Last Sunday i went to the Book Festival Malaysia 2008 at KL Convention Centre. Wow, is very big. There covered at least 4 exhibition hall. I like reading and I also like book. I created three personal records that day.
1. I spent five and a half hours in a book festival.
2. I purchased 25 books and 10 CDs in one day.
3. I spent RM 600++ in one day for only books and CDs
I checking mail almost everyday, I can digest almost 500 mails a day. But there are crazy incoming mail to my Inbox now. There are not junk mail, is useful and opt-in mails.
My spam mail rate only 1.4%. That is 387 out of 27827 mails. I already try my best to read and reply all mail but the incoming mail still bomb my inbox like crazy.
Picture 1 : I have 27827 unread mail in my Inbox even I digest 500 mail a day.
I received a mail in average 3 minutes time.
I really hope that can get a auto mail reader machine to help me digest all. :-)
Microsoft developing next generation of Windows Operating System, “Vienna”. But Microsoft changed the name to Windows 7 now, meant 7th generation of Windows Product.
Windows Vista only released 2 years and many users still using the Windows XP now day. Microsoft already developing next generation of Windows. Why so rush?
I got a video from Internet shown that some of the new features of Windows 7. The interface still look very close to Vista. But we saw some new features, like FTP Location, Key Broad Short Cuts, Screen and Animation Capture, Disk Usage Analyzer, Task Manager, Virtual Drive and Web Site Designer.
Everyone want to success but not everyone succeeded. Why? Because most of them didn’t follow the keys below, The Keys to Success!
I am sharing five simple and easy to understand keys here. You will take only 3 minutes to read it but you need 30 years to apply it toward success.
Key 1 — Believe in what you’re doing!
This could be the most important key of all. Why I said like this? If yourself also don’t believe what you do, do you think your work can influence people and benefit to others? I am sure that many peoples around you will critic and comment what you do now, don’t ever allow skepticism to hold you back from achieving your dreams. Targeted your dream and walk forward to it. Maybe you not success now, BUT, soon…..
Key 2 – Follow the plan, No short cut please!
Don’t try to take short cuts, success never have short cuts. Most of the peoples put many effort to find a short cut to success. They never notice that, the most value things along the road of success is not the result and output when we succeeded. Actually is the experience and the way we solve problem along the road of success. Please do your works step by step to forward success.
Key 3 – Give 100% effort!
There is no other option if you want to success. Don’t think about a “backup plan if this doesn’t work”. Many peoples have many alternative plan. This is wrong! We need to give 100% effort to concentrate in our work without thinking of other alternative plan. You need to commit yourself to making it work, don’t run away to alternative plan, like get other job or leave. This is waste your time and finally you will get nothing.
Key 4 – Finish what you start before next project!
Don’t even think about another project until you’re successful at what you’re doing right now. We have some ways to success. But, we need to prove it in our work first before we start another project. Concentrate in a project and make it work and proven. Apply the same methodology to coming project later. You will notice that the second project more easy than the first one. Because you way already been proven!
Key 5 – Put skepticism aside
If you think like this, “It probably won’t work, but I’ll give it a try…”, Yes, I can tell you that you will fail at this moment. Because you already set your mind and prepare to fail. What else you can get? is FAIL! Don’t even set your mind with those words,
1. Stay in contact with customers on a regular basis.
Offer them a free newsletter subscription. Ask customers if they want to be updated by e-mail when you make changes to your Web site. After every sale, follow-up with the customer to see if they are satisfied with their purchase.
2. Create a customer focus group.
Invite ten to twenty of your most loyal customers to meet regularly. They will give you ideas and input on how to improve your customer service. You could pay them, take them out to dinner or give them free products.
3. Make it easy for your customers to navigate on your web site.
Have a “FAQ” page on your Web site to explain anything that might confuse your customers. Ask them to
fill out an electronic survey to find out how make your web site more customer friendly.
4. Resolve your customers complaints quickly and successfully.
Answer all e-mail and phone calls within an hour. If possible, you the owner of the business, personally
take care of the problem. This will show your customers you really care about them.
5. Make it easy for your customers to contact you.
Offer as many contact methods as possible. Allow customers to contact you by e-mail. Hyperlink your e-mail address so customers won’t have to type it. Offer toll free numbers for phone and fax contacts.
6. Make sure employees know and use your customer service policy.
Give your employees bonuses or incentives to practice excellent customer service. Tell employees to
be flexible with each individual customer, each one has different concerns, needs and wants.
7. Give your customers more than they expect.
Send thank you gifts to lifetime customers. E-mail them online greeting cards on holidays or birthdays. Award bonuses to your customers who make a big purchase.
8. Always be polite to your customers.
Use the words your welcome, please, and thank you. Be polite to your customers even if they are being irate with you. Always apologize to your customers should you make a mistake. Admit your mistakes quickly and make it up to them in a big way.
9. Reward customers a point for every one dollar they spend.
Let’s say customers can get a free computer for 300 points. That means customers will spend $300 dollars on your products and services to get enough points to get the free computer.
10. Build strong relationships with your customers.
Invite them to company meetings, luncheons, workshops or seminars. Create special events for your customers like parties, barbecue’s, dances etc. This will make them feel important when you include them in regular business operations and special events.
HTC launched a new mobile device, HTC Diamond. An elegant and innovation mobile phone.
This mobile phone can compare with Apple iPhone and Sony Ericsson X1. Both phones also not yet release in Malaysia. This is the war between 3 mobile brands, Apple, Sony Ericsson and HTC. And also a war between mobile operating system, MAC OS and Window Mobile.
This is the HTC Diamond Ads.
HTC Diamond Highlights
2.8-inch touch screen, with four times the pixels of most phones.
HTC Weather - providing a constant view of weather at home and abroad.
Surf and download at broadband speed with HSDPA internet connectivity.
3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera for quality stills and video.
4GB of internal storage to preserve more photos, music, files and exchanged data than ever before.
Integrated GPS for use with maps software for a full turn-by-turn satellite navigation experience.
Capture your eyeball - Vibrant TouchFLO 3D user interface
Vibrant TouchFLO 3D user interface, responding perfectly to your finger gestures when scrolling through contacts, browsing the web, and launching media… all vividly displayed as photos and artwork powered by the 3D graphics processor.
HTC Diamond Photo Gallery
Currently I am using HTC TyTN II, this Window Mobile powered device is feature rich with high speed internet connectivity.
But there is 2 things I surprised.
1. The full charged battery only can last 6 hours in stand by mode.
2. The price drop crazy. I purchased at RM 3188, after 3 months used, I asked for trade in price, is ONLY RM 1200. Ops, Crazy Man. Why like this? Why second hand HTC no value at all?
Yes, you read that correctly: ten years. eBay was created in September 1995, by a man called Pierre Omidyar, who was living in San Jose. He wanted his site - then called ‘AuctionWeb’ - to be an online marketplace, and wrote the first code for it in one weekend. It was one of the first websites of its kind in the world. The name ‘eBay’ comes from the domain Omidyar used for his site. His company’s name was Echo Bay, and the ‘eBay AuctionWeb’ was originally just one part of Echo Bay’s website at ebay.com. The first thing ever sold on the site was Omidyar’s broken laser pointer, which he got $14 for.
The site quickly became massively popular, as sellers came to list all sorts of odd things and buyers actually bought them. Relying on trust seemed to work remarkably well, and meant that the site could almost be left alone to run itself. The site had been designed from the start to collect a small fee on each sale, and it was this money that Omidyar used to pay for AuctionWeb’s expansion. The fees quickly added up to more than his current salary, and so he decided to quit his job and work on the site full-time. It was at this point, in 1996, that he added the feedback facilities, to let buyers and sellers rate each other and make buying and selling safer.
In 1997, Omidyar changed AuctionWeb’s - and his company’s - name to ‘eBay’, which is what people had been calling the site for a long time. He began to spend a lot of money on advertising, and had the eBay logo designed. It was in this year that the one-millionth item was sold (it was a toy version of Big Bird from Sesame Street).
Then, in 1998 - the peak of the dotcom boom - eBay became big business, and the investment in Internet businesses at the time allowed it to bring in senior managers and business strategists, who took in public on the stock market. It started to encourage people to sell more than just collectibles, and quickly became a massive site where you could sell anything, large or small. Unlike other sites, though, eBay survived the end of the boom, and is still going strong today.
1999 saw eBay go worldwide, launching sites in the UK, Australia and Germany. eBay bought half.com, an Amazon-like online retailer, in the year 2000 - the same year it introduced Buy it Now - and bought PayPal, an online payment service, in 2002.
Pierre Omidyar has now earned an estimated $3 billion from eBay, and still serves as Chairman of the Board. Oddly enough, he keeps a personal weblog at http://pierre.typepad.com. There are now literally millions of items bought and sold every day on eBay, all over the world. For every $100 spent online worldwide, it is estimated that $14 is spent on eBay - that’s a lot of laser pointers.
Now that you know the history of eBay, perhaps you’d like to know how it could work for you? Our next email will give you an idea of the possibilities.
Advertising had long since been a major determinant of a business’ success. This would include the presentation of the product / service to the consumers. What really matters is how it is presented to the target market to be able to capture it.
Whatever the package, the ad media also plays a great role in determining the success of the product or service awareness.
What may be its advantages over other proven medium like the best-selling TV ads?
Advantages
1. Low Cost
Eventhough the Internet ad might be viewed as “classy” or far-reaching, as compared to other medium, this is far cheaper than most. Internet Ad Packages are offered for as low as $29.99 for a one-month run-time period.
2. Capture market
Should your product / service aim to cater to the younger generation or the corporate-oriented ones, Internet ad would be best since they would always be “hooked-up” into the net surfing sites that might have a link to your very own. Result, a great number of “hits” on your site!
3. Hassle free
All you would ever really need is a PC (and some knowledge and bright ideas in forming your site) wherein you could open your site, search for the best Internet Ad package, and check / update the status of your ad. You may actually never have to leave your home to advertise!
4. Updated ads
Unlike the TV ads that need to be updated on a regular basis, Internet ads may run for quite some time without the need for change. If so, change in the site is very minimal and may be done easily at home.
Disadvantages
1. Scope
Limited market may be captured if one would solely use the Internet Ad for advertising. Although most people now are into the use of technology, i.e. surfing the Internet, still, majority of the average consumers still relies on the old form of advertising as a means of gathering information about certain products / service.
2. Additional cost
If one would enlist the help of another professional or establishment to produce the site for their product or service, this would entail additional costs on the part of the entrepreneur.
Given the stated list of advantages and disadvantages about low-coast Internet Ad, an entrepreneur may now weigh in its applicability to his / her product or service.
The aim of Internet ad is to offer the widest range or “Maximum Exposure” of the brand at the least possible cost. Now, does that not sound good or what?
More and More people are lured into affiliate marketing and you might be one of them. Indeed, affiliate marketing is one of the most effective means of generating a full-time income through the Internet. Itís a fair deal between the merchandiser and his affiliates as both benefit from each sale materialized. Like in other kinds of business, a great deal of the profits in affiliate marketing depends on the affiliateís advertising, promoting and selling strategies. Everyday, as affiliate marketing industry expands, competition heightens as well so an affiliate marketer must be creative enough to employ unique and effective ways to convince potential buyers to purchase or avail of the products and services offered.
Compared to traditional advertising practices, affiliate programs are more effective, risk-free and cost-efficient. But why do many people still fail in affiliate marketing? There are a lot of reasons and a lot of areas in the program to look into. The most critical aspect in the affiliate program is advertising. Many affiliate marketers fail in this aspect because they lack hard work, which is the most important thing in affiliate marketing and in all other kinds of business as well. Although it pays to be lucky, you cannot merely rely on it. Affiliate marketing isnít as simple as directing customers to the business site. If you want to earn big, of course, you have to invest time and great amount of hard work in promoting the products. As earlier mentioned, the competition is very high and customers nowadays are very wise, too. After all, who doesnít want to get the best purchaseóthat is, to pay less and get more in terms of quantity and quality.
Lack of preparation is also a reason why one fails in affiliate marketing, whether he is a merchandiser or an affiliate. Part of the preparation is researching. On the part of the merchant, he has to be highly selective in choosing the right affiliate websites for his affiliate program. In order to be sure he has the best choices, he must have exhausted his means in looking for highly interested affiliates whose sites are sure fit to his products and services. The affiliate siteís visitors must match his targeted customers. On the other hand, the affiliate marketer must likewise research on the good-paying merchandisers before he signs up for an affiliate program. He must ensure that the merchantsí products and services match his interests so he can give his full attention and dedication to the program. He can get valuable information by joining affiliate forums, comparing different affiliate programs and reading articles on affiliate marketing where he can get tips from experienced affiliate marketers on how to choose the best merchants and products with high conversion rate.
The website is a very important tool in the whole affiliate program. As an affiliate marketer, you should plan how your site is going to be, from domain name to the design, the lay-out, the content, and ads. Some users are particular about what they see at first glance and thus when they find your site ugly, they wonít read through the content even if your site has many things to say and offer. On the other hand, there those who want information more than anything else. Affiliate marketers with ìrich-contentî web sites are usually the ones who prosper in this business because the content improves traffic to the site. Websites with high quality contentsówith relevant keywords and more importantly, right information about the product and not empty hyped-up advertisementsóallow you to earn big in affiliate marketing even when youíre asleep. If you wonít be able to sustain the interest of your site visitor, you wonít be able to lead him to the merchantsí site. No click-through means no sale and thus, no income on your part.
Selecting a top level domain name is also crucial to the success of the affiliate program. Lots of affiliate sites donít appear in the search engine results because they are deemed by affiliate managers as personal sites. Major search engines and directories would think of your site as transient ones and thus, they wonít list it in the directory. Before you decide on the domain name, know first what you are going to promote. Many fail because their sites are not appropriately named, so even when they feature the exact products the customer is looking for, the customer might think the site is not relevant and thus, wonít enter the site.
Above all, an affiliate marketer must be willing to learn more. Certainly, there are still a lot of things to learn and so an affiliate marketer must continue to educate himself so he can improve his marketing strategies. Many fail because they donít grow in the business and they are merely concerned about earning big quickly. If you want long-term and highly satisfactory results, take time to learn the ins and outs of the business. Continue to improve your knowledge especially with the basics in affiliate marketing ranging from advertising to programming, web page development, and search engine optimization techniques. Likewise, study the needs and wants of your site users and how different merchandisers compete with each other.
Keep on trying; donít get disappointed if your first attempts did not pay off. Thousands are attracted by the possibility of generating skyrocketing incomes through affiliate marketing and so they sign up in any affiliate program without carefully understanding every aspect of the business. When they donít get instant results, they quit and sign up for another program and repeat the process of just copying links and referring them to others. When you sign up for an affiliate program, donít expect to get rich in an instant. Work on your advertising strategies and be patient. Youíll never know how much you can get if you donít persevere.
