Self-Marketing Part 2 - Product

Let's go to the 4Ps, and let PRODUCT be the first P.

We all know that for any business to be in place, there must be a product or service. Bank sell their saving plans to you, MacDonald sell fast-food, Hair Saloon sell their hairstyling services, and maybe shampoos too. Universities sell their expertise to students.

All business have products or services.

For business to thrive, their products have to be unique, and is not easy to duplicate. This is very important. If your product is very easy to duplicate, easy to be copied, people can do the same, or even better than your product!

China is an expert in this field, and they can clone many things that seem so Complicated to us. iPhone & iClone. YouTube & YouKou. Paypal & AliPay...etc. and some of these clones are much better than the ones they copied from.

Hence, to allow ur business to survive in this competitve world, it has to be unique, or ur product have to compete on price and convenience, and will eventually went out of business.


Now, we look at the part on Self-Marketing .

The Product is Me=You=Ourselves!

We are the product.

This is about how we sell ourselves.

What is unique about us?

Everybody is created special & unique from others. However, time to time, we will slowly mould ourselves to look more like others.

This can be dangerous, but on the other hand, can be a good sign too, but that depends what kind of person we hang out with.

If we hang out with night clubbers who drink all night long, we will then follow, club and drink all night long.

If we hang out with scholars who study 24/7, we will become scholars sooner or later, studying 24/7.

If we hang out with sports person, we will become sporty, heathier, more active as time goes by.

If we hang out with goals achievers, positive and encouraging people, we will reach and achieve more of our goals.

So that's what I mean.

When you go for an interview, you(the product) are selling what you can provide for the company, and why the company will need your skills/expertise. If you are not unique, not valuable, the company will not see why you are urgently required by them, and they may 'keep looking' for other candidates first.

Hence, it's important to know our selling points!

Are you a good leader, are you a good influence around your friends, are you a good speaker, are you a really motivated person, are you an achiever, are you someone who talk the talk, walk the walk? ... etc

For Interviews, we are not only selling our certifications, our qualifications. Company may buy our high qualifications. First class honours. But what if there are 100 other first class honours? That's when the unique one will stand out!!

Talking to people, is part of selling ourselves too. Our GRC leaders, MPs, government officials are best at doing these. They are able to relate to people from all walks of life. They can communicate with little kids, students, working adults, professionals, CEOs, to retirees, aunties, grandmas...

What kind of person we want to be in front of others? Are we caring, helpful, responsible, trustworthy, or demanding, arragont, irritating to others?

Everybody have these positive and negative characteristics. But those who are able sell themselves well, are able to Present all the Positive ones to others, and at the same time, minimize all those negative characteristics.

Define our 'OWN' unique selling preposition today. Sell yourself well, and you can get whatever you want in life :D

Next up! The 2nd P = Place.

Self-Marketing Part 1

Hi Guys,

How do you find the previous 2 posts on managing your money well, and the way to do it right?

I hope it has somehow given you an idea that people who managed their money well are always richer than those who doesn't know how to manage them. Of cos, this are not all that I have learned!

If you would like to know more, you can ask me, talk to me, or simply wait for me to post up another article next time (when the time is right!).

Today, I'm going on to my next topic which is very very very interesting, useful, valuable. Something which YOU have to know in order to be successful in anything you do.

I'm referring to Self-Marketing, ie, How to Market Yourself.

In this world, no matter what your previous thoughts are, what you have learned, the truth is,
People Buy People First. In other words, first impression counts!

I know we have learned Marketing modules in school, learning the 4Ps, learning how to target market, segmentation, strategic recommendations...etc.

We are learning this to know how companies are using marketing strategies to bring their products out to the customers. Increase sales, branding, positioning... etc

I do not know about you, you may be a future marketing director, or a manager in the marketing
department, or a boss of a company. No matter what, you can see that marketing is important.

But today, instead of learning how to do marketing for products, services, the brand of the company, why not learn to market Yourself?

Learn How to Create your own Personal Brand, Put a Personal Price, Position yourself well in the minds of other people...etc.

That's what I mean- Self-Marketing.

The number of friends we have today, is the result of how we market ourselves. If we have many good friends, it is because we have been trustworthy, reliable, caring, helpful to our friends. We market ourselves and people buy us because of our good qualities.

What if it's the other way round? You may find that you only have a few friends, is because you are selling your bad habits/bad character to others, and unless they like your bad character (which is highly unlikely), they may not find you again, and look for you again...

Hence, every company, every body, will like to hide and diminish their bad points, and sell their good points to others!

Since I have learned the principles of marketing, and some of you have studied it too, I guess you should know the 4Ps and STP of Marketing. Yes.

I will start writing the first P - Product.

So stay tuned!

Money Management Habits 2

So now you know how to put your money in 6 different jars. You can recap the 6 Jars System here again. :D

Next up! How should you do it? When should you start putting in your money into these 6 jars?

The answer is...

Divide all your money up into these jars once you get them!

In other words...

PAY YOURSELF FIRST!

Once you get your pay/allowance, divide them into the 6 jars accordingly. 6 jars, and just divide them up.

Nothing is more important than yourself. Not your phone bills, not your latest gadget, not your monthly car loans/rentals... You are most Important!!

Why I say this.

I had a friend while I'm still serving national service in APD. He's a regular. And his monthly salary is about 2000+. He has to minus CPF contributions, so that left with around 1700+.

Whenever he got his money, he use it to pay his monthly bike installments, his bills, then upgrade his bike also. In the end, he is just left with around $500 for the entire month. He have not add in his daily expenses, petrol for his bike, his indulgences.

And so, he always complained that he has no money. Not enough money to use, no money to buy his stuffs, no money to save.

When I pop him this statement, "Pay Yourself First". He said he can't, 'cause he has too much loans/bills to clear, and he always left with $500 plus after the 2nd day, to spend for rest of the month.

And I told him what he can do. Set aside a sum of money for himself first when he get the money. And use the remainder to pay for his bills. However, he told me he don't have enough money in the end to pay his loans/installments.

Then, I told him, this is the time to force you to look into opportunities outside the world, to improve your income. If this income stream is not enough to supply water for your BIG POOL, you should create another stream so that more water can flow into your BIG POOL yea?

And it should not be the case where you lower down your means of living to pay off your bills/installments. Instead, look to increase your income bracket!! And that is the way to get more money, become Richer!!

So guys, Pay Yourself First. If your planned expenses is not enough to cover for your desired/actual expenses, Look to create another income stream, increase your income bracket, get more money IN!

And not lower down your living standards to pay for installments/loans/bills. You are more important than these banks/companies who are after your money.

:D

What do you think? Feel free to share with me!

Millionaire Money Management Tip 1

OK!. Let's start with tip 1 on how you can become a millionaire by managing your money well.

Eh? You may ask, why this tip is not really about making more money, or methods on multiplying your money fast?

Alright, maybe this can come at later blogposts. But why most people are richer than the others, is not that they know how to make a lot more money, but they know HOW to manage their money better than others!

You can have a lot of money flowing in, from your job, from your business, from investments, from lucky draw, or whatever. But if it is not managed well, it will still flow out of your hands in no time :D.

First things First, let me tell you the 6 places you should place your money in. We call them your Money Jars. And how much money you should put inside these jars.


1. "Financial Freedom Account" Jar. (FFA) - 10%

Place 10% of your income, monthly salary, profits into this Jar. And money in this Jar must not be spent. It should be used for you to acquire passive income streams. Think of these as the golden goose that keep laying golden eggs. If you spend the money inside, it is like killing the mother goose that gives you golden eggs (your wealth). Start putting it, month by month, and you will see your goose become fatter (more money), and you can acquire more passive income streams to lay more eggs for you (money!).

Strictly speaking, the money in this jar MUST not be spent! In the future when you stop working, you can spend the eggs, but not the goose!

2. Long Term Saving/Spending Jar. (LTSS) - 10%

This jar is used for your long term expenditure, such as your end of year holiday, wedding dinner, house mortgages... etc. As it is 10%, you can also divide this 10% into small percentages, like 5% for holidays, 5% for my car... etc, if you have more expenditures.

3. Education. (EDU) - 10%

Save 10% of your money to learn. Equip yourself with latest knowledge, latest skills. Everybody needs to learn, and the world is changing really too fast. If we aren't learning new things, we are already behind others. And I mean NEW.

Take this money to buy books, audios/videos, attend courses, seminars, go for big events etc. Real education begins after academic education ends.
"Poor people stop learning once they graduate from school. Rich people start learning after they graduate."

4. Necessities (NEC) Jar - 55%

Let 55% of the money cover your necessary daily expenses. Food, transport, phone bills, house rents (if you have any). Many people tend to spend too much on this section, hence, they usually don't have any savings in the end. It's 55%. It may be lower than what you are currently spending.

If it's difficult to maintain at 55%, simplify your life. You don't have to eat at restaurants everyday yea? you don't have to spend so much on branded, or new stuffs so often too yea?

5. Play Jar - 10%

OK!! This is the Jar everybody is happy about. Erm, but it's not everybody also. Why you need the play jar?

There are people who spend too much time at their jobs, that they hardly have the time to play. They save up a lot , a lot, a lot of money, but they never get the chance to use it. Workaholics. This make their life severely unbalanced. This is not life!

On the other hand, this is the Jar that many people broke it on their first day they get their pay. They get their pay, and just spend it! but they still have another 30 days to go before their money come in again. Often or not, they spend more than their income.

So to keep everything in balance, keep 10% of ur income for play, and BLOW (spend) it every month. Spend it at a good restaurant, a short trip, have fun with it, to keep your life in balance. And only use the money in this Jar for your fun. Don't tap into other Jars for money .

6. Giving - 5%

Giving is you have to do, everybody have to do. Giving is a spiritual need for someone to grow.
Save at least 5% to give, give it to charities, give it to help others who are in need. If 5% is not enough, you can tap into your Necessity account for another 5%. So giving account-10%, Nec account- 50%. This is alright.

So this are the 6 Jars.

I've started putting the money I got in Nov into these 6 jars. Yup. So let's start doing it together yea! It's the simplest system to manage your money. Any queries, call me up, leave a message here, or email me.

Next! - The Secret Habits of Millionaire :D

Now is the time! It's Now!

Now is the time! Why?

My Exams are over! And yes! It's time to do everything I want this season!!

Next up, I'm gonna to write posts on...

1) The Money Management lessons I learned from T.Harv Eker's Millionaire Mind Intensive Seminar.


2) Marketing Tips on Life - Based on Marketing Modules Learned School.

Then, I'm gonna write books too! I have written one on violin playing. Completed!
I'm gonna write 1 more! That's 2 books!

I'm gonna grow, and contribute more!

This is going to be the most productive time for me!!

End 2009 with a BANG!!

Next post, Millionaire Money Management Tip No. 1.

A Small Tip in Midst of my Exams

Last Friday, I shared a short message about consistency and faith with my good buddies. It's my first time doing it, and I think I wanna do it again! and again! and again! And I wanna get better at doing it, improving each time I did it :D

And on Saturday Expo Svc, Rev Casey Treat shared the same thing! Consistency and Faith! Wow! Is it such coincidental? Haha. It may appear coincidental at first, but after few thoughts, it's not really that coincidental I think.

Just to recapitulate, I talked about doing things consistently, continuously, and not once and for all. For all the things in life we have achieved till now, we did it again and again and again, and then we finally achieved it. Don't you think so?

Students who get A in their subjects, don't study one whole chunk in a day before exam, but little bit by bit, everyday. People who got their slim body exercise everyday, and not exhaust the body in a day. Sounds like our National Service? Wake up so early in morning everyday? Why some people can live so healthily till such ripe age? They consume healthy foods and supplementation everyday, or start eating just before they are falling sick?

Ya. So basically, the answer is every(whatever). In fact, everyday is enough for most of us. For me too. For every action to become a habit, it takes 21 days (some say 28) of consistent actions. This goes the same for good habits, and bad habits. Bad habits are easier to form anyway :D
Ok! that's basically what I mentioned that day, and simplified of what Rev Casey said.

Why I wouldn't say it's coincidental for me to share the same message as him.

Because this is the truth! :D It is one of the factors for success! Hence, anyone who is sharing tips for success, to get what you want etc, will mention this. Doing simple things everyday. It is always these simple things that we neglected that will actually give us what we want. We always think that we need to do BIG, Difficult things in order to be successful. E.g. We need to run marathons to get fit. But simple runs of 30 mins everyday is enough. (everyday appears again -.-)

I get this tip of 'doing simple things everyday' not from a book, but from a successful person I know. We often complicate things, and often forget the simple stuffs to do. As things get complicated, we get confused, and in the end we won't get started.

Alright, so here's the little tips to kick start a great weekend to you guys :D. Do simple things everyday. Don't complicate matters.

I just completed my 3 papers in 1 day. Last being Marketing. It's open-book test. I brought in a handout, and a textbook, which I never opened before, but I brought it in, since it's allowed.

Even though I didn't read the Marketing textbook, I read many other books on marketing, ways to increase sales for companies, marketing ideas for free, and some super salesman books. In the end, I referred to the textbook once, to look for definition of 'Integrated Marketing Program', and that's all. For the rest of the paper, it asks you to give ideas on how to market this, market that. They want ideas and more ideas and suggestions from you!

Thank God I'm being exposed to these marketing books, if not I wouldn't have written down those suggestions. It's always good to read books other than textbooks. Especially for Marketing. Marketing is Living, and not Dead. In other words, knowing all marketing definitions and terms got no use. It is only useful when we know how to use it! And these marketing ideas are found in these marketing books! :D

*If your company needs you to market something, surely you are not going to define what is advertising/public relations/marketing mix/4Ps.. yea? Your boss only want creative ideas from you!

I had fun answering those questions like "discuss how can you market...", "if you are the manager, how would you...". I wished there are more just now. But it's okay, I'm tired of writing already :D. Marketing is in my blood, and I do it everyday, so I smile at every question just now :))

I love myself more everyday and night! :D

Pst Joel Osteen. Author of "Become a Better You"

This Gentleman is interesting. Hope to hear him 'live' one day. He is Joel Osteen. I got to know him after I read his book, "Become a Better You". And then, I decided to look up online to know more about him.

He formed the biggest church in America, Lakewood Church, with a hall which can fill 18,000+ people. Wow. I looked up Youtube for more of him, and I found this interesting video! Enjoy it guys! You will sure enjoy his jokes :D

A brief Update from 29th Oct- 12th Oct

A few Updates from Me :D

From 30th-1st Nov, I spend my 3 days in Taipei, Taiwan. Wow. It was really a wonderful 3 days in Taiwan. Our Taiwan friends were really friendly, heart-warming, fun, lovely... everything la. There are photos uploaded to my Facebook already. You can view it here: Taiwan 09 .

Of cos, other than just enjoying tasty food in Taiwan, my main objective to Taiwan this time is to attend DASH 2009, 成就未来. It's held in Taiwan World Trade Center, just beside Taiwan's Tallest Tower, Taipei 101.

I just got to know the best 臭豆腐，best 卤肉饭, best 卤味，best 花生冰, best 爱玉(a famous drink in Taiwan), best 蛇肉／蛇酒, from my fellow Taiwanese friends. They are just great people. People out there! If you're going Taiwan tell me, I give you all the places for good food, shopping, low room rentals, best attractions :D

Alright, coming back to school life, it's gonna end soon. :D yippee! Of cos, as usual, it gonna ends with the Examination! I'll end all the papers on 30th Nov. Still 10 days left for me :D. Studying is part of my time table since Sch starts, and I have to add in a bit more time for revision. However, no matter how much time I put in studies, I always use time for personal education a.k.a Self Improvement.

After cramming so much notes, which I can say only 60% of what I read is remembered, I took a rest. And, I picked up a book to read. And recently, I read the book, "Become a Better You" by Joel Osteen. Awesome book. Just when my energy has been used up in revising those 'dead' notes, reading just a page of two of Joel Osteen's book got my mind thinking, with thousands of thoughts & ideas flowing through, and I'm refreshed!

I feel that everybody Must invest time educating themselves to become a better person. This can be done through reading books, attending training seminars, listening to mentors, or at least, get tips from people who have skills you want to learn from (e.g. time management?)

I have some friends who told me they got a lot to study, so they study day and night, sacrificing sleeping time for study, but struggle in exams. I also have friends who told me that there are not much to study, and they continue their normal lifestyle, sleeping 8 hours/ day, and score well in exams. By the way, both groups are taking the same exams, but what's the difference?

Some says, they are born smart, thats why they don't have to study so much.
Some says, they have good A level results. So coming to uni, they don't have to study much.
Some says, they are lucky.
Some says, they come from TOP JCs. So its easy for them to do well w/o studying.

Oh really? When my friends gave me these answers, I don't believe any, and I squash them up. All these answers are Bullshit! By saying all these, we are pushing away our own responsibilities! We are not taking responsibility for our results. But instead, we are giving negative/jealous comments for those who do well.

In my opinion, it boils down to 1 word discipline. Talk is Cheap. Everybody, Anybody out there can say they have discipline. "I brush my teeth everyday, I bathe everyday..." Yup. These shows that you have discipline! :D However, do you know what's the most scariest thing to do that have frightened most people about Discipline?

The most scariest thing is to do it EVERYDAY. Doing the action is not a problem. But doing it EVERYDAY is a problem. Reading a book is not a problem, but doing it EVERYDAY may be a problem. Stop smoking for 1 day is possible. But stop it every single day? Running 2.4km is not a problem, but doing it EVERYDAY may be a problem. Standing in front for public speaking is not a problem, but dare to do it everyday? Haha.

When I learned it, it makes a lot of sense! Doesn't it? The reason why sometimes we stop doing something, is because we lack the discipline. And I'm guilty of that too. Haha. Hence, if you got a chance to know some successful people, ask them, talk to them. They will tell you that, they are successful, because they are doing things that bring them success, every single day, and it's been part of their lives!

Yup. So my friends here, hope that you have learn a little bit more about discipline :D. I'll elaborate more next time :D Still have some more tips to share here. Next time maybe? See yea!

T Harv Eker's Millionaire Mind Intensive Ticket Giveaway.

T. Harv Eker's Millionaire Mind Intensive 3 day event will be held in Singapore Expo from 13th-15th November 2009. You can get a free ticket to attend this seminar , "A Weekend that will change your Financial Life Forever!". Just message me, email me, comment at this post, at the chatbox, whatever, to know how to get your free ticket :D

i

"I Need You" by Leann Rimes. Video is Up!

Yes. As promised, the video of the recording is up! Enjoy it guys, and share with me your comments, like how I can improve, or any song you would like to hear in the future! Thank you guys, and I will put it up at the sidebar of my blog too :D