Articles by admin

Hopefully some of the readers will be able to help out with this one.

Being single currently I was thinking about meeting women and how this relates to being in business.

I had a couple of thoughts but this could almost be a group writing project - I want to hear what you guys think.

1.) You don’t want to come across as too desperate. If you need a woman too much, or are earnestly seeking her approval, it’s a clear sign that you haven’t had much prior success. It’s the same with business : value the client, but contact them too much and they will resent you.

2.) Image counts. Women ‘aren’t visual’, they say. And then they step out into the real world and discover how life actually works. What I’m wearing, how recently I have shaved (either 1 hour before or 3 days before works nicely, nothing else), and how my hair is styled has made huge differences in my own life from one day to the next. Nearly all guys have natural disadvantages (I could use some cosmetic dental work) but if they let these define their package, they’re gone for all money. It’s the same with businesses : investing in your image creates an aura of professionalism. It could be the difference between a client choosing you over someone else.

 3.) Success breeds success. Women gravitate to those who are confident in themselves and in their ability to deal with females. They’ll also gravitate to the famous/powerful/rich people in a room. It’s the same with business. You don’t necessarily need to be successful but if you’re a financial adviser who’s driving an 82 Volvo you won’t exactly inspire confidence. The way you dress (for example :)) speaks volumes about how much success you are having, and in turn, how much confidence is already being placed in you by other customers.

4.) It takes all your money, time and emotional happiness. Ok, that was just for a laugh. Load me up with some of your ideas!

 I apologise in advance for talking about sweat. It’s yuck I know, but this post could help a lot of people! 

Last night I was sitting in a perfectly temperate room. But there was one problem : my feet were sweating. My feet don’t sweat to an above average level but this time I was and it was very uncomfortable. When I got home it was a relief to take the shoes off and give my feet a little bit of air to breathe. (The smell was an added bonus.)

 Why were my feet sweating, I hear you ask?

Because my shoes and socks were made entirely of synthetic materials.

The typical black suit seen on the street is either 100% polyester (such as my first suit… I curse the memory) or a poly-blend. Not only do those black suits absorb the sunlight, making you hot, there’s another reason why you’re baking…

An important factor in clothing is whether it ‘breathes’. That is where is allowed to circulate through the garment, allowing a renewal of the air close to your body and also encouraging evaporation of the small amounts of sweat coming out of your glands.

If you look at a single strand cotton or wool through a microscope, you can see that it not a single strand but a collection of fibres bound together. The gaps between these fibres are tiny but still porous and allow the movement of air.

With synthetic materials, zooming in will still show single, solid strands. These do not breathe at all, trapping the air against your body, not only heating you up but giving that newly generated sweat no chance to escape.

It makes a difference. That’s why all the shirts I sell are 100% cotton, the suits I buy are wool and my shoes generally cotton or leather. Unfortunately I forgot this fact while buying the particular pair of shoes and socks mentioned in the example above. And boy, did I pay the price!

 Win some style points with the nasal glands of those around you : buy clothes made of natural materials.

Thanks Harmony and Anthony for your comments.

A short list of Richard Branson’s business ventures.

Richard Branson, according to his article in Wikipedia, heads a list of over 200 companies.

When I lived in England for a few months with my family in 99 I was staggered by the amount of businesses he had going. I was also excited about what this meant to Australia, which was just beginning to be touched by the Virgin mega brand.

Australia currently has several Virgin businesses operating including a mobile phone service, credit card operations, music stores, and an airline. All four have been successful in their own way.

Something incredible about Branson’s success (and that of many other billionaires) is that there’s no massive idea. There’s no incredible invention or stroke of genius. He’s just had the habit of going into industries dominated by lazy corporations and breaking the market open. (It’s said that when he goes into a city, he looks at the logos on the skyline and takes on those companies. If Melbourne is any example, this is true to an extent.)

Yeh, Branson is a pie-in-the-sky example. But think about how many car dealerships, takeaway restaurants, real estate agencies or hotels are making cash all around the place. They were an original idea, once - 50 or 100 years ago. They aren’t any more but smart people are still making millions from the concepts.

It’s an encouraging thought.

Thanks David, Markk and The Paper Bull for previous comments.