Zephyr's Musings

Zephyr's Collectibles - all for sale too......

2011-01-02T22:07:00.000-08:00

The Trials of Life by Sir David Attenborough, and signed by him, as a presentation to me (ie with my name). The book is from a first printing, in 1990, which some collectors would describe as a first edition (see Wikipedia definition).

I believe RM1,250 to be a fair price while Sir David is alive. I know it's a little distasteful, but the value will shoot up considerably following his death. Sir David will be 85 in May 2011.

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1957 Merdeka Commemorative Plate - make me a reasonable offer above RM350

Large Ginger Jar (stands about 12" tall), beautifully decorated. When bought in Hollywood Road, HK, in the early 1980s I was told by the very reputable dealer, that it was produced in one of the ceramics factories in Eastern Guandong Province, in the 1930s - Make me an offer, but it is unlikely to go for much less than RM750 :-)

I'm told the plate is a porcelain stem-dish, probably made circa 1880, for export to Europe, with the famille-rose design, with scholar and inscription. I believe that the three top characters may be those of the name of the scholar. Make me an offer, but it is unlikely to go for less than RM750

Vietnamese vase relatively modern , picked it up on a trip to Ho Chi Min City (old Saigon) in 1993. RM150

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Republic Chinoise 5% Gold Bond 1925

Valued at HKD2,000-4,000 by www.chinabondshop.com. Make me an offer around the lower price.

Imperial Chinese Government 5% Hukuang Railways Sinking Fund Gold Loan of 1911 Bond for £20

Valued at HKD6,500 to 8,000 by www.chinabondshop.com
Make me an offer around the lower price.

Chinese Government 5% Reorganisation Gold Loan of 1913 Bond for £20

Valued at HKD2,000 to 4,000 by www.chinabondshop.com.
Make me an offer around the lower price.

Chinese Government 5% Reorganisation Gold Loan 1913 Bond for £100

Valued at HKD6,500 to 8,000 by www.chinabondshop.com.
Make me an offer around the lower price.

Republic Chinoise Bon Du Tressor 8% of 1921 Bond for 500 Francs

Valued at above HKD8,000 by www.chinabondshop.com.
Make me an offer around HKD8,000.

NB: At 25th February 2011 the exchange rate for HKD/MYR was 1HKD= 0.392MYR

(HKD2.553 = MYR1)

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Beautiful Solid Rosewood TV and Video Cabinet, made at one of Hong Kong's most respected Rosewood furniture factories in the early 1980s, to my specifications.
RM3,500

I do also have a small collection of old Chinese snuff bottles, in a rosewood display cabinet, but cannot take a photo as my digital camera is in for repair. Any prospective local (Kuala Lumpur) buyers are welcome to view at my apartment. Same with a small pewter keris, old Canon EOS and Minolta cameras and lenses, dolls, Arabic coffee pots large and small, a dozen or so vinyl LP records from the 1960s, and relative bric-a-brac.

By all means leave a message here, but better to email me directly at mikedavies.kl@gmail.com

I can accept payment by PayPal or Western Union for overseas buyers and direct to my local HSBC account for Malaysian buyers. Local shipment will be Pos Laju (or of course may be personally collected), and overseas via DHL, with all shipment costs payable by the buyer. The article purchased will be shipped immediately cleared payment is received.

The Humiliation and Potential Re-Birth of English Football

2010-07-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

The late, great, Bobby Moore would have turned in his grave last Sunday. As captain of the 1966 World Cup winning English team, Bobby lead 10 other passionate, committed, talented and tireless players, to a famous victory at Wembley on 30th July, 1966, worthy 4-2 winners over (West) Germany.

Their successors in the England team, 44 years later, were very pale, feint shadows of their illustrious predecessors. As an Englishman, especially one living and working overseas, last night I was embarrassed to be English.

Of course I’m refering to the humiliation of the English, four goals to one, by a young, hugely talented, motivated and passionate German side, skilfully lead by Phillip Lahm. They are coached by the precocious Joachim Löw, who could well have been a worthy successor to Sepp Herberger (World Cup winners 1954), Helmut Schön (1974) and Franz Beckenbauer (1990). This German side didn't win in 2010, but they will definitely be among the favourites for Brazil 2014.
A German friend of mine posted something on his Facebook status straight after the game. It read: “Goodbye England. I think they are afraid of the future German football”.

I told him, no, I’m not afraid, but I am definitely in admiration, a little in awe, and believe it or not, perhaps ready to say “thanks”!

Yes, that is not a misprint, I really do mean thanks, and for a number of reasons.

Goal-line Technology
Let’s look at them, straight away getting rid of the obvious point about goal-line technology.

Of the 22 players on the field, those in the team dugouts, the 40,000 in the Free State Stadium in Bloomfontein, and the millions watching around the world on TV, how come it was only Uruguay referee Jorge Larrionda and his assistant, Mauricio Espinosa, who failed to see Frank Lampard’s terrific shot go some half a metre over the goal-line, after striking the bar. That would have made it 2-2 at half time, and could have lead to a closer game. It might, at least, have prevented England’s humiliation, and my embarrassment at being English!

This was, without doubt, the best clarion call there has been to date for the urgent introduction of goal-line technology. Sepp Blatter (Head of FIFA), this is not rocket science we’re calling for, it’s pretty simple stuff. We’re seeing it now at just about every professional tennis match, where players can challenge what they feel to be a wrong line call. It’s now used in first class and test cricket to help umpires with certain difficult calls.

We’re seeing it at top rugby union matches, and it’s here where the comparison is most apposite. If he’s in any doubt about whether or not a try has been scored, the referee can call for a fourth official to examine a play back of the touch-down and give his verdict.

It’s common sense, and in today’s football, where huge sums of money may be involved, and reputations can be made or lost on such decisions, it is sheer folly not to bring in the technology. Worse, it smacks of rank amateurism. Like it or not this is now a business, and one where the balance sheet is larger than that of many small to medium sized countries!

Even referees’ representatives in UK have said they will welcome it. So come on FIFA, UEFA etc, bring in the use of goal-line technology at the latest by the start of Euro 2012, preferably well before. You've at last agreed to re-open the whole subject, so stop the talking and act.

Unrestricted numbers of foreign players
Now let’s look at the ills affecting the game in England (and also in Italy and France, Spain to a lesser extent, but, unsurprisingly, not Germany). Let’s start with the unrestricted use of foreign players in the domestic leagues, and the effect this has on youth development.

There have been calls for restrictions from every quarter for some years, but these calls have mostly fallen on deaf ears, although FIFA tried hard in 2008 to introduce a so-called “6+5 rule”. This would have mandated that teams would have to field six players from the country of their club, but would allow the other five to be foreigners. Unfortunately they got little support from clubs and national associations, both of whom (understandably) have commercial interests more at heart than national pride.

Commerical interests at the EPL clubs mandates that as a business, they have to make a profit, and the largest slices of that profit come from TV rights, ticket sales and merchandise sales. With regard to merchandise sales, this is particularly true of the four biggest clubs, especially from sales here in Asia, the world’s largest market for EPL merchandise.

If these clubs no longer have unrestricted access to the world’s best known players, the fear is, of course, that their sales will plummet. Clearly a replica of the shirt worn by Portuguese star, Nani, at Manchester United, is going to be of infinitely more commercial, world-wide appeal right now to that of, say Tom Cleverley, a terrific 20 year old England U21 player, and excellent senior level prospect, but only now breaking into the MU first team squad. Yes, Cleverley may become, in time, as famous and popular as Nani, but the profit demands are now, not in five or ten year’s time.

However, will the English Premier League be able to resist demands from FIFA, pressure from the Football Association, pressure from the media (not to be under-estimated in the UK), and pressure from the most influential quarter – the fans? These fans are now demanding that England stop being the great pretenders and actually return to centre of the world stage, where it’s felt they rightly belong.

I hope not, but I am not optimistic, especially because of the preponderance of foreign managers in the English Premier League.

The damaging effect of foreign coaches/managers in the English Premier League
It is perhaps of no surprise that 15 of the 18 German Bundesliga managers are German. At the end of last season’s English Premier League, just 6 of the 20 clubs had an English manager.

These managers (including one or two of the Scots) almost exclusively and consistently look overseas to strengthen their squads, virtually ignoring the huge amount of young English talent that exists in the divisions of the Football League – The Championship, League One and League Two.

These divisions, especially the lower two, together with the first class Blue Square League (formerly known as the Non-League Conference), ought to be fantastic nurseries for the English Premier League sides, producing home grown talent for the future. Are they? Sorry, it seems no! The likes of Arsene Wenger, Carlo Ancelotti, Robert Mancini etc, have their sights firmly focused outside the UK, and that is a disgrace. Sadly so does Alex Ferguson, but he is a Scot *smile*.

Let’s look at the Academy setup among Premiership clubs. How well do they do on their report cards for the development of young English/British talent? Let’s take Arsenal’s, one of the first to be awarded academy status, 11 years ago. Insofar as developing English talent is concerned, I’ll give them a ‘D’. The only name mentioned on the website as having graduated from the Academy and gone on to get full honours with the England senior side is Ashley Cole. In 11 years, only one? The Arsenal academy is rich in diversity, with many countries from around the world represented. At a guess, I’d say that less than 50% are English. If England truly does aspire to re-capture the World Cup, and we certainly should, then the FA has to incentivise the clubs to make the academies solely for the development of British talent. I’d wager there is private money around who would be sponsors to such an approach.

Why is it not a problem in Germany and Spain?
The percentage of foreign players (vs citizens) last season in Germany’s Bundesliga was 46% and in Spain’s La Liga was 31%. In England at the beginning of last season, the average number of foreign players in EPL clubs was almost 54%. Arsenal was worst at a staggering 85% (closely followed by Liverpool at 83%) with Wolverhampton Wanderers the best at 29%.

The huge difference in the EFFECT of these foreign born players in Germany and Spain, compared to England, revolves around investment in the long term development of young talent.

Put briefly, Germany has the world’s largest and arguably most prestigious sports university, of which the Bundesliga and the National Association both make full use. As far as Spain is concerned, I read this recently on the BBC website:

"Spain has 750 fully qualified Grade A UEFA trained coaches compared to under 150 in England. But that’s not even the clincher. The most striking point is this, 150 Grade coaches in England all coach at professional or semi professional level to fully grown men. 640 of the Grade A coaches in Spain teach in SCHOOLS. They coach 5 year olds and up how to play the game. One touch football, pass and move, to actually think about the game when playing. Have a football brain and use it. 15 years ago the Spanish F.A and government changed the whole youth set up from 5 years of age up. 15 years later and they have a group of maybe 7 or 8 world class players in their national team!”

Fantastic, well done Germany and Spain! Your investment in young talent, a decade or more ago, is now being seen in South Africa.

A Hope for the Future – The English National Football Centre
Need I say more. Actually, yes, and it concerns the proposed English National Football Centre, to be known as St George’s Park.

This will be a truly world class facility, with the potential to produce world class footballers, sports medicine and sports science professionals. It’s modelled on the very successful Italian centre, Caverciano and the French centre at Clairefontaine. It is expected to be completed in 2012, although that may be too optimistic having only just received planning permission from the local authority.

But, it is a start! I just hope that it is not a long term, false dawn. It will serve as the centre for all the England squads, from U16 to the senior squad, and that is very positive. The more the youngsters get to mix with their peers and their seniors the better it must be for creating a solid team environment. That, in my view is essential, and I’ll say a little more on that below.

It is not, however, an academy, and that is a great mistake, in my view. Contrary to the opinion of NFC Chairman, David Sheepshanks, who says that the academies are the job of the Premier and Championship League clubs, I say to him that the interests of the EPL Club academies and those of England are chalk and cheese. To begin with, the academies are not just for English or even British youngsters, they come from all over the world, literally.

Leadership and Teamworking at the senior England squad level
You cannot create a real team unless the team leader and the team members have a common ground. The common ground cannot just be your industry or company, it needs to be something far stronger and far more enduring, something cultural, something historical, something that immediately binds you.

They need to speak the same language. Yes, I mean that literally as well as figuratively, but not because Capello or even Ericcson before him were not easy to understand. No, when you have your native language as a common ground you also have culture and history as a far broader and deeper bond between you.

The one thing so clearly lacking in the England side that exited World Cup 2010, was motivation. Self motivation is critical, but a really good leader is invariably superb at harnessing individuals’ self-motivation, and funnelling it down to the whole team. Not one player looked truly motivated, engaged or focused on the job in hand. Why? To me it was because they had no leader. Capello was their manager, and as anyone whose attended a leadership development course will tell you, leadership and management are two very different animals. It’s even worse when the manager is a strong disciplinarian.

We need (as England Manager/Coach) someone who has the unusual combination of footballing skills, leadership and motivation skills, coaching and communication skills, international experience with England, and essentially, someone who has the respect of English players (and the serious English media – forget the tabloids).

Capello is a manager, not a leader. Why? A leader is a visionary and can paint pictures of the future, most often drawn from the past and uses his/her common cultural and historical ground to make the anecdotes as real and as relevant as they can possibly be. As an Italian, Capello cannot do that. It’s not his fault, just a simple fact of birth.

But more than that, a real leader is never an iron-fisted disciplinarian. A real leader uses charisma not a horse-whip. Capello's cold attitude and distant relationship with England's players was easier for them to take in short bursts, as during the qualifiers. But over the long haul in South Africa, the almost monk-like existence forced upon the team, was simply unacceptable, and that played a huge part in destroying morale and motivation. As one commentator pointed out, the England team were living in luxurious surroundings in the Royal Bafokeng Sports Complex, but the Capello regime was austere.

Any good English leader, in Capello’s position, in the dressing room last Sunday, would possibly have had a video of the 1966 World Cup final playing, showing our four goals, the English celebrations and German disappointment, time and time again. He’d have told them how people back home were so excited at the prospects of another victory over the old enemy, about the thousands of St George’s Cross flags, English flags, were flying all over the country and how another of our old enemies, Argentina, likely awaited us next, in the quarter finals. He would have exulted them to go out onto that Cape Town pitch and kick some butt. .

I wonder, could Fabio Capello sing “Jerusalem”, the unofficial English National Anthem? I’d make sure our English manager could, and the team.

We needed a leader on the field too. Steven Gerrard wore the Captain’s armband, but did he lead? No, he didn’t and while we can speculate as to those reasons, let’s not bother. Water under the bridge and all that.

The future
There is only one way to go and that is forward. We must go forward having learned from some awful mistakes on the pitch and off. Personally, I hope that Capello does resign, or is told by the FA that his future is elsewhere. I hope that England do find someone as a new coach/leader/manager who has the combination of footballing skills, leadership skills, coaching skills, international experience with England, and essentially, someone who has the respect of English players (and the serious English media).

I believe he exists, and was actually in South Africa with the team as a mentor. David Beckham. Yes, in such a role he would be very young at 35, but only four years younger than Jurgen Klinsmann when he managed Germany from 2004 to 2008. Appoint him now, and by Brazil 2014, he’ll be exactly the same age.

Beckham has shown in the past that he has leadership and motivational skills in spades, and is probably one of the most passionate players we have seen in an England shirt. I’m certain he’d be no different leading as the England manager. But, sadly, for now he has ruled this out. He hopes to play in the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 World Cup. I hope the FA can persuade him to re-consider.

A post for anyone doing business on the Net

2009-06-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Jeff Johnson posted a video that walked everyone through his new Underground Training Lab 2.0 membership site.

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Jeff Johnson's Free Traffic-Getting Software

2009-05-24T21:52:00.000-07:00

Free Traffic-Getting SEO Plugin… that’s what Jeff Johnson calls it.

It’s his newest free SEO software that you can use to grab more free traffic from the search engines.

All you have to do it plug it into your blog and his software does all the rest.

Check it out:

http://tinyurl.com/pjnu9m

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And if you don’t have a blog… Jeff shows you how to install a free one in as little as 2 minutes using a secret “push a button” technology that even the newest of newbies could use.

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Cooking buffalo for the first time today

2009-04-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

Yep, never tried cooking buffalo before, although I have eaten it when in the US, very tasty too.

I'm making a stew in the slow cooker, as buffalo is best cooked low and slow as it has very little fat and therefore can get dry quite quickly. To help with preventing that I've seared the meat after dusting with a little seasoned flour, and created a lovely caramelisation all round, which will also give a great flavour to the stock. (Forget about those who say this process "seals in the juices" - load of culinary rubbish.)

Naturally for us here, I've given it an Asian twist through the use of a couple of red chilis, 6 cloves of garlic and a thumb size piece of ginger - roughly chopping these great flavour providers.

Vegetables included in the stew are tomatoes, carrots, one red and one yellow onion, celery, mushrooms, lentils and long beans.My own beef stock is the base for the source, with some soya source, oyster sauce, chinese cooking wine (very similar to a dry sherry) and a little worcestershire sauce, and thickened with corn flour.

It'll be in the slow cooker all day, on low, until we have dinner tonight at about 7.00pm (about 8 hours away). It's already smelling yummy!

Facebook and New Business

2009-03-09T03:06:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons I've hardly been posting here is that I've been building my presence on Facebook, for both personal and professional reasons, and also been starting a new business.

I've joined quite a few relevant groups at Facebook, and am beginning to find some of the contacts there may develop into very useful business contacts. On the fun side, I've managed to make contact with quite a number of old friends, some of whom I've not seen for over 20 years.

My new business, in partnership with two friends is all about helping people to get paid a monthly rental in return for them wrapping their car in a corporate advertisement.

It's called AdsOnCars. Simple, huh? You can see the site HERE, although this is a work in progress as we're not too happy with its look.

It's good to be busy!

Cheers

Mike

Using MLM techniques to generate tons of FREE traffic

2009-03-09T03:02:00.000-07:00

I just found a really cool site that will drive tons of FREE traffic to your website for FREE. If you are like me, traffic generation is the one single most important element of this business, and this system works! It uses well tried and tested multi-level marketing (MLM) techniques, or Viral Marketing as we tend to call it these days.

It won’t and shouldn’t replace your traditional traffic generators, like article marketing, good SEO and social networking, but it can be the biggest single reason that you make a massive jump in traffic numbers, and then in sales and revenue generation.

Get your FREE account here => http://tinyurl.com/dm9l4d , follow the instructions that Gary Hand or his partner Burke Jones, and you should be on the way to getting more traffic to your site than you had ever thought possible. At least that’s what I’m hoping, and as I’m sure you’ve already realised, this blog post is a part of the initial marketing.

So, please click HERE and get started. Good luck!

Back from a great trip to London

2008-11-02T12:14:00.000-08:00

Jet-lagged and wiery from a four hour delay in Bahrain, I write this not quite knowing what time of day it is, let alone what day!

I just spent 9 days in London, staying with my son, DIL and my three fabulous grandchildren, Lucia (6), Maya (4) and Oliver (20 months), and while I'm full of the most amazing warmth for them, I'm still thawing out from the bitterly cold weather, served up to me by my home town.

The grand children, of whom I'd only met Lucia before (as they're all in London and I'm in Kuala Lumpur), are FANTASTIC! Maya is so very much like my wonderful little daughter, Nicole, who's also four years old, and in fact just 3 weeks older than Maya. They are both full of beans, full of (acceptable) mischief, cheeky, hugely talkative (just like me, I'm told.....) and absolutely adorable, as of course are Lucia and Oliver.

As for London, first time there for 12 years, it has improved enormously, and much of the credit should probably go to the Ken Livingstone, the former mayor, who did his level best to make living in the world's finest capital, even better for Londoners, residents, visitors and tourists. It's much cleaner (very little litter around), the people are so much friendlier, and the public transport systems really do work pretty well and don't have to be expensive either.

We took the children to so many fun places, but a couple are worth a special mention - The Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green (http://www.vam.ac.uk/moc/) and the Tate Modern (http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/) which were so interesting, so very well laid out, and with something for everyone, no matter what age. The activities for kids were imagintive and FREE, just like the entrance, yup, no charges whatsoever!

The flights were OK, not anything better. I took Bahrain's Gulf Air, which I've flown a few times, but the last was about 20 years ago, as it was the cheapest, but it still cost £800 at the conversion rate at which I booked. The service was crap by comparison to the best of the Asian airlines, Singapore Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Thai International Airways and Cathay Pacific Airlines of Hong Kong, but the Euro airlines all fall well short too, and the US airlines are among the worst in the world for service.

I was pleasantly surprised at some of the costs in London, and the relatively easy availability of discount stores for just about every thing. But the real revalation was a fantastic Chinese and Asian produce store in Camberwell Green (SE5), which had just about everything I can get in KL. I cooked a few Malaysian dishes for the family with produce from this store, and they all were very well received, especially a fresh lemon and fresh thyme flavoured, baked sea bass, which was delicious.

Of course the major highlights would not be complete without remarking that is was wonderful was seeing my terrific two children from my first marriage for the first time in three years. Matt, the father of my grandchildren, and Caroline, globe trotting project manager for VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas). Matt's also in the Charity line, as International Co-ordinator for ATD Fourth World, a very large, Paris based charity, working exclusively with the world's extreme poor.

Right, I'm now ready to try to return to sleeping...... zzzzzz

Nightmare of a journey.....

2008-10-18T19:43:00.000-07:00

Driving back from Penang to Kuala Lumpur, about 350km, usually takes me about 4 hours, including a break lunch or dinner of about half an hour. We have a house in Penang and an apartment in KL, and usually spend the week apart because of our work commitments :-(

Last Sunday it took me exactly 12 hours!!

I was about 30 minutes into the journey down our North-South Highway when my car ground to a halt, with some ominous noises coming from under the bonnet (hey, I'm English, but to those across the Pond it's the hood). As with most days here, the early afternoon temperature was about 34c (95f) and that's a shade temperature - I sure wasn't in the shade, so I reckon it was about 40c minimum.

Called the local Automobile Association, who regretably were not very helpful, but lucky for me along comes a truck of the highways division of the Malaysian Police, who were fantastic - and that is a word you will rarely hear about the Police here. They found a mechanic from a service station about 20km away - and remember this was Sunday afternoon. He arrived within about 30 minutes and pronounced (what I feared) that the timing belt had snapped, hopefully not causing any other damage in the engine.

Hope was in vain. The tow truck arrived after another hour or so, hanging around in the very hot sun, with a half-broken golf umbrella as the only protection!

The valves were damaged and it would all take at least two days to repair - and here I am about 300km from home, now at the service station, on the edge of a very small kampong (village).

I decide to get (another) tow truck organised, but this time to take me all 300km back to KL. Lucky for me, I know the CEO of Asia Assistance, and even though I'm not a member, he very kindly organised his call centre to find the right tow truck for me. It eventually arrived two hours later, and having broken down at about 12.45pm, we set off on the journey back to KL at just after 6pm.

The nightmare was only half over. At least none of this was going to cost me a single cent. My own service centre had put in a new timing belt only six months earlier and since then I'd only done about 10,000 km. The timing belt is good for 100,000! My service centre assured me they would cover all costs. It's OK, that's not a part of the nightmare, for they did cover the cost, without any arguments.

By now, the sun had gone, to be replaced by rain, in monsoon proportions! At best the tow truck can't do more than 80kmh, but at times, 50 was the best we could do safely, and even then that wasn't slow enough for some others. We came across several accidents on the way, one of which the tow truck driver, now my best buddy, felt he should stop to see if he could help. He donned his yellow fluorescent jacket and disappeared into the rainy gloom for about 20 minutes. He came back to get us going again, but said that a two of the passengers in one of the cars involved were in pretty poor shape, but the ambulance had now arrived.

We eventually stopped at 10pm for a very late dinner at one of the many good R&R stops on the highway, and enjoyed an excellent Hainanese Chicken Rice, a big favourite here in Malaysia.

There were still 120km to go to reach home in KL. At least the rain had softened to not much more than a drizzle.

To cut a very long story short (well, sort of), my car was unhooked from the tow truck at precisely 12.45am, exactly 12 hours since I had broken down, 300km away.

Never was it so good to be home.

I eventually got my car back, good as new, on Wednesday. Gee, did I feel naked without the car in its parking slot :-)

Lemon, honey and mustard chicken - my own recipe

2008-10-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

I think I've mentioned before that I enjoy cooking, and often use it as a welcome distraction from workday stresses. Well, I'd bought some beautiful, big lemons the other day, and was thinking on how I might use one or two of them in a recipe I'd not tried before. So, this is what I did.

Took four large chicken thighs (I'm not a fan of breasts, but they would work just as well if you prefer), de-skinned them and removed as much fat as possible. Pricked them all over with my very sharp knife, to help the marinade get deep into the chicken, and put them aside.

Made the marinade with:

Half a cup of honey
A teaspoon of dijon mustard
The juice of two lemons
The peel from the lemons (none of the white pith), very finely chopped
Four large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Fresh ginger (size of your little finger), peeled and finely chopped
Pinch of salt and generous amount of freshly ground black pepper
Two large red chillis, finely chopped (optional, but we all love chillis)

Place the chicken and the mixed marinade into a freezer bag, seal it, and massage the marinade well into the chicken before putting into the fridge for about an hour. Don't need longer as you're going to cook the chicken in the marinade.

Pre-heat oven to 180c (350f) and place the chicken and marinade into an oven proof dish, covering with aluminum foil, and bake covered for 30-40 minutes or until cooked. Remove foil, drain off all the juice, saving it for the sauce, and put a pat of butter onto the top of each piece of chicken, then return to the oven for about 10 minutes to brown off.

To make the sauce, pour into a saucepan straining off all the bits of chopped garlic, chopped ginger, lemon peel etc, and bring the juice to the boil, reducing it by half to make it more intense. I thicken it too with a little cornflour, but it's fine without.

I serve with plain steamed rice and stir-fried baby bak choy.

The family's verdict was a big thumbs up, which gave me the confidence to share it here with all of you.

Please sign this petition

2008-09-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

OK, I realise that firstly not everyone who reads this is British and secondly those who are and follow English football are not fans of West Ham....well, I'm not a fan of WHU either, but this is a very worthwhile petition.

http://www.petitiononline.com/RFCMOORE/petition.html

For those who may not know, Bobby Moore was a great English footballer and captain of the England team which won the World Cup in 1966. Tragically, while still only 51, Bobby died of cancer in February 1993.

A cancer research fund was set up in his name, and now with West Ham having just lost their shirt sponsor, they are looking for another. While they won't directly benefit from sponsoring The Bobby Moore Cancer Fund, they will undoubtedly sell far more replica shirts, pictured here:

http://www.kumb.com/gallery/news/080917-bmkits.jpg

So please click on the petition link above and join the 7,207 who've so far signed.

Andy Murray - Gracious in Defeat

2008-09-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

Just finished watching an imperious Swiss superstar, Roger Federer, give Andy Murray, precocious, new, British tennis sensation, a lesson in how to win a Grand Slam Tennis Final.

Not to put it too mildly, Fedex was awesome. I doubt anyone could have lived with him, as he not only played his best at what he does superbly, he's also learned to come into the net, something he has always been quite reluctant to do.

But Scotsman Murray, while showing very little of the verve and panache with which he overcame world number one, Rafael Nadal, in the semi-final, did show a new and very important trait. In the post match, on court, TV interview, he was very gracious in defeat, acknowledged the Swiss's mastery of the game and his overwhelming superiority in the final. He also told the appreciative (and of course, noisy) New York crowd, that the Arthur Ashe Center Court was still his favorite place to be!

He will be back.

I've no doubt young Andy learned a huge amount from his first Grand Slam Final, but I think there are also lessons here for anyone, particularly those of us in business.

We're all going to have a good days and our bad. Some days it seems like everything we touch turns to gold, other days everything seems to crumble to dust. The important point is to never stop learning why. Can we analyse what is the difference between these two very different days?

You know what? I wonder if it's not nearly always down to our own attitude. We've all heard of the saying "he got out of the wrong side of the bed", perhaps to describe soneone "in a mood". Maybe that's better understood by describing someone whose normally positive attitude has deserted them.

In the "Science of Getting Rich", author Wallace Wattles, writing mind you, 98 years ago, stated very accurately, that if we always maintain a positive attitude, money will flow to us as if from an open tap. Banish forever the negative thoughts and attitudes which inhibit our potential for personal and financial success. Click on my above link and get a FREE copy of Wattles's amazing book, now in eBook format. I really believe it's a click you will never regret. But more.....

Bob Proctor and Jack Canfield's collaboration (with Rev Michael Beckwith) on the incredible movie, "The Secret", based on Wattles's nearly 100 year old book, have collaborated again, with The SGR Program, taking the Law of Attraction from "The Secret" a whole stage further. You can do no better than clicking on the SGR Progam link, even if it's only to discover their fantastic Affiliate Program. But I suspect that many of you will indeed be tempted by their amazing SGR Program Home Study Course.

I know I was!

Two new pages added to my website

2008-09-07T05:19:00.000-07:00

Very, very busy, but very satisfying. Got one major new page written and uploaded to my main site at:

www.makingdollars4u.com/sgrprogram.html

and a second uploaded, but not yet totally complete at:

www.makingdollars4u.com/sogr.html

These are related pages, all about an amazing new affiliate I’ve joined, The Science of Getting Rich and The SGR Program, the latter being lead by sales and marketing icon, Bob Proctor and wildly successful founder and co-creator of “Chicken Soup for the Soul”, Jack Canfield.

If you’re at all interested in making money, do please visit the above sites.

I started at about 7.30 this morning, and am writing this at just after 8pm, and want to watch the F1 from Spa, Belgium - come on Lewis Hamilton and McLaren!

Afloat in a Sea of Abundance

2008-09-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a brilliant article, and as I have the permission of the author, Rebecca Fine, to reproduce here, I wanted to share with all readers of the blog and especially the new members of the Zephyr's Musings community at My Blog Log.

Afloat in A Sea of Abundance

By Rebecca Fine
In the days of the mighty sailing ships, when brave souls voyaged into the unknown, dependent on the winds and their as-yet incomplete knowledge of geography and navigation, one of the greatest and most dangerous challenges was to traverse the area known as "the doldrums."
Extending about 30 degrees on either side of the equator, the doldrums are subject to days, weeks, even months of no wind at all. After a long and difficult crossing from Europe to South America, lying becalmed in the doldrums — with no land in sight and with the ship's supply of fresh water dwindling — was a terrible and life-threatening situation.
But history and legend offer us some fascinating insights into the power of our own thinking and belief. Back then no one had yet figured out how to determine longitude, although latitude was easily calculated. So if you could not see recognizable land, you could only know in what band of latitude you currently were. Exactly where you were in that ring around the earth was, at that time, unknowable.
And so it happened that at times a ship would fetch up off the coast of South America, out of sight of shore, fresh water supplies exhausted and death knocking at the door. Then, with what must have been the sweetest sound those sailors could ever have hoped for, the lookout would suddenly call out that a ship was approaching in the distance.
Once the ship was within hailing distance, the cry went up: "Water! Give us water!"
And the reply would come back, "Lower your buckets over the side."
You see, although the sailors didn't know it, they were afloat in a virtual river of drinkable and life-sustaining water flowing from the mouth of the powerful Amazon River, which carries nearly 20 percent of all the earth's runoff water into the sea with such force that the fresh (or brackish but safe) water flows as far as 100 miles out into the Atlantic.
The sailors, dying of thirst, only THOUGHT they were experiencing lack. The REALITY was that they were afloat in a literal sea of abundance. Exactly what they needed was within their reach the whole time, but the APPEARANCE of scarcity and their BELIEF in that appearance threatened to overpower them.
They could have died — and many certainly did — believing in lack while surrounded by abundance.
In his amazing 1910 forgotten classic, The Science of Getting Rich, Wallace Wattles writes:
"I have said that people get rich by doing things in a certain way, and in order to do so, people must become able to think in a certain way.
"A person’s way of doing things is the direct result of the way he thinks about things.
"To do things in the way you want to do them, you will have to acquire the ability to think the way you want to think. This is the first step toward getting rich.
"And to think what you want to think is to think TRUTH, regardless of appearances.
A couple of months ago, my friend TERESA ROMAIN of Access Abundance [ www.accessabundance.com ] wrote in my ezine, The Certain Way, about how Galileo changed the world by looking at things from a new perspective. By dropping the prevailing attitude that the sun revolved around the earth, he was able to see that the opposite was, in fact, the truth.
The key to finding the truth, she noted, was choosing to cast off the old notion and look at the situation anew, through a new lens. Teresa wrote:
"The path that lies before you is one of unlimited abundance. And it begins by SEEING the abundance available all around you.
"As you begin to experience life through the new lens of abundance, you'll find that many of the problems you face today will simply disappear. As for the ones that remain, your relationship to them will have changed profoundly, empowering you to take actions that are congruent with and support abundance."
What old beliefs, what old ways of looking, seeing, and perceiving do YOU need to cast off right now, my friend? If you find yourself "in the doldrums," how can you take a fresh look today and begin to see the abundance that surrounds YOU so that you are empowered — not becalmed and hopeless?
The choice is always available. If you have chosen unwisely before, remember that every moment is new and the great power lies in your ability to CHOOSE AGAIN, no matter the appearances and no matter what it seems everyone else thinks or does.
Teresa says that this choice "is the path that leads, ultimately, to the fulfillment of your dreams." Mr. Wattles says this choice is "the first step toward getting rich."
And, bearing in mind those long-ago sailors, I would add that this choice can be the ultimate choice — for death or for life itself.
That choice, every moment, is yours. Which way do you choose — right now?

Rebecca Fine is the founder of The Science of Getting Rich Network where you can download your free copy of the amazing 1910 forgotten classic, The Science of Getting Rich.

http://www.scienceofgettingrich.net/gifts/MD4U.html ©2001 Certain Way Productions.

The Ultimate Sales Super Tip

2008-09-06T18:46:00.000-07:00

This is the ULTIMATE SALES SUPERTIP for which you have been waiting. I received this a day or so ago from my good friend in London, Harvey Segal,

who is fast becoming THE viral marketing guru

By all means see it first at my site : www.makingdollars4u.com

or click on the HERE link right now!

For your FREE COPY of a fabulous NEW e-book "The Ultimate Supertip", that virtually guarantees you very significant increased sales volumes if you follow the superb advice,

please click HERE.

Emphasis change with this blog

2008-09-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

Now that my main business blog at http://www.makingdollars4u.com is getting more exposure, I'm turning this one into more of a personal journal and will try to post on it more regularly. Let's see.....

Is This the Simplest, but Most Effective, Sales Strategy Ever?

2008-08-29T01:53:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, I know claims like that in the title are seen more regularly than a roach in a big city apartment, but I think the ideas behind the strategy I’m about to comment on, might just be real winners.

(Actually, I know they are, but that’s between you and me. OK?)

See here how it was used very successfully with a Get Paid to Drive Your Own Car scheme.

Firstly, I suppose the idea is a bit of a variation on the old adage used for scripting a business presentation:

1. Tell them what you’re going to tell them (sets the scene, gets the audience interested)

2. Tell them (provides the benefits to the listening audience)

3. Tell them what you told them (summarises and tells the audience what to do next)

But, for sales strategies, the idea goes like this:

1. Here’s what I’ve got for you (sets the scene, gets the client’s interest)

2. Here’s what it will do for you (provides details of how it will benefit the client)

3. Here’s what I want you to do next (how the client can start to turn an idea into a tangible benefit)

Now, what could be simpler than that?

A very good friend of mine recently launched a new business, taking full advantage of the massive increase in the price of gas (petrol). His timing was excellent and while the actual business idea wasn’t new, the way he sold it, using the simple strategy above, worked a treat.

He used it with the hugely popular GPT or Get Paid To…. in this case, get paid to drive your own car.

He joined forces with advertisers who make extensive use of billboards, and used the simple three-step strategy to sell them the idea of switching at least a substantial number of their static billboards, into mobile billboards, using Joe Public and their ordinary private cars. What he had for the advertisers was a substantial reduction in the cost of their billboard advertising (#1 above). He told them exactly what savings would accrue and presented them with detailed financial projections (#2 above), with scenarios based upon different multiple numbers of mobile billboards. He told them that he would return in 10 days, with a commitment from as many car owners as they wanted, up to 100 each to start with, and would at that time, present them with a contract that they could sign there and then (#3 above) - their lawyers would have already approved it.

He had already set up a website, fully SEO optimized, to attract car owners who wanted to get paid to drive their own car to totally cover the cost of their gas (petrol). They would do this by agreeing to wrap their cars in an advert from one or other of a number of well known and highly acceptable advertisers. In any case, the car owner would always have the option of saying no, if he or she disapproved of the product being advertised.

In addition he took out quarter page ads in several local/regional newspapers and a 30 second ad on a couple of commercial radio stations.

To attract car owners, my friend adopted again the simple three-step strategy.

For (#1 above) he told interested people who owned a car (any car, SUV, truck or MPV), that they could earn a substantial new income every month. For (#2 above), he told them that this would totally cover their gas or petrol bill AND a leave a lot more to cover the car’s maintenance and even its insurance. In some cases, he told them, it would even leave some over for saving or for spending on car improvements. The easiest was for (#3 above), when he told them all they had to do was go to his website and complete the registration.

All was 100% free. No charges whatsoever. My friend made his money from the advertisers so he could ensure that Joe Public didn’t have to pay one single cent.

Now, is that three-step sales strategy a good deal or what?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Michael is British and a long term resident of Asia (Hong Kong and now Malaysia). After 25 years with a global banking leader, he now has a successful consulting business which has branched out to include database/direct marketing aswell as Internet and Affiliate Marketing. Michael may be contacted through his web site, and for the topic of this article please see http://www.makingdollars4u.com/driving.html His management consulting company and contact details are at http://www.skillnet-resources.com

You seem like a great kid, but I want business contacts, not friends

2008-08-29T01:52:00.000-07:00

The traffic experts tell us that we can drive big numbers to our websites and blogs by joining the social networking websites such as Facebook, My Space, Stumble Upon, Blog Catalog, Digg, etc etc.

I agree, and simultaneously disagree.

Yes, it is indeed possible to drive pretty reasonable numbers to your site, but too often they are very unfocused and fall well outside your target audience, even when you’ve been fairly tight on the groups, networks and neighbourhoods you’ve joined.

For example, I’ve only joined business related groups on Facebook, Stumble Upon and Blog Catalog, but I keep getting messages from kids young enough to be my offspring, telling me they’ve added me as their friend and would I please do the same. Sorry pal, I’m sure you’re really nice but if you could be a serious business contact, great, but just for socialising, I’d be a big disappointment to you. Come back when you’re a potential buyer of my affiliates’ products or in business for yourself, and we could then be the best of both – a friend and a business contact.

I’ve got plenty of friends in the real world, but online, I want good business contacts, who could, of course, become very good friends, but I want them as buyers first. Yes, mercenary, I know, but that’s the name of the game, I ain’t on Blog Catalog or Facebook for any other reason than to drive serious, potential buying, mature traffic to my website.

To do this, I’ve been a member on Linked-In for some years, and have found this pretty useful, and additionally I’m a member of several serious and not so serious forums, where 95%+ of the members are very much potential buyers. Here people are far more focused and mature, and frankly could not care less whether you want them as a friend or not. Subtle selling through discreet signatures which appear at the bottom of every one of my posts, is all that seems to be necessary.

What I would like to see, however, is all of the major networking sites add an option to their registration form which allows joiners to indicate whether or not they welcome messages from other members to be either:

I. Business contact
II. Friend
III. Both

That way everyone should be happy.

Is This the Simplest, but Most Effective, Sales Strategy Ever?

2008-08-13T04:02:00.000-07:00

The Recruitment Interview – A Waste of Time?

2008-08-04T23:38:00.000-07:00

In general terms it’s pretty undeniable that the interview alone is a highly flawed recruitment tool, including occasionally even in the hands of an experienced recruiter. As such, interviewees at this level should be (or should make themselves) well placed to take full advantage. But take care. You could also come very unstuck, especially if the company uses a partial or full multiple assessment process, or behavioral interviewing techniques, with or without core competencies are measurement tools.

Why is the recruitment interview flawed?
The major reason, in my view, is that it is not really that hard for the socially skilled candidate to mask his or her flaws because they have “interviewed so well”.

As a former senior HR manager with arguably the world’s largest international bank, I lost count, in the early days, of the number of times one of my recruitment executives told me “what a nice guy! He’s just right for us.” If this was at a recruitment exercise where we weren’t using a multiple assessment process, then that sort of comment scared the pants off me.

What do they mask?
A socially skilled interviewee is of course usually a pleasure to interview. While they may well tell you very convincingly of their successes, and even comment on a few failures for good measure, as an interviewer you take their word for it at your peril. At interview they cannot demonstrate their inter-personal skills in a team environment, nor with colleagues, more senior managers nor lower level staff.

They also of course mask their technical skills level. For example, let’s say you’re interviewing candidates for the post of Production Manager. OK, you can talk with them about their experience to date, and (assuming you’re a line manager with production responsibilities, and not an HR executive), you may well get a certain level of comfort or, of course, the exact opposite.

OK, so what can we do differently?
No, I’m not merely going to drive you towards a multiple assessment approach, for that isn’t always necessary, nor is it always economically justified, especially in times of economic growth when good candidates call the shots, not you.

Have you tried a style that is commonly known as “Behavioral Interviewing”?

Essentially with behavioral interviewing we are attempting to prevent the candidate from waffling, or even fabricating, by having him or her recount a particular incident from their actual experience. They are forced to talk about something real, something which has happened in the past.

For example, I might ask: “Please tell me of a time in your work experience when you’ve been faced with a particularly negative attitude of one of your direct reports.”
What happens if they say they’ve never had such an experience, in which case I would ask them to recount any experiences they’ve had with poor attitudes from shop assistants or similar. Anyone who cannot provide such an example either comes from another planet or are not being truthful.

Their answer can tell us a lot about the way in which they might manage people, even the way in which they lead. It should tell us how well they understand behaviors, and the effect of negative behaviors on those around them.

In another scenario, we might ask: “Tell me of a time when you’ve had a particularly difficult problem to handle, how you approached it, and the resultant outcome.” There is so much we can learn about a candidate from such a question – their balance of analysis and creativity in problem solving, their communication skills, their leadership and managerial approach, their reasoning skills and so on.

This works best, perhaps unsurprisingly, when you are also measuring responses against a set of core competencies (described in a previous article of mine on here), but even without the benefit of competencies, you can still get far better value from the interview, than if you were conducting it on traditional lines.

It’s been quite some time since I interviewed in any other way, and of course the major benefit is that the vast majority of employees selected have stayed, have grown and are a terrific vindication of spending just that little more time and effort in the recruitment process.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Michael is a British citizen, but long term resident of Asia (Hong Kong and Malaysia). After 25 years with a global banking leader, he headed up his own HR and Management consulting company, and today this successful business has branched out to include database/direct marketing aswell as Internet and Affiliate Marketing. For the former, contact is at http://www.skillnet-resources.com and for marketing businesses at http://www.makingdollars4u.com . We look forward to hearing from you.

Get Paid to Test Video Games (and enjoy playing them too!)

2008-08-02T02:33:00.000-07:00

If, like me you have teenage kids, one aspect of the internet you’ll have noticed, perhaps negatively, is the massive growth and availability of video games. Whether they are sports related, auto related, sci-fi or cops and robbers, they have all the appeal that youngsters have always harbored for arcade games over the past five or more decades. The only difference is that the arcade is now in your home.

This also means, of course, that the kids of yesterday, today’s adults, can still indulge in their love of the arcade, but without the embarrassment of sitting next to a kid a quarter their age, who seems to be the ultimate Ninja nemesis.

At any one time some 10m people around the world are estimated to be playing one or other of the Net’s millions of video games, and of these some 10% are aiming to make money by winning the game. But that is an entirely different opportunity to the one I am discussing. Mine has zero relationship with gambling, none at all.

It does not take a great imagination to realise that this is a multi-billion dollar industry, right around the globe. Thousands of companies exist from Denver to Dubai, Beijing to Birmingham and from Sydney to Singapore, to design, develop, write the software, test, de-bug and market the countless numbers of new or re-designed and re-issued games that reach the world gamers each and every year.

For anyone who loves playing these video games, and also loves earning extra money, a role exists that is tailor-made for you.

The thousands of video game makers and developers urgently need people to test their new products, often in large numbers. The beauty is that they almost exclusively communicate with their testers by email, and the testers download the beta game versions from private websites, or from an email attachment. Therefore you can live just about anywhere in the world and still apply to be a video game tester.

As a tester you get to:

* Play video games

* Get paid to play video games before their release to the public

* Make money testing video games that haven't yet been released

* Get complimentary copies of video games

* Find out all about level secrets, cheat codes, and other fun stuff, all before anyone else

* In doing all this you’ll also get to learn a lot, an awful lot, about the video game industry. You can learn about how the different departments work, about marketing, about customer service, about manufacturing and about how the whole operation comes together to get a new video game out to the public.

Once you are accepted as a tester, you can expect to earn up to about $50 per hour, sometimes less, occasionally more. It is normal for you to be able to choose how many (or how few) hours you work, but obviously the more you work, the more you can earn.

This soon adds up too. If you chose to work say four hours a day, at $50 per hour you could earn $200 a day. If you chose not to work weekends, but consistently did the four hours every weekday, you would make $1,000 a week and $52,000 in a year!

Many of the gamer testing sites do not impose a minimum age for applying, but the better ones state clearly that they will only send games intended for unrestricted release to anyone who cannot verify their age as being over 18.

Now to the old, thorny question of payment scams or free sites that just want your email address for spamming.

I have adopted the usual maxim which applies across my site: if the game testing site does not offer a money back guarantee, I won’t touch it. If it does not guarantee that it will offer up-to-date contacts with game developers, who will offer you a specific number of games to test each month, I won’t touch them either. If the site has not been in business for over a year, and thus not yet proven as genuine (especially in the prompt payment of refunds under the money back guarantee), this is another I won’t touch.

I suggest you follow a similar maxim.

Michael is a British citizen, but long term resident of Asia (Hong Kong and now Malaysia).
After 25 years with a global banking leader, he began to head up his own Management consulting company, and today this successful business has branched out to include database/direct marketing aswell as Internet and Affiliate Marketing. Michael may be contacted through his web site http://www.makingdollars4u.com or directly via email mikeATmakingdollars4u.com Please particularly check out http://www.makingdollars4u.com/videogames.html where gamer testing opportunities are available.

Seriously Good Leaders Use Emotional Intelligence as a Primary Tool

2008-08-02T02:31:00.000-07:00

It is probably undeniable that the skilled use of emotional intelligence (EI) is of greatest importance within the field of healthcare, most particularly where, for example, a hospice patient is surrounded by a loving family.

A healthcare leader, be they a doctor or an administrator, needs what I would call spiritual and social competency high up in their personal traits. They need to be able to naturally relate to the fragile emotions of the patient’s loved ones, but also to the very human feelings of the medical staff who are caring for the patient.

However, today’s successful leaders, in just about any field, will be skilled in the use of EI as a leadership tool, and be most adept at using the natural competences they have. As commentators on the topic, we too need to recognize that those who are self-aware frequently have an inherent understanding of the motivations and feelings of others. They are capable of not only experiencing their own tense emotions, but are also able to contain them. The skill, of course, is in the compassion they are able to genuinely exhibit, while openly relating to those they are leading, be they patients, staff, or simply team members in any workplace team.
Do not under-estimate the value of a leader who naturally displays these traits. He or she is worth their weight in gold. I’d love to run a few of the political or corporate world’s leaders through an EQ questionnaire, but I think I know what some of the results might be. We can all think of some examples, but discretion being the better part of valor, prevents me from being specific!

One of the questions we must ask is, of course, whether or not EI can be learned and practiced in a way that at least provides the support given by those who are lucky enough to have it naturally. My own answer is that it can indeed be learned, although those whose behavioral traits lean away from sensitivity to others, will be, to say the least, rather handicapped.

Contrary to popular belief, EI is both psychological and physiological. EI uses core feelings and sensations as the source of our emotional sensitivity and therefore our emotional intelligence. It is thought that our core feelings, emotions and sensations are probably conceived in the womb and begin to be developed in the second month after birth. They are the center of our uniqueness, our individuality, our personality and our very natural instincts, such as those of survival, security, competitiveness, independence, decisiveness and anxiety, to name a few.
As trainers, as learning facilitators, we can help delegates to understand because EI is instinctive, it cannot be eliminated from our resource arsenal.

While it may be hidden, the skilled facilitator can help it come from hidden cerebral depths, right to the forefront, and enable such leaders to become skilful users of EI in their workplace leadership roles.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the learning of EI is not really that different to any other form of learning where we take messages on board from both our successes and our failures, learning to develop the latter and turn them into the former. Never was the homily that “Mistakes are Learning Opportunities” so true, as in the understanding of the processes EI learning.
In a business sense, I come from two very different environments. On the one hand my HR consulting company deals exclusively in the real world, with all the issues with which most will be familiar, but my online business is primarily devoid of face-to-face human contact and is perhaps less common. Or is it?

So far we’ve really only thought about leaders in the world of bricks and mortar. Let’s now take a brief look at EI for those who operate not just in the cyber world, but also those from the bricks and mortar world who work primarily alone or at least independently.

That is particularly the world of the work and stay-at-home Mom (or Dad), for example as Affiliate Marketers or earning through working at home on an affiliate’s program.
For S-A-H Moms and Dads, I would ask them to make an effort to integrate their thoughts with their feelings. This can become a very powerful tool and technique. However, the intuitive language of the body may be drowned by the logical language of the mind. Then you may not be able to hear yourself at an instinctive level. Online businesses, more than the bricks and mortar variety, need the creativeness of the intuitive language, as us guys are not so often given the benefit of stimulation by face-to-face contact.

Fascinating stuff, eh? True, but that will have to do for now.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Michael is a British citizen, but long term resident of Asia (Hong Kong and Malaysia). After 25 years with a global banking leader, he headed up his own HR and Management consulting company, and today this successful business has branched out to include database/direct marketing aswell as Internet and Affiliate Marketing. For the former, contact is at http://www.skillnet-resources.com and for marketing businesses at http://www.makingdollars4u.com . We look forward to hearing from you.

Get Paid to Take Digital Photographs! And maybe start a new business

2008-07-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

I had not really thought about it, but I suppose it does make tremendous commercial sense to widen the availability of photographs. The demand for photographs today is greater than at any time since Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre became the inventor (in 1839) of the first practical process of photography, the famous Daguerreotype.

We only have to look in our newspapers, both print and online, to see the requests for readers to send in their photographs of events or even of incidents. This was almost unheard of before the advent of digital photography. But this demand is a drop in the ocean compared to demand from:

* Huge variety of internet sites

* Real estate agents

* Travel companies

* Online auto, lifestyle and speciality magazines

* Landscaping sites

* Celebrity gossip sites

* Greetings card sites (and offline companies too!)

* Web designers

* E-brochure publishers…..and so on, the list is almost endless.

Unlike many other GPT (Get Paid To) ideas, such as taking online surveys, being paid to drive your car or being paid to shop or dine, there are not too many sites dedicated to getting paid to take and submit digital photographs. This is undoubtedly a good thing, as it should mean that the scammers haven’t yet found a way to fleece us!

Another great aspect to this is that it largely does not matter where you live. The Net is borderless, so if you’re in London, England, London, Ontario or East London in South Africa, you can submit digital photos from anywhere to anywhere around the world.

You would be surprised at one particularly simple, yet rewarding demand area for your photographic talent. If you look in your local paper you’ll no doubt see lots of cars for sale ads with a photo and lots without. Do you think those without a picture will sell as easily as those with one? No, of course they won’t.

It is not just print media, of course, but the growth in online used car sales (at local and national levels) has been spectacular, and not just on eBay or Exchange and Mart. If someone has a car they want to sell online, they need a digital camera or of course, someone else with a digital camera who can take their car’s photograph for them.

This is where you come in.

With print media ads, take a note of the telephone number they give, and call them, suggesting that if they are not successful selling their car with this advert, they may like to try one with a photo, as sales successes are far more likely with a picture, and you’ll be very happy to take the photo for them. Make sure though that it is at a very reasonable cost. Markets vary considerably, and you will need to gauge what is right for your area. While you need to convey that you will provide them with a professional job, you need to balance that with a price structure that is not synonymous with Lord Snowdon, David Bailey or Annie Leibovitz!

Once you’ve got them hooked on using your newly professional talents, you could also suggest additionally using one or more of the online car sales sites, and of course, that you’ll be delighted to help them get this organized!

Clearly this is a business (and make no mistake, you can make this into a good business), but as with any new venture, you will only get out of it rewards that are proportionate to the amount of effort you have expended. Start slowly, and on a small scale. Put particular effort into building your skills, both photographic and self-marketing. This is a business that is about quality not quantity, especially at the outset. That being the case, it is probably advisable to start out part-time, not giving up your regular employment. Once you’ve built a little bit of a reputation, people will tell their friends and you’ll gain new business that way too. But that’s just local.

Your new business’s boundaries are limitless. Search out all those sites that are desperate for new photographs but do not want to pay over-the-top for them. Personally I’d think it rather cool to be taking pictures where I live in S E Asia, that are being used on a website hosted in Canada!

Wouldn’t you?

Michael is a British citizen, but long term resident of Asia (Hong Kong and Malaysia). After 25 years with a global banking leader, he headed up his own Management consulting company, and today this successful business has branched out to include database/direct marketing aswell as Internet and Affiliate Marketing. Michael’s email contact is mikeATmakingdollars4u.com (usual email format). His website for this particular topic is at http://www.makingdollars4u.com/digitalcameras.html

Affiliate Programs for stay-at-home Moms (and Dads)

2008-06-28T02:39:00.000-07:00

In recent weeks I have been particularly searching for some good, safe, genuine sites for affiliate programs which would especially appeal to stay-at-home Moms. I have been really and pleasantly surprised by the variety and quality of programs that are available. Most do not come with the sometimes questionable 75% commission tags of so many of the over-the-top hyped up sites which seem to abound in the GPT arena, but nevertheless, there are some very nice commissions to be earned, which can give you anything from $300-$1,000 extra income a month, depending upon how much work you want to put in.

As we all know, so many of us are overweight, but I didn’t want to go for the so-called weight loss programs, as frankly, I think only someone with the medical qualifications can sensibly advise on this. But what I did feel was missing, especially for the ladies, was a good site for plus sizes, where the designs didn’t look more like a tent we could all camp out in. So, naturally as a good internet marketer, I Googled “plus size dresses” to see who was at the top or near it.

Sure enough I found one, Igigi, where the designs were feminine, sensuous even, but also practical, and at prices which would not break the bank.

Their Affiliate Program was also a pretty attractive offering . It was an easy choice and soon had me looking for the next one, which I wanted to also appeal to stay-at-home Dads.

I recalled seeing something about US Government Car Auctions, where cars, SUVs and trucks that have been seized by various Government agencies (FBI, DEA, IRS etc) are put up for auction at very low prices. Discounts are substantial as reserve prices are low or even non-existent. Storage of vehicles is an expensive business, so again, with prices kept low, turnover is quick, and storage costs are minimized. Clearly this was an attractive proposition, even more so if there was a good Affiliate Program, and sure enough, there was.

My wife asked me if I had looked for anything under ‘handicrafts’ – I had not, and boy, was this a great area in which to search. I found a website called Associate Programs which was a goldmine of information. It wasn’t hard to find programs covering:

* Scrapbooks
* Quilting
* Jewelry making
* Soft-toy making
* Pottery
* Soap making
* Candle making
* Spa quality products

Just about all also had an Affiliate Program, so it was great to be able to offer, once more, the choice to visitors to either invest in the product, if they were interested, or join the Affiliate Program if that was a fit to their plans.

I don’t know about you, but one thing that has always fascinated me has been turning a drawing or a plan into reality. OK, I’m no architect or designer, far from it, but like most of us I do know what I like, even if I’m not great at visually recreating it.

I found something that I’d been looking for all my life, even if I didn’t know it! Having the nicest house in the world, is not going to look it, if your garden/yard looks more like a tip with a few haphazard flower beds. The site I found was all about landscaping, and it was really fascinating. The site’s owner, a landscaping pro has put together a few thousand photographs and a further thousand or two ideas, in a very reasonably priced e-book. And yes, he also had a neat Affiliate Program. This was an immediate buy for me personally, and also a very easy decision to sign up for the AP.

Another area I wanted to cover, was something I knew would appeal to a large number of women of all ages, whether as a grandma, a mom or a mom-to-be and even a good few sisters and aunts too! I was looking for good online mom & baby boutiques, where style and good value were the watch-words, and where the opportunities for reselling as an Affiliate were attractive. Sure enough there were quite a few to choose from, all of which, I think, carry great appeal for my target audience.

This was a fun few days, putting together details on a lot of topics that I’d previously known very little about. While I may not be an expert, I like to think that I can usually discern the good value from the over-priced and over-hyped. I leave it to you to see if you think I’ve got it right.

http://www.makingdollars4u.com/opportunities.html

Letting the world know about your new website

2008-06-28T02:31:00.000-07:00

Of course the first thing you will have to do is optimize your site for the major search engines. It is not hard, but it is very time consuming, and very essential that you follow all the recommended steps! But I’ve covered this topic in an earlier article on SEO Optimization, which you can also find on this site.

This time, I’d like to concentrate on some of the more creative and less common ways in which we can make our site more visible, in order to drive traffic to the site, and give ourselves a far better chance of increasing sales volume.

One that I have found very useful is through some of the main forums, such as those at Yahoo, MSN or Delphi. These sites usually frown upon direct advertising, so we have to be more subtle. For example, in my signature, automatically appended to each post I write, I use a simple text link to the article blog I run at my site. It is usually where I try out my articles first, before submitting them to Ezines like this one.

If you’re like me and are a regular poster on one of the more popular forums, then you should get quite a considerable increase in traffic. Since I added the text link to my signature on my main Delphi forum, my traffic has increased by almost 15%. If I recall correctly, Delphi has around 100,000 members, so that is a heck of a lot of potential traffic! As my site is pretty much aimed at an international audience, I naturally chose a Delphi forum with an international membership. That was you do not exclude any potential visitor, but certainly do include far more than if you participated in a more domestic forum.

Another is the use of signatures, on your emails. Whether you use a free email provider, such as Yahoo!, Hotmail or Gmail, or a POP3 account connected to your web/email host, setting up your signature should be a breeze. Mine looks something like this:

Michael DaviesTel: (603) 7725 NNNN
Mobile: (6012) 337NNNN
Skype: mikedavieskl
www.makingdollars4u.com

For your FREE COPY of an e-book on Search Engine Optimization (worth USD89), by Brad Callen, one of the Net's leading Internet Marketing exponents, please email me with "SEO e-book" in the subject line. If you're interested in Search Engine Optimization software, from Brad Callen's company, click HERE.

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: If you have received this email in error, please immediately delete it from your system and notify the sender at the email address given. This email may contain confidential information meant only for the intended recipient. Your compliance is most appreciated. This email is scanned for viruses, trojans and other malware, prior to dispatch, using Norton Internet Security 2008 which is updated at least weekly for optimum protection.

This too can be very effective in helping to drive traffic to your site. Obviously if your email contacts are few, the impact also will be less.

You’ll notice that I also have a Skype account, and I use that too, for simple promotions of my site. I have personalised my account with a simple statement: “Please visit my website at http://www.makingdollars4u.com “ appended immediately after my account name. This is shown in the Skype directory and is therefore visible to a potential eleven million visitors! If you are serious about doing business with me, I would welcome contact through Skype. If, however, I receive spam/trash, having made this address public, please be advised that you will be reported to Skype officials to have your Skype account banned.

If you are not yet a member of one or more of the social networking sites, like My Space or Facebook, I strongly suggest you join. This is a very easy, very effective way to promote your site. Another is the business networking website, Linked-In, where you can reach many decision-makers, aswell as increase traffic to your site.

Taking out simple text ads on appropriate, high traffic sites, is an effective, and relatively cheap way of traffic generation. I recently placed a simple text ad on the website of one of the top PR (page rank) sites for my business; it cost me only $19 for seven days, and the increase in traffic was pretty significant. Effectively even cheaper, at just $25 for insertion in two monthly email newsletters to 25,000 subscribers, also within my business area, was the ad I just placed through a friendly site.

So, in a few paragraphs I hope I’ve shown you a number of (perhaps new) ways in which you can increase traffic to your site. One I’ve not yet mentioned, is of course, this one, via online ezines and blogs. Article Marketing is now regarded as one of the most important traffic generation mediums we have, but you do need to find the best of the hundreds of article directories you can find on the web, and of course ensure that your blog is as well optimized as the rest of your site. A good way to find out which might be the best directories is to enter firstly “Article Directories” in a Google search, and then “Ezines” and see which are on the first page for both of these. The two searches will catch all you need, and certainly the major directories that I use. You can of course find some excellent Article Submission software, both free and paid, but be aware that some directories do not accept submissions via this software. Take a look at the banner for Article Submission software on my home page.

I hope this is a help to those just starting out with their own website, or indeed to the more experienced who may be looking for ways to generate more traffic.

http://www.makingdollars4u.com

Nice little earner – making money working from home

2008-06-19T00:16:00.000-07:00

There are, of course, many reasons why people work from home. Some are by personal choice, others by personal necessity. Many parents (single or not) just want to spend as much time as possible with their child or children, but need the income that jobs from home can provide. Some may be going through a period where employment is more difficult to secure, while many others (perhaps even the majority) seek the extra income which working from home can provide, while still maintaining their day job. The working from home page on my site, is specifically aimed at all of these very deserving groups.

There are many different types of work offered, some of which seems extremely attractive, but may not be what it seems, and a very good yardstick to adopt is:

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

While the free to join schemes might sound attractive, and many are, there are a growing number where real caution is needed. This is particularly true of the data-entry jobs. You get free membership of the initial site, one where they introduce you to the companies requiring the data entry (typically filling in the details for ad sites, although not including the reputable like Google, Yahoo etc). However, before getting the work itself, and therefore the opportunity to earn, they require you to pay, often as much as $49.95. And it doesn’t stop there. Some of these scams actually require you to pay this sum for each and every opportunity they offer. Do not touch these offers. Please.

The only paid sites I support as an affiliate, are those where unconditional money back guarantees are not only given, but they have been tested out aswell, to ensure that they live up to the promise of the guarantee. These sites are totally upfront about being a members’ site, with fee payment, one-time-only, and experienced users have said that they are usually able to recoup the membership outlay within the first job and certainly by the second. A typical one-time-only membership fee is around $24-$39. In fact the main home job site you’ll find on my site, HERE, is only asking $18 right now. This company has been around since 1999, which in itself is a great recommendation. Scammers tend to come and go after a few weeks or maybe a month or two.

One of the reasons these sites are genuine in their requiring fee payment is that they incur fairly substantial costs by employing staff to maintain and very regularly update the directories of jobs on offer. The majority of the free sites cannot do this.

Ok, so what types of jobs are offered? Well, there really are many, too many to mention here, but here are what I believe to be some of the most popular:
Taking online surveys
Telecommuting
Typing
Surfing the Net to review websites
Reading emails
Freelance photography
Website designers
Translators
Internet shopping
Writing articles
Data entry
Testing games
Online tutors
Software developers
Telemarketers
Financial services sales

Currently, it has to be said that the greatest choice or work-from-home jobs is within the USA, but the internet has few borders, and some jobs will be open to people from just about anywhere, as long as they have a computer and an internet connection.

Opportunities abound too in the UK, and although right now I’m not promoting any particular affiliates from the UK, it is only because I’ve not yet found one which is a good match to my own objectives. I am also aware of good opportunities in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and throughout much of Asia. As I find the right affiliates in these locations, I will promote these too, so please do bookmark my website and return regularly.

Get paid to take online surveys – and avoid the scams

2008-06-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

It is undoubtedly true, that the one area of the GPT (get paid to) online market place, which seems to be most vulnerable to scammers is that of online surveys.

The scams generally work like this: they offer you “magnificent income potential”, “more money than you’ve ever earned before”, “the chance to give up your boring day-time job” and so on, with equally outrageous claims. They state eg: “for just $29.95” they will provide you with directories of companies wanting your opinions, with nothing more to pay.

What they neglect to tell you is that the fee they charge is non-refundable, and the charge is often per directory, so the “nothing more to pay” only applied to the one directory they sent. You could end up paying a small fortune, also often to find that the directories are out of date.

So, how to find a good, members, fee paying, paid survey site, and one which will not fleece you? One method that my research found to be very useful was to find one or two of the excellent GPT website online review sites, and to see if:

* they have actually checked out if the site offers money back guarantees

* checked that the money back guarantees are actually given (tried it out)

* they have spoken to a human voice at a given telephone number (even if they had to go through an email first)

* they assessed the response to the reviewers enquiry, ie were they hostile or did they welcome the questioning as an opportunity to show their honesty.

All of the affiliates relating to online surveys that I have joined have been checked out by Top Site Reviews, which I personally confirmed direct with the owner of that site.

I would suggest that anyone interested in joining an online survey program checks out the points I mention above, as a minimum. In addition, I would counsel against the free-to-join programs, as a bit of a waste of time. I say this not only because they will pay you less (typically $10 or less), but mainly because they cannot possibly have the same resources as the subscription driven members sites. The resources enable directories to be maintained that are as up to date as possible, as it is a labor intensive activity.

Using one or other of the top three paid survey sites, you can get a pretty good, regular income, although I doubt you’ll get rich, not even slowly. Don’t be put off by the scams you will hear about, especially through online ezines, such as this one. It is more than possible to find good sites, and to make a decent living, even if it is extra-income, over and above that from your regular job.

Please visit http://www.makingdollars4u.com/onlinesurveys.html where you can look into the options offered by my impressions of the top three sites.

Is this every woman’s dream?

2008-06-06T02:05:00.000-07:00

Get paid to shop and you get to keep what you have bought!

OK, perhaps not every woman, nor indeed every man, but it is undoubted that such a prospect would appeal to a great number of people.

In many parts of the developed world, especially places like US, Canada, UK, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, market research companies, working on behalf of their clients, recruit people who want to earn some extra money. They will pay them to shop at department stores, at grocery stores, at certain Malls, at certain markets. They’ll also pay them to dine out at particular restaurants.

Just imagine: you’ve shopped until you’re ready to drop, it has not cost you a single penny, and now you can go and have a free dinner too, in a really nice restaurant. Too good to be true? Nope, not at all.

A good question to ask is of course, why would companies pay you to shop or dine? The answer is very simple. It is the best way for them to get independent opinions on a range of matters that will always concern the enlightened retailer or indeed any service provider:

* The overall quality of their customer service
* Friendliness and efficiency of the staff
* Products and procedures knowledge of the staff
* Procedures for handling complaints
* Store or restaurant layout
* Cleanliness, including of rest rooms
* Value for money

There are a number of ways in which you can join one of these market research teams as a mystery shopper.

* By going direct to the market research company, many of whom advertise on the Net or might be listed by the Mystery Shopping Providers Association, a globally respected professional body
* By visiting the web site of a members only service provider, one that maintains directories of the market research companies and will provide the directories to you after payment of a fee
* By going to the website of one of the service providers who claim to provide directories to you for free. Take great care before using this route, as many of the scammers come under this heading, as although you get the directories free, you often have to pay multiple times to actually get selected by one of these (usually unregistered) mystery shopping companies.
* By visiting the web site of an independent information provider, one that, typically, has researched the services offered by many of the so-called GPT (Get Paid To) companies that provide the directories, and has discounted the possible scammers

Mystery shoppers are required not just at retail stores, but also restaurants, fast food outlets, golf courses, bars, movie houses, and a lot, lot more. Naturally, arising from this huge demand, many companies are prepared to pay pretty well for people to visit the establishments of those who are paying them to carry out the mystery shopping. At the very top end you could be paid as much as $125 per shop, although for some simple shops it may be only $10. It stands to reason that payment will be lower when the work required is less. Typically though, you would be offered between $10 to $40 per hour.

What I would certainly advise is that if you go through an independent information provider, look for those companies they might be recommending where there is a guarantee that fee payment (for the directories) is not only one-time-only, but also comes with a money back guarantee in the event that you are dissatisfied with what was offered.
I am firmly of the opinion that there are many genuine mystery shopping opportunities available, where you ought to be able to recoup your outlay, and be in profit, within two shops at most. Good luck and if you really are the "worlds greatest shopper" according to your best friend, you are going to be successful, you will get paid and you will thoroughly enjoy yourself in the process!

Michael is a British citizen, but long term resident of Asia (Hong Kong and now Malaysia).
After 25 years with a global banking leader, he began to head up his own Management consulting company, and today this successful business has branched out to include database/direct marketing aswell as Internet and Affiliate Marketing. Michael may be contacted through his web site http://www.makingdollars4u.com or directly via email mikeATmakingdollars4u.com

Internet Marketing - Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tips for success

2008-06-06T01:54:00.000-07:00

To be perfectly frank, without SEO, you will not create the essential building blocks to enable the search engines to find and check out your site and the number of potential clients or customers who will never find your site, could be catastrophic for your online business.

If the search engines cannot find and index your site, your traffic will be insignificant, probably limited to a small number of your friends and family and their personal contacts. If your website is selling a product or service, that really would be an absolute disaster.

What SEO does is to enable you to lift the chances of your website being indexed by the search engines. But when done really effectively it also gives you a chance of having your URL on Google’s first page, when a potential visitor enters one of your keywords into their search bar. Your aim should be to get to number one – to be at the top of the first Google results page.

When first beginning to consider SEO for your website, you have to consider the two separate, but essential elements of the optimization process.

- Onpage optimization
- Offpage optimization (this is rated as slightly more important by the major search engines)

Onpage covers the following:

* A well constructed sitemap (this really helps in getting a good ranking)

* Your page title which must reflect the page content – three titles separated by a straight line are a good idea (the key is on your keyboard below the backspace, but it won't show here)

* Anchor texts not only in your first headline, but throughout your pages

* Your keywords, which are vital and should also be reflected in your page title

* Well thought out ‘h1’ and ‘h2’ html tags, again probably closely reflecting your keywords

* Outbound links to high ranking sites (this is gaining strongly in importance, especially with Google, who are also beginning to value one-way links far more than reciprocal links – because of recent growth of automatic reciprocal link builders)

* Videos (most of the major search engines value relevant video imaging and audio links quite highly)

* images ie alternative descriptions of images

Offpage covers these facets:

* The number of website pages which link to your site (on a one way basis, ie not requiring a reciprocal link – see above)

* The Google page rank (PR) of the website linking to you

* The page title of the website linking to your site

* The anchor text used in the link to your site

* The number and type of links on the website linking to yours (so-called authority sites are especially important, if you can get them – eg those with .edu / .ac / or .gov in their domain name

* Which websites link to yours (those with a high Google page ranking are the most desirable)

* The number of outbound links on the website linking to yours (if they already have a high Google PR, the fact of this will reflect very well on the website at the outbound links)

* The total number of links on the website linking to yours

* Whether or not Google regards the websites linking to yours as being “authority sites” eg those with a .gov or .edu extension.

Obviously you can see that links are extremely important. This will involve you trying to contact the owners of the highest ranking websites, with the aim of persuading them to have a backlink, on their site, to yours. You can actually influence the success of this, by ensuring that you already get plenty of backlinks from other sources. There is no doubt that the higher PR Google ranks are the best places to get links if you can, but try to get as many links as possible from other sites, before you even approach them.

If you were wondering how on earth are you supposed to do this, it is actually surprisingly easy. It is all about writing (relevant) articles and then submitting them to as many article directories as you can. Again, start by sending to the most popular, like Ezines, Article Dashboard or Amazines, but at least try to find 20 or 30 article directories with a Google PR of 5 or 6 (or better) and submit to these sites. There is some good article submitting software available, and I’m sure you can find it with a simple Google search.

At the end of each article is an author’s resource box, where you can promote yourself. This is where the article publishers allow you to quote the URL of your website and your email address, and these URL quotes will be the backlinks to your site for which the search engines will be looking. You should note, by the way, that most article publishers disallow any self-promotion in the body of your article, so make very good use of the Resource Box, it is the only chance you have got.

Many people don’t feel too confident about writing articles, which is understandable, but you can fairly easily find article writers who will pen original, never before published articles for you, at pretty low prices (eg typically you can get a single 500 word article for just $10). And guess what? You've just found one! Email me with your requirements and I'll be happy to write something exclusively for you. I have quite a number of articles out there on e-zine sites, and elsewhere in cyberspace because of readers at these e-zines who have copied my article for their own use (allowed).

I would certainly advocate trying to get some sort of SEO textbook, and I know just the thing for you! Email me at mikeATmakingdollars4u.com, with SEO e-Book in the subject line, and I will send you a free copy of Brad Callen's excellent SEO e-Book. He gave it to me for free, and encouraged all his friends to send on to others for free too.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this, and I wish you all the very best with your online business, post Search Engine Optimization.

Michael is a British citizen, but long term resident of Asia (Hong Kong and now Malaysia).
After 25 years with a global banking leader, he began to head up his own Management consulting company, and today this successful business has branched out to include database/direct marketing aswell as Internet and Affiliate Marketing. Michael may be contacted through his web site http://www.makingdollars4u.com or directly via email mikeATmakingdollars4u.com

Getting Paid to Drive Your Own Car

2008-05-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

Especially with the price of oil and therefore gas at the pumps, seeming to have an infinite ceiling, anything that might reduce our cost of motoring must surely be welcome. Right?

Well, I guess the honest answer is a cautious “maybe”, even if the first, reactive answer was a resounding YES!

The ultimate in cost reduction wouldn’t be the title of this brief article; it’s actually getting to drive a free car! I can hear you asking “How?” already. If you live in the US, Canada and the UK particularly, it’s not too hard to find companies who are willing to pay to qualified applicants. Even France and Spain also have a number, and it’s growing too in Australia.

Why do they pay? Simple. They pay you to carry advertisements on your car, or the free one they give you. I should state at this point that the actual chances of qualifying to be given a free car covered in an advert are pretty slim. You’d need to live in a major city, with a spotlessly clean driving record, drive at least 25,000 miles a year, preferably double that, and be prepared to park your somewhere at night where it is still going to be secure, but widely seen. You must wash it at least weekly, have it maintained to the manufacturer’s specs and avoid accidents at all costs! Actually the maintenance is usually paid by the sponsor and all you have to pay is the gas, insurance and road tax. In some countries you may have to pay an advertising license too, although the sponsors are more likely to pay.

Far more though, will qualify for schemes which pay you to drive your own car, also of course, carrying an advert. With most schemes, you don’t get to choose which ad can now adorn your car, but you can refuse one which you don’t like. However, doing that will put you back in the queue again, for these are very popular schemes.

I’ve seen ads by some very well known names, such as:

♦ Yahoo!

♦ Sony

♦ Toshiba

♦ ABC

♦ HBO

♦ IBM

♦ Tic-Tac mints and so on

♦ Smaller local companies also take advantage of this form of mobile advertising.

Naturally, the more your car is wrapped in the ad, even almost 100% (except the windscreen and most of the rest of the windows), the more you’ll be paid. Living in a major city, such as Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Paris or Madrid, will push up your pay too (New York is a no-no unfortunately, as mobile advertising is banned in NYC). Schemes vary enormously, but of the companies I am prepared to promote as affiliate partners on my website (see below), have sponsors who will pay anything from around $400 per month up to as much as $3,000 or slightly more. These very high payers are few and far between, but who among us would turn down $4-500 pm as extra income? I know I wouldn’t.

As I’ve commented in the article “Internet and Affiliate Marketing”, also on this blog, you should be very wary, however, of spending any money, no matter how small, before you’re as satisfied as you can be as to the honesty and integrity of the web sites offering this type of deal. You should know that it is not the advertisers or even the advertising agencies themselves who offer to you directly, but third party service providers, not all of whom, sad to say, are genuine.

On my website, I’ve only agreed to join affiliate partners from whom you can confirm that sponsors do exist in, or close to where you live. Too many sites want you to pay first, and only then will they provide you with the directory of sponsors. Don’t touch these sites with a barge pole.

If this is something that interests you, and you live in a country where the schemes are available, then by all means give it a try. If you have concerns, I invite you to email me through my web sites given below, and I’ll try to help. However, if you’re ready to try the scheme, perhaps using one of the companies who are my affiliate partner, I’d really like to hear how you got on. Good luck, and I hope you and your bank manager will be very happy!

Michael is a British citizen, but long term resident of Asia (Hong Kong and now Malaysia).
After 25 years with a global banking leader, he began to head up his own Management consulting company, and today this successful business has branched out to include database/direct marketing aswell as Internet and Affiliate Marketing. Michael may be contacted through his web site http://www.makingdollars4u.com or directly via email mikeATmakingdollars4u.com

Internet and Affiliate Marketing – finding the good guys!

2008-05-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

One of the most noticeable aspects of the world of Internet and Affiliate Marketing is the uneven split between the good guys, who seem to be in a minority, and the rest who seem to be a mixture of possible (or even confirmed) scammers, and way, way over the top hype writers.

You know the latter guys, I’m sure. They’re the ones who over-promise so much that it really does make you laugh. In my experience, many of these guys are not actually running a scam, but you find it hard not to see it that way. They’ve clearly been stuck in the marketing world of the 60s or 70s where hard sells promised you the earth, only to deliver a 1,000 square feet apartment. But, hey, that’s actually not so bad, is it.

No the guys to watch out for are those who charge you a fee for joining their directory membership list, but don’t even bother to offer a money-back guarantee, and of course fail to tell you that once you’ve got their list, most of it is out of date.

The good guys ARE out there. Some of the things to look for:

· How long have they been in business? If it’s more than two or three years, that’s a good pointer towards honesty and a genuine site

· Do they carry a certificate from Web Trust or similar? Those who do have usually been through some due diligence by the providers of the certification.

· Do they have a search facility which allows you to check that there are providers of the service you’re keen on, within an area that’s convenient for you. On my site (please see my details below) especially on the page devoted to getting paid to advertise on your car, or providing a free new one, I’ve made a point of only supporting affiliates who offer this search facility. It’s a great sign of their integrity.

· Have good review sites, like Top Site Review, given their recommendation to the site? I’ve found them particularly useful as they have tested out claims of money-back guarantees, and unless they have worked without hassle, the site does not get recommended.

· If you’re looking to become an affiliate yourself, does the site you’re considering state they will pay you themselves or go through a trusted intermediary like Clickbank? I’d be far more wary of those who say they’ll pay you themselves. I’ve found both Clickbank to be very efficient and prompt in their payments.

In conclusion, I’d say that I do not believe or expect to become extra-ordinarily wealthy through my online affiliate marketing business, but I do know that I can make a pretty comfortable living, provided I’ve not only chosen the right affiliate partners, but also, of course, that I have properly optimized my site for the top search engines.

If you follow a similar approach, either as a affiliate partner or as a member of the companies offering their directory services, you should find a similar outcome.

Michael is a British citizen, but long term resident of Asia (Hong Kong and now Malaysia).
After 25 years with a global banking leader, he began to head up his own Management consulting company, and today this successful business has branched out to include database/direct marketing aswell as Internet and Affiliate Marketing. Michael may be contacted through his web site http://www.makingdollars4u.com or directly via email mikeATmakingdollars4u.com

Dressing for Success at Interviews

2008-04-30T23:43:00.000-07:00

The first and most important advice you will get from this article is to dress your best for all your interviews, regardless of the dress code for the organisation.

For example for a guy, it’s a lot easier to remove your tie or jacket upon invitation from the interviewer, whereas it’s next to impossible to suddenly acquire a jacket or tie. The ideas that follow, come from many years of experience as a senior HR manager and more recently as a consultant with a thriving recruitment and executive search business.

I am frequently appalled by the lack of dress sense, and even courtesy, displayed by some candidates. I wonder how they can possibly expect to be taken seriously. Not so long ago, I interviewed a very well qualified candidate for a senior corporate position in a well known multi-national. I doubt his shoes had ever been polished, nor his ties dry cleaned. When I looked at his grubby finger nails, I determined straight away to close the interview without any further questions. He was taken aback and asked why so short. I told him, or rather, advised him what he needed to do to be taken seriously.

Here's what we advise trainees at our Interviewing Skills course:

♦ Wear a solid colour, conservative suit with a coordinated shirt or blouse, or of course, your country’s national dress if this is appropriate

♦ Wear moderate shoes and make sure they are clean and well polished.

♦ Make sure your hair is well groomed and neat; check your finger-nails, are they clean and tidy?

♦ Don't overdo the perfume, makeup, or after-shave, and use no more than a light fragrance

♦ Limit your jewelry

♦ Make sure to try on your outfit BEFORE the day of the interview if you’ve not worn it for a while. If shoes are new, probably not a good idea to wear, but if you do, make sure the price label is removed from the sole!

♦ Bring a portfolio, or briefcase, pad and pen

Tips:
1. Your clothes are your image, check the mirror and see what others see, better still ask a trusted friend or family member to advise you
2. It is better to be overdressed than underdressed
3. If it's too tight or too loose - don't wear it!
4. Girls, most male interviewers are NOT impressed (at least not professionally!) with a very short skirt – save it for the disco! That transparent blouse, yes we know the boyfriend likes it, but do you really want to let the (male) interviewer think you’re trying to impress him with your lingerie? You won’t impress, you’ll turn him off, professionally at least.
5. Guys, the medallion might be a hit with “the in-crowd”, but it’ll not impress an interviewer, lose it for the interview. Same goes for loud colours. Even if the tie was a present from Auntie, unless it is relatively conservative, save it for the next visit to Auntie’s house.

At my consultancy (http://www.skillnet-resources.com) we have whole training programme on Interview Skills – don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re interested in it being run for your company.

....and now for something completely different!

2008-04-15T00:32:00.000-07:00

Cooking for me is therapy. I get away from the strains of the workday, and once I'm in the kitchen, fortified no doubt with a glass of a good Merlot, I forget about the trials and tribulations of the office.

As Mrs Z will tell you, I'm always searching for new ways to prepare dishes, and very occasionally come up with something, following no recipe at all, which really does taste very good.

OK, this is what I did with a whole chicken.

Cut the chicken into the usual pieces, ie drumsticks, thighs, wings, breasts, ribs etc, and put it into a marinade, made as follows:

6 garlic cloves
2 red chilis with seeds
A large finger of fresh young ginger
3 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil
3 table spoons of Chinese rice wine (or use dry sherry if you don't have the rice wine)
4 table spoons of pouring honey
2 table spoons of dijon mustard
1 table spoon of demerara sugar
Half a tea spoon of sea salt
Half a tea spoon of freshly ground black pepper

Blitz it all in a blender or food processor and pour into a large freezer bag, already containing the chicken. Close bag and massage it well before putting into the fridge for about 2 hours minimum - overnight is even better.

Take out of the fridge and pour it all into a roasting tin, but cover the tin with aluminium foil. Put into the oven, pre-heated to 230c (450F) for about 20 mins, turning down to 210c (400F) for a further 20 mins, then, after pouring off all the juice and retaining it, and drizzling olive oil over the chicken, put back into the oven, turned back up to 230c for a further 15 mins to crisp the skin.

Pour the juice into a pan and boil to reduce by half, adding a couple of knobs of butter to thicken, and letting it simmer for a couple of minutes.

It's all ready for serving, which I did with steamed rice, and choy sum (stir fried and served in oyster sauce).

Enjoy!

Core Competencies for Asian Companies

2008-04-01T17:53:00.000-07:00

In an ideal world, each and every company would spend a great deal of time, effort and money to identify those traits, skills and attributes which together, as Core Competencies, make for a successful managerial or supervisory level employee within their company.

However, we don't live in an ideal world. We live in one where the majority of companies need to find ways and means of identifying and introducing human resource management and development practices which more than adequately meet their requirements, without breaking their budget.

To meet this need, I have designed for several local and regional companies, a set of Generic Core Competencies which can fit into just about any Asian company's culture with little or no customisation. Naturally, I’ve always made myself available to assist companies requiring some customisation and probably half have taken advantage of this.

Why should companies use Core Competencies?

By identifying those traits, skills and attributes which make for a successful employee, it becomes so much easier, and far more cost effective, to:

* Recruit and retain employees
* Appraise employees
* Train employees
* Develop employees
* Succession plan

Being easier and more effective translates into cost savings and increased profitability. When a company's HRM and HRD practices have a consistent measuring tool, they are able to significantly reduce subjectivity in HR decision making processes, visibly demonstrate fairness, have a common language which all employees can understand, and as a result create and maintain a highly motivated workforce.

Below are some examples of a few Generic Core Competencies. These are given here for illustration. The complete profile contains some twenty five Core Competencies, split among five Managerial Attributes. The full set has been arrived at after considerable research amongst local and regional companies across a wide range of industries. The definitions are not complete, but are provided to give an appreciation

The five managerial attributes are:
* Performance of Duties
* Management and Leadership Skills
* Decision Making Skills
* Communication Skills
* Personal Qualities

Competency Examples (just ten of twenty five)

Responsibility - Displaying maturity, reacting positively to constructive feedback, setting a good example, profit and cost conscious.

Leadership - An ability to share the corporate vision with the team, give clear and confident direction to the team, whilst taking a consultative and delegative approach, without abdicating responsibility.

Management of Resources and People - Knowing the skills, qualities and attributes of direct reports and using this knowledge to maximise output and gain through them the most effective use of material resources.

Judgement - Demonstrates the ability to evaluate behaviours, situations and opportunities and arrive at a sensible conclusion.

Problem solving - Possessing the ability to use both objective analysis and creativity in approaching solutions to problems.

Interpersonal Skills - The ability to create rapport easily and build relationships quickly. Having an awareness of the sensitivities of others and a diplomatic astuteness in responding to them.

Initiative and drive - The ambition to strive for achievement within the company seeking business opportunities and displaying an energetic pro-activity.

Co-operativeness and Teamworking - Shows a willingness to assist colleagues (within own department and outside it) even when personally under pressure.

Dependability - Can be relied upon to consistently support team colleagues throughout the organisation.

Creativity - Can see an issue from different perspectives and is able to provide a number of alternative solutions to problems which are practical as well as innovative.

Major Advantages
One of the major advantages of using Core Competencies across a framework of HRM and HRD activities, is the consistency they provide. What better than to:

* Recruit against the competencies
* Train against the competencies
* Select, develop and promote against the competencies
* Appraise against the competencies
* Use the competencies in manpower and succession planning

Not only is this approach extremely cost effective, it provides employees with a very clear picture of career progression opportunities and the confidence that their performance appraisals, training/development needs and suitability for promotion, are objectively assessed.

I do urge companies to take great care when introducing a competencies framework, to ensure that the attributes and definitions really do match the company’s culture and philosophies. Unless your HR department has the skills within to ensure that this happens, I strongly recommend that the company seeks professional assistance, from consultancies like my own.

Performance Management - Making Appraisals Work

2008-04-01T15:40:00.001-07:00

I once saw a quote in a book by Tom Clancy, called "Net Force" (Published by Headline Book Publishing, a Division of Hodder Headline PLC, ISBN 0 7472 6040 0). The quote read:

"Remember the Rule of the 5Ps
- Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance"

I could not agree more! (Actually the quote was the 6Ps - I left out the four-letter expletive that went before the word 'poor'!) In my view, the essence of the a good performance management system revolves around planning - in this case individual performance planning, derived from organisational planning. When this model is followed, not only will planned business goals be more effectively achieved, individuals will be more motivated, as they know with greater clarity than ever before, exactly what is expected of them, and what their part has been in the company's success. Organisations that are better able to reward good performances, are planning for their future success.

The Performance Management System (PMS) which I have designed for a number of companies here, has two distinct parts A and B, and is the means by which individual managerial or supervisory performance is linked to an organisation’s business objectives and operating plans (Part A) and to the organisation’s future through assessing the potential of each managerial or executive level employee(Part B). For any company to be successful every Manager must establish and agree precise, measurable and objective standards and goals for individual performance that will in turn lead to improved performance by the company as a whole.

This Performance Management System (and its sister system, covering clerical and operator level employees), is put together after many years of experience with performance management, both as a Corporate Human Resource Manager and as a Consultant. Our aim is to provide our clients with all the company needs to introduce a simple, but effective system of measuring and rewarding employee performances.

The Aims of PMS
· PMS aims to make every managerial and supervisory level employee completely aware of the company's business plans, and through the cascading of those plans to individuals, provide them with the motivation to achieve, and then, the ownership of success
· PMS is concerned with improvement - organisationally through increased contribution by each individual and personally through the broadening of experience and career opportunities.
· It aims to make the appraisal of Managers and Supervisors as fair as possible and less subjective, by focusing on planning, performance, priorities and key result areas.
· It seeks to provide rigorous and current information about an executive in order to activate appropriate training and development opportunities and to facilitate career progression.

The Role of PMS

PMS is central not only to a need to develop, train and motivate employees, but also to its continued business success. It provides a structure to focus the resources and activities of all Managers on achieving the company's major business objectives. PMS is the basis for assessment of performance, ability and potential and an essential source of data on employees for manpower and succession planning purposes.

Completion of Parts A and B are separated in time by six months. When the two quite different objectives of each part are separated in time, experience of many major companies has been that far more effective attention is given to the assessment of individuals’ potential, development and training needs.

However, if a company so chooses, there is nothing to prevent them carrying out Parts A and B at the same time, say both at the end of the year. But we do urge such companies to hold two separate discussions between Appraiser and Appraisee, in order that sufficient focus is directed to the employee's longer-term potential and training and development needs.

There is so much that can be said and written about performance appraisals, and I'll let this suffice for now, but will return to the topic again in the future.

Are you being served?

2008-03-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

It is said that the only thing which separates your company from the competition, is the quality of the service you provide.

We’ve all got plenty of examples of the poor service we’ve received, but sadly, perhaps fewer of the good. I want to concentrate on the good, and to examine some of the reasons why.

Let me give you one or two examples from my personal experience.

Take the case of the guy who services my car. Not only does he charge a fair price, he also picks up the car from my office in the morning and delivers it back in the evening. As a result I have often recommended him to many of my friends.

Or the case of the lady who runs my local mini-market (corner shop). I regularly stop there to buy the odds and ends which I might have run out of, prior to the weekly shop at the market. A few weeks ago I was in there buying a few cans of beer. I'm not too fussy about brands, and although I might usually buy a particular one, she said to me on checking out that why don't I take another brand as they are on offer at present, and I hadn't noticed. She didn't need to do this, as I was now buying something which gave her less revenue. But she did, and as a result, more often than not now, I will buy from her rather than from the supermarket, even if it might be easier when I'm getting all the rest of the shopping.

And how about my newspaper vendor, from whom I buy my newspaper most mornings. One morning a few weeks ago I was later than usual and there was only one left. I commented how lucky I was. He replied that it wasn't lucky, because he had saved it for me. I had never asked him to do that, but do it he did.

Notice a theme here? All of these positive cases I've mentioned have one common factor - they are running their own businesses, however small they may be, and perhaps therein lies one of the answers to the reasons why we seem to get better service from small, owner-run businesses. Could it be that they recognise that they get their income from us, their customers, and we have a choice - to use them, or their competitors. Employees of much larger organisations may not have this same level of enlightenment.

But I would not place the blame on them. I would place it firmly with the owners of the businesses who have failed to provide their people with the right motivation. In my opinion, it's not their training that is lacking, either in substance or quality, it's a far greater problem one which will not be solved until businesses which employ large numbers of people, recognise the critical importance of what I term intrinsic motivation.

Everyone, without fail, is (inherently) positively motivated by something. It might be money, a pleasant working environment, performance-based incentives, share options, longer holidays or whatever. It doesn't matter what it is, employers need to find out from their employees and then act upon it. Of course, you're never going to be able to please (motivate) all of the people all of the time. However, as long as an employer manages to feed the intrinsic motivation of the majority of his employees, he'll find a marked increase in customer satisfaction, which will ultimately turn into increased profitability.

Another facet of life working in a small companies (eg less than 10 people), is that you really do feel a part of the organisation, and not merely someone who needs an ID tag around their neck so the company’s security people knows who they are. There are less than 10 in my consultancy (dozens more of course in our network of associates), and I am proud to tell you that they all not only know our company’s goals, short and long term , they are also intrinsically motivated to want to succeed. They know that if the company succeeds it’s because of them, and that the result will be the reward they KNOW they’ll want. And it isn’t just money.

Large companies CAN do this too, and I know of one from personal experience. They are one of the world’s largest international banks and I worked for them for some 28 years, in London, Hong Kong and Malaysia. In each location they strived hard to keep people as informed as possible about the company’s goals and its performance against those targets. OK, as this can be market sensitive information, it had to be cloaked in terms which related to percentage increases and so on rather than exact figures, except of course, where this was public information anyway.

People are far better self-motivated when they have a clear picture of how their own performance has contributed to the company’s. Hopefully too, this will be reflected in their performance appraisal – but that’s a topic for another time.

Outplacement - helping retrenched employees find new jobs

2008-03-26T00:02:00.000-07:00

Maybe a strange topic to choose for my opening business post, but it happens to be current for me as a consulting assignment to a multi-national company here in Kuala Lumpur.

Essentially outplacement happens when a company has determined a need to retrench a number of employees, but rather than simply terminate their employment, with minimum redundancy payment as required by law, they recognise a certain responsibility towards those who will lose their jobs.

There are of course, many reasons for jobs becoming redundant (and in most juristictions, the law requires that it is jobs that are being lost) with the resulting retrenchment of the job holders, if they cannot be redeployed within the company. The company I am now working with on an outplacement assignment has sold one of its divisions to another company, and the buyer does not need the employees.

In my view, and that of many HR pros, unless you have experienced retrenchment yourself, you cannot be truly effective as a counsellor to someone who has just been told they are losing their job. A former colleague once compared it to childbirth! She commented that unless you've given birth, you cannot possibly empathise! While somewhat extreme, I have to agree :-) All our consultants involved in outplacement (me included) have all been retrenched at some time AND have a psychology or counselling qualification.

The particular outplacement service we offer covers advice and assistance to the company in ensuring that they meet all local legal and regulatory requirements, and a number of hand-holding services to the affected employees.

For the company, our services include:

Check that all labour law and industry regulatory requirements are being met. Our senior consultant is an industrial and employee relations expert.
Provide a check on all communications (or draft them for the company) to ensure there is no ambiguity and the message being given is pitched at just the right level - remember companies often find that motivating (or re-motivating) those who remain is a major task
Assisting or providing calcuations for redundancy pay, at least at the minimum required by law
Briefing or full training, if required, on delivering the message of retrenchment in the most effective manner, and moving quickly onto the benefits that will be provided.

For individials, we provide:

Trauma counselling, if required by the individuals (we strongly recommend it, particularly if the affected individuals are worried about telling their spouse and family, or have perhaps recently taken on a large financial commitment)
Resume writing, helping individuals to produce a resume that will sell them to their next employer
Job search strategies - where to look for jobs...resources are many and very varied
Interview skills - examining the strategies and behaviours candidates need to employ if they are to present themsleves effectively to potential employers
Placement of their resume on our own Executive Search and Recruitment Division's candidate database
Provision of office facilities (for managerial level employees) and office services for all others

The last point above can be really important for many psychologically, in that it means they are still getting up in the mornings and coming into "work". It just means their "work", for the time being, is the most important sales assignment they'll ever have. Selling themselves to their next employer.

One major point on this sales assignment concerns the candidate's resume - this does NOT get the candidate the job he or she is after, but if done well, it should get them the interview for the job.

A resume must be designed and presented in such a way that it screams out "READ ME!" to the recruiter. Many, if not most recruiters are usually faced with hundreds of applicants' resumes to read and rate. We help those who've come to us produce a resume that not only looks and reads professionally, it will always be noticed and therefore read.

Providing outplacement services is not too common here in S E Asia, and tends to largely be offered by multi-national companies operating in the region. However, more and more local companies are now recognising the responsibility they have to those being made redundant for no fault of their own. Full marks to them, for it also gets noticed, and is a very positive image enhancer, with such companies being seen as a caring employer, something that is pretty important in this part of the world.

Well, I guess that's about it for this first business post. I'll be happy to try to answer any questions readers may have, but do realise that I'm not operating in the US or Europe, but in S E Asia, where our labour laws and employment regulations are somewhat different.

Resisting the temptation no longer .....

2008-03-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

I've resisted this temptation for several years now, but can resist no longer!

Perhaps I should come clean, be honest, and admit that the real reason for lowering my resistance is that my good lady, my much better half, has pointed out to me the potential of a blog to actually earn a few dollars!

At one time I did consider a purely personal blog, using it more like a diary, but knew that in that format it was unlikely to last. But, if I made it mostly business related, the chances were not only much better that it would last, but could also be a vehicle for earning an additional income.

My business is consulting, with specialisms in Human Resource Management and Human Resource Development together with a totally different expertise in direct/database marketing (direct mail with co-ordinated telemarketing).

Therefore, it's my intention over the coming months (consulting assignments permitting) to write a number of articles on HRM, HRD and direct/database marketing. In addition of course, I also plan to jot down some thoughts (or maybe I should say "musings" in view of the title I've given this blog.

Oh yes, why Zephyr? Well I've had an online forum existence as Zephyr for about seven years, so thought I might aswell continue with it. I chose Zephyr as it is the antithesis of my default personality, which is more like a typhoon than a gentle breeze. But it is a gentle breeze to which I aspire.

So, until I next post, hopefully with my first article, I'll sign off, but with a big thank you and all my love to my darling better half, my Sunshine (her one time, online forum name), for the encouragement to start this blog.