September 29, 2008 By 1 Comment

The Little Girl

There was a little girl. Sure she was a strange little girl, but she was not a bad little girl. Still her father found her strangeness an annoyance. Why couldn’t his eldest child (even though she was still just a little girl) be the prettiest, fastest and smartest little girl in the world.

Now I don’t know (and i don’t even know if the father knew either) whether the father actually thought out loud about wanting these things. But that did not stop him pushing every day for his little girl to be these things.

Alas his little girl, even though she was smart AND fast, was not a pretty little girl.  No matter how much the little girl tried to be pretty, it just wasn’t going to happen. (Have YOU tried to be something you are not? Hard isn’t it!?)

So her father started calling it like he saw it.

“You are ugly. You have a big nose. Grow your hair long so people look at it and not your face”"You are not trying hard enough in your studies” ” You can go faster, you are just LAZY”

I don’t think the father meant to hurt the little girl, or maybe he did, because she just wasn’t going to be exactly what he wanted. So the little girl grew into a teenage girl who believed that she was not a pretty girl, and although she was VERY smart and fast to boot, she would never be as good as her father’s dreams for her.

What made it even worse was that her little sister was born and  WAS a pretty girl, something her father pointed out….often. Oh dear, how sad for the teenage girl!

Years went by and no matter how the teenage girl tried to please her father it never seemed to be enough to make him actually happy. Some very strange things started to happen, she would try to race (like I said she was a fast girl) and when her father was there, she couldn’t seem to go as fast as when he wasn’t there…what was that she wondered?

One day it all came to a nasty end when her father decided he could no longer deal with her in his house and plates were thrown and tears were shed, and the teenage girl left to make her fortune in the big wide world.

Skip 15 years (those years will be told in other tales, and there are some sad tales and some joyful tales) and the little girl has carried forward this belief into womanhood. Now despite what the fairy tales will tell you, being a woman isn’t all unicorns and rainbows. So when this woman sat down by herself one day and looked at her life she decided that no matter WHAT her father had told her when she was small, she did not believe it.

Her father had told her about Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny and other things that later turned out not to be true, so why couldn’t the LAZY, UGLY girl names not be true either?

From that day on the woman told herself ” You are a smart and successful business woman”. The very moment she told herself these things it was like a fairy godmother was sitting on her shoulder. Her career started to flourish, things that she wanted came to her without a struggle, things that she did gave her a satisfaction she did not have before (because she no longer was trying to do it for her father, she was doing it for HER).

Now that does sound like magic, and as much as I want you to believe in magic as something special and rare, magic comes from how we think and anyone can do it (shhh don’t tell magicians that!).

Yes even YOU can do it if you really want. A little bit of practice every day and before you know it … wow!

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September 24, 2008 By 2 Comments

Cross My Palm With Silver

When it comes to asking for money for one’s services or goods, some people have no trouble at all, and some find it the most uncomfortable part of business processes.

Lucky you if you were brought up in a culture where self worth is not tied to your bank balance. The Romani peoples (Gypsies) see money something they can make come to them with little more effort than their use of words (marketing anyone?) and use it to forge closer bonds to each other through celebration and festival. Their lifestyle is foreign (duh!) to us non-Gypsies, and their use and pursuit of money can be abhorrent to us. Asking for money for no effort is begging isn’t it?

For most of anglo western society money is seen as part of the person. The starving artist may be producing the most wonderful of creative efforts, but will be looked down upon because they cannot support themselves through “proper” means. Perversely the rich are also viewed with distrust because no average person could get that rich by legal means can they?  We become tied in moral and self-worth knots when we come to the moment where we put a $ sign on our goods, or our time or labor.

I watched a video recently of a person I respect, a person who can name their price for their consultation and teaching services, but when they came to saying the price for their newest enterprise, they hesitated. It may have only been for a nanosecond or two but it was noticeable. This guy is not shy, has tons of cash anyway, yet tripped when it came to naming his price. It was an odd moment.

Lisa, Barb and I have yet to have our final pricing discussion for the Secret Women’s Business Network teaching area, but we will be talking about what this is worth to our clients and NOT about what we feel we are worth (in the secret depths of our minds *wink*).  There is a lot of time and expertise going into the creation of the SWBN and the experience we will be providing will be worth every penny.

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September 21, 2008 By 1 Comment

The Rules

When I was growing up my father would counsel me in moral matters by saying “do the RIGHT thing*” without really explaining what the right thing was. It was expected that by watching what he did and following along (and running in the opposite direction very quickly if I didn’t) I would KNOW what the right thing was.

As I have grown older I have seen what I think is the “right thing” change, mutate and I hope, mature, as a result of life’s lessons. I have gone from wanting to do the right thing by everyone else, to wanting to do the right thing by myself.  This sometimes gets me into conflict with others who have opposing views when it comes to pleasing the herd.

So when I saw today that Tim Ferris has advised that you should write your blog posts like you have had a couple of drinks and are speaking to a friend (rather than being all prissy and trying to please everyone) I cheered.

I can hear the opposition to this comment already. “Of course HE can say that, he is rich and famous” “What would he know, he doesn’t really talk to normal people like US”. Thing is, many everyday people communicate in our blogs like we are at a church picnic with complete strangers. We mind our manners, mouths and thoughts and completely crush who we really are.

Yes there will be people that don’t LIKE who we really are. This is the internet and if you aren’t disliked by at least ONE person then you aren’t being heard. Take it as a compliment if you have ruffled someone’s feathers with your blog posting about which way the toilet roll should go on the spindle (paper over the top!). As long as you are not going out of your way to be deliberately nasty to an individual, or group, for no other reason then you get a kick out of it, then I accept you have an opinion and demand you do the same for me (some things you should demand, not ask for, and reciprocity of rights would be one of them).

So when it comes to blog posts about how to blog post, or how to Twitter, or how to be a man or a woman, or how to Social Network then BAH I say to you.  There are no “rules”, there is only doing what you feel is right.

*funnily enough that became an anti-litter program slogan in Australia for a while… “do the right thing” was followed by “put it in the bin”

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September 21, 2008 By 3 Comments

A Week In The Life Of

Starting tomorrow (Monday) morning I am going to be living the life I want to lead if I wasn’t working for that corporate giant that pays me monthly. It will be week two of my holidays and I am looking forward to it as much as I was looking forward to my time away from everything at our mud brick heaven in Coonabarabran.

My days next week will go something like this

6:30am (or earlier) wake up and get straight into planned content creation for the Secret Women’s Business Network

8:00am Breakfast followed by collaboration and masterminding call with Lisa and Barb re SWBN if booked

8:30am drag daughter out of bed and hit the gym with a book in hand

10:00am shower and back to content creation

12 noon lunch and read online stuff

1:00pm one hour on personal education (this week will be all of Frank Kern’s DVDs)

2:00pm back to content creation

5:00pm start cooking dinner

6:30pm recreation (WoW, Spore, whatever)

8:00pm plan tomorrow’s content

9:00pm miscellaneous poking about

That equals 5 hours doing, 1 hour planning, exercise, education and miscellaneous poking around. Look boring to you? Gosh to me that will be a brilliant day of delicious productivity!

Note the lack of housework, that’s because I don’t want to work on my holiday OR when I am fulltime online. That will be outsourced *wipes hands*

Still this will only be for one week.  109 weeks or less till this will be my every day reality (or similar) and counting…

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September 15, 2008 By 1 Comment

The End Of The World!

As this posts my partner, children and I are on the 5.5 hour car trip up to “our place in the bush”. The newspaper headlines are screaming about the global meltdown of the stock market, Twitter and blogs are muttering about miscellaneous negative subjects and I am so glad we are taking a week to connect again with each other over books, house chores and the darkest skies in Australia (even though it is full moon).

I am looking forward to some detox from tech and stress.

See you all next weekend!

Our Place in The Bush - Coonabarabran

Our Place in The Bush – Coonabarabran

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September 13, 2008 By 2 Comments

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

A recent study in Australia created a list of the most recognised brands by Australians.  This study was not limited to products or commercial ventures.  The survey asked of a tiny example of Australians, only 1000 of them (is that even statistically significant?), and then was judged by a panel of industry “experts”, but the criteria on which they were judged is quite a valid one

“A brand had to fulfill three criteria: whether consumers could easily understand what it stood for, if there was a clearly articulated belief, and whether there was behaviour particular to the brand, for example, people went to great lengths to defend it.”

Many start-ups use the whole vision/mission statement as more of a marketing exercise rather than articulating what makes them PASSIONATE and DIFFERENT.

Passion is a universal attractor, humans are wired to be attracted to someone who is excited about something. Think about it, you are an early human on the Serengeti Plain and one of your tribe runs up gesticulating. They have information you NEED to know because information equals survival.  Instantly your attention on an intellectual AND emotional level is focused on this person. Whether that information was they had found a great place to catch dinner, or that something was coming that was going to make you dinner, did not matter.

Not many people/companies convey that kind of passion, and that is what drives the third step of the branding criteria. Particular behaviour to the brand.

Plenty of factors can ruin any chance you may have of building a good brand, let alone a great one. Bad customer service , the naked desire for cash,  any form of incongruity between what is said and what is done spring to mind immediately, yet these things are often the trademark of internet marketing businesses (no wonder people think IM is the playground of shysters and scam artists).

Look at the Australian Top 20 and see if you know or agree that they fit your idea of great branding

1. Hells Angels

2. Apple

3. Star Wars

4. Dove

5. Moleskine

6. Smiggle

7. The Body Shop

8. Virgin

9. Alannah Hill

10. Ecko

11. Catholic Church

12. Nike

13. Free Hugs

14. Harley Davidson

15. Peter Alexander

16. T2

17. Bra Boys

18. Sunrise

19. Circus Oz

20. Boost

You can bet that branding will be one of the areas we will be covering in the SWBN.

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September 10, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Twitter Updates for 2008-09-10

  • @allisonr @harmonicbarbie Yippee! I’m in, I’m in! (@MizzCindy said) <– yay another happy #SWBN member :) #
  • @LisaHartwell my life is still truly blessed, just getting the crud out of the way in one concentrated patch….like ripping off a bandaid! #
  • @SusanVLewis Yay welcome aboard! which link and I’ll check the code :) #
  • @SusanVLewis Thanks Susan… all fixed now (could kick myself, I had tested, then edited later grrrr…perfectionist in me us screaming) #
  • oooh macupdate has another bundle of apps up for say http://www.mupromo.com/deal/593/bundle #
  • 9 months from today will be the arrival of a massive group of #doomsday babies…watch the gov go broke form that bonus payout #
  • Parents don’t let your underage daughters drive at 200kph http://twurl.nl/88grwo in Granny’s imprezza…. #
  • @martin_english alas i have been fixed, and back in my day we did not get the baby bonus, if we did I would have 3 million kids! #
  • I can has animated favicon because I likes it #
  • @Alegrya I have had my gall bladder out… prepare for some major changes after if you have to have yours removed #
  • Checking out where visitors to #SWBN are from ( http://twurl.nl/8h7ud8 ) US, Australia and Europe…and Israel! #
Filed Under: Distractions
September 10, 2008 By 10 Comments

Cutting Your Own Throat

It was the best of customer service times, it was the worst of customer service times.

In the last two months I have observed companies that are polar opposites in handle their customer enquiries and issues.

The Good (In fact I Would Say GREAT)

The team over at Noble Samurai offer the very pinnacle of customer service. Their product is new, it was launched at the same time that Google made some hefty changes to their data serving (that Market Samurai the application uses) and the user base the product was being offered to was 90% complete and utter newbies in using the tool (and in some cases the INTERNET).

Brent, Eugene and Andrew have a mature outlook when it comes to dealing with customer frustrations. They recognise that the frustration that users are showing when they vent is a “good” thing. It means that their customers are passionate people who really, really want their product.

The Samurai guys do not get flustered or angry at a user who is being less than civil (which by the way was 99.9% of the time is user error in the first place), respond in calm and measured ways. They go out of their way to not only service, but delight their customers with the response they get. It is very obvious that Noble Samurai has a great customer service policy that they ensure is front and centre with any transaction with their customers.

The Bad

In chatting with some of my IM colleagues a conversation came up regarding the affiliate commissions being paid by a membership site. They suddenly said something that rang a bell with me, although they KNEW they were referring new members who were signing up, no commission was being recorded or paid.

Me being me, had not said anything about that because I had automatically assumed I had done something wrong with linking (after all 99,9% of faults are user error), popped it in the too hard basket and went off to do soemthing else. Yet my colleagues HAD done something and placed help desk tickets (no answer), PMd people who ran the course (no answer) and in the end started fuming behind closed doors that they were being ripped off by something they felt was a worthwhile course to recommend.

The Ugly (or You Gotta Be Kidding me?!?!)

One of my IM girl friends had signed up during the 30DC with one of the recommended services.  Where there was the opportunity to take a “free” option, she actually took advantage of one of the special discount monthly continuity plans. While she doesn’t have much cash, she recognised the benefit of the product and the value of the offer.

Come her first bill she realises that she is being billed for $10 a month more (the non-special amount). Like I said, money is tight so she gets onto customer service to ask what is going on and her account to be adjusted. The customer service response to her was, NO, you signed up for the higher amount.

This comapny has just cut its own throat for the sake of $120 a year.

Not only that, the referrals that would have come from my friend would have made them a bucketload MORE money than the $120 they just chose to quibble over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moral of the story here: Great customer service should be the FIRST thing you think of when setting up a business, not the last…

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September 9, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Twitter Updates for 2008-09-09

  • @philoscribe did it come through yet? I can see that others are getting theirs and joining up so gathering it is ok with aWeber at thistage #
  • @KarenKramer lovely to have you with us! #
  • Avoiding Pregnant Pauses: Tips for a Smooth Segue http://tinyurl.com/6cf55m (@LisaHartwell said) <– I often cause those pauses! :- o lol #
  • waiting to wave at @trib before heading for a hot beverage #
  • @zgirlie not nosey at all! It is a place for women to develop their online buisiness skills, to mastermind and build business relationsh … #
  • Lunch…. time for NOMS! #
  • @trib back from lunch and saying Hi to #austradeadviser08 . Sell more Kangaroo meat… I love it! #
  • @kerryank or sex them… which is highly paid… but not highly paid enough if you ask me! #
  • time for a coffee and an hour on a spreadsheet… oh joy #
  • @andrewsayer I’d rather a semi automatic machine gun thanks! #
  • Spreading a little reality in the IE forums, we ain’t in Kansas any more Toto. #
  • @zgirlie let me have a look and see what is happening. I think aweber was undergoing maintenance this morning, but I will check again :) #
  • @zgirlie sarahbelle you are confirmed ! and an email should wing its way to you as soon as Gmail lets it through the spam gates! #
  • Myer melbourne is on fire… wonder if they will sell the smoke damamged stuff in NZ again this time? #
  • @Rich_Horwood we just put the wireless network in there this year :( and we rebuilt the Myer hobart network that burned down at christmas #
Filed Under: Distractions
September 9, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Lemony Snicket?

One of the joys of swimming in a pool late in the evening on summer days is to slowly glide through still water that is three-bear’s-not-to-hot-and-not-too-cold. Every now and then your strokes will take you through a cooler patch of water, an isolated area of not quite chillness, but certainly noticeable. If you aren’t prepared for these patches first comes the surprise followed by the hope that the bubble is only a small one.

Such is life at the moment. A patch, bubble, confined to a small area (I hope) of events that could be classed as irritating, unlucky, devastating or character building, depending how you look at them.

I have been trying to imagine what my life looks like from the outside. Probably a soap opera.

Filed Under: Me-anderings Tagged With: , ,
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