Life in the Philippines

Why are you not making money

This is the time of year that people start to have doubts as to weather the opportunities they signed up for in the new years are going to work for them. To be honest it is unreasonable to expect success in such a short time what one should be doing is making sure you are taking the right steps in building your business and here is a simple checklist.

• If you sell products are you buying and using them yourself, most MLM have a minimum monthly purchase level to qualify for commissions so even if you have no downline get used to making this commitment especial as when you introduce other people to your business you will expect them to do the same.
• Do something every day to promote your business, write a blog, place and advert or talk with someone don't just waste time aimlessly surfing the Internet or writing about what you watched on TV unless it is rel event to you business.
• If someone contacts you about your home business get back to them as soon as possible whilst your business is fresh in their minds.
• Learn something everyday about your business or a technique which will help your business develop.
• Read an inspirational book or listen to a tape to get yourself excited, excitement is infectious and makes it easier to sell.
• Do not ask anyone to do anything that you are not doing yourself, keep your business simple and duplicatable
• Seek help/guidance from other people in your business organisation before a small matter develops into a major issue.
• Stand by any commitments you make.

Remember Rome was not built in day stay committed to your dream and in time you will be rewarded, it will take month and sometime years but you will reach you goals provided you remain focussed.

David Ogden

http://seriouswealth.net

Better Home based Business

What do you expect from your business

Many people are looking to the Internet to help maintain their lifestyle, especially with the financial Crisis which is effecting many areas of the world/ the Internet is often perceived as the place to make money fast and it can be be but there are many scams that need to be avoided.

Like any business it will take time to get into profit and you need to allow for this. you also need to realise that you will need to put in time effort and money in order to build your business, you may have to do some task that you don't like such as speaking with people.

I personally hate the phone but know that this is the best way to communicate with potential customers and customers are the key to the growth of your business.

Far to many people believe all they have to do is direct people to a website and the money will come in, or else entice someone to join their opportunity and sit back and enjoy the profit, which is why MLM has such a bad reputation. If fact most if not all MLM are administered in such as way that if you do not put in the effort you will not be rewarded and it its not uncommon to discover that people below you are earning more than you because they are putting in more time and effort into their business. I believe that is quite fair.

You must be knowledgeable about your business and the products you sell, would you purchase a car from a car sales who does not drive? You should also use the products that you sell if you do not do this your potential customers will think theres is something wrong.

A number of people will ask you how your business is going and here you need to be truthful, if you have just started out no one expects you to be in profit. everyone knows that times are hard. so long as you have a plan that will put you in profit share it with other potential prospects.

Yesterday a prospect said he did not have enough money to join my business so I asked him if he could afford $50 a month and showed him a way that by retailing what he purchased he could start building capital to invest in his business, it might take more time to reach his goal but he would be making progress along the road to success.

David Ogden

http://seriouswealth.net

Life In the Philippines

Interesting Road Journey

Yesterday we made a road trip from Dipolog city to Ozamis city in order to lodge documents with the Department of Foreign Affair relating to our visa's, I do know the road quite well but it never ceases to amaze me the sights and signs one sees. One that is lodged in my mind is an adverting for a resort, posted on the wall of a local prison!

There is a long stretch of roadworks with single file traffic stretching over some kilometres, with a few passing places controlled by flag men, unfortunately it is hard to work out which flag they are waving red or green and the motorcycles just continue on regardless, I got caught out when a bus indicated it was stopping to drop off passengers and hid one of the flag men so i met a stream of vehicles coming towards me, luckily I have a 4*4 so was able to pull onto a muddy bank.

Ozamis is a city that we normally pass through when catching a ferry but this time we turned off the main road and into a warren of one way streets with no names and virtually no where to park with hundreds of pedal passenger tricycle, A real nightmare. I had printed out a map from Google and having found a parking place Jasmin was all set to use a tricycle and I intervened as it is quicker to walk as you do not need to be snarled up in one way systems.

Coming home we picked up a police car and I mentioned to Jasmin that I had better not overtake it, so we set to follow it as it seemed in hurry, however it suddenly pulled over so we no longer had a scout to follow.

There was a lot of rain at times so I drove with headlights on so as to be seems but the locals do not seem to care, so its no wonder they have so many accident, especially when its wet and they have worn tires. we passed two crashes our self and noticed the road barriers had been damaged in many places.

The Philippines is not a pleasant place to drive, you have to be defensive and concentrate 100% expecting the unexpected.

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+639991141149

http://seriouswealth.net

Life In the Philippines

The Waiting Period

I finally managed to contact The Department of Foreign affairs in Manila and found someone to answer the question as to how to get documents authenticated when you live in the provinces. the solution is so simple its a pity it is not posted on the DFA website.

All you need to do is find the nearest DHL branch, take the documents you want authenticating plus the supporting documents for validation, DHL will check them and then send them to Manila, after a few days they will be returned stamped with a red ribbon, Yes we have to drive a few hours to a DHL office, so will let you know how it all goes in a couple of weeks time. there is even an option for them to deliver the documents directly to you home.

We had a final meeting with our lawyer at the weekend, as one document has not been signed correctly, so will need to await a replacement... another 14 days wait.

The President of the Philippines visited Dipolog city to open a new school and revealed plans to upgrade the airport and provide more shopping malls and hotel for tourist. This is the start of a general upgrade to the island of Mindanao which is rich in resources that are starting to attract the interest of investors. This is some good news especially as I have a house for sale ready for occupation.

There is not much more we can do at the moment to expedite our move, our next milestone is receipt of Jays passport so we can apply for Cyprus Visa's

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+639991141149

http://seriouswealth.net

Working From Home

Focus on your business

Building an online business is not an easy task, you can have the best mentor in the world but unless you follow their advice and concentrate on the business in hand you will struggle. Yes it is hard work but if you expect it to produce money for no effort you could be in for a long wait.

If you are prepared to put in time and money into a project you will create more money. Some people also need to have conventional jobs in order to support their family needs and this can create a dilemma. where do they focus their effort.

A salaried job will produce the same amount of money no matter how much time and effort you put in and is a safe option. Working for yourself is a risk, there is no safety net of money coming in at the end of the month.

A combination of the two is the most common route to start building a home based business, but one need to remember to set aside time for your new venture and treat it as a business not a hobby. If you do not work at it it will wither and die.

So how can you improve the odds of success, well all businesses needs customers or leads they are the lifeblood of business and need to be treated like seed corn and nurtured to produce income. You must set aside at least one hour everyday, that 7 hours a week this is the minimum investment for your future. It's not asking much, you probably spend more time watching soaps and since when did TV make you money.

Some year ago I worked with a group Make Money Not Excuses and that saying is true today. you need to associate with like minded people, people with the same goal who you can turn to for advice and who will help you reach your goal.

David Ogden

http://seriouswealth.net

Slow Life in the Philippines

Two Steps forward and one back

This last week we have made progress, unexpectedly our lawyer produced a certified copy of Jasmins annulled marriage document so she is now free to marry me. We have also applied for Jays passport. Looked like things were going well until we required a number of documents authenticated by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The DFA appear to be having a major computer problem, the site is not available on most day. Passport issue is delayed and we now have to wait until 14th March for Jays Passport. More serious however is the fact that authentication of our documents can only be carried out in Manila, which means incurring the inconvenience and cost of two days traveling from the south of the Philippines to the North.

I have spent the last few days attempting to get information on how to get the authentication carried out by using a courier (LBC)which was suggested by the DFA office in Zamboanga. I did find a press release about the service being available in the SM mall in Cebo but once again this was wrong.

I am not alone in trying to resolve these issues and it is no wonder that many Expats that we meet are starting to take action to leave this third world country.

I am frankly amazed that the DFA which is the contact point and link to other countries cannot get it act together. So my task for vthis week is to continue on my quest for answers.

David Ogden
Dipolog city
+639991141149

http://seriouswealth.net