Blogging Tips : What I Learnt From A Trip To Holland Village

Over at Problogger, Darren suggests that one of the ways to make your blog a better blog is to simply go shopping and do some observations.

For those who check my blog regularly, you would know that I was at Holland Village today eating my breakfast.

One of the other things which I did not mention about was that I spent a fair bit of the morning walking around Holland village too.

What does this got to do with Blogging Tips? Well...I guess that I have learnt quite a fair bit from observing this certain shop at Holland Village and I believe that if you understand the psyche of shoppers, you would also understand the psyche of people who surf the web and visit your blog.

The Indian Newspaper Stand

There is this particular newspaper and magazine stand that has been at Holland village for years.

It is directly opposite crystal jade and you will find it if you just walk from the Holland V bus stop to Holland Village. For those who are familiar with the place, you most probably know which news and magazine stand I am talking about.

For the uninitiated, this magazine and newspaper stand literally sells like thousands of magazines and newspapers from all over the world. It is not a huge stand but lining the walkway are rows and rows of magazines and your daily newspapers.

If you are blogger in Singapore, this is a treasure trove.

No...I am not asking you to buy your newspapers and magazines from there. What I am suggesting is that you observe how such a newspaper stand operates and incorporate the ideas into your blog.

What Are People Interested in Reading?

There are only 5 million people in Singapore. Less than 10 per cent (I am guessing) ever makes it down to Holland Village.

Yet, this stand is loaded with so many magazines and newspapers. It gives you an idea of what people are interested in reading. Not only that, it shows you what are the things that people like to read based on the quantity of certain magazines on the shelves.

If you ask me, I notice that there are a few sections to this particular magazine stand.

1 . Newspapers from all around the world. Apparently, alot of expats go to Holland Village as it is sort of a yuppies place. Thus, you can find newspapers from all over the world being sold here. One thing for sure...newspapers are updated DAILY. If you want people to read your blog, you need to make the effort to update it DAILY. Imagine having to visit the newspaper stand everyday without knowing whether the newspapers being sold belongs to yesterday or the day before... the same principle applies to readers of your blog. If they have to go to your blog each day to check for new content, they might get tired pretty soon and simply stop visiting because of the lack of new content.

2. Entertainment News. Yes, Lindsay Lohan without makeup and lots more... A fair bit of the magazines sold have to do with this kind of tabloids. It is not wrong. People read to be entertained and your blog should be as entertaining as possible. Notice that this kind of magazines are always loaded with pictures. Your blog should have pictures too to be entertaining. All words but no pics makes your blog a dull read.

3. Lifestyle Magazines. These are the fashion, travel, cars and home furnishing magazines. they take up another huge chunk of the magazine sections. Basically, these magazines are focused on THINGS that people enjoy looking at, doing or owning. They are dreams being sold and people are buying these magazines to find out how they can have the LIFE they always dreamed of. In your blog, you need to paint these kind of dreams too which people can relate to. Talk about your travels, your car, your home renovations... People just love to compare with others so help them by revealing a little bit of yourself.

Blogging Tips:

Okay, I might have lost some of you in the mountain of words. But here are just 3 simple blogging tips which you can take back with you based on my lesson that I have learnt from observing the magazine stands.

1. Update Your Blog Regularly (Once a day if possible)

2. Make it Entertaining (Include Pictures if Possible)

3. Make Your Blog Personal (Reveal what you wear, drive, earn or eat. People love the details sometimes)

So there you have it! Some simple blogging tips which you can apply to your blog. Treat your blog as a e-magazine and you should not go too wrong.

A Dreamy Monday Morning

It is a dreamy monday morning here in Singapore.

The sky was overcast and it was drizzling when I woke up.

I woke up because of the school bells that marked the start of the new year of school for the primary children who attend the school just below my flat. Over the loudspeaker, I could hear the teacher giving instructions perhaps to the Primary 1 kids who are spending their first day at school.

Feeling really lazy and stuff, I brought my family over to Provence @ Holland Village for breakfast. I had a croissant and cheese onion bread with coffee while my wife enjoyed an egg toast with some tea (Earl Grey I reckon). It feels like I am at Starbucks but I am not.

At the nearby coffeeshop, Dan Fogelberg's Leader of the Band was playing and it sort of calmed me down. I tried to make sense of the madness that I have gone through in my 20 over years of life. Next year, I will hit the big 3-0 and it scares me to death.

I was just doing some people watching and it was entertaining in some sense to see who were the people who walked into Provence to grab a quick bite or to eat breakfast there.

A Japanese looking family was eating their breakfast at the table to my right. I thought they were japanese until they started speaking and I could tell that they were clearly Singaporeans.

Nevertheless, they looked pretty dignified. Husband, wife and daughter. The daughter looked like she was in her late twenties while both husband and wife seemed to be in their fifties or sixties. They spoke little but seemed like they were not in a hurry to get to work even though it was already 9 plus in the morning. Dressed in their office attire, they ate slowly, exchanged a few words here and there and left silently.

Next, a man in navy uniform stopped his car outside and rushed in to buy a quick bite. He was wearing a coat so I could not see his rank. He left as quickly as he arrived. He must have been late for work.

A white Porsche was the next to stop. Out came a woman in her mid forties to fifties. She certainly did not look glam and stuff. I remarked to my wife how common she looked for someone who was driving a Porsche. You would bump into her at the hawker centre and not figure that she drove such a posh car. I also told my wife about a woman who used to work in McDonald's all her life and actually had $500,000 of cold hard cash sitting in her bank account. These are the normal people in life who are actually really rich. (Next time you see a McDonald's auntie serving you coffee, she might actually be much richer than you )

A man wearing a standard Chartered marathon singlet was the next to drop by. He was with his two sons and it seemed that his son was perhaps "sick" as he mentioned about buying medicine later. Good excuse if you ask me cos he did not look sick at all. Perhaps he just needed some excuse to skip the first day of school for the year.

Different people from different walks of life. All finding some sort of comfort in this little bread shop. Some trying to escape their lives, some living up to their lives and some just getting on with their lives.

I live you with the lyrics of the Leader of the Band:

What Are Your Stock Picks for 2010?

Everybody who invests in the stock market definitely has their favorite stocks for the year.

Reading the Sunday Times today, I read on how the various investors and managers were giving their stock picks for 2010.

I realised that I have not picked out my top stocks that I would like to acquire for the year 2010. In fact, if there are any, it will most probably be the same stocks that I acquired during 2009.

What are you top stock picks for the year 2010?

To start the ball rolling, mine would include these stocks
1. First REIT
2. Ascott REIT
3. Suntec REIT

Currency Crisis for 2010?

As we begin the new year, we need to look back at where we have left off in 2009 so as to make wise investment decisions for 2010.

For me, I am almost certain that a currency crisis of the US dollar is way overdue. Well..you do not have to take my word for it but at least you can trust investor Jim Rogers and websites like the Motley Fool.


The financial crisis which was caused by too much debt is being solved by increasing debt(ironic isn't it??). That is perhaps the most tell-tale sign that the Federal Reserve is way over enthusiastic about actively stirring the country away from depression. The amount they are spending is way over board and it seems that they are keen on totally destroying the US dollar.

Gold and Silver are hitting new highs because the US dollar is being devalued.


In fact, the BRIC countries are proposing that trade move away from the US dollar and be based on a basket of currencies instead.

Two quick questions to all people out there.

1. How can one really PROFIT if the US dollar is to become devalued in the future?

2. Which is the safest currency to place your money in should a US dollar currency crisis take place?

A day at East Coast Park

I went to East Coast Park today to do some cycling and walking.

I must say that I am quite amazed at the recent developments and how the beach seems to have alot more sand than before.

There are a lot more eateries and there was also the newly opened skateboard park near the Jetty.

The crowd that was at East Coast Park was also amazing. Lots of people running, cycling, blading or just walking their dogs. Many people were also playing beach games at the beach.

I am pretty sure that they imported sand from somewhere and threw it all around East Coast as it looks a lot like Sentosa already.

Anyway, the wife and I rented a bike each at a total cost of $13 for 2 hours. We cycled to the nearby food centre and ate some delicious chicken wings which cost $3.60 and had some drinks which cost $3.50. After cycling for a little while more, we got tired and decided to return the bikes.

It is amazing but we paid $13 for the bike rental and I do think that the bikes can be used again and again for almost eternity (okay, maybe for 5 years). It seems that the bike rental stores there are really having a good business (not to mention location).

It is empty during the weekdays but during the weekends, the number of bikes that they rent out can easily hit a hundred every hour. Simply amazing!

Read Recent Articles:
1. Review of Best Posts for 2009

Review of Best Posts for 2009

While we usher in the new year, I would like to look back at 2009 and pick out what I feel were my best posts for the year at SgFinancialFreedom.

Here are the top 3 postings in this blog which I personally liked.

1. Unit Trust Fund Screener I felt that there was a need to share on this wonderful fund screener with people who read this blog. I am afraid that this posting might have slipped the eyes of some so I am highlighting it here once again. Next time, before you invest in any unit trust (even those unit trusts which you buy from the insurance companies, be sure to check it out first using Lipper)

2. $50 to Give Away. The Winner of this contest was Musicwhiz who is also a prominent blogger in the Singapore blogosphere. It was the first time that I had given something away on this blog and I was just encouraged by the amount of participation.

3. 10 Steps to Financial Freedom. This was the first 10 part mini-series that I started and I felt that it was a good try out for me. It really took a lot of discipline to write about a certain topic continuously for days. This was espeically so when I had to write after work and my mind could not think clearly. Nevertheless, the response that I got was pretty good.

So there you have it, the top 3 postings for 2009. I do hope to bring more original and interesting content for the year 2010 even as I continue my journey towards financial freedom.

If you have any suggestions on how I could improve my blog (or any criticisms), please feel free to leave a comment!

New Year Towards Financial Freedom

A new year ahead towards financial freedom as I continue my journey.

This year, I hope to make up for lost ground and increase my passive income to $600 per month. I failed in my attempt last year but it does not matter. A new year, a new beginning.

I still have not sat down to write out my resolutions for this year but I hope to do it pretty soon!

Just to share how I spent my new year... I basically spent it at home watching TV.

I also managed to finish a book that I started reading less than 3 days ago. So in 1 Jan 2010, the first book that I completed reading was: To Kill A Mocking Bird.

My wife kept saying that it was a good book to read but I have put it off until now. I am glad that I managed to finished it around 2.00am on the first day of the new year.

Right now, I am sitting here sipping my white wine with the History Channel currently showing a biography of Dr Mahatir.

The new year has come once again and I can only be amazed at how fast time has passed.

I sincerely wish all a Happy New Year! May all your dreams come true in this new year. May we continue to share our journey and both the ups and downs.