What Do You Write About When You Don't Know What to Write About?

I started my own blog a little over two weeks ago and have been blogging pretty consistently, taking breaks only on weekends. Here are some things I found extremely helpful in getting my creative juices flowing!

Come up with a title

Whenever I write(or type), the biggest obstacle I face is coming up with a title. After coming up with a title, I’ve basically done half the work. I would say that having a title is like opening the floodgates of your mind. 

A title gives me a guideline on what I should write about, providing me with a general idea of where I want to take the article. What sucks however, is how long it takes me to actually come up with that title.

The question then would be, how do you actually go about thinking of a title?

Devour *useful* content

When I’m stuck, I usually mope about and watch useful Youtube videos, read, and listen to content which is related to my niche. It may take me several hours to actually come up with anything, but I find that it always helps to trigger something in my brain. On the other hand, I know how easy it is to stumble onto other types of content(*cough* tik *cough* toks) and fall deeper and deeper into that rabbit hole, ending up with you in a sad and lonelier state because you did nothing productive that day. 

Just put that away for a bit and try to focus on your writing. Don’t give yourself the excuse of ‘taking a break’ until you’ve actually come up with a title or done anything productive at all.

Spar ideas with someone

Doing this has been one of the most effective things to help me find a topic to write about(half of my articles are out because of this). I very often talk to my dad about businesses I’m trying to start and things I should write about. 

This helps get me thinking and planning an article which I will write some time in the future. It doesn’t have to be your dad. Find someone close to you who has similar interests to you and your niche and just strike up a conversation. You’ll see that as you talk to that person, ideas will naturally start to form in your head.

Lower your expectations

I know. It sounds strange. Contrary to what school has been telling all of us, I believe that when creating, we shouldn’t limit ourselves by saying, ‘oh, that’s not good enough’ or ‘oh that’s so stupid’. Trust me, I think most of my articles aren’t good enough, but I just post it anyway because I’m 100% willing to learn from my mistakes. If you’re really struggling to do this because you’re a perfectionist, keep this in mind - you can always improve on it after posting it. The point is to get it out there, receive some criticism, and then reflect and improve.

If I missed out anything, please feel free to let me know at 'jingrui.wu.2002@gmail.com'.

If you found this useful, feel free to check out my other posts. Give me a follow if you're interested in joining me on my journey to make a million dollars!

Is scamming acceptable?

I know, I know, it's a stupid question, but I can't say it has never crossed my mind.

In the make money online(or making money in general) industry, scams are literally hiding in every bush, waiting to pounce on us and take our money.


Disclosure: I want to preface this by saying that I would never scam anyone and I do not encourage scamming of any sorts. This is just an issue which I feel should be discussed. You should not ever start a business which does not provide value.

Why is scamming bad?

I'm sure we've all heard of people getting placed in prison because of scams. But those are only the ones who get caught. 

Scams have a negative connotation, and for good reason. Scams are literally defined as 'a dishonest scheme, a fraud'. Which is... understandable. 

Scams like pyramid schemes tragically tear people's lives apart. Desperate, low income people go to faith healers, join pyramid schemes in hopes of finding a way out, breaking free, only to get the remainder of their bank accounts drained.

Of course there are smaller scams like phishing scams, or siphoning a little by little from the rich, without them even knowing. These are not as harmful, but are harmful nonetheless. It's a complete waste of expertise as these people clearly have the skills and expertise to make a decent living for themselves ethically but they decide to take shortcuts. Shortcuts often lead to short-term profits.

I think scamming is unacceptable from an ethical perspective, and I value integrity above all, hence I am always as honest as possible.

Fraudulence is a crime, the law protects the weak from being taken advantage of by the strong. It gives them a chance to stand on their own two feet.

Why would it ever be acceptable?

I mentioned that starting a scam has in fact cross my mind, but I know better than to execute on it. After all, I have been the victim before. I have no one but myself to blame.

The way I think of scams is, getting outwitted by the scammer. People hate scams as it makes them the butt of the joke, when they get scammed, they're the sucker, simply because they were foolish enough to fall for it. 

According to Darwinian theory, it's kill or be killed. It's completely acceptable for you to scam another person, because it's just survival of the fittest(or the smartest in this case). 

So to answer the question, it's acceptable because they're animals with no morals. But, you do have to give them credit, they did manage to outsmart us.




I hope this managed to set your mind straight if you wanted to start a scam. If you have any strong objections, please feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email at 'jingrui.wu.2002@gmail.com'.

If you enjoyed this article, check out my other ones and give me a follow! I post everyday(except weekends) about money related subjects, documenting my journey to become a millionaire in the next 10 years!

What is Print on Demand (POD)?

In a previous article, I wrote about dropshipping, its pros, and its cons(more about its cons though) and mentioned that Print on Demand(POD) was basically dropshipping, but without its biggest con.

What is Print on Demand(POD)

Print on Demand, or POD is pretty self-explanatory. Send in a design, and the company would print it for you on the spot. The question then is, what makes it so similar to dropshipping? 

Dropshipping is where you, the dropshipper, connects the supplier to the customer by doing your own advertising. You don't need to own your own product, you don't need to manufacture the product and you don't need to ship the product. Everything is done by the supplier. I've already covered the pros and cons of dropshipping here. POD is pretty much the same thing, except the shipping times are shorter, much shorter and you will have to create your own product.



I hear you asking, if I have to create a design, isn't that more work than just dropshipping? Well, my answer to that is, if you're not willing to put in work, how are you gonna become a millionaire?

My previous article spoke about how dropshipping's biggest downfall was its shipping times. POD eliminates that issue almost entirely. Compared to the 20-30 day shipping times of dropshipping, POD platforms can usually ship your products to your customers within 7-14 days. On top of that, their products are usually of higher quality.

How to start a POD store

Now, let's get on to how you can start a POD store of your own!

Decide on a platform

Like other online business models, there are POD platforms which help you set up your website and fulfill orders from your customers. Here is a list of the most reputable and well-known ones. 

- Redbubble

- Printify

- Printful

- Teespring

Prices for each platform varies slightly and different platforms tend to specialize on different things. For example, Teespring specializes in T-Shirts, while Printify and Printul focus on more miscellaneous products like posters and coffee mugs. Don't get me wrong, all platforms are able to print a variety of products, it's just that some platforms do it cheaper and better than others. You may also need a website to help you create an online storefront, for that I would recommend Shopify.

Come up with a design

After you're done signing up for a website, you'll need to come up with a design. If you're horrible at designing like me, you could think of funny quotes or sentences. Once you've grown your business, you could hire a designer to come up with more colorful ideas. 

Diversify!

Once you've found a design that sells, try placing the same design on different products. For example, if it worked on a T-Shirt, try it out on a mug, or hoodie, or beanie. It's important to make sure that the design works first though!

If you're hesitating, don't! Get started ASAP and stop wasting precious time. Most of these platforms offer a free trial during which you can figure out what works and what doesn't. 

If I missed out anything please do let me know through email st 'jingrui.wu.2002@gmail.com'.

If you found this article helpful, feel free to check out my other ones and give me a follow. Thanks!

How to Buy Your Own Stocks - A Beginner's Guide to Stock Market Investing Part 3

I wrote about stock market terms and approaches to investing in parts 1 and 2 of  my 'Beginner's Guide to Stock Market Investing'. Now, we get to the part which everyone is waiting for. Actually buying the stocks you want.

Find a brokerage

Obviously, the first thing you need to purchase stocks from the stock market is a way to place an order. To do this, you would need a brokerage, who acts as a mediator between you, the buyer, and the seller, helping you to manage your transactions.

Investors don't need to worry about commissions and spreads as much as traders do, but that doesn't mean that they neglect it entirely. Having lower commissions and spreads is always a plus in stock market investing. 

Since you will be making a deposit with the brokerage it is important that you use a reputable and reliable brokerage.

Here are a few well-known, well-managed and highly secure brokerages for investing.

- Interactive Brokers(Over 200 countries)

- Robinhood(USA only)

- TD Ameritrade(USA, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore only)

The commissions for each brokerage varies but for the most part, I would highly recommend Interactive Brokers which I use myself(I'm from Singapore). Robinhood may be the better choice for US Citizens, as they have free commissions and a pretty awesome referral system which gives you a free stock for each person you refer(sadly I can't apply since I'm a Non-US citizen). After you've chosen and signed up for a platform, you'll have to do a lot of verification to show that you are at least 18(if you're not, ask your parents for help). Then you would have to wait several days for them to actually verify you and allow you to deposit some money. 

Make a list

While waiting for the approval of the brokerage you chose, you can read and listen to financial news from platforms like Bloomberg, Seeking Alpha or The Motley fool and craft a list of a few stocks you would like to buy. If you don't have enough money to buy all of them, or just don't want to risk too much money, you could always look into ETFs which contain the stock which you are eyeing. 

You could do this by simply going on Google and looking up 'ETFs with Tesla(TSLA)' for example and take note of the ticker so you can buy it once your account gets approved. It would be a good idea to list down a few of these which are within your budget, making sure that they aren't all from the same industry so that there is diversification in your portfolio. Make sure to apply the approaches to investing as well, to ensure that you aren't just blindly gambling your money away.

Place an order

When your account is finally approved(it may take a few days), you can make a deposit(which could also take a few more days - It sucks. I know), and place that order for the stocks/ETFs you decided on in the previous step. Remember, you should try to use a limit order when placing an orders for these stocks as much as possible. Also, using the price algo management function in interactive brokers(the other platforms may have this too, I'm not too sure), is good practice as it ensures that you get your order filled at a price as close to your limit price as possible.

If I missed out anything or got anything wrong, please feel free to reach out to me at 'jingrui.wu.2002@gmail.com'.

If you liked this article, feel free to check out my other ones and continue to follow me on my journey to become a millionaire.

The Fundamental Approaches to Investing - A Beginner's Guide to Stock Market Investing Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of my 'beginner's guide to investing' series. If you haven't seen part 1, check it out here. If you're here, I'll take it that you already understand most investing terms you need to know.

Hence, here are the fundamental approaches to investing. It's important to note that because each approach has its strengths and weaknesses, investors should apply all of these approaches to build a well-rounded portfolio.

 Also, most of these methods focus on buying/longing stocks, not selling/shorting them, because as mentioned, investment is long-term due to the stock market's tendency to always go upwards.

Growth investing

Growth investors look for stock that have the potential to grow at a rate significantly higher than other stocks in their industry. Most of the time, such stocks are relatively cheap as the market capitalization of the company is usually quite small.  

These stocks are usually found in rapidly growing industries(like the cannabis industry when it was legalized), which growth investors buy, hold and sell for a profit in several years time.

 Growth investing also has its risks, as all investing does. Because 'growth stocks' are usually from companies which are relatively small or new, there is not much data about the quality or reliability of the company. This means that most of these companies could go bankrupt at any time, so you will have to make sure you do a thorough analysis of the company's fundamentals(you should be doing this for all the stocks you purchase)

Value investing

Value investors on the other hand look for stocks which are undervalued(cheaper than expected). They first calculate the true value of a stock. Then, they check the actual stock market prices and make a comparison, seeing whether the stock is undervalued or overvalued. 

Value investors then make the decision to buy stocks which they feel are undervalued or discounted, hoping that the stock will increase in price and earn them profit. Value investing works because of the fluctuation of stock market prices. When prices are low, value investors can swoop in and grab the stock and hold it until it bounces back up. 

The downside of value investing is that it can be quite subjective, one value investor could think that the stock is undervalued but one could think that it's overvalued. Value investors also have to do extremely in depth research about the company, having to know their numbers like the back of their hand.

Income investing

Finally, we have my favorite form of investing. Income investing works exactly as the name suggests. Income investors buy stocks which generate income for them. The stocks do this when they pay out dividends to their shareholders. 

Income investors usually invest in bigger, more reputable companies like blue-chip stocks. They look for companies which pay out dividends consistently and look for stocks with a high dividend yield and strong fundamentals. Income investors look for stocks with the lowest risk out of all the three types of investors, and usually do not ever sell their stocks until retirement(some may not even sell at all!), collecting dividends every year.

Final thoughts

All three of these approaches are effective ways to make money investing in the stock market. Investors must learn to be patient and headstrong. The approach which you choose depends on your age(the younger you are, the more risk you can take), income level and risk tolerance. Growth investing has the highest amount of risk, followed by value and then income. 

If you feel that I have missed out something, please do let me know, drop me an email at 'jingrui.wu.2002@gmail.com' and I will be sure to reply ASAP. 

Also, if you enjoyed this article, feel free to check out my other articles and continue to follow me on my journey to become a millionaire by 29!

P.S. Read part 3 of 'A Beginner's Guide to Stock Market Investing' here!

A Crash Course on Stock Market Terms Every Investor Should Know - A Beginner's Guide to Stock Market Investing Part 1

When starting to invest in the stock market, it is important to distinguish between 'investing and 'trading'. Although both investing and trading work on the concept of buying low and selling high, or selling high and buying low, the main difference is that investment is usually long-term and trading is usually short-term. Here is the first part of my 'beginner's guide to investing' series.

Stock Market Jargon

Before embarking on anything, it is crucial that one first understands the terms used in the industry. Here are some terms which are widely used when discussing the stock market(you'll need this to understand financial news and sound smart in front of your friends)

Stock Exchange

A stock exchange is a platform or a market which allows securities to be bought and sold or 'exchanged'

Broker

A broker is a person or a platform who organizes transactions between the buyer and the seller

Tickers

A stock's ticker is basically it's 'label' on the stock market. For example, Tesla's is 'TSLA'. So if you were to search 'TSLA' on the National Association of Securities Dealers and Automated Quotations(NASDAQ) stock exchange, you would be able to find the Tesla(TSLA) that Elon Musk owns. You can then buy or sell Tesla(TSLA) through your broker.

Long/Short

When investors say long/short, it usually has no correlation to duration or time. Instead, it is used to refer to the buying or selling of stocks. When someone is long on a stock, they are buying it, with the belief that it would go up. When someone is short on a stock, it's the opposite, they are selling it, with the belief that the stock would go down. 

Bullish/Bearish

In bullish markets(like the one we just exited), the stock market moves in a general upwards direction. In a bearish markets(like the on we just entered), the stock market moves in a general downwards direction. Being bullish or bearish can also be used to describe a person's opinion on a stock(just like long or short). If someone is bullish on say Tesla(TSLA), they would expect the prices of Tesla(TSLA) to rise. If someone is bearish on Tesla(TSLA), they would expect the prices of it to fall. 

**It's important to note that over 90 years, the stock market has had a general uptrend, meaning that if you buy and hold you would always come up on top. 

Bid/Ask

Your bid price is how much you are willing to pay for the stock. An ask price is how much people want to sell the stock for. 

Fill

When the bid and ask prices meet, a transaction occurs and a stock is exchanged. So, when you place an order, for example to buy 1 Tesla(TSLA) stock for US$500 and someone else places an order to sell it at the same price, your order will be filled and you will receive the stock.

Limit Order

A limit order is where you set the price at which you would like to buy or sell a stock. When the price of the stock reaches the price that you set, if there is a willing buyer/seller, the transaction will occur. This should be the type of order used most of the time. 

Market Order

A market order is an order which you place at market value. This means that you just place an order to buy or sell, and you will just fill whatever prices another person decides to sell or buy at. It is to buy or sell a stock ASAP and is usually not a good idea to use.

Volatility

Volatility is basically how much a stock's price varies and changes. The more volatile a stock, the more it's prices will change.

Liquidity

Liquidity is how easily you can convert the stock back into cash. A stock is said to have high liquidity when it has many transactions occurring daily. 

Volume

Volume is the number of stocks being exchanged each day on a specific ticker. The more volume there is, the more liquidity.

Portfolio

Your collection of stocks. Basically, all the different stocks that you own.

Quarter

A quarter is 3 months.

Recession

A recession in stock market terms, is when the stock market declines for 2 consecutive quarters. During this period, companies usually let go of staff due to less sales and revenue and hence unemployment rises and productivity falls.

Market Capitalization

Market capitalization(Mkt cap) is how much the stock market thinks the company as a whole is worth. This is calculated by taking the cost of each share and multiplying it by the total number of shares. (Cost of each share)*(Total number of shares) 

Blue Chip Stocks

Blue chip stocks are stock like Google(GOOGL) or Amazon(AMZN), they have massive market capitalization and are often seen as safer and more recession-proof. 

Dollar-Cost Averaging

Dollar cost averaging is where you buy(usually) or sell on dips or rises. This helps to average the cost price of each stock, allowing you to make more money when the stock market decides to go in your favor. As mentioned, the stock market always eventually goes up, therefore, dollar cost averaging on a short order is usually not recommended when investing. 

Dividends

Dividends are a sum of money paid out by the company to it's investors. It is calculated annually and displayed as a percentage of the stock. So, when the dividend yield for a company is 10%(it is very high), and the price of the stock is $100, it means that in the previous year, that company paid it's investors $10 each, just for holding the stock! Dividends can be paid out monthly, quarterly, or annually. 

ETFs(Exchange Trade Funds)

ETFs put simply, is a basket of stocks of the same qualities(or category) which you can buy without having much capital(money). For example, a big company would buy stocks from Tesla(TSLA), Google(GOOGL), Apple(APPL) and Amazon(AMZN). Because buying each of these stocks individually is expensive, it's difficult for normal people like you and I to purchase each of these stocks(buying 1 of each stock yourself would cost about US$4,000 in total). Hence, the big company buys all these stocks, bundles it together and sells it to you for just $200(roughly). Just like that, you've spent US$200 to acquire a portion of APPL, GOOGL, AMZN and TSLA. 

However, there is a downside. You do have to pay the big company which bundles the stocks a small fee(about 0.44%) and the percentages of each company in the bundle is decided by the big company, not you. This means that the bundle could contain 50% of APPL, 10% of GOOGL, 25% of AMZN and 15% of TSLA. But that is all stated beforehand, so be sure to check and make sure that the percentages align with your investment plan.

While writing this article, I realized that I couldn't really put in that many images as most of them look about the same as the 2 I have there. I apologize for the bland text.

Also, if I did miss anything our, please feel free to let me know in the comments or just contact me through email at 'jingrui.wu.2002@gmail.com', I am extremely open to criticism as I am still learning too!

If you enjoyed this article, please do continue to follow me on my journey to become a millionaire in the next 10 years.

Check out my 'Beginner's Guide to Stock Market Investing Pat 2' here!