Sunday, November 8, 2009

Spending a Fruitful weekend in Melaka n Johor!

Hi..That's me.. I'm just fooling around ..hahaha..just having a crazy weekend in Johor, MALAYSIA.. Daaaa...!
I took Fajar to eat at Fatty Crab by the Mines Lake in Seri Kembangan. The crabs were huge and munchilicious..crackin' and juicy/tender. I am always craving for more...!

That's me posing at Fajar's house..that's the 2nd time I been there. I had a lovely time :)


This is taken when we're near Melaka Mahkota Parade fountain..our feet are killing us!!



Here's a pic we're posing after a hard day of shopping in Melaka Parade...So syokk..















Monday, October 19, 2009

Investment Planning

Investment Planning

Good investment planning can turn your goals from dreams into realities. This planning involves more than trying to pick the "right" investments. How you allocate your money among different types of investments can have a greater effect on investment success than the individual investments you choose. So, your first step in investing toward your goals is to work out an asset allocation for your investments.

Asset Allocation

Very simply, asset allocation is the process of deciding what percentage of your money to put in the different investment classes: stocks, bonds, money market, and other investments, such as real estate. Your asset allocation will depend on your investment time frame, your savings goal, and how much risk you are willing to take to achieve that goal.

Diversification

After you decide on an asset allocation, the next step is to diversify your money within the different investment classes. By putting your money in numerous different investments, you spread the risk - rather than invest in one stock, you might invest in a variety of stocks. That way, if one stock performs poorly, it represents a smaller portion of your overall stock portfolio.
Before you can set an asset allocation and diversify your investments, though, you need to know more about the choices that are available.

1. Stocks

Investing in stocks gives you an ownership interest in the corporation issuing the stock. If the corporation does well, your investment should do well. If not, you could lose some (or all) of your money. The advantages of investing in stocks include the potential for higher returns over time than those offered by most other investments and returns that historically have outpaced inflation. Both of these advantages make stock investments an appropriate part of a portfolio designed to achieve long-term investment goals.

2. Bonds

Bonds and other fixed-income investments pay a set income over a set term. At the end of the term, the amount you have invested is returned to you. Fixed-income investments offer a steady income stream and historically less volatile price fluctuations than stock investments. But fixed-income investments aren't without risk. Sometimes a bond issuer, for example, can run into financial difficulties, default on its bonds, and not be able to return the face amount of the bonds to investors.
Also, bond prices move up and down, largely in reaction to interest-rate swings. Thus, investors in bond mutual funds, as well as investors in individual bonds who don't plan on holding them until maturity, face the possible risk of losing principal.

3. Money Market Investments

Like fixed-income investments, money market investments pay a defined income over a set term. (The income may be fixed or variable.) The advantage of money market investments is that many of them are backed by the Malaysian government, so return of your principal is practically guaranteed. This makes money market investments an attractive choice for investors with short-term goals. The major disadvantage of this investment class is that the investments historically have not produced returns much greater than the inflation rate.

4. Mutual Funds / Investment Linked Funds

Mutual funds or investment linked funds are one of the most popular ways to invest. With an investment fund, your money is pooled with that of other investors to purchase a variety of securities (stocks and/or bonds). The fund is professionally managed as a single investment account. Investment funds offer you automatic diversification because each fund invests in numerous different securities. When you buy units in a mutual fund, for example, you are actually buying an investment in the stocks of many different companies. If one company or industry has a problem, the fund will be less likely to suffer a major loss because it is diversified.
You can choose from various of stock, bond, balanced (stocks and bonds), and money market mutual funds. Each fund is managed toward a particular investment objective, such as growth, income, or asset preservation. The mutual fund's prospectus will explain the fund's investment objective and tell you what types of securities the fund can hold.

Investment Return

When choosing investments, potential return is a key consideration. The higher your return, the faster your investments will grow and the sooner you will reach your goal. But be aware that the annual percentage returns and yields you see published in ads, prospectuses, and articles don't take into account inflation or taxes, two factors you need to consider in your investment planning. And the higher the potential returns also mean a higher investment risk.

Risk Tolerance

You also need to weigh an investment's risk. Generally, the more risk involved with an investment, the higher its potential return. Consequently, the more risk you are willing to take, the more potential your savings have to grow over the long term. Before choosing an investment, you should make sure you understand the investment, the risk it carries, and how that risk relates to your investment goal.

For instance, if you are investing for your two-year-old child's college education, you can probably afford to assume more risk in your investing than someone whose child will begin college in two or three years. With more than 15 years before you'll need your money, you should have time to make up any short-term losses your investments may experience. Of course, there can be no assurance that any losses will be made up in a 15-year time period.
Short-term investments, such as money market funds, offer the least risk. Fixed-income investments offer potentially higher returns with added risk. Stock investments offer the highest potential returns with the greatest amount of risk. A combination of money market, fixed-income, and stock investments can provide potentially higher returns than either money market or fixed-income investments alone, with only slightly greater risk.

As you near your goal, your risk tolerance may drop and you may want to change your asset allocation. Protecting and preserving your savings might become more important. You may be willing to give up the growth potential of most of your long-term investments in favor of the greater security offered by short-term investments.
~based on research by Anira who works as a banker for an international bank.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Heavy Rain on the 2nd last day of Ramadhan...

Its now raining heavily and I can hear the soothing tip taps of rain falling from my window pane.
Gosh.. I love rainy days. It is so comfy to be in your home, in your cosy room and listening to the rain falling outside. The feeling is comfortable, as if being in your own safe cocoon.
I looked outside my window and saw the sky filled with dark clouds.....


Look at the whole dark clouds surrounding the area of my house, with heavy wind and rain.. That makes it a bit cold from the inside of the house. It gives me a feeling of calmness looking out the window.


Its already 7.11pm. Almost time to berbuka puasa.. I just bought KFC and some kuih. After berbuka puasa tonight, I will have to pack my bags as my bro and I shall leave KL at around 3 am to head for our hometown Taiping. Balik kampung......!
I want to wish us all a Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.. Minta maaf zahir dan batin di atas segala keterlanjuran tutur kata dan perbuatan.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

How to market Your Business on the Internet (as a Business Tool.)

Unlock the Secrets of Successful Websites
By Jon Rognerud

In my years online, I've seen the painstaking learning process of starting--and marketing--an online business many times over. When I started my business, social media marketing was foreign to me. It's an extension of search engine optimization and represents a powerful medium: you. I hope that in sharing my story of discovering SEO, how it works and how to utilize social media websites to market a business, you can shorten your own learning curve.
Over the years, my fledgling enterprise has steadily grown--sometimes in spite of me rather than because of me. I am not a slick, savvy e-marketer, but I've learned by eavesdropping, experimenting, reading books, participating in blogs and forums, and through lots of trial and error. As I've struggled past the first few mile markers on this apparently endless path, I've frequently wished someone could have guided me. My head and heart ached for simple, step-by-step, everyday language guidance. Finally, I decided to leave a few trail markers of my own by helping others through this column.

First, a few quick definitions:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)--An ingenious set of strategies and techniques for driving your website to the top of search engine ranking lists. When anyone queries your search terms, the search engines will try to show your optimized website on the first page, preferably at the top.
Social Media Marketing (SMM)--Social interaction online, and use of MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and other social networks to embed personal and business messages of different varieties. Create new relationships with friends and customers, building their loyalty to you and vice versa.

Viral Marketing--Rapidly becoming the global term for capitalizing on the messaging built into the most popular social networks, it's done discreetly and sometimes without knowing whether it's a hit with your audience--creating network messaging that very quickly spreads by the internet's equivalent of a whispering campaign.
Why care about social media like Facebook? According to Social Media Statistics, 39 million unique visitors logged in to Facebook last September, and the upstart social network continued to narrow the gap on MySpace. In early January, more than 10 billion photos appeared on Facebook; and photo traffic peaked at more than 300,000 images served per second. Late last year, using somewhat dated figures, experts estimated 20 percent of Canada's population was on Facebook.

You see why a little "SMM" might be a very good idea. But, first, I'll retrace my steps:
Learn how to build a basic website with freeware. Cranking up my bravery and starting my business, I went to GoDaddy.com and got myself a domain name for a couple of bucks. "Yeah," I thought, "I'm somebody now." Using WordPress, one of the most popular open source (free) web frameworks, I built myself a website. WordPress gave me all the tools and widgets I wanted, and it let me customize and optimize for users and search engines pretty easily. My photo, my name and my products appeared just as I wanted.Although it's probably just a tiny footprint on a very large virtual beach, it's my footprint, and I like it.In the first week or so, my website drew a few customers and I made a few sales. In fact, I made just enough sales to assure me I was not totally insane for starting an online enterprise during a sluggish economy. And I made just enough sales to let me know I needed to make a lot more.

Set up the road signs on the information highway--nixing the spam. I remember looking out the car window during road trips, seeing billboard after billboard, counting down the miles to the next stop. SEO can be thought of as the process of setting up those same signs along the information superhighway.I asked myself, "If I were a customer in search of my product, how would I find me?" I started searching Google and Yahoo! (Google now owns 72 percent of the U.S. search marketplace), and there I was. Seeing my business there on Google was a strange and wonderful experience. It made me feel like a real businessperson. But my business and I appeared nowhere near the top of the list, and people rarely click beyond the second page of the Google listings. Even my dog knows that if you're not at the top of the Google list, you're just not there. So, how to work my way up to the top of the charts? SEO is the first answer.

Eavesdropping on a coffee house conversation, I hear, "SEO." Search engine optimization--strategies, tactics and techniques for driving your business to the top of the search engines' lists. The first SEO tactic is so simple it's almost frightening. Use a keyword-rich domain where possible, place your keywords in the top portion of your page and include them in the title of the page. Then, use variations of the keyword phrase naturally through the copy. When I went from nowhere to the second page of Google's results for main keywords, and first page for longer tail keywords (three to five-plus words) for businesses like mine, I thought I'd made critical steps in the right direction. I wanted to look into link building and pay-per-click advertising, but that learning came later.

Drive more traffic to your site. I installed site meter web analytics on my new website. Then, I set the site meter to e-mail me each week, sending me detailed reports about my visitors, their locations and what they'd viewed. I felt comforted and reassured that people were visiting, but how would I communicate with them? I'd set up a website, but only a couple of people had visited, and only a few had downloaded my "special" report. I knew I'd won their loyalty by their e-mail feedback. But what about all those people who gave me the internet equivalent of "Just looking, thanks"?I used the same basic principle I'd applied with SEO: I added a link to my e-mail and provided contact information on every page of my website. Then, visitors simply had to click one spot with their questions and I could respond to answer their questions and begin to qualify those answers. It worked. I had a few nice conversations, and I boosted my sales.
Blog about your passion, and do it consistently. When I started my business, I also started a paper journal about it so I could remember all the thoughts and worries that ran through my head as I wrote my daily "ideas, frustrations and what worked" notes. Once again, strategically eavesdropping on the coffee house hot shots, I overheard them talking about how they were driving sales with their blogs. Of course, I thought. I'm not self-conscious--I'll put my journal on a blog using my little SEO tricks, some search-friendly WordPress plug-ins, and start posting every day. I discovered Blogger.com, a site owned by Google. Setting up my blog there, I found how frighteningly easy it was to establish a second web presence--three clicks and I was there. Following the advice of Problogger, I knew I needed to update frequently and stay consistent. I began updating the blog first thing each morning and developed a great little network of loyal readers who became regular visitors. The conversation expanded broadly from there. The counters on my site meter increased, and I saw more visitors per day and a longer stay for each visit.

Get connected through social media sites. Everyone in my family has a Facebook, MySpace or Twitter page. From what I've seen, I'd bet even dogs are setting up "walls" on Facebook and are using them to meet French Poodles. As always, I numbered among the last to catch the wave. In fact, Facebook is more than a big wave; it's an internet tsunami--in a good way.I worried that Facebook and MySpace were teenage hang outs--the internet equivalents of the coffeehouses on weekends. But when I saw that CNN had teamed up with Facebook, I reconsidered. Facebook gives me another tool for updating the world about my business, and it gives me a powerful tool for updating friends and family about developments in my world. I shamelessly built my Facebook profile and pages with seduction in mind. If I were going there to meet people, I would try to seduce them. In the same way, if I put my business there, I would want my products and services to seduce new customers. Facebook makes it easy to post pictures and add little blurbs about cool new stuff, and share with others.Most important, Facebook gave me a tool for connecting to old friends, and friends of friends, and friends of their friends who used to be friends. You get the idea. A couple of my Facebook pals had downloaded its mobile application to their PDAs, and they got text messages each time I put up a post on my page. So, I added Facebook posts to my daily to-do list. Right after I blog, I post something on Twitter and Facebook. They both alert my multiple networks that there's something exciting happening in my world.

Stay in Touch. Be helpful, and give simple but useful answers. I picked up another valuable tip from CNN: Several of the newscasters invite viewers to post their opinions via Twitter. They run the comments in a crawl at the bottom of the screen, and when I read viewers' comments, I see the feedback appears almost instantly--as if the people were right there in the studio contributing to a conversation. Twitter asks you simply, "What are you doing?" I keep things fresh at the website and Twitter when I can.Twitter also helps me begin word-of-mouth promotions--the internet equivalent of whispering, "Hey, have you heard . . . ?"
Update or redesign your original website to include tantalizing new features. The word-of-mouth concept posed a tiny little conundrum: Whispering campaigns require salacious little secrets. If there's no sensational, useful content that's helpful or interesting, there's really no point in whispering. Nobody wants to know that you just had lunch. Therefore, I found myself scratching my head and wondering how to create something interesting and useful. For me, video was the answer, and a simple one, too. Try animoto.com, and you'll see what I mean about video creation being easy. You can upload it directly to YouTube, adding more content to your channel; JingProject.com and ScreenToaster.com are a little more work, but very powerful. They're tools to create new videos of your desktop tutorials, presentations and personal videos.I'm not a great videographer, but I'm working on it. I created a cute little three minute video of people using my favorite products. It turned out to be pretty good, and when I posted it, it really did bring my site to life. Now, when people click on my page, they see other people who look a lot like them, and they watch them using my products. I put out the word on my networks: "Cool new video--check it out." Traffic soared. Clearly, YouTube will become my next marketing destination.
Commit to providing excellent customer service. When I started my business, I promised myself I'd maintain my emphasis on service. No matter which new tool I've added and adapted, I always used it to enhance my service. Most of my tools empower me to pay attention to my customers, and when I pay attention to them, I make sure I follow the time-honored principles of good customer service: I listen more than I talk, and I question more than I answer. I respond very quickly to requests, I discipline myself more than ever to follow up after sales, always say "Thank you" and usually offer some incentive for a buyer to return.

Obviously, the internet gives us a lot more tools for inviting and engaging traffic, but all our technological sophistication must not carry us too far away from the basics: People still want good products at fair prices, delivered by trustworthy and charming characters who know their stuff and how it works.

Monday, June 15, 2009

WHAT TO DO WITH MONEY?

Everyone dreams about what to do with money if they suddenly came into a lot of it, whether by winning the lottery or getting an inheritance or doing well in stocks, etc. Maybe money is especially tight for you now, as it is for most people, but you want to know how to get the most out of what you have, whether it’s extra money or not.


Before you run out on a shopping spree, here’s a list of ideas that can help you get a positive return on your funds. (And shopping is definitely a way to go, but if you want more than a quick fix, read below!)

Take out a home equity line of credit. In a sense, this will be extra money, and you can use it for just about anything. Pay down your high debts, start a college fund, or place it in a savings account for emergencies. Of course, this is a loan you have to pay back, but if you can establish decent terms, you can use it to put yourself in a better financial situation.

With your own current money, pay down your debt or open a savings account and have a set amount from your paycheck automatically deposited each payday. Consider an account with a high interest rate, like a money market or CD, to get the most from your money. Watch your income and expenses, and make sure you’re not spending too frivolously. If you are, you can cut back and use that money for your debt, savings, or both.

Start a part-time business. This will definitely require upfront expenses and a good amount of your time, but they’ll both be different depending on what kind of business you choose. If you’re able to put forth enough effort, your success can pay you back many times over in the future.

Invest in the stock market. If you do have a little money to play with, this can be a good option for you. Just like gambling, only invest what you can afford to lose. The stock market is always risky, and you want to be especially careful in current economic times. But seek the right advice, and you can learn how to take advantage of a downturned market.

Invest in your health. Buy a new bike or a new pair of running shoes, or try out a new gym or fitness video. Keeping yourself healthy now can prevent a host of expensive medical problems in the future. Plus, you’ll just feel good in general, so get moving!

Buy used. There are plenty of items that just don’t make sense to buy new, and that’s everything from videogames to cars. With some new items, you’re paying for the brand name or fancy packaging, and if you can do without that, wait until you can find it used for a better price.

Buy generic. Just like with used items, generic products can be a better buy than brand name. Whether you’re buying food or medicine, check the labels. Generic medicines usually contain the exact same active ingredients and can be up to hundreds of dollars cheaper than the brand name. Most food products also contain the same or similar ingredients and you won’t notice a taste difference. (You’ll have to experiment because you can run into some generics that just didn’t do a good imitation. I personally recommend avoiding generic boxed macaroni and cheese.)

Explore your options. This is only the beginning of how to make your money work for you. Of course, if you can’t find anything that piques your interest, I’m always accepting donations :)