Back from Two Week’s Absence

Edmund’s Notes: I posted this post on 30th March 2008 and updated the previous post on 2nd April. I got back on today to find out that… it seemed my blog went back in time? Not only did I find this post in the drafts, the updates and comments seem to have been reversed back to some time ago. (???)

Hmmm… I don’t know what just happened but looks like I have to re-post this again and it’s sad that all the recent comments were gone too, including the photos taken in Singapore. Grrr! ๐Ÿ™ Oh well…

Even in my busiest moments, I still make it a habit to blog at least once a week. Doing business can quickly turn into a chore sometimes, no matter how passionate I am about Internet Entrepreneurship. And my Personal Blog provides a good escapade as well as a good balance between work and enjoying life. ๐Ÿ™‚

After checking out my last post to this blog (14th March)… wow, it’s been more than two weeks that I’ve been neglecting my poor Personal Blog! Yes I had been busy – I’ve been working on a couple of secret, ‘covert operations’ which at this stage it’s too early to reveal any information to the public. Yet.

Also, there hasn’t been anything else worthwhile to post about until only lately. If you’ve been dropping by almost every day expecting some update, this should make your visit worthwhile again. ๐Ÿ™‚

NOTE: Even when I am not posting to this Blog, I make it a habit to keep my FaceBook status up to date, and as real-time as possible. I spend more time in Johor Bahru and Singapore this time around compared to Petaling Jaya/Kuala Lumpur. So to keep tabs on my current location, check out my FaceBook status on the left hand of this Blog ya? ๐Ÿ˜‰

The Johor Bahru Retreat

As you probably notice by now, I seem to be spending more time in JB/Singapore than in PJ/KL. I find working from home the best for me compared to my temporary room in PJ, and for many reasons.

My mom cooks my meals here. In PJ, going out to eat every meal time is not only costly (though I don’t mind forking out a bit) but it’s a real time-killer. I clean my room very often – in fact, more often than when I’m in JB – but it gets dirty really, really quick too. Perhaps the house is old. The room isn’t a feasible place to produce inspiring ideas and my ability to work and be productive in that room rarely reaches optimum level. Sucks, right?

Last but not least, there’s something *creepy* about that room. A case of bad Feng Shui? Who knows. I’m giving it up real soon anyways.

Moving most of my things back to JB was one of the wiser decisions I’ve made this year, and it was a good start for business to roll into momentum and every other area in life starts to improve and get better. ๐Ÿ™‚ Besides, I won’t make myself too easily available to ‘time vampires’ from now on.

Edmund Loh

Oh and did I also mention that the weather is more cooling in JB as well? Although the weather is getting warmer again, there are some really cold, rainy nights that I had to wear a jacket. ๐Ÿ˜‰

One-Day Trip in Kuala Lumpur

Just two days ago, I had to make a quick trip back to Kuala Lumpur to retrieve my flight ticket – I’ll be going overseas in mid April to experience a different culture. And yes, go for a short holiday. ๐Ÿ™‚

And since I was in KL, I might as well drop by and have my hair treated as well.

Eve Soh & Edmund Loh

That’s Eve Soh with me. ๐Ÿ™‚ Be gentle with the head… it produces million dollar ideas!

Panny

Panny. My favorite chat buddy. ๐Ÿ™‚

Single & Availableรขโ‚ฌยฆ Want my Phone Number? ;-)

Single, attractive and available. Any guy interested in her? ๐Ÿ˜‰

Kura, Kura & Kura

Walked by the pond at Central Park, in front of 1Utama. My favorite tortoises a.k.a. stray kuras. ๐Ÿ™‚

Kura, Kura & Kura

Singapore Internet Marketing Commandos – Orchard

Next day: back in JB and then a hustle trip to meet the Singaporean Internet Marketing Commandos at Wheelock’s Place, Orchard. Met Jaz Lai and Dylan Loh.

This was also my first time meeting Shree ‘The Dating Coach’ in person. I did see his photo somewhere on FaceBook before this. You have to hand it that Social Networking sites and other web 2.0 applications are responsible for making the world flat and smaller every day. ๐Ÿ™‚

Initially, looking for the trio was difficult. Dylan instructed me to go to Wheelock’s Place at Orchard. Not that I had been there before. Going to Orchard and looking for Wheelock’s was easy but because my handphone was practically useless in Singapore (read: no International roaming) and realizing I couldn’t receive incoming calls, Dylan couldn’t call me either.

Forget the phone booths, they’re not user friendly either as they assume the entire nation in Singapore uses the phone card. So, I took a blind guess looking for the Singaporean Internet Marketers at both Coffee Bean and Starbucks. And what do you know? They were camping at the corner of the Starbucks cafe! ๐Ÿ™‚

EDIT: As said earlier at the beginning of this post, when I got back to my Personal Homepage I found out that not only this post was in draft mode, the updates to the previous post were gone too and so were the comments made in the past few days.

I’ll have to restore this post and the updates to the previous post on the Bali Event. The comments are gone and it’s a bummer I didn’t save the photos on my Singapore trip in my hard drive. What a way to start the morning but hope this doesn’t happen again next time!

Letโ€™s Meet in Bali! (Updated 3rd April)

*** UPDATED 3rd APRIL: See bottom of this post for latest updates. ***

Hey There!

I’ll be speaking for the first time at the Bali Rendezvous in Bali, Indonesia. I hope to see you there, if you’re an Internet Marketer too and want to take your business to the next level.

I’ll come to the cheese real soon but first, here are quick details:

The Event: The Bali Rendezvous
Venue: Grand Hyatt Bali, Bali, Indonesia
Dates: 6 รขโ‚ฌโ€œ 8th June 2008
Length: 3 Days 2 Nights
Full Details: LINK REMOVED

Even though it’s still three months away, I’m really steamed up with excitement about going to this event. Not because I’ll be speaking (it’s not my cup of tea) but it’s because of the people that are going to the event.

There’s a full list of speakers and marketing top guns heading to the small island on those dates but I’ll cover some of them here briefly just so you get a better idea who you’re going to be meeting:

1. Lee McIntyre – UK
Personally I’ve not heard of Lee McIntyre only until recently so I cannot comments about him and his expertise just yet. Still worth speculating.

2. James b Allen – Japan
Met him for the first time at World Internet Mega Summit, Singapore last year. Nice and pleasant chap! ๐Ÿ™‚

3. James Brown – Japan
Now this is what I’m talking about – low-profile, but really embarrasses a lot of so-called famous marketers out there. He may not look like he’s deeply involved in the Internet Marketing niche. But if you have 500 other active niche sites like James, the Internet Marketing niche is just a nice bonus to toy around with. He is also someone I look forward to meeting in person.

4. Kevin Riley – Japan
Har de har… look who we’ve got. General Riley. My first online encounter with Kevin was in the most unlikely place on the Internet: the Warrior Forum – OFF TOPIC forum. We may joke a lot online – and offline too when we met in Singapore last year – but hey, there’s no denying that Kevin makes a good partner in business too. He’s unselfishly helped me with my past promotions like Private Label Rights Gold. And the least I could do for him is top his affiliate list for his recent Product Launch.

Commander Edmund Loh

Tough luck for your affiliate army Kevin.

5. John Delavera – USA
This is another top marketing figure I look forward to meeting. Who doesn’t know him? The great grand daddy of Turbo software and products, and the mind behind the infamous JVManager 1 & 2! He remains an enigma until now (notice we’ve not seen any picture of John before?). John will be speaking for the first time in Asia. ๐Ÿ™‚

6. GUEST SPEAKER: Ian del Carmen – Philippines
Fireball dude… we’ll meet again!

7. GUEST SPEAKER: Edmund Loh – Malaysia
… What can I say about him? ๐Ÿ™‚

Other speakers going to the event include Willie Crawford, Paul Kleinmaulman and Dr. Mani.

Attendees also enjoy these great perks:

* Business networking opportunities
* 5-star hotel accommodation for 3 Days 2 Nights
* Take your family and visit Bali too!
* Exclusive online Bali Membership
* Full Internet access
* The Bali boys will personally escort you from the airport to the event too
+PLUS MORE!

Hope to see you there! ๐Ÿ™‚

***** LATEST UPDATE *****

Just got this email.

Canceled Bali Rendezvous

You might think this is an April Foolรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs joke, considering this email was sent on 1st April. But having been in the loop of things that led up to the cancellation of this Internet Marketing event, I knew this to be for real. And in many ways, I saw this coming somehow. So no surprises. Evidently, the website is no longer there when I checked it out.

In respect to the organizers and a few individuals involved who are sensitive towards the internal conflicts within the Bali Rendezvous Committee, I wonรขโ‚ฌโ„ขt dive into the details.

Personally, I had been looking forward to attending this event as it would be my first speaking gig of any kind. And the opportunity to meet up and network with other top-tier Internet Entrepreneurs from around the world? A priceless incentive. In fact, I had purchased my flight tickets to Jakarta and Bali in advance just more than a week back.

Unfortunately, the little series of events that unfolded lately eventually led up to the painful decision made by the Bali Rendezvous Committee to cancel the event.

Itรขโ‚ฌโ„ขs a bummer it had to end up like this. ๐Ÿ™ Even though I am not part of the organizing team (read: guest speaker), Iรขโ‚ฌโ„ขve learned a handful of lessons from this, especially that it goes to show that some things in life are just plain unpredictable, and beyond control. What I can do is make the best of the situation.

In this case, since Iรขโ‚ฌโ„ขve already bought my flight ticketsรขโ‚ฌยฆ I might as well go for a holiday. ๐Ÿ™‚

It looks like my first speaking gig will be elsewhere – another time, another event, and another venue. I look forward to seeing you all soon, only elsewhere.

Robber on the Roof at 4 in the Morning

Edmund: I meant to post this earlier but due to my tight Singapore schedule, I’ve finally got this up. This happened two weekends ago and some development came through when I was away, so I feel it’s only right that I post this now. Hope you find this an interesting read. ๐Ÿ™‚

I slowly paced up the street as I wielded my torch light to search the roof. My heart was beating fast, hockey stick held tightly in my left hand. I trained my eyes into the dark. Nope, not a single soul in sight. Not on the roof, that is.

I told Mom and Ashley to stay indoors. The robber could attempt to break into our house. Ashley was pacing around the living hall with a small baseball bat, probably anticipating action.

And suddenly, I saw a group of Chinese boys – armed with sticks and javelines – charging frantically in my direction as two other motorbikes zoomed past me.

Okay okay, in order for this whole story to make sense I’ll start from the beginning. Here goes…

…………………

It was almost 4 in the morning when I was still chugging into the night, working on my next ‘big project’. Yes I am normally awake at this hour. ๐Ÿ™‚

It’s always dead quiet at this time I could hear a pin drop. The only thing breaking the silence is the sound of my clattering keyboard. That was until I started hearing noises coming from the roof (my house is one storey tall).

Cat, maybe.

But the noise became disturbing, louder and quickly grew into rhytms of ‘thud’s and ‘thump’s.

** SCRATCH — SCREECH — THUMP THUMP THUD! **

Wait a minute. Too heavy to be a cat.

I stopped working and started examining the roof window with my torch light. Thank goodness I’ve bought the new batteries not too long ago. The noise didn’t stop abruptly though it became more subtle. I was in a semi-tired mental state but suddenly, my body grew alert. Kura, Kura, Kura, Kura, Kura, and Kura were scrambling in their tanks frantically — but I couldn’t take my attention off the roof window. I had to be sure.

In a blink eye, I saw a figure darted near the corner of the roof window. Not a cat. But SOMEONE. SHIT, someone’s on our roof!

Instinctively, I inched my way towards the side of the computer table for security: my hockey stick. Better used as a weapon than a tool for the turf.

I stared at the roof window for another good 30 seconds before I woke Mom and Ashley. Whoever was up there was crawling in circles. Sometimes the sound was near and then sometimes it faded away.

When I woke Mom and Ashley up and told them what was happening, Ashley immediately grabbed the mini baseball bat tucked under her pillow. We switched on every light in our house, especially the back door. However, the noises on the roof continued to persist.

Soon Auwlithe our watch dog was barking outside the house, looking in the direction of the roof. I went out of the house and started searching the roof with my torch light (from the road, of course – I didn’t dare climb up ๐Ÿ™‚ ).

As I was searching the roof, there was a car parked opposite our house – with 3 suspicious boys inside. Parked under the street light, they were making a lot of bodily gestures inside the car and I couldn’t help but wonder what were these guys doing at this unearthly hour. Could they be accomplices to the “roofwalker”?

After all, when I came back to Johor Bahru three weeks ago, Mom warned me that there had been robberies and break-ins lately; they’ve all been occuring in our neighborhood. There was also a rumor that there were people walking on roofs too, at hours like this.

For a split second, my gut feeling told me to remember the car’s number plate and call the cops. Wait, too late for that. The three boys in colored hair got out of the car and approached me.

I was holding a hockey stick in my hand at that time, and I didn’t know if I should keep my distance until I confirmed what was really going on.

I kept my guard up as the three figures approached me, seemingly to ask me “what is going on?” in Mandarin. It’s a shame I can’t converse in Mandarin so in simple English, I told them that there was someone on the roof.

The three boys looked at each other, and one of them asked me if I was sure about it. Well, of course I said YES.

In the next ten seconds, the highlight of the sleepy neighborhood came. A horde of boys in singlets, t-shirts and shorts dashed out of a small house – armed with sticks and javelines – those that you would see in a Lion Dance or Martial Arts performance.

The commotion woke up a lot of neighbors as houses started lighting up and more people were awake. The boys were probably excited for action, as they started combing the housing area in search for the slick suspect. Two motorbikes started circling the area as the boys were making a racket.

It was comforting to know that they were helping us, even though we were unable to find any trace of the “Roofwalker” after 30 minutes of search. He must have left before the boys did anything.

We were grateful that the boys offered to help, and we learned that they were actually part of a Lion Dance and Martial Arts group. They were just bunking over at one of their friends’ house (in the opposite row), preparing for the next day’s performance. So this explained why there were so many guys emerging from a small house, and why they weren’t asleep even at 4 in the morning. ๐Ÿ˜‰

We retired from the search party though word got around about the commotion. Even as I am writing this, the night patrol is frequenting this particular stretch more often than ever. Phew!

…………………

By the way, Mom and Ashley had their own suspect on whoever that “Roofwalker” might be. You see, when I was staying in Petaling Jaya for most of the time, a new family moved into the neighborhood. Overall, the family members are normal people – all except one old man. Very suspicious.

I’ve not met him before though I’ve seen him only once. According to my sister, he’s got a very suspicious character. He seemed to always be looking at her every time she takes Auwlithe out for a walk. He asked every neighbor questions like “how many people are there in your house?” and “what time are you normally at home?

To top it off, the old folk is unemployed and he’s often seen loitering in different parts of the neighborhood.

Hmm…

As I’ve said, I’ve not met this old timer in person before albeit seen him only once. So definitely, I don’t have anything concrete against him though Mom and Ashley have their own suspicion. After all, he IS relatively fit even for his age.

…………………

Just days ago, I learned that the old timer went to prison for a crime he committed. Robbery. One of his sons joined him in the two-man party too.

Coincidence? THE END? Let’s hope it stays that way for this episode. ๐Ÿ˜‰

The Meet Up with Singaporean Internet Marketers

Last Saturday, I took a trip down to Singapore to meet up with Dylan Loh, Joseph Then and Alvin Phang (first time). The meeting took place in Woodlands and it lasted longer than I thought – a few hours actually.

The Singaporean Internet Marketers and Edmund Loh

L-R: Dylan, me, Joseph, Alvin

It has been a while since I last sat down with a group of highly energetic individuals who are BIG thinkers, and dare to do BIG things. I think that’s how the words ‘movers and shakers’ came about. ๐Ÿ™‚

It was great to catch up with Joseph again, since I last saw him at Stuart Tan’s Subscribers Nite last October. I planned to bring my own laptop but foreseeing the hassles at the Malaysian-Singapore immigration I ditched that idea. After all, I already relied on Joseph to bring his trusty laptop. ๐Ÿ™‚ Haha!

My ‘evil brother’ Dylan shared with me his latest schemes to rule the world – well okay, actually BIGGER plans to make MORE money. Oh how I love to hear those words! ๐Ÿ™‚ In fact, I already started a mutual project with Dylan but due to time constraint, it hasn’t taken of just yet. But it will be real soon i.e. by next month!

This was my first time meeting Alvin in person. Definitely a big shot in his own rights and not to be underestimated on any account. This guy came from an I.T. background and I recognize him as a speedy Internet Entrepreneur. In just 2 short years, not only has he amassed sizable success for himself, he went on to teach others as well. AMAZING!

It’s unfortunate that Stuart couldn’t join us that day – not good timing perhaps. But I’ll be arranging another separate meet up with him soon.

Thanks for the generous sharing guys, and I hope I’ve helped you in some ways as well. We’ll be working together real soon! ๐Ÿ™‚

Less Fun to Myself?

If there’s any consolation to myself, I’ve already completed the revamp works to my current websites (at least, for now). Hoooray! ๐Ÿ™‚

Okay, there’s no money to be made in redecorating and merely ‘touching up’ websites. It may help make user experience better, your website looks nicer, and if you tweak your sales copy well enough the conversion rates can be optimized.

But the REAL bulk of the business profits are found in doing money-making activities: getting traffic, making new offers, doing Product Launches, networking with the right people…

Which is why I wanted to get over the ‘revamp’ phase as quickly as I could. Yet this was inevitable. I couldn’t do away with it because:

  • Some of my websites had obsolete information,
  • The current state of my websites are not intergrated well enough to adopt my latest business plans,
  • And well, the websites could use some touching up! (couldn’t resist)
  • Anyways…

    AMLOH Helpdesk

    Finally! Got around updating the knowledgebase and FAQs at the AMLOH Helpdesk. Didn’t realize a lot of information became outdated due to the changes I’ve made to my other websites! Glad I got around doing this. ๐Ÿ™‚

    I’ve also taken this opportunity to ‘formally’ introduce my network of websites through the AMLOH webpage, as well as my existing products and services. There!

    I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again: the newest layout makes me feel so proud, and my former helpdesk layout looked like a website for selling coffins. ๐Ÿ™‚

    The RRM Blog

    Thanks to Siah, The Resell Rights Mastery Blog now sports a brand new design too. ๐Ÿ™‚

    These are just some of the web pages and sites I’ve reworked for my lil Project: Total Revamp. I’ve also updated several sales letters and webpages to have up-to-date information.

    *PHEW* That’s truly one BIG itch off my mind! ๐Ÿ™‚

    I reflected on what 2008 is like so far to me, and I realized that I had been less fun to myself. I hardly post anything fun on my blog since the beginning of the year. I worked even on holidays (and a big bulk of the yearly holidays are at the beginning of the year, if you noticed). I rarely take any breaks.

    Sure, with my current level of income and the way business is moving for me, life can be comfortable. I can actually afford to peddle less faster than I did in the last 3 years.

    But why do I continue to work harder than before?

    I sincerely believe in making a living outside the comfort zone. It allows me to test the limits of my ability. Also, I am against having a complacent attitude. I don’t know about you but I can get dull very quickly when I’m not at my peak.

    Yes, I’ve been very accomplished and successful in my own rights. A lot of my former schoolmates have acknowledged that I am by far the most successful among my peers.

    Happy? Yes, but not quite (yet). I know I can do more, and I am still far away from seeing my full potential unleashed. I hope it will continue to be that way. ๐Ÿ™‚ But then, this year is more challenging than before. Not necessarily more difficult per se, since the situation is different from those I’ve encountered before.

    It involves greater skill in time management.

    More projects and business partners to work with.

    I foresee my personal and business commitments to grow along as well.

    And not to forget the resolutions and annual goals I’ve made for myself and my family.

    Well… I’ll still indulge in some fun, but sparingly. ๐Ÿ™‚ This is only temporary yet I have every reason to believe that the rewards to be reaped will be more than worthwhile.

    Hey, you don’t expect to gain something for nothing, do you? ๐Ÿ˜‰