For those of you who are wondering, Singapore’s Corporate Tax Rate for 2011 is 17%.

Certainly, plenty of people have made millions over the internet. I hope to count myself amongst them in the years to come. But in the meantime, the blog hasn’t been growing, my readers haven’t been growing, and neither have I.

So today, I’m changing the way this blog works. A business blog no longer, it shall be the blog of my mind. Lessons I’ve learned, and things that have touched my life. Hopefully, with the continued input into the blog, I’d be able to really grow and engage. After all, in a business blog, you would want eyeballs. Not me. No longer. Now, I want minds.

P.S. I think the reason I’m pushed to do this is because I keep getting emailed about people (or bots) have been signing up to join the blog. I’m pretty sure it’s cause they want to post comments that link back to their site. Gosh. Can’t people stop trying to push their own agendas everywhere?

I sit here confused as to whether that’s actually the market rate to setup a standard website with a shopping cart. Even Yahoo and other web-hosting companies have this integrated with their sales packages, which costs a LOT less.

Would you pay someone that much to setup a website for you? And if so, what would you expect from them?

Good news is coming for one and all! Woot!

“But wait Seb, isn’t it supposed to be Ash Wednesday?”

True, but because of the clash between Chinese New Year’s Eve reunion dinner, our Archdiocese changed it to Ash Tuesday. After all, if you have to abstain while you’re supposed to celebrate, it won’t really fit the mood, would it?

So here we are, 41 days away from Good Friday. Lent, here we come!

Value.

Value is always the key element. Sure, the products that you sell are available somewhere else, at a lower price. Does that mean that you should cut your own pricing just to compete? If that were true, then every single mom-and-pop store in the world would just close up in the face of hypermarts like Carrefour and Giant. But why are they still around?

They offer convenience. And that is a glaring example of value. Huge corporations can afford to cut prices down to the bone, but corner stores will always have a place in the heartlands, as they have given value to the community around them.

“But what value can I offer?” I hear you say. Oh ye of little faith. You should have faith in yourself. In the end, that is the value that you’re offering. You.

No, don’t think silly thoughts. I’m not talking about anything that’s reserved only for your significant other. I’m talking about things that would cost you nothing but would bring so much value to your customer, they would be crawling through the crowd just to do business with you.

That must be your aim. To be so good at what you do that people would not want to do business with anyone else, that your service is so good that without you, the company you work for would close up shop.

Now, if I were to write down everything I’ve ever read or learned about selling, it would be a 500 page novel. So what I’m gonna do right now is just bring up a single key point that would give you an example of how to add value to your service. I’ll probably add in new parts as I go along updating the blog, so keep checking the blog out!

Tip 1: Give them your attention

Sounds simple doesn’t it? But giving them attention is so much more than just watching their lips while they move and taking the money out of their hands. Giving attention means taking notes, knowing what they would need at a particular time.

It’s sort of like how you should treat your girlfriend

Adults miss the time when they were little children, when there were others who would fawn over them and give them anything their hearts desired. They want the attention.

That’s why we all need friends. Friends know what we are going through and would give us the attention if we required it. And that’s what you should be doing, giving attention to them and taking a personal interest in their well-being.

“But Sebby,” you ask. “how does one actually take a personal interest in let’s say 50 people?”

Technology is a fantastic thing. It allows you to take notes and get organised a whole lot better than before. In a single click, you can send an email to every one of your clients wishing them a fantastic new year. With PDAs and calendar functions, you can always be aware of their birthday and send them a greeting.

Like I said, it’s the small things that count. I’m not asking you to help deliver his wife’s baby (though that would be a huge bonus :p). I’m just asking you to pay attention to certain small details. Birthdates, anniversaries, heck, if you can remind them to pay their insurance premiums regularly, I assure you that you will be the best agent they would ever have!

Little things add up to great value in the end. Heck, even if they add up to little value, it would be more than what your competitors are doing. Chalk one point up to human nature! Not everyone does these things even though they would be earning big bucks. Most are just plain lazy.

Is that you?

Then why did I join the business?!

It’s not about the money. There are much easier ways to make money, but insurance truly isn’t it. It has so much hassle and bad rep that it’s crazy to think that anyone would buy any type of insurance except from trusted friends. Even then, no one truly thinks that it’s necessary, or barely anyone knows the financial limits of certain policies and such.

People die all the time. People get sick all the time. People would always want to afford the best treatment but in reality it’s probably out of their grasp.

That’s why I joined this business. I wanted to learn more about the inevitable and how to prepare for it.

A lot of them don’t understand. They are like, “oh, I’m already holding unto 4 policies” but they don’t know what those policies can do. Maybe they even think that one policy is more than enough and encompasses everything that might happen to them. Or perhaps that one insurance company looking after their interests in more than enough?

I hope to educate and to share my knowledge to all who are willing to learn. Learn about how they can save enough money to get married, have a child, retire. Plan for themselves a financial route so that perhaps they can retire early and enjoy their money while they are young.

I’m not in it for the dough. I’m in it for the learning experience of sharing information with others, helping them with their backup plans. I’m here to dispel the misconception that every insurance agent is out there for your blood and money, and that there are those who are there to help.

After all, my money-making ventures are made online.

You see, I strongly believe that if you’re going to start a blog, you better be darn sure that you’re leaving a good impression on the people that come to visit. Sounds like quite a hassle, but I’ve got so much I want to share with the world, I have no idea how else to do it.

So did I figure out a fantastic way to start this blog? Yes I have. And it’ll start with a Singaporean movie, Singapore Dreaming.

This touched my heart for two reasons:

1. I am Singaporean after all, and all those matters discussed in the movie are close to my heart.
2. I have just embarked on a career as a financial planner aka insurance agent.

For those who aren’t quite familiar with the Singaporean culture, let me just give you a brief run through of what our lifestyles are like:

• We go to school, and always aim for the top, be it colleges, universities, etc.
• We get out and start looking for jobs.
• We work at our jobs and then find things to complain about.
• We pray and pray to strike the lottery but never do. (some don’t even buy the lottery and yet they pray to win)

Maybe that’s pretty much life everywhere, but I must say that we do complain a lot, even though our lives could’ve been much worse. We strive and strive and we are barely happy.

What would I want to accomplish with this blog?

I want to share with people what I have learnt about money, and perhaps to learn a little more about money from kind souls who are wandering around the internet. I make no claims to being rich and famous, nor would I want to be (famous that is, I would love to be rich!). Knowledge is key in our information age, and that is what I hope to share.

A forum will be set up soon whereby membership will be free. Monthly Newsletters will be sent out as well to reach as many people as possible. Knowledge is power, and we shall be as kings!

Here’s to our journey together! Cheers!