Think Global

Did you realise by owning a e-bay account you are already a global business man? Okay that is a little drastic but it's still a true statement. When have a eBay account you have access to millions of sellers at your finger tips. If your product is a signed picture of Robbie Williams (for argument sake) you can access his followers in EMEA (European, Middle East and Asian) regions with a click. That's a fantastic concept, it's a simple concept of supply and demand, very little marketing cost and very little time. You don't even have to understand who is on the other end you have turned global.

Local thinking.

I am reading a book at the moment called 10 reason's why you wont be successful and it's written by a man who is good friends with Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. He tells a story of an investor in Coca-Cola who came into his offices and was complaining about the company advertising on a Sunday afternoon on radio. His point was that everyone plays Polo on a Sunday afternoon and won't be able to listen to the radio... I hear you ask yourself "REALLY" what Cola drinker do you know that plays Polo on a Sunday afternoon? do you play polo on Sunday's? He was so out of touch with reality that he believed everyone lived the same life as him. When in reality most people were at home with the family on a Sunday and did listen.

This is a perfect example of cocooning yourself in a bubble and believing your bubble relates to the world. It doesn't!!

The world is huge (6.7 Billion to be anal) - so you can see the potential market size of your ideas and dreams. So when you are thinking of that million pound idea make it a billion pound idea because the Internet has localised world trade.

Obama Mania

Isn't it funny how everyone in the UK has more affiliation and time for Barack Obama than they do their own Prime Minister Gordon Brown? it's so bad that my sub concious believes Tony Blair is still Prime Minister. There is vague similarity between Tony Blair and Barack Obama. The air punching fist, the rolled up shirt sleeves, charismatic speeches, the family and the love the media has for them.

They both represent change and a positive shift for politics and the countries they represent, and carry their nation on their shoulders - they are both apparently great leaders that are loved an adored across the nation. BBC worldwide did a pole; if Barack Obama was being elected by people from outside the USA, he would have over 80% of the votes? WOW!

PROBLEM!!

If Obama comes into power when the US Economy is in recession, he will be blamed for the fall of the nation! it is quite cynical to think but if you put a black president in charge of a nation with a $trillion deficit, housing market collapse and high energy prices - he won't be able to fix the problem - it will only get worse.

He has to say there is a solution otherwise he wont get elected, but he and many people around the white house know that the problems are long term - the US never say what the long term strategy is to reduce the deficit? instead they use distraction techniques "war on terror" or the "war on rouge states" (which is anyone that doesn't agree with US policy and are too small to defend themselves). China will become the largest economy in the world soon, Russia are too volatile to negotiate with and the UK who are distancing themselves from the US to minimise the public backlash they are facing.

when all of these problem come to a head Obama will be in charge - he will probably be lynched or impeached on some bogus theory linking him to terrorism because of his Muslim roots (another distraction campaign). If it all goes wrong the American public will never want to elect a black leader again - I'm sure many people's true colours will come to light.

It best way to destroy a group is to give them hope and then destroy the beacon of that hope.

University: What did you do for you?

Do you look at your career sometimes and think university was great and reel off all the great things about it and realise none of the things were related to academia? Do you talk about societies, that time you got drunk, the friends you met and how you almost missed that deadline? or is it that the biggest lesson from university is based around your ability to be flexible, have contingencies in your planning and multi-task. Which are all apart of your developement but nothing to do with your course, you course is just a vehicle to a higher learning? right? it's wear you learn about yourself more than any subject - you find out how mature you really are by throwing you in a room the size of a prison cell and a tight budget and making yourself survive for 3 years.

My little sister is leaving to study at a university in southampton in few weeks and my parting messages will be.

1. Get a job - being poor far away from home isn't fun!
2. Befriend your tutor - Those last minute hints and tips when no one is around will be of value.
3. Be Socialble - meet as many people who are not like you as possible - they may come in handy.
4. Buy 2nd hand books - there cheaper.
5. Manage your money - bank charges eat away at your budget.

The lesson isn't in the deadlines and reading 11 books a year - its in the survival - when you take that mentality into a workplace you can excel because your have built some charecter, lived a little and then you apply that to the principles of the company your work for.

The thing is all the stuff you have learned in the books won't make any sense until you are actually working in the sector and you will have to go back to your books (2nd hand) and make sense of it all. There is a belief that you learn things to get you through and them store it deep and far away from conciousness. Thats probably the best trick in education - you learn all the information needed to pass take the exam and then forget it all. It never completely goes as when you need it your brain will trigger a recall and it can come back to you. That is how I got my 2:1 (almost a 1st) - just remember enough information for the task ahead and then store it away.

Can you read your way to success?

If your an ambitious soul, you will usually find that you have many ideas that pop into your head when your doing menial things and make a half ass attempt to make them into a billion pound idea. Apart of this process usually means to read a book by someone that has made lots of money (i.e. Richard Branson, Bill Gates or Warren Buffet). Does this actually work? does it make your idea any clearer in your head? if your idea is a true innovation as your first thought then there isn't any value in someone who has made money doing something completely different 20 years ago and being a success.

Or is it more about the lessons learned from their failures (if any) or just to see how they really did it. I can see the value of being mentored by someone proactively as you build your idea but a book that doesn't change with the times or the business climate seem strange.

The only problem is if your reading your not doing and the greatest lessons learned are through experience. I would never know or understand what marketing was through my text book - I first found out how it worked when I joined emap (now Bauer) two years ago and they put me in front of a excel sheet and asked me some straight forward questions - what budget do you need to make x amount of money and then justify your reasoning. Its only when you are put in front of question can you begin to build your own answer. The journey is always the best part of a lesson - rarely the outcome.

Rules of life: Bill Gates

BILL GATES' SPEECH TO MT. WHITNEY HIGH SCHOOL in Visalia, California. Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! To anyone with kids of any age, here's some advice.

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair -- get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping -- they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Rules of work

Bad Habit: Missing deadlines.What you think: “If it’s only a little late, it doesn’t mean anything.”What it really says: Your colleagues and boss can’t count on you. What to do: Don’t view deadlines as negotiable. Remind yourself that people are counting on you to do your job well, which includes completing tasks on time. Even if you just barely missed the deadline and everything turned out OK, you probably caused your teammates a lot of anxiety and extra work, which they won’t forget.

Bad Habit: Dressing unprofessionally. What you think: “I’m the office free spirit with a quirky sense of style!” What it really says: You don’t take the job seriously. What to do: You don’t have to be a boring dresser to be professional, but you shouldn’t look like you’re about to go clubbing or strutting down a runway. Take a cue from your co-workers to see what’s considered acceptable in the office.

Bad Habit: Not being punctual.What you think: “As long as I get all my work in, nobody cares.”What it really says: You think your time is more important than everybody else’s. What to do: Stick to the schedule. Everyone in your office would like to sleep in a little or leave early, but they don’t because people rely on them to be on time.

Bad Habit: Checking your e-mail, playing games, shopping. What you think: “I’m discreet.”What it really says: You’re not doing your job. What to do: Keep the fun stuff to a minimum. Most employers don’t mind if you check your e-mail every once in awhile or read your favorite blog for a few minutes in the morning. They begin to care when you minimize that game of Scrabulous every time they walk by your desk. You’re being paid to work, not play.

Bad Habit: Gossiping. What you think: “I’m just saying what I heard.”What it really says: You can’t be trusted. What to do: Sure, everybody gossips a little here and there, but it shouldn’t be your livelihood. Eventually you’ll gain a reputation for not keeping anything confidential –whether it’s a personal matter or work-related. Plus, your chattering could end up hurting somebody’s feelings or reputation.

Bad Habit: Being negative. What you think: “Everybody complains.”What it really says: You’re the person to avoid. What to do: It’s natural to grumble about work once in awhile. If you gripe and moan when you’re asked to do anything, however, people will not only get annoyed, they’ll wonder why you don’t just quit. Keep in mind that work isn’t always fun; keep the complaints to a minimum.

Bad Habit: Trying to be everybody’s best friend. What you think: “I’m just sociable.”What it really says: You don’t know how to set boundaries. What to do: It’s not uncommon for friendships to develop at work, but don’t expect it to happen with everybody. Unless you have reason to do otherwise, treat your superiors, colleagues and subordinates like professionals, not like drinking buddies.

Bad Habit: Burning bridges. What you think: “I’ll never see them again.”What it really says: You’re not a professional who thinks about the future. What to do: As much as you dream of telling off your boss or co-workers after you’ve handed in your resignation, restrain yourself. People change jobs, companies merge – someone you dissed in the past may end up being your boss down the road.

Bad Habit: Always being the funny one. What you think: “People love me.”What it really says: You’re really annoying. What to do: There’s nothing wrong with being funny – most people do like a good sense of humor. Just remember that not everybody wants to hear your sarcastic quips and “Godfather” impersonations every five minutes.

Bad Habit: Forgetting you have neighbors. What you think: “I’m not as annoying as they are.”What it really says: You’re inconsiderate. What to do: Do unto your co-workers as you’d want them to do unto you. Your hour-long conference call on speakerphone is just as irksome to your cube mates as theirs are to you.

Suicide Kids

Good morning, every now and again a project, event or concept comes up that is too good to be true or is so interesting it sparks debate for weeks on end.I just heard about a new film being made and i like it - i like it so much that i read the whole script (im not a big fan of recreational reading) but when I read it, i was strangly moved to just put it out into the world by any means necessary.

What is it about?It's strangley dark because it looks at the inner turmoil of young people and how that can turn into mass tragedy. (My kinda film)Have you ever felt like life is too hard - there is too much pressure on you to succeed. This is something everyone goes through - but rarely talks about.Anyway - The director asked me to look for extras for the film - if you're interested leave a message on the subject and ill get back to.

Are you a suicide kid?

Andy Murray: A brands dream... NOT!!

British sport is in the dumps! Long gone are the days of 1966 and world cup victories we are in the days of underachievement. Some of the bright sparks in British sports are Lewis Hamilton and Andy Murray.

On one hand Lewis Hamilton is a brands dream, he wins races, he has a superstar girlfriend (Pussy Cat Dolls - Nicole Scherzinger), modest looks and earns a lot of money. So for the viewing public it is an aspiration to be a fan of Lewis Hamilton.

What about Andy?
Well... to be honest he is more reminiscent of a spoilt teenager than a sporting superstar. He has floppy hair and talks into his chin in interviews. Undoubtedly he has some great quotables but nothing that screams superstar. Britvic dropped him from their sponsorship for this year’s Wimbledon tournament for being boring. Maybe he enjoys being a reserved Brit instead of international superstar.... really??

Andy Murray is 6th in the world at the moment and he just beat Rafa Nadal in the US Open to face former world number 1 Roger Federer so it can’t be all bad in camp Murray. But did a little media training and a hair cut hurt anyone?? Well... Keep an eye out for Andy Murray branded Vitamin water, tennis shoes and racquets coming soon!! Unlikely.

Can you rival the Iphone? Samsung are trying

The new Samsung Omnia is being released with £4 million marketing campaign and a 3 day seminar in canary wharf on September 8th. The idea is that it will rival the 'unstoppable' IPhone But with the strength in brand of Apple and the media frenzy that occurred when the new version appeared in summer 08' surely Samsung can't rival the innovators.

Samsung's best bet would of been to partner up with Universal records or a brand of importance to the music industry and released it with several downloads from the Universal catalogue. The mere fact that they are not affiliated to music means they will always have the problem of being seen as a phone which can play songs (which is a old concept) instead of a MP3 player that can answer calls (the new concept). The only bright spot for Samsung is that they can wait to see what Apple come out with and try and better it. Time will tell!!