Web wwwb2bbscomau Email dennisb2bbscomau Mobile 0451 184 599 1

Roy Morgan Researchrsquos Business

Confidence survey in July showed

an increase following four

consecutive months of decline

The July result of 1173 was well up

on the on the June figure of 1127

and represents a tentative positive

sign for economic recovery in

Australia

At the same time the Roy Morgan

Research Consumer Confidence

survey in July also improved to

1162 up from 1146 in July

These results are from 2681

interviews with business decision

makers across Australia and 4165

consumers in July before the $30

billion budget lsquoblow-outrsquo announced

Friday August 2nd by Chris Bower

Consumer Confidence fell

immediately

Roy Morgan Research is in the

unique position of being able to take

a more holistic view of confidence

in Australia by measuring the

confidence of both businesses and

consumers

Letrsquos Talk Business Back To Basics Business Solutions - Support for Small Business

Issue 06 August 2013

Undoubtedly a major contributor to

the lack of business confidence is the

ongoing instability in federal politics

The question is Will confidence lift

after the Federal election

Will a positive outcome re-ignite

business and consumer confidence

and kick-start a sluggish Australian

economy

Business owners are desperately

hoping that this yearrsquos election will

end a tumultuous period for Federal

politics or at least provide enough

short-term respite to help people feel

confident spend more save less and

make big-ticket purchases

Queensland small business in

particular are feeling the mining

downturn

A recent survey for the June quarter

commissioned by Mining Australia

showed Queenslandrsquos business

conditions were 5-10 index points

lower than the state average

The survey said business confidence

for the June quarter stood at 43 per

cent which is eight per cent lower

than North Queensland

This is predicted to jump during the

present quarter to 509 per cent

putting business confidence in

neutral

Better Business Network President

Dennis Chiron said ldquoManaging and

running a small business can be very

tough I think people have been really

cautious with their spending and its

all about their available disposal

income at the end of the day

From a business point of view we

have seen a lack of confidence for a

number of reasons

Increases in our utilities charges for

our water gas electricity and service

charges associated with delivery of

those services to property have gone

up and they have increased

dramatically in the last 12 to 18

months he said

Roy Morgan Researchrsquos Business Confidence Survey in July showed an increase following four consecutive months of decline Yet in spite of this current research most Australian small businesses are still ldquodoing it toughrdquo with increased costs and reduced consumer spending

Small Business Confidence Australian Small Business is ldquodoing it toughrdquo

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Corporate Ladder

3 Lessons

LESSON 1

A crow was sitting on a tree

doing nothing all day A

small rabbit saw the crow and asked

him Can I also sit like you and do

nothing all day long The crow

answered Sure why not So the

rabbit sat on the ground below the crow

and rested All of a sudden a fox

appeared jumped on the rabbit and ate

it

Moral of the story To be sitting and

doing nothing you must be sitting very

very high up

LESSON 2

A turkey was chatting with

a bull I would love to be

able to get to

the top of that tree sighed

the turkey but I havent

got the energy

Well why dont you nibble on some of

my droppings replied the

bull Theyre packed with nutrients

The turkey pecked at a lump of

dung and found that it actually gave him

enough strength to reach the

first branch of the tree The next day

after eating some more dung

he reached the second branch Finally

after a fortnight there he was

proudly perched at the top of the tree

Soon he was promptly spotted

by a farmer who shot the turkey out of

the tree

Moral of the story Bull dung might get

you to the top but it wont

keep you there

LESSON 3

A little bird was flying south for the

winter It was so cold the

bird froze and fell to the ground in a

large field While it was lying there a

cow came by and dropped some dung on

it As the frozen bird lay there in the pile

of cow dung it began to

realize how warm it was

The dung was actually

thawing him out He lay

there all warm and

happy and soon began to sing for joy A

passing cat heard the

bird singing and came to investigate

Following the sound the cat

discovered the bird under the pile of

cow dung and promptly dug him

out and ate him

The Morals of this story

Not everyone who drops dung on you is your enemy

Not everyone who gets you out of the dung is your friend

And when youre in deep dung keep your mouth shut

SIGNS

In the restroom at work the Boss had

placed a sign directly above the

sink It had a single word on it --

Think

The next day when he went to the

restroom he looked at the sign and

right below immediately above the soap

dispenser someone had carefully

lettered another sign which read --

Thoap

Corporate Talk

JOIN OUR FAST-PACED

COMPANY We have no time to

train you youll have to introduce

yourself to your co-workers

FLEXIBLE HOURS Work 40

hours get paid for 25

DUTIES WILL VARY Anyone in

the office can boss you around

MUST HAVE AN EYE FOR

DETAIL We have no quality

control

PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS

A MUST Youre walking into a

company in perpetual chaos

WHAT IS

An Economist A person who

knows more about money than

people who have it

Economy Going without

something you want in case you

should want something you

probably dont want

Free Speech Using someone

elses telephone

Life Insurance A contract that

keeps you poor so that you can

die rich

Market Analyst A person who

tells you what is going to happen

within six months and then after

that tells you why it did not

Therersquos a Little McFat

in Everyone

During the first court

hearing in a highly publicised case

involving McDonalds a lawyer for

the fast-food chain urged a federal

judge to dismiss a suit claiming the

company has deliberately tried to

mislead the public into thinking Big

Macs and other products are

nutritious

McDonaldrsquos is arguing that

restaurants are not legally required to

tell consumers what they already

know ndash namely eating too many Big

Macs and fries will make them fat

Web wwwb2bbscomau Email dennisb2bbscomau Mobile 0451 184 599 3

Yvette Adams - CEOFounder

Specialty Areas Business Strategy

Marketing Strategy Websites PR

Event Management Social Media

Webinars Business Awards

amp Tender Submissions

Yvette was born on the fortunate cusp of

Generation X amp Y into a techie family

which at any one time had several

computers littered about the house

She started her first business at the age

of 17 ndash a newspaper ndash which was bought

out by an American entrepreneur after

its first issue She created her second

business and first e-commerce site in

2002 ndash an online tee-shirt business

Within one month of launching she

received a Government Grant and won a

website award In 2006 she sold the

global business and concentrated on

launching The Creative Collective

An international freelance writer of

many years and a self-published author

(see morethanmeetstheeyeconz) she

has been the online content editor of a

massive player in the UK magazine

market (tntmagazinecom) and has

consulted numerous businesses in New

Zealand the UK and Australia on their

online strategies and built many

websites

She started The Creative Collective in

2007 after the birth of her second child

from the study nook of her home and it

has since grown to have six staff based

from the companys commercial offices

in Maroochydore 2 franchisees and over

30 contractors around the world

She has won numerous business awards

including the Commonwealth Bank

Business Owner of the Year Award at

the Telstra Business Womens Awards

Queensland 2010 against a field of 4200

the Entrepreneurial Award at the

Women in Technology Awards in 2012

and being recognized as a finalist in the

Asian Entrepreneur category of the

Stevie Awards for Women in Business

She now promotes this awards program

which also includes the International

Business Awards the Sales amp Customer

Service Awards and the American

Business Awards in the Australia and

New Zealand regions

She is an experienced and inspiring

speaker who shares her message with

passion and enthusiasm and is available

for public speaking engagements

She is involved in a number of industry

reference groups and a member of

several professional associations

She is regularly called on by the media

as a spokesperson and for commentary

and writes regular columns for the APN

group Marketing Magazine and The

Creative Collective blog

- See more at http

wwwthecreativecollectivecomaumeet

-yvettesthashT4vHfHxgdpuf

The Creative Collective is an award-

winning and full-service creative

marketing agency based on the

Sunshine Coast of Queensland with

franchisees in Newcastle NSW and the

Gold Coast

Founded in 2007 Yvette said that

since the beginning we have prided

ourselves on keeping up with the

ever changing landscape of

marketing and communications

Increasingly our focus is drawn to

online marketing strategies and

online marketing activities as it

consistently seems to produce the

best results for our clients

We provide website design and

development graphic design and

print PR and marketing search

engine optimisation pay per click

and social media livestream amp

webinar services

We also offer an extensive array of

training solutions including

webinars BYO Laptop Trainings

programs and more For a full list of

our current training offerings see our

events page

- See more at http

wwwthecreativecollectivecomau

sthash65oEMrdAdpuf

The Creative

Collective

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How To Make Sure Your Customers Come Back

Dennis Chiron Marketing Means Business

0451 184 599 dennismarketingmeansbusinessnetau

Skype dennischiron2

Finding and keeping customers is

one of the biggest challenges

facing new businesses So how do

you entice the customer back after

that first sale

With unreasonable advertising

costs and no guarantees on returns

on investments spreading the

word about your business can be

difficult However it can be done

and here are five tips on how to get

the clients coming back time and

time again

1 Build Loyalty

You dont need to a set up loyalty

card or points scheme to give

something back to your consumer

base although it is an idea worth

considering if it suits your

business Offering a unique

discount to those who have

purchased from you before will

keep your name in customers

minds and remind them to use

your business again

Its the little things you remember

to do which can build a loyal team

of customers

If you record how often customers

buy goods from you send them a

thank you card voucher or another

token of appreciation with their

10th order Whichever way you

choose it will remind your clients

how important they are and help

create a friendly image for your

business

2 Keep Communicating

Staying in contact with your

customers is essential at all times

whether through newsletters

social media or events However

its never more crucial than when

something has gone wrong Its a

natural reaction to bury your head after

a mistake but this will only help your

clients go elsewhere

Setting out a clear and open reaction to

any issues within your own company

will help explain what went wrong to

customers assuring them it wont

happen again Beyond this theyll

understand and see your business as a

more approachable brand one that

sticks in their thoughts for future

custom

3 Never Neglect Customers

If you want to hold onto customers

your service to them has to be one of

your highest priorities If people who

are trying to contact your business are

met with half an hour of boring hold

music or impatient and inattentive

support staff youll never build up the

loyal base of clients youre looking for

Make sure everyone representing your

business puts forward a positive image

and treats customers with the kind of

respect which will get them coming

back again and again

4 Stay Human

For all the money invested into PR and

advertising having a face and

personality for your brand is the most

effective way to embed yourself in the

memories of customers

Take the time to think how you want to

present your brand and how you want

customers to think of you

Once youve got this fixed

communicate it to everyone in your

business and ensure they present it to

customers Moreover keep yourself

involved with as many stages of the

business as possible and interact with

customers to keep them coming back

While most modern entrepreneurs

are ready to put themselves at the

forefront of their brand there are

few examples as clear as Richard

Branson and the Virgin Group

There is no need to look any further

to see how much an approachable

image can help the success of a

business

5 Keep It Current

This is particularly important if your

business runs a significant amount

of its processes through a website

You cant expect customers to come

back if theres nothing new to see

Keeping your product information

and highlighted aspects of your

brand fluid will allow the public to

see more of what you offer and

maintain an interest in your

company

Creating and regularly using a blog

for your business is also a great way

of spreading exciting news keeping

customers interested and building a

personality for your brand Try to

keep whats written friendly and

relaxed to help the public engage

with your brand

It wouldnt be easy to find a

successful business without a blog

these days Many companies tie it in

with the use of social media to keep

their content regularly updated and

give their customers something to be

interested in

Web wwwb2bbscomau Email dennisb2bbscomau Mobile 0451 184 599 5

Why dont managers give employees

regular feedback on their performance

Why do they often wait for the appraisal

to do so

Over the past 18 years I have talked to

thousands of employees and this is a

common complain across all industry

groups

For example I recall speaking to an 18-

year-old female fresh out of school and

nine months into her first job in an

SME She was quite distressed

Melinda had not received any

feedback from her boss in nine months

on the job

I asked Melinda whether she would

like me to approach her manager on

her behalf and ask him if he could let

her know how she was settling into her

first job

Melinda was quite enthusiastic about

this prospect and I subsequently

approached her boss Ted

I proceeded to explain to Ted that

Melinda was concerned that she had

not received any feedback from him

since she had started and suggested

that he sit her down and explain how

she was doing in her work

Before I could finish my sentence Ted

interrupted me and said lsquoNo I canrsquot

do thatrsquo There was an uncomfortable

pause in our conversation I said lsquoMay

I ask why you canrsquot do thisrsquo

I was thinking there must be some

rational explanation Ted retorted lsquoIf I

do that for Melinda I will have to do

that for all my staffrsquo I was rendered

speechless

I think one of the main reasons is that

managers are predominantly rewarded

on the basis of achieving certain

outcomes and therefore maintainance

and developmental conversations are

not on the priority list

Do you agree or do you have another

possible reason

This is an extract from my latest book

- The End of the Performance Review

A New Approach to Appraising

Employee Performance (Palgrave

Macmillan) out in early October

Essentially it is based on five

conversations each lasting about 15

minutes between the manager and

his or her employees Lets look at

each conversation briefly

Climate review conversation A climate review is about

determining the current

atmosphere in a particular

workplace

Strengths and talents

conversation this focuses on

the weaknesses and sometimes

neglects to discuss particular

strengths and talents

Opportunities for growth

conversation This conversation focuses on

strategies for improved

performance from the

employees individual

perspective

Learning and development

conversation The Learning and

development conversation is

designed to discuss the learning

needs of the employee now and

in the future

Innovation and continuous

improvement conversation Conversations around

Innovation and continuous

improvement are about practical

ways and means of improving

both the employees own

efficiency and effectiveness and

the business in general systems

and process improvements in

the business

Id recommend you try this

approach if you either have no

performance review system in place

or the current system you have is

not working

Dr Tim Baker

Managing Director

WINNERS AT WORK Pty Ltd

wwwwinnersatworkcomau

wwwaboutmetimbaker

Telephone +61 7 3899 8881

Editorrsquos Note

Tim is an international consultant successful author keynote speaker master trainer executive coach university lecturer and skilful facilitator

In a nutshell he has conducted over 2430 seminars workshops and keynote addresses to over 45000 people in 11 countries across 21 industry groups

Tim points out ldquoWhen it comes to

performance reviews my involvement

with organisations both big and

small generally hasnt been positive

In fact I regularly hear the following

complaints about performance

reviews or appraisals

They are a costly exercise

Performance reviews can be

destructive

They are often a monologue

rather than a dialogue

The formality of the appraisal

stifles discussion

The infrequency of reviews

Appraisals are an exercise in

form filing

Performance review are rarely

followed up

Most people find the appraisal

stressful

Why Wonrsquot Managers

Talk To Their Staff

About Performance

Web wwwb2bbscomau Email dennisb2bbscomau Mobile 0451 184 599 6

ldquoYou are the average of the six

people you spend the most

time withrdquo

If you think about the above statement

are you happy with your network or is

it time for an upgrade

Itrsquos a fact of life that if you want a

million dollar business you will need a

million dollar network around you On

the other hand if you want a five

million dollar business you will need a

five million dollar support network to

help you make that happen

The people who helped you establish

your business all those years ago may

not be the ones you need to take it to

the next level and it is often because of

an inappropriate sense of loyalty that

we fail to look at who we really need to

take us toward our ultimate goal

Irsquom not saying you should be ruthless

and hold no personal sense of ethics in

growing your business

What Irsquom saying is that over time our

businesses change direction and may

grow beyond the area of expertise of

those we initially needed to get started

Irsquom often the first one to suggest a

client may need a higher or more

specialised level of support as they

grow beyond my area of

comfortableness or indeed

competence

I would be more concerned if your

advisors donrsquot do this

That being said I read an interesting

article recently that put forward an

interesting perspective on the key

people you should have in your team

from both a personal and business

perspective I liked the concept and

thought it might provide a context to

review lsquoyour teamrsquo

Nothing incredible is accomplished

alone You need others to help you

and you need to help others With the

right team you can form a web of

connections to make the seemingly

impossible practically inevitable

Have you got these people on your

side

The Instigator Someone who pushes you who makes

you think Someone who motivates

you to get up and go and try and

make things happen You want to

keep this person energized and

enthusiastic This is the voice of

inspiration

The Cheerleader This person is a huge fan a strong

supporter and a rabid evangelist for

you and your work Work to make

this person rewarded to keep them

engaged This is the voice of

motivation

The Doubter This is the devilrsquos advocate who asks

the hard questions and sees problems

before they arise You need this

personrsquos perspective They are

looking out for you and want you

to be as safe as you are successful

This is the voice of reason

The Taskmaster This is the loud and belligerent

voice that demands you get things

done This person is the steward

of momentum making sure

deadlines are met and goals are

reached This is the voice of

progress

The Connector This person can help you find new

avenues and new allies This

person breaks through roadblocks

into finds ways to make magic

happen You need this person to

reach people and places you canrsquot

This is the voice of cooperation

and community

The Example

This is your mentor you hero

your North Star This is the person

who you seek to emulate This is

your guiding entity someone

whose presence acts as a constant

reminder that you too can do

amazing things You want to make

this person proud This is the voice

of true authority

Have a look at your team and see

who might be missing or indeed

who might need upgrading to get

you to the next level This may not

always be easy but in the words of

Tom OrsquoToole the famous

Beechworth Baker lsquoYoursquoll never

find what yoursquore looking for in

your comfort zonersquo

Geoff Butler FAIM AP MAITD MACE

PrincipalBusiness Improvement amp Implementation Specialist

Business Optimizers

Mobile 0414 943072

Fax 3036 6131

Email geoffbusinessoptimizerscomau

Skype businessoptimizers1

Are You Happy With Your Network

Web wwwb2bbscomau Email dennisb2bbscomau Mobile 0451 184 599 7

Do you ever feel like yoursquore going around in circles in your business filling your day with different activity but at the end of the day week month year the results are the same Unfortunately most businesses experience this lsquoStuck in a Rutrsquo scenario Itrsquos common for people in business and can be a sign that the business is not growing hellip often times this is just a nice way of saying itrsquos on its last legs Experienced profitable and happy business owners are continually learning new ideas and applying them intelligently to their business This keeps them energised attractive to others and most importantly hellip profitable If you know how new skills are learned it makes it easier for you to grow You greatly increase your chances of being able to break the lsquorutrsquo cycle The following diagram explains how we learn hellip

The 4 Steps to Learning

The diagram shown is the process

of learning The cycle never ends

By understanding this your

ability to learn and educate others

more effectively increases

dramatically

This is how mentors help their

mentees Using their experiences

and resources they can guide

people on a learning experience

People can be introduced to

quicker easier and more effective

methods

ldquoWe repeat the lesson until

we learn the lessonrdquo

Step 1 Unconsciously

Incompetent - You donrsquot know

what you donrsquot know

There was a time you were not

even aware that you could not

drive a car You were travelling

in cars most days of your life

however you still did not click to

the idea of a cars existence Just

because you may see something

does not mean you understand it

Step 2 Consciously

Incompetent ndash You know that

you donrsquot know

At some stage you realised that

something existed that was called

a lsquocarrsquo Driving was something

parents and other adults did It

was dangerous for you to drive

until you had more personal and

life experience

Step 3 Consciously Competent

Decision to change and start to

practice

Here is the important bit for

people in business hellip

This step is what Michael Gerber

calls an lsquoEntrepreneurial Seizurersquo

The employee makes the decision to

lsquobe their own bossrsquo They believe

they have business skills when

really they only have technician

skills They convince themselves

that they lsquohave to learn by trial and

errorrsquo unaware that they could hire a

professional teacher and it would

cost them a lot less in the long run

financially physically and

emotionally

At some point you make the decision

to learn how to drive You pay more

attention to other people driving

You practice in safer areas where

there is less chance of causing

damage You have sweaty hands

remind yourself to check the mirrors

and are focussed on remembering

where the controls are

Step 4 Unconsciously Competent

ndash Mastery by practice

After driving for a while you soon

forget all the little things it takes to

drive Driving becomes a part of

you second nature You have

confidence because you have done it

so many times and have a history of

more challenging situations whilst

driving

Driving at night in the rain

changing a flat tyre are learning

experiences You may even give

others some advice from your

experience not that this qualifies

you to be a driving instructor

Dan Buzer

Dan Buzer

Profit Mechanics

0414 567 188

wwwprofitmechanicsnet

ldquoIs Your Business Stuck In A Rut

Some Say A Rut Is A Grave With The Ends Kicked Outrdquo

Web wwwb2bbscomau Email dennisb2bbscomau Mobile 0451 184 599 8

Why do you go to work Hint ndash The

thinking is that it has more to do with

cake than it does with doe Here is a

better question Would you like to get

more productivity out of yourself and

your employees

Ask any 10 people and you may get 10

different answers or 10 exactly the

same however the question ldquowhy do

you go to workrdquo is important because

you will find that understanding your

motivations will be a key consideration

in increasing your own performance

Whether you are an employee self-

employed an owner operator or a

business operator with your own

employees you will do well to ask the

question

There is a commonly held belief that

money and other remunerative

compensation is the most effective

form of motivation to an employee

Every time I ask the question directly

the answer is nearly always ldquomoneyrdquo

however we know through extensive

research and proven productivity

improvements that this is not

necessarily true

A psychologist called Herzberg

postulated in the 60s that high levels of

what he labelled lsquohygiene factorsrsquo such

as pay job security status working

conditions fringe benefits job policies

and relations with co-workers would

have a calculable effect on

productivity but then came some cake

from Ikea The Ikea Effect basically

says ldquolabour enhances affection for its

resultsrdquo

Research indicated that housewives

resisted instant cake mixes because

they were too easy Ikea took the

powdered eggs out of the cake mix so

that housewives had to put an egg back

in Just that little bit of extra labour

made the difference and increased the

value of the cake

Another study in the Harvard Business

Review found that people undervalue

products that they donrsquot contribute to

and tend to overvalue those on which

they have contributed to

Professor Dan Ariely built on this

research and found that people are

willing to perform even menial of

tasks for very little pay as long as

they considered the work meaningful

or are recognized for their

contributions

He asked volunteer subjects to circle

some words on a sheet and paid them a

trivial amount per sheet and less for

successive sheets He had 3 scenarios

In one the supervisor checked the

work briefly and gave a brief positive

acknowledgment In the second

scenario he had the results put onto a

pile without checking and with no

comment and the third scenario the

completed work was immediately

shredded without comment nor even a

glance at the work He said that the

third group could have easily cheated

and made more money by just

submitting incomplete or incorrectly

done work

It is not hard to work out that the shred

scenario was going to give the poorest

performance Subjects quit sooner and

netted less income than the other two

groups The first scenario netted the

best results by far but the concerning

result was the second scenario It was

virtually the same as the shred

scenario

Ariely devised some more research

with origami In one group he gave

instructions and the other none but the

subjects were allowed to purchase the

finished product The subjects without

instructions origami finished products

were not as good quality as the ones

built with instructions and other

subjects with no connection to the

build put a higher value on the

instruction built origami Out of the

two groups of origami builders

guess which group paid a higher

price for their own works It seems

that the less instructions given the

higher value is placed upon the

finished article (by the builder not

the disconnected buyer)

Maybe the secret ingredient is pride

or even love Can we conclude from

this that giving workers work that

demands more effort and thought to

it that they will value the work

more A thing made with love is

always more special to the maker

and the receiver

Is this why the results of the business

owners efforts are always more

likely to get better outcomes than

those of their staff

So back to the original question

Why do you go to work If you are

a small business owner and you

donrsquot love what you do we need to

talk

Do you acknowledge the work of

your staff Or do you shred it

because it does not come up to your

incredibly high ldquoloverdquo standard

The biggy Do you acknowledge

your own work

Professor Dan Ariely says that we

need to look at a revised model of

labour Payment is a component of

worker motivation whether it is you

or your staff He asserts however

that meaning creation challenge

ownership identity and pride all play

a bigger than expected and key part

of the solution

Cake anyone

Peter Athey

Specialized Management Services

Is It All About The Cake

Peter Athey

Specialized Management Services

0405 318 449

wwwspecializedmanagementcomau

peterspecializedmanagementcomau

Web wwwb2bbscomau Email dennisb2bbscomau Mobile 0451 184 599 9

This month I want to start off the

article with a brilliant poem that was

created by MampC Saatchi creative

director Andy Fleming Anyone who

saw Toni Collette on TV quoting the

poem will know it was for The

Commonwealth Bank

When you read the poem really think

about what the words are saying to

you

Ode to Can Theres a four lettered word

As offensive as any It holds back the few

Puts a stop to the many

You cant climb that mountain

You cant cross the sea You cant become anything you want

to be

He cant hit a century They cant find a cure

She cant think about leaving or searching for more

Because Cant is a word with a habit of

stopping The ebb and the flow of ideas

It keeps dropping

itself where we know in our hearts its

not needed And saying dont go when we could

have succeeded

But those four little letters

That end with a T They can change in an instant

When shortened to three We can take off the T

We can do it today We can move forward not back

We can find our own way

We can build we can run We can follow the sun

We can push we can pull We can say Im someone

Who refuses to believe That life cant be better

With the removal of one Insignificant letter

I remember when I first heard this

poem I thought how incredibly true

this is we find it really easy to say I

canrsquot but imagine taking off the T and

saying I can

As I said in my first articlemdashwords

are very powerful Do you have a can

or canrsquot attitude to work or play

For the next month I would like you

to stop saying I canrsquot and say I can

Not just in your homeplay life but in

your work life too

Imagine how your customers or

clients might react when instead of

saying I canrsquot do that for you you say

what you can do for them

For example as a Life Coach I get

asked if you can do counselling I

could easily say ldquoI canrsquot do that as it

is not my professionrdquo Instead I say

to the potential client ldquoletrsquos have a

talk about what you are really

wanting in life and if I feel that you

need counselling I can certainly give

you some names for you to considerrdquo

I could have easily just turned that

person away and missed out on

business As it turned out that

person became a valued client and

they didnrsquot need counselling

How many times have you

encountered the canrsquot word and you

think come on all you have to do is

helliphellip(you fill in the blanks)

I can remember going to a burger

joint and getting a works burger and

asking can you take the egg off my

burger and put it on my husbandrsquos I

was told they couldnrsquot do that

ldquowhat do you mean you canrsquot do

thatrdquo I asked

Think about what it would have

entailed They would have cooked

the egg for me and instead of placing

it on one burger they would have

placed it on the other burger

Lets just say I donrsquot really go to the

burger joint anymore as I have found

one that said that they could do this

One of the worst words you can say

to a customer is NO If you canrsquot do

it because of rules then learn to say it

in a positive mode like ldquoI would love

to do that for you except I would be

breaking the law however I could do

this for youhelliphellip

By coming in with an alternative

you are seen as wanting to help and

being positive instead of being

negative

So from this time forward letrsquos all

remove the ldquoTrdquo

copyJanelle Macpherson 2013

Can Do or Canrsquot Do Attitude - which is better for business or life

Janelle Macpherson BBusInfMgt DipMgt Certified NLP

Practitioner Cert MHSS Accred Life Coach

Business OwnerLife CoachConsultant

emPOWERful Solutions

Sub Company ndash Express Life Coaching Brisbane North

ABN 76 594 335 474 Blue Card 11616881

0409728579

empowerfulsolutionsyahoocomau

httpempowerfulsolutionscomau

Web wwwb2bbscomau Email dennisb2bbscomau Mobile 0451 184 599 10

Do you have or even know what an

emergency plan is it does not matter

is you are a leader in a small or large

business in fact you can even have an

emergency plan at home

A French study estimated the

proportions of persons reactions to a

fire situation

5 per cent were not prone to panic -

they awaited informed advice before

taking action

20 per cent were likely to panic - they

acted alone and attempted to leave as

quickly as possible and 75 per cent

were influenced by those disposed to

panic

These people may react incorrectly

unless a leader emerges within the first

few minutes to guide them

The role of anyone in charge of an

evacuation is essentially to provide

leadership - to prevent panic and guide

the occupants of a building through the

set evacuation procedures

There are many different types of

emergencies not only fire some others

include Hazardous Chemical Spills

Toxic Fumes Bomb Threat

Explosion so the idea is if we are

confronted with any Emergency we

need to have a plan to deal with it

Aims of emergency Planning At all

times emergency workplace

evacuations will be a part of an

emergency management Emergency

planning should aim to

Reduce the level of risk to lives

property and the environment

Control any incident and reduce its

impact on the workplace and

Provide the basis for the training of

all people who could be involved in

any emergency at the workplace

Hazard Identification Risk

Assessment and Risk Control The

work at a workplace should be

analysed to identify potentially

hazardous situations where the work

processes could involve emergencies

of all types

The final step is to determine the

control measures that need to be in

place Workplace evacuations are a

risk control measure because they

remove people from the hazardous

situation thereby reducing the risk of

injury or harm

Monitoring and review of control

measures Control measures need to

be monitored and regularly reviewed

for their effectiveness

Consultation with workers Workers

have a significant amount of expertise

and knowledge to bring to the process

Measures developed and implemented

jointly between employers and

workers are often more effective

because they have workplace

acceptance

Planning for emergency

evacuations Planning for emergency

evacuations follows the same risk

management process described above

Hazard Identification In a

workplace where hazardous

substances are used there could be

serious contamination of the

atmosphere requiring emergency

evacuation while the situation is

brought under control

Risk Assessment The assessment

would consider all of the factors that

may affect an orderly evacuation

Risk Control Decisions are made

about the action needed to safely

evacuate the workplace and the

training required to ensure everyone

knows what to do in an emergency

evacuation

Practical training is essential In a

workers usual workplace practicing

evacuation procedures by actually

walking through the escape route to

the nominated gathering place is the

best way for workers to learn the

procedure Active involvement is

always better than passively receiving

information

PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

During training special needs must

be identified In most workplaces the

emergency evacuation procedures will

account for the special interests of an

individual worker who may be

disabled or require assistance leaving

the workplace in an emergency

Capabilities and limitations must be

considered The difficulty where a

group has special needs is in

understanding the capabilities of the

group and the limitations that will

interfere with each persons ability to

evacuate

Staff must have clear guidelines

BOMB THREATS Treat every

threat as genuine Bomb threats

require a slightly different

management approach when compared to other emergencies that

may require evacuation

Check escape route is clear In the

event that evacuation of a particular

area is to proceed the escape route is

checked to ensure it is clear before

workers use it

Comprehensive procedures are

essential Bomb threat procedures

should cover contact with the Police

search procedures and what to do if a

suspicious parcel or bag is found

A FINAL WORD Be prepared for emergencies

There is no substitute for

planning and preparation

Ron Court

AMC Dip (Funerals) MQJA JP

(Qual)

OHampS Advisor

0419679619 roncourtaaptnetau

Emergency Management

Web wwwb2bbscomau Email dennisb2bbscomau Mobile 0451 184 599 11

Much has been said about the federal

government policy of running an

ongoing budget deficit but what are the

implications

One school of thought says that itrsquos

OK to run a deficit Otherwise it could

cost jobs and throw the economy into

recession There is merit in this

The other side says that we should not

spend more than we earn There is

merit in this too

So which is right

The job of government is not only to

administer but to assist to lay the

foundations of the future Therefore it

falls to governments to generate

momentum and seed the capital to

create projects that individual people or

companies cannot through lack of scale

or critical mass A wonderful example

of this is the Snowy Mountains Scheme

which manages water supply and

generates carbon free electricity ndash a

truly inspirational project well ahead of

its time (notwithstanding the concerns

about insufficient annual flows along

the Snowy River)

Australia borrowed to fund this project

and of course we had to repay the

principle plus interest This is

justifiable because the project has and

will contribute to our economic and

social wellbeing for decades to come

Economists call this the lsquoMultiplier

Effectrsquo because for each $1 invested for

example $5 or more might be

returned over time

Naturally this makes sense but it

begs the question ldquoHow did we

arrive at our present day deficitrdquo It

should be noted that Australia started

with a surplus federal budget in 2007

plus money set aside for future costs

This is very smart and very prudent

DEBT Whatrsquos the Problem

The problem with our deficit is that

it was created with no multiplier

effect ie no future income to justify

the borrowing We all know of the

inappropriate school halls program

pink batts which created rorts

burned down houses and resulted in

deaths of young Australians and

$900 cheques 70 of which went to

the gambling and hotel industries

This ldquoStructural Deficitrdquo is an

ongoing cost built into Australiarsquos

annual budget that does not have an

income source to offset or fund it

One does not have to be too bright to

realise the folly of this

A much better way would be to

bring forward infrastructure projects

to stimulate our economy This is

exactly what China did when they

did their own economic stimulus

after 2008 They built port facilities

rail road and public housing ALL

of this stimulus contains the

multiplier effect where little of

Paul GILLMORE DFS

Founder and Director

Southern Cross Financial Services

07 5429 5561

0402 685 032

paulsc-fscomau

Australiarsquos stimulus contained any

multiplier effect

In other words the federal

government lsquoblewrsquo the surplus and

then ran up debt with no way of

paying it back This is

fundamentally irresponsible It is

also the reason why despite

repeated promises the federal

government has not been able to

reign in their debt

If our national debt is $280 billion

5 interest = $14 billion per

year in interest payments alone

Sufficient to pay for Disability

Care AND Maternity Leave at full

wages PLUS change

You can see the problem canrsquot

you We want to do things but we

have to use the money to repay

debt The nasty taste comes from

the fact that we still havenrsquot paid

ANY of the $280b back

Stuck

We are stuck now because we

MUST repay the debt to stop

paying the interest to be able to

afford to do things in the future

Therefore very careful

management is required to reduce

debt and maintain economic

bouyancy This MUST be done

sooner not later

FEDERAL DEFICIT ndash Fine or Folly

Web wwwb2bbscomau Email dennisb2bbscomau Mobile 0451 184 599 12

In last monthrsquos analysis Chrome

outnumbered Firefox users two to

one Internet Explorer dropped a

massive 229 in one month Firefox

went back above 20 Safari has

exceeded 8 and Opera gained by a

small margin

While Internet Explorer 10 continued to

perform well with a 12 increase the

previous versions fell by almost 35

20 of PC owners are still using

Windows XP IE8 isnrsquot terrible but itrsquos

aging badly If those users cannotdo

not want to upgrade their OS IE is a

dead-end and Chrome Firefox or Opera

offer a better alternative

While newer versions of IE may be a

match for the competition there are few

compelling reasons to switch back if

yoursquove already adopted another

browser

PCs are losing ground as mobile phones

and tablets become increasingly viable

cloud computing devices Different

operating systems and browsers apply

to these devices

Browser Trends

Do you know how they affect your website

What has this got to do with your website A Web browser is a translation device It takes a document written in the HTML language and translates it into a displayed Web page Like giving two human translators a sentence written in French and asking them to translate it into English different browsers will interpret the instructions differently

The basic rules for translating HTML documents are established by the World Wide Web consortium which publishes the official HTML standards But theres considerable room for interpretation within those ground rules

For example the HTML standards say that the TABLE tag should support a CELLSPACING attribute to define the space between parts of the table But standards dont define the default value for that attribute so unless you explicitly define CELLSPACING when building your page two browsers may use different amounts of white space in your table

Like the Eagle we see the Big Picture

MIMBEE MULTIMEDIA (est 2002)

Online Business Website Consultants

Miriam Battersby

dip Multimedia International Webmaster Certifica-

tionWoorim Bribie island

ph 3410 1071

adminon-line-bizcom

httpwwwonline-bizcomau

Good websites are built to be cross browser compatiblemdashthen one will upgrade and change the rulesmdashpain for the webmaster

Summary

Website display is very different

from print media It is not just

displaying each formatted page as

a slide show

There are many different

browsers in use and many

different resolutions and device

window sizes

Sometimes it can be impossible

for your website to display

EXACTLY the same across all

browsersdevices

The browser you use may not be

the one that most of your clients

viewersusers use

Browser updates can break the

layout of older website designs

You need to update your website

design regularly

According to Stat Counter figures released recently July 2013 may have been Internet Explorerrsquos worst month ever

Do you need to add a

Mobile App to your Website

FREE Website

Analysis and Review

Wersquoll help point you in the right direction

No obligation

Just a friendly chat

Ph 3410 1071

web online-bizcomau

Web wwwb2bbscomau Email dennisb2bbscomau Mobile 0451 184 599 13

KEEP IT LOCAL

Business Working Together

BRIBIE BETTER BUSINESS INC ldquoAspiring to achieve a Combined Progressive and Dynamic Culture for all Local Businessesrdquo

Proudly supporting our Members and other Local Businesses