Selamat Hari Raya to all my readers!

I’ll be reworking this blog, so that it really can be about what rocks “The Sebby”’s mind! Keep a lookout for it!

Certainly, I haven’t given up on Internet Marketing. In fact, I’m making a case study out of Amazing Glaze and stating clearly how we’re using social media and Internet Marketing to boost sales!

I’m gonna be posting more details soon! Look out for it!

I hope all my readers have had a great month of March! Happy April Fools!

This is harder than it looks! I’ll come up with my next 25 soon. Wish me luck!

i don’t know how, i don’t know where, but it shall be done.

wish me luck! woo~~

alright, this picture is a little too “futuristically-dark” for me, but it holds the essence of what could possibly be a best seller.

we’ve been hearing about green cars, electric cars, etc, but we haven’t really heard about the kind of applications this could be used for!

my idea (which i’m almost certain isn’t original) is a smaller version of the mobile home, and maybe a tricked-out humvee, with a queen sized bed in the back, a tv, and a tabletop for a laptop. in singapore, we have a wireless modem attachment thingy that will allow us to get unlimited internet access for less than $30 a month. i’d say this is built for us!

a sunroof and a pocket fan would be extremely important as well. or perhaps an air-filter to replace the sunroof.

and this car must be electric! speed will probably never be an issue, as a mobile home isn’t meant to win any street races. but if someone were to live inside it, it has to be at least cost-effective.

and why a small car instead of a real mobile home? well, cos we’re space deficient in singapore. and it’ll be hell trying to find a parking space for a bus (which is exactly what a mobile home is like).

applications: working too late in the office. too tired to drive back. too drunk to sleep at home. got kicked out of ur bed by ur wife. and well, other stuff.

is anyone gonna build something like this?

today, i would like to share with u a resource created by seth godin. u gotta love how he spreads his message. anyway, SAMBA is the six month mba course that seth started, and u can read more about it here.

one of the best posts i’ve seen there is Hamster Burial Kits & 998 Other Business Ideas. it’s really a pretty cool idea, to have some minds sit down together and come up with their own 100 business ideas each and then compile it into one huge list!

i’ll think of my own 100 for now. will post it soon! and if u’ve got ur own to share, please drop me an email so that i can link to u as well!

This is one of the few Youtube videos that I would recommend spending 76 mins to watch. Randy Pausch gave this lecture at Carnegie Melon University on 18th September 2007, and passed on 25th July 2008.

(Read more about Randy Pausch.)

Watching the lecture, I realised that facing death really brings a person back into focus on the things that really matter. Have you ever read “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom? It’s a fantastic example of the lessons learnt from dying people. Facing death gives people a fresh perspective, a clearer view of what  really matters in life.

And actually, it’s all about personal fulfillment! Making sure that you have fulfilled your life’s goals or at least made a valid attempt at them, having absolutely no regrets left before passing on.

Yes, I’m only 26. Dying of old age will probably take quite a while, but hey, there are so many other things that can kill you! So why wait for it?

Enjoy the video clip! Make your life count for something now!

This is an awesome article! It’ll really make you think about how we advance technologically, and if we can have a money-making structure out of it.

Too many things are now heading towards the free zone. Without any kind of control in check, how will anyone make any money?

Alternatively, if we push technology to work together, for a common goal, we can reach a point whereby we do not need to work for money!

I know I’ve shared this before, but I just have to mention it again: We need to start moving ahead as a race. We need to push forward with the common goal of improving technology so that no one has to labour their lives away just to enjoy the golden years. We need to stop being selfish.

Gosh, I love the Internet! I love the spreading of ideas!

Author: Dan Roam

Title: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures

This book illustrates (pardon the pun) the effectiveness of presenting with images. Of course, we already do that all the time! When you want to present some numbers, a bar chart appears! If you want to present growth, a multiple variable point graph would suffice! You get the idea.

The real challenge though, is to make it second nature to yourself. Bar and pie charts can be done with computers and software, but what about everything else? Would you be able to solve your problems by laying out all the information without getting confused? Would you be able to present your business model with a pen and a napkin?

Simplify, and make it easy for people to understand!

I think the concept is pretty interesting, and it’s a fast read. First portion is a little draggy though, cos it speaks of how eyes work and how we perceive things without getting confused despite the huge amount of information being absorbed all the time.

But later on, some very real concept tools are given, and with a little bit of practice, I’m sure I’ll be a master of visual thinking in no time!

Recently, another company has approached my family’s website and sent the following email:

Dear Manager,

We received a formal application from a person who is called John Alldis is applying to register “mydomain” as their domain names and Internet brand in Hong Kong and also in Asia on 2008-11-21 During our auditing procedure we find out that the alleged John Alldis has no trade mark, brand nor patent even similar to that word. As authorized anti-cybersquatting organization we hereby suspect the alleged John Alldis to be a domain or trademark grabber. Hence we need you confirmation for two things, First of all, whether this alleged John Alldis is your business partner or distributor in Asia.

Secondly, whether you are interested in registering these domains and internet brand instead of that alleged person.(The alleged John Alldis will be entitled to obtain a domain not needed by original trademark owner.)

If you are not in charge of this please forward this email to appropriate dept.

In addition, I must state that we have time limited for one person or one company¡¯s registration. It is just 15 days. If your company files doesn’t resent within the time limited. We will unconditionally authorized the application of John Alldis. Thank you for your cooperate.

Best Regards,

shayne sue
Sponsoring Registrar:

Asia Network

Tel:  +852 3118 1808  +852 3065 8284

Fax: +852 3065 8189

Email: shayne@asianetwork.mobi

Website: www.asianetwork.mobi
And of course, we responded:

Hi Shayne,

I’m the Webmaster for MyDomain. We do not know any John Alldis and we are the only distributors in Asia.

Just so we’re clear, what domain is Mr Alldis attempting to purchase? I’m already currently in possession of mydomain.com. Please advise.

Best regards,

Sebastian Cheok

And then their response:

Shayne

And so it springs back and forth, with them sending me correspondences, etc, asking me to fill in forms and preparing payments to the company.

But soon after, I realised that this would most likely be a scam. After all, in this day and age, why can’t I just buy a domain online? And how will I maintain my own domain?

Once I asked these questions, silence came.

Beware these scams!

I realised that I’m an information junkie. I keep on consuming information, without actually utilizing them on a larger scale. I’ve got tons of management books, with no one to manage but myself. Also plenty of sales books that I’ve read but not used their advice.

Now that I am actually fully aware of where my problems lie, how should I improve?

This is starting to feel like a whiny site, I know. But rest assured, it’s just a phase I’m going through. Part of growing up I guess.

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?

Check it out here!

Actually, it’s not specifically about making money online, but more of how the Internet can help you make money. I especially love the idea of connecting people and building a business around it!

Enjoy the read!

I guess that’s because I never really kept a diary, so I never knew how therapeutic it would be to keep track of my progress especially through an online medium. Oh well, better late than never right?

On a personal note, I’ve moved on from my previous company and started my own business, selling fuel-saving devices. Check it out at midasxtreme.com!

At last count, I realised that I watch a total of 9 different TV series in a week! Here’s the list:

1. Prison Break
2. Chuck
3. Heroes
4. Knight Rider
5. Bones
6. CSI
7. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
8.  Dexter
9. Gossip Girl*

*Yes, I know. I’m turning into a teenager.

The TV series are really taking my time from doing some actual work. I estimate spending about 60% of my time watching and rewatching the episodes to make sure I’ve really caught up to the storyline. Gosh, how my work suffers for art.

I was stunned when I came back to my Dashboard. 74 comments awaiting moderation! Not a single human-generated response!

Now that I’m back, I’ll be posting once a day. Hopefully some live, warm bodies are actually sitting in front of their computers responding to my posts, instead of spam-bots completing their life’s ambition.

Oh well, cheers to priorities!

No longer are we allowed to boost ratings with purchasing eBooks quickly, but we are no longer allowed to have legitimate eBay e-delivery business anymore!

There are ways around this:

1. Print out your eBook and bind it.
2. Burn it into a CD and deliver it.
3. Send them a letter stating the URL to download it from.

That’s all I can think of offhand. Let me know if you can come up with something better!

Doesn’t that just make you smile? Put the quote on your MSN sub-nick and inspire others to see things as they are, nothing to worry about!

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned about writing came to me after about a year of writing ETR. Like many writers, I often tried to put too much into each essay. I began with a main idea, but when that idea suggested a second one and then a third, I put those in too. That was a mistake. It made the essay too long and cumbersome. And instead of gaining power, the message weakened.

My strongest pieces - the ones that got the most positive responses from ETR readers - were those that focused on one good and helpful thought. By restricting myself that way, I managed to say more in fewer words.

Readers, I realized, didn’t want to hear everything I had to say about a particular topic every time I fired up my computer. They were looking for a single, useful idea that could make them more successful.

So I came up with a rule that I asked everyone writing for ETR to abide by. I called it “The Rule of One” - and it was very simple: Write about only one thing at a time. Because one good idea, clearly and convincingly presented, is better than a dozen so-so ideas strung together.

I truly believed that following this rule would always produce better writing… and it did.

Several years later, I introduced the Rule of One concept to Agora writers and copywriters at a creative retreat. Many of them have used it since then, to great effect. Then, last year, I divulged it to more than 600 people at the AWAI/ETR yearly Bootcamp in Delray Beach, FL. I’m sure that many of them, too, have used it to improve their writing.

This rule is not ironclad at ETR. That’s because some of our writers just don’t buy it and others can’t always reduce their pieces to a single idea. I occasionally violate it myself. (If I have six good reasons for this or 12 techniques for that, I sometimes can’t stop myself from including them all. The results are always disappointing.) But almost all of ETR’s best essays have followed this rule. If you are interested in looking at some of them, here are seven:

How to Become a Chicken Entrepreneur
The idea: The best (and lowest-risk) way to start your own business is to keep your day job while working on your entrepreneurial venture at night and on weekends. You can quit when your new business is bringing in more than your regular income.

Do You Own Your Business or Does It Own You?
The idea: Entrepreneurs who want to create a valuable business they can retire from some day must organize it so that it doesn’t require their constant presence to be profitable.

How to Avoid the Conceit of Outside Knowledge
The idea: Just because you have been a longtime customer of a restaurant or another type of business doesn’t mean you are capable of running a similar one. There are many hidden “secrets” to every type of business - not visible to outsiders - that are critical to success.

Don’t Let Perfect Ruin Good
The idea: Don’t wait for everything to be perfect before launching a new product or business. Put serious effort into getting it right, test it in the real world, and then you’ll know what improvements you need to make.

The Best Way to Surpass Your Peers and Rise to the Top of Any Business
The idea: Working harder than your co-workers and competitors will guarantee your success.

A Business Question You Must Be Able to Answer
The idea: Before you can sell a product, you need to find out if people will buy it.

How to Become What You Want to Be
The idea: You can’t actually BE a writer unless you write - just as you can’t be a pilot if you don’t fly planes, a philanthropist if you don’t give away money, an entrepreneur if you don’t start a business… and so on.

Recently I have been thinking (and writing) about how best-selling books are crafted. Many of them seem to follow the Rule of One. Consider these classic business best-sellers:

What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles
The idea: Finding a life-changing new job that you love is the key to happiness.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
The idea: There is a pattern to commercial and cultural trends. If you understand the pattern, you can use the knowledge to benefit yourself and others.

Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins
The idea: The purpose of advertising is to sell, not entertain or win creative awards.

The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
The idea: Extremely low storage and delivery costs for digital information products have made marketing niche products extremely profitable.

Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton
The idea: The best way to motivate employees (and improve your business) is to focus on their strengths rather than correct their weaknesses.

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
The idea: Change is inevitable. So you must be prepared to change or you’ll be left behind.

And here’s a very recent example: Suzy Welch, a former editor of the Harvard Business Review (and the wife of Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric) was given a million-dollar contract by Scribner (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) to publish 10-10-10, a book based on a variation of a single good idea that’s been around for years: Before you make a decision, consider the impact it will have on you in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years.

We have taught ETR readers to think that way many times since we began publishing in 2000. But we never thought of turning the idea into a book. Shame on us.

If you are planning to write a book, you probably have lots of ideas that you want to include. Figure out which one is the strongest, and focus on it. That’s what I did with Ready, Fire, Aim. Though this book contains just about everything I know about starting and growing entrepreneurial businesses, the title zeros in on the one idea I thought was the strongest and most useful. And this may be the reason it got so many positive reviews. Most of the industry people we showed it to - professional businesspeople and writers - said it was the best book I’ve ever written. My other books have plenty of good ideas in them. But they were designed to be comprehensive and were titled that way. This one took better advantage of the Rule of One.

The best thing about the Rule of One is that it’s not just for writing books and articles. You can also apply it to your business goals.

Before you go into a meeting, for example, think about the one thing you’d like to accomplish. Make that one thing your priority, and hammer away at it. You’ll be amazed at how often you will end up leaving the meeting with that goal accomplished.

Use the Rule of One at business lunches, too, and even parties. Challenge yourself: “Who is the best person I can network with here?” And “What is the one best thing I can say to that person to capture his interest?”

Spend some time today looking at work you’ve done - ads you’ve written, products you’ve created, goals you’ve set. How could you make them stronger by applying the Rule of One?

[Ed. Note: Get Michael Masterson's insights into becoming successful in your business and personal life, achieving financial independence, and accomplishing all your goals on his website. You'll find updates on Michael's books, news on upcoming ETR events, Michael's blog, and room to send in your comments and questions. Check it out today.
Learn dozens more strategies for making your writing stronger with AWAI's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

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!