First it was Telekom Malaysia Melaka, and the latter Sahabat Belia, Jab. Ketua Menteri Melaka. It was a nice feeling to be invited and got the opportunities to share some ideas and knowledges with other people, especially entrepreneurs and students.

The breakfast session with TM was a brief one. I was given a 30 minutes slot from them to talk about New Media Marketing, in which I’m going to write about it in the next post.

The event organized by Sahabat Belia Melaka on the other hand, was a 1 full day event. The event was organized at Kampung Buku Melaka, Ayer Keroh. We started at 9.00 am and ended at 4.45 pm. The topic that I shared with this fantastic kids was Ethics in Media Social: Facebook and Twitter.

Briefly, what I did was explaining to these kids the way to get social in the media social networking world, particularly in these two most famous platform, Facebook and Twitter. The whole idea is to make sure that they use these platform to create great things for themselves and at the same time, not abusing or annoying other people.

Why these kids? I believe majority of the Facebook users, especially from Malaysia, are coming from the age of 15 – 25 years young. They are the one who spent most of their night time to explore the wonders of the digital world. They are more exposed to what the digital world has to offer. And I also believed, if they were to be any guide, than it has to come from us, the adult.

What I’m sharing is just a little piece of the real world. But at least they have something to hold on too.

For the complete slide, you can get them at http://www.scribd.com/.

Kudos to Sahabat Belia Melaka for organizing such event.

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• Real Madrid (3) – Sevilla (2)
• Barcelona (2) – Almeria (2)
• Manchester United (1) – Wolve (0)

Now, if you look at the result, it means two teams, Real Madrid and Manchester United won their game. On the other hand, altough Barcelona didn’t lose, they don’t won either.

What is the significant between these scenarios? Both Real Madrid and Manchester United are top of their legue. They are leaders. They lead their because they won their matches. It doesn’t mean Barcelona is a weaker team, remember they do not win, it’s just Real Madrid won a game. How about Manchester? Are they stronger than Chelsea? You can’t tell that because Chelsea  have a game in the FA Cup. And obviously Manchester United won their game.

Winners are rewarded with all kind of prizes; personal satisfaction, money, people all over the globe chanting their names, and hey winners are considered heroes! Looking at the Real Madrid players after the match  ended, there are endless satisfaction shown on their tired faces. They fought real hard because they were down 2 – 0. They know they have to win not because Barcelona is drawing, its because they, the players, are winners. And mind you, both the winning goal from Real Madrid and Manchester came very late.

What if Real Madrid and Manchester United draw? Can they be leaders? No. They can’t. It doesn’t matter if they’re 0-0 or even 2-2, they are not winnning the game. They are not winners. They only got 1 point out of 3, and that is not enough to get them to the top of the table.

Success is about choices. We choose to become success. Success doesn’t choose race, color, religion or even age. It’s either success or failure. I urged you to choose success. Remember, we have to power to choose want we want. We should not be dictated by anybody. If you choose to success, then work hard and smart to be one.

If you choose to become an employee, choose to be the best employee your company ever had. If you’re an enterpreneur, you have the 100% rights to choose to become success in your business. You are what your business is.

God gave us brain and the ability to choose. Choose wisely.

Among my friends, there was one plum kid that was very passionate to climb the mountain. I did told him that it won’t be easy but his determination took over.

Now, if you are familiar with Gunung Ledang, a journey from Sagil would take you 8 hours till you arrive at the peak. For non-fit climbers, 10 hours is the most..hopefully.

Now, back to my plum friend. He really amazed me in the first hour. He did. And then, the next hours was a session of Questions and Answers. He kept asking me when will we arrive. My answer was a template, with little modification,

“You know what, we are very near to the peak. Can you see the blue sky there?”

“Oh yeah, yeah. I saw that. Ok, lets move” he answered.

After a 30 minute walk, the same question pop-up.

And, as a dedicated tourist guide, I answered his question “We are actually at the second highest peak. Can you see the big tree there?”

and the rest is history…

Now, taking into account that I have a plum friend that was so dedicated to conquer the mountain, I summarized some key points for you:

1. My plum friend has set his mental straight, he knew his goal, he wanted to conquer the mountain.
2. He can choose to sit in front of his TV, but he make a bold decision by leaving his comfort zone and explore a new adventure.
3. He can actually stop at the first check point, which is at the first hour, but no, he kept on climbing.
4. He got his second chance to quit, but he choose to ask me how far more should he go.
5. He saw the first sign of the peak, which is the blue sky, and he can stop there, knowing that he nearly arrive
6. And when he choose to take more steps, he saw that the big tree was so big that what he can imagine.

You know, when you take more steps, you’ll discover more. You’ll see things that you didn’t even know exist.

Take this for example; making money from the internet sounds too alien in the 80s or even the 90s, but some brave people, took some brave steps such as leaving their comfort zone to carve for their own success.

You should make you step now. Take one step at a time. Take a step farther from where you stand and discover the wonders the world have to offer.In your journey, there are always ups and downs. But whatever it is, be positive. At least you’ve took the step.

Now, while this is what you and me used to think about blog, blogging has provide a new way for business and individual to establish their authority in the their respective niche. Blog has proved to be one of the most powerful marketing tool this decade.

For business and individual, blog has provide more transparent communication between them and their readers in their niche. It really shows who they are, what they are doing everyday and what is exactly the products and services they are offering. With this, it has created a viral recognition between people in the same niche thus increasing the profits at the same time.

Old ways

In the traditional method of marketing, for example, the TV, the audience has to be interrupted (I would even say force)  just to show the advertisement of products and services on TV. These advertisements itself can make an hour drama to be cut short more than 20minutes!

New marketing

The new method of marketing has totally changed the way marketer meets customer. Because of this reason, you have to establish your authority in your niche through blogging. You have to become a subject matter expert in your niche. And when you do, your customers are the one who’s going to look for you, ask for your advice, hints, insights and everything they want to know.

And you my friend, will become the hottest asset on your niche.

Having a goal

So, how can you establish your authority? First, your blog must have a goal. A definite goal. It’s well known that every blogger wants to make money on the internet. Some have gone through the hard way, but for some, it’s like living in a dream.

Your definite goal must include not only engaging, but also helping others in every possible way to the road of success. It may take months or even years, but its worth the journey.

Gain credibility

Next, before you gain the authority, you must gain the credibility. If you can delay the temptation of monetizing your blog, and focus on the content itself, you will establish credibility and long term thrust at much faster pace.

When you help enough people to achieve success, you are on the right track to establish your authority.

With the main target is to build a successful online business, this class will be on the Identifying Market and Niche Marketing topic. It’s a must attend class for beginners.

Details are as below:

Date: 24th February 2010 (Wednesday)

Time: 8.30 pm – 10.30pm

Place: Anjung Technology, Taman Tasik Utama, Ayer Keroh.

Fee: RM30

Yes, its a paid class. And it’s only RM30. So what are you going to get with this RM30?

• How to identify which market to tap
• How to dominate niche market
• Getting to know your buyer more
• Using keyword searching tools to look for the hottest keywords
• What type of products are suitable and profitable to sell
• and many more

Its a 2 hour super pack information class where at the end of it, I’ll guarantee you shall have at least an idea what you’re going to sell online and eventually START YOU OWN INTERNET BUSINESS.

Grab you seats now because it is limited to 40 persons only. If you wish to bring your laptop, you are most welcome to do so.

So act now. Show me your interest by emailing  me at me@shufaad.com for your seat. Put YES! as your title and I know you’re serious.

The choice is yours.

Firstly, I would like to thank Nasrul for inviting me to this event and for promoting my facebook apps in his slide. A free promotion tool for me I reckon? The short and sweet event started at 9.05 am and ended at 1.00 pm.

Well the tagline said that it was supposed to be a Developers Garage. I’m a developer and I’m also expecting some Otai Developers to share a tip or two on their development of games and apps..regardless it is making money or not. Emmm that my friend, I missed.

Not to take anything from the event, this is my personal opinion.

Nevertheless, Bro Uzaidi from uzaidi.com showed the real way of doing marketing in FB and Mehdi from ….I don’t really get his company name…showed same sample on the project that he was invovled, its a promotion page for Bodyshop.

Its a good effort by Nasrul and his team though and I believe they will get better. Remember my friends, the first step to success is to believe. Once you believe, it is just the matter of how much effort you put on it that counts.

kudos to Nasrul and his teams!

p/s: hope to get more ideas from the developers point of view next time around.

pp/s: bro uzaidi is really a cool and down to earth guy. Do visit his site at uzaidi.com.

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These amazing sportsmen and women has something that we sometimes lack of; Winning spirit and determination to become the best. It shows everytime they perform. All the hard work, sweat and tears, pays when they lift the trophy. Its the ultimate reward that everybody dreams of.

But, something went wrong lately. It started with a golf legend, or at least a soon to become legend, Tiger Woods. Then there’s John Terry, the England and Chelsea captain. No, I really don’t want to elobrate all the negative things that they do. If you start seeing people negatively, you’ll treat them negatively. And its not something that I want to share with you.

It’s more on how their determination to save their marriage that really counts. Yes, they screwed it. Big time.  These magnificent athletes put their 100% effort, to be with their love one. Tiger went to rehabilitation center with his wife, Terry flew to Dubai just to be with his family. They did just everything to get back the ultimate prize, LOVE of a FAMILY.

I believe we can do the same thing. If we are so determine in our daily job, why can’t we do the same thing with our spouse? Love them as they should. And the end of the day, they are the one who’s going to be by your side each and every ticks of your life.

Husband, love your wife. They are everything.

For that, I’m sorry.

The Internet Marketing Seminar was actually a part a 3 day program named Bengkel Komuniti Digital Melaka  organized by K-Economy Division Melaka.

Day 1: Facebook – Nasrul Amri, the writer of RAHSIA PEMASARAN FACEBOOK, which was the best selling book at MPH.

Day 2: Blog – Mohd Rahshidi, the owner of mrshidi.com and happened to be my friend. He too will have his book released by this year.

Day 3: Internet Marketing – ME. A full time blogger, a Forex trader, an Enterpreneur and a Dreamer.

More than 300 people came for this event and gave us support all the way. Thanks a million thanks!

My special guest was Syukor Hashim from Jutawanemas.com and he delivered a 30 minutes, eye opening presentation on conquering your niche. Thanks to Syukor for making it there.

For the slides, you can get it HERE but you have to register yourself first. I was supposed to have my opt-in and autoresponder ready before the event, but for some reason it didn’t happen.

Nevertheless, register yourself first. Its not an excuse

I was told that its going to be monthly basis event, and I hope it is. Melaka is still a fresh market especially on topics like making money on the internet and work at home. When we apply the Pareto rules, we should see the results pouring in.

Thanks again to all the participants. I wish for the best of you guys in the near future. Just remember, THE BIGGEST FAILURE IS THE FAILURE TO START. So, start now.

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Ask anybody, or somebody, most of them would place marketing as:

• brochures, slogans and ads printed in a magazine
• websites and email campaign
• convincing customers to buy their product/service
• some crazy numbers associate with sales and forecasts

My definition of marketing is the process of developing and communicating value to your prospects and customers. It is regards as an investment that generates revenue, profits and opportunity for growth.

Lay back and remember the steps you need to make a sell:

• your knowledge of the market and how you can penetrate it
• the distribution channels you use to connect to your customers
• your pricing strategy
• the message you deliver to your market
• the look and feel of your marketing kit/materials
• telling your experience to your customers
• the actions of your sale and service
• and all your planning, budgeting and the extra homework you have to do

The way some people see it sometimes undermine the importance of marketing. If you have a good product and bad marketing, you better use it on your own.

Good marketing is essential for companies. Hiring a good marketer with creative mind and good communication skills is the best thing a company can ever do.

Treat marketing as the engine of your company that will drive it forward. And trust me, its not a one man show, especially if you’re a startup.

Marketing is complex but don’t shy away from subjects that could help you grow your business. Repetition is the key to success. Embrace marketing, and most importantly enjoy creating and communicating your value to your market.

“There is one quality that one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.”
— Napoleon Hill

“There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.”
— Wayne Dyer

“The secret to productive goal setting is in establishing clearly defined goals, writing them down and then focusing on them several times a day with words, pictures and emotions as if we’ve already achieved them.”
— Denis Waitley

The only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible.
— Richard M. DeVos

“The first step to becoming is to will it.”
— Mother Teresa

“People with goals succeed because they know where they are going… It’s as simple as that.”
— Earl Nightingale

“Our attitudes control our lives. Attitudes are a secret power working 24 hours a day, for good or bad. It is of paramount importance that we know how to harness and control this great force.”
— Tom Blandi

“The pessimist borrows trouble; the optimist lends encouragement.”
— William Arthur Ward

“You become what you think about.”
— Earl Nightingale

“You, too, can determine what you want. You can decide on your major objectives, targets, aims, and destination. ”
— W. Clement Stone

“The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want. ”
— Ben Stein

“The most important thing about goals is having one.”
— Geoffry F. Abert

By the way, where do I got these quotes from? Click here. You’ll be amazed how this sites, and the materials in it can change your whole life.