Musemancer: 3 Weeks Later

So far so good.

For the longest time I wasn’t sure how things will pan out and if I had what it takes to lead the team. 3 weeks later and I am beginning to feel most of my fears were unfounded. That’s the good news. The bad news: why I didn’t start this sooner?

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Shatish started off working part-time for 2 years. He is familiar with Internet Marketing and hangs out actively in the same kind of events that I frequent. So when Musemancer went from virtual and paper to physical, I asked Shatish to continue tagging along.

Yi Wen is our content writer. She could use some more improvement in both command of English and familiarizing herself with the nature of our business, but I like her attitude so far. She’s also a fast learner.

Joey is our graphic designer. Admittedly, I had some reservations but out of all the applicants for the job, he’s go the best skills. Elle had been guiding him through Skype and email on our next graphics product.

And I’ve got one more writer coming in next month, bringing the total headcount of the team to 6, including myself.

This week had been rather eventful – we’ve had guests from Singapore and New Zealand come in. (Thanks for swinging by Jeremy Wong, TK Chin and Mr. Chin!)

Right now I am the only marketer in the team, and being the sole person driving in sales for the company we are at a vulnerable point at the moment. I am irreplaceable – and that’s dangerous.

While I am training them most of the time for the next few months, in due time I will give them the ‘stress test’ to see how fast they are able to work, plan ideas creatively and eventually become independent.

I cannot wait to recruit the sales force but not until I crack the system first. Next week I am getting my Direct Mail campaigns done to be sent to SMEs and Businesses that can be our potential clients.

I am also investing a great deal of time learning higher skills on marketing so I can teach my team, especially Facebook Advertising.

We’ll see how we fare next week, before we up the notch next month!

1 More Month To Viper Challenge

Well, less than a month actually.

I had been away from my regular gym training for two weeks when I was giving Musemancer the kickstart. Since the team is in its infancy, I have to be in the office most of the time before my team matures and knows how to run the day-to-day operations of our digital publishing business.

Until then, I have to train in the evenings and on my own on some nights.

In spite of being away for two weeks, surprisingly I achieved a new PR!

[In This Training Cycle, Every Rep Has A 1 Second Pause]

Bench Press: 114 lbs x 4-6 reps x 4 sets

Shoulder Press: 30 lbs each hand x 6-8 reps x 4 sets

Squats: 130 lbs x 6 reps x 4 sets

All excluding warm ups. My body weight hasn’t changed i.e. 132 lbs give or take. I seem to work better with longer rest in between i.e. 2-3 minutes. Although any longer than that and my body would shut down and get lazy. LOL

I felt better this past week after taking antacid for gastric relief which has been constantly affecting me for the past two years. YEAAA

Will keep my training consistent until Viper Challenge on November 1.

20 kilometers. 22 obstacles.

Never jogged or walked 20km before, so this is going to be a first!

Musemancer Kicks Off Officially!

At long last, Musemancer got the official kickstart I’ve been waiting for! 1st October marked the first time ever Musemancer is operated by a physical, permanent team quite unlike the previous practice of operating solo with the aid of freelancers.

While we still count on freelancers to accomplish many tasks, in due time as the team matures and grows we will be more self-sustained.

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Ask me just a few months ago and I would have not imagined starting a formal team with an office premise to go. I feel a little bad writing this because for many years I have been advocating the work-from-home Internet lifestyle and culture.

So to forego most of its benefits such as flexible working hours, working from home and keeping a low-cost operation, it took a lot of convincing and finally I made the courageous decision to go all out.

That brings us to the here and now.

The moment I rented the office premise, I was in for many unpleasant surprises. Even for a bootstrapping attempt, there were many hidden costs. I went without a permanent workforce for two months because I was using poor, ineffective methods to try to recruit talents for Musemancer.

Every time I kept asking myself if it was really worthwhile, and wondered if I should have just stayed home after all these trouble. But what am I to do if I just carried on life the way I did for the last 9 years? It would be good, but it will never be great.

If starting my online business on a 56k modem back in 2005 was founded on the idea of achieving financial freedom and providing better for my family and self, then starting Musemancer in the new direction is founded on the idea of going big and sharing the revolution.

A new idea that people should strive for results instead of routine; freedom instead of survival; thinking big instead of giving in.

Even at the start of it all 3 months ago, my vision for Musemancer was very cloudy. I thought it would be a good idea to pursue all 6 directions I had in mind!

Ultimately I narrowed it down to this: Musemancer is an Internet Marketing consulting and digital publishing company. And that is what we will do best.

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To see this manifest in front of me gives me a surreal feeling. To think that Musemancer was just a company on paper all these years. And in years from now when I look back, this will be the photo of humble beginnings.

Don’t be quick to congratulate, we are just starting! You will hear more of us in the months to come.

Static Line Jump No. 6

Time flies too fast! I still remember the last two jumps I did here as if it happened not long ago – but that was 1 1/2 years ago. After many postponed weekends for many reasons – unavailable aircraft, poor weather, and recently the Hari Raya mood – the KL Skydiving Association got around organizing static-line jumps again!

Stayed overnight at Segamat and made sure I clocked in at least 2 more jumps. Was gunning for 4 so I could make a nice 10 under my belt, but there were many other first timers and also experienced skydivers from abroad who came here.

And with just one Cessna aircraft taking to the air, everyone had to take turns. Anyways glad to do it and good to know I grew less and less anxious and fearful with every jump.

I got my exit done perfectly on the last jump with no twist encountered! Landing still isn’t consistent as I reverted to landing on my ass – was coming in too fast.

Until the next jump! And in due time, I will be up for Accelerated FreeFall (AFF)…