Be The First One And Win The Game

The Sky's The Limit Challenge

2 Cute Teddy Bears As The Winning Prize Worth USD 50.00

I"m going do something different today - for sheer fun of it.

I was going through a blog (I can name his / her blog as that would give the game away!!) and found all these interesting photos of buildings.

For the first one person who can name me the exact locations or future locations of the buildings below correctly (just name the cities and countries would do), he or she will absolutely get the above pair of the teddy bears FREE worth USD 50.00 including shipping to your given address; courtesy of 100teddybear.

How about that?

Feel up to the challenge??

If so, write to me NOW... this challenge expires as soon as the first person is able to provide to me with the correct list of cities and countries of these buildings.

Good Luck!!

Building#13

Building#12

Building#11

Building#10

Building#9

Building#8

Building#7

Building#6

Building#5

Building#4

Building#3

Building#2

Building#1

Chapter 3 - Starting With WordPress

In this Chapter 3, I am going to attempt to provide the step to set up a blog with WordPress. It is good to have an identical blog at WordPress with the one that you have already done so with Blogger. The reason is just to get more exposure for your blogger by attracting more traffic what would be useful when you start doing the things to begin earning money with your blogs.

Now, let's begin.

Step 1. To to WordPress.

Step 2. Click on "Get a WordPress. Blog now >>".

Step 3. You will now enter a page with the title "Get your own WordPress.com account in seconds".

Step 4. Click "Register" located at the bottom of the page.

Step 5. Create your "Username".

Step 6. Create your "Email Address". Make sure you write your username and password something for future reference in case you have forgotten them.

Step 7. Check "I have read and agree to the fascinating terms of service".

Step 8. Click "Gimme a blog! (Like username.wordpress.com)".

Step 9. Complete your "Blog title". Keep your blog title as interesting and broad as possible so that it is relevant to many people. This is important to generate traffic and money in the months ahead.

Step 10. Choose "Language".

Step 11. Proceed to "Sign Up". This page will appear.

Check Your Email to Complete Registration

An email has been sent to xxxxxx@mail.com to activate your account. Check your inbox and click the link in the message. It should arrive within 30 minutes.

If you do not activate your account within two days, you will have to sign up again.

Update Your Profile!

If you haven't got your activation email why not update your profile while you wait?

First Name:
Last Name:
About Yourself:

Still waiting for your email?

If you haven't received your activation email yet there are a number of things you can do:

• Wait a little longer. Sometimes delivery of email can be delayed by processes outside of our control.
• Check the junk folder of your email client. The email sometimes ends up there.
• Have you entered your email address correctly? We think it's xxxxxx@mail.com but if that's wrong use the button below to fix it.
• If all else fails, contact us and we'll send you the activation email again.

If your email is incorrect, change it using this form and click "Update email". The activation email will be sent to your new address.

Email:

• Terms of Service
• Privacy
• Support
• Stats

Copyright 2007 Automattic, Inc.

An Joint

Step 12. An email will be sent to you. It looks like this. Click on the link to activate.

Howdy,

Thank you for signing up with WordPress.com. You are one step away from blogging at yongpoileong.wordpress.com. Please click this link to activate your blog:

http://wordpress.com/activate/xxxxxxxx

--The WordPress.com Team


Step 13. This will appear once activation is done.

Your Blog Title Appears Here

Username:

Password:

Remember me

• Get a free WordPress account »
• Back to My Travel Adventures And Encounters
• Lost your password?

Step 14. Key-in your "Username" and "Password". Now - You're ready to Rock And Roll!!

Step 15. Click on "New Post" or "Press This" on the top left and right-hand corner respectively to start writing your first entry.

Step 16. After completing your entry, just click "Save" (choose save if you wish to publish later) or "Publish" (choose publish if you wish to immediately post your writing for all to see) and your have now published your first blog entry with WordPress.

Congrulations!! You are now the rightful owner of two blogs. One at Blogger and the second being with WordPress.

Explore the pages of your WordPress Account. There you can choose the templates, edit your profile, change your password, change your email address, etc. Enjoy!!

Mistakes - No Fear

Learn from the mistakes of others.
You can't live long enough to make them all yourself

Live Like There Is No Tomorrow!!

Our lives tomorrow will be the result of our
attitudes and the choices we make today.


Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways.

Stephen Vincent Benét

-------------------------------------------

Only by going too far can one possibly find out how far one can go.

Jon dyer

Chapter 2 - Starting Your Blog

This chapter is meant for individuals who have not started up a blog. The steps provided below are simple small steps are easy to follow to begin the process of creating a blog. For those of us who are savvy with it we can help by just emailing these steps to someone who wishes to start a blog or to encourage someone to start one.

Starting to create one's own blog is simple enough. One has 2 popular free options. One can create a blog and have it hosted (all for free) at either Blogger or WordPress. For this chapter, I will cover Blogger.

1. Open your browser and go to Blogger.
2. Create an account where it states "CREATE YOUR BLOG NOW".
3. You will be prompted to choose a "USER NAME".
4. You will be prompted to "ENTER A PASSWORD".
5. You will be prompted to "RETYPE PASSWORD" to make reconfirm your password is correct.
6. Remember (write it down) your blog's URL address, user name and password. The user name and password will ensure you are the only one who can access and edit your blog.
7. Next step for you to choose a "DISPLAY NAME". It is the name that is posted at the end of each posting in your blog. Simply put - it's your signature.
8. Next step is for you to provide your designated email address. This email address is used for recovery of your user name or password just in case you have forgotten those details.
9. Check "I ACCEPT THE TERMS OF SERVICE".
10. Click "CONTINUE".
11. Enter your "BLOG TITLE". This is similar to the title of a book. Make it catchy and have the title envelop the essence of your passion for your blog.
12. Next step is to complete the "BLOG ADDRESS (URL)". Make sure the address is short, sweet and memorable. You cannot change this blog address once it is done.
13. Click "CONTINUE".
14. CHOOSE A TEMPLATE. Then click "CONTINUE". Choose a template of your choice for your blog's initial design (this can be changed later).
15. Start writing your first blog entry.
16. Go to the "POST OPTION" and edit the "DATE" and "TIME" you wish your first entry to be dated and timed.
17. "SAVE AS DRAFT" or "PUBLISH" your first post.

Chapter 1 - What Is A Blog?

What is a “blog”?

Short for "Weblog".

<World-Wide Web> (Commonly "blog") Any kind of diary published on the World-Wide Web, usually written by an individual. The home page usually shows the most recent article and links to earlier articles, the owner's profile and web logs written by the owner's friends. There is usually a facility for readers to add comments to the bottom of articles. There are many sites like http://blogger.com/ where you can create a blog for free. Many web logs consist almost entirely of links to other web logs, some publish original content, a few are worth reading.

Blogs can be personal or professional, topical or random, updated hourly or once a month or longer - it is all up to the individual. It is an on-line journal of sorts, a form of expression that is defined by each individual blogger.

The Frame Before The Journey

In my next post, I will begin the chapters containing tips and experiences that I discovered through my journey into the world of blogging and ebusiness. At the on-start, I would share mostly tips and my personal experience with individuals who are considering starting up a blog and does not have the slightest idea where to begin.

Every chapter will share blogging tips that require brief attention for a mere few minutes a day to do. This will not tax one's time and avoid making a simple topic into a time-consuming, complex and difficult one. If one had more time and did have the appetite for more tips, just take the challenge to try more than one chapter at a time.

As we progress on, I will share tips and my journey into ebusiness.

Blogging is a good beginning into our cyberspace adventures prior to embarking on the galaxy of ebusiness.

Chapter 1 will be a tip on "How to start creating a blog". Look out for it soon!!

Bye.

We Are Made Of Dreams

The cyberspace journey might not be going as planned for many of us embarking on it. Who says it is going to without challenges and hiccups? As long as we keep that dream alive, we will reach the end of that rainbow. The trip is going to be rough, cold and lonely time and time again. Achieving dreams are always that way. We have to be tough when the going gets tough. We must persevere to enjoy the fruit of our dream. We must toil. We must resist the easy temptations to give up on our dreams. We must be strong and learn every bit we can. We are the power of our own dreams. Live those dreams and keep the courage to leap, spread our wings and fly!!

I wish to share that and the following inspirational story before before I progress further into my cyberblog roller-coaster with myself and everyone I have the fortune to be connected with.

DREAMS

A wonderful story for any age.....

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and
challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood
up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.
I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me
with a smile that that lit up her entire being.

She said, "Hi, handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old.
Can I give you a hug?" I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of
course you may!" and she gave me a giant squeeze.

"Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" I asked.
She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married,
have a couple of children, and then retire and travel."

"No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to
be taking on this challenge at her age.

"I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting
one!" she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and share a
chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next
three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was
always mesmerized listening to this "time machine" as she shared her
wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily
made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled
in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was
living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football
banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and
stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech,
she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a
little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said,
"I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is
killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell
you what I know."

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began: "We do not stop
playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There
are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving
success. "You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to
have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many
people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!"

"There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If
you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't
do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am
eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do
anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That
doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always
finding the opportunity in change."

"Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we
did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear
death are those with regrets."

She concluded her speech by courageously singing The Rose. She
challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our
daily lives. At the years end Rose finished the college degree she had
begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to
the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to
be all you can possibly be.

Lessons:

1. You are never too old to learn.
2. Laugh and find humor everyday .
3. Don't let change overwhelm you, let change help you find
opportunities you may have never seen!

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams
-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.
-- James Dean


Advice

Do you have a dream, a wish, then turn it into a goal today - break it
down, take one step, then another and accomplish your dream.
-- Catherine Pulsifer

The start of my journey into cyberspace.

My name is Franco Yong. I hail from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This journal will be my journey, adventure, experience and challenges into the realm of cyberspace of eBuiness or eCommerce, internet marketing, online shopping and blogging. I will also provide tips and links for doing business online as well as blogging. I will also hope to share with those just starting up a blog or thinking of starting up a blog what to do in their proceeding days ahead. This will be a day-by-day guide to them to set up a blog as I had experienced it before.

Now my thoughts about the rest of my cyberspace journey for since November, 2007.

Many years I have been buying products of different sorts online. "What a great business to be into", I told myself. For years I had the urge to get my hands into the field of eBusiness. I never really got to do it until November 2006. I guessed just like anyone else, I was putting it off as long as I can. I simply convinced myself that the realm of the unknown can be put-off till another day and then another day.

One destined day in November last year, I decided to learn more about the unfamiliar and taking up the challenge. Next day, I paid a hefty sum of money and got myself enrolled into an internet marketing workshop. For the next 2 1/2 days, I told myself that I should have started the journey the moment I had that fire to do so. Well, how true the saying goes - "Better late than never". And at the age of 52!!

Today it is exactly 13 weeks ago since I launched my teddy bear website. The journey might seem brief considering that I attended the workshop in mid November 2006. It had been a challenging 8 weeks prior to the website launch. The workshop had provided me with an understanding of some of the areas that I could consider.

Options were available to me for to look at which business model would be appropriate for me. I would have taken the easy route and either launched the platform based on affiliate programs or drop-shippers. Another choice was e-books.

I chose to source a product, promote and market it. It has to be something that is well-liked, suitable for all occasions, simple and light to deliver to customers. Of course, the profit margins have to be uncompromisingly attractive!! I decided to sell teddy bears. These teddy bears that are unlike those generally available in the marketplace. I headed to the bookstores. I bought books and even more books. Books included topics covering Internet marketing, SEO, Blogging, Video-blogging, eBay, Dreamweaver 8. I read and read...trying to gain a more in-depth understanding of the sorts of application of the knowledge gained from the workshop on a subject I have not idea of at the beginning and yet so complex.

Sourcing for the right teddy bear product has taken a month. I began designing the teddy bear website. However, with the tight time line that I had imposed on myself to launch my website, I finally passed that task to a webmaster. Armed with the knowledge I have equipped myself from workshop and the books, I worked with the webmaster to structure the website that way it should be as per recommendations I sourced from books. Just a piece of advice here. Never leave it to your webmaster entirely to create and design the website. There are just too many other considerations besides the look and feel of the website. For a website to be able to attract traffic, it is critically important that keywords, meta-tags, site optimization, ranking,Google AdWords , blog are considered. All these I had to work with the webmaster in addition to the shopping cart and adding a blog to the website.

Finally on January 20, 2007 I was ready to uploaded my website and it was done.

For the first 2 weeks, nothing happened as far as money making was concerned. I was tweaking areas such as my keywords, landing pages, page titles, blog, , robots, Google Analytics. I was also working on my blog, http://my1teddybear.blogspot.com, with the hope to promote and drive certain amount interests to the website. I simultaneously initiated another blog, http://francoyong.blogspot.com. This blog is about Mind, Body And Spirit including numerous other thoughts that might come along the way.

Further area I worked on was Google AdWords - activated sponsored links. That effort, immediately within the same hour, drove my unexpected traffic (being a novice) to the website from all over the world। I had 85 visitors within the first 5 hours of the Google AdWords being activated. Believe me now!! Indeed Google Adwords does work. I generated about 3.5% conversion on average. Over a 5-week duration, I received orders amounting to just over USD 4,000 from the world at large. I must say that is pretty impressive for a start-up for my teddy bear website.

Oh...another thing. I also extend my support for now, to two international orphanage homes as well as one in Malaysia. In total there are 150 international orphans and more children will be added as I go along. Furthermore, with the money earned from the teddy bear website, I will set aside 20% for hungry children in extreme poverty. 1 child in the world dies of hunger every 3 seconds. That's the least reason these children should die this way.

I am happy for the path and the milestones I have covered so far.

Heap Heap Hooray!!