How to Survive a Recession

Recessions happen and you can see it and take the appropriate steps before it is too late. Here are a few tips you should know about to help you survive.

1. If you happen to be in debt, get out as quickly as possible by finding ways to pay for it. If ever you need help, hire a financial consultant who can help you with your budget.

2. We have to pay the bills. Instead of just paying for them, perhaps you should see if you can switch to another company that offers cheaper rates. Take a look at your electricity, gas, mobile phone, television broadband package, insurance and even your bank account then make the necessary changes.

3. You should also make cuts on daily spending. When you go to the grocery, buy only what is necessary or switch to a cheaper brand. If there are items in promo, get it because they could be just as good or even better to what you are used to buying.

4. One thing that every grocery always is people offering free samples. Since you are there, get some as this will surely save you a few dollars for other more important items. If the grocery you frequent gives out vouchers, make use of it as well.

5. Do you always have to go out for lunch when you are at the office? Of course not. You can prepare the food at home and then take it to work. Your kids should also have a lunch bag instead of getting their weekly allowance so even at a young age, they understand the current situation.

6. If possible, ask your employer if you can do some of the work at home. This will help you save gas since you don’t have to drive to work. Just be sure you are as productive at home like you are in the office. If this is not possible, see if you can carpool with someone from the office.

7. Owning a large vehicle may sound cool but since it is a gas guzzler, perhaps it is time to trade this in with a smaller one. The advantage of a smaller car is that you don’t burn that much gas so you don’t have to spend that much when it is time to refuel the tank.

8. You can cut down your electricity expenses by replacing the bulbs to those that use lower wattage. You may also want to put the heater down by one degree, reinsulated the ceiling and stop drafts coming from the windows and doors.

9. Cutting down expenses is just one way to survive a recession. You can make money from it by selling some old stuff or renting a spare room.

10. If your work is not stable, perhaps you should consider switching to a career that will ensure better job security for the long term. One way is to go back to school.

11. For those who have money to spare, invest in long term investments such as stocks or bonds. Their value will go up once the recession is over.

A recession lasts for months so you have to know what to do when it happens. Your ability to stay financially stable is the only way for you to deal with a possible loss of income and inflated prices.

Congratulations to our winning affiliates!

We must say that our first referral contest was indeed exciting to watch on our side because the referral numbers just kept rising over the weeks and the people occupying the top positions of the leaderboard kept changing!

And in fact, one of the dark horses in the top 5 positions, referred over 50 members into the site in the last moments of the referral contest!

Here’s a recap of the prizes:
1st Place: LG Portable DVD Player
2nd Place: Ipod Nano
3rd Place: Ipod Shuffle
4th Place: $50 MPH Voucher + One pair of Cathay cinema tickets
5th Place: $20 MPH Voucher + One pair of Cathay cinema tickets

So, now it’s time to reveal the contest results:

**drumroll**

Occupying the top spot steadily in this race is….

Alex Lo - tomasson15

And following close behind is…

Eddy Lee - ronglee

In 3rd place is…

Jeremy Goh - jerryman

4th and 5th positions are respectively occupied
by…

Allen Na - allen

and Jexton Ong - jexs0207

Congratulations on the outstanding performance guys!

Now, for the 5 lucky affiliates who each win a pair of Cathay movie tickets from the lucky draw are:

1. Mohd Zarkhan - linuxdude
2. Chew Huishan - angeline
3. Heng Liang San - eucalyptus
4. Ting Chee Kheong - ckting
5. Lee Pei Shan - vanessalee

We will be contacting the winners personally to congratulate them as well as give them the details on how to collect their prizes.

If you thought that the first round of prizes are great, wait till you see what we have in store for you for the next contest!

It’s going to be a fresh and brand new round of referral contest with more attractive prizes and more bumped up commissions to be given away!

So if you want to stand a chance of winning attractive prizes, be sure to sign up as our affiliate!

Module 2.2: Freelancing Tips

After about 2 weeks from learning about freelancing online, we hope you have benefited from the content of Module 2.1: Freelancing and perhaps you have already started looking at the opportunities available for you to freelance either as a full-time occupation from home or to just earn some extra bucks on top of your monthly salary.

Like we previously, mentioned there is a huge market online for freelancing services in the areas of writing and translation, administrative and clerical, designing and programming etc. And you can be sure that once you have developed your area of interest and passion, you shouldn’t find it hard finding available online freelancing assignments you will be interested to take up.

Now, in the second part of this 2 part series module, in the second audio, we went through with you more tips on freelancing such as how to market yourself as an online freelancer, how to create your online portfolio/profile, how and where you can get clients, why you should set up your own website to market your services and how you can set up your very own freelancing business.

Now that you have listened the audio, if you have any questions or thoughts about freelancing, feel free to add your comments over here at the blog post.

10 Questions Everyone Should Ask Themseves

Be all that you can be. I often see myself as somewhat contented with my life the way things are, but there is nothing wrong with aiming higher. I aspire for something deeper and more meaningful.
So we’re all pelted with problems. Honestly it shouldn’t even bother or even hinder us to becoming all we ought to be. Aspirations as kids should continue to live within us, even though it would be short-lived or as long as we could hold on to the dream. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks… or can they?

1. What do I really want?

The question of the ages. So many things you want to do with your life and so little time to even go about during the day.
Find something that you are good at can help realize that small step towards improvement. Diligence is the key to know that it is worth it.

2. Should I really change?

Today’s generation has taken another level of redefining ’self’, or at least that’s what the kids are saying. Having an army of teenage nieces and nephews has taught me that there are far worse things that they could have had than acne or maybe even promiscuity. So how does that fit into your lifestyle?
If history has taught us one thing, it’s the life that we have gone through. Try to see if partying Seventies style would appeal to the younger generation, but dancing is part of partying. Watch them applaud after showing them how to really dance than break their bones in break-dancing.

3. What’s the bright side in all of this?

With so much that is happening around us, there seems to be no room for even thinking about that light at the end of the tunnel. We can still see it as something positive without undergoing so much scrutiny. And if it’s a train at the end of the tunnel, take it for a ride and see what makes the world go round!

4. Am I comfortable with what I’m doing?

There’s always the easy way and the right way when it comes to deciding what goes with what. It doesn’t take a genius to see you as someone unique, or else we’ll all be equally the same in everything we do. Variety brings in very interesting and exciting questions to be experimented.

5. Have I done enough for myself?

Have you, or is there something more you want to do? Discontentment in every aspect can be dangerous in large doses, but in small amounts you’ll be able to see and do stuff you could never imagine doing.

6. Am I happy at where I am today?

It’s an unfair question so let it be an answer! You love being a good and loving mom or dad to your kids, then take it up a notch! Your kids will love you forever. The same goes with everyday life!

7. Am I appealing to the opposite sex?

So maybe I don’t have an answer to that, but that doesn’t mean I can’t try it, though. Whether you shape-up, change the way you wear your clothes or hair, or even your attitude towards people, you should always remember it will always be for your own benefit.

8. How much could I have?

I suppose in this case there is no such thing on having too much or too little of anything, but it’s more on how badly you really need it. I’d like to have lots of money, no denying that, but the question is that how much are you willing to work for it?

9. What motivates me?

What motivates you? It’s an answer you have to find out for yourself. There are so many things that can make everyone happy, but to choose one of the may be the hardest part. It’s not like you can’t have one serving of your favourites food in a buffet and that’s it. Try piece by piece.

10. What Really Makes You Tick?

So? What really makes you tick? You can be just about anything you always wanted to be, but to realize that attaining something that may seem very difficult is already giving up before you even start that journey. Always remember, that self-improvement is not just about the physical or philosophical change you have to undergo, but it’s something that you really want.

To Motivate Is To Self-Improve

Pain may sometimes be the reason why people change. Flunking school makes us realize that we need to study. Debts remind us of our inability to look for a source of income. Being humiliated gives us the ‘push’ to speak up and fight for ourselves to save our face from the next embarrassments. It may be a bitter experience, a friend’s tragic story, a great movie, or an inspiring book that will help us get up and get just the right amount of motivation we need in order to improve ourselves.

With the countless negativity the world brings about, how do we keep motivated? Try some of the tips from A to Z…

A - Achieve your dreams. Avoid negative people, things and places. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

B - Believe in your self, and in what you can do.

C – Consider things on every angle and aspect. Motivation comes from determination. To be able to understand life, you should feel the heat from both sides.

D – Don’t give up and don’t give in. Thomas Edison failed once, twice, more than thrice before he came up with his invention and perfected the incandescent light bulb. Make motivation as your steering wheel.

E – Enjoy. Work as if you don’t need money. Dance as if nobody’s watching. Love as if you never cried. Learn as if you’ll live forever. Motivation takes place when people are happy.

F – Family and Friends – are life’s greatest ‘F’ treasures. Don’t loose sight of them.

G – Give more than what is enough. Where does motivation and self improvement take place at work? At home? At school? When do you exert extra effort in doing things?

H – Hang on to your dreams. They may dangle in there for a moment, but these little stars will be your driving force.

I – Ignore those who try to destroy you. Don’t let other people to get the best of you. Stay out of toxic people – the kind of friends who hates to hear about your success.

J – Just be yourself. The key to success is to be yourself. And the key to failure is to try to please everyone.

K – keep trying no matter how hard life may seem. When a person is motivated, eventually he sees his harsh life finally clearing out, paving the way to self improvement.

L – Love your self. Now isn’t that easy?

M – Make things happen. Motivation is when your dreams are put into work clothes.

N – Never lie, cheat or steal. Always play fair game.

O – Open your eyes. People should learn the horse attitude and horse sense. They see things in 2 ways – how they want things to be, and how they should be.

P – Practice makes perfect. Practice is about motivation. It lets us learn repertoire and ways on how can we recover from our mistakes.

Q – Quitters never win. And winners never quit. So, choose your fate – are you going to be a quitter? Or a winner?

R – Ready yourself. Motivation is also about preparation. We must hear the little voice within us telling us to get started before others will get on their feet and try to push us around. Remember, it wasn’t raining when Noah build the ark.

S – Stop procrastinating.

T – Take control of your life. Discipline or self control jives synonymously with motivation. Both are key factors in self improvement.

U – Understand others. If you know very well how to talk, you should also learn how to listen. Yearn to understand first, and to be understood the second.

V – Visualize it. Motivation without vision is like a boat on a dry land.

W – Want it more than anything. Dreaming means believing. And to believe is something that is rooted out from the roots of motivation and self improvement.

X – X Factor is what will make you different from the others. When you are motivated, you tend to put on “extras” on your life like extra time for family, extra help at work, extra care for friends, and so on.

Y – You are unique. No one in this world looks, acts, or talks like you. Value your life and existence, because you’re just going to spend it once.

Z – Zero in on your dreams and go for it!!!

Set Goals - Easier Said, Easily Done

The basics of setting a goal is an open secret known by top-calibre athletes, successful businesspeople and all types of achievers in all different fields. The basics of setting goals give you short and long-term motivation and focus.

Setting clearly defined short term and long term goals will enable you to measure your progress and achieve personal satisfaction once you have successfully met your goals. Charting your progress will also enable you to actually see the stages of completion leading to the actual realization of your goals. This eliminates the feeling of a long and pointless grind towards achieving your goal. Your self-confidence and level of competence will also improve as you will be more aware of your capabilities as you complete or achieve your goals.

The basics of goal settings will involve deciding what you really want to do with your personal life and what short term and long term goals you need to achieve it. Then you have to break down goals into the smaller and manageable targets that you must complete in your way to achieving your lifetime targets. Once you have your list waste no time in tackling your goals.

Here are some pointers that should be taken into consideration in setting goals and achieving them.

Careers are made by good time management practice. Failing in a career is often attributed to bad time management. Careers require a lot from an individual which often makes the career the life of the individual. Decide how far you want to go into your career.
Education is the key in achieving your goals. If your goals require you to have a certain kind of degree or require a certain specialization or demand a certain skill to be developed, make plans in getting the appropriate education.

Your family should never be left out of your plans. If you are just starting out with your own family then you have to decide if you want to be a parent or when you want to be a parent. You also have to know if you really would be a good parent and how well would you relate to extended family members such as your parents or siblings.

Personal financial situations also play a major role in achieving your goals. Have a realistic goal on how much you really want to earn. You also must be able to create plans or stages by which you will be able to reach your earning potential.

Physically gifted individuals may be able to achieve sports related goals like being in the National Basketball association or National Football League. Determining your physical capabilities should be one of your priorities. Physical limitations could however be conquered with proper training.

As the saying goes -’All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’, or something to that effect, is by all means true down to the last the letter. Giving yourself a little pleasure should always be included into your plans.

To start achieving your lifetime goals, set a quarter of a century plan, then break it down to 5 year plans then break it down again to 1 year plans, then 6 month plans then monthly plans, then weekly, then daily.

Create a To-do list for the day. Always review your plans and prepare for contingencies.
The basics of goal settings should not be so difficult once you get to be familiar with them.

How Freelance Writers Make Money Through Writing

Online Freelancers as mentioned inside the audio training program, is becoming a more recognised profession because of what the internet has been able to do for this industry. Freelancing is no longer considered a sub-standard form of work and low-paying. In fact, for instance, online freelance writers are being paid competitively and the ease of employment makes it a draw for individuals who want to make money through writing. This Internet pool of freelance writers will open up a good opportunity for you to be able to work from home as well as make money just through writing.

Freelance writers are highly sought after online because many individuals and corporations need content for their magazines, publications etc. and if they are unable to employ a full-time personnel or do not wish to write their articles themselves, they look to outsourcing the work to freelance writers. Hence, they are willing to pay generous amounts to get the articles and content that they need.

All freelance writers have to do is to find job boards offering work for writers, look through projects and find those that are on their interest. It’s as simple as that. Of course, a person’s portfolio/resume must be able to show these business owners or corporations what they are able to do and write. So, the more writing experience you gather, the better you can charge.

Jobs for freelance writers are always available online on job boards. And it’s no wonder why there are many freelance writers who are earning a comfortable income from home. So if you are one who is interested to find out how to work from home and make money through writing, you’ll be glad to know that you can do so as a freelance writer.

For more information about online freelancing, do check out our audio training program module #2 on Freelancing!

If you have any questions on being a freelance writer or just online freelancing in general , do feel free to post them on our forum here.