The other day, I drove pass Shell station and my friends started discussing which company has the better fuel – Shell, Mobil, Caltex or Esso (Petronas is not applicable)? A lot of them said Shell because it can actually last longer. And everyone believes so.

Then I asked them. Did they actually try that out or prove that theory/belief?

Nope. None of them did.

Honestly speaking, I’m one of those Shell supporters because my bro-in-law told me that Shell can actually last longer. From where he heard that from, I’ve no idea.

Well, that’s the power of word-of-mouth. If someone says you’re good, a lot of people will believe you are especially if it is very difficult or troublesome to prove otherwise. If someone says Shell is good, a lot of people will not be bothered to test it out by driving their car out…pump using Shell’s fuel….and go around to see how far they can go. It’ll be too troublesome and time consuming for us. Also, that is not our job…that’s the job of the folks from Mythbusters.

So if you’re planning to come out with a product, try to make it a good one or at least an OKAY one…but make everyone believes it’s good. Also, make sure it’s not easy to prove that your product is actually not that OKAY. People will be too lazy to prove your product is not OKAY.

Last but not least, never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. It can either be your best ally in marketing…or your worst foe.

Nearly every business wants to be the best in something because being the best gives you certain privileges that only the best can get. You can charge more expensive than your competitors, spend more money on research, being selective on your customers, having less promotions and sales (which minimize profit), etc. Those are the privileges if and only if you are the best.

If you’re not, sorry to say, those privileges will not be available to you but to your competitor who is the best in your industry.

And that is exactly why there are a lot of businesses out there which want to be the best. There’s even a saying which goes like “if you can’t be the best in that field, choose another field”. Forgot where I’ve seen it though.

The thing is, it does require a lot of efforts and possibly money to get to the top and be the best. As a business, you need a remarkable product with unique features. Something like Apple IPhone or Nintendo WII. They can be considered as the pioneers in their respective industry. That’s why these 2 products are so popular. But how many such products actually managed to make it to the top? Definitely not Microsoft with their big failures such as Microsoft Zune and Microsoft Vista. Oh, by the way, Sony’s PlayStation 3 is a very big risk too because of the amount of money Sony has put into its research. If PS3 fails to sell well, Sony Entertainment might have to be closed down.

Yes, it is THAT risky.

So do you still want to be the best? After all, being average does not mean your business cannot earn. You can still earn. Notice how many clones are there for all the famous products? Those are average products, not the actual stuff. For example, just go to Kajang and find the famous satay. You will end up finding a lot of Satay Kajang without knowing which is the original. But those who know which is the best, they will still go to the best. The average ones will only have customers if the best is fully occupied.

That’s the path of an average business. You can still earn with lower risks, but don’t expect to earn big bucks.

So which do you think is suitable for you and your business? The very risky but rewarding path, or the less risky and average path?

Last but not least…a reminder to you. Always ask yourselves this question “Why would people still buy from me when my product is actually not the best? Is it more affordable than the rest? Or does it has more features?”

I’ve been rushing project for the past few days like there’s no tomorrow. As a matter of fact, I’m supposed to submit my work on 23rd of January but I failed to do so. I won’t blame anyone actually and must admit that I’m bit slow, and also my mistakes for misunderstanding the requirements (thus the major revamp few days ago).

Some of my colleagues, on the other hand, preferred to complain about the others outside the company. Honestly speaking, they (not my colleagues) are giving us a lot of headaches but our side is wrong too, for not being able to stop the customers from thinking too much. However, I chose not to join because I feel that there’s nothing much we could do anymore since we’re already at such a stage. The only thing we can do is to work hard together and pull this through. I personally feel that’s not as demotivating as complaining.

Hopefully this won't be seen in customer service department

But don’t get me wrong. I don’t blame my colleagues because I myself am frustrated. But complaining really does not help. And it also doesn’t help to pour oil over fire – or to make someone who is already very angry…angrier. That’s why when some of my teammates started to complain, I chose to make them calm down and look at the bright side of things, rather than making the person even more pissed off.

Thus, the best thing to do is – STOP complaining and STOP discussing such negative things. No point going back to history to say who is right and wrong. We can do that once our project has been completed. For the time being, if it does make you feel better, then feel free to vent your frustration. You can complain, curse, etc. But don’t spend too much time and energy in that because it’s very demotivating and it might make you tired.

But if it doesn’t make you feel better after cursing……then try to minimize it. But the thing here is most people STILL complain a lot about things which they can no longer change…even if they actually feel worse after complaining (instead of better like some people).

My advice to you then is – if it makes you better, then do it for a short while. If it doesn’t, then don’t do it at all because complaining and cursing will not help make the situation better. It’s better to spend your energy elsewhere, where it can be more productive.

Remember that your project is still ongoing and you need to stay motivated to complete it.

And if you want to complain about your job or project being bad and sux…….try to think for those who have been laid off and are currently jobless. Maybe you should be glad you still have a job.

As some of you know, I’m a big fan of motivational books or non-fiction books. I feel that by reading such books, I can learn a lot and improve myself as a person. But lately, I start to realize that there’s 1 similarity in every motivational books. There are only success stories about how successful people managed to achieve their dreams and ambitions. Their WAYS and methods to become successful.

People tend to focus on the success (the one with glass casing) and neglect the mistake...but that's not actually the right thing to do. By the way, the guy is not me.

Well, not that there’s any problem with such content.

The thing I’m wondering about is that why isn’t there a motivational book which focuses on mistakes and mistakes only? Maybe there ARE such books but they are surely not that popular. Hmm, I thought learning about the mistakes made by others is actually more important than learning about how successful people become successful? After all, the ways to success can be quite different from one individual to another, but the mistakes to be avoided can be quite similar.

Furthermore, making mistakes do make us learn more so that we won’t repeat them. If that’s the case, isn’t it nice to know what kind of mistakes have been made by others in the past, so that we will try to avoid them or at least know what to do when we’re faced with them?

Unfortunately, this is not what most people want to know. People love to read about successful stories and idolize these successful individuals. The thought of Warren Buffett making some silly mistakes just doesn’t materialize in their mind. But is that true that Warren Buffett does not make silly mistakes? No. Everyone does at some points in their life. It’s just that others do not want to focus on the mistakes.

Besides that, it’s also because motivational books are meant to represent hopes. By reading these books, I do hope that I can be like these great and successful people. That’s why I need to read how they succeed which is something positive, and not how they could’ve failed due to their silly mitakes. That’s just too demotivating to read!

Demotivating it might…but they are still very useful in my humble opinion.

Hmm…maybe someone should come out with a series of books about mistakes and mistakes only. It’ll be nice to see the mistakes made by Steve Jobs, rather than how he became successful.

Hey guys, I’ll be going away for about a week and will only be back to PJ on 1st of February 2009. I will be without internet access as my hometown’s internet line has been canceled. I’m moving away from my Kluang hometown. This will be a very busy Chinese New Year to me….and I still need to rush for my project.

Gong xi gong xi - this is not drawn by me

Thus, I will not be able to post actively in this blog. I’ve written 3 articles and are scheduled to publish while I’m not here.

However, my blog does not allow me to auto ping Petaling Street Public Pinger and also does not allow me automatically add to innit.nuffnang.com. Thus, my number of readers will be reduced I think.

The only 2 methods left for you to keep updated with this blog is by visiting the blog regularly, or the easier method is to subscribe to my blog’s RSS.

Alright then, I’m very tired now and tomorrow is going to be a long day. Going to travel back to my hometown.

Take care people and have a wonderful Chinese New Year. Gong xi gong xi.

Remember, if you drink (alcohol), don’t drive.