Springcube Connect - Job Newsletter for Professionals in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Shanghai
Springcube connect, a jobs newsletter and listings page will launch on the 1st of of July. The newsletter will essentially have over 200 jobs across Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Shanghai focussed on professionals sent to mailboxes to its members. We will also have career guides and interviews packed in onto this membership site.
Do take a look at SpringcubeConnect- Jobs in Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Shanghai.
Jobs in Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Shanghai
Pink Slip Parties for the Unemployed
Pink Slip Parties or gatherings are a great way to find potential employers.
Do check out:
http://pinkslipparty.com/?cat=1
http://jobcircle.com/pinkslip/
Framework for Financial Success 2.0
We have done a 40 minute video on a framework to define financial success for anyone looking to obtain quick changes and results in their lives (assuming you apply this diligently and stay focused). It’s not meant to be exhaustive but really a sort of map and reminder on things and concepts you should apply to your life. We’ve compiled this through our own experiences and also talking to many successful executives on key concepts and values they look at. Use this really as a launchpad to lead you on to many other forms of literature that would empower you life.
Enjoy! Click here
You’ll also get this and more detailed guides from our career guides download site.
Learning Mandarin Chinese quickly
Growing up in Malaysia, I did not grow up speaking Mandarin Chinese at all. In fact, I also can’t read Chinese even though I am ethnically Chinese. What I did was I learnt it the hard way - by practising and using it on a daily basis and I also used this great course from Rocket languages.Click Here!
Check out my Video on learning chinese quickly and also checkout Rocket languages Mandarin chinese course….I highly recommend it. It’s a great reference and learning guide which is easy to use with great audio and visuals with very clear step by step approaches. Of course nothing beats using it on a daily basis as well.Click Here
Acquisitions and Mergers are not only for large companies
Contrary to what most people think, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) are seen to be corporate exercises which only affect large companies. In essence, M&A is an exercise which combines 2 different companies or businesses together for purposes of bringing the combined entities to greater growth potential.
Check out more of this in a video i did here at http://www.screencast.com/t/U5k2auFrM
It’s time to prepare yourself for an Initial Public Offering (IPO)!
Contrary to what people tell you, there are plenty of reasons one should considering going public with in the next 18 months. To capture the potential capital gains upside and being one of the 1st to ride the wave when the market comes back. While we can’t time the market, it’s always good to prepare for these things. What do i mean when i say preparation?
-Cleaning up your books, write off long standing debt, dispose the unprofitable businesses, restructure the weak aspects of your business.
-Determine how eligible you are to raise public funds. Doing it now in jurisdictions which require approval can be a good time as requirements are less stringent and bars may be lowered as well. If you’re making money, you’ll get even more attention!
Check out the rest of the information in this short video I created below:
http://www.screencast.com/t/uUpr8ldVGAy
How to use other people’s money for business
By Matthew Lesko
“Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant.”
- P.T. Barnum
John Ray, the famous 17th century author, was known to have
written the aphorism, “Money begets money.” In the business
world, I’m sure you’ve also heard the saying, “You’ve got to
have money to make money.”
There are countless sources of cash, but by far, the best one to
utilize for your business is … other people’s money.
Perhaps one of the greatest “secrets” of the richest people in
the world is summed up in those 3 words: Other People’s Money -
OPM for short. If you took a cross-section of the most
affluent business people, you’ll find that the majority of them
launched their fortunes using OPM. In the next few minutes, I
will show you how you can obtain other people’s money for your
business. What you do with the money, however, is up to you -
but if I were you, I’d take P.T. Barnum’s advice, and make money
your servant so that you, too, you can make your own fortune.
The use of other people’s money has become such an ethical and
acceptable mainstay in business because one can leverage other
people’s money to your benefit.
For example, you can leverage borrowed money into high-yield
investment programs that could generate a return that would then
pay back your lender and line your pockets as well. Or you can
leverage borrowed money into asset-producing or
income-generating real property. Or you can simply borrow money
to start or grow your business.
The benefits to using OPM are obvious: 1) When you use other
people’s money, especially within the parameters of a
corporation, your debt is assigned to your business, and your
debtors can make no claims against your personal finances; and
2) the infusion of cash allows you to have money to make money
for your business.
Of course, even with the proliferation of lending institutions
and venture capitalists, it is often difficult to obtain other
people’s money.
Well, since Wall Street Journal has kindly called me a man who
“finds answers in unlikely places,” I’m going to reveal an
unlikely place where you can obtain other people’s money. This
one is available to all, and yet very few ever take advantage of
it. It’s the federal government.
I’ve coined a phrase for this source of money: I call it “other
taxpayers’ money” - OTM for short. The federal government has
millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money allocated to funding
businesses like yours.
Here are a few great sources of OTM:
1) If you want to get training and/or money to start your own
business, millions of dollars are available at www.sba.com.
They’ll also show you how to find alternative sources of
financing, how to protect your invention, how to sell your idea,
how to license your product, how to write legal contracts, how
to sell overseas, and how to buy business equipment.
2) If you want money to export and sell products to foreign
countries, you can obtain it from the Export-Import Bank of the
United States at www.exim.gov. Or you can go to The Overseas
Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) at www.opic.gov.
3) If you want to obtain government contracts, then access the
Procurement Assistance Offices online. Here, you’ll learn how
to draw up a business plan that’ll get your business noticed.
They can match the product or service you’re selling with the
appropriate agency, and then help you market to them more
effectively. You can find these programs at www.dla.mil.
4) If you need venture capital for a new or existing business,
then you need to go online and access the Small Business
Investment Company (SBIC). These are privately-organized and
privately-managed investment firms that are licensed by the
Small Business Administration (SBA). With their own capital and
with funds borrowed at favorable rates through the federal
government, SBICs provide venture capital to small independent
businesses, both new and established. You can access them at
www.sba.gov/INV.
5) If you need free help or want to learn how to do your own
personal or business taxes? All you have to do is access
www.irs.ustreas.gov/prod/bus_info-bus_help.html.
You can also obtain a free 26-page book on the Internet called
The Credit Process: A Guide for Small Business Owners. It’s
written for small business owners seeking financing for the
first time. It covers sources and types of financing; funding
resources; preparation of a business plan; preparation of loan
applications; and action to take if a loan is denied. It also
contains an especially useful and comprehensive glossary of
finance terms, agencies, and fair lending regulations.
Please click here to download the e-book
========================================
Matthew Lesko is a New York times syndicated columnist, and author
of 2 New York Times best-sellers. He is regularly featured as the
nation’s top expert on government freebies on TV programs such as
Larry King, Oprah, David Letterman, Jay Leno, the Today Show and
Good Morning America. His latest book, “Free Money for Entrepreneurs
on the Internet” identifies hundreds of little-known sources of
free government money for “net-repreneurs” and reveals the
secret formula for easily obtaining the money for your business.
Happiness is often the result of being too busy to be miserable
I just came across this quote today and I feel it’s apt for me to share this sage advice. I have always viewed our daily life as pretty much rolling dice, you can’t really get sixes all the time…and so we have to roll again and again until we get the sixes. But if you take this further and focus on rolling the dice with the goal have getting the sixes, the faster and more you role, the chances of getting the sixes will be higher…..so focus on rolling the dice and you won’t feel the misery of getting the crappy ones and twos….
Job Title: Marketing Director, Asia Pacific
Job Title: Marketing Director, Asia Pacific
Posting Date: 05 Apr 2009
Job Industry: Technology
Specialization: Marketing
Years of Working Experience: 12
Location: Singapore
Salary: Competitive
Minimum Qualification: Degree
Job Description:
Our client is a US based technology company and currently seeks a highly strategic and dynamic Marketing Director for Asia Pacific. The position will be based in Singapore and will develop GTM strategies, product branding & positioning, demand generation programs and play a key role in setting the direction of the business along with the senior management team.
Ideally, you will have experience working in a software environment covering Asia Pacific and have led a team for the past 3-5 years.
Requirements
- Master’s Degree / Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Marketing
- Experience in ERP, CRM or Business Intelligence applications
- Minimum of 8 years of related experience with at least 4 years of a successful track record managing (directly or indirectly) 5-10 people in a marketing or business development capacity.
- Has in-depth experience developing marketing strategies that drive revenue growth and pipeline health within customer segments and in both direct and through-partner sales models.
- Has experience aligning market/industry priorities with the company’s sales and solutions objectives
- Has experience successfully collaborating and managing by influence (of non-reporting groups/individuals).
- Focused more on team performance than their own performance; measures his/her success by having each team member meet or exceed targets.
- Is adept at developing the skills of team members by understanding their individual requirements and providing the right coaching and mentoring activities to close gaps in performance
- Has strong business planning skills and encourages team members to develop targeted plans.
Interested candidates please send an updated CV to julianchu@springcube.com for an open discussion.
Itunes at stanford is a great tool for learning
I am sure you’ve heard about the very cool podcasting course on developing iphone applications on itunes from Stanford university. Apart from this course, there are plenty of other courses in the itunes service from Stanford and it’s all for free!
Google Ventures Invests in all industries
Google’s USD 100 Million fund is not exactly the largest fund around. That’s fine if you don’t really intend to invest in large amounts in deals which are otherwise to rich in valuation or too late in the game. From what I am able to deduce, Google Ventures is not a strategic venture capital arm but is supposed to be run like any other generalist VC. It’s ROI driven apparently. Of course looking at their first 2 investments seem to show anything but that. Again, you don’t expect google to invest in the next solar powered cigarette lighter….
Am pretty sure deals are already turning up left, right and center.
But really if you only have 2 partners on the team…you should apply via a reference, i don’t think 2 people have the capacity to look at every deal which comes through. As with all things google, automation is key, so do expect to use some good keyworkds folks, will you?
Making Money from Online Advertising
Generating money from a blog or a site is not something you can do overnight, it requires a fair bit of patience and dedication. It is after all a media business, how long do you think it took Rupert Murdoch to build his newspaper and subsequent media empire? - A lot of burnt cash and time to build eyeball loyalty and reputation. It is no different on the Internet.
Internet advertising is indeed a tried and tested model of the Internet and this can be pretty much divided into three categories from my perspective:
Banner advertising - banner ads have been pretty much the key form Internet advertising since Doubleclick came up with the first internet ad in the 90s and they continue to be the key form of brand advertising and still constitute 50-60% if online advertising. The largest sites in the world such ash MSN.com, Yahoo typically have their own sales team but also have partners in their stable called ad networks. In Asia, Pixel Media, Interactive Hub, Admax, Allyes, Alimama are some the key banner ad networks around. Many try to work on an exclusive basis on the publisher side depending on the maturity of the market. Countries such as China and Vietnam do not usually practice exclusivity. Increasingly smaller sites including blogs are being monetized and I would recommend Nuff Nang, a blog ad network now in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Australia. This is usually on a CPM (Cost per 1000 impressions), Cost per unique visitors or cost per duration basis in Asia. Other self service banner ad services include AdBrite and advertlets. A highly recommended service i use are Facebook Ads which run on a CPC basis but has click through rates due to its rather untapped ad inventory ad the moment.
Paid search and Search engine advertising are ads paid on a Cost per Click basis and primarily served with Google Ad words. You probably should just focus on this if you’re looking for lead generation marketing. Facebook ads are the other ones.
Affiliate marketing - Affiliate ads are programmes which enable lead generation commissions to be earnerd by site owners. All you need to do is sign up with an affiliate programme you would like to promote say - iTUNES or Virgin’s affiliate programme on your site, you’ll get paid a commission upon the sign up, payment or any action the affiliate merchant is willing to pay you for. This is typically called a cost per action.
Mobile ad networks - There is a lot of untapped potential at the moment in terms of monetization on the mobile web, the key form of advertising here are mobile banners and SMS (in Asia primarily) but the largest mobile ad networks around are AdMob and Buzzcity in Asia. Adult content seem to be very popular on these networks.
5 tips to acing your job interview
These are tips we feel are invaluable in every job interview:
1. Know the company you’re applying to inside out, go to wikipedia, google it, exhaust the website and know the people behind the company and the latest news about the company and it’s leaders, know their competitors too…
2. If there are case studies as part of the interview process or if you expect technical questions coming your way, try to brush up a few days before especially if you’re not familiar with it.
3. Please do not name drop.
4. Don’t apply to every job you see. Realistically look at your skill sets and narrow down 2-3 different types of role you are suitable for, pick 10 companies for each of the roles and apply to them. If you can, try to know or find out who the to know who the hiring managers or HR contacts you can talk to.
5. Always differentiate yourself through by knowing what the interviewer or the company requires from you (Doing point 1 will have given you an idea, if you had done enough research). It’s like selling a product - you need to know what the ‘customer’ wants.
Dealing with stress, anxiety and panic attacks
It’s not surprising that dealing with stress remains one of the most difficult things in getting through our daily trials and tribulations. Stress management is really managing our own minds. And so it sounds simple but we all know the first battle we need to win is the one with our own minds. Because our mind dictates our physical well being as well, bad stress management usually has a strong negative effect in terms of how we cope physically especially weight gain. While I am no stress management expert what I would like to share is really some frameworks we can use to help us calm our minds:
-from Fear
-dealing with problems, what ifs and past mistakes
-from unclear thinking/too many distractions, unsystematic mind
-to help us focus and prioritize
I have used the system by Silva Ultraminds to keep me ’sane’ and focused so to speak.
- Applying the concept of mindfulness - focusing on the present and not things that have happened in the past or things one would think can happen in the future.
-Exercise control over your mind through Meditation - instilling calm into the perennial ‘Monkey’ so to speak.
-Learn to control your mind by first being aware of your thoughts - just observation of your thoughts and being aware of them. You’ll realize your mind really is a monkey.
-Once you get used to this, the next step is to learn to suppress and control these thoughts; this one takes time, effort and practice. Once you have control of this - you can pretty much reduce the stress that comes your way.
Being a Catholic, I also employ many buddhism principles in my life and find them really useful especially the Dhamma talks of Ajahn Brahm, a jovial monk based in Western Australia ( who happens to have a Masters in Theoretical Physics from Cambridge University). This guy is buddhism’s ‘Rock Star’ if you get my drift.
I’ve compiled his Youtube videos here. Do have a good listen.
For more serious panic attacks. I would also recommend “Panicaway.com” who have a great course on panic attacks and dealing with it quickly. It’s one of the best sites I’ve been to in giving straight to the point advice.
The law of attraction and getting the job you want
Do you remember that first spark of hope you felt when you watched The Secret? I clearly remember the desire that filled my heart, knowing that – Yes, I can make my dreams come true – FINALLY!
But how many of you soon saw that hope dwindle into frustration? How many of you (and be honest now) started muttering things like:
- “It seems to work for other people, but I just can’t get it right.”
- “I’m frustrated that sometimes I can get it to work, but sometimes I can’t. What’s the trick?”
- “Why am I having so much trouble?”
- “I think the universe is against me.”
- “I’m trying very, VERY hard but still nothing is happening!”
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. About 97% of people also couldn’t make the Law of Attraction work for them the first time round. Think about it, just like anything else, you have to practice many times before you see success. A child doesn’t learn to walk without falling over a couple of times, right?
But in practice, everything is easier said and done. When you’re frustrated, it’s hard to stay positive. And it’s especially harder to stay positive when the evidence all around you is screams negativity like the unstable economy or senseless acts of violence such as those recently seen in Mumbai.
And do you know what happens when you fail to stay positive? That’s right – you start attracting negative things in to your life.
So how can you make the Law of Attraction work for you – without getting frustrated? How do those who successfully implement the Law of Attraction do it with such confidence and finesse?
Well, here’s three quick tips so you will never feel frustrated or tired of begging from the universe, because you know how to start manifesting like a pro.
1. Allow Yourself To Receive
Just like a lost child who approaches a police officer and asks, “Excuse me Sir, can you tell me how to go to the post office? Can you? Can you? Can you? Can you? Can you?” Well, if the child goes on and on asking, the police officer can’t even give an answer, right?
Well, it’s the same thing with your mind. If the only thing your mind is doing is transmit, transmit, transmit, the universe — which is trying to respond — can’t give you a single thing because you’re not allowing yourself to receive!
So, have the confidence in yourself and stop exhausting yourself by running around person to person begging for riches, and then wondering why nobody is dropping a penny in your cup (Hint: It’s because you’re running away too fast for them before they can even reach for their wallets).
Just think of your desires and leave it out there, go away, and trust that your cup will be filled with gold coins (or whatever it is you asked for) when the time is right.
2. Be Patient With Yourself
Receiving takes time.
Sadly, many people give up just a couple of steps before the finish line because they’ve decided that if it’s not working by now, it’s never going to work at all. Worse still are those who throw in more and more energy because they think that with more resources, the results will come faster.
This is like expecting 9 mothers to conceive and deliver a baby in 1 month. You also can’t bake cookies in half the time by doubling the temperature. You’ll incinerate those cookies to ashes!
In simple terms: Everything in this world has a natural development time, and this fact will not change no matter what resources you throw at it.
So relax and be patient. Remember that you too, as part of the universe, are also governed by the laws of the universe, and you cannot change the natural development time.
If you remember this, you will less likely work yourself up into frustration, or worse, push yourself into a downward spiral of negativity.
3. Support and Educate Yourself
Like the child who is learning how to walk, you need support. You also need to guidance on how to do it, and also the role models to look up to.
Many people give up because they think that “The Secret” is the “be all and end all” solution. Well, it’s NOT. “The Secret” is just a small portion. It was never intended, and has never been, the whole answer.
Coming to the conclusion that the Law of Attraction doesn’t work when all you ever did to educate yourself was watch “The Secret” 19 times (without looking at changing the habits of other areas of your life) is like coming to the conclusion that exercising is not an effective way to lose weight because all you did is run on the treadmill for 2 hours a day (but you’re still stuffing yourself with fried foods and cheesecakes).
So seek and be hungry for new knowledge. Also, make an effort to be amongst people or communities where you can support each other, learn from each other and also share new knowledge that you have found.
While the Law of Attraction is not an overnight delivery service, it will indeed deliver, if you do your part too!
Check out the site here – go to
http://www.the11forgottenlaws.com
Top industries you can rely on for a job..for now
Based on compounded 5 year revenue growth and latest quarterly earnings. Likely places you can find a job or may have vacancies, positions for employment.
1. Telecom and mobile operators - China Mobile, ATT, BT
2. Pharmaceuticals- Abbot laboratories
3. Agriculture, Monsanto, Cargill
4. Consumer Food Products - Nestle, Danone
5. Tobacco and Beverage - BAT, Diageo, Philip Morris
6. Technology enablers - Google
Cannot find a job? - The Internet can put food on your table
I have been in the venture capital business for the past 10 years and have invested over 10 companies , of which 3 were taken public. Since starting my blog I’ve taken a strong interest in the world of internet marketing….Yes, I know, I know, there has been a certain backlash against affiliate marketing, black hat SEO and google ad scams but if you really look at the core concept of monetizing traffic driven through social media sites, blogs or search engine traffic into a powerful emailing list, it does not sound superbly unique. Not until you hear about one man shows clocking USD 2 Million a year in revenues. I was shocked and of course very sceptical until I went to meet up with these people personally and finally invested in a few that i realize - Internet marketing is the real deal - it is compelling.
Internet marketing business models can essentially be made up of:
1. Affiliate business models - esentially being a reseller of other people’s products through your own email list or originated traffic.
2. Digital e-commerce - Sale of digital products including software, music
3. Online Publishing - e-books and also ad based online publishing
3. e-commerce - Sale of products including drop shipping through e-bay auctions, amazon.com, e-commerce portals.
The compelling factors in an internet marketing business is
1. The deployment of a system- never has business models been so automated (after McDonalds that is) until we brought content management, video/website production, online advertising, e-mail autoresponders, payment systems into integrated packages simple and cheap enough for the man on the street to deploy. The irony of this is companies are even slower in adopting this than my grandmother.
2. High scalability - once you have a system in place (be it affiliate or digital e-commerce), you can pretty much roll it out with minor tweaks in terms of product selection and copywriting.
3. Addressing the global market - because you are selling or marketing on the internet - the world really is your oyster.
4. Tools! - Faster, better, cheaper - this is really the competitive advantage, because the business system is automated, one can get to focus the key aspects of the business such as copywriting, product development and identification -so instead of taking 10 man hours to earn USD 1000, you can probably earn on average 5 times more efficiently than usual.
5. It doesn’t take a genius to deploy this system and earn some money - Quickly. If you’re savvy and organized enough to treat this like any business - putting in hard work and the hours - this business model will fly- It has what i call a supremely high ROE (Return on Effort)
6. It does not take lot of money to set up.
Now, let’s just put this into context. It’s not as if you’ll be instantly rich if you do this - what i am trying to impress upon you is the fact that this is just like any other business, you still need hard work, passion, a good product, good marketing strategy but with all the advantages mentioned above.
I’ve looked at tons of materials and guides online and nitromarketing’s suite of products come out tops. These guys clocked USD 18 million in sales from the sale of their guides and tools. Of course, they’re making money by selling you the shovels. Nothing really wrong with that but it’s not just ‘Shovels’ that determine the market; personal development books and products garner a large share of the market too.
Please click here for Nitromarketing’s site
Top 5 ways you can earn/save cash flow if you lose your job
1. Move out of your swanky apartment or better still - go back packing in South East Asia - flights are cheap now anyway, accommodation is dirt cheap and and you’ll probably extend your monthly cash flow by another 2-3 months. I am not kidding you.
2. Learn to sell effectively- spend money on this and get a good coach and go out there and fail as much until you get your first sale, try to give yourself one and half months to get some traction on your first sale…
3. Go back to your best customer/company’s best customer (assuming you have no non competes) and do something on the cheap.
4. Find a profitable trading product, finance the inventory with your credit card and sell it online.
5. Become a reseller for something you’re familiar with and sell.
Learn like the guy in ‘Good Will Hunting’
If you have seen the movie Good Will Hunting, you may remember this as a movie about how a prodigy learns structured higher education learning from just books he reads from the public library.
It sounds like a load of bollocks but to be honest, I truly subscribe to it. There really isn’t a need to pay US 150,000 for a good education you can otherwise teach yourself. The problem is not we have a lack of resources or information, it’s how it’s being organized and what we need to prioritize. It’s that bloody 80/20 principle again. Richard Koch, the Boston Consulting Group Partner did after all give us LEK consulting, betfair and a host of other fabulous companies.
So to reiterate, learning quickly and learning to be an expert in many things is possible - because to be honest, there is really no such thing as structured education- it’s about how structured your own brain is and how you apply those frameworks yourself to learning. Thomas Edison had no formal education - I don’t think they ever had MIT postgrad degrees at the point in time, all he had was a library and he asked a lot of questions.
The point here is this - in Springcube Media (we give out career guides and mini MBA booklets), we apply this principles very closely -we always believe that if you put your mind to something - you can learn and be good at it. I only had lower secondary school knowledge of accounting when i first started my job in Venture capital. I was churning out financial and valuation models after 6 months. I had not formal education but I structured my mind to learn and focused on it until I knew I could make a living doing that.
I’ve included my favorite scene of the movie which really captures what I truly believe as Ivy league learning at your own backyard….by the way everyone should check out the free courses they have online on the MIT Open courseware website, where you can practically get all the MIT Course notes and reading list for free on the web at ocw.mit.edu
Of course Springcube’s learning tools at www.springcubemedia.com aims to do the same to your career by making someone more business savvy and sharper in thinking…
Enjoy….
Where are the bankers going to go?
Investment banking is no longer what it used to be they say. But where have all the bankers gone?
-While many have stashed up reserves to last them a long time and have just (especially senior positions) taken forced leave so to speak, many in the lower rungs are left in the lurch and out of the job.
-If you’re one of these people, these are a few tips on what you can do in these lousy times:
-Work with a more senior person or band a team of 2 or 3 to focus on low hanging fruits like corporate restructuring and sale of distressed assets.
-Joining another firm may not be such a good idea unless you have cash flow problems, you’ll be working twice as hard for half the money.
-Go learn mandarin in China.
-Do pro bono work to get experience if you’re relatively junior.
-Learn to play the piano like John Legend….
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