Reasons Why Business Planning Is So Important To A Company's Success

Here is a post written by Frank Goley, Business Success Consultant from ABC Business Consulting, LLC. This article is originally posted in Brunei LiveWIRE, I take no credit from his work.

If you don't know where you are going (i.e. have a roadmap), then how do you expect to get there? Running, expanding or starting a Business without a Business Plan is like trying to drive from New York to Chicago for the first time without a roadmap or Map Quest! Planning gives you a path to follow, otherwise, you are just guessing. In running or starting a business, the learning curve is short before you run out of resources and are forced to close. Therefore, a business plan helps you set up a sound framework, model and system ahead of time, as well as, address potential problems and threats, so that you can capably run a business. If you don't have a system in place to deal with problems and you don't have a sound Strategic Plan in place, you will find yourself needlessly sidetracked by working "in" the business instead of "on" the business. Know where you are going before you open your doors for business or execute an acquisition.
A Business Plan will save you a lot of time and money. Careful planning ahead of time will help you wisely budget your resources and significantly minimize the time you spend assessing threats, problems, obstacles and opportunities.

A Business Plan actually creates the future you want it to be. It gives you the Process to develop the future business you want to expand, acquire or build. Granted, a Business Planning Process can't predict everything and the markets change very quickly; yet, A Business Plan puts a solid Process and Model in place to deal with such unpredictability. Otherwise, you will become even more lost in the unpredictable nature of future market changes without a system in place to deal with these changes.

A Business Plan is an actual guide to starting, expanding, building and managing a business. It is a step by step Process that will guide you through the complexities and intricacies of building a successful company. This Workbook is an accumulation of 20 years experience, mentorship from other experienced professionals and the school of hard knocks. Business school will teach you something about business planning, an MBA will teach you a little more, but most good Business Planning experience comes from doing and learning from others who have gone before you. The principle objective of this Business Planning Workbook is to vault you through that learning curve into an understandable, step by step process and guide to ensure your strongest possibility of Business Success.

If you need to raise funds for your business venture or project, a well thought out Business Plan is the very best tool available to achieve the mix and amount of funds your business requires. A good Business Planning Process will actually determine and design financial structures which specifically address your funding requirements. Why guess how much money and resources you need? Why guess what kind of finance your business needs? Utilize a Business Planning process to develop and design a Financial Structure customized to your particular company. Moreover, when times are tough in your Business, Industry or Lending Market, a good Business Plan will give you a fighting chance of obtaining the badly needed funding your Company requires.

A Business Plan is a fantastic Communications tool. It establishes a Communication System so that you can effectively communicate with your Executives, Managers, Employees, Shareholders, Investors, Lenders, Customers, Potential Customers, Markets, Suppliers, on down the line. So many Companies fail because effective Communication was significantly hampered with assets and people doing contrary things. Effective Strategic Planning within the Business Planning Process establishes strong communication ties, links and systems so that all the fore mentioned human variables can come together in a one direction, well coordinated strategy for success.

Nothing stays the same from one day to the next in this global, Fast Tracked Business World. Because of this constant change, your Business will quickly fall behind and suffer without a solid Business Plan in place. A Business Plan puts a system in place to see and address changes in the market place so you can proactively seize and turn them into opportunities. Without such a forward thinking system in place, changes in your market place can quickly become insurmountable problems and obstacles. A Business Plan enables you to convert these changes into opportunities and increased profitability.

Operating a Business without a Business Plan is just like operating a car blindfolded, driving down an expressway. You wouldn't blindfold yourself and drive down a busy expressway would you? Why would you do that with your business, future and money?

Courtesy of ABC Business Consulting

Source: http://www.livewire-brunei.com/news_item.php?newsid=161

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E-Learning

The next best thing in technology is e-learning. I first learnt about this when I was in UK doing my degree in Business IT. The integration was kind of complicated but it can be done. More and more, the age of technology has been rapidly developed that I've been left behind (and maybe so with my other classmates at the time) that there are new softwares and technology producing better, convenient and easier processes and results.

Edmodo
In my studies, I have learnt from a famous quote, "I think, therefore I am." by Rene Descartes and later an article (I have forgotten from whom) said that if e-learning is applied, the famous quote would then be, "We learn, therefore we collaborate." Edmodo, the free private social learning platform, enables educators and students to learn, discuss and collaborate online through Edmodo's system.


The design looks so good, it could be a small replicate of Facebook but more towards on education than much needed game and group apps. Also, since this is private, students can only meet and talk with their educators through a password or code that is given by them. Therefore, no other outsiders or external students can enter the classroom unless they are registered with the educational institute and given the password to participate in that private classroom. You can turn-in assignments, assign grades, and enable chatrooms for discussion as well as a forum regarding the subjects or topics.


Edmodo is free to use but it cannot be integrated into a standalone website and hence, the much needed password or code to enter Edmodo's private classrooms.


Moodle
Moodle is an open-source software that enables webmasters to create their own Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It is also known as, Learning Management System (LMS) and Content Management System (CMS). It's a free web applicaton for educators to integrate to their own website and start creating classrooms, topics, subjects, quizzes, exercises, assignments, etc. It's usability is a tad bit difficult but its worth it after plenty of customization and setups before launching your own online school. You can try out their demo if you find their system to be up to your expectation but do note, they only supply a simple minima layout and design as well as simple codes so that you have to customize it all by yourself in order to blend your content with the design as well with your standalone website.

So far, I've managed to try both of them out and I find them great to use. So if you were to hold an e-learning site for your educational institute, would you use Edmodo or Moodle? If not, what would you use? If you have found a better e-learning platform or web application, don't forget to share the information through the comment section.

-Let the power of wealth be with you~

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How To Start A Tuition School And Run It

Image by Jumanji Tuition School 

One thing I admire about the "service" category is that it requires less cost to reproduce. Unlike products, you need to purchase materials and the cost of putting them together before you can sell them off. Service, on the other hand, only requires human resources with the necessary skills to reproduce the result or better. And so with this post, we will look into how you can start up a night education institution and run it.


Step 1: Legalize
First things first, is to register, getting a license and approval from the authorities to operate a small educational institute and any other necessary paperwork that requires attention. (Quota, 16/17 Certificate, landlord/tenant relation over a shoplot, approval from Ministry of Education, etc.) I don't think I need to explain further on this, so I'm going to assume you did everything necessary in order to legalize your business.


Step 2: Location, location, location
I think I've written this part before. The most important part in businesses is to provide a convenient and accessible location to your customers. This is important because when you need to promote, you don't tell them its at somebody's house but its located at a convenient and accessible area where they can send their children to. Factors to consider would be:

• Safe - No crime, no danger.
  
• Accessible - Easy to enter and exit the area.
  
• Convenient - Closer to their homes than other tuition schools and closer to other commercial areas like convenient shops, restaurants, etc.
  
• Space - Enough space to accomodate the number of students. (According to MoE's regulation, you are only allowed to tutor maximum 12 students per class per subject per tutor. More than that will result in a fine penalty.)
  
• Advertisement or Promotion advantage - If possible, you can use the extra space in the commercial area to put up a banner/poster to promote that your tuition school is in the area as well as the subjects available to tutor with. Also, it creates an image for your tuition school.
  
• Room condition - I'm going to assume this is going to be in Brunei, so you are going to need to check the lighting, the floor, the walls, the air-conditioner (if there is no air-conditioner, you may need to purchase and place one or if preferred, a ceiling fan), doors and windows, etc. Everything needs to be set up right and stable. You don't want cracks and things falling apart while tutoring the students.
  
• No. of rooms available - The more rooms you can accommodate, the better. This way you are not limited for expansion and better if you are not closed and surrounded by other commercial buildings so that if needed for renovation and expansion, there won't be problems. Otherwise, you are going to have to set up a branch elsewhere.
  

Step 3: Product/Service
The main focus in tuition school is to sell their service. But without tutors to tutor students on the subjects that they wish to be tutored, you are at a loss. This is where you start recruiting for tutors who are well-qualified to tutor those subjects. We'll talk more about recruiting but focus on the service and product to be available to sell. Now, you have noticed that I said "product" in the last sentence, right? Reason is that you can sell products that can enhance the learning capabilities for students and teaching aids for teachers. You can sell stationaries, books, markers, bags, etc. These shouldn't be your core selling items but your side-products instead. Your main focus should be on the service. The more you can accommodate students and the more tutors you can handle to tutor them, the better. The key is being available as possible. Once that is maxed out, you can then add the side-products to sell along.

But there are some items that you have to purchase and it is not available to sell. The necessary furnitures to tutor them with. Chairs, tables, whiteboard and markers (or blackboard and chalks if you want to be old-school, pun not intended), dusters, photocopy machine, computers, telephone, etc. These are needed to support your tuition school's quality service.


Step 4: People
Every business requires people to operate. In tuition school, these are the following positions that needs to be filled:

• Manager (That's you.)
  
• Administration Clerk - To handle customer service/calls/students and teachers scheduling and assigning classes and subjects. Possibly need an assistant to handle the huge workload.
  
• Tutors - Obviously.
  
• Students - The people to tutor to.
  
• Students' parents - The people who pays you to tutor their children.
  

Optional but recommended to have at some point:

• Marketers - You need to heavily advertise and promote your subjects availability as well as company awareness.
  
• Recruiters - Marketers and Tutors can be recruiters too. Recruiters focus on direct marketing. Meeting clients and referring them to the tuition school. More students = More Money. Paid per commission basis.
  
• IT Specialist - Rarely I would see any tuition school in Brunei to integrate IT. So here's an idea, add an e-learning platform. I'll explain more on this.
  
• Assistant IT - IT Specialists can't handle everything. Part of the workload can be delegated to the assistant to finish them up faster.
  
• Graphic Designer - Needed to create banners, flyers, brochures, company logo, website design (work along with the IT Specialist), business cards, special books, bags, stationaries, etc.
  

Step 5: Operate smoothly
After having everything set up, you just need to operate it and keep it financially supported for a few years. Make sure that every one of your own students in that tuition school is achieving great results, as well as letting them enjoy the company and a comforting learning environment to give them a memorable experience. I remember my days learning in some tuition schools and I enjoy learning from my tutors. The added time learning from professionals was worth going for. So run that tuition school right and in doing so, will lead the students a memorable learning experience. Quite like any other schools really.

Management-wise, there is a lot to do. Focus on time management and then delivering quality service. Then you need to find all the much needed teaching materials. Textbooks, Workbooks, Past-year papers, etc to enhance better service. Then you need to better care for your students like if they have any special needs for medical attention, times that are best available for these students to tutor with, following their schools' syllabus and maintaining their learning curve, etc. I'm not trying to scare you, but these are to be expected and more when managing a tuition school.


The End Result And To Be Expected
If you maintain everything properly and with proper funding to survive, the break-even point can be from 1st to 2nd year. Break-even point means the time it takes to cover up the loss. This is just an estimate because this plays on variable results and the main factor to focus is the constant number of students enrolled at all levels of service to tutor. Here is an example:

Budget to set up a tuition school and run it for a year (All this is just an assumption to the best of my knowledge to make it as real as possible):

Rent (1000/month)	= $12,000
Admin Clerk Wages (500/month)	= $6,000
Legal fees and registration (500/year)	= $500
Renovation	= $2,000
Tables & Chairs for 5 rooms	= $9,000
Teaching Materials	= $1,000
Initial Total Expenses	= $30,500

Expected income in a year if done well (all figures mentioned are only an assumption of what would happen):
Factors to assume:
There are 5 students taking 5 different subjects and there are 5 tutors to tutor them and it is constant. Price per subject is $200 a month (overcharging?), Recruiters commission wages is 20% per student per subject and Tutors commission wages is 30%.

Tutoring Services:
1 Subject (200/Month x 12 Months)	= $4,800
x5 Subjects (4800 x 5)	= $24,000
x5 Students (24000 x 5)	= $120,000
Total Revenue	= $120,000
Commission Wages:
30% Commission per Tutor per 5 students per 5 subjects per year	= $36,000
20% per student per subject per year	= $480
Per 5 subjects per 5 students (480 x 25)	= $12,000
Total Expenses (36,000 + 12,000 + 30,500)	= $78,500
Total Annual Net Profit (Total Revenue - Total Expenses)	= $41,500

And so by the example above, your expected break-even point is within a year or at least 8 months if you maintain quality service, number of students, number of months they are tutored in within a 12 month period. Now that doesn't seem right. Because of the number of public holidays, and school term holidays and exams, I decided to not account them in. So it may be 9 or 10 months of business operation in a year and you may find a break-even in about 6 or 7 months if you manage to get plenty of students in. And with the figures displayed above you can see a small percentage of profits in.

The difference of 41500 and 30500 is $11000 of annual profit. The percentage profit is 36% (11000/30500 x 100% = 36%). However, if its done better (i.e. 12 students maximum classrooms maintained all from month 1 till month 10, you can look up to over 60% annual turnover. But, always keep in mind the risk.)

Final Thoughts
Before you even begin, there is always a need to start a capital. If you don't have a capital, I recommend you to not start this business until you have a stable financial support - anything can go wrong. Business may be slow, no students or parents would want their children studying in a  low reputable tuition school, the place may be deemed suspicious or the rooms are not well-equipped and the tutors don't look or work professional, etc. Therefore, do not attempt to start this business unless you have at least $40,000 to work with. More is better and advantageous as well when penetrating the education market. And that's another thing - competitors. If you place yourself against the competitors (price-wise and location), you won't have much to show for to win. In a game of chess, to win such a situation, it's to play strategic positioning. Be the cheapest or be the most convenient to the market and the customers will follow.

All the best to anyone owning a tuition school and as always, -Let the power of wealth be with you~

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What Would You Like To Know?

From time to time, I read news, I stay in the trend and sometimes, find loads of new resources in which to share with my readers. But after revising through my posts, it is true that my topics suddenly jump from one subject to the other.

I would like to clarify that to use the Bruneian Dollar site, is nothing more than your starting point. Whatever ideas or inspiration that you gained through reading my articles is meant to help others like you to start your own income stream and lessen your expenses. Through freelancing, business start-ups, blogging, investing, etc.

Now with that out of the way, I would like to ask my readers, what would you like to know? Anything about the Brunei or World Business Sector? Increasing further in wealth? More articles on freelancing? If you have any queries regarding any of my articles or what I do with the Bruneian Dollar as well as opinions about a certain topic/subject/event, I will gladly answer them. All you have to do is leave it in the comment section. Ask me as many as you want. There is no expiration date on this post. Whatever it is that you want me to research and investigate, I am willing to put (some of) my time and effort to get you the information that you need as soon as you can say... -Let the power of wealth be with you~ ;)

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Private Employee Vs Government Employee

There has been talks in the news and other global discussion about expanding the private sector and it should be more focused into than the government sector. Now I did a little bit of research and found that there are still many people prefer to work in the government sector than in the private sector. Few reasons are:-

1. Better pay
   
2. Job security
   
3. Other perks and benefits that comes along with the job.
   

But do note that, working in the government sector also means you are working for your country and committed to it. A "civil servant" as they would call it. The job is quite fulfilling as it gives each government employee the idea and purpose of helping their fellow countrymen. All is fine and dandy while working with the main body of the country. However, working in the private sector can also secure the same benefits as mentioned above.

In my opinion, being a private employee can also have its greatest feat. The thrilling adventure of moving the company forward in a competitive market. Achieving a great goal while working for that particular company and enjoy it. And as they say, "If you can reach that great vision, money will follow after." Self-explanatory as while the company improves, private employees can share and have the benefits equal to or more than that of the government employee.

Here in Brunei, as I have been told (but not confirmed, if you can help clarify that would be great), while one is working for the government, the individual's actions may be excluded to do a few things.

1. Not allowed to start your own business. (Even though, it is of the best intention to help the economy grow, it is still not allowed.)
   
2. Not allowed to take part in any other investment. (This includes, shares, investing into small or medium enterprises, etc. Since the government has been paying you handsomely for your services as to not worry about financial troubles.)
   

Even though financial wise, government sector wins over private sector. Like a secure government loan on cars, houses, other necessities, etc. But the job opportunities availability should be awarded to the private sector. Reason is that the private sector is allowed (and should be able) to create more job opportunities than that of the government. To clarify, let us compare the types of jobs.

• Private Sectors employ hard manual labor, whereas the government doesn't. (Some do, but not all.)
  
• Private Sectors allow fresh teens, graduates and unemployed to work in their companies. Government employs those with high true caliber skills and solid education background and only a few low-skilled employees are allowed to employ.
  

And so, the public should be working in the private sector to gain skills, experiences, extra education, etc on the early stages of a working adult life. And if that individual wishes to work for the government later on, they can then apply for the job but do be careful, working in the private sector and transition into the government sector is going to be difficult. The working environment changes, the workload increases, tasks become hardly manageable, time constraints, actions may be limited. It may be no different working in the private sector than that of the government to some. But there are others who find that while working with the government sector, they sometimes feel that the work they did was not as fulfilling as they did working in the private sector. This may depend on the position and level on either sector.

Working in the IT Department of the private sector may be harder than that of the government sector's IT Department (due to all kinds of support available). But let us look at a low level job to see the possibilities of working in either the Private and the Government.

For this example, we will use "Administration Clerk" or "Clerk" as our job to work in and we will exclude it's job description but focus on the gains:-

Private Sector

• Routine job becomes more of a habit of management. Skills gained to handle customer service.
  
• Pay may vary depending on the size of the company.
  
• Success of the company is influenced upon the quality performance of a clerk and other employees.
  
• Gain a sense of teamwork to achieve a common goal.
  
• Sometimes there is no workload or tasks given, thus an opportunity to become proactive/accountability/innovative towards the superior.
  
• Climbing up the company's ranks is dependent on the clerk's abilities, attitude, aptitude and personality.
  
• Extra benefits and perks can be earned and not given.
  
• Company's achievement is also the clerk's achievement regardless of job position.
  
• Inflation effects salary.
  
• Allowed to invest or start a business, thus creating more job opportunities.
  

Government Sector

• Routine job may be monotonous.
  
• Heavy workload allocated offers the clerk a chance to display management skills.
  
• Pay is higher (Obviously) and provide financial security.
  
• Quality and timely performance needed to finish tasks to keep the government image up.
  
• Chances of promotion is dependent upon the results of tests and training.
  
• Too much workload may cause no free time during work shift.
  
• Benefits and perks are given along with the job provided.
  
• Secured retirement plan (TAP or 401k)
  

So as you can see, either jobs has its pros and cons and either may be suitable to any individual. I read an article awhile ago, that the American government sees the private sector as the enemy and their goal is to expand the government sector in order to eliminate the need for the private sector. Ridiculous as it may sound but a country cannot sustain its economy if its ruled by only one sector. The way I see it, both sectors are actually working towards one goal. To keep the country breathing, living and stable. If the news says, there is a need for the public to work in the private sector, then that is where the public should go to work. All for the sake of the country's economy, keeping both sectors balanced is key to the country's survival in the world.

A famous quote to mention, "You should not see the world with borders as it is but an illusion. See the world as a whole and with this, you will gain the power of Insight." - The Old Guy training Ang, the last airbender, to be a full-fledged Avatar. :)

Oh and a conclusion to Private Employee Vs Government Employee is a tie. Feel free to leave comments for discussion about this article. Thanks for reading. ;)

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QQestore Vs Shopping.com.bn

Over on Twitter, someone once asked, "Which is better: QQestore or Shopping?" I struggled as when I saw both the sites, they both are no different than the other by looking at its surface. So I decided to investigate a little bit to find out which is better. Now of course, the question is a little vague because we do not know which part is the one to be considered better. Better customer support? Better products? Better service? Better User Interface? Better Navigation? Very general way to find out which one is better so I am going to investigate on every factor and category and provide a review for each for this e-commerce judgement. (Note: This is based on my own personal opinions and point of view. If you find any of the points claimed to be untrue or debatable, leave it in the comment section.)

1st Round: Products
Behind every great e-commerce site, is a great product or products. Without products, it would be called as a site that is asking for donations. On QQestore.com, their products are of a wide range of selections; from computers to mobile phones, home entertainment to gadgets and toys. Basically, QQestore is what it is. An electronic goods shop, conveniently set up online to sell them.

On the other corner is the Shopping.com.bn (Problem why I have to mention the .com.bn extension is because I do not want anyone to misunderstand which site I am referring to, as there is an existing shopping.com). Just as likely as it were to be a direct online regional and industry competitor, it sells almost exactly as what QQestore.com is offering. Computers, Mobile phones, Entertainment systems, gadgets and toys. No differences in categories. But the range and models available per brand is off by at least 12% in Shopping.com.bn

I checked under Dell series for both sites, QQestore has more products and different selections available than Shopping.com.bn. Point goes to QQestore.

2nd Round: Price
To every consumer and business people, we require an equal ground. Not too expensive for consumers and not too cheap for business people. It has to be something that is deemed as "it is worth it". So for this round, I chose to compare Dell Studio XPS 16 as a random product

Looking at the prices in Dell products at both sites, I would say that QQestore.com has a cheaper product than Shopping.com.bn. Reason as to why one is cheaper than the other? No idea. Probably to cover production/administration/other costs to make up for it. Either way, another point goes to QQestore.com. (Note: Both are offering to beat the competitor's pricing. Whether it be in a real shop or on another e-commerce site. Either way, they are dedicated to make their prices cheaper and close a sale with their customers. T&C Apply)

3rd Round: Placement
First impressions are always important. But when you create an e-commerce shop online, images are forever. Getting a new design or update an existing requires a lot of art and a lot of precision coding while not messing up with the navigation system or the links between pages. Also along with the design, there should be enough space to provide sufficient need-to-know product information. And lastly, placing that image in the right mind of the public.

Shopping.com.bn's design has these following features:

• It's youthful. It looks like something a teenager would make.
  
• It symbolizes how "hip" they are.
  
• It shows that being one of them can be fun.
  
• The background is blunt and could use a better design or a better color to fit the theme of the e-commerce site.
  
• The links looks static in despite of the dynamic pop-up option function box.
  
• There are no ads around to be seen.
  
• The homepage could use some work.
  
• The margin space on each side is too wide.
  
• The information about the product is pretty straightforward.
  

QQestore.com's design has these following features:

• Clean and modern look.
  
• Professional design.
  
• Bright colors to bring in a happy shopping mood.
  
• Nice flow to finding products.
  
• Plenty of ads around.
  
• Fitting margin to bring space for ads while selling products.
  
• Nice product information, specification and other information tabs to make it look cleaner and more organized.
  

Verdict: Half point goes to QQestore.com and a half point to shopping.com.bn because both of their designs are almost the same, just with different colors. But since QQestore.com is more organized, cleaner and professional looking, another half point is added.

Final Round: Promote
When managing shops/businesses/companies in a market, they need to create a buzz. A simple way to bring in interested customers to not only view what is available but also to close more sales. The more that they promote, the better its acknowledged existence within the market. However, for this round, there is no determined way to know which is better than the other (as I lack the ability to watch the news or even read the daily newspapers; I usually read world news online and sometimes listen to the Brunei radio channels.), so I'll leave this as a draw. One point each. Both the companies are well-known to me, but that's the market to decide and not me.

Bonus Round: Value Added Service
In a world of business, we often try to differentiate our business from normal businesses or any other. Like vouchers, coupons, a beta system or program, discounts, shopping clubs, etc are the few of the many examples of value added services.
QQestore.com has cash rebate system and an affiliate program (still BETA) whereas, Shopping.com.bn does not nor possess any Value-Added Service. Point goes to QQestore.com

Judgement
And so the winner is QQestore.com with a total 5 out of 4 (the last round was a bonus, remember?) whereas Shopping.com.bn has 1.5 out of 4 points. Sorry for the harsh review. But if things are needed to improve one's services/shop/products/prices, this is a good opportunity to do so.
P.S. To the marketing/business/entrepreneur students, you probably guessed that I've used the 4 P's and a little extra in this article for the review. That is not a coincidence and it goes to show that they are crucial factors when managing a business. ;)
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How Do You Make Money Through Classified Forums?

As I was surfing around for the past several days, I noticed that there are new classified forums opening up. I suppose the reason why they set them up was to compete against Brunei's classified forum (www.bruneiclassified.com).

In the light of this, they believe that they can do it better. Bringing in lots of traffic from Brunei and into their forum to advertise, promote and discuss through it. But note the problem when operating forums is that the income generated can only be from advertisement. No product/service to sell but from ads. It is great that there are others trying their best to provide other advertising/marketing values to people's business but diverting the existing traffic from bruneiclassified.com's to theirs is one hell of a task. Especially when it comes to business, they would rather advertise on already well-established and well-recognized marketing companies/websites than that of a new forum. True that the only way a forum can be self-sufficient is with advertising income. And to successfully obtain that high advertising value is to keep advertising that forum onto other forums or websites or any media that is necessary to advertise.

Google AdSense/Adgitize/Adbrite/etc

Ad programs like Google AdSense work by users or visitors clicking on them. Every click gives the owner of that Google AdSense banner money. The problem lies in how many would click on it and/or how often. If you only rely on ad paying program, you won't be able to succeed unless you provide the best and high quality content and in which gives the readers/users value and click on the ads to support the owner. However, many bloggers have been trying to make a living out of it. In the Google AdSense forum, there has been discussions that each of them have only been earning a couple of dollars a month or even a few cents a month. Looking at the amount of effort comparing with the amount earned, is definitely not worth it.

Selling Ad Space

The idea of selling ad space on a website/forum, is to promote or provide value in branding. Useful for private companies or businesses if they want their business name to be known. However, focusing or buying an ad space in classified forums or websites at a high price should be determined by the amount of traffic in it. Using Google Trends should be able to confirm that. If that particular classified forum or website has sufficient traffic (at least 10,000 visitors), then a price of USD50 per ad space per month is fine and definitely worth it. More ad spaces purchased and the longer it has been on that site, the better the branding value to that business.

In classified forum's point of view, that would mean heavy advertising, mass promotion and smart marketing strategies to provide high quality service to the users/visitors/clients.

But other than the points and make money methods stated, what else can a forum do to make money? Here is a hint:

Membership program

This is the true value, real product/service that a forum or a website or even any individual can make money out of. And it doesn't have to be a forum to operate either. You can have a website, membership login, participate, discuss, share, involve and earn the benefits. For members, they pay for what brings value such as; education courses, premium benefits or features, real-live coaching one-on-one, etc. This is a great service that a forum can do. However for classified forums, they may need to create an innovative product in order to create a quality membership program. Perhaps a feature in which premium members can have/use that a free member cannot.

So if you were creating a classified forum and penetrating the advertising market, how would you make money out of it? Feel free to share and discuss the possibilities of creating an income out of a classified forum.

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Just Won $25 Through RedGage Contest Unexpectedly

Recently, I just signed up to RedGage and simply build and forget it just as it stated. Because of the import synchronization tool it has, I don't really have to worry about uploading content from one site to the other. Almost automatic since it doesn't really help post on other article or writing sites that I normally publish manually.

But after 2 days of doing my normal daily tasks on promoting and creating great content from this site, I just won $25 through RedGage's Daily Contest. I never expected it at all because cross-promotion tools is meant to be the last few steps to money making blogging. Likewise with any other promotional tools that automatically synchronize your posts to other social networking sites (Though I'm not aware of anything that is similar to RedGage but if you do any, let me know!).

The major thumb rule in money making blogging is, "Maintain fresh, updated and quality content, then promote later."

Similarly, in my previous article about the world's 14th richest man, Li Ka Shing, once said, "I never forget to maintain stability while advancing, and I never forget to advance while maintaining stability."

So do just that and you'll be fine. All the best!

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7 Deadly Sins Of A Business Manager & Entrepreneur

There are so many businesses out there and some aren't performing as well as the other businesses should. Advertising poorly, bringing in customers, products aren't as good or as cheap as the competitors and poor customer support services. If you wanna see some money flowing in, follow these recommendations and repent for your 7 deadliest sins.

1. Pride
   
   While every entrepreneurs and business managers are at their best to manage their business, they just can't do it alone. Or maybe they can. The point is that businesses are meant to be an organization or a group of people who are striving for the same company goals. Hiring or partnering with other like-minded individuals is recommended if you need to expand your business.

2. Envy
   
   Sometimes we do get jealous at someone else's success. We do try to benchmark ourselves and be like them one day. But if you were to meet them and ask them how do they do it and can you do it and be successful like them one day. The answer you will get is, yes and no. Meaning that their business success is dependent upon market changes. What happened 10 years ago and the events that lead up till now is so different comparing to what comes into the future. If you had start up a business and follow their business style, you would no doubt be successful. But in this case, you have to be different and stop comparing yourself between others success and yours. As a matter of fact, look at what others are doing and do the opposite. Don't follow the herd and you would be surprised at the results you get.

3. Gluttony
   
   You can't really operate a small business with a huge customer base. If at most, you can only handle tens or hundreds. But thousands is just asking too much work and you will fail if you cannot meet with customer demands. Imagine that in a restaurant business. There is no way to put, handle or care for all thousands of customers in a small restaurant. Less is more especially if those less are loyal customers, then work your way up while stabilizing business.

4. Lust
   
   Emotions like this is dangerous to every business manager and entrepreneurs. And I don't mean just sexually but also the lust for success and money making from businesses. It is okay to have that feeling to keep up with the efforts to make money, but it is dangerous if you do it without considering your own life. A famous quote goes, "Treat yourself first, then the world." Making a small time of your life just to take care of your health and family so that if your business fails, you can still live healthily and a family that supports you until you can get back on your feet again to try another business approach.

5. Anger
   
   Sometimes when managing a business, you may have incompetent employees that gives nothing but production waste or some accident caused to your new shirt or blouse by your little children. Stress is everywhere and sometimes it leads to anger. Problems must be handled with care and getting angry too often or too much will lead to even more problems. Yelling at an employee for not meeting the sales quota does not equate to problem solved (maybe rarely it does).
   
6. Greed
   
   Taking every strategies and tactics at one step at a time. Doing things too fast because you wanna see some fast returns may be asking for trouble as carelessness is becoming more existent if you keep rushing with your tasks. Another form of greed is advertising. You wanna fill every advertising spaces there is in the country, town, cities, villages and especially the virtual world. Don't be too greedy to post it up everywhere. Do it less and do it on occasion rather than always. Aggressive advertising is fine but too much just seems like a waste of branding strategy and money, since this is becoming more of a liability than an asset.

7. Sloth
   
   The obvious "sin" in every business is that laziness attitude to support and run the business can ruin it all. If you can't do the business with enough energy or even run it properly, you might as well close down or sell it off before you run it down to the ground. There is no such thing as an easy automatic running business. Everything requires work and energy in order to earn that that cash value.
   

Remember to repent for your business sins and let the business "Gods" (I am referring to those Corporate giants and famous entrepreneurs) forgive and bless you.

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Pros & Cons On Multi-Level Marketing Business

In my previous post, you should be able to understand the fact behind get-rich-quick schemes and that the scams are there if you understand how it works and how they can take advantage of gullible people. But now knowing what is a legit system of MLM, it is wise to understand that the system is not meant for everybody or just anybody. There will be hardships and there will be plenty of ordeal experiences to come by when participating in MLM systems.

The Pros of MLM:

• Easy and cheap business start-ups are true - Seeing as that businesses are what they are with products and services in existence, joining the MLM system at a very cheap price is definitely worth it. Instead of investing thousands of dollars, let alone hundreds, you can start with just a simple two-digit investment to get started. Also, you do not need to apply for any more licenses, claim customs, taxes, etc but only focus on paying a membership fee. That is your only liability and their assets is your only way to get an income.
  
• A friendly and supportive community - Another difference between regular businesses and MLM is that there is a community or a support group ready to help you when you are having troubles operating your affiliate sales or referrals. They can provide tips, hints, strategies and so much more. Resources are sometimes available to each MLM system such as; books, audio CDs, games, tutorial with presentations, etc. So if you're not earning, at least you are investing into your financial mind. Like-minded individuals often provide better ideas when they discuss and help each other.
  
• Attractive Commissions - MLM businesses often provide the best for affiliates/members with commission techniques and better sales pitches. Taking for example, MLM system assigned to you a product to sell, you earn a commission each time you make a sale. The product may cost you $200 if you purchase it yourself but they also provide customer price which is $250. If they purchase it through you and wanted it to be cheaper, you can lower the price a little bit lower but higher than $200. You take the difference. Also, some systems even has a point distribution system which gives a double benefit to those who achieves sales every month. The more you sell, the more points you get. Sometimes these points have different purposes like to grab a product you like for free through their points system or convert the points into real cash for withdrawal.
  

So be sure you analyze the MLM system and see if you have what it takes to invest so little but getting a huge advantage over it. This is called "Leverage". The Cons of MLM:

• Not for students or the unemployed or no financial support groups - I've been in this situation and let me tell you, it is so difficult that you want your money back from that membership and registration fee. Reason for this is the lack of financial support. Sure, I did have an allowance way back then and it served me well. But I didn't get any returns out of the system. But I was grateful that they had a helpful and friendly community to learn more about businesses and finance from my upline. There were plenty of resources handed to me so that I may learn, practice and try again when I am ready. However it is a different case when those who are desperate in looking for a full-time income out of the MLM business. I heard so many success stories and chances of those people's stories to be true is slim. This is what it means to be human. You've been kicked down so hard that the only way to go is up. It's all about motivation, determination and perseverance that pulls us through. But that also means that you have to work really, really, really hard! (In terms of percentage, at least 300% to 500% of hard/smart work is required if you are a student or unemployed.)
  
• Not an office job - Businesses can be a bit easy. You can just hire people to do the job or in this case, sell your products for you. But in MLM, you are on your own. You have to market, promote and sell those products available to you. You don't work in the office (that's not what MLM is for) and earn a commission out of it. You have to go out and socialize. Get more prospects, close more deals, refer more people and repeat. This part is also not easy if you are the type of person who would rather work in an air-conditioned office than field work. (Brunei is so hot right now, I would still be surprised if there is anyone out there still doing MLM businesses.)
  

And there you have it. Weighing the Pros and Cons is 3:2. Great, isn't it? That is why they set it up so that the advantages can pull the system through and outweigh the cons about it. But like I said, you need to analyze the system before you join in to know whether it is legit, real and possible to make some money out of it. Chances are, it is another online MLM business that has no company registration, license and no product or service to sell with. That is already a big warning that it is nothing more than pure SCAM! All the best to anyone who joined the MLM business and good luck venturing for those who wants to.

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You Control Your Own Fate – Li Ka Shing (world 14th richest)

www.BruneiCommunity.com • View topic - You Control Your Own Fate – Li Ka Shing (world 14th richest)

From what I can see the Brunei Community seems to be growing very slowly. But still it doesn't hurt to stay and discuss with people. Getting involved in the forum is one thing, getting involved with the discussion of what stories they bring is another. Above is a link where aman found and wanted to share. Very resourceful and it shows that everyone can control their own fate. Li Ka Shing, the world's famous entrepreneur and the 14th richest man in the world. Learn his secrets or benchmark yourself against his. You'll find yourself a good path, a resourceful fate and a bright future.

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Getting Paid To Share Content

As usual, I am addicted to Internet Marketing, I always ended up finding new information about how an individual can earn an income through any means. But as an Internet Marketer, there is one site in particular that is not only helpful but potential in marketing your product or service.

RedGage
Through one site, you can automatically share whatever you did one social networking site to the other instantly. Basically, it cuts your work in half because when you need to promote your article from Blogger to Twitter or Facebook, you have to spend time to surf from one webpage to the other. Copy and paste the link and submit. Repeat the process on other sites if necessary.

But what about getting paid for that automatic sharing? Ah yes. Well it is quite the same as any other sites that requires high traffic building only to earn several cents. But since this is being left on auto, that won't be a problem because you should be focusing your efforts on using this system to assist in marketing AND promoting your business.

So if you are interested in joining RedGage, click here.

Disclaimer: Clicking the link will result you to be my referral. If you sign up under me as a referral, I will provide a one-on-one freelancing coaching guide to earn a decent income. All you have to do is sign up on RedGage and type in "Bruneiandollar" as the referred by username. Once that is done, let me know via the contact page and tell me your username to confirm. But there is a catch. You have to this within two days when this post is published (until the 16th). If you didn't manage to sign up till then, do not worry, because I will provide a free e-book (all written by me) on how to freelance online.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up now and get paid to share together!

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Accidents Do Happen

You know what bothers people sometimes? Especially in big metropolitan cities, there are accidents. They happen every day. It is a major inconvenience to anyone involved. Car accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip and fall accidents (this one may be more common than any other) or any other type of accidents at the fault of another's negligence.

In business perspective, nobody wants that to happen. For example, if a customer walks into the business premise and trips over a rock and gets injured, the customer can sue the business for not taking proper care of the environment for innocent pedestrians, let alone inside the building. There is always a potential that accidents will happen in a workplace.

Thankfully, there are law firms out there willing to help and settle the lawsuit. For example, Accident Attorney Hawaii, Honolulu Personal Injury Attorney and Personal Injury Attorney Hawaii.

Even though the links I gave are from Hawaii and Honolulu, but this article should be able to hint you out of a new business idea. That is, Brunei doesn't have an accident law firm (to which I am aware of). Mostly from what I see are insurance agencies who deal with these kinds of accidents. But the market is fresh and wide open for an accident law firm. Will you open one or take an outside consultant for the matter? You decide.

P.S. This is a sponsored post.
P.S.S. As always, I only took the offer because I find that the matter and the task at hand is relative to everyday business activities. Accidents do happen and most of the time, we negotiate privately to settle it down. However, if it actually brings a lot of inconvenience to your day or life (like missing out on a potential investment opportunity or an interview, etc), go for the law firm option.

-Let the power of wealth be with you~

Get Rich Quick If You Join In Now!

I don't know if you have experienced it or not but it gets quite common nowadays that people are looking for ways to get a quick buck. Get-rich-quick schemes has been in existent for so long it has lost almost all meaning. I get this a lot, where some guy invited me to join in their "get-rich-quick" scheme. I mean, sure I like how some of these schemes work, the system it take and the complication of it all (and they try so hard to make it sound easy and simple too). So, here I would like to explain the differences in a "scam" and a "scheme".

Scam is illegal
Scams are what they are labelled as. It is illegal and it basically "steals" your money. Mind that quote as an emphasis to understand what a scam is. It is a false interpretation or representation or promise given from one party to the other in exchange of money. Basically in an example, Guy A promotes that he has a system where anyone can get rich in 1 month for just $100. Guy B, the gullible one, was interested and paid for the system which he wishes to join. 1 month later, Guy A disappears with $100 and Guy B got scammed.

Scheme is legal
Now a scheme is legal, provided that the elements in and behind it supports the law. As in, a license to operate this scheme, declaration/claim that the product/service (system) developed is a copyright and trademark of the company's scheme, and it is all written in a legal document, approved by the government. Therefore, spending your money in a scheme will be safe.

What about a Pyramid Scheme?
Pyramid schemes has already been labeled by the public that by Wikipedia's definition: "is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, without any product or service being delivered." Basically, it is a scam in disguise. Since there are no real product or service existing in this particular scheme, that makes it illegal to operate and thus, a warning to never join one unless anyone wants to burn several hundred dollars for fun.

Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)
MLM businesses are fine by me. I like how they actually set it up in a way where the member gets plenty of benefit including a stable business structure. Unlike a normal-shop-selling-customer concept, the member acts like an affiliate or a salesperson or a distributor to the MLM company. Whatever sales the distributors make, they take commission out of the MLM's products. It is almost like the cheapest business set-up anyone can go for. Not only does it enable one to sell products like a real business should, there is also the opportunity of having others join in as a referral (downline). And while the referral is operating the business or anything of that sort, they can ask questions and get help from the existing members (upline). Another benefit to having the referral system is that whatever sales they make, the existing members gets a bit of the commission out of it. That is the basic MLM structure and process as I know it.

However, do be careful when joining one. If the MLM's objective is to recruit 3 a day, a week or a month, it is best to walk out that door and never hear them again. Recruiting people into the business (or scams or pyramid schemes for that matter) is a very tedious job. Especially when facing with a small population, chances of successfully earning a good figure through recruiting is very slim. So a recommendation is that, join the business because of the products and it's attractive commission rating should be more than enough to make a side-income. The referral system is just a bonus as we all know, human beings are a complex creature and asking them to join in one cause is harder if you ask them to pay for it.

Next post will be more about the disadvantages and advantages of MLM, so don't join any just yet.

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Catching Debtors

There are plenty of investment opportunities out there. Flipping houses and renting out lands or shelters is a few of them. But like many businesses, there are financial troubles. They would resort into loans and/or borrowing money from loan sharks or banks.

About several weeks ago, Ministry of Finance had declared a directive on credit cards. They sent a message to banks to monitor each credit card holder’s credit rating and only allow them to have a credit card according to their salary they earn. The shame part is that there are a lot of citizens out there leaving in huge debt to the bank. So with this financial trouble, they cannot ask for a loan from the bank to pay for their credit card dues, which leaves the option wide open for loan sharks to enter the field and “help” the unfortunate. I feel sorry for anyone who has these debts running after them.

But nowadays, there are ways and means to avoid the call of creditors. Debtors can run away debt-free. They get crafty and savvier in doing so, but of course, that only leaves the creditors the option to send in a debt-collector/attorney/lawyer to do the job.

Collection attorney is a lawyer whose job is to collect debts from the debtors and give it to the creditor. This makes the debt collecting job a lot easier. Especially as a landlord, he/she may be busy during some time of the day and needs to pick up the rent money from his/her tenants. Even if successfully able to actually face them, they make up all kinds of excuses. So that leaves with two options:

1. Kick them out
2. Get the rent money through Commercial Debt Collection

The first option is great to release some steam and not waste any more time with the debtors, but kicking them out only result in a huge loss as they will no longer be seen or heard of again afterwards. So that leaves us with the latter option, get the money plus remedy charges through Debt Collection Attorneys.

The good thing about having somebody else to collect the debts for you instead of yourself is that, you then get more time to keep building and expanding your business. Using your time to chase after debtors, time after time again is ridiculous. Don’t you agree?

If you have a better method to catch debtors, please do comment.

P.S. This is a sponsored post.
P.S.S. Even though it was a sponsored post, I still provide my honest and personal opinions and recommendations about debt collecting as it is a serious issue with different businesses and different industries. So do take care when you perform any business transaction and hopefully will not make any financial loss in the process.

-Let the power of wealth be with you~

Watching Movies Online For Free Or Make Money As A Movie Reviewer

As far as entertainment and leisure is concerned, we would spend on them for several reasons:

1. To release stress
2. Hobby
3. A way of sharing fun with friends and family
4. To fill up time or waste time

The list can go on for different individuals. But let us take a look at movies. Watching it in the cinema is interesting and enjoyable with surround sounds, widescreen and comfortable seating but is it worth it?

I scoped around the Internet to find out which is better, watching in the cinema or watching at home. Watching movies has always been a great entertainment to each societies and communities to gather and watch together. Soon after the movie is over, friends whom they brought along will later discuss how much fun the movie was, regardless the genre. In a way, the movie business is astoundingly successful as it promotes itself to the market by peers encouraging others to watch that movie (either through cinema or DVD/Blu-ray) or through movie trailers.

But for some cheap individuals like ourselves, there is a way to reduce the cost on buying/renting DVD/Blu-ray or watching at a cinema; i.e. downloading or streaming them. Quite obvious as the technology we have today uses all kinds of third-party software to download entertainment and taking a lot of bandwidth and Internet speed while at it.

There is one site in particular that you can download or stream to watch a movie. For every individual that needs to let loose, watching movies tend to be the next best thing. Mymovees.com is a movie directory that gives you the opportunity to not just watch them, but also write reviews, getting to know the movie's plot, descriptions, ratings, details, etc. But if you are looking for a means to earn while watching movies, here is a hot option. Be a Movie Reviewer.

How To Be A Movie Reviewer

It is as simple as 1, 2, 3:

1. Watch movies
2. Review them
3. Repeat 1 and 2.

Of course, you may need to be a reputable movie reviewer as well as review very well in each categories and genres of a movie. Looking at how the actors/actresses acts, the lines said, the animations/effects, timings, motions, emotions, impacts, messages, etc.

Do this with all up-to-date movies. And because that we can watch movies online for free(either stream or download), you have less cost to spend on instead of watching it on DVD/Blu-ray, let alone in the cinema.

So what are you waiting for? Be a reviewer and make money writing them.

P.S. This is a sponsored post.

P.S.S. Even though it is a sponsored post, I do my best to research before taking up the offer with the advertiser. Reason would be whether the product/service itself has any beneficial or a waste of anyone's time. And this post represents how well mymovees.com is and I recommend anyone to give it a go. (Who would complain when it's free to use?)

P.S.S.S. Terms and Conditions apply.

-Let the power of wealth be with you~

Business Defensive Strategy

As much as IT is concerned in Business, there are a few things that needs to be taken in consideration. For one, employees in the organization requires to perform their job at their utmost efficiency and effectiveness. While that, there are always obstacles in the way which leads to production waste.

Some of them are:

• Employees spends too much time chatting, socializing and surfing the Internet and social networking sites.
• Employees often procrastinate once they are on the computer. Cause could be lack of motivation.
• Employees may leak out confidential company information to other competitors.
• Employees may have relationship problems at work or at home and uses working hours to make amends.
• Employees may bring down the company's server when downloading entertainment and software.
• Employees' downloading activities may infect the server with a virus.
• Employees may be watching or visiting adult sites during working hours.
• Employees may be writing up their CV in the office.

Stuff like this happens and in every business, there is a defensive plan. While every business needs to focus on attacking the market with sales, promotions and marketing strategies as their offense, they would lose focus on what trouble may brew at home grounds. So in conclusion, it is best to try and balance both strategies so that the company will still stand strong no matter what forces may come. Okay, maybe except God's forces but still, it is best to be prepared with a contingency plan along with a defensive strategy to keep the business going.

Internet Safety Software is a great product and it should be considered as one of the many great defensive options available. It is designed and developed by Spector Pro at www.spectorsoft.com for not only for employees to stop wasting precious working hours, but also beneficial towards children as well. Protecting the young minds from the dangers of the Internet. But let's stick with solving issues with employees, shall we?

You may be thinking that Internet Safety Software can be a tool used by the Human Resource Team. I mean, what else can the Human Resource Department do in the office, other than training staffs and motivating them to work? Well that is just that, but can they prevent company sabotage or stop workers from procrastinating? Likely. But with Internet Safety Software, Human Resource Management AND the executives or the manager can monitor the employees activities as soon as they switch on their PCs.

These are the benefits of Internet Safety Software:

• Discover and block inappropriate web surfing - One employee spent almost half of a working day shopping online. That is productivity wasted right there. Just imagine how well the company would go and treat their employees if the lazy employee didn't waste so much time web surfing. Could have saved thousands of dollars on expected income.
• See who is surfing web sites that the company blocks - While it is okay to let employees socialize on their free or break time, it is not okay to use any of the working hours to visit adult sites. (Don't look at me, I know it is very common among us. But if you are not the type of employee that visits adult sites in the workplace, then give yourself a pat on the back.)
• Find and eliminate unauthorized programs - While employees are working, it is notable that they may need to let off a steam or reduce their stress by listening to an online streaming radio, play a few games and whatnot. However, using that excuse too much or too long, may lead the employee to be more unaccountable as the individual would rather enjoy in their office, not doing any work and get their paycheck soon after.
• Review suspicious emails sent or received - including attachments - in Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo Mail & more - Companies had a hard time trying to figure out what went wrong with their executive strategy and how their competitors often be one step ahead than them. The cause sometimes lies within the company. Sending confidential company information such as the customer list, marketing strategies, portfolios and other "top-secrets" via email. A terrible company crime that must be stopped at all cost. If a company is failing because of one employee, all other employees working in that company may fail with it too.
• Track improper access to sensitive files and documents - Sometimes a spy infiltrates the company and steals data, information and such, even without being an employee of that company. Or even at the very least, the janitor could be stealing the company information to sell off to the highest bidder. Defend those files with SpectorSoft's Internet Safety Software!
• Detect and stop excessive use of network bandwidth - And then there is a case of abusing the IT network in the workplace. Downloading software and other programs can cause all kinds of trouble for other co-workers. Find the perpetrator and stop him/her.
• Identify and block employees who abuse chat/IM services - As much as one favors to socialize as much as the next, it is still inappropriate to do too much during working hours. SpectorPro found those programs to be used the right way.
• See EXACTLY what they do in EVERY program they run - You remember that one point above about employees writing CV's during their work. Catch them there as a signal to find out what is wrong or what makes their job unsatisfactory and keep them motivated to keep working for the company instead of the competitor or a different sector.

The Internet Safety Software is a great product and I recommend every small, medium and large companies to buy one. Not recommended if the company does not have any PCs for employees to use but still, it can be used as a final stand between the competitors rising success and the company's downfall.

P.S. This is a sponsored post.

P.S.S. Even if it is a sponsored post, I am still expressing my honest and personal opinion about the product as I see fit. This is my review of the product that they are selling and I find it beneficial to everyone; business and family alike.

-Let the power of wealth be with you~

1 Critical Mistake That A Blogger Can Do

Time after time, as I wonder around from local blogs to other blogs, I notice a lot of differences. A huge difference is that some blogs abused their power of blogging platform to display their products.

As much as I like to encourage everyone to sell whatever they have through the Internet, blogs are not used to display your products. At least not on its daily posts.

Proper blog owners or Probloggers (Professional Bloggers) treat their blogs like a business. One is that they set it up in a way that they all enjoy blogging. But their main income is that they sell products or services through blogging.

Time after time, I have read on other professional blogs that in order to gain a good steady income, they need to design it really well and sell it properly.

BLOGS ARE NOT BUSINESS PLATFORMS

Blogs are not a source of income. It is the product or service behind it that gives real cash. If anyone want to display products or services to directly sell them to customers, they might as well run a proper e-commerce site like www.qqestore.com or www.shopping.com.bn.

BLOGS ARE A PROMOTIONAL TOOL!

So what is the purpose of a blog? It is only a promotional tool. You may or may not notice this, but in the Blogosphere (a community of bloggers), is that they express with personal opinions about a product or service and let others know how good is one product to a user. How it is beneficial to buy one and it is not a waste of money or what kind of cons one may encounter when purchasing such an item or service. It is like a sales pitch, but only more personal. And when a reader finds that the product is interesting or the service provided is what they need, they order and purchase it, knowing full well that the reader has a better second opinion.

SHOW IT

For displaying the products or service, it is best to put it up on a separate page, mini-page, sub-page or another website. This way, whatever information regarding the product (features, overview, specifications, FAQ, etc) is all there, clean and simple. And not cluttered in daily posts.

PROS OF A BLOGGER

Aside from promoting the products or services, bloggers also have the opportunity to provide a review. There are advertisers out there willing to pay bloggers to post up a great review on their products. Bloggers are like marketers. Get paid on a commission basis. Meaning, whatever sold, that is your income and commission percentage. Not a salary. However, if advertisers need bloggers to write up a review on their product, it better be well written and make it sell. Advertisers also tend to pay bloggers per post depending on the traffic that bloggers get. This can lead to a real active income (i.e. salary). www.payperpost.com offers this kind of service. However, the chances of having an advertiser to choose you as a paid blogger/reviewer, is dependent upon; your domain name, search engine rank page, the number of page views per day, number of unique visitors and monthly traffic. They pay by the number of words, links and keywords. Also, I noticed in the marketplace of pay per post sites is that they often go for the ones that has a paid domain name rather than a free one. There are other pay per post sites out there, each with different terms and conditions need to follow. I suggest you take a look at them and try your luck.

CONS OF A BLOGGER

There are a few cons when running a blog. One of them is that, you need to keep writing and updating the blog. That is one difference between a blog and an e-commerce site. Blogs need to maintain very frequently to stay on top of the search engine rank page (SERP). Whereas, an e-commerce site does not need that much attention. It is more like, "build it and forget" kind of e-commerce site. But still, it best to maintain it a few times a month.

Another drawback is that there are already a lot of bloggers out there, writing reviews, giving out personal opinions about a product or service and probably selling the same products and services too. That is a heavy competition but it is healthy though. If there are no competitions, there won't be a market to sell.

Conclusion

A BUSINESS IS NOT A BUSINESS UNTIL ONE TREATS IT LIKE A BUSINESS

Anyone who is desperately trying to earn a living out of the Internet with free services only is only a dream. A fantasy driven by cheapskates. One have to note that; a business is not a business if you are not investing in it. They must start treating blogs like a business and run it like one. Yes, this means that you have to buy a domain name, add a bit of webmaster tools to enhance user interactions and navigations, pay a little bit for web advertising campaigns (like AdWords) and then it is considered a business.

-Let the power of wealth be with you~

Why Are You The Best Person For The Job?

Recently, I watched an episode from Scrubs Season 9. It was an interesting episode I watched as it kind of reflect most of us in a common situation faced in an interview.

Dr. Cox, Chief of Medicine and a professor, was holding up a trial interview for med students to try their luck and best at practicing for a real interview. Lucy, the med student, was up and she went in there confident with all the answers and researched information about her studies, classes and especially about her interviewer. Knowing that, Dr. Cox only have one question and only one question to ask her, "Why do you want to be a doctor?" Stunned by this query, Lucy struggled to find the right answer. Of course, in the Scrub series, it's a comedy so she just mentioned about her grandmother being ill, reference to a famous doctor, helping sick people, etc. Answer after answer, none of which are appropriate for Dr. Cox to approve of.

Dr. Cox's feedback was ,"If you cannot come up with a better answer than all those cliche`and unoriginal answers, I will make it my personal mission that you will never graduate from this university." So it kind of bug me a little that if I were asked that same question while studying in the line of medicine, I would hesitate to answer too.

As a matter of fact, I have been asked that question before when I was studying in Cosmopolitan College. There was an extra curricular activity where the college faculty sets up imaginary businesses and we have to practice interview taking and learn to be the best person for the job. Whether it is in the management division, IT department or accounting, every one of us was asked by that same question and everyone of us answered it with confidence. Sadly, we had a poor feedback that they told us that the answers we provided were unoriginal. That didn't help us at all. However, being that we have to think for ourselves, we started brainstorming on our own as individuals.

Through my past ventures, I have found out that other people who managed to get employed and that was asked by that same question was as simple as being "yourself". Meaning, what is the difference between yourself and others? Why should they employ you instead of somebody else? It is about yourself and you have to let them know what kind of advantages are there if you were to be employed by them.

The already used answers and reasons for these questions are as follows:

• Because I fit to your job description and willing to work further to improve myself.
• Because I have all the skills you need in order to get your project or work done.
• Because I have experienced through an ordeal to get to where I am today.
• Because I believe that the company will do much better if I am hired to do the job.
• etc

The list can go on but these are the most common used answers as mentioned by the Human Resource Manager that was interviewed earlier.

So if you were up for the interview and along the line, he/she asked you,"Why are you the best person for the job?" What will you answer?

-Let the power of wealth be with you~