Part 9 of 9!!! We hope you’ve found this video series informative and helpful!
Category: Work and Career
Marketing Chill Chats: Service Recovery
Tap into the wisdom and experiences of Frances Bowden Affandy with Part 8 of 9 in this video series!
If you’ve enjoyed this series, consider a personalized consulting session for your small business or brand!
Crypto Newbie
I bought my first cryptocurrency in August 2021, just about half a year ago. Since then, I’ve gotten around the basics of trading and managed to profit around end of October 2021. This was when Bitcoin reached a new all-time-high. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still very much a crypto newbie. I don’t know how to use the more complicated instruments yet. However, let me share with you a little bit of my tips for those of you who are interested to dabble your toes in this trend. (UPDATE: Since October cryptocurrency has undergone major crashes, but I still think it’s a viable long-term investment).
Find trusted people to teach you
As a crypto newbie, I was lucky to have two friends who were quite experienced crypto traders. They introduced me to the Tokocrypto app and walked me through the beginning infancy stages. Just like anything else in life, whenever you think about starting something new, be sure to have a trusted and experienced source of information to guide you along your path. Exploring new terrains by yourself might be fun, but it can also be dangerous. It’s much safer (and also much more fun) to explore with trusted peers / friends.
Don’t use money allocated for your daily needs
When experimenting with cryptocurrency, be sure to use money you don’t need on a day to day basis. Manage your personal budget so that you know how much you will allocate for food, bills, emergencies, healthcare, insurance, etc. Then when you have “leftover” money which you would like to invest, you can consider investing it in cryptocurrencies. It’s no secret that crypto is highly volatile – your money can suddenly go poof! – so allocate your money wisely.
Don’t panic
Following up on the volatility of cryptocurrencies, when the market is on the downturn (called a “bear” market) and twitter is going crazy with bad news: DO NOT PANIC. A good strategy during those days is something called “hodl”. It basically means just hold on, hang on to it, wait and see. Of course if you’re using money that you need for daily use then you likely will panic, which is why it’s best not to use money allocated for daily use. Unless of course, you’re a really good day trader (which most of us aren’t, and if you’re a newbie you won’t be a great day trader right away).
Last but not least, have fun!
If trading cryptocurrency is just going to increase your stress level, then don’t do it. It’s not for everyone. When you are stressed then your immunity system will drop. You’ll get sick easily (not a good condition to be in during a pandemic). Or you’ll be in a bad mood, lose sleep, all the signs of a downward spiral…It’s not worth it for you. There are other safer, more conventional investment options which will serve your goals just as well especially if you are disciplined over a long period of time.
If the daily adrenaline is fun, you like the risks (while knowing your limits) and enjoy opening new possibilities / futures for yourself, then hey go for it!
If you like this post, you might find my article on financial freedom for women interesting.
Marketing Chill Chats: Integrated Marketing Communication
We’re here on Part 7 of this 9 part video series with Frances Bowden Affandy. I hope this series has helped you in your small business or marketing and branding efforts. If you like what you see, definitely consider signing up for a personal consultation to get the most impact out of the experience.
Marketing Chill Chats: Employee is King
Part 6 of Marketing Chill Chats is here with the one and only Frances Bowden Affandy. We often hear customer is king, but in services marketing it’s actually the employee who is king (queen!). Take a listen on how this key principle plays out.
If these videos have been helpful for you, consider signing up for a personal consulting session for your small business or personal brand to take it to the next level. Take a small leap and try it out 🙂
Marketing Chill Chats: Touch Points (Gaps Model)
I hope you have enjoyed the video series so far – lots of learning points as always from Frances, with more to look forward to in this video. Part 5 covers touch points of Gaps model in marketing. In case you have noticed, we did change spots from her garden indoors to her living room!
If these videos have been helpful for you, consider signing up for a personal consulting session for your small business or personal brand to take it to the next level. Don’t miss out on this opportunity!
Marketing Chill Chats: Expectations – Perceptions (Gaps Model)
This video series with Frances Bowden Affandy continues to Part 4, where we talk about the Gap Model of service quality. This segment delves into the difference between customer expectation and perception.
We also offer a personalized counseling session to help you work through your small business and / or personal branding and marketing needs! The 45 minute session will be done via Zoom, and you can take a look at the prices here. We assure you it will be well worth your time and money!
For a bit on Frances’ experiences, visit this page.
How I Diversified My Income Streams in 2021
One of my major resolutions this year was diversified income streams. I’m not sure about you, but for the most part I grew up thinking that I had to focus on one main income stream / field. If I work hard and excel, then that would one income would do. Well, hello, enter the pandemic of 2020! One of my takeaways as someone working mainly in the performing arts field was that I need multiple sources of income. Otherwise I would be screwed the next time around. So that’s what I set my mind out to doing this year.
At the end of 2021 I am quite proud to say that I have diversified to 7 different sources of income stream. These range from the most active to passive incomes. I’ll list them out for you and then give you some tips on how you can also diversify your income stream for 2022.
Active Incomes
- My main job is CEO of an arts nonprofit that I co-founded – the Bandung Philharmonic. This is still my main source of income at the moment. I did voluntarily slash my salary during the pandemic crisis thus the other sources become necessary.
- My other music-related job is with the South East Asia Music Academy Online based in Singapore. I had the pleasure of being invited onboard by Singaporean violinist Gabriel Lee.
- An interesting side job opportunity presented itself mid-year via freelance writing for a fantasy blockchain game called Eizper Chain. This came about through some members of Mad Tea Book Club, a completely voluntary book club that I co-host.
Side Business
- Since domestic travel reopened, my airBnB listing Villa Gupondoro has been able to start receiving guests again. It was real tough there during lockdown.
- Mulberry Jam – there is a patch of land by the Villa on which Oky, my late husband, and I had planted mulberry trees. Though so many things have changed, the trees keep blooming each harvest season! So I still produce and sell fresh mulberry jam twice a year, now with the help of the an awesome assistant Joe Wu.
- Online sales of my ebooks and stories from my shop have started to pick up this year – thanks to all the bookstagrammers and book reviewers helping to share the word about my books out there!
Passive Income
- I’ve bought / invested in some government bonds – not the highest monthly yield but I’m aiming for security with this investment.
There are other extremely high-risk investments I’m involved in such as robot trading and crypto trading. There are also some initiatives for 2022 building upon what I already have: book launches, Mulberry Tea product, and a small hedge fund opportunity. These are still in the infancy stage (or likely to go bust any minute due to the high level of risk!) so I try not to depend too much on it. I also think risk tolerance is also something very personal for every individual.
Those are pretty good well-rounded diversified income streams, if I may pat myself on the back. So how did this come about?
Tips To Have Diversified Income Streams
- First of all, as with everything, start with the why. Do you know why you’re trying to diversify your incomes? Do you really even need to? What is your current position in life and what are your goals? If you don’t have these major answers yet, that’s OKAY. You can always chat with a mentor / advisor and get more in tune with your life and goals. Once you have these, it’s much easier to make an intentional commitment to diversify your income streams.
- Throw your intention out there to the world. Get it out there. Tell a friend / family member / work buddy that you want to diversify your income stream somehow (you might not know how yet). You’ll be surprised at what opportunities come your way by just getting your intention out there into the big, big universe.
- Understand yourself better – what are your skills? What do you like to do? What are you naturally good at? These will be your assets in finding another source of income. Knowing what you don’t like, what you are not good at, and what will take you longer to learn will also help narrow down choices and opportunities.
- Once you’ve chosen something to pursue – it can be as “passive” as buying some government bonds / stocks, or a notch up with starting an online side business, or even applying for side jobs, then don’t give up or change direction too quickly. I would recommend to stay at it for at least a year before deciding it’s not for you and quitting. Some things take time to get used to, and time is also needed for results to really show.
- Find good trusted people/partners and find a way to collaborate or work with them on a money making venture that would benefit everyone involved. This is a big point and deserves more elaboration (getting cheated on, etc), but generally I would say it is very difficult to achieve great results if you only work alone.
It’s also really important to keep in mind that nothing is instant (except unhealthy stuff). If you’re impatient like me, find a hobby to distract yourself with. With that, I congratulate you for surviving 2021, and hope the best for the coming 2022.
Marketing Chill Chats: Tangible – Intangible
This video series is back with Part 3 of 9, in which Frances discusses Tangible and Intangible concepts in marketing. I hope you’ve been enjoying this new segment of the site!
To take it a step further, consider purchasing a live counseling session with Frances and myself to help think through your small business or personal branding needs. You can also purchase it as a gift for someone else who might appreciate it. If you have any questions about the session, you can contact me.
Marketing Chill Chats: Target Market
We hope you enjoyed the first segment of this video series: Expectations and Perceptions. The second segment goes into the topic of Target Market. It’s something I have learned to be extremely important, even before considering to start your business!
Research, research, research. Find how your product / service would really be a solution to your target market so that your happy customers become your strongest marketing arm.
If you find our conversation helpful, consider a private, personalized online consultation for your personal branding or small business with Frances and myself. You can also purchase the session as a gift for someone else!
Do you have any questions or feedback? Let us know in the comments!
