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!