Author Archives: Lawrence

Ways To Make Extra Money – Writing

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One of the cool things I do on a daily basis is test different ways to make extra money online. See, there are a lot of people struggling without jobs but there are an even bigger segment that work a day job yet want to supplement their current income to afford the better things in life like vacations, living upgrades, and eliminating debt. I've used many ways to make extra money to pre pay my kids college tuition and even upgrade the ride I have.

Ways To Make Extra Money – Writing

One of the cool things that has popped up since the internet became mainstream is that there are so many people now that can make a pretty nice chunk of change just by writing online. This is one of the easier ways to make extra money because there is very little training outside of your own creative writing skills. If you have a passion and don't mind typing then writing online is a good way to get some cash pumping in.

One way I started was going to a product review site called epinions. There were one of the first places I noticed that would allow you to write product reviews and actually get paid on traffic that took action on your page. There are some guidelines to follow but generally nothing too strict and primarily for those NOT looking to use this for off page backlinks. If your just looking for ways to make extra money with absolutely no up front cash then writing on sites like epinions just makes sense. Now the returns will not be ground shattering but in the global scale of business there is so little up front investment that it doesn't matter as long as you can put in realistic expectations.

Epinions is a free site to join and there are NO referral commissions anymore. So you can click the link below if you want to link to my profile and see some of the things I wrote YEARS ago (November 2008 was last article I wrote for epinions) and still get paid a residual income from.

The pay isn't great but it's residual.

This was my first taste on leverage and working smarter. I gave myself a raise by working and writing.

ways to make extra money

Lawrence Tam's Epinion's Profile

So what else do I suggest? Continue reading →

Best Business To Start In 2011

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So what could possibly be the best business to start in 2011?

Let's first look at what the economy is like in the good old USA.

best business to start in 2011
*courtesy shadowstats.com
  • “The seasonally-adjusted SGS Alternate Unemployment Rate reflects current unemployment reporting methodology adjusted for SGS-estimated long-term discouraged workers, who were defined out of official existence in 1994. That estimate is added to the BLS estimate of U-6 unemployment, which includes short-term discouraged workers.
    The U-3 unemployment rate is the monthly headline number. The U-6 unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) broadest unemployment measure, including short-term discouraged and other marginally-attached workers as well as those forced to work part-time because they cannot find full-time employment.”

In a nutshell what I gather from this is that there is a lot more unemployed workers than the standard government normally likes to divulge. So what this says is there are a lot of people out of work but really more importantly a lot of people not making the money they were used to making. Sustaining their currently lifestyle will be a struggle and why so many are hard on the economy.

But why even discuss?

Best Business to Start in 2011 or Best Job in 2011?

See there is a difference and one many will not want to really grasp. See, in the end people just want to make money. Let's take passion and drive out of money and people will do what it takes to make money. It's not being locked in a J.O.B. or stuck in a pure sales commissioned position.

I say do what you want and what gets  you out of bed regardless of the payout but… when it comes to paying for your daily luxuries and bills let's do something that pays.

Getting a job and keeping one these days are getting harder and harder with the stats above.

Let's remove the labels and just take a look at what you want to do.

Do you want to work for money or do you want money to work for you?

Get a job if you want but remember there are lots of restrictions to your time and if you don't love it then you gotta be scratching your head to why you do it right?

Look, jobs aren't evil but there are so many advantages to running a business from time freedom to tax deductions.

So what these days are the best business to start in 2011?

The best business to start in 2011 is one that follows a couple guildines.

  1. You will want to be able to sell something people want. You can of course sell dirt to a dirt farmer but the name of the game is moving units or closing services. Understanding demand is critical in your business and having lasting appeal is very important. Being able to sell what people want makes life so much easier. Depending on your salesmanship skills and even copywriting skills your life in business will get that much easier. Understand your market and your days will be so much easier to make a great living.
  2. Get with the times and understand what are fads and what has staying power. There is a draw to hitting markets quick even if they have no future but you will want to continue building your business on some strong foundation pieces. Mix up what you target and look for stability and also high risk and reward.
  3. The best business to start in 2011 is obviously something that has a high end return. That's the main reason people go into business… to make some money right?

 

Best Business To Start – One That Has A Future

Look, I love technology and of course health and wellness is also important.

Understanding that one can actually make great money with a “leveraged” business especially one geared for the internet is one that should be clearly identified as the best business to start for men or women. If your learning proper online marketing and moving with like minded individuals then the possibility to surpassing your current income is more reality than fantasy.

The banner below is my take on the best business to start.

best business to start

Can Numis Network Help The University Of Texas Take 1 Billion in Gold?

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So after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin in 2000 I knew my path was set in that I no longer wanted to study engineering. My hunger would be for other topics like writing then eventually to affiliate marketing. The University of Texas prepared me to take on the work and grow with it.university of texas at austin

Well guess what.

Per Bloomberg: “The University of Texas Investment Management Co., the second-largest U.S. academic endowment, took delivery of almost $1 billion in gold bullion and is storing the bars in a New York vault, according to the fund’s board.”

So if I were to follow in the footsteps of the University of Texas, they seem to know a little something about moving with change.

I decided about a year ago to join a business that their primary business was gold and silver numismatic coins. They have since expanded to forever crystals and certified bullion coins. So the business as of today is paying me to take home silver coins which I have no objection to.

Numis Network and the University of Texas

Now I'm in no way taking in a billion dollars of gold or silver but one of my objectives is to build a team that can sell a good chunk monthly. As I continue to grow my Numis Network business the more and more I feel the future is coming into focus. Asset protection and understanding your one and only career path one a salary is not going to cut it anymore. Multiple streams of income allowing for financial freedom to buy gold and silver is where it's at.

If large universities like the University of Texas is moving to collect assets are you?

Are you collecting more debt or assets like gold and silver?

Engineering Your Success,
Lawrence Tam

The End Of Flip Video

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Back in the day say 2009 there was a huge movement to go with an easy to use Flip video camera. So before that there was the hi 8 and digital 8. So the next natural move was to go full digital to hard drives.

Enter the Flip Video

So back in 2009 I finished 6th place in a My Lead System Pro contest and was given one of these pretty cool Flip Video UltraHD video cameras. After having used one of these compact digital video cameras I can totally see the draw to why they have sold like hot cakes.Flip Video

1) Being all digital you can save footage so much easier for storage.

2) Video and most audio quality was good enough for home videos on my imovie setup.

Now that was the good part.

The bad parts come in that there was pretty bad battery life, some models have limited storage (most flip videos have built in storage with no way of upgrading or expanding),  price that starts to get closer to the higher end models of ipod's and such, and no integration to social sites like facebook and myspace.

Exit the Flip Video

So exactly what happened? Why did Cisco Systems decide on April 12 to end Flip Video? In 2009 they spent 590 million to acquire the company so why cut ties so soon?

It basically boils down to the advancement of technology and some of what I mentioned before with the bad parts of the Flip video model.

1) iPhone, android phones, blackberry, and window's mobile have come out extremely hard in the last 24 months. These devices before where only known for audio and picture. Now, video capabilities are getting better and better with each new release. Once the iPhone started including in phone video editing the writing was on the wall, but that wasn't all!

The additions of video submission and social network attacked at one of the very thing that Flip Video couldn't do.

Shoot video, upload to youtube and facebook?

Flip Video doesn't have the ability to jump on a 3g, 4g, wifi signal so much. There were attempts but when your able to shoot a quick video and then upload on the spot that just pretty much put the end to any use of a separate unit, right? Well, not really but let's continue.

2) iPod touch, iPod nano and other small devices started to get into the video market and when those who were primarily interested in music started to get a pretty small and usable video machine the Flip Video started to lose even more market share.

Flip Video Ends – But Not Really

Here is the thing about this situation and why I don't feel so bad.

Overall, the market looks bleak for those in standalone mobile video units but check this out and why I actually bought another one 😉

I bought a Kodak PlaySport Flip Video and Kodak Playsportshown to the right ->

Here is a run down to why.

1) I do not want my kids using my android phone to film cause dropping my  android phone is NOT acceptable.

2) This Kodak PlaySport has image stabilization. So in terms of shooting while moving or shooting moving objects it will help but not totally fix all motion but it does help.

3) Shoots in HD of 720p and 1080p and I'm pretty sure there are very few smart phones or music devices that can do that.

4) Storage capacity. If you already have a ton of video games and mp3 on your phone and mp3 player what are the chances you still have 16GB left for straight up video? probably not. Most phones these days have a phone cover or guard. It is just not acceptable to having to pop out your battery (I can't access my micro SD card without taking my battery out in my Nexus One phone). Most smart phones or built in devices can be expandable if your lucky. My phone can take a 32 gb micro sd card I believe not until recently in 2011 did the prices start to drop.The Koday playsport can easily swap out batteries without having a huge boot up time.

5) Battery life. Look. Both my smart phone and even flip video and Kodak playsports will not have crazy amount of battery life. But the battery compartment is super easy to get to and so I have 2 spares I use that gives me about 4-6 hours of record time when I'm out and about. This is mainly needed on vacation and with 2 x 16gb SD cards with 3 batteries I can do a whole lot of shooting when I'm out. This is just not going to happen with my phone.

6) Hardware improvements still needed. I've already mentioned that Image Stabilization is needed in my smart phones and that the Kodak Playsport has but how about a better mic, better color decoding, better zoom, better low light capabilities, and just better video player all around?

Sure in the future technology will eventually put a Flip Video right into a smart phone but getting the lens and all other features mentioned above will be a hard task with so much OTHER stuff in smart phones as it is.

7) Waterproof. This Kodak PlaySport is waterproof to 10 feet. Yep. Can your ipod touch or smart phone do that without some crazy expensive water proof case? I don't think so. This unit right out of the box can be at a water park or just out and about in daily life. Shooting in the rain? fine. Shooting tropical fish in Hawaii? or course!Joby GP3 Gorillapod

I snorkel a lot and there is NO way I'm going to risk taking my smart phone out into the ocean just so I can lose it to some fish. The rope that comes out of the Kodak PlaySport is super handy when your snorkeling and not having to grip your video device to death.

8) Video accessories. As stated before the wrist strap (or rope) is a needed accessory when swimming. Flip Video also has lens attachments for other cool shots and how about the ability to use a tripod? I use this Joby Gorillapod shown on the right ->

I have this for my heavy Digital SLR camera with zoom lens and also use it for my Kodak Playsport. It was also handy when I had my Flip Video. Everyone knows if you want a correctly shot video without the “shakies” you MUST use a tripod. Sure you can use a standard tripod but I'm not a big fan of lugging around a 3 ft tripod that weighs 10 lbs.  I would rather run with a portable one that can bend and attach to whatever. So phones and music devices will NEVER out of the box have the ability to link up to a tripod cause that's just not the market for them. Maybe in the future but I just don't see it ever happening with the need to keep phones small and compact.

Flip Video -> Kodak Playsport

So even with the news of Flip Video ending it's production I would still HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Koday Playsort. Many people even today don't have the fancy mp3 player or the newer smart phones that can product acceptable video. In those cases it is a NO BRAINER to go ahead and get a mobile video camera.

This just goes to show there is no sure thing in technology. You are here one day and could be closed and shut down the next without any real warning. Cisco Systems pulled the plug and had to with their poor earnings for the quarter but as a consumer we need to watch trends like this. Even more so for those of us who run our own businesses. Many of my students use a mobile video camera for their business shooting personalized training and doing product reviews. Something like these devices have a strong demand and should not be kicked to the curb.

But, life must go on and adapting to the ever changing climate of consumer demand and technology advancement is needed. Business must go on and those who will stick around will find new ways to earn money from their businesses. Be prepared to move fast with technology and if your in a home business be prepared to move with everyone else. The mobile video market is not dead but we will need to forever say goodbye to Flip Video, we heart you 😉

Engineering Your Success,
Lawrence Tam

Lawrence Tam Family

How To Generate Leads Like A Pro

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How To Generate Leads Like A Pro

Check this…

Most who join a business have limited to no marketing or advertising experience. Those who I do know that have a sales background make up for their lead generation shortfalls with awesome closing skills. Most people do NOT have these skills so if your looking to grow a business you better be able to learn how to generate leads like a pro.

For the most part many will struggle and that is just the natural path to growing into being in business for yourself. Many will buy ebooks and join systems to get going.

I would say the #1 place to get going has to be with My Lead System Pro. Continue reading →

MyPhoneRoom – How to Never Call Another Lead

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Yeah I know, I know. Having the audacity to say MyPhoneRoom allows someone to “Never Call Another Lead” is a bit crazy to say when the majority of the business I do is dealing with people. Many of you will also say “Hey Lawrence, I've spoken with you before so that statement can't be correct!”.

Well your correct to an extent.
Look, I'm not say you will NEVER have to call you leads. What I'm saying is you will never have to call data. Sometimes people get that mixed up and confused. There is a distinct difference from generating data and hot prospects and leads.

What are you generating? Continue reading →