How Twitter Decided on 140 Characters!

Courtesy of TheNextWeb.com - Unveiled: why Twitter decided on 140 characters!
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Show Me What's In the Bikini!

Have you ever wondered that what would I sell if I have ever given away my products or things that I sell for FREE?

Honestly, when I just started the company, I was constantly looking for sales. Quite aggressively too. My objective was to ensure each and every trip I made to the prospect was ended up with sales on each and every product I have in my inventory. However, with each prospect I visited and pitched to, they never buy. Instead, Malaysians being Malaysians, they are constantly looking for free stuff.

And it's not such a bad thing at all.

I recently came across someone sharing about the bikini concept. If I am to ask you to put a percentage figure on how much flesh you can see in a lady in bikini, how much would it be? 90%? Right! And I realise business is just like that! We have to keep in mind that we should be ready to give away 90% of our stuff for FREE. Subsequently, people would be ready to pay for another 10% which may be the most "attractive" part of the..ehem..in this case business. And yes, everyone wants to see the part where the bikini doesn't reveal, and this is where the big money comes in. Forget about the small money at the beginning!

So, the mentality of the Malaysian customers are not that difficult to deal with anyway.

I hope this will stuck into your mind for the rest of your life. And this is such an interesting and easy concept to remember, isn't it? :D

Signing off.

Youth Power

The Gen-Y should not be ignored further. The significance of youths today as a prominent driver to the nation's economical and political development is not a myth anymore or something we talk about in daily 'mamak' sessions.

Why did I say that? Look at the government's effort to engage youths via social media like Facebook. Firstly, there was a period of time when there was this posting about "Facebook Hour" by some prominent deputy minister. He was none other than the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah (click here to link to his FB account and here to one of his initiatives done via FB).

Secondly, found out that the minister and the deputy ministers of Ministry of Youths and Sports are actively seeking members to be friends of their Facebook account. The difference between the first encounter and the second is the former maintains the account by himself while the latter's accounts are maintained by their secretaries or they call them, "setiausaha sulit" - whatever it means. Now vast difference is observed. Next question is that if they are not sincere in dealing with the youths, and creating an FB account just because it is one of the way to engage them which eventually managed by someone else, why bother?

Facebook campaign by the Ministry of Youth & Sports

The power of youths and particularly, the Gen-Y is a force to be reckoned with. Some people just have to understand that doing what the youths are doing do not make them blend well with the youths. Business wise, it is definitely a growing market and given an economic point of view - it is a generation which grow up with much spending power and willingness to spend. The closest factor I can look at is that our bunch of people grew up watching advertisements and internet, which are sources of marketers' main communications channel to create a lifestyle which money can buy. So to look good, buy the slimming or body make-over package! To be admired and awed, buy the Gucci bag!

One more example - look at the clubs around the city today compared to 20 years back. It does explain about the great opportunity in accommodating to the lifestyle of the young. A couple of my friends spend easily RM150-300 every night, every week at the club. And they do not just hang out on the much anticipated Friday night!

Have you seen other government and non-government organisations with similar initiatives to engage youths? Share with me.

Why Rainbow Connection

If you have heard The Rainbow Connection and enjoyed it, you will understand what I mean as I write this post. Besides the nice music, the lyrics are darn good despite being simple.

It basically tells a story of a person who believes and has faith in something which others may ignore and tell otherwise. It is a song of the unknown and hope. Life is meaningful because we give meaning to it. Everyone may have a different view and meaning towards how we perceive certain things and events.

What is revealing about the song is the part where it sings;

Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,

The lovers, the dreamers and me.

Our purpose of life (I would like to believe that it is referred as rainbow in the song due to its beauty) can only be found and fulfilled with the combination of our mind and heart. Notice that lovers actually refer to something emotional, which eventually talks about the heart and dreamers in reference to the mind.

I will be nice enough to embed the YouTube so that you can just hear directly from here, without searching further for it. Sarah McLachlan's version of the Rainbow Connection is by far the best one I have heard. Enjoy the song. :)

The Rainbow Connection

Why are there so many songs about rainbows
And what’s on the other side?
Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,
And rainbows have nothing to hide.
So we’ve been told and some choose to believe it
I know they’re wrong, wait and see.
Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection,
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

Who said that every wish would be heard and answered
when wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that
and someone believed it,
and look what it’s done so far.
What’s so amazing that keeps us stargazing?
And what do we think we might see?
Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection,
the lovers, the dreamers and me.

All of us under its spell,
we know that it’s probably magic….

Have you been half asleep
and have you heard voices?
I’ve heard them calling my name.
Is this the sweet sound that calls the young sailors?
The voice might be one and the same.
I’ve heard it too many times to ignore it.
It’s something that I’m supposed to be.
Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection,
the lovers, the dreamers and me.

Time to Ponder

Imagine when we are driving on a highway and the rain falls heavily. When things got blurry, we just got to slow down and look attentively and carefully. Same goes with life. When we are working or doing anything which most of the time, when we tend to overlook on what we want most in life, it is time to perhaps really take time to be away from work and the things we are doing and spend time with ourselves only.

Explore what's important to us and we should do just that. :)

Will The Tide Ever Turn?

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

~ Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Came across the quote in my mailbox last week and it made me ponder. For the fact that I can see the great turn of events for the past 30 days was tremendously extraordinary.

Prior to last 30 days, there were couple of times where I felt like really quitting from what I am doing. Although I am working solely on passion and pursuing a dream which I thought would be easily achievable, it got tougher and soon the vision turned blurry. Easy way out? Look for job. Afterall, I could have persisted if I have enough money to last me till I make it, so I thought.

I hate to ask myself this question, how long could I last being broke all the time. Moment of truth came right in the mid of September, when my loyal bank accounts left with RM9 and the other with RM45. And so, I heard a loud ring! Time to send my CVs out to companies around town, hoping to hook myself a nice paying job while I planned to carry on with the business at night. And yes, at night - which subsequently I thought was ridiculous with my stamina; would have dozed off before the clock hit 9pm. The partner would have sent a C4 to my place just to wake me up. :P

What kept me going? I hope to remain as a non-quitter. Everytime I conduct a self-awareness session to youths in unicolleges, "how you do anything is how you do everything," is my favourite phrase and is frequently used. Because of the high frequency usage, I have planted it deep down into my unconscious mind. Putting it in layman term, when I started to feel like quitting, I could woke up one day (may not be subsequent day, sometimes it took me 3 days after to reach that consciousness) and thought to myself to try again - this time, some other methods and tactics. If I ever give up, I will remain a quitter in what ever I do, whether be it career, family (that's most painful), and etc.

I guess when things are not working, we just have to experiment with other ways to do stuff. Can you imagine doing the same stuff every year, expecting that the year will bear different outcome? Albert Einstein just put it in a simple word, "Insanity." Cuma orang gila yang buat kerja serupa berulang kali, harapkan hasil yang luar biasa. One of these days I should attempt to write a blog posting in Bahasa Malaysia. Who knows, the amount of readers would spike record high since the inception of this blog. :D I'm just trying something different...

I was just recently featured in Malaysia SME paper, subsequently in Malaysia Today and was invited as a guest to a midnight TV show, 8TV Nite Live - a share of fame? No. It all came

unexpectedly (I didn't ask for it, ok... LOL) and if I have made a decision to join a company prior to a month ago, where would I be? I wonder.

I am glad I have taken the action and stand. Persistence and perseverance have pulled me through. However, this is just the beginning to something great, I am sure.

Let me know if you would like to walk with me. :)

Cheers.

A Ghost Beneath The Tower

Have you seen this beautiful video before?

A great song from Winston Jazz Routine. It has a very good artistic representation and the lyrics are good too.

Check it out. :)

THE GHOST BENEATH THE TOWER

What is in your mirror?
Medicine for sadness?
Postcards taped upon it?
With soap in scripted letters?

From your loving mother
Don't trade her for some other
Truth is what you see it
Sorry it just seems fit

I felt your shadow on the way home
I felt your tower again, again

What is in your closet?
Boxes stacked from left to right
Packed
You gently wrap your glassware
Place them in the
And free the ghost of

Just remember happiness
It's not some sack of polaroids

I felt your smile on the way home
I felt your tower again, again
I felt your shadow on the way home
I felt your tower again, again

Cheers.

Social Media ROI

View more presentations from Olivier Blanchard.

Thanks and credit to Rachel Foong for the initial post.

Charter For Compassion - Casting for Malaysian Viral Video

Casting Call: The Charter For Compassion - Malaysian team is producing a Viral Video to spread the message of the Charter. Volunteers needed:

Over the past year, the world was invited to contribute their words to the Charter for Compassion. Thousands of contributions from over 100 countries were received. Now, the Charter is complete, and we need your face to bring it to life for the November 12th unveiling.

We are seeking volunteers of all ages and ethnicities to spend a day with us reading the Charter text on camera. We would like to represent a group of people as diverse as those who participated in composing the Charter. Come have fun with us!

Shoot Date: Sunday, November 1
Shoot Time: 11 am - 2pm (You don't have to attend the entire time.)
Shoot Location: TELL MEdia Studios, 1 Jalan SS7/10, Kelana Jaya, 47310 Petaling Jaya, Selangor map

Interested?
Please head on down straight to TELL MEdia Studios today

For more information about the Charter for Compassion, visit charterforcompassion.org

For questions or more information about the casting call, contact Ija Mohan aka @spicyguy : 0162830962

Thanks and credit to Hakim Albasrawy of http://hakim.albasrawy.com/ for the initial post.