Sleep & Get Rich!

To write my first book, Boss of Me!, I had the privilege of hanging out with many successful people and hours were spent chatting as I delved into their psyche to find out what makes them tick. I realized that great entrepreneurs have a three-step formula that's present across the board. And, I am going to share my privileged knowledge with you.

Formula 1: Only the best will do. They identify what really works in business by learning from the best experts in the world. They do their research thoroughly and avoid the self-serving-hype that's marketed as "the next great solution".

Formula 2: Learn very well. They systematically study and retain what they're taught. You won’t find them skimming material, breezing through books and yawning at seminars. Like scientists, they absorb, ponder, analyze and review the material over and over again.

Formula 3: Application is key. They develop tunnel vision and focus on their objective. They go and do the work…and pay the price. They take the risks and understand that no matter how much knowledge they have, only action will help them achieve their goals.

That is why for my second book, Sleep & Get Rich!, I tracked down 10 top passive income earners to play mentor and help readers eager to emulate their incredible success. Passive income stands for money that is generated automatically and regularly, from a source or multiple sources other than your 9-to-5 job and money-making gurus extol it as the best way to get rich.

Case in point: a large part of renowned wealth guru, Robert Kiyosaki's teachings focus on generating passive income by means of investment opportunities, such as real estate and small businesses, with the ultimate goal of being able to support oneself by such investments alone. Building wealth through passive income is exciting because it does not require you to change careers or work two jobs. It keeps more cash in your pocket and releases you from job dependency, making you truly financially free.

Most people have no idea what they can do for passive income. This book sheds light on the Top 10 passive income jobs and the people who have done so successfully. These gurus will provide a step-by-step guide on how you too can implement passive income into your life as well as share their challenges and million-making ideas. Learn how you can get paid multiple times for the same work – for example, write a book or license an innovative idea and collect royalties for years; become a multi-level marketer and get a piece of every sale made by others in the organisation. The dollars will literally roll in while you sleep!

Sleep & Get Rich! will contain information so well explained that many who read this book will find it hard to resist implementing one, if not several, of this book’s recommended income strategies. It will provide readers with role models that they can “model” themselves after and their real-life examples will definitely inspire readers.

It sure did for me! Already a passive income earner? Email me and maybe we can share tips :)

Busy like a bee

How is it that I am working all day...and enjoying every single minute of it?

The website for my ebook is finally ready. WE'RE IN BUSINESS!

We will be launching our ebook, The Essential Post-pregnancy Weight Loss Guide through a private sale to a database of 20,000 pregnant women.

For a peek, go to http://www.exercisepostpregnancy.com/

I've also been working to promote my book, Boss of Me! stealthily online via article submissions to relevant websites, business blogs, online magazines and newsletter contributions. Am also, in talks with trainers of entrepreneuralism to see how we can work together.

A chronic workaholic, I'm midway through my second book, which promises to deliver a swift kick to the butt and teach you how to make money while you sleep!

Goodbye rat race, hello financial freedom!

Next up, filming my Pilates DVD.

But before that, some well-deserved R&R (well, not exactly since my itinerary says ADVENTURE!) to Nepal and Bali (www.balistreetdogs.com here I come!).

After this year's crazy schedule, I might just take next year off to sit around and contemplate my belly button lint…that is, until the next AMAZING idea hits me square on my head.

How to sell books by the truckloads

I agree with Mark Bennett, the self-published author who sold five million books to companies, that selling books in mass quantities is the way to go. Distributing to the book stores and waiting for individuals to buy your books is pittance. The big moolah is to go direct to companies.

I have taken the first step by offering to be a contributor to the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises’ (ASME) e-newsletter which goes out to 14,000 company eyeballs.
Some ideas:
1. Give Boss of Me! as incentive for motivational seminars.
2. Use Boss of Me! as case studies for business schools.
3. Use Boss of Me! to inspire employees at insurance, real estate and network marketing companies.
4. Give Boss of Me! to inspire incubatees of venture capitalist companies.

Now, how do I get 20 companies to each buy 50,000 copies of Boss of Me!?

My sister, my business partner

This has been a long-time coming...and I've been itching to blog about this but can't as my sister, Pam, has not tendered her resignation yet. She did it today and I’m very thrilled to announce our partnership!

I've been slaving with Pam, aka Internet marketing champ, for our diet and fitness ebook for post-pregnancy women. Called The Essential Post-pregnancy Weight Loss Guide (there's a very good reason for this long-winded title but if I tell you, I'd have to kill you...), we have been shunning sleep, bugging each other online and pushing each other for the last 4 weeks, and I'm as excited as a pedophile in a pre-school about our ebook going on sale this week.

Pam decided to quit her job as a marketing specialist at an MNC to be a full time Internet marketer after taking a course. I am so proud of her and I know that she will shine and do really well. We make great partners – I write, she markets. Working on the ebook and learning how Internet marketing works has been a Mt Faber-esque learning curve, filled with new lingo (SEO, PPC, autoresponders, affiliates, google adwords) and her voice still haunts me at night ("Lin, must repeat keywords at least seven times!").

What I've learnt from Pam:

- How to identify the market /demand. Check it out at http://www.freewordtrackertool.com/ This site shows you what keywords they are looking online.
- Check the competition through google. Learn how to identify if you can "fight" the competition.
- The basic website tools, what works and what doesn't work.
- Website template, content creation and search engine optimization.
- The marketing process: learn how the target audience thinks and positioning yourself.

- What motivates people to buy.
- Automating the process. How to fire yourself and enjoy the sales raking in!!

She is THE person to go to if you want to learn how to market a product online, optimise your website and boost online sales. For more information on her, check out www.pamelinareviews.blogspot.com

Boss of Me! on Popular bestseller list!

Ha ha! This is so cool.

Popular Bookstore holds many great memories for me - it was THE place to go for school stationary and 10-year series assessment books.

It is still one of the leading book stores here and I'm thrilled that my book is doing well there.

Learning from the Olympics

In the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Michael Phelps only won5 gold medals. This was such a "tragedy" that the news media hounded him for his failure. See, he was trying to enter the ranks of those who have won 7 golds at a single Olympics like Carl Lewis and Mark Spitz. Alas, the poor kid got only 5 gold medals. A tragedy!

When interviewed about his failure to make 8 golds in swimming and beat Spitz' record he said ..."My goal is one Olympic gold medal. Not many people in this world can say, 'I'm an Olympic gold medalist.'" Isn't it amazing how a single shift in perspective can make something like the monumental achievement of 5 Olympic Golds seem ordinary? It was unjustified for the news media to spin his win of 5 Golds as a failure.

Phelps is making another run for it now in Beijing and I'm cheering him on. He currently has 3 golds and the games aren't even halfover so he has a fighting chance. The only tragedy will be if the media diminishes this young man's greatness - no matter what the outcome.

Well, scratch that ...it probably won't bother Michael Phelps a damn bit. I mean, it seems that he is relatively unfazed by the way the news media treats him and he just keeps his eye on what's important to keep improving himself. Little by little he gets better and better every day and, news media be damned, he's going to do his best - whatever that best may be.

The only tragedy that ever really happens is when we stop improving - when we stop believing in ourselves ...just watch the Olympic athletes and you get a sense of this. Under the greatest possible pressure, they stand there with grace and, win or lose, they keep their composure. Can you imagine the preparation it must take to make oneself that way?

In the spirit of the Olympics, let's take that little every day tragedy in our lives - the tragedy of not believing in ourselves, of giving up, of listening to the doubts of others, and soldier on...with grace of course!

excerpt taken from Mark Joyner at simpleology.com

Today, we're going to discuss sex and dog poop...

Mark Joyner uses two options - sex or picking up dog poop - when he talks about what you really want to be doing.

The hard cold fact is that owning your own business may be "picking up dog poop" for you. If you don't feel as thrilled by having a business as you do having sex, this may be a sign that you don't want to have your own business.

Having your own business is an addiction and if you aren't getting a high running one, it's going to destroy you. Like most addictions, it may destroy you even if you do love it. The only difference is that if you love what you are doing, you will have a great time on your way to destruction.

So, what are some signs you shouldn't have a business? Try some of these on for size and see if they fit you:

- I can't stand change
- I need a steady paycheck
- I don't really like people
- I can't seem to take action
- I hate to learn new things
- I hate doing sales
- I hate keeping records
- I can't pay the grocery bill next week
- The landlord just kicked me out
- Nobody likes me
- Etc., etc.

Don't worry too much if you find a few things in the list that fit you. A couple of them fit me.

I'm not that crazy about change and I don't like accounting much. I'd be a lot better at business if I loved keeping records and doing sales, but no one is perfect and you don't have to be perfect to be successful.

What you do have to realize is that you have to deal with a lot of the things that are on that list if you want to own your own business, so decide now whether this is how you want to spend a ton of time and money.

Do you want to be doing this even when you would rather be doing something else?

Excerpt taken from Kenneth A MacArthur of jvAlert.com

Do you have what it takes?

Here's a look at the 11 Killer Instincts of Entrepreneurship:

1. The Solution Instinct: This is about ideas and always seeing them. It's about seeing new opportunities while traveling, shopping, or working. Seeing problems and potential solutions to those problems is at the heart of valuable ideas and business models.

2. The Detective Instinct: This is about fact-finding and due-diligence. It's about letting go of the emotion and excitement of a good idea and taking a venture-capitalist approach. This instinct is something that keeps one constantly assessing how a business model will work, scale, and succeed... without personal bias.

3. The Great Communicator Instinct: This is about connecting and constantly selling. It's a constant awareness that every point of communication matters. Whether communicating with partners, investors, vendors, employees, or competitors; every communication is an opportunity to strengthen your company.

4. The Youthful Genius Instinct: This is about doing what you love. When we were young, we dreamed big dreams and showed glimmers of what we might become. Tapping into the expectation of our youth is central to successful entrepreneurship.

5. The Entrepreneurial Heritage Instinct: This is about how our heritage can reveal some or our natural gifts. What has your family and ancestors been successful at already? Exploring your roots can help one tap into opportunity. There is a reason why many families pass along entrepreneurial success and create "dynasties" of their own.

6. The Risk-Taker Instinct: This is about going out on a ledge. No risk, no reward. It's a fundamental factor of business building or almost any major endeavor. Finding the calculated balance of risk and opportunity is key.

7. The Work-Horse Instinct: This is about paying the price. Doing whatever it takes. Those "overnight successes" usually require at least 5 years of hard work and incredible sacrifice to get there.

8. The Thick-Skinned Instinct: This is about being tough. Resilience, optimism and a positive mindset reside in every great entrepreneur. The fundamental key to success in attaining goals? Never give up.

9. The Flexibility Instinct: This is about being willing to change. Emotion and pride must be removed from the process while building a business and paying attention to the best route to take. The right path naturally eventuates; if you're willing to recognize it and take it.

10. The Human Instinct: This is about people. Attracting the best people is more important than the business model itself. Treating people well, leading well, and serving with care is a fundamental reason why anything worthwhile should be built in the first place.

11. The Knowledge-Quest Instinct: This is about constantly learning. Reading, thinking, listening, observing, absorbing, and applying is a hallmark trait of a great entrepreneur.

Taken from Northstar Thinktank (http://www.northstarthinktank.com/), one of my favourite business blogs.

Technorati Tags: entrepreneur boss motivating inspire

Simple & effective

Some of my favourite musings today:

"Sight is what you see with your eyes, vision is what you see in your mind." - Robert Kiyosaki

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Abraham Cowley

“There is one elemental truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one commits oneself, Providence moves all.” – Wolfgang Goethe

Surround yourself with positive, successful people

I can't emphasize this enough. If you have a negative spouse, friends or boss and you just can't bring yourself to get rid of them, find a bunch of people who are cheerful, positive and happy to hang around with and spend the majority of your time with them.

Thankfully for me, I have my band of "cheerleaders" - my brilliant sisters whom I turn to for all my business decisions, my hubby who always provides a listening ear to the business mumbo jumbo I'm spewing, my ever-supportive mum who quietly tolerates my tattoos and shaved head, and of course my circle of friends without which I'll have less laugh lines but be more dour.

P.S. On the above topic, I have exciting news coming up...I've been hibernating at home hard at work for the last few weeks and the results will be revealed soon...until then I am under embargo.

Yakkety yak

I've just been asked to give a talk at a writer's conference next Tuesday at Suntec. As a pilates instructor, I've conducted courses on stage for big companies like CISCO, and have no problem. But this is the first time I have to talk about myself, and for 45 minutes too! Yikes.

How am I going to entertain over 100 budding writers? Will they even be interested to know about me? Maybe I should throw in a 30-minute pilates workout or impress them with my flexibility?

I know that giving talks is part and parcel for an author and I should start somewhere. Even if I flub, I will learn from it and keep improving myself. Ok, I'm going to go now and work on my speech.

*stressed*