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