The Secret of Money Making Bloggers

Some bloggers have made thousands of $$ from their blogs, but, unfortunately, most bloggers failed to do so.

In order to find out the secret of those money making bloggers, I have read an interesting article posted by Chitraparna Sinha in bloggingtips.com (below). Happy reading.

5 Reasons You Aren’t Making Money from Blogging

Posted by Chitraparna Sinha on 8th Jul 2014 | 

Unlike the years when pro bloggers like John Chow and Darren Rowse came on the blogging scene, making money from blogging is comparatively easier now mainly due to:

• a lot of exposure
• timely guidance

Earning a decent $1000 within the first few months of blogging is not tough these days.
Still, there are a lot of newbie and intermediate bloggers out there who find it difficult to earn a substantial income from their blog/s.
Why?
Let’s explore.

1) You have no Writing Skills

I don’t understand why bloggers tend to ignore this fact. You need to possess writing skills for creating a decent piece of blog.
True, no one is a born writer and second, you cannot afford to hire a writer when you are struggling to even pay the blog hosting fees, learning to be a better writer makes sense, doesn’t it?
All the technical details like PR, PA and DA does matter but just because your blog has PR 3 won’t make advertisers beeline with advertorials.
Where is the quality? Advertisers want quality. Think about it.

2) You are only depending on AdSense

Move over AdSense, right NOW!
If you are creating a blog just to earn money from AdSense, you’re making a big mistake. Don’t get fooled by those online AdSense reports. The bloggers who earn thousands of $$$ with AdSense probably have more than 50 blogs running AdSense.
…and did you honestly think you can achieve the same amount of success with just one blog? Really!
Don’t create blogs for AdSense. Even Google doesn’t want that.
Even if you want to make it the main earning model, start with at least 20 blogs at once. Do you have the manpower or money for this? No? Then don’t be a cry baby!

3) You are not a Marketing Ninja

Okay, not everyone has clever marketing skills. I don’t have but I still make a decent amount every month, so I must be doing something ‘right’.
What are you doing to market blog posts?
Just some Facebook and Twitter shares will give momentary traffic spike but they don’t work in the long haul.
Think – is your content worth marketing?
Be truthful and honest to yourself. If the answer is a resounding “NO”, then first learn to create marketing-worthy content and then reach out to advertisers.
Check out Joe Pulizzi’s Content Marketing Institute for awesome resources.

4) Your Blogging Niche is NOT Profitable

If the chosen niche doesn’t have any takers, who can you blame for not earning anything?
The first step towards making money from blogging is to choose a profitable niche. Blogging is a medium to connect with a particular segment of viewers. However, the topic of your blogging medium needs to be in demand as well.
For proper keyword research and to find profitable niches, I would recommend the LongTailPro Keyword research tool by Spencer Haws.
Niche matters a lot when you want to earn from affiliate marketing, which is definitely not easy. Most bloggers and marketers fail. For inspiration, you should not miss reading about Brad Campbell who is making a cool 6-figure a year in the affiliate marketing sphere.

5) You are not Networking

Business means networking. You cannot ever have a profitable business if you don’t know how to network with others.
Sign up on any of the popular social networking sites to start connecting with fellow bloggers. Facebook would be a good first option. You can join blogging groups, talk to experienced bloggers and learn from them.

• Mix with the crowd.
• Help others.
• Become popular.

The idea is to make others recognize your blog. Not only will it send referral traffic, you will find other bloggers eager to advertise on your blog.

Endnote

Making money from blogging is not tough.
Start using that grey matter (brain!) evolution has given you.

One year later

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

It has been one year since I last up dated this blog, many things have changed, some personal some general, happy and sad, even tragic.

But I shall try to avoid writing about personal, and sad or tragic things, I shall try to write about things that are worth sharing.

Thanks and regards,
Harry Nizam

Toastmasters Speech Contests

The First of March

Hi Guys,

When I woke up this morning I looked at the Calendar and realized, among others, that I have not been up dating this blog since 7 February 2013.

The main reason for that was because I have been very busy with my day job which needs my fullest care and attention. 

Besides, I have was busy with my extra-curricular activities, as Judge in Speech contests in Toastmasters, and  the Asian English Olympics at the Bina Nusantara University in Jakarta.

Actually there are so many topics that I can choose, especially about Politics, Laws and Environment.

Therefore I will encourage (and motivate) myself to write again on this blog. Wish me luck guys.

Horrible Traffic

Yesterday I faced one of worst experience in my history of driving car.

I was supposed to be a Judge of for a Speech Contest held by the Motivators Toastmasters Club which take place at the Mayapada Building, Central Jakarta, which starts at 6.30 pm. 

Usually, it would take me not more than one hour to get to that place. But considering that it was raining quite heavily since 4 pm, I left my office in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, at 4.30 pm.

The streets that I passed were so heavily crowded with cars, motorcycles, bicycles, taxis, big and small buses. Some of the streets were inundated by water at the depth of around 10 centimeters, forcing drivers to move very slowly and stop causing a very bad traffic jam.

At 6.30pm I only reached the street in front of the Hotel Sultan, Central Jakarta, which means that I only reach a half way of my destination, and the vehicles in front of me were almost not moving. 

I tried to call Tantia the Chief Judge at Motivators but not answered so I sent a text message via Blackberry Messenger (BBM) telling her about the ugly situation and apologize that I cannot come to the Club.

After half an hour, I decided to return home by taking the toll road, so I ascended the Semanggi flyover and drove to Jl Gatot Subroto. The traffic was also jammed and I reached the nearest toll gate at 8 pm. Thank God the toll road road was not so crowded.

I reached my house in South Jakarta at 9pm feeling so very tired body and soul.

The Girl behind the PKS Scandal

One of the reasons for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to arrest former chairman of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Luthfi Hasan Iskaq last Wednesday, was their investigations that lead to the arrest of several people including a 19 years old girl i.e. Maharani Suciyono the day before.

Maharani was arrested with Luthfi's assistant i.e Ahmad Fathanah, has five wives (here), in a bedroom of Le Meridien Hotel, Central Jakarta. At that time, they were both naked, and the KPK found Rp 10 Million in her hand-bag.

Maharani is a student at a university located not faraway from the People's Representatives Council  in Central Jakarta, and she live in the same neighborhood as Luthfi (read here).

After she was released from KPK detention, Maharani and her lawyer held a press conference at Hotel Nalendra, East Jakarta, on Tuesday, during which she denied that she and Ahmad Fathanah were inside the hotel's room when they were caught by the KPK. She said that they both met at the hotel's basement and coffee shop, during which Ahmad Fathanah gave her Rp 10 Million.

Maharani told reporters that she knew Ahmad through a waiter at a coffee in Senayan City one day before the arrest. The waiter told her that Ahmad want to meet her and gave her the latter's mobile phone number (read here and here).

According to the KPK, the Rp 10 Million received by Maharani, was part of the Rp 1 Billion Ahmad received from Meat Importer as a down payment of Rp 40 Billion to be given to Luthfi who will arrange Meat Import quota with the authorities.

Photo : Courtesy of Tribune News

The Year of the Water Snake

According to the Chinese Calendar, the new year will fall on 10 February 2013, and the Year of the Water Snake will begin.

Unlike the present Year of the Water Dragon which Feng Shui experts said is good for romance, in the Year of the Water Snake people's commitments and promises will be tested.

A Feng Shui expert Gunadi Wijaya was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying that this new year will not be very good for romance. Couples need to be very careful if they want to maintain their relationship.
He said that the snake is fast and quick as it moves while the water is robust. Couples need to watch for backstabbers, avoid any fights and excessive emotions.

Another Feng Shui expert Yohan Suyangga said that  in the coming year we will see major scandals and affairs that we have not seen before. He said that snakes have poisons with great effect, but people can use those effects negatively or positively.
He further said that the Year of the Water Snake would be good for Politics and would serve as a prelude for the elections in 2014. New leaders will emerge, those who use to compete with each other will work together and form a coalition.

I am not a believer in Feng Shui, I just like to know what people have in their minds about the future. So I hope that everything would be okay, people would be happier and luckier than in the previous year.

Picture :  Courtesy of MotherSky.

PKS: Corruption & Polygamy

Yesterday, the largest Islam based party the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has announced Anis Matta (44) as its new President to replace Luthfi Hasan Iskaq.

Luthfi was named a Suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) last Wednesday in a bribery case centering on the government's procurement of imported meat (details here).

This is the second time that a PKS politician implicated in Corruption case after Misbakhun who was found guilty by the courts in 2010 for his involvement in the fake Letter of Credit (LC) of the troubled Bank Century but released after the Supreme Court accepted his request for Judicial Review (details here and here).

In his first speech as PKS President, Anis Matta stated his suspicion that the allegation against Luthfi was part of a grand conspiracy against the party. I think this is a "wild statement" considering that KPK is still conducting investigations on the case. It could be some sort of a "boomerang" if later on the court find him guilty. The best thing for PKS would be to cooperate with KPK in the investigation of this case.

One interesting thing about Anis Matta, formerly the party's Secretary General, is the fact that he is still young compared to chairmen of most political parties, and he has two wives, the second one being a Hungarian lady.

Beside Anis Matta, other PKS leaders also lead the polygamous life style, including its former president Tifatul Sembiring (currently Minister of Communication & Information) who has two wives, its Deputy Treasurer General Didin Aminuddin who has three wives, and its member of Parliament Zulkifliemansyah  who has two wives (details here).

Hmmmm ....... I wonder whether PKS is planing to make Indonesia a Polygamous country ?

Logo :  Courtesy of Wikipedia

The First Family's Tax Reports

President Soesilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) has frequently stated about the need for people to fulfill their tax obligations, and about the importance of transparency regarding the wealth of government/state officials.

That's why I was very surprised when The Jakarta Post reported about some discrepancies in the annual Tax Reports filed by him and his sons i.e. Major Agus Harimurti (Agus) and Edhie Baskoro (Ibas) for the year 2011 (below).

The paper wrote that the President's tax report mentioned that he earned Rp 1,37 Billion as President in addition to Rp 107 Million in income from Royalties. That year, SBY opened bank accounts worth 4.98 Billion and US$ 589.188 but there's no specific details for these funds.

Agus mentioned that his annual income as an Army officer is Rp 70,2 million, and he has 4 savings accounts at four different banks totaling Rp 1.63 Billion, but he did not give information about his or his wife's additional income. The total tax he paid amounts to Rp 2.7 Million.

Whereas Ibas mentioned that as a member of the People's Representative Council he earned Rp 183 Million. He also mentioned an investment in PT Yastra Capital worth Rp 900 Million, saving account of Rp 1,59 Billion, and cash money of Rp 1,57 Billion. However, he did not mention other sources of income like dividend, share etc.  The tax he paid : Rp 20 Million. Whereas his tax report in 2010 mentioned that his assets worth Rp 6 Billion including a car  Audi Q5 SUV worth Rp 1,16 Billion.

The Jakarta Post reported that President SBY has asked the Finance Ministry's Directorate General of Taxation to publicly address the above mentioned discrepancy allegations. 

In this connection, the Director General of Taxation Fuad Rahmany clarified that the President and his sons have met the required taxation administration procedures and have complied with the existing law and regulations. He said that there is no way that the President's family failed to properly fill in their tax report. Because they have a special team that thoroughly calculates their tax obligations to ensure accuracy.

The Moments of Love

Many people believe that the month of February is a month of Love, perhaps this is because on the 14th of this month there is the Valentine's Day celebrated by millions of people all over the world as the day of Love.

In my humble opinion, every day is the moment of Love whereby we show our feelings and acts of love to our love ones, we do not have to wait for the 14th day of February or any other days of the year to show our Love.

Let us pray and hope that everybody would want to show their love for each other as often as possible so that the world could be a much better place for us to live.

The Dirty Judges

The concept of Rule of Law is adopted by most democratic countries of the world, emphasizing on the upholding on of the following basic principles :
-  Supremacy of Law
-  Equality before the Law
-  Human Rights protection

As a consequence, Judges of the Courts of Law must consists of high quality people who uphold the above principles and morality so that they can make wise and fair decisions/verdicts.

Considering the above, I was very upset when I read on the news media that in the first three months of 2012 (January - March) , 28 Judges have been punished by the Supreme Court. And this number is growing bigger as time goes by, the latest one being the Head of South Sumatera High Court M. Daming Sunusi who thinks that Rape is an act of fun enjoyed by the Rapist and the Victim.

What make me more upset is the opinion of former Chief of the Constitutional Court Jimly Assiddiquie that Daming should not be severely punished because what said was just a slip of the tongue not intentionally.
Hmmm ..... as the Head of a High Court with 24 years experience as Judge, Daming has no right to talk that way about Rape to anybody especially to members of the People's Consultative Council.

We can only hope that the Supreme Court would do its best to make sure that the Judges are doing their job properly so that Indonesia would be a lot much better place to live in.

Picture :  Courtesy of Bestuff.

The Arrest of 17 Celebrities

They are all well known presenter, actor, actress, and singer in Indonesia.

As such, they own lots of money, wear expensive dress/shirt/pants, ride fancy cars, live in beautiful houses and have easy access to many important people and facilities.

Ordinary citizens like me and most of the 240 million people in Indonesia would envy them and ask :  " What more would you ask for? "

That's the question I asked my self when 17 famous people including presenter Raffi Ahmad, member of Jakarta Parliament Wanda Hamidah, Actor Irwansyah, Actress Zaskia Sungkar and 13 others, were arrested by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) last Sunday around 5 a.m, for possession of 14 Ecstasy pills and 2 Marijuana joints (please read here).

BNN Director Benny Mamamoto was quoted by The Jakarta Globe as saying that his detectives arrested all 17 of them at Raffi's house in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta. This arrest was done after three months of investigation.

BNN is still waiting for the overall results of tests on Urine and Hair of all 17 which started last Sunday. But a source at the agency said that initial result of the urine test shows negative, and nor still waiting for hair test (for details please read here).

I hope that the BNN would conduct a thorough investigation on this case not merely on the 17 of them but also the suppliers of Ecstasy pills and Marijuana.

No flood today

On 17 January rain falls very heavily and continuously inundating some important parts of the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta.

Many parts of the city's downtown area like the Presidential Palace, the HI Roundabout & Fountain, were inundated that President SBY's meeting with Argentinian President Mme. was postpone for a few hours.

Due to this fact, the Governor of Jakarta Joko Widodo has announced Jakarta under state of emergency for ten days until 27 January 2013 which is today. One factor that influenced Jokowi in making such decision was the weather forecast made by the Meteorology and Geophysical Agency (BMKG)  that the rain will fall heavily and continuously and shall reach the highest level on 27 January 2013.

Thank God when I woke up this morning the sun was shining very bright and it goes on the whole day until dusk.

I pray to God so that Jakarta shall not be inundated again like last week.

Photo: Courtesy of PlazaMSN

Fake Facebook Girlfriends

Just because you are a lonely man in real life doesn't mean that you have to be lonely in your virtual life anymore.

ABC reported that a Brazilian website, NamoroFake.com.br, will be happy to create a Fake Facebook Girlfriend profile for you that includes comments & all-important "relationship status" change for thirty days at the price of  US$ 39.00. Or, if you are in a tight budget it can create for you a Fake ex-Girlfriend for only US$ 19.00.

The website said that there are some possible reasons why a man wants to have a Fake Girlfriend :

1) He wants to be popular with the women and increase his self esteem

2) He wants to make jealous his ex-girlfriend by showing that he has someone new

In order to increase the ranks of the Fake Girlfriend, the website invites women to send their profiles with a 50% profit sharing incentives.

Currently the website doesn't have any Fake Facebook Boyfriends for women, but they plan to create them in the future.

For further information about Fake Facebook Girlfriend, please read here and here.  

Picture : Courtesy of ABC

No International Standard for Public Schools

Public Schools in Indonesia are built, maintained and funded by the government under coordination of the Ministry of Education.

In order to upgrade the quality of those schools, the Ministry of Education has allowed few of those schools to adopt international standard of education. Such schools are named Laboratory Schools.

Later on, some other public schools also adopted the international standard.

On 8 January 2013, the Chief of the Constitutional Court Mahfud MD announced the legal basis for such kind of schools i.e. Article 50  (3) of the National Education Law No. 20/2003.
Mahfud MD was quoted by JNN as saying that the purpose is connection with national character building i.e the use of the word "international" will erode the nation's culture and language. Besides, the existence of such schools will cause discrimination between such schools and ordinary public schools.
However, Mahfud acknowledged the need to learn the English language and the output of such schools are good quality students.

My understanding is that the above decision of the Constitutional Court is valid for the state control and subsidized public schools like the Laboratory Schools, BUT not for international standard Private Schools which never receive any support from the state.

Picture : International Education symbol courtesy of 123RF

Female Circumcision

Last week I read the blog of Colson from Holland titled " How to Curb Female Sexual Desire " in which he quoted an official of the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI) saying that the purpose of Female Circumcision is to control Female Sexual Desire.

After reading Colson's said blog post, I deemed it necessary to write about Circumcision in general and Female Circumcision in particular.

According to Wikipedia, the word Circumcision (from Latin Circumcidere meaning : to cut around) is used to describe Male Circumcision i.e. the surgical removal of the foreskin from the human Penis, an established practice adopted by Moslems all over the world.

Beside Moslems, Circumcision is also practiced by Judaism, Coptic Christianity and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. For further details about Circumcision, please read here.

A very scary young girl about to be Circumcised

Unlike the Male Circumcision, Female Circumcision is considered dangerous by the World Health Organization (WHO)  which gave it a very scary name Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and define it as " all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female organs for non medical reasons."  Details about FGM can be read here.

For that reason, in April 2006 the Indonesian government, through the Department of Health, banned Female Circumcision (here). This decision was strongly protested by MUI which issued a Fatwa (Edict) in the year 2008 stating that the ban of Female Circumcision is against Islamic regulation. An MUI official explained that Female Circumcision is done by "incising the the skin that covers the front part of the Clitoris without harming the Clitoris."  

In response to said MUI's Fatwa, the Minister of Health has issued a regulation which allow Female Circumcision on the condition that it done based on modern medical standard to ensure the safeness of the female being Circumcised.
 
Considering that Female Circumcision is more dangerous than Male Circumcision, I hope that the government would ban Female Circumcision, or if it is to be allowed, must be based on the female's consent and strictly conducted by authorized medical professionals based on modern medical standard.

Photo :  Courtesy of Berita Aneh

Sexual Gratification in Indonesia

On 12 June 2012, former Director of Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau Ng Boon Gay, faced two charges of obtaining Sexual Gratification from the Senior Sales Manager at Oracle Corporation Singapore Pte. on December 2011 as an inducement to help further Oracle's business interests. 

According to Reuters, Ng also faces two other charges of obtaining Sexual Gratification from the same individual when she was an employee of Hitachi Data Systems Ltd. 

The charges against Ng come one week after the former head of Singapore's Civil Defense Force Peter Lim faced 10 Sexual Gratification charges involving three different women working for IT firms in the city state.                                                                                                
Unlike Singapore, where the laws stipulated that Sexual Gratification is a Crime, the laws in Indonesia do not explicitly mention Sexual Gratification as a Corruption Crime (Bribery).

The website of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) quoted the Anti Corruption Law No. 31/ 1999 Article 12B and Law No. 20/2001 : "Any Gratification to a Civil Servant of State Official is regarded as Bribery, if it is connected to his/her position and contradictory to obligation or duty, as follows ....."

Further, the Explanation of said Art. 12 B : "Gratification: is widely defined as any acts of giving money, goods/things, discount, commission, interest free loan, travelling ticket, accommodation, package tour, free medical treatment, and other facility in Indonesia or abroad using manual or electronic facility.

Actually Sexual Gratification if not something strange in Indonesia. The Indonesian Corruption Watch was quoted by Okezone as saying that Sexual Gratification has long existed and often been used in Indonesia.

While the Chief of the Constitutional Court Mahfud MD was quoted by Inilah.com as saying that Sexual Gratification may have stronger impact than Money Gratification, therefore he support inclusion of Sexual Gratification in the Anti Corruption Law.  

Although our Law has not regard Sexual Gratification as a Corruption Crime (Bribery), I hope that Marketing people, especially the ladies, would not use Sex as part of  their efforts to win the hearts and the minds of their customers.

Last but not least, I also hope that Sexual Gratification would soon be regarded as a Corruption Crime (Bribery) that is by the amendment of the Anti Corruption Law.

Photo : Courtesy of Photo Search

Midlife Crisis

"Life begins at 40!" That's what people used to say when they reach the age of forty years old.

In my humble opinion, those words have two meanings i.e. first, the person saying it is very optimistic about him/herself and his/her future, because he/she felt that he/she already has all the necessary knowledge and experiences for the future. Secondly, the said person is not confident at all in him/herself, and hesitate to face what lies ahead of him/her. People facing the 2nd condition can be described as having a Midlife Crisis.

I do not have an educational background in psychology, I only say and feel what I have read in books or website and from some people that I knew quite well.

The term Midlife Crisis is coined by Elliot Jaques in 1965 stating a time where people between the age of 40 and 60 years old come to realize their own mortality and how much time is left in their life. A Midlife Crisis is experienced by many people during the midlife transition when they realize that life may be more than halfway over. Sometimes a crisis can be triggered by transitions experienced in these years, such as andropause (men) or menopause (women), the death of parents or other causes of grief, unemployment, realizing that a job of a career is hated but not knowing how else to earn an equivalent living, or children leaving home. People may reassess their achievements in terms of their dreams. The result may be a desire to make significant changes in core aspects of day-to-day life or situation like career, work life balance, marriage, romantic relationships, large expenditures, or physical appearance.

Those experiencing a Midlife Crisis have some of these feelings :
1) Search of an undefined dream or goal
2) A deep sense of remorse for goals not accomplished
3) A fear of humiliation among more successful colleagues
4) Desire to achieve a feeling of youthfulness
5) Need to spend more time alone or with certain peers

They also exhibit some of these behaviors :
1) Abuse of alcohol
2) Acquisition of unusual or expensive items such as motorbikes, boats, sport cars
3) Depression
4) Having remorse for one's wrong
5) Paying special attention to physical appearance such as baldness, clothes
6) Entering relationship with younger people (sexual or professional or parental)
7) Placing over importance on their children to excel in areas such as academics.

However, academic research in the USA since the 1980s rejects the notion of Midlife Crisis as a phase that most adults go through. In one study, less than 10% of people has psychological crisis due to their age or aging.

I wonder what would the result of similar study in Indonesia (if any) would be like.
But I have a lady friend who is 52 years old, a mother of two kids but still looks, feel and talk sexy, wear mini skirts and other sexy looking dresses. She is energetic and love to travel a lot, not menopause yet therefore still sexually active thanks to Yoga Pilates that she practiced regularly.

For me she is okay, as a matter of fact I like to be around her, but other men think that she wants to have some fun with them. Especially because she always go by her self and/or with friends inside or out of town. Her husband who is a few years older almost never accompany her.
She said that she love all the attention she go from men, and do not care what others think of her because actually she does not do bad things.


Painting: Courtesy of Arnet.

Jokowi-Ahok 100 Days

Since they were elected last September, Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo a.k.a Jokowi and Vice Governor Basuki a.k.a Ahok have been the "darling" of the mass media. Almost everything they said and done have been reported to the public. 

Although Jokowi-Ahok never set any target for their first 100th. day in offices, which happens to be today, but the news media seems to be very anxious to report about their progress. 

According to news media reports, during the election campaign, Jokowi and Ahok have promised, among others :
1)  Construction of mass transportation to reduce traffic jam : MRT and Monorail
2)  Development of villages and slum area
3)  Distribution of Health card and Smart card, e-ID card

What has been done was the distribution of Health, Smart and E-ID cards. The development of villages and slum area is still being planned, while the MRT and Monorail construction projects are being reviewed and discussed with the Jakarta People's Representative Council..

Their works was obstructed by the continuous heavy rainfall that has widely inundated Jakarta and vicinity last Thursday until Sunday.  

In my opinion it is too early to assess the work of Jokowi-Ahok in just 100 days, considering that there are so many problems that must be solved in Jakarta.

Picture: Courtesy of Kompas

Me & Toastmasters

Last Saturday, I attended a gathering of Indonesian Toastmasters which was held at the Prasetya Mulya Business School in Cilandak, South Jakarta.

The event was organized by the Toastmasters Leadership Institute of District 87 to provide training for members of the Executive Committees (EXCO) of Toastmasters Clubs in Indonesia.

I am not a member of Exco of my club i.e. the Jakarta Toastmasters Club or other clubs, but I was there as Governor of  Area I1 which covers 4 Toastmasters Club : Jakarta TMC, Carsurin TMC, Masterpiece TMC and Sari Husada TMC.

We gathered at 12.30 pm for socialization and lunch, and the training itself started at 1 pm and ended at 6.30  pm.

Me (standing - No.4 from right) and Exco of the Jakarta Toastmasters Club

For those who are not familiar about Toastmasters, I deemed it necessary to explain that Toastmasters is a non profit organization based in California, USA, which provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment for its members to develop their communication and leadership skills (in English) which in turn foster self esteem.

With Fathia (left) & Valeria (right)

Toastmasters came to Indonesia on October 1979, with the setting up of the Jakarta Toastmasters Club. Today, there are 78 Toastmasters Clubs all over Indonesia i.e. Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Bali, Medan, Batam, Riau, Balikpapan, Soroako. And the number of clubs is growing every year.

Toastmasters in Indonesia is part of District 87 of the Toastmasters International, which covers Indonesia, West Malaysia and Brunei.

For further details, please visit the following websites :
- www.jakarta-toastmasters.org
- www.toastmasters.org

If you want to develop and practice your English communication skills, Toastmasters is the answer.