Work at Home Scams Don't Be the Victim

By Jeff Casmer 

The holidays are near and right around the corner and the work at home scam artists waiting to take your money. As todays economy continues to take a turn for the worst, more and more people are looking to work at home so more work at home opportunities and jobs are turning up on the internet. Its now more important then ever to stay ahead of the scam artists and make sure you are not on the wrong end of work at home scams.

Some of these work at home scams are the same ones that have been around for years. The problem is that people keep falling for them and thats why they dont go away. What these scam artists do is just try a new wrinkle or a new name but its the same old work at home scam.

Listed below are the 5 most common work at home scams that everyone should stay away from:

1. Phishing Scams: These are scams where people are looking to steal your personal information more specific your bank information so they can steal your money. These types of emails come in all kinds of different ways. They can show up in your email box as coming from your bank, eBay, PayPal, etc. They will actually send you emails indicating that your bank account is being hacked or someone is trying to log into your account. They will ask you to click on a link and submit a form which will "look" like your on a site where your account really is but its not. Its a hoax and an attempt to steal vital bank information. You should never click on that link.

2. Processing Payments: This work at home scam has also been around a long time. This is a scam where people ask you to cash a check, transfer money from one account to another or receive and ship packages. These work at home jobs do not exist. You could be involving yourself in some sort of illegal activity so its not worth the risk.

3. Chain letters: These involve sending $5 to 5 different people and then moving each name down the list and putting yours there. These are illegal and you should never get involved in this type of activity.

4. Envelope stuffing: This work at home scam is still and always will be a scam. This scam takes on different forms and you will see it on the internet or in the back of work at home opportunity magazines but there is no such thing as stuffing envelopes.

5. Email Processing: Usually these types of scams require an upfront fee for "training materials". You get these materials and get paid for each email "processed". Usually you see some crazy high number that you would get paid like $2000. When you numbers like this its time to run the other way as its not possible and they are just after your money for the so called "training materials".

Remember this is the time of the year that the work at home scams come out in full force. They prey on desperate people looking to earn extra money or lost their jobs, etc. Be a better person that that and use some common sense when searching for your dream work at home job.

Jeff Casmer is a leading legitimate work at home expert and is a work from home business owner. His "Top Ranked" Workat Home ScamsDirectory gives you all the information you need to Earning Money in the 21st century. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Casmer

Akhbar AS terokai kaedah tingkatkan pendapatan melalui web.

WASHINGTON: Tiga eksekutif media veteran Amerika Syarikat (AS)semalam bergabung tenaga untuk membantu industri persuratkhabaran negara itu menerokai peluang baru menerusi internet sebagai sumber pendapatan. 

Mereka akan membantu bagaimana syarikat akhbar yang kini dihantui kekurangan pengedaran naskhah dan pendapatan iklan dengan mengenakan caj setiap berita yang dilayari menerusi laman web masing-masing. 

Dalam satu kenyataan, mereka menawarkan konsep 'kewartawanan online' atau penerbitan digital dalam internet sebagai sumber pendapatan baru.

Lagi... Klik disini. (Berita Harian)

Apparel and books will likely do fine this holiday. Jewelry, not so much.

Respondents conducted a wide range of purchases and financial transactions. Nearly four out of 10 online buyers had made a travel purchase during the past six months, and more than one-third had managed their credit card or banking accounts online. Top product purchase categories included apparel and books. 

"The challenge for retailers is no longer how to lure shoppers online, but how to differentiate their brand among all others," said Nachi Lolla, research director at Nielsen Online, in a statement. "Heading into this competitive holiday shopping season, selection, price and customer service are the key areas retailers can shine."

Teach your customer is the best marketing

Far too often we sell a product or service and just assume our customers are getting the results they desired or were promised. By creating a systematic "how to" set of materials we can help them be more successful, use more of the features, and ultimately experience greater value.

Strategic Alliances

Partnering for Mutual Benefit

Most companies are successful when they do a small number of things really well. Sometimes, however, those things only take a company so far, and to grow further, the organization must develop new capabilities.

If you operate successfully in one market, and you want to enter a new market quickly, how do you do that? Or, what if your sales suddenly increase, and you need a way to manufacture your product faster and more efficiently?

You could try to develop an in-house solution. But do you have the time, expertise, or infrastructure to support it? And if you want to stay focused on yourcore competences, which are critical for long-term success, you may not want to take time, resources and attention away from this.

Often the best way to find a solution is through strategic alliances.

Strategic alliances link the key capabilities of two or more organizations. The result is that all parties benefit from the partnership by trading things like skills, technologies, and products. Essentially, these alliances are partnerships that companies use to solve a mutual problem, while they remain independent.

A strategic alliance is not the same as a merger, takeover, or acquisition, which move two previous independent companies into one corporate structure. In an alliance, the partners share managerial control and work together to achieve mutual goals, while remaining independent organizations.

A joint venture is also different from a strategic alliance. In a joint venture, the parties set up a separate company and agree to perform a specific task for a specific period of time, while they still independently run their separate businesses.

Why Form a Strategic Alliance?

Rather than grow from within, form a joint venture, or enter into a merger, alliances are often easier and less risky alternatives to achieve your goals.

Here are some of the reasons that your organization might gain from these alliances:

To enter new markets with new products and services - A well-established clothing manufacturer needs to extend its product range as consumer preference changes. It forms a strategic alliance with a new, contemporary brand, so it gains access to their younger demographic, and they significantly increases production and sales. In return, the partnership helps the new brand scale up quickly.

To access international markets - Two manufacturers of different types of car part in different countries agree to act as distributors for one-another's parts. Each can now reach more customers, and the central distribution ensures that orders comply with each country's safety requirements. 

To access new distribution channels - A high-end jewelry designer, with five retail outlets, sets up a strategic alliance with an online retailer known for its reliability and security. Both companies increase sales as a result: the designer by reaching a wider audience, and the online retailer by offering a wider range of attractive online products.

To access new technology - A computer manufacturer and a computer game development company form an alliance in which every computer is shipped with a full version of one of the gaming company's top-selling games. This is a selling feature for the computer manufacturer, it guarantees income for the gaming company, and it creates advertising "buzz" as consumers anticipate which game their computer will have. 

To benefit from economies of scale (higher volume/lower cost) - A group of dairy farmers in a region get together to negotiate with a transport company to reduce transport costs. 

To reduce the cost and risk of new strategy or product - A pharmaceutical company forms an alliance with a biotechnology company to provide resources, and distribute new products once they're ready for market. 

To improve credibility - You developed an innovative machine that reduces manufacturing waste, and you issue an exclusive license to the top 20 manufacturers in your industry for the next two years. These manufacturers benefit from the new technology and reduce costs, you have guaranteed income, and you build a large potential market at the end of the two years.

As you can see from these examples, creating a strategic alliance doesn't mean that you have to increase your own size. And it helps reduce risk while you assess the potential of new markets, products, or channels.

There also are disadvantages - you give up a portion both of control and reward, reduce the flexibility of all parties, invest significant time and resources in the alliance, and risk depending too much on your partner. Clearly, therefore, alliances need to be evaluated carefully before you commit to them.

How Are Strategic Alliances Formed?

The big question that many people have about strategic alliances is how they're different from simply using a supplier on a transaction-by-transaction basis. To find the answer, look at the stages in growing a transactional relationship to become more strategic and beneficial:

Vendors - You have short-term, contract-driven relationships with a variety of suppliers. 

Preferred suppliers - You move toward longer-term relationships, and you begin to form trust. You may have joint operations that focus on quality, and you may be able to influence the development of suppliers' new products.

Alliance - You both have a mutual advantage in these relationships as well as high levels of trust. The focus, however, remains on adding value independently, while you work cooperatively and exchange ideas.

Strategic alliance - The business relationship becomes strategic when there's a level of mutual dependency, and when the alliance itself is what creates increased capabilities and opportunities.

To form an effective strategic alliance, you need a high level of commitment and planning. Here are the basic considerations:

Determine the specific strategic advantage - What do you want to achieve?

Decide what type of company you want to work with - What attributes are you looking for in terms of location, size, market, capabilities, technology, and so forth? 

Examine your compatibility: 

1. Are your cultures compatible?
   
2. Is there top management buy-in?
   
3. Are your brands compatible?
   
4. Do you compete in the same or similar markets?
   
5. Do you trust these people?
   

Define expectations together:

1. What is the mission and vision for the strategic alliance?
   
2. What are the goals and objectives?
   
3. What resources and capabilities will each party provide?
   
4. How will you communicate?
   
5. How will you implement the activities?
   
6. How will you manage the plan?
   
7. How will you monitor and evaluate progress?
   
8. How long will the relationship last?
   

Evaluate the proposed alliance:

1. What risks are associated with the alliance?
   
2. Does the proposed alliance offer a high enough Return on Investment for both parties to commit significant effort to the alliance?
   
3. Do both parties have the capacity to carry out the work envisaged?
   

Create a contract - Include the following:

1. Operational information and expectations. 
   
2. Confidentiality agreement.
   
3. Intellectual property rights.
   

Develop an exit strategy - 

1. What relationship will you have after the strategic alliance ends? 
   
2. How will you achieve this? 
   
3. And what will you do if the alliance doesn't work out?
   

Key Points

Strategic alliances often allow a company to increase its scale, scope, and/or capacity with reduced risk and great potential benefit.

Whether you want to speed up your entry into a new market, increase the range of products you sell, reduce costs, increase sales, or otherwise improve your competitive position, a strategic alliance is often the fastest and most economical way to achieve this.

By setting up a mutually beneficial relationship, and still keeping your company's independence, you can often create a win-win situation that can be managed with great success. You need to plan thoroughly and choose your alliance partners well. 

However, if you follow a clear plan and fully document how you'll manage the process, you can create a strategic alliance that fits your business profile and helps you achieve your growth goals.

How To Find Legitimate Home Based Businesses

Using the internet to set up a home based business has become an extremely popular practice in recent years. However, some people may still be putting it off because they are nervous about all the scams they have heard about. Many online companies are reported as fraudulent or a scam in various websites and blogs, and it can almost appear that there are no legitimate home based businesses on the internet. In fact, many of these companies run perfectly honest and valid businesses, but have become the target of dissatisfied ex-members who mistakenly feel that they have been conned in some way. The fact is that many of these people did not understand the nature of running an online business and believed that they would make money quickly for doing very little. They have often given up on their business within a few weeks or months and decided to blame the company rather than their own inability to learn the business or put in much effort. It is important for any new online business owners to realise that they need to treat it like a real business and put in lots of time and effort. Sadly, those who are not prepared to work for their profits will often blame the company for their failure and try to undermine it by spreading negative press. This does not mean that there are no scams out there. In any line of work there are always a few unscrupulous people who prey on the vulnerable and uninitiated. However, with a little knowledge and common sense these can easily be avoided. To work out whether a company is valid or not, follow my tips below and you can be assured of your safety. 1. Take your time. Many of us can admit to getting excited about a clever piece of advertising and rushing in as if our lives depended on it. Before you realise it you have got out your credit card, clicked SUBMIT and are now several dollars lighter. You may be lucky and have come across a legitimate company, but you really do not want to rely on luck. Make sure the company explains exactly what you are signing up for before you are committed. Shop around and compare several programs. If you like the look of some of them, bookmark them for now and carry out some research as detailed below. 2. Distrust exaggerated claims. Stay away from any company that promises great riches in a short period of time without the need to spend any money or do any work. This just does not make sense, and although it is possible to make a lot of money on the internet, you will always need to work and give it time before you start to see a good profit. Also, while it is possible to run an online business with a small budget, you will need to spend some money at some point. 3. Do your research. This is not quite as simple as just doing a search on Google. What you will find is likely to be either some advertising material encouraging you to buy into the program, or the opposite extreme of someone complaining that the company is a scam. Of course, both may be valid, but you need to find a less biased view and know who it is that is doing the talking. The most effective way of doing this is to find some online home business forums and ask their members. Most forums will not allow blatant advertising in posts, so you can be sure of a more balanced and honest viewpoint. Many forum members are experts who have been in the online business industry for several years and will be knowledgeable about what companies are legitimate and which might be scams. Always pay attention to people who have been in the forum for a long time as they will be trusted members who have made a useful contribution to the forum. Anyone who breaks forum rules by advertising or aggressive language will not last very long, so you can be sure that long-standing members will give you balanced advice. 4. Choose your sponsor with care. Once you have joined a few forums you will get an idea of who you like and trust. These are the kinds of people that it would be useful to have as your sponsor. Look at their websites and see if they are members of programs that you are interested in. Those who have some experience in the industry will often have several income streams and will also provide useful information, reviews and advice on their websites. By joining an affiliate program through someone you trust you will be off to a very good start because you will be in good hands and get good advice and support. If you follow these four steps you can be sure of finding legitimate home based businesses that are right for you while avoiding the scams, and also get the right support that you will need to get started. After that, you should develop a good relationship with your sponsor, learn all you can about marketing your business and take action every day to make your business successful.

How Can You Make Money Online - A Practical Guide

 

Not many people really want to share the truth about making money online and the practical ways to go about doing it. If you are open to the idea of how can you make money online, I can share with you 2 practical things you can do: (1)Sell Your Own Product Online (2)Be an affiliate and sell other people's products There are many ways one can earn money online such as playing stocks and so on. However, you may not be aware that one of the best practical ways to make a considerable amount of cash on the Internet is actually through Option (1): Selling your own product. The reason is simple: You get to keep 100% of your profits every time you make a sale. As an affiliate, you will get to earn a handsome commission in the range between 50% - 75%. Well it's not too bad but you will get a better deal if the product is yours and all the profits only go into your pocket. In order to illustrate the benefits, let me give you an example: Assuming that you sold one $200 product everyday, you get 50% of the commission as an affiliate. That is equal to $100 commission per day. Affiliate Earnings 1 Day = $100 1 Month (30 days) = $3,000 1 Year (365) = $36, 000 Product Owner Earnings 1 Day = $200 1 Month = $6,000 1 Year = $72, 000 Did you see that? As a product owner, you would have earned 2 times of an affiliate income in just 1 year! With a faster rate of earning money, you can better use the money and time to fast forward to the life which you have always wanted. There is another plus point that you are selling your own products i.e. you can garner the force of the Affiliate Marketers to help you drive traffic to your site. However, in order to be successful, it is more prudent not to jump the gun if you are new to the concept of marketing. We should not create our own product just because we want to do it. Rather it's more important to learn the ropes of Internet Marketing first before creating and selling your own product. As a practical guide, you should follow the system: 1) Learn how to find starving niche markets that have a problem that you can bring solutions to. Creating a product which nobody wants to buy is not only a waste of time but also not helping anybody as the problem may not exist at all. It is always important to find a potential market, build your website and test it by selling affiliate products. Start sending traffic to your site and see if people do buy. If they don't, then you can test by changing to another affiliate product to see the market demand and you decide from there. 2) Once sales start coming in, you can go on to create a better value-added product to help satisfy the niche market. In the event that sales are poor and you have invested a lot of effort and there are no results to show for it, it may be a better idea to try another market. 3) Research in other markets and repeat the process above until some buyers can be found. Not making sales is not the end of the world. Starting off as an affiliate is a better idea than creating a product as an aspiring Internet Marketer

How to Sell Products Online

How to Sell Online? Here we will guide and give you some simple information and guidelines on how someone or anyone can run a profitable online internet business. All the information and guidelines on this article is important for you to obtain all the facts before you begin to sell any products online especially for beginners and intermediates. Selling products online can be divided into 3 categories, selling physical products, selling downloads products and selling service online. To establish an Internet business and sell products online you need to complete some simple steps. 1. Get Domain Name To start your online business you need to have and register your own domain name. Domain name is the virtual name of your site or a specific internet website address, such as mydomain.net, mycompany.com, mysite.org, myproducts.biz and etc. You can pick any unregistered domain name or buy the one that suitable or related with your business and easy for your visitors to remember. 2. Get Web Hosting Service Provider A web hosting service provider is the company which will rent you some space on their web servers, you need this space to create or place your own web site. Web hosting service provider, is the company that will make sure your web site is accessible on the internet throughout the world 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. This feature is important to ensure your web site can sell your products online and make money on the internet while you are sleeping. You can use FileZilla FTP to upload your site from your computer into your web hosting server. The web hosting service provider provides you with 99.99% uptime guaranteed so that you can upload your files 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Nowadays, for less then $4 a month you can find a good web hosting service and put up a real site online. 3. Create your website or sale page The website or sale page is the page that people will see when they type in your domain name. The sales page is also the web page that you use to convince your customer or your future customer to buy your products. When creating your website, you need to emphasize some important factors such as why visitors should visit your website? You site might sale or offer something that make them interested. What is the specific information or valuable items that the visitors will get if they visit your website. Which page should be displayed first when the visitor type in your domain or click on your web site's URL? Remember the first visitor's impressions are the main key points here. The design and layout of your site is the next most important part of building a website. No matter how great your content is or how much money you have spent for advertising. If your site looks bad no one will visit and pretty sure they won't stay long on your website. Basically, there is no specific rules must be followed when creating your website. 4. You need Email Account E-mail or electronic mail is much cheaper than most other forms of communication and much faster than a letter. Email lets you deliver your message to your customers or visitors. When you establishing online internet business and sell your product online, you need to have at least 2 separate new email accounts, one for your business email and one for personal email. Email will always be the number one tool for internet marketers. Proven internet marketers make email their number one priority. 5. Get Autoresponder Autoresponder gives you the most cost effective strategy to market your products. Autoresponder automatically sends emails to everyone who requests further information about your products. An Autoresponder lets you respond immediately when the visitors need it. However, you need to integrate your website with your autoresponder form and offer your visitors to fill up the autoresponder form with their name and primary email address if they like to receive about your products details information or anything you might offer to them. You can deliver your free ebooks, newsletters, blogs, press kit, articles, or just about any other text information very quickly. You do not have to be present when your visitors request the information. 6. You need a product to sell The simple fact is, when you go into business for yourself, and you want to make money from internet, you need to sell something whether products or services. You can sell downloadable products such as ebook or sell physical products such as ebook on CD, flowers, computer parts and etc. For the beginning you should have at least one product to sell. Electronic book or ebook is the best product you can sell on the internet. Starting Internet Business has never been this easy!. You can sell your own ebook or get full resell rights from the ebook owner. Normally, to get the ebook full resell rights you need to buy the ebook first then you can resell the ebook and keep all the money. Remember to pick up the right products for your visitors so that they win and you win! 7. Accept Credit Cards Payment Online Your site is up and running, but how your customers are going to pay you online? Then, you need at least one merchant account in order to sell your products on the internet such as Paypal, Asianpay, 2CheckOut, Google Checkout and etc. You need a payment link on your website then the visitors or buyers can buy your products using their credit cards or with their own merchant account. Web merchant account is the fastest way to set up online payments on your website. You simply can't compete if you don't accept credit cards online. Internet shoppers want the easiest way to buy your products. They dont want to mess around sending you checks or money orders in the mail. They want it now, and if you cant make that sale right at that moment when they are interested, they will go somewhere else. Most merchant account accept all major credit cards instantly. 8. You need to Promote Your Website Now, everything is up and running. You have your own domain name, web hosting provider, emails, your autoresponders are working properly, you have the product and you can accept credit cards online. So where are the visitors? Where are the buyers? Now is the time to promote your product by submitting your website to search engines, pay-per-click search engines, create blog about your product and submit it to blog directory, write or publish your own newsletters such as ezines and articles and submit them to related ezine and article directories or subscribe to any related ezines and articles and participate in forum and discussion groups. Remember, promoting your website to drive your traffics and sales is possibly one of the hardest things to do successfully online, unless, you know how to promote them with power and the ability to drive the traffics and sales to your web site! Promote your product and services at Monsun Online Market which are The Biggest Malaysian Online Market in the internet. FREE Registration by Click Here.

Lower Roaming Charges for Mobile Phones Between Malaysia -Singapore

The Minister for Energy, Water and Communications, Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor has reached and agreement between him and Singapore's Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Dr Lee Boon Yang to lower mobile phone roaming charges to encourage communication between both countries. "This move will certainly benefit Malaysians working in Singapore and Singaporeans frequently visiting Malaysia," said Datuk Shaziman. Datuk Shaziaman added that when he informed Malaysia's local telecommunication companies of the agreement, they expressed strong support for the move. The lower charges would only be implemented the soonest by early year 2009.

Cause & Effect/Fishbone Diagram

Find & cure causes,
NOT symptoms

Why use it?

To allow a team to identify, explore, and graphically display, in increasing detail, all of the possible causes related to a problem or condition to discover its root cause(s).

What does it do?

• Enables a team to focus on the content of the problem, not on the history of the problem or differing personal interests of team members

• Creates a snapshot of the collective knowledge and consensus of a team around a problem. This builds support for the resulting solutions

• Focuses the team on causes, not symptoms

How do I do it?

1. Select the most appropriate cause & effect format. There are two major formats:

• Dispersion Analysis Type is constructed by placing individual causes within each "major" cause category and then asking of each individual cause "Why does this cause (dispersion) happen?" This question is repeated for the next level of detail until the team runs out of causes. The graphic examples shown in Step 3 of this tool section are based on this format.

• Process Classification Type uses the major steps of the process in place of the major cause categories. The root cause questioning process is the same as the Dispersion Analysis Type.

2. Generate the causes needed to build a Cause & Effect Diagram. Choose one method:

• Brainstorming without previous preparation

• Check Sheets based on data collected by team members before the meeting

3. Construct the Cause & Effect/Fishbone Diagram

a) Place the problem statement in a box on the righthand side of the writing surface.

• Allow plenty of space. Use a flipchart sheet, butcher paper, or a large white board. A paper surface is preferred since the final Cause & Effect Diagram can be moved.

Tip Make sure everyone agrees on the problem statement. Include as much information as possible on the "what," "where," "when," and "how much" of the problem. Use data to specify the problem.

b) Draw major cause categories or steps in the production or service process. Connect them to the "backbone" of the fishbone chart.

• Be flexible in the major cause "bones" that are used. In a Production Process the traditional categories are: Machines (equipment), Methods (how work is done), Materials (components or raw materials), and People (the human element). In a Service Process the traditional methods are: Policies (higher-level decision rules), Procedures (steps in a task), Plant (equipment and space), and People. In both types of processes, Environment (buildings, logistics, and space), and Measurement (calibration and data collection) are also frequently used. There is no perfect set or number of categories. Make them fit the problem.

c) Place the brainstormed or data-based causes in the appropriate category.

• In brainstorming, possible causes can be placed in a major cause category as each is generated, or only after the entire list has been created. Either works well but brainstorming the whole list first maintains the creative flow of ideas without being constrained by the major cause categories or where the ideas fit in each "bone."

• Some causes seem to fit in more than one category. Ideally each cause should be in only one category, but some of the "people" causes may legitimately belong in two places. Place them in both categories and see how they work out in the end.

Tip If ideas are slow in coming, use the major cause categories as catalysts, e.g., "What in 'materials' is causing . . . ?"

d) Ask repeatedly of each cause listed on the "bones," either:

• "Why does it happen?" For example, under "Run out of ingredients" this question would lead to more basic causes such as "Inaccurate ordering," "Poor use of space," and so on.

• "What could happen?" For example, under "Run out of ingredients" this question would lead to a deeper understanding of the problem such as "Boxes," "Prepared dough," "Toppings," and so on.

Tip For each deeper cause, continue to push for deeper understanding, but know when to stop. A rule of thumb is to stop questioning when a cause is controlled by more than one level of management removed from the group. Otherwise, the process could become an exercise in frustration. Use common sense.

e) Interpret or test for root cause(s) by one or more of the following:

• Look for causes that appear repeatedly within or across major cause categories.

• Select through either an unstructured consensus process or one that is structured, such as Nominal Group Technique or Multivoting.

• Gather data through Check Sheets or other formats to determine the relative frequencies of the different causes.

Variations

Traditionally, Cause & Effect Diagrams have been created in a meeting setting. The completed "fishbone" is often reviewed by others and/or confirmed with data collection. A very effective alternative is CEDAC®, in which a large, highly visible, blank fishbone chart is displayed prominently in a work area. Everyone posts both potential causes and solutions on Post-it™ notes in each of the categories. Causes and solutions are reviewed, tested, and posted. This technique opens up the process to the knowledge and creativity of every person in the operation.

Cause & Effect/Fishbone

Bed Assignment Delay

How to become very rich in Malaysia

Connections and the ability to flip assets can get you going places

If you have ever wondered how to get rich in Malaysia – fabulously rich and very quickly at that – here's a model that you might want to look at very closely. Not easy to do but if you do have a couple of projects in the bag, it will set you up for several lifetimes.

First you need connections – strong ones, the higher the better and if it goes right up to the top all the better. You need this because you need to convince the powers that be that your projects are good.

But you might ask if your projects are so good, why do you need connections? Why don't you just go out and execute? Good questions, those. Here's the answer - you need the state to give you something to do the deal that will help the nation.

Still can't figure it out? See, it's like this. You want to help the country, right? The country needs say a port. But you can't build a port just like that. You need land to build a port. You tell the state or federal government you need land – cheap land, preferably free to build the port.

Or to take another example, you want to help the country by building a power plant. But look, you need land too and not only that you need the power to be sold. So you want an agreement – an iron-clad one to sell the power to Tenaga Nasional and to pass through all costs.

You see, that's your reward as an entrepreneur – you get someone else to build the power plant, they guarantee the performance of the plant and someone else guarantees to buy your power and pay for all your costs. Nice deal? You bet. Billionaires have been made that way.

Or you may want to start an air hub. If you are persuasive enough, you can even convince the government to compulsorily acquire the land and sell it to you cheap. Once you have cheap land, lucrative contracts and concession agreements, the sky's the limit.

Let's take it a step further. If you want to realise the value of all of these things that you have and still keep control of them, it's nice to have a listed company into which you can inject them. Inject one asset for shares and you gain control of the company.

And then inject others over the years for cash, taking the money out of the company. Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?

Do it right and get a flow of assets to inject in (you can do anything with discounted cash flow valuations – just change the discount rate, and presto, the value changes!), and you get a tidy flow of profits and cash into your personal accounts over the years. I mean a really tidy flow.

Just how much can you make this way, you ask? Why don't you take a guess first? Did you say RM500mil? Guess again. RM1bil? How about five times that and you may be getting into the right order of magnitude.

One Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary actually made some RM4.5bil that way - actually more because he still controls the listed company. (
MMC's latest RM1.7bil deal irks investors7) We are not saying he is the only one, which makes your chances of joining the ranks better – if you are connected to high places that is.

But then again, if things change – and that's still a big 'if' – you might not find it so easy anymore.


P. Gunasegaram is managing editor of The Star. He thinks it is high time we changed the way we did business

Brainstorming

Brainstorming

Creating bigger & better ideas

Why use it?

To establish a common method for a team to creatively and efficiently generate a high volume of ideas on any topic by creating a process that is free of criticism and judgment.

What does it do?

• Encourages open thinking when a team is stuck in "same old way" thinking

• Gets all team members involved and enthusiastic so that a few people don't dominate the whole group

• Allows team members to build on each other's creativity while staying focused on their joint mission

How do I do it?

There are two major methods for brainstorming.

• Structured. A process in which each team member gives ideas in turn.

• Unstructured. A process in which team members give ideas as they come to mind.

Either method can be done silently or aloud.

Structured

1. The central brainstorming question is stated, agreed on, and written down for everyone to see

Be sure that everyone understands the question, issue, or problem. Check this by asking one or two members to paraphrase it before recording it on a flipchart or board.

2. Each team member, in turn, gives an idea. No idea is criticized. Ever!

With each rotation around the team, any member can pass at any time. While this rotation process encourages full participation, it may also heighten anxiety for inexperienced or shy team members.

3. As ideas are generated, write each one in large, visible letters on a flipchart or other writing surface

Make sure every idea is recorded with the same words of the speaker, don't interpret or abbreviate. To ensure this, the person writing should always ask the speaker if the idea has been worded accurately.

4. Ideas are generated in turn until each person passes, indicating that the ideas (or members) are exhausted

Keep the process moving and relatively short—5 to 20 minutes works well, depending on how complex the topic is.

5. Review the written list of ideas for clarity and to discard any duplicates

Discard only ideas that are virtually identical. It is often important to preserve subtle differences that are revealed in slightly different wordings.

Unstructured

The process is the same as in the structured method except that ideas are given by everyone at any time. There is no need to "pass" since ideas are not solicited in rotation.

Variations

There are many ways to stimulate creative team thinking. The common theme among all of them is the stimulation of creativity by taking advantage of the combined brain power of a team. Here are three examples:

• Visual brainstorming. Individuals (or the team) produce a picture of how they see a situation or problem.

• Analogies/free-word association. Unusual connections are made by comparing the problem to seemingly unrelated objects, creatures, or words. For example: "If the problem was an animal, what kind would it be?"

• 6-3-5 method. This powerful, silent method is proposed by Helmut Schlicksupp in his book Creativity Workshop. It is done as follows:

a) Based on a single brainstorming issue, each person on the team (usually 6 people) has 5 minutes to write down 3 ideas on a sheet of paper.

b) Each person then passes his or her sheet of paper to the next person, who has 5 more minutes to add 3 more ideas that build on the first 3 ideas.

c) This rotation is repeated as many times as there are team members, e.g., 6 team members = 6 rotations, 6 sheets of paper, 18 ideas per sheet.

This interesting process forces team members to consciously build on each other's perspectives and input.

Mutiara kata dari mereka yang Berjaya

Mutiara kata dari mereka yang Berjaya

"Seseorang yang ingin cemerlang dalam apa jua bidang pun mesti ada guru dan mesti berguru. Dan ini yang orang kadang-kadang terlepas pandang"
- Dato' Dr Fadzilah Kamsah

"Lalu terjumpa satu formula kejayaan di mana lebih banyak buku yang saya baca, maka saya bertambah kaya"
- Azizi Ali

"Jadi apabila kita jumpa dengan idola yang tepat, kita akan mendapat nasihat-nasihat yang positif"
-Chef Li

"Apa yang paling penting adalah setelah kita miliki segala-galanya, maka satu lagi yang kita beri adalah kepada masyarakat"
-Dato' Dr Azman Ching

"Sekarang, jika kita tidak ambil risiko dan berani, kita tidak boleh jadi kaya. Tidak boleh menjadi jutawan kerana peluang adalah lebih banyak daripada dulu"
- Billi Lim

"Saya fikir walaupun saya miskin, saya mesti berikhtiar untuk berjaya. Dan untuk berjaya mesti melalui perniagaan"
- Dato' Hussamuddin

"Kenapa orang itu kaya? Kenapa orang itu miskin? Semuanya bersangkut paut dengan minda"
- Abang Abu

"Apa yang kita capai tahun depan, atau lima tahun akan datang, atau sepuluh tahun akan datang adalah berdasarkan pilihan dan keputusan yang kita lakukan hari ini"
-Irfan Khairi

How to Write a Vision Statement

How to Write a Vision Statement

Write a Vision Statement in Three Easy Steps

A vision statement is your ticket to success. A photograph in words of your company's future, it provides the inspiration for both your daily operations and your strategic decisions.

Without a vision statement, effective business planning would be impossible; it's the vision statement that provides the destination for the journey, and without a destination, how can you plan the route?

If you don't have a vision statement, don't panic. I bet you do have a vision of what you want your business to accomplish; you just need to articulate and formalize it. Here's how to write a vision statement:

1) Examine your mission statement.

As I say in my mission statement definition¹, a mission statement answers the question, "Why do we exist?" for a company. (I also give several sample mission statements in this article.) What is it you do well? How do you do it?

(If you don’t have a mission statement already, How to Write a Mission Statement² will lead you through the process.)

2) Dare to dream.

Before you can travel to the moon you have to look up at the stars. To write a vision statement, focus on the basics of your mission statement and extrapolate; where is your business going to be five years from now? What will your company have accomplished?

Forming a mental picture will help. If you have trouble visualizing your business, mentally script your own news byte. Imagine that you, the CEO of your company, are being profiled on the news. What are you and your company being recognized for? For instance, if your current business involves yoga instruction, you might imagine yourself being featured on the news for opening your twelfth franchise.

3) Shape your vision statement; apply the formula.

Maybe when you were picturing the future of your company, you saw a whole list of achievements scroll by or imagined all sorts of disjointed clips. To write a vision statement, we need to distil your vision into a usable form. Use the following formula to shape your vision statement:

Five years from now, (my company name) will ___________________ by ________________________.

Using this formula to write a vision statement will force you to choose what you consider to be the most important accomplishment of your business and give you a time frame to accomplish it.

For instance, here's a sample vision statement:

Five years from now, Tiny Tots Diaper Service will be the top grossing diaper service in the Lower Mainland by consistently providing a reliable, affordable service for Moms and Dads with small children.

4) Commit to your vision statement.

·Take action to make your vision statement come true: Use it as the basis of your business planning.

As the vision statement provides your destination, the 'where you want to get to', all of your goals and strategies will focus on making it happen. It's the natural basis for all of your business planning.

·Keep your vision statement alive: Share it with potential partners, staff and employees if you have them.

If you just tell it to people once, your vision statement will fade and disappear. So besides talking about it, keep your vision statement alive by keeping it physically prominent. Print it out and post it on your desk, in your staff room, wherever you, your colleagues and your staff will see it (and be reminded of it) daily.

Is Your Vision Statement the Right One?

It isn't hard to write a vision statement. But it is sometimes difficult to write a vision statement that truly encapsulates your vision for your company. When you write your vision statement, make sure that you have chosen the vision that is most important to you. If you don't fully believe in your vision statement, you won't be able to fully commit to it and writing a vision statement that you can't or won't fully commit to is a waste of time.