Mass marketing is dead. Or so that’s what everybody says. Although I wouldn’t call mass markets non-existent (there’s a good reason the big television networks and telcos are still raking it in), there is no doubt there’s been a proliferation of niche markets as never before. For sure, prosperity and technology have given rise to niches. As economies develop, so do people’s income. And with that comes choices. Think “tall white chocolate mocha Frappuccino – no whipped cream, please.” Technology, particularly the Internet, has also facilitated the surge of niches, which author Daniel Pink referred to as “The Long Tail” in a distribution curve, where there’s an infinite number of songs, movies, books, and other products that have found a
tiny but constant market demand.

That is why regular folks, including many Filipinos, are able to sell rare collectibles, obscure items, and all sorts of doodads on sites like eBay and Multiply, because the cost of marketing and distribution is so slow and
somewhere out there is a potential customer interested to buy.
So here’s my point: to succeed in today’s world, you have to find your own profitable niche. Whether it’s your career or business, being all things to everyone doesn’t work anymore. It may be good to be a generalist in terms of broadening your skills but to stand out, you have to find your specialization.

Take this magazine for instance. MoneySense is the only local magazine on personal finance. That’s a niche. My small business, Learning Curve (www.iluvlearning.com), is a producer of conferences and seminars on personal finance and entrepreneurship. We target mainly SME owners and mid-level managers, and so we design our content and price our fees accordingly. Personally, I have found my niche in the information business as a magazine editor and conference/seminar producer focused on three areas: personal
finance, small business, and technology.

So if you want to be a chef, you should be a pastry chef specializing in wedding cakes (like Heny Sison). If you want to be a lawyer, specialize in intellectual property law for the information technology sector (like JJ Disini). If you want to be designer, focus on furniture design (like Kenneth Cobonpue). If you want to sell on eBay, sell Filipino collectibles (like Eireen Diokno-Bernardo). If you want to start a shipping and logistics, focus on offering marketing services (like Vcargo’s Paulo Tibig). If you plan to become a software mogul, become a Microsoft certified partner (like Joey Gurango). If you want to be a motivational speaker, focus on leadership (like Francis Kong). If you want to work in financial services, become a fund manager (like our five money managers featured starting on p. 48). If you have to be a celebrity, specialize in television hosting
(like our cover girl Donita Rose on p. 44).

It doesn’t mean you can’t do anything else. Of course you can get into another niche business or start another niche career, but you always have to think in terms of finding a niche. So how do you find your niche? First, find something you really love and you’re really good at and then drill down on more specific
talents or skills that make you stand out (e.g. if you love writing, you might realize what you really love is copywriting, not writing poetry). Second, find a sector you want to get into that’s growing and then break that down in subsectors (e.g. if you want to get into the real estate sector, you might discover your best bet is in renovating and selling dilapidated apartments, not building houses from scratch).

Riches really are in niches. Read the excerpt from the best-selling book by Singapore-based Thomas Fernandez and Sant Qiu “Niche Dominators: Success Secrets Exposed) to give you more ideas on how to find your niche. Better yet, grab a copy of that book and their previous title “Secrets to Dominate Your
Niche.” Special thanks to Nikko Lim for facilitating everything.

Enjoy this issue!

HEINZ G. BULOS
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
hbulos@moneysense.com.ph

EDITOR’S NOTE

Starting Your Portfolio Career

There’s no such thing as a safe job anymore, is there? Well, perhaps there is, if you know how to recession-proof your career (p. 50) or nab one of the hottest jobs this year (p. 53). If you’re like boxing hero Manny Pacquiao, it’s all a matter of excelling in your field and expanding to other sources of income (p. 56). There’s another way to stay the course even in rough job markets – build a portfolio career.

It sounds fancy but it’s been going around for ages, although not widespread. But lately it has become a growing trend. I bet you know people who have three or more simultaneous careers, often in diverse fields. They’re not moonlighters who desperately need a second or third job but free agents who want to pursue their passions at the same time.

I am one of them. Aside from being a magazine editor, I am also a custom publisher, seminar producer, conference organizer, and consultant. Someday, I want to add business historian, book author, behavioral economist, property developer, and B&B innkeeper to my portfolio.

You won’t enjoy the same level of flexibility, variety, autonomy, freedom, and fulfillment anywhere else. And the best thing is you can combine being a part-time employee, consultant, freelancer, and entrepreneur at the same time. You’ll probably earn a lot more too. Interested, here’s how to do make it work:

1. See if it fits you. Not everyone is suited to have a portfolio career the same way not everyone can be an entrepreneur, network marketer, or executive. If you’re the type who thrives in unstructured and uncertain environments, loves to do different things, and can work with different people, you’re a good candidate.

2. Don’t quit your day job. Tread carefully since it takes a little time for your portfolio career to flourish. So keep your job as you slowly do some freelance work here and some side project there, until you’re able to establish an acceptable level of income.

3. Get the ball rolling. By all means, get started. Don’t over-analyze and delay. Make that first proposal, do that first client visit, or send your recent work to that first prospect.

4. Try everything. While it’s important to follow your strengths and passions, be open to new opportunities, even if they don’t seem to appeal to you. Who knows you may have untapped talent for public speaking or an innate skill in sales.

5. Set up different arrangements. Forget pure freelancing as it can be quite unstable. For ongoing work, ask for a monthly retainer so you get predictable income. But for other projects, try to get paid on commission or have a share in the profits for more upside.

6. Expand your network. A portfolio career won’t work if you have the same circle of colleagues. Get out of your comfort zone and meet new people in other industries.

7. Find good partners. Being a free agent or solo worker does not mean being a hermit. You need to work with other people who will complement you. If you’re a good interior designer with no architectural training, you can join forces with your architect cousin for projects.

8. Diversify. Treat your portfolio career like an investment portfolio. Develop three or more careers, preferably using different skill sets in different sectors. That way, if one slows down, you still have more to fall back on.

9. Create structure. With such flexibility and autonomy and the fact that you’ll likely be working from home, you might get lost, confused, and distracted. Set your schedule, create your work environments, establish limits, and be disciplined.

10. Enjoy it. If you’re not careful, you’d be working more hours even during weekends and feel more stressed and burnt out. So learn to relax, take a break, go back to why this set up is best for you, and enjoy your portfolio career.

HEINZ G. BULOS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

hbulos@moneysense.com.ph

EDITOR’S NOTE (for MoneySense Magazine’s Mar-April 2009 Issue)

True Financial Freedom

This is the 14th issue of MoneySense and we’ve always written about ways to earn, save, spend, invest, and protect your money. There are lots of stuff on stocks, mutual funds, loans, bank deposits, insurance, and all sorts of financial products and services. But there’s more to personal finance than technical know-how. You see, managing our money has a lot to do with our attitudes and behavior. Financial freedom is more than having a net worth and cash flow that allows you to make working optional. It’s also about being freed from the bondages of materialism. Let me share you seven contrasting traits that I hope you reflect on during the summer or Holy Week:

1. Pride vs. Humility. Do you know why we make so many stupid mistakes with money? It’s because we think we own everything we have and deserve to do whatever we want with what we earn. That’s pride, my friends. If you have faith in a higher power, you would realize you are just a manager, not an owner. And it takes a humble heart to acknowledge that.

2. Recklessness vs. Stewardship. If you see yourself as the center of your universe, then don’t be surprised if you blow your money in accumulating useless stuff or getting into scams. But if you believe you are accountable to what you have, then you will strive to be a better steward of the resources entrusted to you.

3. Anxiety vs. Faith. Money is one of the major things that we worry about. And that’s understandable. For many of us, money doesn’t grow on trees. If it’s all up to us, I’d certainly be worried. I don’t know what you think in but I personally believe in a God that cares for my needs and who promised to supply them. I have had a number of occasions where my faith regarding finances was tested. And you know what? I believe even more.

4. Greed vs. Contentment. You know it doesn’t matter how much money you have because someone has more. Even Bill Gates and Warren Buffet compete constantly for the top spot of the world’s richest people. Regardless of your faith or religion, scientists and researchers have come up with solid studies that the key to financial bliss is contentment. The problem is our human nature – we just want more and more. We have to learn to realize we have more than enough.

5. Envy vs. Gratitude. Studies have also shown that we get miserable when we compare ourselves against our peers, even if we are doing quite well on our own. That’s how strange we are. I sometimes fall into this trap myself. The antidote: start being thankful for your blessings. Maybe write daily gratitude journal.

6. Poverty vs. Prosperity. There are two extremes to avoid. One is to have a poverty mentality – always fearing we’ll run of money, that this is already our lot in life, or that we don’t deserve to enjoy good things. The other is believing in a prosperity gospel – that life is all about blessings and that God wants all of us to be multi-millionaires. We have to strike a balance: yes, God wants to prosper us (and that often means our overall well-being, not strictly financial), but wealth is not our sole purpose in life.

7. Greed vs. Generosity. It’s a little surprising to know that the Bible has more verses about money than any other topic! And many of them are warnings about holding too much on material wealth that money becomes our idol. Money really strikes at the core of what we value most in life. Material blessings are not to be hoarded but shared.

These are gentle reminders that all of us should think about whenever the subject of money comes up. When we get a better grasp of the why’s of money, the how-to’s are easier to follow.

HEINZ G. BULOS
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
hbulos@moneysense.com.ph

Welcome to a brand new 2009 and our special second anniversary issue!

It was the same time last year when we opened the year with bright hopes, only to be dashed by the subprime meltdown, global financial crisis, skyrocketing oil prices, rice shortage, and economic recession. The Philippine stock market lost half its value in 2008. Pooled equity and balanced funds got battered. Several rural banks were closed.

As you know, we’re entering 2009 with a little cautiousness (or outright panic for some). It can be depressing, I know. But here’s my take: change your perspective. Instead of being pessimistic, be positive. Don’t be in denial of course. Get real but at the same time stay focused and look for opportunities. Be hopeful, I say. Really, it’s not that bad. Yes, growth will slow down, but it’s still growth. As our cover story on page 44 from Tina Dumlao shows, there are reasons to be hopeful. Certainly, you need to take appropriate action. Here’s what I suggest:
Continue Reading

By Heinz Bulos

One of the funniest scenes from the comedy Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery goes this way:

Dr. Evil: Gentlemen, it has come to my attention that a breakaway Russian Republic called Kreplachistan will be transferring a nuclear warhead to the United Nations in a few days. Here’s the plan. We get the warhead and we hold the world ransom for…ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

Number Two: Don’t you think we should ask for more than a million dollars? A million dollars isn’t exactly a lot of money these days. Virtucon alone makes over 9 billion dollars a year!

Dr. Evil: Really? That’s a lot of money. [pause] Okay then, we hold the world ransom for…one…hundred…BILLION DOLLARS!

Who would have thought inflation can be so hilarious? One million dollars in the sixties may sound a lot, but not much in the dot-com nineties. In the same way, a million pesos – while still relatively a lot given the average household income in this country – can only take you so far these days.

Last year, we came up with a “Millionaires’ Secrets” issue, which flew off the shelves. So we thought we’d up the ante with a “Billionaires’ Secrets” theme this time. It’s not that we think we’ll turn you into a Lucio Tan or a Manny Villar but we believe billionaires can teach us a thing or two about creating, growing, preserving, and giving away wealth.

Frankly, I have no aspirations of becoming a billionaire. My needs are simple and my wants are few. Don’t get me wrong, I desire to be a millionaire, i.e. in US dollar terms. If you think that’s a lot, try to compute how much retirement fund you need just to maintain a comfortable standard of living 20 to 30 years from now. You see for me, that’s enough. It may be too much for some, not enough for others. That’s because wealth is relative.

If you look at the richest Filipinos in Forbes’s ranking of “The World’s Billionaires” for 2008, only two made it – Lucio Tan, with $1.5 billion, and Henry Sy, with $1.4 billion. And they pale in comparison to the world’s richest – Warren Buffet, with $62 billion (it’s no longer Bill Gates, who slipped to number three after Carlos Slim). Tan and Sy were far down the list of 1,125 billionaires, at numbers 785 and 843, respectively.

Buffet himself is a third short of Dr. Evil’s ransom demand of $100 billion. And if you look at my $1 million target, it’s only .0001%.  Maybe for some of you, a million pesos is already enough. We all have to figure out when enough is enough.

A good place to start is simply to be content with what we already have. (I doubt this qualify as a billionaire’s secret.) Then work towards your “enough is enough” goal, i.e. that relative amount that you believe will provide you and your family the standard of living – and quality of life – you dream of. And once you reach that, and happen to have developed the knack of making more, maybe even a lot more, do what some billionaires like Buffet and Gates do – give most of it away. Because, really, one hundred billion dollars is just too much.