bwagy

As many of you will know by now, yesterday an earthquake set off a Tsunami in the Pacific.

Yesterday in Auckland we awoke to Tsunami warnings, a tense hour or so  before reports confirmed that the swell wasn’t going to be big enough to cause significant damage.  Ok crisis averted.

However Samoa wasn’t so well off… the death toll is at 100….for now.

What a lot of people don’t realise is that some of the worlds worst poverty is experienced in the pacific (literally hours flight from New Zealand).   You can read more on Poverty in the Pacific over at Oxfam.

So how can they recover? When the standard was low to start off with.  With your support.

It is up to the rest of us to lend a helping hand (and I am proud to say the New Zealand government has made a long term commitment to providing aid – on top of our existing commitments to Samoa).

Now giving money isn’t always the best answer but for those of us that can’t help directly it is the best way of enabling those who can.

If you happen to be in Samoa, I suggest you share the story, blog about it, make this event ever so real for people around the world, that is the best way to get their support.

For the rest of us, please support the NZ Red Cross.

(Even $5 makes a difference.)

Having difficulty writing a proposal?

Remember the copy basics…

1. Here’s what I’ve got.
2. Here’s what it’ll do for you.
3. Here’s what I want you to do next.

Flesh this basic framework out…

Here’s a thought, when looking at any metric.

Quality over quantity.

Those that focus on quality don’t worry about the big numbers, they obsess on quality.  As a consequence they get the numbers.

Those that focus on quantity, aspire to be the former but end up with sub par results, as they focus on quantity over quality.

The funny thing is that the quality guys don’t care about the numbers but the latter do.

Paradox but rings true time and time again.

My grandma always used to say to me; there are two kinds of people in this world, those who do and those who don’t.

The same can be said when evaluating business opportunities, those that do them and those that talk.

The question is how can you tell which are serious and those that are just excited about an idea (and have no substance).

First thing is to look at their body language, when you ask the hard questions how do they respond? Do they fidget a lot, touch their face or kind of give a winded response. Chances are they have their doubts.

Also check up on their history, do they follow through on ideas or bounce from idea to idea?

What about boundaries and responsibilities? The hot air guys often juggle a lot and aren’t solid with boundaries.  Those that are seriously value yours and their time.  They also have no qualms about setting boundaries, goals.

Finally putting money on the line, can be a quick qualifier (but also a false one) so make sure this is in align with other positive signals.

I’m not saying you aren’t going to have a fruitful relationship (hey the second idea might be the winner) but throw caution into the wind, your time is way too valuable to waste.

What else do you use to separate the signal from the noise?

Paralysis kills business, procrastination is cited as one of the biggest regrets by owners of failed small business.

When you have a small team, procrastinating for a few hours can be a huge cost, as each person carries a larger impact on the bottom line.

What I suggest is develop some systems or processes to highlight when it is happening, then how to deal with it, much better to identify and deal with it now rather than tomorrow.

It doesn’t take long and is well worth your time investment….