July 31, 2008 By

Order Malaysian Food Online at MangkukTingkat.com

mangkuk-tingkat

My mom used to call it "tiffin carrier". They call it "mangkuk tingkat". It’s making a comeback, although this time with the power of the Internet.

At MangkukTingkat.com you can order Malaysian food and get it sent to your home, perfect for busy Klang Valley people who unfortunately have very little time to eat or sleep. New customers pay a deposit of RM30, and with this service you can get both lunch and dinner with a different menu every day. Delivery charges of RM1.50 apply or you can also go collect it yourself.

www.MangkukTingkat.com for details.

Filed Under: Website Reviews Tagged With: , ,
July 31, 2008 By

Max Banner Ads Review – Manage Blog Banners

max-banner-ads

Pawan Agarwal has released yet another monster WordPress plugin, and this time it’s something all blogger, black hat or white hat or “gray hat”, can benefit from.

Max Banner Ads is a plugin that will help you manage, rotate, organize and track advertising on your site, including Google AdSense, banners, JavaScript ads (like from CJ) and even flash-based ads. As a matter of fact, you can actually use Max Banner Ads to rotate, manage and track almost any kind of content you want.

The really cool thing about Max Banner Ads is that it’s 100% plug-n-play and trust me you don’t have to copy and paste a single line of code, although those codes are still made available for more advanced users.

Create Your Own Banner Ad Zones

max-banner-ads-2 This is what makes this WordPress plugin totally plug-n-play. You can effortlessly create banner ad zones for your blog, and you can choose to either:

  • Display ads before the first post of your blog
  • Display banner ads at the bottom of the last post
  • Display banner ads within the post content

You can choose the layout, either:

  • Fixed alignment – left, center or right
  • Randomize the position (great for Google AdSense within the post content)
  • Display it as a WordPress widget in your sidebar
  • Edit the CSS and match your blog layout

Adding New Banners and AdSense

Adding new banners is really easy too. A cool feature here is to just copy and paste the advertising codes given by the publisher, and Max Banner Ads will automatically extract the image as well as the URL into the system. You can also easily upload banners from your PC.

Adding javascript ads (Google Adsense or codes from networks like CJ or PepperJam) is simple, just copy and paste into the space provided. However script ads don’t produce statistics and it’s not possible to track clicks on them.

max-banner-ads-3

Here how the tracking and reporting page looks like. At a glance you can see not only the impressions and clicks, but you can also see the actual banners (unless it is a javascript).

max-banner-ads-1

Free or Paid?

Max banner ads is available both as a free or paid plugin. Both version work the same except that the paid version allows you to remove the “Powered By Max Banner Ads” link at the bottom of all your banner ads. However, if you do upgrade to Max Banner Ads Pro you can still use it on an unlimited number of blogs, so $47 is well worth the price of looking like a professional.

Get the pro version here.

Filed Under: Free Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,
July 30, 2008 By

WP Blaster: Blogging Automation Tool for WordPress

post-blaster There’s a new autoblogging tool on the market, and it’s called “WP Blaster“. It works as a WordPress plugin that you install on one blog. You specify the URL of the other blogs you want to “blast” your posts to. Then when you publish a post, the same post is then syndicated to all the other WordPress blogs you’ve specified.

Essentially, what you’re doing is creating multiple copies of the same post and this raises the issue of having duplicate content. That’s why this plugin is meant to work with another plugin from the same developer known as Synonymizer.

The Synonymizer plugin will take any article, and spin it around while replacing word with synonyms, therefore creating a more unique version of the article itself. On it’s own Synonymizer is a great tool if you want to use PLR articles and content on your blog as this solves your duplicate content worries to an extent, although you cannot really get a 100% unique article out of it.

With both the plugins installed, this is how the process looks like:

wp-blaster-process

It goes without saying that not everyone would agree to the “morality” of doing something like this as you may get “penalized” by Google, become an outcast of society and eventually go to hell.

If you think that’s all crap however and prefer to beat your own path, make sure you also understand what it takes to be successful using autoblogging techniques. Not recommended for newbies who are still struggling to set-up their first blog.

Get it here: WP Blaster

Filed Under: Free Tips Tagged With: , ,
July 30, 2008 By

Packaging; Makeover Your Older Sites For New Sales

web-graphcis-monthly

Although I graduated with a degree in “Multimedia Marketing”, perhaps the only thing I remember from college are The 4Ps of Marketing namely:

  1. Product
  2. Price
  3. Packaging
  4. Promotion

(A friend told me that they added a fifth P to it, for Pray.)

Sometimes a product gets old and jaded in a marketplace, and instead of going about creating new products you can simply revive the old one by tweaking a few of the Ps.

Now as a student of marketing, I understand very well the effect of Packaging in the overall process. Even if your product is the best in the world, it has very little perceived value if the packaging sucks. A mediocre product with excellent packaging on the other hand can do pretty well in the marketplace. A truly great product with excellent packaging is the ultimate, and not many companies (except Apple) can get it right.

So if you have an older site and you want to jazz it up and get more sales, here’s what you can do:

  1. Make updates and add a “Version 2″ or “Second Edition” to visible areas on the site, including the banner of your site and the product e-cover
  2. Hire a good web designer to make your theme more “current”, for example I got Design Guru Ryan to give my Web Graphics Monthly site a more modern look
  3. Update image and outdated screenshots on your sales page (hint: next time take screenshots without actual dates if possible)
  4. Create new marketing graphics and banners

With these 4 simple steps, a product or website that used to be scorching hot can be revived and made more appealing.

Think how many times TV manufacturers, car manufacturers, book publishers and landlords repackage the same stuff (or add on a little to it) to make it seem like a new product altogether. If it works for them, it can work for your home based business as well..

Filed Under: Home Business Tagged With: , , ,
July 28, 2008 By

BarCamp Malaysia Rocked

IMG_1415 by jan geirnaert in malaysia.

BarCamp Malaysia totally rocked. Even though I was there only on the first day, I definitely picked up a thing or two about the latest technologies, and even got inspired to get on tack in my own business.

The sessions called ‘Malaysian Entrepreneurs Going Global" was without doubt my favorite. Four experiences Malaysian entrepreneurs line up to share their experiences with you, including Ganesh from Malaysia Online (MOL) and Vishen from Mind Valley. These guys really know what they are talking about, and the open-flow topic was how Malaysian entrepreneurs can compete at a global scale.

I also met dozens of bloggers in the "Blogging in Malaysia", some of them also covered the event:

Filed Under: Seminars & Events Tagged With:
July 26, 2008 By

Marketing Without A Mission Statement?

Sometimes common sense is the hardest thing to grasp, when you’re so deep into “savvy marketing” and “Web 2.0″. Riding the wave of new marketing technology, we sometimes forget to implement basic marketing concepts such as a “mission statement”.

I’m not talking about the type of stuff you’re forced to memorize at work, the ones that go like “We strive to achieve excellence and serve the regional markets to provide better value-added services and increase our shareholder’s value..”

Those type of statements are crap, simple because (1) they are not memorable (2) they mean nothing.

If you’re trying to get opt-in leads from your e-mail marketing campaign, you need a “mission statement”. My definition; a simple statement of an achievable goal; of what someone should expect to get from surrendering their name and email address to you.

For example:

  1. Master the guitar in 30 days
  2. Lose 30 pounds in 2 weeks
  3. Quit your day job in 14 weeks

I was looking at my opt-in boxes for Internet Millionaires Club and I realized that it needs a stronger “mission statement”. Something that would spark the imagination (and curiosity) of potential subscribers.

So here’s the mission statement I created:

millionairemission-big 

You may or may not agree with me, and I may or may not have hit the nail on its head. But don’t you agree that you need to set yourself apart from everyone else in your market?

Filed Under: Email Marketing Tagged With: ,
July 24, 2008 By

Inflation Rate of 7.7% For Malaysia

The Star today reported that Malaysia’s inflation rate hit a 27-year high of 7.7% in June 2008, compared to 3.8% in May 2008. It almost doubled in a period of one month mostly due to the increase in petrol price.

This is generally speaking, bad news for most Malaysians as a high inflation rate can compound itself over the next few months and cause other side effects like increase in interest rates. If your salary does not increase by at least 8% this year, then you aren’t really getting an increase in income.

By taking a stroll in Mid Valley or One Utama in the weekends though, you may not see the effect as major shopping centers are still crowded. Perhaps less crowded than before, who keeps track anyways? I do believe that most Malaysians in Klang Valley have a high level of disposable income so this group may not be effected as mush as the lower income group in the early stages, however if the high inflation continues you’ll definitely feel the pinch.

The nasi lemak outside my office increase from RM4 to RM4.50.

Filed Under: Malaysia Boleh Tagged With: ,
July 24, 2008 By

Wang Cyber Gathering for Malaysian Internet Marketers

logo WangCyber.com, an established Malaysian Internet entrepreneur portal, is holding their first ever gathering on August 3. If you want to meet local rising stars in the Internet marketing / e-commerce arena, this is where you should be.

WC 1st Gathering 2008
Tarikh : 3 Ogos 2008
Masa : 2 ptg – 6 petang
Tempat : Bukit Jalil Golf and Country Resort

To book your place and make a payment, please go here.

Here are some of the Internet marketers you should meet there:

  1. Shuth – www.mohdsuhaimy.com
  2. Sabri Saifulsham – www.saifulsham.com
  3. Yusry Jom Seminar – www.jomseminar.com
  4. Osman Affan – www.osmanaffan.com
  5. Fai – www.IMmalaysia.com
  6. Catzer – www.catzer.com
  7. Hasrul & Wife – www.hasrul.net
  8. Badruzamani – www.badruzamani.org
  9. Alang – www.szab.net
  10. Waidakmy – www.waidakmy.com
  11. Kodin – http://kodin.blogspot.com
  12. AzmanZainal – www.azmanzainal.com
  13. Ramfir – www.rammelfirdaus.com
  14. Fauzul – www.fauzulnaim.com
  15. Zhafran – www.flarebiz.com
  16. Gobala & 2 friends – www.internetmillionaires.com.my
  17. Deen – www.SimplyTranslate.net
  18. AfzaiAfandi – www.afzaiafandi.com
  19. Ubi – www.kartunisubi.com
  20. alhafiz3d – www.peng-u.net
  21. mzakimy – www.JomTraining.com
  22. noorizam – www.noorizamshah.com
  23. dynn – www.dynn.org
  24. labanon – www.teamflarebiz.com
  25. syed ikhwan – www.jomseminar.com
  26. azuzafu & kawan – www.digital-apprentice.com
  27. abg_x – www.aridztech.com
  28. nasrun – www.makmalcyber.com
  29. Zamri Nanyan – www.zamrinanyan.com
  30. Farid Sulaiman – www.rahsiakambing.com
Filed Under: make money online, Seminars & Events Tagged With:
July 22, 2008 By

ABU: A Political Statement On A Street Wall

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I was walking along lower Bangsar today to go to the pasar malam, and was quite intrigued to see, spray-painted on a wall, this message: ABU = Anything But UMNO

I thought it was rather funny so I took a picture of it. Anyone named Abu here?

Filed Under: General Tagged With:
July 22, 2008 By

BarCamp Malaysia, Get Your Technology Updates

barcamp-banner

Want to brush up on your knowledge of technology, Web 2.0 and the Internet? Attend  BarCamp Malaysia this 26 & 27 July and you surely will.

While some of the topics here may not be for you unless you’re a software / systems developer, there are some pretty interesting ones that I’m sure you can attend and learn from such as:

  1. Monetizing YouTube
  2. CMS Showdown
  3. Music 2.0: Community Building & Survival Guide
  4. Blogging in Malaysia
  5. Digital photography
  6. Online Marketing 2.0
  7. The Malaysian Free Software Movement: The Way Forward

See the entire schedule here. Walk-in registration, just show up and register yourself.

Filed Under: Technology & Gadgets Tagged With: