UNCONVENTIONAL WORLD RECORDS

On 1st November 2006 it was reported that Jackson Pollock’s “No.5, 1948″ was sold for USD140 million. Inflation-adjusted to March 2011′s it’s worth USD155.3 million (about half a billion ringgit).

It was reportedly sold by media mogul David Geffen to Mexican financier David Martinez. So two Davids doing good business here.

The price exceeds the USD135 million paid in June 2006 for a 1907 portrait by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt.

It’s a 4 by 8 ft work:

Created by dripping paint on canvas.

Zooming in, some details of the painting:

I am not a fan of abstract art, so suffice to say that if I had half a billion ringgit cash to spare, I’d probably spend it on other things instead.

But who was Jackson Pollock (above)?

Jackson Pollock is one of the 20th century’s most influential painters. His work had a major influence on art in the latter half of the 20th century, sparking the emergence of Abstract Expressionism. But in true rock star style, the artist battled alcoholism and depression and was generally regarded as a self-destructive, tortured genius. He died in a car crash in 1956, aged 44 while driving under the influence of alcohol.

Source

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Captainstarball has got to be the stingiest employer ever.

Need to do 2 posts a week (i.e. 8 posts a month), and the salary offered was USD10 a month! I think even Denver flower delivery jobs pay better. At least, as they say, I can wake up and smell the roses…

UPDATE: they’ve deleted the USD10 a month part and changed the sentence to: “To apply, please send an email to editor … with the following information…. A link to a writing sample and salary requirements.”

Source

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The Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) is a 1,000-acre regional industrial park providing integrated commercial and industrial zone, located along the Straits of Malacca, Port Klang, Malaysia.

The Port Klang Authority (PKA) oversaw the project.

The original cost of setting PKFZ up was less than RM2 billion but that amount ballooned to more than double when the project was completed 4 years later.

On 2nd September 2009, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) grilled former PKA general manager Datin Paduka OC Phang for more than 4 hours at the Parliament House.

Phang upon arrival

Conclusion: PAC chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid said the financial management of Phang and her team were “weak and poor”, but the most amazing thing he said was:

She doesn’t even know what we mean by cash flow projection.

The general manager of a multibillion ringgit venture who does not know something that even small business operators regard as basic? Is such a thing possible?

Source
The Star, 3rd September 2009

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On 15th November 2006 at the World Music Awards in London, Michael Jackson gave his final public performance, when he performed We Are The World with a choir of 50 children to an audience of 5,000.

His performance came after collecting the Diamond Award for having sold more than 100 million albums, the past winner of which included Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart and Bon Jovi.

The awards ceremony was televised to 160 countries.

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Dr Adolf Merckle, 75 of Germany was one of the richest people in the world, ranked number 94 by Forbes in 2008 at USD9.2 billion.

His family business controlled a number of German companies, including pharmaceutical company Ratiopharm and cement maker Heidelberg Cement.

He had 100,000 employees and boasted an annual sale of USD41 billion.

He was awarded his country’s highest award, the Bundesverdienstkreuz, in 2005.

He was said to enjoy skiing and mountain climbing.

So it seems he had achieved everything a man could ever hope for in life.

But no, life then threw him a curve ball which even a seasoned businessman of his stature could not handle.

He became severely depressed when his business empire ran into trouble in the ongoing global economic crisis: losing more than half a billion US dollars in 2008 due to “wrong-way bets on Volkswagen shares.”

He killed himself on 5th January 2009 when he apparently allowed himself to be run over by a train. His body was found on the tracks about 7.30 pm, only 300 meters from his house. A suicide note was found, its contents not revealed.

His family issued the following statement:

Adolf Merckle lived and worked for his family and his firms. The distress to his firms caused by the financial crisis and the related uncertainties of recent weeks, along with the helplessness of no longer being able to act, broke the passionate family businessman, and he ended his life.

He left behind his wife and 4 children.

Source
The BBC, 6th Jan 2009

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Here are some examples of classic advert campaigns gone wrong.

Product: Clairol Mist Stick
What is it: curling iron
Failed where: Germany
Why: “Mist” is German slang for “manure” or “excrement”. Germans didn’t want to be seen using a “shit stick”

Product: Rolls-Royce Silver Mist
What is it: luxury car
Failed where: Germany
Why: well, same reason as above

Product: Parker pens
Failed where: Latin America
Why: the slogan “it won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you”, translated into Spanish could read “it won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant.”

Product: Electrolux vacuum cleaners. Note: Electrolux is a Scandinavian company.
Failed where: USA
Why: the slogan “nothing sucks like an Electrolux”

Product: Apple Mac computers
Failed where: everywhere
Why: The “Lemmings advert” (1985) showed PC users, following one another over a cliff like lemmings, insulting them:

Click here to see the video

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According to its website, MFG.com is a privately held company founded in Atlanta in 2000 and is:

the largest online marketplace serving the global manufacturing community. Billions of dollars worth of discrete manufacturing services and industrial components are sourced online via MFG.com every year.

I wonder if they are aware that their company logo as prominently displayed on their website seems rather open to ridicule:

I think I heard someone say: What, you work for Oh My F**king God dot com???

The company’s website: http://www.mfgquote.com/

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Unsecured loan consulting and placement firm America One was established in 1999 and offers its services to both small business owners and general consumers across the country.

They had been the nation’s biggest provider of such services 7 years in a row and handles a whopping half a million applications every year.

The ideal customers for them are those that are looking into amounts of between USD10,000 and USD100,000. Any reasons are accepted: Business or Personal Loans.

Perhaps the thing most borrowers want to hear is that America One is exclusively dedicated to unsecured financing. This is in direct contrast to the practice of many financial instutions and banks. The result of America One’s practice is predictable: there are more approvals in Personal Loan applications and most importantly, satisfied customers.

So, check them out if you’re in the USA and looking for a Loan.

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In Wikipedia’s list of best-selling single-volume books of all time, only a few days after its launch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is already no.12 on the all-time list, having sold 72 million copies 2 days after its launch on 21st July 2007. It is not yet the best-selling book in the series (that title belongs to the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the USA), released 1997 and has sold 107 million copies, and at no.9 on the all-time list), but judging from the rate at which it is selling, looks destined to do so. Goodness knows what number it will eventually reach.

In comparison, the best selling book of all time is The Holy Bible, which has sold in the region of 5 to 6 billion copies. However, it should be noted that The Holy Bible has had a few hundred (or even thousands) of years head start, and is still selling now.

The rest of the all-time top 10 list is primarily made up of religious or political-type books, as listed below:

Click here to see the list

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techchee.com reports today that UK-based zopa.com is the first web 2.0 loan shark website in the world. Why so? Because it provides a platform for lenders to lend and borrowers to borrow from the lenders. No financial institutions in the middle. That sounds very loan shark-friendly to me. Zopa (Zone of Possible Agreement) calls itself “the world’s first online lending and borrowing exchange.” Simply put, it works as follows: (more…)

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Meet the real Mr Boring: Dean Boring, president of Boring Business Systems, a 50-employee company based in Florida.

Its products and services include imaging systems, imaging services, network services, office furniture and office supplies.

However, they seem to offer their services exclusively to Central Florida.

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… because no smoking is allowed. (more…)

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Ananova.com reports on 15 January 2007 that men from all over Europe, or more specifically bar owners, shopkeepers and shoppers are going to Bulgaria in droves to buy Boza beer, the so-called “breast-boosting beer.” No, not their own breasts, but rather their female partner’s. (more…)

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Pay packet and work pressure aside, wouln’t you want to work for a company that:

• allows you to bring your pet to work
• has annual all-expenses paid company skiing trip
• has free food, even the junk ones
• has lots of non-computer games: table football, pool
• has a free-to-use gym in the office
• has a free-to-use laundry room (more…)

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If it’s in North America, Europe or any of the affluent Asian or Middle Eastern countries, I wouldn’t be surprised. But according to a Reuters report on 18th December 2006, the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia is offering a hamburger that costs more than twice the monthly minimum wage in some parts of the country!

(more…)

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What can be more boring than trainspotting? Taking photos of car parks is surely high up on the list.

But, I suppose it’s all business.

Kevin Beresford’s hobby is this, for a 2007 calendar.

He has done something similar before, making calendars with pictures of roundabouts, and he had the last laugh, selling an amazing 60,000 copies.

source

Tags: car parks, photography, calendars, calendar, car park

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Kongo Gumi was establised in the year 578. It will close down in January 2007 after 1,400 years in operation: (more…)

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As reported by Forbes Magazine.

The purple-coloured “World Card” offered to private clients of Coutts & Co. is probably the rarest, most exclusive credit card of all. Only about 100 people are said to have been invited to join, including Queen Elizabeth II. (more…)

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Terrence D Chalk, 44, was CEO of Compulinx Managed Services Inc.

Pic above is from a newsrelease of hospiceofwestchester.com. Mr Chalk possibly the one on the left. (more…)

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http://8-topsites.com

http://digg4it.com (more…)

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Tech entrepreneur Mrs Ansari, 40 became the 4th space tourist, and the first woman, and of course the first Iranian.

Like the previous 3, she reportedly paid USD20 million (16 million euros) for the privilege.

But what interested me more was her life story which is truly inspiring:

She arrived in the US at age 18 totally unable to speak English.

But she proved to be a wizard at electrical and electronics engineering, and went on to earn her Master’s.

And she proved to be an even bigger wizard at being a techpreneur: founded a company making software for switching signals on phone networks. Knowledge gained at first and postgrad degress put to good use. I guess that would be good enough for a PhD, if she went for it.

But she reserved her best for last: selling her company for more than USD500 million at the height of the dot com boom just before the bubble burst.

So I think it’s safe to say she can afford to go up there.

Her quote is worth putting up: “People think they reach the height of their life at age 40. I’m hoping this is just the beginning of another hill that I will be climbing.”

source

Tags: anousheh ansari, ansari, space tourist

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Sexually active couple required to test a range of sexual health products designed to change the flavour of sexual fluids.

Terms and Conditions:

• Must be willing to provide a detailed blow-by-blow public account of how the taste of their partner’s sexual fluid changes during the 30-day trial.
• Payment offered.
• Must be willing to be pictured, though not necessarily in the act.
• Must have a good sense of taste and smell.
• Application form: http://www.lovehoney.co.uk/spermtester/

Tags: sperm+tester, sperm+tasting, world’s+worst+job

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At a mere 37, Datuk Vinod Sekhar is Malaysia’s richest thirtysomething with a fortune estimated at USD200 million (that’s more than RM700 million!).

He’s ranked the 16th richest Malaysian in 2006 by Forbes Magazine, just behind Tony Fernandez, 42 at USD205 million.
This is a case of son emulating father. In stark contrast to the rags to riches story of other Malaysian billionaires like Lim Goh Tong and Loh Boon Siew, Vinod came from rather intellectual background. (more…)

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Zorpia.com is a social networking website that provides a community setting for users to share unlimited photos, post journals or forum entries, and customize personal profiles and skins. It is similar to myspace, flickr, friendster, facebook, hi5, xanga, and tribe.net.

It was created by a 20-year old student from Hong Kong, Jeffrey Ng in Dec 2003. (more…)

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Good article at computerworld.com.

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After that USD26,000 real estate business investment milestone in 2004, now a cash card that allows gamers to spend money earned virtually has been launched. The card can be used at cash machines around the world to convert virtual dollars into real currency.

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Jon-Mook is very successful with his affiliate programs, reputedly earning USD80,000 in < 2 months, and most importantly, not stingy with tips and advice for others wanting to follow in his footsteps. (more…)

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The owner, Cosa Aranda is also very kind to share his experiences and tips, including his income. (more…)

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adsense-id.com

Potential goldmine for practical (i.e. tried and confirmed working) AdSense tips / tricks to increase your earnings. (more…)

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There are many, including Malaysia specific ones, then Asian ones, and so on.
Malaysia-specific ones are: (more…)

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Tazilan Ibrahim claimed to have found answers as to how to proceed with marketing his ideas from one of Irfan Khairi’s workshops, then proceeded to make RM1,000 within a month of launching of his website. (more…)

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originally from another blog. More detailed explanation on each point is there, but in essence, the 6 points are:

• Develop a marketable corporate persona
• Establish profitable relationships 
• Master transferable skills like goal setting, effective communication and time management 
• Stay motivated despite trying circumstances
• Get people to cooperate
• Be proactive about your career growth

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Less than a month (apparently middle of March) after I issued a warning on ST, and weathering vociferous voices of dissent, I was apparently proven right.

Related thread, long post in defence of ST and my posts mysteriously disappeared.
ST is no more, as of several days ago.

Who’s next? e-gold? Lamp Berger?

I guess StudioPay (M) Sdn Bhd will be no more soon, and the 2 names provided in lowyat.net forums could be brought to the book.
Death throe discussions:

• at lowyat.net
  

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via /. and minimsft

right now, there are people working within Microsoft wanting to fire the likes of CEO Steve Ballmer and Windows chief Jim Allchin.

If they could, that is…

At the very least, an interesting look into internal corporate grumblings.

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Courtesy of wongkeenhing.com

As liewcf said, after all is said and done, testing is the keyword i.e. you need to test what you’ve done.

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StudioTraffic is possibly the 2nd most popular “e-money” program in Malaysia after 12dailypro.

After reading about the 12dailypro issue, I started to look around if StudioTraffic also had problems.

Surprise surprise, it didnt have a few issues, it had tons of issues, even as far back as August 2005, which of course shows how out-of-touch I am in these things after my Spedia days.

• mypapit net article, Aug 2005
• a discussion at hyipdiscussion.com
• Whole blogs dedicated to ST bashing: studiotraffic.co.uk and studiotraffic.name

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Now that Charis Johnson‘s (yes, it’s a lady) 12dailypro is confirmed to be a ponzi scheme by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), I’m getting more than a little suspicious of all similar programs.

12dailypro apparently got 300K members with USD50mil in Stormpay, Johnson apparently pocketed USD1.9 million into her personal a/c. (more…)

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Great idea by Sunny Tan.

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By Iszuddin Ismail aka Kidino.

Good reads for online business tips.

An associate of Irfan Khairi.

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halimhazlin.com smells like Akmal Ariff’s dodgy tsunamiwang. My impression is that the website looks unprofessional, and too much emphasis on the money side of things (see “kejayaan kami“), rather than on the “love of the product”.

Probably the contents of his CD (on how to start a home-based mail order business) is already available elsewhere, under a different title, by a different author. Possibly C&P-ed content too.
A better deal is this, if it’s that good: let me see the CD, if I like it, I’ll pay for it, no questions asked, no need upfront payment.

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To me personally, Zulkifli’s website does not look professional at all – too many fonts, unattractive layout, banal design etc.

Does that matter? Yes, it put me off totally.

http://www.rahsiapemasaran.com/

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Like these 2 ladies are doing, plus my own comparison of the two:

• Ramona Ali
• better at flaunting her qualifications marketing herself
• been doing translations professionally since 2000
• overall, charges dearer
• can do 3500 words per day
• Sophia Jusoff
  
• more modest
• been around longer (since 1997)
• overall, charges cheaper
  
• can do max 2500 words per day

So I suppose that if you want to go for it, you’d have to charge less than USD0.10 (about 40 sen) per word, and name your site cheaptranslation.com

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Don’t do the same mistake as Norazman Abu Sahir at digital-reader.com with his book entitled “Rahsia pemasaran melalui Internet” (Internet marketing secrets). Do you think the book would’ve sold better had it contained the words “Jutawan” (Millionaire), like Irfan Khairi’s book.

Norazman’s book came out in 2003. Irfan’s book about 2 yrs later. Who’s more well-known now?

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Something to ponder.

Even Irfan Khairi’s investing in it.

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Saifulsham.com‘s (some kind of internet business “school”) first graduate, cheapestcovers.com looks very similar to Irfan Khairi’s reputedly most profitable of his 10+ e-businesses, ideabubble.com

Both do bookcover designs.

Cheapestcovers.com’s price is USD27, ideabubble.com’s is USD149.

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The first question I’d ask when enthusiastically recommended some product is: “what are its disadvantages?” or “what are its weak points?”

Hence, I almost never read marketing brochures/advertisements etc. Instead, I’d refer to independent reviewers, or even better, its competitor. It’s rather fun watching competing companies try to cut each other down.

So, how does Sen Ze’s ebook costing RM97 fare under skepticism?

According to this guy:

My cousin just bought Sen Ze’s Mini-Encyclopedia on set up your (sic) very own low-cost, high-profit Internet Business. After reading, I found its not worth buying. All the things mentioned you can easily get from online free articles.

One best part which I hate it is that he mention www.dogsworld.net owner making a living with thr site. I’ve studied the website dogsworld.net & I find it is rediculous. If this site can earn more than enough to make a living, then all folks here will be millioniare by end of the month. Check out the site on your own see to believe.

I’m not trying to be harsh but His book is not worth even trying. Its a junk.

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Sorry only in BM.

From a discussion forum in putera.com. Original link is here, see post no.25 in thread. His comment on Sen Ze‘s book and seminar is on the 4th para:

Ni just pendapat aku laa. Alu bukan nak provoke atau mempengaruhi minda sapa-sapa. Aku buat pendapat ni berdasarkan pengalaman aku yang dah dua tiga kali pergi seminar (berbayar dan free) pasal internet business dan beli buku pasal pasal benda ni.

Ok apa yang aku dapat buat rumusan memang betul ramai yang boleh dan dan jadi jutawan internet. But most of them jadi jutawan internet bukan disebabkan mereka menggunakan teknik yang unik tetapi mereka menjadi jutawan disebabkan menjual buku yang kononnya mengandungi maklumat RAHSIA untuk berjaya dalam internet. Sepanjang pengalaman aku dalam perniagaan internet sebenarnya TIADA RAHSIA. Sesiapa yang dah biasa dengan internet mungkin dah tahu apa-apa yang terkandung dalam buku-bulu / e-book pasal perniagaan internet.

Most of them yang buat pernigaan internet menjadi “kaya” adalah disebabkan menjual produk “know how / how to”. But kalau kita baca buku “know how / how to” 90% kita dah tahu even kalau kita ikut 100% satu persatu apa disarankan agak susah untuk berjaya.

Akuada beli buku dan pernah pergi seminar penulis terkenal Sen Ze pasal internet business. At the end of the day timbul persoalan kat kepala aku “Apa rahsia yang nak diceritakan???? apa yang ditulis semuanya common atau perkaa biasa dalam internet. Malahan hampir semua maklumat di dalam buku tersebut boleh di dapati secara MUDAH DAN PERCUMA di internet dengan menaip di google. So aku stuck kat situ .

Begitu juga dengan ebook tulisan jutawan internet terkenal Corey Rudl tak ada yang betul-betul dikatakan “magic” dalam bukunya most dah biasa kita dengar dan mungkin kita dah tahu. For sure kalau ada RAHSIA pun takkan diorang simply nak bagi tahu kat orang. ..Bukan rahsia lagi namanya… So aku stuck lagi kat situ.

OK dalam internet model perniagaan sentiasa berubah-berubah . memang betul di awal kemunculan internet dengan menjual produk “know how/how to” memang boleh jadi kaya raya. tetapi sekarang model business ini sudah diambang merudum. Ini kerana dah berjuta orang membuat benda yang sama sedangkan maklumat yang hendak disampaikan belum tentu memberi kesan paositif kepada pembaca. Most of them hanya TEORI but in real world….. Tapi kalau diimplemetasikan belum tentu sesuai dan boleh berjaya. Why macam aku cakap tadi model perniagaan sentiasa berubah. Malahan kandungan yang ada dalam buku-buku di kebanyakkanya “OUTDATED” dah tak berapa sesuai untuk di gunakan pada masa ni. That’s why kalau kita perhatikan kebanyak mereka beralih ke “offline model” dengan membuat buku berctak dan dijual di kedai buku dan membuat seminar (ini just pendapat aku)

Cuma yang aku repect penulis-penulis ni dia punya Sales letter memang power yang mana boleh convince orang ramai membeli buku tulisan mereka. Inilah RAHSIA sebenarnya. Once kita dapat buat Sale letter yang power ada kemungkinan kita boleh jual buku/produk kita dengan banyak. The rest semuanya common macam listing website kan major seacrch engine, directory, buat option untuk subcribe mailing list di website, iklan di google adsense, pay perclick, submit banner kat website lain dan yang lebih “ganas lagi” hantar bulk mail untuk dispamkan ke email.

Bagi mereka yang biasa dengan “money making opportunities” aku rasa mereka tentu tahu what kind of opportunities yang memang boleh buat duit di internet sekarang. Salah satu yang aku rasa popular sekarang macam “Autosurf program”. Even aku belum lagi involve dalam benda ni tapi banyak aku dengar dan baca diorang dah buat duit dengan benda ni. Ok sure benda ni pun akan merudum juga satu hari nanti sama macam jual produk know how/how to. Tapi kata orang “grab now before you loose”.

Yang betul true internet business model yang boleh sustain macam ebay, amazon dan di malaysia aku betul-betul repect lelong.com.my. Itu lah macam aku cakap tadi aku bukan nak provoke sapa-sapa ..tak salah kalau nak beli buku untuk menambah pengetahuan atau pergi keseminar semuanya baik untuk menambah ilmu. Cuma….don’t expect kita boleh run internet business right away after baca buku atau lepas balik dari seminar.banyak lagi yang kita kena tahu. Kekadang pengetahuan tu datang dari penglaman semasa membuat trial & error dan mungkin benda ni yang dipanggil magic. So itu jer aku nak cakap .BTW apa-apa pun rezeki diberi oleh tuhan berpandukan kepada apa yang kita buat..selamat berjaya

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…by someone who actually paid RM700+ and attended it in November 2005.

As told by pakdi.com

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putera.com is a portal for many things including forums. In the business forum section, as of writing time, the “Business” forum only has 1000+ posts, compared to “Career” with only 500+ posts which are both dwarfed by “e-duit (e-money)” with a whopping 6000+ posts, with warning some more.

Link

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http://www.wangcyber.com/

The forum is here.

Submit your comments/reviews etc.

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