turn out to be a great mediator or negotiator.

5. Certified Charmer. The youngest is frequently spoiled and may never be dethroned as the baby of the family-so much so that he is likely to have big plans fueled by the desire to outdo all his other siblings. Then again, youngest kids are often very charming and enjoy being the life of the party.

If she can succeed, so can you!

I've just finished reading Click Here To Order, a book about Internet marketing pioneers and one particular story wowed me.

Ladan Lashkari is a 20-year-old Iranian woman who has had to overcome some extreme obstacles on her brief but challenging journey to Internet marketing success.

If Internet marketing was a wrestling match, Ladan started the competition with both hands, feet and eyes bound. These are some of her obstacles:

- She lives in Iran where religious and political issues make it difficult for women to work.
- English is not her first language.
- She can't travel.
- Discrimination against her nationality.
- Discouragement from friends and family.
- Because of the US Embargo, she couldn't get a credit card, open a Paypal account, get a merchant account, have a bank account in US dollars, accept wire transfers or cash any USD checks - making it almost impossible for her to sell anything online!

Yet, she has surpassed all odds and now makes more money than 95% of the people in her country with her various websites. She attributes her success to her father's faith in her as well as her unwavering belief in herself and sheer, hard work.

She says, " If a young girl who got started when she was 16 years old, with no previous business experience, with English being her second language, with less than $30 to her name, in a country where you can't have a credit card or Paypal account and is under a strict embargo from United States, and so many limitations...if such a girl can succeed, how is it possible that you can't succeed - when you may not even have one of these limitations?"

For more information on Ladan. go to http://www/ladanlashkari.com

Think and grow rich!

I was just reading Napoleon Hill's biography online at http://www.woopidoo.com/biography/napoleon-hill/index.htm and it struck me that my work seems to mirror his. Like him, I am committed to interviewing successful people so that I can share their magic formula with people.

Hill interviewed 500 influential people in his 20 years, starting with Andrew Carnegie (who commissioned Hill to find the secret to success), Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and John D Rockefeller. I have interviewed stellar personalities like Mr Wee Kok Wah of Stamford Tyres, Lincoln Cheng of Zouk and MP Indranee Rajah for Boss of Me! and in my second book, Sleep & Get Rich! (obviously influenced by Hill's best-selling book, Think and Grow Rich), I tapped into the mindset of 10 top passive-income earners.

Not only has his work made him successful and rich (Think & Grow Rich sold 30 million copies and is still selling well today), but it has also made him realise that "thoughts are things" and that an individual can manifest his or her success simply by sharing ideas and learning from like-minded individuals. This really resonates with me as I first came across the book, The Secret, which champions Hill's philosophy two years ago, and since then, I have realised my dreams of becoming an author and have also become financially abundant. While doing research for my second book, I was so inspired by the publisher of a best-selling ebook that I created a weight loss ebook of my own (http://www.exercisepostpregnancy.com), and together with my sister, have created a lucrative source of passive income.

Hill says: "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Thoughts are things! And powerful things at that, when mixed with definiteness of purpose and burning desire, can be translated into riches."

Remember and believe in his seminal quote above and I have faith that you will be on your way to achieving your goals!

How to have maximum income in minimum time

Growing up I was taught that hard work and long hours are rewarded. However over the years I have found that some of the most successful people actually work fewer hours, are more productive, take fabulous vacations and still have time to exercise daily without fail. This is because they’re “working smart,” not “working hard.”

Here are the top 5 things I have learned from them:

1. Routine and structure are key. Develop yours and don’t deviate. Eat the same thing for breakfast, work out at the same time every day, sort through emails and phone calls in the same sequence each morning. Prioritize and be disciplined. Don’t get distracted.

2. Don’t do everything, just the most important. This requires a clear sense of what to follow through on and what to let slide. Successful people are absolute geniuses in this area. Find someone to model and carefully examine how they do it.

3. Do not procrastinate. Do the hardest, deadline driven activities first, then shift gears to the fun stuff.

4. Skip long winded conversations. Get to the point and stay there.

5. Do not over-delegate. Stay close to your business so you know exactly what to prioritize at any given moment. Maintain your passion for what you do and most of all, have fun!

excerpt from ladieswholaunch.com

If you've read The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss, you'll know that smart people work with these maxims. They look for efficient ways to achieve their goals and believe that life is more than just work.

Play is equally important and a fair amount of effort is expended to ensure that they have a balanced life.

"The faster I finish my work, the faster I can play!" - this is an adage I live by and my daily work motivation.

Back!

I'm back, refreshed and rejuvenated, from my 10 day sojourn to Nepal. From trekking in the Himalayas to waking up to snow-capped mountains, paragliding over vast valleys, rhino-hunting, elephant rides and white-water rafting - every day was magical.

Being out there in the mountains and mingling with the locals gave me the opportunity to take a breather from my work and life goals. I return, much more thankful for what I have and with renewed vigour to handle all of life's curveballs.

I also return to good news!

Popular mom blog, Mom's Take On Things, just did the very first review of my weight loss ebook, The Essential Post-pregnancy Weight Loss Guide. Check out the great article on: http://www.momstakeonthings.com/?p=1552

My guest post on quirky entrepreneurial blog, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, was also published, driving new traffic to my blog and rendering new leads for future guest posts.
Check out how my feature at: http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/blog/guest-post-business-first-aid-life-saving-tips-on-how-to-survive-the-economic-crisis-by-pearlin-siow

Respite

Excuse my lack of posts but I am preparing for my trip to Nepal this Friday. This will be the first time I am "roughing" it out...I'm usually more of a Banyan Tree Resort kinda gal than an "overnight in jungle" sort. But, I am looking forward to the challenge, and with my two other crazy girlfriends, I forsee it to be a riot. Still not sure how I can handle doing my business in the wilderness though...

I'll be back on the 16th and will have lots of exciting news to update on my work and from my trawls around the Net. In a way, I am looking forward to the technology fast and connecting with nature again.

Try not to miss me too much ;p

P.S. I will be giving a talk at the Popular BookFest at Suntec on 18 November at 5pm (Hall 601 to 603), so if you are around the area, drop by and say hi!

Get your own autobiography!

Want to document your illustrious career?

Keen to leave behind a legacy?

Now you can, with my new boutique book writing service – Unravel.

This idea was mooted by a few of my interviewees when I was doing research for my books, Boss of Me! and Sleep & Get Rich!. Many of these successful people wanted to share their life story with others and inspire employees with their thoughts and beliefs, in short, they wanted an autobiography written but lacked the time and skills to do so. They asked if I was keen to do it for them. My focus back then was on my books, so I said, ‘Sure!”, but shelved the idea to the back of my head.

Well, now that my book is done and I am free again, I am raring to get started on this new project. Thanks also to Tim, my book-writing compatriot who opened my mind to a new perspective and enabled me to see a lucrative business in books.

Writing books is an addiction, think I heard this from Dan Poynter, a famous author with over 100 books, and I understand where he is coming from now…

Unravel will give you the chance to immortalize your achievements for posterity, and I know everybody wants to leave behind a little legacy.

Here’s how it works:

- My writing service includes three meetings. The first will be an interview and information gathering, this will be followed by confirmation of topics and the final meeting will be a review of book contents. I will help you structure the message and layout the book contents.

- Timeline will be three months.

- Book can be between 50 to 100 pages long and costs will be discussed when we meet.

Additional services:

- I offer consultancy for cost-effective design, printing and distribution. All this additional costs will be borne by you, the client.

Benefits:

- You get to tell your life story and be commemorated!

- Your book will be distributed in bookstores and will inspire readers as well as open new business opportunities.

- You can distribute within your company to motivate employees with your autobiography.

- Your book will be written by me, a national-bestselling author and ex-ST reporter.

Unravel – it’s time to immortalize yourself! Drop me an email at pearlins@gmail.com if you’d like to get your autobiography.

About my book, Boss of Me!:


The people you will meet in this book pursued their dream jobs with a dynamic combination of bravery, support from family and friends, and lots of drive and determination. What these achievers have done can be repeated in many different fields and you too can transform your passion into something gratifying and profitable. Their incredible stories and real-life advice will help you think big and get started on the path to the right job, right now.

Motivating and inspirational, this is a pocketbook of big thinking and serves as an unconventional career guide for people who are wide awake to the power of right thought!

CONTENTS
1. Aldrin Quek — Dance Music Ambassador
2. Geoff Ang — Fashion-forward Lens Man
3. Lincoln Cheng — Nightlife Maven
4. Alvin Giam — Pilates Healer
5. Ling Hao — Edgy House Builder
6. Wee Kok Wah — Business Mogul
7. Cynthia Chua — Marketing Genius
8. Louis Ng — Animal Renegade
9. Chris Lee — Creative Cowboy
10. Dr Georgia Lee — Aesthetics Glamazon
11. Chua Shenzi — Youth Trend-setter
12. Kathryn Yap — High-flying Headhunter
13. Dr Lisa Ng — Life-saving Scientist
14. Daniel Tay — Baking Maverick
15. Lee Wai Leng — Acclaimed Artist
16. Ban Yinh Jheow — Millionaire Toymaker
17. Tjin Lee — Events Extraordinaire
18. Indranee Rajah — Superwoman Lawmaker
19. Wendy Leong — Captain of the Sky
20. Royston Tan — Bad Boy Film Maker

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pearlin Siow cut her teeth as a journalist at Singapore Press Holdings upon graduation. Bitten by the dot com boom in 2000, she left to found an online barter site but was lured back to the corporate world by the prospect of travelling for work as a business development manager for CNET Asia.

Currently a pilates instructor, Pearlin has also gone back to her first love — writing, spinning out words for local publications like Her World, Shape and Maxim, as well as foreign newspapers like the Saudi Gazette in Saudi Arabia.

Praise for Boss of Me!

"Pearlin has produced a highly readable book in a remarkably short time. Her subjects are fascinating and inspiring, and will undoubtedly spur many Singaporeans into outdoing themselves! "

Peter Ong
Managing Director, Checkout Australia Pty Ltd

"This easy-to-read book is full of powerful wisdom of success from real, ordinary people who have achieved extraordinary results in their career and life…Take heed of the words of wisdom and you shall find true success in whatever you desire. "

Timothy Chan
Founder of Certified Consultants Network

The cult of Internet Marketing

This industry has all the ear-markings of a cult. Ever since I stepped foot into it, I’ve been exposed to:

- A unique language understood only by those in the cult.
- “Guru” figures of whom many blindly follow.
- Bizarre rites and rituals.

If you know what a “squeeze” page is and you know who Derek Gehl is (locally, you'll have to know Fabian Lim and Ewin Chia), and you spend time obsessing over your “opt in rate” then you are a member of the cult.

If not, you’re an outsider.

These are a group of home-based entrepreneurs who, at the beginning of the technological revolution, saw opportunity and grabbed it.

These are the folks who weren’t necessarily the prettiest or the most popular kids in class – some of them are the classic geeks who played video games and built remote control toys, while other cooler kids were dating and listening to Duran Duran.

The Internet, especially Google, has allowed regular Joes to make a fortune online. It has put everyone on a level playing field, and how successful you are, really depends on your expertise and efforts.

To find out more about this cult, read Click Here To Order by Joel Comm. You’ll feel like you are peering into a bizarre fantasy world. This fantasy world though, is populated by very real people who just so happen to have accomplished some pretty fantastic things.

Goal-getting

I'm a big fan of goal-setting because:
1. The mind is an amazing thing and when it has goals in sight, it tends to achieve what you focus on.
2. Putting your intentions out there forces you to make good on them (I call it forced pro-activeness). Which is why I advocate that you tell your friends about your goals too.

So here goes my goals:
- Think about marketing plan for my second book, Sleep & Get Rich!, which is currently being edited (more details coming up!).
- Keep on tweaking my e-book, The Essential Post-pregnancy Weight Loss Guide (http://www.exercisepostpregnancy.com), so that it rakes in five figures a month.
- Explore my new business idea, Unravel (to be unravelled soon).
- Take up Internet Marketing course. I've already signed up for the Asian Internet Congress in December, and am looking forward to that.

To think about:
- Prioritising my current work. I have partnered with a business trainer to carry out seminars together. Our first event coming up next Tues has been overbooked (event details here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=44070134920). Unfortunately, these sessions clash with my evening pilates classes. So, I have to decide if I should cut back on my pilates and focus more on seminars. Problem is, I still really enjoy giving my pilates lessons and don't want to disappoint my clients.
Let's see how it goes next week and I should be able to make my decision...What do you guys think?

Time to get busy :)

8 steps for great marketing

You’re just starting a business and need more customers, right? You probably should be marketing.

But how? Do you advertise? Host an event? Send out press releases? Exhibit at trade shows? What does it really mean to market your business anyway?

In a sense, marketing is a combination of steps your business takes to identify, attract and retain customers. It includes everything from market research, advertising and packaging to the clothes your employees wear and the smiles on their faces. It may also involve billing practices, customer service, thank you cards, e-mail newsletters and the like.

Marketing is supposed to create awareness and demand for what you offer. So it’s imperative that you identify what sets you apart from the competition. Develop a simple sentence or two that defines the advantage or value you offer and how your customers benefit. Then walk through these simple, eight steps to prep for your marketing campaign.

1. Build a profile of your ideal customer. When you create your marketing message, aim it at them.
2. Base marketing initiatives on accurate information. Find what works for similar companies. Then test your ideas.
3. Make the buying process easy for customers. Simplify everything. Eliminate potential interruptions in the sales process and make decision-making as painless as possible.
4. Have follow-up procedures before you begin. Selling is seldom a single-step process.
5. List the unique benefits your business offers. Then look for ways to incorporate them into your marketing message. Make sure your marketing showcases the special knowledge and expertise your business offers.
6. Inform employees about your marketing objectives. Get them involved and keep them in the loop.
7. Think about marketing as a necessary expense. It gives you an edge with competitors, and it keeps employees motivated when your name is in the public eye.
8. Set a pace that lets you market continuously. Customer memories are short, and they are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages and images daily. Your effort must be ongoing or people will quickly forget. (One way to save money on marketing is to use effective in-house software.)

The bottom line
Marketing is at the very core of your business. It’s important to accurately position yourself before you spend money on it. Also, keep in mind that marketing is an ongoing process. If you treat your efforts with priority, your ability to identify, attract and retain profitable customers should increase.

excerpt from www.startupnation.com

C'mon get happy!

With all the stress we experience from our hectic schedules, we often forget to take time out. It's downright baffling that many of us feel guilty when we take a break or splurge on a much-needed treat.

You don't need to take a trip to an exotic location like the Caribbean or spend oodles of cash to make yourself feel good. Just check out these simple yet uplifting moves and pick one that will give you that happy buzz:

Stay positive. Too many bad days will take their toll on you. If you're always throwing fits and having meltdowns, your heart will suffer from a great deal of strain. Over time, this response could hurt the cardiovascular system, as well as weaken immunity.

Choose good friends. People with a close circle of friends could outlive those who claim to be contented with "strong family ties." Experts theorize that this happens because you experience more emotional stress with your relatives, whom you're bound to be with whether you like them or not. When it comes to your friends, it's likely that you enjoy their company more because you got to pick them.

Take leaps of faith. Playing it safe is good - but it may keep you from doing something great or prevent you from getting the best things that life has to offer. Risk-takers don't let the outcome of their ventures affect them. Whether or not they got what they wanted or missed it completely is immaterial. The fact that they had the guts to go for their dream goals is more than enough.

Get wet. The air around bodies of water is full of energy-enhancing ions that help bring oxygen to the brain. If the beach is a long way off and there's no pool near you, just open the bathroom window and get into the shower. This "wet session" helps energize and soothe your brain, which, in turn, leads to having clarity and a more positive view on things.

After all, it's not a crime to treat yourself well.

excerpt from www.simpleology.com

A degree is not that important!

In paper qualification-driven Singapore, it is refreshing to see people defy convention and succeed on pure drive and determination.

As in the case of fashion photographer, Geoff Ang, a Primary school dropout who now earns up to $80,000 a day. See his inspiring story below:

Power secret – Try everything as you only have one life, no rehearsals!

Quote: Stay hungry as you can never have enough success.

● Drops out of school at Primary 6.
● Works as a basket cleaner and coffee boy at dad’s company.
● Picks up photography and shoots his first job at 16.
● Becomes a sought-after fashion photographer and earns up to $15,000 per day.
● Works hard to impress his dad and prove naysayers wrong.
● Geoff is shooting his first feature film now.

This primary school dropout now makes up to $80,000 a day as one of Asia’s most sought after photographers. Geoff Ang started his photography career at a young age, dropping out of Primary 6 and going to work for his dad’s production house. “My dad said that since I can’t study, I’d better pick up a skill and be damn good at it!” he recalls. As the resident basket cleaner and coffee maker at his dad’s company, Geoff took the time to cultivate his interest in photography and shot his first job – a full catalogue for Wilson Sporting Goods, at 16 years old.
After the army, Geoff started a small studio, called Geoff Studio, within his dad’s company. All he had were two lights and a camera from his dad and he started shooting everything from bottles and flowers to food, basically whatever he could get his hands on to hone his craft. He wanted to do fashion photography very badly, but he knew that he had to build up his exposure first, so he shot food and interiors, even specializing in office and hotel interior photography at one point, just to pay the bills. His lucky break soon came. “I had to take portraits of Daniel Yun (of Mediacorp Raintree Productions) for Dunhill and he loved his photos so much that he tasked me to shoot promotional pictures for their top 30 artistes in Mediacorp,” says this 34-year-old. Armed with his portfolio and an arsenal of ideas, Geoff blew everyone away with his stylised, avant-garde pictures of the stars which were publicised in 8-Days magazine. This forward-thinking lens man then ploughed all the profits he got from the job, all $38,000 of it, into a digital photography system which allowed him to tweak, enhance and make his photos into surreal-looking works of art. It was refreshing and never done before. It jolted the fashion industry and all the editors of magazines started calling him to do fashion shoots for them...

p.s. Bill Gates, Google guys, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Steve Jobs and Oracle's Larry Ellison were all school dropouts!

For more inspiring entrepreneurs, check out my book, Boss of Me!, out now in all major bookstores (except Borders) and on Amazon.com.

8 ways to attract more wealth

1. Give Money Away.
It sounds counter-intuitive but the more you give, the
more you will receive (unless you block the receiving,
which ties into the next step). Always give money with an
open heart. Give in love.

2. Get Clear.
Most people push money away with their hidden limiting
beliefs, such as "money is bad," "rich people are evil,"
"I'm a victim of the financial crisis." Those are beliefs,
not facts. Get clear of them and money will come to you (as
long as you also do the next step).

3. Take Action.
Too many people sit and wait for money to materialize in
front of them. I believe in magic and miracles, but I also
believe that your role in the process of attracting money
is to actually do something to bring it your way. Act on
your ideas right away. "Money likes speed" is my favorite
mantra.

4. Support a Cause.
Want money for a larger purpose. I created Operation YES
to end homelessness. Raising hundreds of thousands of
dollars (or more) for that cause will remove any remaining
prosperity limitations within me. While I won't receive a
dime from Operation YES, my working on its behalf will
attract money to me in other ways, such as the contacts and
goodwill I'll create.

5. Be Grateful.
Be thankful for the money you have - which is probably
considered true wealth by people starving in third world
countries - and you'll begin to attract more money.
Gratitude sends off a signal of appreciation, which brings
to you more to be thankful for. Begin with whatever is in
this moment that you can be sincerely grateful for.

6. Do What You Love.
There's no sense in working at something you hate. If you
are currently at a job you don't like, find a way to enjoy
it for the time you are there while working towards doing
your passion. Following your passion is the greatest secret
of all when it comes to attracting wealth.
Ask yourself what you would do even if you were never
paid. That's a clue to what you should be doing and of
course finding a way to be paid for it. You can attract
more money from love.

7. Expect Success.
The mindset of expectation - expecting that you are now
attracting money and playfully looking around, asking "I
wonder how big money will come to me today?" - will keep
your brain turned on to seek and find opportunities. You of
course then have to take fearless action when you see them.
And most importantly...

8. Get the Support You Need Right Away.
One of the wisest things you can do to achieve any goal is
create or join a professionally coached support group. (In
fact, millions of people live day-to-day with no support
system to help them attract miracles or live their dreams.)
The idea is to be around people who can keep your energy
and inspiration high. While you can make some progress
alone, it's so much easier when you have strong support.

Excerpt from Dr Joe Vitale

Great minds think alike!

I was recently introduced to Brian Schwartz, author of 50 Interviews. If you like Boss of Me!, you will enjoy 50 Interviews too. Here's the book description in Brian's own words:

50 Interviews: Entrepreneurs contains ‘in their own words’, the unwritten rules of entrepreneurship. 50 empowering role models who prove that you can create something from nothing and in doing so inspire others to take action. What impressed me most after these interviews was the fulfillment that these individuals have in doing what they are passionate about and knowing that they are making a real difference in the lives of others. Whether you are an ‘armchair entrepreneur’, an existing entrepreneur or simply want to pick up some inspiration and useful insights, this book is for you."

The book is scheduled to be released in early 2009. You can register to be notified when the book is available at www.50interviews.com.

In times of turmoil like today, think we all need some uplifting stories to inspire us to stay focused on our goals and not be dragged down by doldrums around us.

p.s. Brian returning the love at http://www.careercliffnotes.com/

Weather the storm

Here's how you can not only weather but possibly thrive during this economic storm:

If you’ve got to find new ways to make loot, don’t fret. Just put some effort into finding which money-making opportunity might pay off the best for you. As others are worried about their jobs, why not find ways to augment your earnings in the short term by trying some of these ideas.

1. Investigate products you can sell on your website. Consider getting an affiliate account with Commission Junction or LinkShare
2. Sell your own educational products on your expertise, especially if it would help retrain someone out of a job.
3. Expand your offerings to cover new service or product ideas.
4. Shift your existing pricing with the current economy in mind: shorter terms, different payment options, one time deferred first payment, etc.
5. Seek stock opportunities to purchase for your portfolio in their depressed state (if you’re into stocks).
6. Look for project sharing opportunities, especially if you do something that’s somewhat modular like web work.
7. Look for ways to consolidate your business practices with other people. There might be economies involved in partnership that would make a world of difference.
8. Find ways to revamp old products or services or offerings and re-sell them today.
9. Turn 3 hours of your “after work downtime” into “serious business planning” work time.

Quick DON’Ts
Sorry to end on a negative, but while you’re at it, make sure you don’t fall prey to these kinds of situations.

1. Don’t sit around amassing news stories on what’s going wrong. Yep, stuff’s going wrong. Deal.
2. Don’t worry that big companies won’t buy your product or service. Find the product or service that they will buy.
3. Don’t join groups of fired coworkers, no matter what they say the goal is. They are often pools of negativity, and if those folks also don’t have jobs, why would you look for jobs there anyhow?
4. Don’t jump at the first thing just because you like eating. The second thing is almost always right behind it. Give yourself space to evaluate.

Smarter minds than mine will tell you how to weather the storm from the financial perspective, but maybe some of this will help you out.

Any other advice that you want to share with the gang?

Excerpt taken from http://www.chrisbrogan.com

My favourite quote today

Revenue always begins in dribbles. It is like rain showers. You always get a few drops of rain before the downpour.

Beautifully said. Taken from The Google Story.

p.s. I am laptop-less this week so excuse the lack of posts :)

About Boss of Me!

I have always been fascinated by successful people and their magic formulas. I devour all their features in the newspapers and watch The World’s Richest People diligently on Discovery Travel and Living.

My heroes include stock market billionaire and world’s richest man, Warren Buffet, who filed his first tax return at age 13, claiming $35 for deduction for the bicycle that he uses to deliver newspapers, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, who became the world’s youngest billionaire after a mere four years of setting up his social network phenomena and flamboyant Virgin CEO, Richard Branson who started out selling records out of a shoe shop.

In my view, a successful person doesn’t have to make millions, though most of them inadvertently do. He (or she) is someone who believes in himself and his dream. He pursues it, remains steadfast to his vision and emerges as the leader in his chosen field.

While I had endless books to peruse about self-made wonders in America, I could not find much on our local heroes - just bits and bops from newspapers and magazines. Taking matters into my own hands, I decided that I will unearth these amazing people in Singapore and immortalise their achievements in a book. They deserve to have their stories told and should get rightful space on the book shelves…and that was how Boss of Me! was conceived. I

n a way, I have always believed in being a boss of myself as I left a full-time job to pursue my passions and have now fulfilled one of my goals of being an author.

Picking the list of 20 to interview was a challenging task as I had to narrow my scope and pick only one outstanding person to profile in each industry. All of my interviewees followed their passions, worked hard and became outstanding leaders in their respective fields.

Once I started work on my book, everything began materialising like magic - I found my publisher within a day and by one week, 10 interviewees had said yes and I was frantically trying to slot them in for interviews.

Boss of Me! is my labour of love – done over three months of wonderful coffee sessions with my icons and I am proud to share with readers the power secrets and life stories of these 20 movers and shakers. Each of them lifted me up and showed me that impossible is possible - as long as you genuinely love what you do and go about doing it with your own set of rules.

I hope their stories inspire you as much as it did for me and serve as a reminder for everyone to stay on track to reach their goals. It is proof that you should not live out your life in a cubicle, if your passion lies elsewhere. Bite the bullet and follow your dreams - all you need is bravery, support from loved ones and lots of drive.

Table of contents:
1. Alvin Giam, Pilates Bodyworks
PILATES HEALER

2. Aldrin Quek, OneWithMusic
DANCE MUSIC AMBASSADOR

3. Geoff Ang, Geoff Studio
FASHION-FORWARD LENS MAN

4. Lincoln Cheng, Zouk
NIGHTLIFE MAVEN

5. Wee Kok Wah, Stamford Tyres
BUSINESS MOGUL

6. Ling Hao, Linghao Architects
EDGY HOUSE BUILDER

7. Cynthia Chua, Spa Esprit Group
MARKETING GENIUS

8. Chris Lee, The Asylum
CREATIVE COWBOY

9. Louis Ng, ACRES
ANIMAL RENEGADE

10. Dr Georgia Lee, TLC Medical Center
AESTHETICS GLAMAZON

11.Chua Shenzi, NewUrbanMale.com
YOUTH TREND-SETTER

12. Kathryn Yap, CTPartners
HIGH-FLYING HEADHUNTER

13. Dr Lisa Ng, SG Immunology Network
LIFE-SAVING SCIENTIST

14. Daniel Tay, Bakerzin
BAKING MAVERICK

15. Lee Wai Leng, Flee Circus
ACCLAIMED ARTIST

16. Ban Yinh Jheow, STIKFAS
MILLIONAIRE TOYMAKER

17. Tjin Lee, Mercury Marketing & Communications
EVENTS EXTRAORDINAIRE

18. Indranee Rajah, Drew & Napier/Tanjong Pagar MP
SUPERWOMAN LAWMAKER

19. Wendy Leong, SilkAir
CAPTAIN OF THE SKY

20. Royston Tan, Studio10Twentyeight
BAD BOY FILM MAKER

Chapter sample: Lincoln Cheng, Zouk



Power secret – Always be the pioneer in everything that you do!

Quote: Success to me is running a profitable business with happy employees.

● Attends Woodstock in 1979.
● Parties around the world in super cool clubs like Studio 54 and Hacienda.
● Introduces steel structures and luxury boating to Hong Kong.
● Lincoln proposes building a world class marina at Marina South in 1983 but is turned down by URA.
● Opens Zouk in 1991.
● Transforms it into one of the world’s best clubs.

Whoever says you can’t have fun and make tons of money at the same time has never met Zouk club founder and nightlife maven, Lincoln Cheng. Born in Hong Kong, he went to study architecture in the US and it was his chance encounter with Woodstock that forever changed his life. “I was doing summer school at Cornell University and Woodstock was being held just 30 miles away. Curious, my friends and I drove down to have a look. And once you’re there, with 250,000 people crowding around, there was no turning back and so we stayed for three days…but I shall not go into the details of what happened,” he recalls, relieving his hippie days with relish.

With his music interest fired up, he became a regular at legendary festivals like Summer of Love and Woodstock, as well as travelled around the world to party in uber-cool clubs like Studio 54, Paradise Garage and Hacienda. It was during one of his yearly jaunts to party island, Ibiza, where he caught DJ Alfredo, otherwise known as the godfather of Balearic house, a new blend of dance music that was very different from the usual pop tunes played commercially back then.

This new sound intrigued Lincoln’s savvy ears and he was hooked! “In the 1980s, dance music was very underground and it was only played in clubs for black or gay people,” explains this youthful looking 60-year-old. Recalling his early party days with much clarity, he says, “I hunted for secret rave parties that started at 6am and it was very exciting as we had to pick up clues along the way before arriving at the destination. We would make pit-stops at gas stations to call someone for clues or follow cars heading to the same party. They were fun times.”

When Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997, Lincoln decided to leave and chose Singapore because of its ‘English-speaking Asian society’. He ran a couple of businesses – from architecture to system furniture for the office, all of which did well, but Lincoln had a grander idea brewing. His dream came into fruition when he came upon an abandoned warehouse at Kim Seng Road. It was exactly what he had in mind for a super club. Together with four other investors, which he eventually bought out after a few years, Lincoln sank in $10 million dollars - an unheard of sum in 1990, to build his dream vision – a club called Zouk…

Boss of Me! is available at all major bookstores (except Borders) in Singapore and on Amazon.com for $15. It is also available in Malaysia, India, Hong Kong…and maybe Sydney soon.

How I tripled traffic to my blog in 1 month

Tired of spamming your friends? Here are some alternatives to increasing traffic to your website:

1.Contribute articles to content providers with a link back to your website. My favourites include Articlesphere.com and EzineArticles.com.

2.Make comments on relevant websites and blogs. One of my business tips got picked up by Ladieswholaunch.com, an entrepreneurial website for women, and circulated on their newsletter.

3. Subscribe to Help A Reporter Out (HARO) which is a PR email listing down media enquiries around the world. This is my best-kept secret and through it, I have contributed to many blogs and even had my book, Boss of Me! picked up for review by an Australian magazine.

4. Leave a signature in your email with your website address and link. This makes every email a PR exercise.

5. Offer to write for relevant newsletters. Don’t discount off-line links. Email links are equally important when it comes to marketing. I have offered to write for the email newsletters of Singapore Business and Association of Small and Medium Enterprise (ASME) starting from October – giving me 14,800 new eyeballs.

The best part? All the above strategies are FREE!

Life lessons learnt from F1

After a heady weekend of fast cars and parties, I'm exhausted and walk away with newfound respect for the Formula One drivers. Here are some life lessons we can learn from them:

1. Always be prepared

"You have to be ready for something that is coming but you don't know when or where," says Heikki Kovalainen. Just like them, we should always be three-steps ahead and anticipate all the twists and turns that life sometimes throws us.

2. Being mentally strong

The most important job for an F1 driver is to drive their pants off in the car. They have to be switched on 110%, as they need a good memory and awareness to communicate to the mechanics and engineers what the car is doing. Keeping our brain alert and sharp is crucial to stay ahead of competition and retain and delight our customers.

3. Physically fit

Formula One drivers need a unique combination of power, aerobic fitness and mental strength to handle speeds of more than 200mph and forces of more than 5G for 90 minutes at a time. They train like marathoners and are one of the fittest athletes around. Being physically fit keeps our brains active for the "marathon" of running our own business. Keeping well will also let you enjoy your fruits of labour better.

4. Being commited

These drivers race on average one-and-a-half days a week throughout the year, but the rest of their time is spent preparing for that. As I always like to say, opportunity is good luck combined with preparation...and lots of it! When you have done your homework and am on top of your game, you will be better equipped to make the most out of life's opportunities.

5. Never giving up

My heart went out to Felipe Massa who had an unfortunate pit-lane accident that robbed him of his potential victory. Despite being incorrectly given the green light, this guy with the big heart refused to blame anyone for the incident and instead vowed to give his best shot in overturning the gap between himself and Hamilton. If we could only learn one lesson from F1, this would be it.

How to prosper during the recession

If you're prepared for difficult economic times and have the right tools, there is no reason to worry about your financial future. History has shown it is possible not only to survive but to prosper in these times.

During the great depression, huge fortunes were made by many. The Kennedy, Rothschild and Rockefeller families all dramatically increased their fortunes throughout the depression. But it wasn't just the rich who got richer - many ordinary citizens found a way to not only survive but thrive during a poor economy.

What I am doing to recession-proof myself:

1. Create various sources of income. I currently have 6 sources –

Active income:
- Pilates
- Freelance writing

Passive income:
- My three books (Boss of Me!, Sleep & Get Rich!, The Essential Post-pregnancy Weight Loss Guide)
- Pilates DVD (upcoming)

2. Selecting recession-proof industries like healthcare and motivational books.

3. Be open to opportunities (I am currently exploring another business venture).

4. Staying positive.

Want to know how to create passive income for yourself?

Look out for my second book, Sleep & Get Rich! where top 10 passive income earners show you the way.

I'd like to leave you with this quote: "Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game."

Inspiring people

I am so thankful that my work gives me the opportunity to meet fascinating people.

From philanthropic millionaires to shrewd businessmen (or both!), my sessions with them are always a lively discourse of shared ideas. I walk away emboldened, invigorated and validated every time.

Most recently, I met up with Dr Ting Choon Meng. Google his name and you will see that he is an inventor disguised as a GP. Gregarious and endearingly clumsy, he made headlines for turning down a $420 million offer to buy over one of his companies (to find out his reason, you'll have to wait for my book, Sleep & Get Rich! - out next year).

The money doesn’t matter to him as he is already wealthy beyond reason in his heart and mind. We talked about “mining our oil fields”, how China and India are becoming behemoths in the financial industry and JK Rowling. I am joining him at the next gathering for his association of inventors, called the Fellowship of Inventors, and may even give a talk there (Dr Ting insists that I am an inventor…duh!). I am also nurturing some invention ideas in my head. Would be fun to create a product…

I have also been roped in to help my friend’s efforts at Youth Challenge. Run by Landy Eng, a well-known angel investor, the charity’s focus is on a halfway house in Laos set up for girls and women rescued from human trafficking. Looks like a trip to Laos is in order...

Who knows, maybe inventor and philanthropist will soon be added to my multi-hyphenate…and I am feeling extremely blessed to have the time and resources to explore all these varied and exciting opportunities!

This boring headline is written for Google

If you are a business owner building your website or a PR executive, pay special attention:

Google (and other search engines) are forcing newspapers to change their approach to writing news headlines.

In newspapers and magazines, for example, section titles and headlines are distilled nuggets of human brainwork, tapping context and culture. “Part of the craft of journalism for more than a century has been to think up clever titles and headlines, and Google comes along and says, ‘The heck with that,’ ” observed Ed Canale, vice president for strategy and new media at The Sacramento Bee.

It’s not just traditional news media either. Bloggers also have to sacrifice creativity in order to have a greater chance of being found in news search engines.

It’s not just news media though. Web designers have no choice but to change the way they create websites. For years, they’ve been told not to use Flash or to limit JavaScript, otherwise the search engines will ignore them.

As a result, we’re losing all sense of creativity on the web.

In other words, if you are looking to sell leather handmade bags online, you should have a static (boring) website with the key words (do your Google keyword search) – Leather handmade bags in your header, and NOT some pretty website with flash and something creative (but ambiguous) like, This is even better than sex…

Get the point? Do you want money or do you want to look good?

You choose.

excerpt taken from www.marketingpilgrim.com

21 reasons why starting your own business is similar to prostitution

I'll probably get flak for this post...but what the heck.

Here are the reasons:

1. You are both after money.
2. The more clients you have, the more money you’ll make.
3. You have to look good.
4. It is tiring work.
5. You have to be careful who you deal with.
6. There are good days and there are bad days.
7. Competition is stiff.
8.The better you are, the more business you’ll get.
9. Looks are not everything, service is more important.
10. You don’t need a degree.
11. Experience is not required.
12. Relatively low cost to start.
13. You have to work weekends and all through the night.
14. You lose touch with friends and family.
15. Marketing aka “pimping” is important.
16. It’s lucrative.
17. You don’t need a business plan.
18. Self-improvement is key to survival.
19. You can stand to lose everything.
20. It helps to have “connections”.
21. More assets = more value.

Gives a whole new meaning to "whoring yourself out".

I am as happy as a frolicking puppy in a park as my “babies” have just arrived from Amazon.

Books and I have been engaged in a torrid love affair for years, and how I feel for them is similar to how some girls feel about shoes or bags. I don’t enjoy shopping and display the mannerisms of a man when I am in a store with my girlfriends (disinterest and a tendency to wander off). That explains my pathetic wardrobe which my girlfriend remarks is like a six-year-old boy’s (he’ll probably have more shoes than me).

My bookshelf is a different ballgame altogether...It is very likely that I have to buy ANOTHER shelf to contain my books. When no one is looking, I fondle the pages of my books lovingly.

I may have a fetish.

Workaholic Anonymous

I'm going to try not to think about work today. Reason being I've just spent the last few months doing stuff non-stop, think I need a brief respite to refresh myself. So, I'm going to read and go for a long walk/run later at Mt Faber. Looking forward to that!

Here are more reasons why we should slow down:

1. Haste leads to waste. "Taking a moment to slow down can actually help your productivity," says Dr. Kirk Byron Jones, author of Addicted to Hurry. So, take a breather and cleanse your mind to make room for new ideas. Many workaholics often make the mistake of coming up with mediocre work just so they could finish as many tasks as possible. Sadly, their efforts are in vain, as the work's substandard state doesn't make the grade.

2. All work and no play make you dull. Being serious is great--but it's not advisable to be "too serious." The folks at Slow Down Now, a site that injects humor into the lives of workaholics, certainly think that injecting humor will contribute to one's creativity.

3. Keeping it simple is sensational. In Slowing Down to the Speed of Life: How to Create a More Peaceful, Simpler Life From the Inside Out, authors Richard Carlson and Joseph Bailey assert that workaholics risk losing their capacity to feel childlike joy over "little triumphs." Workaholics, for example, wouldn't feel proud about getting through a meeting. They'll only be happy when they feel that they've trumped everyone else's efforts.

10 things you DON'T need to start your own business

1. A degree

2. Experience

3. Lots of capital

4. An office (see my solopreneur note below)

5. A business plan

6. A website

7. Hire staff

8. A blackberry

9. A business partner

10. An investor

excerpt taken from http://www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com/

Hard drive

I'm mid-way through Hard Drive which is about Bill Gates and the making of the Microsoft empire, and already I am in awe of this incredible man. No wonder he became the world's richest man. His vision, persistence and focus is unparelleled!

Some highlights:

- Everything is a competition to this man, even a friendly poker game and he will not rest till he has won.

- He is known for clocking 36 hour days, only to collapse in a heap under his desk, blanket over his head. He is revived easily with a cup of coffee.

- Super-cerebal, he can take on lawyers, programmers and bosses of big companies, even at 21. His photographic memory allows him to read, understand and remember tedious business books which he devoured in Harvard while other students read Playboy.

- A visionary, he saw the future of personal computers and how we would do away with paper and pen and just communicate via our PCs...this was back in the 70s when computers cost millions and only big companies had them. He also told everyone that he would be a millionaire at 25.

- Looks can be deceiving. Bill Gates looks much younger than his 21 years, especially with his floppy hair, acne and sloppy dressing. His non-threatening looks belie an astute business mind and he is often underestimated by deal-makers and competitors.

- He is known for his tantrums, tendency to speed, arrogance (he has a penchant for calling people" stupid" or "idiots") and habit of rocking to and fro when he is in a meeting (it is common to walk into a sale meeting at Microsoft and find him and his group of managers rocking in tandem).

I find him fascinating.

What are you waiting for?

The Internet, especially today's interactive Web 2.o, has paved the way for ordinary folks to make millions. Thousands of netpreneurs are springing up everyday and there are gazillions of success stories.

I am not talking about big boys like Google or Facebook. But solopreneurs, which represent a big majority of people in the online world who work from home (I am a solopreneur who works out of my sofa). One great example is blogger, John Chow (http://www.johnchow.com/) , a Canadian, "dot com mogul" who makes money from telling people how much money he makes, literally (if you really want to know, he makes $30,000 per month!).

Blogging is big business these days and you can make serious money from it, and John shares his wisdom and tips generously on his blog. Best part? You don't even have to a techie to be a success. According to John, you need to blog about unique content, cultivate good relations with similar websites so that they will link to your site (remember, the Google spider loves links, so more links = higher rankings on the search engine) and tweak, tweak tweak constantly.

Bloggers like him make money from a wide variety of ways, from Google Adsense ads to paid reviews. As long as you command high traffic, money will find you.

I find it truly inspiring and the next time you are feeling the Monday blues or having a bad day at work, I suggest you go to http://www.johnchow.com/ to find out how you can escape the rat race...