Starting Your Infant Business

Reason #2 - Gmail on the Go!

2009-03-23T17:32:00.006+08:00

2nd Reason Why We Love Google.

You do not need a blackberry to push or pull your emails. Gone are the old days of the Newton Way of pushing and pulling emails.

1) You just need a cheap subscription to broadband on your mobile line. We have tried all of them, we strongly recommend SingTel. You can get it at additional of about $15/mth.

2) You need a decent phone that can open browser like Opera Mini ... nowadays these phones are much cheaper than a blackberry. These phones are easily available at $300 plus.

You can check the compatibility of your phones here: http://www.google.com/mobile/

With this combination, you are good to respond to your emails anytime any where!

Go to this website - http://www.google.com/mobile/default/mail.html

And send the link to your phone!

Till the next post,

Shufang

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The Planet is our Playground; Love is our Legacy!

3 Reasons Why We love Google. Reason #1

2009-03-22T13:21:00.015+08:00

For today's entrepreneur, time is of the essence. You need to find ways to make your business operations as efficient as possible, so that your focus is on bringing in sales .....and not all the other the nitty gritty stuff.

For example, when you are doing a market research, you want precise and relevant information fast. Or when your prospects email you (for any reasons), you want to be able to respond to them really fast.

Lastly and most importantly, when you start to get really mobile, you definitely want a secure location for your presentation documents or customer database that you can access on the move. Thumb drive is really not the solution here.

Hence, these are the 3 Reasons Why We love Google.

1) They provide the best search engine tool.

2) They provide the most user-friendly webmail account.

3) The amazingly useful Google Docs. It takes a genius to think of this.

For today's nugget .... The Quick Search Function

You can find anything you want in just seconds! I guess I don't have to teach you how to type and search for the stuff you want. *Duh* However, there is one tip you can use to screen your search results really fast.

Customise your search preferences (on the right of your search box) and set your display results to 100 results a page.

Now, you just need to scroll down the page once to see if the keyword you use deliver the stuff you need. If not, change another word! You don't have to bother clicking to the next page. If it is not within the first hundred results, chances are you just have to change to another keyword.

=) That's all folk! Quick and choppy.

Till the next post,

Shufang

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The Planet is our Playground; Love is our Legacy!

Car Leasing For Your New Business

2009-03-21T14:01:00.004+08:00

Car Rental & Leasing!

Whether it be a truck for event set up or shifting your office, every small business needs to have

some rental company numbers at hand.

Maybe your company needs an extra car (for real business use!), you could lease a car first before buying a car. With small companies, cashflow is the most i

mportant, a leased car may seem more per month, but you can drop it off anytime.

Here at some companies that we have found with great deals!

http://www.alltrustleasing.com/index.html

http://www.expresscar.com.sg/corpleasing.asp

* We've not used either of them, but we like them because all the information is easily available online, and pricings. As with all car rentals, be aware of your insurance terms.

Update: Found this really cool and informative car rental company! http://www.eazicarlease.com.sg

Cheers,

Winston

Creating Easy Stylish Pictures!

2009-03-15T17:31:00.010+08:00

Using Your Phone, PrtScrn Button and Your Microsoft Powerpoint!

1. Microsoft Powerpoint to the rescue!

By now, you would have guessed that the simple great programme I was talking about... was none other than Microsoft Powerpoint!

Everyone is familiar to use it as a presentation tool, which it works great as! However, the niftiest thing is that you can create stylish spiffy pictures in a jiffy, in the exact same manner like you create your presentations.

You mere open a new slide, type in your words, put a background and you're done!

The key part is to "SAVE AS", ".JPEG", which they will then ask you "all slides" or "only current slide". You choose "ONLY CURRENT SLIDE" and you'll have an instant picture without the need of using all the more advanced (a.k.a. complicated tools).

Though I'm familiar with Adobe Photoshop, I still use this function for quick, on the go pictures that need not be printing grade quality. Usually website pictures, like direction maps, or little icons, are done really fast in this manner.

2. PrtScrn Button!

This little button is your quick and easy instructions labeller. Simply press "PrtScrn" or "Alt" + "PrtScrn" and copy it to an empty slide on your Microsoft Powerpoint and you can add arrows and stuff. Save it as Jpeg, and ta da!

3. Your Phone!

Nowadays, everyone's phone has a camera! Use it to your advantage. Take Shots that are meaningful and use it to show a message. The idea to give it a professional look is to zoom in, and of course, have a decent camera! Here are some examples.

Great Coffee Breand!

(Shot 1)

Great Coffee Breand!

(Shot 2)

So, there you go, a crash course on creating immediate art!

Remember, that as a small start-up business, "perfection is optional, motion is not." You need to get out, get selling, quick!

till we next meet,

Winston

No Comms and Easy artwork!

2009-03-08T18:55:00.004+08:00

First thing - Yes. Our blog is a No Commissions Blog!

Hence, we don't take any commissions from the reccomendations we make here.

But, oh yeah, the google bar on the right, we get a few cents when you click it! ;)

Second thing - If you find this little jpg cute, and stylish, well, i've got good news for you! It only took me 3 minutes to do,... and the best part is... you probably already have the software in your computer!

Find out more in our next post! Stay tuned!

Cheers,

Winston

3 things to start your website

2009-03-04T23:38:00.011+08:00

To start a website, you need 3 things:

1) A Domain Name
2) A Webhost
3) A Mailing List Host

1) A Domain Name
For domains that end with .sg, first you need to be a Singapore registered business and second you have to register with a SIGNIC-approved registrar. The list is available here: http://www.sgnic.sg/sub_domain_registrations/introduction.html

Currently, as I am typing this post, there is a SME subsidy scheme that is going on. If this is the first time you are registering a domain name, you get to enjoy the first year subscription free.

For domains that end with .com /.net /.biz/.org, you can register with http://www.godaddy.com

I don't get any commission for recommending Godaddy, I recommend because it is reliable and stable. I have been with them for years.

2) A Webhost

A webhost is where you upload your website files. Usually, when you register a domain name, the registrar will throw in a webhosting package. To make things easy, you might want to buy from the same company. If you plan to host more than one website, you want to consider a host that allows you to add domain names at a reasonable fee.

3) A Mailing List Host

Your website is more than a site of product/service information. It is also where you want to capture the contacts of people who are interested in your offerings and want to know more about your latest promotions. Create a form where they can fill up their contact details and from there have the data automatically collated on a central database.

Again, there are many out autoresponder service provider out there. I recommend Aweber Communications, because they are reliable and non-spammy. For about S$20/month, you get to create unlimited number of mailing lists.

Of course, there are alot more things to setting up a website but with these 3 basics, you are good enough to get started!

Till the next post,

Shufang

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The Planet is our Playground; Love is our Legacy!

Promotional Materials

2009-03-04T23:05:00.016+08:00

When you run out of ideas on what to do for your promotional materials, pay these chaps a visit. They are young and creative, plus extremely efficient. They will show you the different crazy things you can do to creatively and effectively promote your service/products. One of the staff might look seriously unfriendly but actually he's not that bad.

These are some of the stuff they created for us:

http://www.forexdrivingschool.com/fxds.pdf
http://www.forexdrivingschool.com/8week.pdf

Contact Information

Shop Address:
231 Bain Street
Bras Basah Complex #01-05B
Singapore 180231

Website: http://www.printstop.com.sg/index.shtml
Telephone: 6336 3378
Fax: 6336 3375
Email: mail@printstop.com.sg

Opening Hours
Mon - Fri: 10 30 - 18 30
Saturdays: 10 30 - 17 00
Sun & Public Holiday: Closed

Oh, if you are printing more than 50 pieces of black & white laser prints, you might want to consider printing it with them as well.

Your own laser printer will usually jam up when it hits 50 pieces. Plus, not to mention the mindless busting your toner.

They are definitely of better quality than other printers I have tried in the building. =)

Till the next post,

Shufang

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The Planet is our Playground; Love is our Legacy!

Printing Namecards

2009-02-21T14:27:00.011+08:00

Here's a company that I love printing namecards with. I am not sure how they get it so cheap and fast (approx 3- 5 days), but they are great. Now, service is normal. But if you ignore that, the cards are fantastic.

Here are some pictures of the cards that we've done with them. This is cold laminate, matt.

Here are the details you are looking for:

200 pieces of full colour, double side, cold laminate namecards.

$24

http://www.xclusive.com.sg/

Xclusive Production
(Co Reg No : 52946415B)
Tel : +65 6337 5213
Fax : +65 6823 1061
1 Rochor Canal Road #B1-27
Digimall@Sim Lim Square
Singapore 188504

Monday to Friday
10.30am to 7.30pm
Saturday
10.30am to 3.30pm
Closed on Sunday

Any comments on reccommendations we made? Please feel free to post it up here!

cheers,

Winston

Starting Your Infant Business

2009-02-09T23:38:00.014+08:00

Hello and Welcome!

Thank you for taking time to browse through this blog. You will find posts/videos/articles that will guide you in becoming a good parent (?) ... to your infant business!

Why infant? A business start-up is like a little baby...endearing at times, annoying at most. It is completely helpless without the parents (you, as the founder). Your one and only focus at this stage is to take care of it and make sure it can take its first step. Afterwhich, it'll be a different ball game altogether.

But first ... the baby's first step. How to reach there? No frets. This is where we come in!

We have a 3-Day Programme called (as you can guess by now) "Starting Your Infant Business". The objective of this course is pretty self-explanatory. Check out the course curriculum at http://www.innerhealth.com.sg/sib !

Feel free to comment or ask us any questions that you have about starting your infant business.

Till the next post,

Shufang

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The Planet is our Playground; Love is our Legacy!