Category Archives: Personal

A Daily Race Against Time

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In case you’re wondering – this site also reveals part of my happenings in life, injecting a little bit more flavour to the site as a whole; something lighter than the usual information dosage, especially for the weekend :)

It has been a really busy week and it would seem that it will only get busier all year long! It has already been almost a month since I started lecturing part time and it has been fun thus far (except for the preparation of  exam papers). Somehow attending classes as a student seemed like a drag but it is the other way round when given the opportunity to share – or maybe it’s just me – the opportunity to share with the students, future entrepreneurs, is really something :)

Hot Chili Dark ChocolateThe project for the largest chocolate retailer in Malaysia just went full swing! We are now in the midst of compiling photos of yummy chocolates to first work on the website. The website is usually the first apparent change for a online positioning project after thorough investigation and discussions with the company’s stakeholders. Websites today should be compatible with all modern browsers, mobile devices and for a chocolate business – pictures, pictures and more pictures!

With over 300 different types of chocolate, it’s gonna take some time to have them all up. Fancy a Hot Chilli Dark Chocolate, anyone?

A couple of projects were also launched in the past week including the 2nd Malaysia’s Online Fashion Entrepreneurs’ Weekend! Going beyond last year’s success, MOFEW 2011 is gearing up for twice the size, twice the fun and twice the exposure – once again being the largest gathering of online fashion entrepreneurs in Malaysia to highlight the online fashion scene and the people behind the industry. Check out the promotional video:

To think of it, it is only the beginning of March – a whooping 9 more months to end 2011 with a big bang! It’s definitely a busy year with more projects in the pipeline but it’s gonna be great!

What have you been up to? :)

 

An Interesting Beginning to 2011: Positioning for Opportunities

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In case you’re wondering – this site also reveals part of my happenings in life, injecting a little bit more flavour to the site as a whole; something lighter than the usual information dosage :)

I know it has only been a month into the new year but 2011 has been great (and really busy) for me. There are tons of exciting projects lined up this year including online consultancy projects, branding events and more!

Openminds Resources have also recently secured a consultancy project with one of Malaysia’s largest chocolate retailers / manufacturers which is really exciting to the team as it also allows us to get an exclusive insight to the chocolate industry in Malaysia and not to forget, delicious chocolate tours. I will also be sharing updates on this project, granting you – awesome readers insight as we take on this project on online positioning, marketing and social media.

Interestingly, I was also offered an opportunity to be a part time lecturer at one of Malaysia’s top IT universities – Asia Pacific University College of Technology & Innovation (APIIT / UCTI). This is definitely an interesting experience as I too, graduated from the very same university.

Standing and sharing in front of the students is an humbling experience and yet another learning curve! I actually look forward to the classes as this will also give me the opportunity to connect with the students and to hopefully inspire them to be future entrepreneurs and leaders as they inspire me to take on new heights.

What About You?

I hope it has been an awesome beginning for you! If you’re on the look out for a start-out point, here are 3 simple ways you can create your own beginnings!

#1: Position Yourself for Opportunities!

They often say “be at the right place at the right time”. Easier said than done, but you can always position yourself in situations that opportunities can come. It may be taking on a leadership role, participating in networking sessions, attending conferences, taking up new responsibilities or even standing in for your colleague at work – opportunities often come in ways we don’t expect it to. The trick is to POSITION ourselves to run into those opportunities.

#2: Talk Opportunities!

Do you have something that you’re absolutely passionate about? Whether it is keeping up with the latest technology updates or getting a promotion at work, you need to talk about it. Not just talk, but talk to the right people – the more the merrier. Make yourself available to these opportunities. Some people create blogs so that they can talk and share about their passion and blogs are a powerful way to express yourself and get noticed… even by your boss!

#3: Push Your Limits!

I’m sure there are times where you simply feel powerless or already at your limit. Your creative juices stopped flowing and you’re stagnant at where you’re at. At times like these comes BIG opportunity! Instead of focusing on your limitations, identify what exactly is putting a cap on your limits and work towards removing them! When this happens, new opportunities are opened to you and you’re ready for greater heights!

Moving Forward

Opportunities come and go and it is often up to us on how we make the most out of them. For those of you that are celebrating the Lunar New Year, this site is now in red in conjunction with this joyous celebration!

May 2011 be filled with great opportunities, good health and endless blessings!

The 2011 Challenge

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BLESSED NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

How did you spend your new year’s day? Have you got all your resolutions on paper yet?

I don’t know about you but it would seem that humans in general, are procrastinators. We tend to leave everything to the very last minute and will only work when we are forced to do so. Such is seen in education – at school, we were forced to study whether we liked it or not but after we graduate, we no longer are forced to study, no longer forced to improve ourselves.

What does this have to do with 2011?

The keyword here is to CHALLENGE yourself. You only stop moving forward when you stop challenging yourself. Set higher goals and do not get stuck in the comfort zone. CHALLENGE to remain motivated. CHALLENGE to achieve greater success. CHALLENGE to stay ahead of the game.

Let 2011 begin by saying “I choose to challenge myself”.

If you’re wondering how the new year celebration was like in Malaysia, here’s a video I found on YouTube:

Have an awesome 2011 ahead! CHALLENGE – that’s my theme of the year. Will that be yours, too?

2010 Was Filled With Viral Videos

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It’s only a day before Christmas and the 2nd last Friday of 2010.. how exciting! If you’ve been following this site, you’ll probably realize that I occasionally post up various viral videos that has attracted my attention (and millions around the world).

I must say that 2010 was a year where I’ve seen the most viral videos as compared to the years before. From cats in IKEA to a barbecue party of phones.. there’s just so many out there that made it big via videos this year.

Having said that, I would like to share 4 more viral videos before the year ends, 4 videos which I’ve found interesting from 4 different industries using different concepts / themes:

#1: The Google Chrome Speed Test

I’ve never thought a browser could produce a video featuring it’s speed in such an environment – comparing it with the speed of sound, lightning and a potato. Once again, this is a video riding on the UNCONVENTIONAL route, a key to create conversations and attention among viewers.

#2: Safety Campaign

Instead of using the usual route of illustrating gory scenes of road accidents and the consequences of driving without seat belts, this video used EMOTIONS as their key to get people talking. You need to watch it to see it (or rather, feel it) for yourself.

#3: Samsung Digital Camcorder

Bored of seeing ads introducing the latest gadget and it’s functionalities? This is a product launch video with a twist – they filmed it using the camcorder itself and filmed something really interesting to watch – someone with crazy business card throwing skills! Although the video does not speak about the product much, it serves it’s purpose to attract attention and now more people will know of the product’s existence. They used the OUTRAGEOUS key to unlock conversations.

#4: Interactive!

This has to be one of my favourites! Perhaps one of the very few that pushed the limits of viral videos, taking it really far! In fact, they managed to cleverly and creatively promote their product within the video which you MUST SEE for yourself! This is definitely a combination of UNCONVENTIONAL and HILARIOUS allowing it to receive over 13 million views!

So, you want to create something that goes viral?

Think the keys of unlocking conversations: UNCONVENTIONAL, OUTRAGEOUS, EMOTIONS and HILARIOUS – You’ll be on your way to your very own viral campaign.

Have a HAPPY and BLESSED CHRISTMAS! :)

The Week Before Christmas

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In case you’re wondering – this site also reveals part of my happenings in life, injecting a little bit more flavour to the site as a whole; something lighter than the usual information dosage, especially for the weekend :)

It’s the 2nd last Monday of the year and less than a week away to Christmas! I don’t know about you but things seem to be getting busier by the day. Is that happening to you, too? Oh, if you noticed, I’ve changed this site’s background to green in conjunction with Christmas.

mysimplifieds community meetup

Just 2 days ago I was given the opportunity to share to a bunch of eager entrepreneurs on how MOFEW can assist them in starting off their very own online fashion business at Teeq Brasserie, Lot 10 KL. It was a half day event with about 100 participants for them to learn, exchange business opportunities and network among like-minded people in a really casual environment – haven’t spoke in events like that for quite sometime.

The highlight was really a reminder to aspiring entrepreneurs to look beyond mere sales especially in these times where engagement is equally (or even, more) important than figures. With competition on the rise, customers today are also spoilt for choice and only those whom are dedicated and committed to DELIVER will remain competitive.

I shared 2 simple tips on how entrepreneurs can take their business to the next level:

#1: Build your network to increase your NET WORTH!

Every business regardless of it’s size, requires a network for it to survive whether it is a network of businesses, consumers or suppliers. Start-up entrepreneurs often think that since they are still ‘small’, they may not have what it takes to build a network – and that’s absolutely wrong! The smaller you think you are, the bigger the network you should have!

#2: Don’t wait for attention. DEMAND for attention!

Playing the waiting game often do not work no matter how extensive your business network is. Look / create opportunities to expose your brand to the consumers. Active participation plays an important role here. Sit back and relax and you’ll lose out. Use videos if your competitors are using photos, change your packaging, use social media tools, web layouts and etc. Do what it takes to stand out!

Speaking about social media and Christmas…

Here’s a video you definitely want to check out!

Should Companies Ban Social Media Among Employees?

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should companies ban social media?

Recently I’ve been noticing more and more companies here in Malaysia putting a barrier around their employees, preventing them from accessing social media tools within the premise. While some go about a complete ban, some left room for the marketing department to roam about freely.

Is that a good move?

It is fully understandable that social media tools especially Facebook, Twitter and blogging can be a huge time waster at work. Employees may be playing games, chatting away or busy updating their personal blogs instead of being ‘productive’ at the workplace. It’s no wonder why companies have to resort to a complete ban.

However, it is also interesting to note that some of these companies are supposedly customer centric, saying that they listen to their customers and etc but at the same time, staying out of social media. Strange indeed.

Blogs (social media) doesn’t get people fired, people get people fired. – Deb Schultz, Altimeter Group

To me, social media should not be banned in a company at all. Instead, companies should establish clear guidelines on how social media can be used. Companies such as Dell takes social media very seriously and goes to the extend of training their employees in this area and they have been utmost successful.

IBM takes a different approach by allowing their employees to write their social media policy for them. Sounds absurd? Not really, considering the fact that since the employees will be the ones using social media, they should be the ones setting the guidelines. In fact, they are more likely to keep to it if they formed it themselves. Plus giving your employees this liberty may cultivate an innovative culture in your company.

Some companies don’t even have rules to regulate social media usage. They simply let their employees do what they like, as long they perform in the end.

So.. What’s the Conclusion?

There is really no hard and fast rule in implementing / regulating social media in a company. I really do prefer both Dell and IBM’s way of doing it but it also depends on your comfort level as a business owner in the industry. Remember, social media can act as both an asset and a liability to your brand. Experiment with techniques and find out what’s best for your environment – social media only works when you try.

Doing Customer Service the Wrong Way

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are you doing customer service the wrong way

Recently I wrote a post on how beneficial social media can be when integrated into customer service operations and I have to share what happened to me –

Some time last week I was intending to purchase a new laptop to replace my old faithful and I landed on the Facebook page of one of Malaysia’s latest I.T. concept stores to drop them an enquiry, making sure that they have what I wanted at hand before I dropped by.

They replied within a couple of hours (11am) and was very helpful by indicating that they only have one particular model left (the one I wanted) and that I can drop by the store and their sales personnel will be able to assist me. I was very happy at this point and decided to head over to their store after lunch.

I arrived at the store at about 3pm and asked about the laptop:

Me: Hi, do you have this particular laptop in stock? (just to double check)
Sales: Yes we do but we are down to the last unit for this model (he pointed to the brochure without me asking – it was what I wanted)
Me: Okay, great, I’ll take it now then.
Sales: (paused for a while) This unit is already reserved by my friend a couple of days back.
Me: Oh? But you mentioned that there is stock. It’s also mentioned to me on Facebook this morning.
Sales: Facebook? I don’t know.. I never check the Facebook page.
Me: Is there anyone I can talk to regarding the post on Facebook?
Sales: I’ve got no idea.

I was shocked and left with no other options by the sales personnel – I left the store and decided to post on their wall again reiterating the situation just to see what will their response be. A reply came about 3 hours later that read, “…our remaining units were reserved moments before your arrival…Much apologies again for the inconvenience caused.”

Well, I could only come up with 3 reasons at that point of time:

1. I was out of luck, having the remaining unitS reserved within the span of 3-4 hours (when the sales personnel said that there was only 1 unit available all along)

2. The sales personnel reported falsely on the availability of stocks to the social media personnel (in which he mentioned that he does not know who manages the Facebook page)

3. Communication breakdown (clearly the case)

The Conclusion

Apart from the major disappointment I experienced, I managed to discover a potential flaw in social media integrations within companies.

“You may have the best social media managers on the job but without proper communication and information, they’re as good as none.”

Remember, social media is all about providing an experience to your customers.

How to: Create Customer Loyalty with 10 cents

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“Do you believe that 10 cents is all it takes to lose a potential loyal customer over your competitor?“

10 cents

I can’t help but to realize how important 10 cent is to both the consumer and the business. No, I’m not talking about price wars between similar products but how far 10 cents can determine whether a customer returns to you.

Have you been into a situation in a restaurant and the bill summed up to say, RM12.10 and the thought comes – “can’t you even give a 10 cent discount?“

If you haven’t, great! But if you have, you’re probably one of the many out there like myself and I have been doing some observation and testing to see how people have been reacting in this situation.

Situation 1

Customer: It’s only 10 cents, do you have really have to charge that?
Business A: Nah, I’ll round it up to RM12 for you. Please come again!

Situation 2

Customer: It’s only 10 cents, do you have really have to charge that?
Business B: Of course! 10 cents go a long way. Please come again! (I actually received this response for word)

Situation 3

Business C: (brings the bill of RM12.10) Hi sir, that will be RM12.00
Customer: (surprised) Oh, here you go.
Business C: Thank you, Please come again!

Looking at these 3 situations, which situation would you like to be in? How would you like going back to the Business B in Situation 2? Sure, 10 cents isn’t a lot and it will indeed go a long way for a business but from the viewpoint of a customer, that is no customer service and creates a negative impression that may determine the buying behavior of that customer – to not come back to you again.

Even worst if that customer decides to use social media as his / her arsenal to vent – more like minded customers will catch the message and perhaps skip you altogether (ouch).

Now before you shove this away and think that it’s no big deal, you may have to think again as customers such of these are not rare. Be prepared for situations such as these and you may just win yourself a loyal customer.

What Can We Learn From 10 cents?

Every cent counts. Every deed you do for your customer counts – whether it is a personalized service, special discounts, freebies, a listening ear, priority service, engaging in small talks or even remembering their names.. it makes a difference and that difference may just be THAT differentiating factor that sets you apart from your competitor.

Have you been in similar situations? I would love to hear them! :)

How to Start Your Own Self Hosted WordPress Blog

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how to start your own wordpress siteWith new bloggers joining the blogosphere each and everyday, the demand of having a personal domain name (e.g. www.yourname.com) remains as high as ever. If you’ve always wanted this but do not know how, this article will be guiding you through a series of steps to get your very own self hosted WordPress blog up and running in no time!

Step #1: Get A Domain Name + Hosting Service

A domain name is your site’s address or URL and it has to be hosted before anyone can see it’s contents. To see whether your desired domain name is available, I use www.GoDaddy.com (for .com / .net / .org / international domains) and www.DomainRegistry.my (for .com.my / .my / org.my / local domains).

Most people get really confused with two things at this stage:

1. The difference between domain names (e.g. .com and .com.my)

Let me start by saying that having a .com does not make one more superior than a .com.my in any way, vice versa. The only difference is that a .com.my (Malaysia) or a .co.uk (UK) for that matter, is controlled locally by their respective country’s registrar for domains – which also means that you may need to have certain qualifications / requirements for you to obtain it.

For example, to qualify for a .com.my domain, you’ll need to have a registered business / company with SSM (Companies Commission of Malaysia) while a .my domain requires you to have a Malaysian identification card (IC) number.

“One thing to note though, is that .com domains may have a slight advantage over local domains on search engines but it’s not a huge set back at all if you’re into SEO”

2. The difference between hosting packages (e.g. how much space will I need?)

If you’re not very good with technical terms, never mind the long lists of functionalities given – but look out for the below:

a. Operating Systems – Usually between Windows and Linux. If you’re only interested in running WordPress on it, then either does not matter. However, some providers have their prices tagged differently (e.g. Windows more pricey).

uploading directly into the server takes up space and bandwidthb. Space – This is your storage space, some what like your hard disk space on your computer. If you’re not planning to upload tons of pictures and videos to your site directly, anywhere between 5GB – 10GB of space would last you for quite some time. To save space, you can always upload your pictures to Flickr while videos to YouTube and link them to your posts whenever needed.

c. Bandwidth – The larger the bandwidth, the more traffic your site will be able to handle. Usually hosting providers offer 2 – 5 times the bandwidth of the storage space in GBs (e.g. 10GB space -> 50GB bandwidth) which should be more than sufficient if your pictures are off loaded elsewhere such as on Flickr.

d. MySQL Databases – WordPress runs on MySQL Databases and each blog requires ONE MySQL database so make sure your hosting package has at least 1 (any more won’t hurt!).

Note that there IS a difference between MySQL and MS SQL databases!

e. Email Accounts – Fancy a [email protected] email address? This is what it’s all about. 5 email accounts will grant you up to 5 different email addresses and so on.

Total investment here: Varies from RM80 – RM350 (domain name + hosting) depending on the service provider, chargeable per year

Step #2: It’s Time to Work with WordPress

If you used to have a blog on WordPress.com, it’s time to abandon that and head over to WordPress.org instead and download the latest WordPress version (it’ll be in a zip file). When it’s done, simply unzip the file and rename it (if you wish).

the famous 5 minute installationNow, there are several steps you’ll need to do and this famous 5-minute WordPress Installation Guide will lead you through the entire process with a breeze!

If you’re wondering what is this FTP thingy mentioned in the guide, think of it as a way for you to upload your files to the server. You can do it either through a software e.g. FileZilla or WS_FTP. Either software will require your login credentials which will be provided by your hosting service provider.

Step #3: Recommendations and Configurations

Congratulations for making it this far! That wasn’t too difficult, was it? Before you go trigger-happy experimenting new themes, widgets and etc, I strongly recommend the usage of:

how to configure wordpress permalinksa. Pretty Permalinks – Changes the links of your posts and pages from www.yoursite.com/?p=123 to www.yoursite.com/something-that-makes-sense. Why? You’re telling search engines what your post is thus making you look good on the ranks.

To change your permalink format: WP Dashboard > Settings > Permalinks

I am using Custom Structure: /%postname%/ but you may want to opt for something else (see guide on permalinks here)

Note that some servers are not automatically configured to process pretty permalinks. Linux servers requires the Mod_Rewrite module while Windows servers requires the URL Rewrite module for pretty permalinks to work – contact your service provider if unsure.

b. Plugins! – There are tons of WP Plugins out there but the below are the bare minimum:

  1. All in One SEO Pack – Because we all know that SEO can bring about organic traffic from search engines
  2. Google Analytics – Insert your Google Analytics code to start tracking your visitors’ data
  3. Sharebar – Allows visitors to share your posts across the social network with ease
  4. Sitemap – Many bloggers overlook the importance of having a sitemap, it helps search engines crawl your site better
  5. Database Backup – One of my favorite as it automatically sends the database backup to my email on a weekly basis. I do not need to worry about missing posts again!
  6. WPTouch – There are more and more mobile browsers today than ever therefore having a mobile friendly version of your blog is vital

#4: You’re Done!

Welcome to your WP Dashboard!

With all those in place, you are now free to configure your desired theme, import posts from your old WordPress blog or even get started on your very first post right away! Starting your own website has never been easier with WordPress and you should really have one if you have not already.

Too Complicated?

janwong.myThis site you’re on now (janwong.my) is hosted on a huge server with sarahtay.my as it’s only neighbor for now. It gets a little lonely here so if you’re interested, I can do all the steps above for you from domain name purchasing (.com), web hosting, installing AND configuring WordPress for a mere RM120 per year on a goodwill basis!

Note: This offer is only open to individuals wanting a self-hosted WordPress blog. Only less than 10 slots available for grabs! :)

What will you receive?

exclusive wp hosting 2010 - janwong.my

What will I get in return?

A new neighbor and no longer owning an under utilized server!

If you are interested or you have any questions regarding this service, simply contact me via email, a Tweet or simply by leaving a comment :)

Which Grills Faster? The Android, iPhone or the Windows Phone?

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Hello there! How’s your weekend coming along? Some weekend browsing allowed me to stumble across this and if you’ve always been wondering which of the 3 phones mentioned lasts longer on the grill, this video is made for you:

What’s interesting to note that this video is not made for sheer entertainment purposes – it is to promote a product called the EZGrill disposable grill. If you haven’t noticed, this video is going viral with about 9k views on YouTube since it was uploaded 24 hours ago. People all around the world are tuning in just to see 3 of the latest gadgets out there getting grilled helplessly.. and watching a live demonstration on how the EZGrill works!

A costly idea? EZGrill will need to sell more than 200 units to recoup the cost spent on the phones for this ad.
Will it be possible? At the rate it is going, very much so.
Should EZGrill give the phones away rather than grilling them? Nah.. The grilling cooked up a huge opportunity for consumers to see their product in action the fun (for some) and dreadful (for some) way. The hype builds faster this way, too!

So, what does it take to go viral?

Looking at EZGrill’s ad, I managed to pick up 2 simple points:

1. Pick something that’s current: EZGrill used the 3 most talked about gadgets – the Android G2, iPhone 4 and Windows Phone 7 as the main catch. They did not say “See how my EZGrill works and how awesome it is” but to use current topics to capture the attention of the consumers, then show them what the product is all about.

2. Do something unusual / drastic: They pulled something drastic as opposed to IKEA that went for the unusual route. EZGrill used 3 current items, did something drastic and that captured major attention and interest (and shock). Grilled phones? We don’t see that coming everyday.

There are definitely more ways to go about viral videos but usually the above two does it just right. I am personally interested to see how far this video will travel.

Did I miss out something from EZGrill’s video? I would love to hear them :)

Till then, fancy a barbecue, anyone?