Me, Myself and SoC...

Hi all,

just a little bit of ego at work, i'll like to introduce myself. My name is Yap Neng Giin, matriculated in 2003, graduated in the class of 2008. Yeah... i hang around in SoC for 5 years (but not quite). In short, studied 3 years, got a little sicked and tired of computing, took a spin in Shanghai via NOC (that'll be another story) and then finally got my ass back to SG to complete my CEC course.

For the first 3 years, i was hanging around SoC more with the Computing Club. Once in a while, i get itchy-handed and nosy with the 26th/27th NUSSU Council . Of course, i remember the escapades with my friends from the C3 (C-Cube, an unofficial body within the NUSSU Council ). Anyone of you remember the time about a few years ago, Prof Shih and Uni admin was talking about fee hikes and some anonymous group of ppl sprouted the idea of black t-shirts and flash-mob at the University hall. The flash mob did not happen, but on that designated thurs or fri, which i can't remember, there were many black t-shirts worn. (Then again, on an average usual day in school, many black t-shirts are worn anyway... duh)

Shanghai story happened on my fourth year.

On my Year 5, pretty much was about my HYP, the part-time job(which took up too much time), and the free campus stay role of an Resident Assistant in Ridge View Residences, OKR.

Seriously, if i get to name the degree i grad with, i would proudly call it, "Bachelor of Student Activites (Major in Computing Club, Minor in Resident Assistant)"

Okie, will try to dig out some photos and share with you ppl...

Happy 'Niu' Year

Happy Lunar New Year!


For all those who had been watching this space, apologies for the quietness for the last days... :p Oops... My bad... I don't have much excuses.


But I guess, for all those ppl who will celebrate the Lunar New Year (aka. CNY), you will have your first CNY where find yourself no longer a kid nor a student. The good news is that if you are still single, your eligibility for ang-bao remains valid. The bad news, you are somewhat motivated to contribute a portion of your monthly salary to your family's "CNY Celebration Fund"


One of the things that did surprise me this year is the amount of time and effort placed into the celebration of CNY. I think the overall work involved in the celebration for CNY remains constant all the years. Therefore, the only 2 possible explanation i can think of are: 1) I was not so involved in the spring cleaning, goodies shopping, etc previously on the excuse of the heavy school work load and stressful deadlines. 2) I actually had more leisure time as a student as compared to the life of a working class folk.

Either ways, i can't decide and will leave it that way...


Just take note, that we do know that there is a gloom in the air, and everyone's taking about the crisis. I hope you guys saw the budget report and know how to read between the lines. (It's going to get tough in Singapore)


Initially, i thought that most probably, people will be so concerned, that they would forgo the CNY celebration to save some money. (I was expecting close-to-zero ang bao income this year). People would stay home this CNY as to avoid situations where Red packets have to change hands. Thankfully, i was so wrong. IMO, i thought this CNY saw more commuters betweens the HDBs more than before. I myself had found the few days of CNY to be a hectic adventure of 'Knowing the HDB Estates in Singapore Better'.


On a very serious note: This CNY got me thinking. (4 non-working days really give thinking space) Yeah, the buzz words right now more or less spells the bad climate in the marketplace. As people, we tend to get really really stressed and negative about all things: like how it's going to affect our plans to buy our dream more-than-luxurious cars, bigger-than-istana houses, or sleeker-than-iphones mobile...

While all these are valid concerns, as i believe it is right for ppl to have aspirations. At the same time, do give the due appreciation and thanksgiving for all the good things we already have... One thing i am truly glad this CNY is find my family and my extended family (aunties, uncles and cousins whom u see once a year and ask too much nosy questions) and friends to be able to celebrate the passing of the previous year and embracing the hope of this year to come. Paraphrasing words from my current big boss, "... it is joy to be able to tell your family and your loved ones that you are doing fine and hearing the same of them..."


I wish all the SoCians, now, graduated and future incoming the very best in this year to come. I'm doing fine, hope it's going well for you too! Drop a comment or 2 and let one another know that it's been good for you too!


Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Thank you!!!

Top: Thank You (Image Courtesy: http://blog.nasscom.in/emerge/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/thank-you.jpg)

In this last entry, I would like to thank first of all, Juliana for inviting me to guest blog here. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my partner, Hanyang for this opportunity to work together with him on ChupR! Of course, I would also need to thank the school, my friends for being so supportive! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

All in all, in starting something, no matter what, it may be extremely difficult, but do press on! Persevere! There is light at the end of the tunnel! Even though sometimes it might just be another on-coming train!!! But by not giving up, you will definitely get to see the light of the day!

3 ways to getting the user’s ATTENTION for sure! (well maybe almost!)

Seriously… It’s not easy to be the purple cow…especially for ChupR. After the Yahoo! Auctions’ exit, auction sites are mushrooming everywhere. So how exactly do you stand out from the crowd? Here are some of the ways that I found to be pretty useful. You can share and comment more if you want! =)

SEX (sells!)
It always works… really… just that I don’t have the assets… haha… But it never fails to capture!
Top: Something Funny... ( Courtesy of http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/loud_sex.png)

ATTRACTIVE freebies
And I do mean ATTRACTIVE! If you are giving out some regular keychains or pens like anyone else, you can stand in the queue just like everyone else.

MONEY
What else? If you are prepared to throw in some money (and I am not taking about ten or twenty cents…) You are bound to get some attention!
Top: Money attracts almost everyone! (Image courtesy: http://orionwell.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/raining-money.jpg)

Of Course! There are more than 3 ways. These are but some of the ways which would definitely grab attention!

The (Almost) Zero Dollar Marketing Challenge!!!

To be really frank and honest with you, ChupR started because of interest, not business, it still is an interest. We kept it as a hobby still because it’s what that motivates us. We do not intend to monetize ChupR yet. But we want it to be successful. This poses a dilemma:
How do we sustain this interest without introducing a revenue model?

Left: No Money? That's the challenge! (Image Courtesy: http://www.tortdeform.com/archives/no%20money.gif)

This in turn gave rise to trying to market ChupR with an extremely low budget. Which means we have almost zero dollar for marketing ChupR. This means how to do EVERYTHING for NOTHING. It’s pretty fun actually. Let me take this chance to share with you some of the
ways that we used in order of difficulty. Start with the easier ones that you are comfortable with then slowly move on to the more difficult ones as you progress. I would use ChupR as the example to illustrate my point.

Friends, Relatives, Family!
They are the best way to start! We were lucky enough to have quite a number of our friends promoting about ChupR to their friends which helped ChupR rise from nothingness to something. (remember, you got to go around asking people to help. If you don’t, no one
Would.)

Viral Marketing!
Well, you can say that we are again, pretty lucky to get hold of a few Ipods for FREE…. Which means zero marketing costs which we have to pay upfront. We used these Ipods and threw them in as an auction promotion in ChupR which encouraged the growth of the user base
And in turned help popularize the site when users talk about these promotions going on in ChupR. (this is a really good way for ChupR to gain high traffic and signups especially during the promotion period.)

Press and Media!
This is 3rd time lucky! We manage to get some press coverage on The Straits Times, Singapore’s most widely read newspaper. You can say that this is the BIG BREAK which helped us grew from hundreds of users to thousands of users. I guess we really have to thank Miss Tan Weizhen for featuring us in her article. If not, I am pretty certain that ChupR would not be where it is now.

Right: What to do with no money??? (Image Courtesy: http://www.moneyaftercollege.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/you-have-no-money.jpg)


Conclusion
You see, anything that we did here (in chronological order) started simply. And if we do enough of it, it does help us get to the next level. You would be dead right to say that luck plays an important role in this as well. But other than that, perseverance and determination also plays a great role in the success of starting (anything you want). Trust me, stick to it long enough, and your luck will come.


Up next: 3 ways to getting the user’s ATTENTION for sure! (well maybe almost!)