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How to Use Your Hobby and Create a 2nd Income Stream

October 27th, 2009 · General

Are you happy with your monthly paycheck now? Ok, I know most will shout that money is always not enough for you!

But have you really sat down and thought of creating a 2nd income stream? No… I am not asking you to start a business.

It’s more like doing what you love and getting paid at the same time.  Let’s just say that you make USD$200 from it. It’s not a lot, but I am sure it helps to pay the bills, extra money for your shopping needs, have a good meal with your loved ones. Who knows you can even earns thousands? It is possible.

So, how can you do it?

1. Article Writer

I know of friends who can write pretty well. You can be a part-time article writer! Where can you find your customers? Simple, just head over to GetaFreeLancer. It’s a market place for the skilled freelancers. Writers, web designers, graphics designers, programmers are all in demand. There are tons of projects there, just sign up for an account and you can bid for work.

Normally, the articles range from 250-600 words and you are paid between USD$2 to $10 per article depending on the article length and topic.

Again, let’s assume you are just paid $3/article for a 300-word article and you got 20 articles based on a 1-week deadline.  You earn $60. If you had 4 such projects, you get to earn an extra $240/month. If writing is your forte, this is really easy money. Some may think the money is too little, but think about it… you are working part-time at the comfort of your own home and at your own pace. No selling, no talking to customers, no customer service. :P

2. Sell Stock Photos

Did you realized that more and more Singaporeans are buying dSLR cameras and into photography? Just take a walk on the streets, many people are hanging their dSLRs on their neck, as if it’s an accessory for the clothes.

If you are really a good photographer, you can try selling stock photos. By definition, they are photos which are available for rental or purchase for commercial use.

Head over to iStockPhoto and take a look. To know how they pay you, click here.

Of course, they don’t accept every Tom, Dick and Harry photos. Your photos must be of quality and follow certain rules and guidelines.

For photos only (they accept stock audios as well), you are paid between USD$0.30 to $8.40 per photo per download.

If your photo happens to be popular and assume they are downloaded 1000 times based on the lowest $0.30 royalty earnings, you earn $300! This is even easier money! You take the shoot one time, but you are paid over and over again.

It is definitely possible. Check out this simple stock photo here. It’s a random search by me and it’s already downloaded more than 1000 times. The photographer has 80 photos submitted. You go and figure how much he earns.

And yes, I hire writers and I do buy stock photos myself. That’s why I know about such stuffs. :)

You see… there are opportunities for you to earn good extra income. You just need to look out for it, open your eyes big.

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Google Sniper – Testing Out New Niche Marketing Method

October 24th, 2009 · Niche Marketing

Recently, there was another new product launch: Google Sniper

I thought it will be another lame product, trying to “game” google, cheap Adwords clicks for CPA marketing and all the yada-yada… I never really follow product launches nowadays, mainly because the products are re-hashed materials or hyped-up sales letter where the information can be found freely online.

But somehow, this Google Sniper thingy caught my attention. It was geared towards niche marketing. After reading the whole sales letter, I thought to myself, “Hmmm, this guy is doing niche marketing and he got his free SEO traffic with NO backlinks???!!!”

So, I grab hold of the report and read it. Seriously, it is way much better than I expected.

Some of his ways of doing stuffs are new to me, such as keyword research, how to pre-sell (really good stuff), how he configure his sites.

In theory, his methods of doing niche marketing might works… but I gonna try it and test it out myself. I have already registered 2 new domains and will work on them for the coming week.

For those who are interested, click here to visit Google Sniper.

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New to Internet Marketing? Step By Step Videos For You

October 8th, 2009 · Internet Marketing

If you are new to internet marketing, I am sure you will be lost by the overwhelming information found online. Things are made worse if you are not a technical person and you don’t even know how to set up a simple blog or website (that’s me when I first got started).

I am sure you want some guidance or somebody who can teach you step-by-step. Singapore’s most famous internet marketer, Ewen Chia, has just launched a free training site which you can get access to step-by-step training videos that will teach you how to get started with your online business. Specifically, he will teach you how to do affiliate marketing, that is promoting somebody’s else products and you get a commission for each sale made.

Some of the videos lessons include:

  • What is affiliate marketing
  • How to get your affiliate link
  • How to get domain name and hosting
  • How to find a truly profitable topic
  • How to find profitable affiliate products
  • How to build your keyword list
  • How to dominate the search engines EASILY
  • Getting maximum conversion for your promotions
  • and much more

If you are a complete newbie, I am sure these videos will benefit you and most importantly, they are free.

Of course, once you get into the member area, Ewen will recommend his paid products and other services. Don’t worry, there’s no obligation for you to buy. But I must say that, for a newbie, some of his products are pretty useful. I bought my first internet marketing product from him as well (that’s way back in 2006).

My advice? Go through the training videos, explore further yourself and take action. Don’t worry about “not knowing everything”. There is no perfect timing for you to get started. Learn as you do, do as you learn and refine along the way.

Click here to get access to those free training videos. Just fill up and name and email address and you are good to go.

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LG Netbook? Forget About It. It Sucks

October 1st, 2009 · General

*Disclaimer: A long post for my grumble on LG. Either you read it or leave.*

Recently there are a few incidents that annoy the hell out of me. The latest is on my LG Netbook X120.

I bought it during the recent Comex IT show. So it was only about 2 weeks ago. However, my girlfriend realized that the netbook’s hinge is a bit loose (when you open or close the LCD). Thus, when you carry it at a slanted angle, the screen will “topple” or “slide” down, if you understand what I mean.

If this is a 14″ or 15″ notebook, I can gladly accept it because it will be more bulky and I will carry around less often, so it shouldn’t be an major issue. However, a NETBOOK will be a different story. It is meant to be PORTABLE.  We carry the netbook around here and there, hence it’s kinda of irritating when the LCD just “slide” downwards.

So, I paid a visit to LG notebook service center at Alexandra Road, hoping they can make the hinge tighter. I thought it would be a simple job.

But I was wrong. When I told the customer service representative what’s the problem. She told me flatly, “It’s like that one.”

Then I proceed to tell her that I checked out other retail stores that carry the netbook and it wasn’t LIKE THAT.

As usual at customer service center, she asked me to hold for a moment while she went to the back-office and compare it with other same model netbooks and discussed it with her colleague (I could see them).

She brought out 2 other identical netbooks and still insist that “It is like that one”. WTF. I was starting to boil. Of course, I inspected the other netbooks and clearly their hinges are tighter and I even demonstrate the difference between my netbook and others.

All the yada-yada… and then, a guy came out to serve me instead. I guess he was the technical person.

He said quite a number of people had encountered this problem and said it is a common issue.  YEAH…SO? HOW CAN YOU SOLVE IT? C’mon, I just bought the netbook 2 weeks ago. It is as good as new. It’s not like I have used for half a year and then complained about it.

The guy then said that if I insist on having the hinge tightened, they can do it for me but I have to accept the condition after the “repair”.  Because he said that the hinge is under the motherboard and they have to dismantle the whole thing before it can be tightened. Even doing so, the hinge may just be slightly tightened only.

WTF! Dismantle the whole thing? Then it will not be a newly manufactured set like before. Who knows what will happen later on when they dismantle the whole damn thing?

So, I said I wanted a new set. Because it IS a defective product. It’s not a wear-and-tear issue, not due to user carelessness and most importantly, they CAN’T guarantee the problem will be solved if it is sent for service and I have to accept the outcome.

The tech guy then said the service center does not do 1-to-1 exchange and I have to direct my concern to the “sales” team, which is the retail shop which I bought my netbook from.

Again… WTF. Do you think the shop will give me a new set?? It will NOT! I worked in IT retail sales before. The shop will definitely push the problem to the service center. So what am I supposed to do?

The LG service center cannot provide me the “service” when it is called the “service center”. I left the place angrily. Clearly, there is something wrong with the product and LG didn’t take up the responsibility.

You know what? I happened to buy a defective blood pressure monitor a week ago at the Bukit Batok Polyclinic NHG Pharmacy a week ago. The machine itself is alright. But the arm velcro is torn after one use. So, I went back. The people there just changed for me on the spot and I got a new arm piece and they didn’t even request for a receipt. This is what I call a good after sales service.

C’mon, LG… Do you think I purposely “destroy” my netbook, so that I can demand a new set? Do you think it’s fun to take public transport all the way to the service center and get a non-satisfactory solution? Or rather NO solution.

1st hand experience is very important, especially for a new customer. This is my first LG product. However, this will be my last as well. So what if the laptops/mobile phones look chic and cool? The after sales support is terrible.

There is NO way I will buy a LG product in the future. The brand is tarnished in my heart.  You just lose a customer. Yeah, to you… I am just ONE of the million customers. No big deal.

But my blog is read by my friends and search engine visitors. Their buying decision for LG products  may be influenced by such a negative post. You may just lose 1 customer for now. But it may be potentially hundreds or thousands in the near future.

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Did You Know?

September 19th, 2009 · General

We are living in exponential times. Check out the video for some thought-provoking figures. You will be amazed.

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Guts Needed

September 19th, 2009 · My Life

Starting an offline (traditional, brick and mortar) business seriously needs guts.

Although it’s still in the pre-beginning stage, I can already feel some stress. Doing a traditional business is so much more difficult than an online business. The capital, the planning, the execution etc. There are so many things to be done. And of course, the uncertainties involved. I really salute those entrepreneurs who can make their companies so successful. It’s definitely not easy to get out the comfort zone and venture into the unknown.

But I think the time is ripe for me and also, I would like to try out new things and diversify my income. No risk no gain. As simple as that.

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Shame on Pfizer

September 4th, 2009 · My Life

Pfizer was recently order to pay a record $2.3 billions penalty for illegal drug promotions.  Shame on this world largest pharmaceutical company!

“There’s so much money in selling pills, that there’s a tremendous temptation to cheat,” said Bill Vaughan, an analyst at Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.

It’s finally time for people to know what’s behind the scene in the drug industry. I am really disgusted by their “sell at all costs” attitude without considering the health of the people. I understand that healthy profits are very important for a company but I strongly believe that it must be achieved ethically.  Moreover, they are in a industry where they are supposed to help people get healthy and well.

I am not sure if you came across such information: Some illness or diseases are not so deadly as they seem, and they can be treated using herbs or natural remedies that are cheap and widely accessible by people. The pharmaceutical companies know about these but are not willing to “disclose” it. Why? Simply because those herbs are not patented. They only want to manufacture “pills” as it can be patented and most importantly they can sell them for huge profits.

Disclaimer: I don’t know how true it is and I can’t verify it. I just happen to read about them. They are many of such “stories” online. Just do a google on “expose pharmaceutical companies“, “pharmaceutical scams” etc.

I am also in the health niche as well, where I have several content sites which people can gather some specific health information. But the important thing is, I market them ETHICALLY. I rarely promote any health supplements or pills. This is because I know there are many fake pills or scams online. I don’t want people to fall prey.

In fact, I know of a merchant who is quite well-known for selling health supplements online. But I don’t promote it, as I don’t really trust them and I don’t feel good promoting pills. Making money is fine, just don’t do it at the expense of others!

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Doing Some SEO Testing

September 2nd, 2009 · Search Engine Optimization

If you search for the term: “alex yeo”, you will realized that I am not ranked number 1. I am in 3rd position. I captured a screen shot.

alex yeo SERPS

The no.1 spot is another “alex yeo” from Singapore. He’s currently the managing director at McDonald’s Singapore. LOL.

Now is the time for me to do some SEO. I want to derail him from the top spot and take over that position. Yeah, I want to make sure that when people search for “Alex Yeo”, I will ranked no. 1.

Right now, my title tag doesn’t have my name on it, which is obviously a disadvantage. :-)

It’s fun time now for me to do SEO. But it’s not my main priority, so I won’t do it very aggressively. At the same time, I can do some SEO testing as well by only using ONE method to boost my rankings. I hope I can share some results soon and when you search for my name next time, I will be no. 1.

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Sharing Knowlege

August 24th, 2009 · My Life

I just met a middle-aged guy for coffee yesterday. Let’s just call him Uncle X. I got to know him around 2 years ago through internet marketing. I think he’s one of my opt-in subscribers last time!

Anyway, last week he started chatting with me through Google chat. So, he asked me how was I doing. So I  told him I was self-employed now, doing my internet marketing stuff full-time.

So, he began asking me what I am doing right now, what’s my income etc. Because, recently he’s interested into internet marketing (IM) again. Yesterday, we happened to chat and he asked whether I was free for a impromptu coffee session as he wanted to ask me some stuffs on IM. And the amazing thing is… he lives in Tampines. He drives all the way from his home to Bukit Batok to fetch me. Then we went to The Rail Mall for some coffee.

When I first knew Uncle X, he was just retrenched. Now, he’s working in a MNC company and in his spare time, running some small offline business. There are some IM issues that he are still confused. So, I just shared what I know to him. He wanted to launch his own product and is already in the process of setting up the website.

He told me that having a job is the NOT best route for him. Why? He has been retrenched once and now he’s already 42 years old. He knew that another retrenchment is possible, which he can’t afford to let it happen again, especially he has a kid now with a family to feed.

Contrary to what other believe, Uncle X feels that having a job is in fact UNSTABLE.

Anyway, I wish him all the best. With determination and perseverance, I am sure he will succeed in his IM.

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I Wonder How Much They Pay?

August 19th, 2009 · Internet Marketing

Saw this job posting in JobStreet by Bain & Mercer today:

Are you passionate about internet marketing?

We are recruiting a highly motivated Online Marketing Executive who has done either one of the following:
- manage your own blogshop
- spend at least 2 hours on Facebook every day.
- has a Twitter account and actively tweet.
- indulge in online affiliate marketing, familiar with Google Adsense.
- built a website
- or has managed a PPC campaign before.

As our Online Marketing Executive you will be the online marketing advisor to our clients, their “go-to” person for anything concerning online marketing. You will assist in diagnosing their problem and working out a viable online marketing solution to achieve their business goals.

You will also work with internal and external resource in the delivery, ensuring the business goals, budget and timeline are met.

If you have a passion in internet marketing, this would certainly be a fun environment for you.

If I saw this job ad when I graduated from university last May (2008), I would definitely apply for this position. :)

Just wondering what’s the salary for this “online marketing executive” position? Maybe somebody can apply for it, go for the interview and tell me about it. LOL.

Seriously, for those who have YET to become as a full-time online marketer (you will make it sooner or later), this is like a “dream job” – doing what you love.

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