Michael Phelps, Olympics 2008 swimmer - An Inspiration

Having read his story from a local newspaper i was and still am inspired.

Michael Phelps reminded me of the struggles many of us have and will go thru.. when it seems no one cares or bother to help, we have to be strong and stand tall.. yes, talent is important but if no one realise u are talented? Like the Phelps, people may think he's a goner in those early days.. just a 'hyperactive child' who cant sit still for a minute.. but later they realised he can swim! and extremely well.. ;-)

It takes a lot of hardwork too.. talent is only 1%, the rest is perspiration.. yup, he can sit still for hours to wait for his turn to swim when he cant sit still any other times.. Also, i do think that the right person to help uncover your talent and provide support will go a long long way.. in this case, his mother and few others who believe in him.

i will want to remember Michael for inspiring us all. Blessings! ;-)

Force and reaction

Every push you made,
there will be an equal opposite force.

HortPark - Really a great place for morning/afternoon walk

Great for friends and family outings.. take a walk at HortPark..

i went there last weekend and found it refreshing.. the bridge was a little scary as it was quite high up above the road.. but the park was fantastic! Just love the tress, flowers, bees, kids, beautiful environment.. ;-)

Ugly Faces ;P

Talent Management

i believe people management.. talent management is the greatest challenge in today's businesses.

really must learn to be careful, wiser and calm in handling people issues, conflicts,..

May Buddha wisdom be with me..

Life's hard but found some peace & happiness

To be frank, i found life's quite hard.. with inflation, looking for more biz, finding funding,.. it's tiring.. but somehow i feel better than before.. perhaps i found freedom to do what i want to do.. guess i must treasure what i have today.. ;-)

With my wife and supportive friends, i believe we can achieve whatever we want to achieve. Just do our best! ;-)

a sad case for the whole world

i'm sad to learn that the China Olypmics opening ceremony sweet little child singer lip-sync.. ;-(
And the real less-than-pretty child singer was backstage..

She was never openly acknowledged for her wonderful, tear-inducible singing.. So the organiser felt that 'ugly' child shouldnt be on stage.. It's funny cause i remembered i saw a older man signing on stage as well.. he aint good looking at all!

This is a step backward for China.. as mighty as they may in their economy success.. sad as they loose their basic human values..

Where does that lead us to? human extinction?

SPARE customer - conversion route

this morning i read something interesting on customer buying pattern - conversion route.. here i tried to capture some essence plus my own interpretation.. the concept is encapsulated in the acronym S.P.A.R.E.

S - Suspecting customer. The market segments you may be interested in but you have not decide yet.

P - Prospecting customer. Your target market segments. Marketing efforts will be pumped into here.

A - Actual customer. Converted paying customers. Actual brand/product/service is being experienced here by the customers.

R - Regular customer. If they like it, they become your regular customers with repeat buys.

E - Excellent customer. They like it so much that they started telling others their experience with the brand/product/service as well.

Beautiful voice.. Touching songs.. pretty child

Branding - an overused and often misunderstood

Years ago, it was innovation - all the hype. In more recent years, it was branding. Today, many companies thought they understood branding and were jumping into it. Almost everyone wants to do branding or claim to have a brand. Do they?

Many thought a name and/or logo is considered a brand. Fortunately a recent article on Singapore Airline helped to clarify that branding is not just skin deep. It's the internal processes and great people running the show daily that exhibit the brand experience customers wanted. Maybe this is branding at the next or highest level.

Certainly, as more companies matured and understood branding, the standard will be raised. And will branding fade away like many management fad? I think not. At worst, it will be another hygiene factor businesses have to consider no matter what. Marketing, including branding, and innovation are still relevant in today's businesss context.

So, what's the recent or future mgmt fad? The Long Tail concept?

Miss and Love

Just finished watching the movie The Leap Years on DVD.. It reminded me of Samantha, a friend of mine.. and at the same time i remembered the movie's actress said something about all love literatures/writings most used words is not love but miss.

Yes, i miss my friends. Wonder how they are living.. are they happy? We are all so busy with making a living or enjoying life tat we tend to forget about our friends.. maybe we think there's always a tomorrow to catch up.. i was a culprit too.

i will make an effort to meet up my good old friends somehow.. ;-)