Archive for August, 2006
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We recently took oÂn a trial with Pitney Bowes Franking Machine and this is what we felt:
“, “Given the service to get you signed up was great, but the after sales services was a disaster.
Remember how hard is it to cancel AOL? It’s the same thing. A 0870 number to call with so many functions etc and a long waiting time to get to support makes me fed up.
They delivered the thing to me using UPS, and cancelling them was a tolerable experience. But what makes me mad is that they use DHL to collect the package back and without even knowing when the driver will even pick it up…heck they even gave a ‘anytime within the next two weeks!’ excuse. What the fishcakes? The initial appointment was 1130hrs and no o�ne came. My other collegue stayed back till 6pm (3hrs overtime I gotta pay!) waiting for that monkey
The idiotic driver came outside our operating times and left no card etc and after we told them (Pitney Bowes) pick them up or we will take no responsibility.
Then after much arguements with DHL local office, they said the docket number to collect does not exist and the driver won’t come again, and we have to drop it off ourselves. Heck it’s 37Miles from our place and o�n a saturday¬! That area is also known for traffic jams even o�n a weekend!
We don’t mind the £30-ish monthly rental but what we hate is Direct Debits, as we have no control over them. They refused to accept our explainations, so we cancel the DD and everything with it.
Our experience with them has been very bad, heck cost me a bomb to run it as we need a new phone line and the machine is so bulky..bigger than our fax machine and the weight of the AC-DC Adapter is a killer o�n it’s own. In the end, returning them cost us about 12 man-hours (at £400/hr is what we charge our customers) plus the costly fuel o�n a saturday morning to drop em off.
Otherwise, if the rent is reduced, and better service, I believe PB (putney Bowes, that’s what is also o�n the franking die PB xxxxxx) will be much better.
Anyone had other experiences, let us know.
What is worse in customer relations is that their supervisors don’t have manners, or the lack of it¬
Tia Baby Website has undergone a face change!
“, “I have restarted Tia baby’s website to look much more nicer….
So I scratched off the postnuke and used b2evelution instead.
Comments are requested
Adwords anyone?
“, “First off, let me tell you where most Internet Marketers make their mistake. You log on to the Internet, do a little surfing, when all of a sudden it hits you right in the face! The very product that you have been looking for! The perfect “product†as a matter of fact! You cannot use your paypal account fast enough, so you can start selling your “product†on the Internet like crazy!
Do you realize what you just did? You just combined two of the hardest industries there are to make money in, Internet Marketing and Gambling! That is exactly what you are doing by picking a product before you find out if people even want it.
A product is incapable of giving you money, only people can pay you, and a “market†is made up of people. You must center your product around your market to be successful on the Internet.
So how do you uncover your target market? Easy, you just go to www.overture.com to use their keyword tool and type in what you want to search for and hit enter. It will tell you the most popular keywords for that particular word or phrase and it will also tell you how many people searched that word or phrase last month.
Typically, a good market will be between 40,000 to 100,000 searches for that particular month. Less than that may be a weak market, and more than that could be too competitive. To find out for sure use the overture bidding tool for a particular word or phrase, and look at the third bid, it should be at least .30 up to $2.00. Again, less than .30 could be weak and more than $2.00 could be too competitive.
With overture, you can basically be the highest bidder and get the first position, not too much guesswork involved there. But Google Adwords is a different story, there is definitely some skill involved in with this method.
However, with Google Adwords, you have the potential to bid as little as .05 and still be in first position! However, the problem is that most people do not want to take the time or put forth the effort to tweak out the perfect Google ad, myself included.
That is when I stumbled across a website http://www.perrymarshall.active.ws, which has an excellent course called, The Definitive Google Adwords Course. The basic course is fairly cheap at $49 considering all the information you get. If you want some audio thrown in, it is only $97, and if you want the deluxe with hard case cover, you will pay about $197.
Obviously, the best part about the course is that they tell you some of the secrets that are in the course. You can enter your first name and valid email address and get a free 5 day course.
They give away some good secrets, just enough to get you wanting more. But hey, we all have to make money somehow, right?
Seriously, this is a great course, I personally bought the basic course, and I have already raised the visitors to my website by 20% within a week of reading the course. Not bad for a $49 investment, I have spent more than that buying visitors from traffic exchanges! Which you should never do, by the way.
Any and every business needs to have the knowledge that is in this course. The bottom line is, if you do not have traffic to your site, you do not produce income. So I highly, highly recommend the Google Adwords Course.
All I can remember was I was watching the Telly… I just came back from my dull minimum waged job. Pushing forward to the Christmas Rush. What a bore!
Ohh… How tired was I…
It was …. or was it?
“, “Here I was, jammed straight to my fab, surrounded by servers, gaming consoles and boxes over, with a huge plasma screen in front of me.. enjoying what is left of my joy in life.
Gosh I thought. Must I work this hard to give 40% of my effort to the scandalous government and another half of it going to my ex-wife! What am I thinking? I live off a basement in a 3 storey building where the ground floor is a Chinese Takeaway shop called Fortune Delight. The toilet,shower,basin in a small six-by-four cupboard. No kitchen. o�nly a single window to the outside world; seeing people walk by in the busy streets of River Medway Pavillion. I sleep o�n my racks of towering PCs which I use to host my Gaming bots; o�nly with a three-inch thick foam mattress without any heating whatsoever, illuminated o�nly by a single 40 watt bulb! What did I do to deserve this life?
I slowly wandered off into the twilight, and all I heard last …. was a buzzing sound. Must be from the heat exchanger I thought, ….’beeep…..beeep…..beeep…….beep,brip-pip-beep’ … Must be a server overload and nah..forget it …it will reboot itself. I need my sleep. I’m o�n double shifts again.
Bright lights….and all dark… Sirens everywhere, of the ambulance and fire engines screaking away.
Silent. All of a sudden, it was silent.
Was I dead? Is this the after life. Should have added more money to the charity box and the power meter I thought. But I wasn’t moving. Yet I feel no hunger. As if I was floating about. A blue sphere. Like the structure of the Protons and Electrons with it’s epochs circulating em.
Darn! Next time no more having those cheap Chinese Ginseng wine with Redbull. Yet… I napped off.
A smile. That was all I can remember. A friendly smile. Like of my little angel of joy. If I am going to die….let her have the best in this world; or so I thought.
Could this be it? Of the after life? All wearing something a gymnast will don? And that smile. A friendly face.
‘Dok Kepas Keas Na’
Huh? What was it saying? But I could understand it. Somewhat like of Klingon would say from Star Trek. ‘Don’t Get Up’
“, “0″, “108″, “8″, “azrin”, “These arethe vovages of myself oÂn board the Universal Nebular Station (UNS) Slipstream XPress.
I have no mission. I don’t want to seek no new worlds, nor of being a hero.
Last Will and Testimony are a boon sometimes.
This is excerpt and abstracted from the Straits Times today.
This eventual transfer was stated in a memorandum of understanding that he, his brother and their parents had signed in 1997 when they developed the land.
But when multi-millionaire businessman Lee Teck Seng died last August at 82, his will stated that he wanted his share to be given to his nephew and niece instead.
The far bigger shock to 60-something Victor was that his father had willed him nothing, but $1.
Until his death, his father had lived with him in oÂne of the two bungalows developed oÂn the plot of land in the Newton area.
Mr Lee’s adopted daughter, businesswoman Linda Lee, also had high hopes that were dashed.
Ms Lee, who is in her early 50s, said in a court affidavit that Mr Lee had indicated he would give her the following:
But Mr Lee’s will awarded her all of $1.
Victor said in an affidavit: ”I suspect the will is not the original or authentic will of the deceased.”
In a recent hearing, the High Court, however, was not persuaded by his and Linda’s arguments.
The court heard of family disputes that led Mr Lee to remove Victor from being a director of Mr Lee’s company in 2002.
The old man also obtained a court judgment to make Victor repay him a $1 million loan.
During that hearing, Mr Lee became ”extremely angry” with Linda for supporting Victor, said Mr Lee’s lawyer, Mr Goh Kok Yeow, in an affidavit.
So Mr Lee’s last will - which he made in 2004 - stands.
The beneficiaries are his wife, some grandchildren, nieces, nephews - and his other 50-something son, businessman Billy Lee, who was a former president of Sembawang Marine & Logistics.
The elder Lee’s assets included a property in Hong Kong and shares of listed companies. The total value of the assets was not stated.
The case raises a question: How to make a will water-tight, especially oÂne that favours some beneficiaries far more than others?
As Singaporeans become more affluent and are likely to leave significant assets, the question becomes more relevant.
How Mr Lee went about doing his will provides some answers.
Professional help
CONSIDER seeking professional help, especially if you are rich and have quite a few beneficiaries you want to leave assets to.
The cost of professional help ranges from $250 for a simple will to a few thousand dollars for complex oÂnes.
”It’s easy to make a will, but in a simple will, many things are left unmentioned,” says Mr Richard Yeo, the author of the book Will Writing: Practical Considerations When Drafting Your Will.
A professional will writer will ensure that various possible scenarios are considered.
”Most people won’t know what to consider. Our situations are never the same and there is a need for professional assistance to help them clarify their thoughts,” says Mr Yeo, a will writer with Probate Enterprise.
It is not just about assets.
For example, if the deceased was a Christian but his parents are Buddhists, they may pressure his spouse to hold a Buddhist funeral.
Ideally, the deceased should spell out in his will how he wants his funeral to be held, says Mr Yeo.
Mr Lee Teck Seng had a lawyer prepare his will.
The lawyer, Mr Goh of De Souza Tay & Goh, told the court the circumstances and background of how the will was prepared - which leads us to the next point.
‘Good’ witnesses
WITNESSES are important if a will is contested.
If a will has been signed before a lawyer, the latter can attest to it as oÂne of the witnesses, says lawyer Chew Mei Choo of Shook Lin & Bok.
The lawyer will also be able to give evidence that the testator - the person who is making a will - was aware of the contents and desired the consequences, says Ms Chew.
If the testator is not literate in English, there will have to be a further certification that the will was interpreted to the testator, she adds.
The certificate is signed by the interpreter.
The general manager (life) of insurance cooperative NTUC Income, Mr Stanley Jeremiah, says: ”If the person is old and more so if he’s not in very good health, it is good to get a doctor to attest in the will as a witness and to attest that the testator was of sound mind and lucid when making the will.
”It will be better if the doctor was the person’s regular doctor.”
That is exactly what Mr Lee Teck Seng did. He signed his will in the presence of not just his lawyer, but also his doctor.
A month after witnessing the signing, Dr Tan Khai Tong, who runs a clinic at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, wrote a two-page letter recording what he knew of Mr Lee’s medical condition and the events surrounding the signing of the will.
In a copy sent to Mr Goh, he wrote: ”I asked Mr Lee some questions to clarify the state of his mind. Mr Lee was able to answer my questions regarding the purpose of his will very clearly.
”He informed me that his last will was made several years ago and after some consideration, he had decided oÂn a new will. He appeared calm and purposeful.”
Give reasons
MR JEREMIAH says it is important that if some people are being left out, to show in the will that the testator had considered them but decided to leave them out.
Hence, the nominal $1 gift to show that the testator had taken these people into account, but had then decided to pass them over, he says.
He could also state the reason for giving a nominal sum, although that is not strictly required in a will.
But if the will is contested, the stated reasons would show that he had deliberated oÂn the matter and had reasons that led him to his decision, says lawyer Rajan Chettiar of Rajan Chettiar & Company.
He adds that some of the reasons could be that the testator had provided for the beneficiary sufficiently during his lifetime; or the beneficiary is of some financial standing and therefore does not need much from the testator.
But even if the testator has a reason, he cannot cut off any dependants from his will, says Mr Leong Sze Hian, the president of the Society of Financial Services Professionals.
The operative word is ”dependant”, so if you have young children and a spouse, for example, you must provide for them, he adds.
The meaning of ”dependant” can be extended to cover an unmarried daughter or a grown-up child who is unable to maintain himself for mental or physical reasons, he says. If you do not provide for them in your will, they have the inheritance law oÂn their side and can contest your will.
Sign every page
WILLS can be forged. To reduce the risk of that happening, the testator should sign each page so that replacements are not possible, advises lawyer Ms Chew.
Every page of Mr Lee Teck Seng’s will did bear his signatures.
An additional step, says Mr Yeo, to prevent tampering is to place the original will under the care of the executor - someone who has been appointed by the testator to administer his estate and distribute it according to his will.
The testator can also choose to have his original will kept by a company that provides safe keeping services, he adds. It would release the will oÂnly to the executor.
In Mr Lee’s case, son Victor said in an affidavit that he suspected the will was not authentic. A handwriting expert he hired inspected the will and found, among other things, that the pages had been stapled and re-stapled.
Victor said this raised the possibility of certain pages being inserted after the original will had been made.
Mr Goh, the lawyer, said in his affidavit that he had made photocopies of the will and ”could have removed the staples and re-stapled the document more than oÂnce”.
Warning against contest
A WILL can also contain a clause to deter any contest.
Mr Lee Teck Seng’s will specified that if it is contested by any beneficiary, the beneficiary’s interest under the will will lapse and his or her benefit will be limited to oÂnly $1.
In the case of Victor and Linda, their benefit was cut to 10 cents.
“, “
Lilian the other day asked me what was my will and why those definitions.
To me, it’s plain simple.
A will is to protect the loved oÂnes from being left in the lurch when the provider passed away and that gift may reduce their burden of life.
I don’t have much asset. I squandered it away years ago oÂn shares and unit trusts cos I know I don’t need the CPF money then and not in the near future. Reason: I don’t think I will ever live and survive in Singapore at all.
Thus I reinvested my retirement funds into Unit Tru
Make Sure you read these Guides!”, “Know Your Customers
Since you’re my customer I’m gonna make a prediction about YOU. Why have you come to and joined this site? I suspect you will have some or all of the following characteristics:
TAME LIST
1. You own a website
2. You use Google Adwords or another PPC Provider
3. You own the business or you are responsible for the sales of the business
4. You have the authority to make decisions about the business
5. You’re over 18
6. You want more sales
7. You believe that you can run your own PPC campaign rather than pay someone else to do it
8. You’re fed up with paying a small fortune to Google Adwords or another PPC Provider
Now I’m going to make some wilder comments that you may or not agree with:
WILD LIST
1. You’re Male
2. You believe that you can earn enough passive income from a website so you can leave employment
3. You’re someone in the PPC industry wishing to gather further information
4. You believe that Google Adwords is the best thing to hit the internet since the internet began
5. You believe you are ahead of the pack when it comes to some of your competitors
6. You believe the internet has only seen 10% of its potential
7. You believe there’s a better ‘Google Handbook’ written by Perry Marshall out there
8. You’re RICH! – Rich meaning you earn in excess of 3 times the average salary in your area
Now there’s 16 things I have mentioned above. I reckon I got at least 8 out 16 things right about you – am I right? The majority coming from the tame list and the rest coming from the wild list.
I hope I am right as these are some of the things I have thought about when marketing my product. I wanted to connect with you.
Now do not take the fact that I’m using this example of YOU purchasing off me as patronising. This is the best example as you can identify why you bought. I am letting YOU know what I understood of YOU and I’m forcing YOU to understand what made YOU buy off me.
In this section forget about me, me, me its YOU, YOU, YOU! Or to rephrase correctly its less about you, you, you and more about THEM, THEM, THEM! Them being your customers.
Who are the type of people that are willing to BUY off you? You really need to understand THEM. Its THEM who pay your bills so you better get to know THEM. The way to identify them is to know who would want your product or service. If you’re selling a property refurbishment service then you can be assured that the following traits exist from a potential customer:
1. They own their own home
2. They have more than £5,000 in the bank to spend
3. They earn significantly more than the average salary
4. They are over 18
5. They want to enhance their home/assets
You can also make some wilder judgements like:
1. They have a better sense of the value of money than others
2. They might run a business on the side as well as being in employment
3. They are time constrained
4. They lack the know-how regarding the refurbishment business
This is a small list. The idea is just sit back and think about who would actually purchase your product or service. Don’t have blind belief that your product is so great that everyone would as the truth is that the majority won’t!
“If you send a postcard offering a free 6 pack of beer with the purchase of 2 large pizzas to a list of purchasers of a “pay-per-view” boxing match (a list which you purchased from your local cable TV company), you are more likely to get a big response than if you sent the same offer to a list of the ladies auxiliary bridge club.†Steve Conn – Marketing Consultant
Here, Steve clearly understood the customer of 2 large pizzas!
Here’s a checklist of prompters that will help you establish some of the traits of your typical customer:
1
Know Your Customers
[WORKSHEET 1]
[b][u]QUESTIONS[/u][/ub]
1. What industries surround your product and which persons do these industries serve?
2. How much does your typical customer earn?
3. What job does your typical customer have?
4. What age group is he or she in?
5. Are they male or female?
6. Why have they arrived at your site?
7. Are they based in a specific region?
8. What else is your customer interested in?
9. How intelligent is your customer?
10. Are they married?
11. Do they drive?
12. Do they own a credit card and have good credit?
13. Do they own their own home?
14. Are they in a professional trade?
Based on the answers to these questions and more you should be able to create a pool of traits of your typical customer. I’m sorry if this sounds like a marketing diploma but the diploma is there for a reason (I’ve never studied for one but they make excellent points!). Once you have a pool of traits we can start building REAL PEOPLE out of these and start segregating the customers.
I’m going to make some changes after the stupid servers messed me up big time.
Kinda fed up with the fact that PostNuke is kinda… bit dull… and the fact that I can’t find decent themes for this site.
What is it like to have postNuke compared to other Content Management Systems?
“, “Postnuke is simple to setup. The WYSIWYG is ok for a entry level person, but you can code the pages for html mode. Plus the fact it has a built in Banner Rotation Server , makes it attractive.
However, credit is given to sites like those suggested by Drupal, Joomla and Mambo with their own flexibility and pros-n-cons by itself, as some can even integrate a shopping cart + forum / notice board within the application with ease.
However, since I am the oÂnLY person running this site and it’s network, and the fact that I don’t have much of the luxury to work oÂn as if I am at the real office, I am stuck with alot of things to do, like putting food oÂn the table. This is oÂne of the least concerns of myself.
In comparison with my wife’s website or blog as we call it, she can put it all in as it’s like a life log for her, keeping abreast with the sense of reality, and of the oÂn-goings in the family. I just don’t have the creative flare anymore anyhow. The spark in this engine for the IT world has gone.
So… I will move the site into WordPress or so…after I see what is best.
After all..this is a parking site for all those domains.
Buddy Link:
SEO Engineering 101 Hacks and Cracks
In the Kitchen With Kak Mar
Walk with me in Europe
Singaporean in Europe
Ramble with the V@mp
With Her Royalness A Tun King Tia
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