Coming Soon - The Baddest Recession Ever

We've all heard of the Great Depression. We've all lived through the Credit Crunch. And we've probably all sung the Bachman Turner Overdrive Song 'Baby you ain't seen nothing yet.'

So what have BTO and world finances got in common? Only that the next financial crisis will be the worst, baddest and toughest one to come our way in a looooong time.

Why am I so pessimistic? It's because I still see people have not learned the lessons from the recent Great Recession. Lessons such as income should be greater than outgoings, don't borrow short to pay long, don't think credit/store cards are the answer to make up for your monthly shortfall.

You see, I believe that the next financial tsunami is going to be as a result of people's over-reliance on credit cards. And if you thought the mortgage/sub-prime catastrophe was bad then as BTO sang....

It seems credit drives everything. From purchases of cars and even the gas to power them to online games where people subscribe via their credit cards. From flights to fiestas and all the way through groceries, hotels, internet purchases ...

The best money management resource I have found is written by Michel Bell and is called managing God's money. http://managinggodsmoney.com Check it out to see if there are any hints you can take to save yourself from the tears that will be shed in the days ahead as the world of credit collapses and leads ever closer to a new economic order, which may sound good but will ultimately lead to destruction.

How are you managing your use of credit?

How to be successful – part 1

Ask all your friends what they are striving for in life and I can almost bet that the vast majority will say something like ‘success’ or achieving a particular goal or winning at something. The drive for success in our wealthy, western world is very, very powerful.

One of the things I have seen with people who want success is that many of them want that success now, today!

It’s the same in business. Marketers want to use Social Networking because it’s the revolutionary new idea that can magically increase their sales. And so they dive headlong into copying what everyone else is doing – they blog, they set up Facebook groups, the try and get as many Twitter followers as they can …

Here’s another thing I have learned. Success never sneaks up on you! Lay the foundations, develop things consistently over time, win peoples trust by being a person of integrity. None of these things come quickly or easily. Count how many verses in the Bible God encourages His people to do things ‘little by little’ – you may be surprised.

And just a last thought before we all rush off into our day. Is success the thing we should be striving for?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

It’s the holiday season - let’s destroy the environment!

Has anyone made the connection between global warming and Christmas lights ... or am I just going crazy?

What’s the deal with Christmas lights and decorations that stay on all night long outside your house? Isn’t that using up electricity and so putting the earth in more jeopardy?

Bet most of the people who put Christmas lights up are the very ones who are so concerned with recycling, and driving hybrids and saving the environment the rest of the year! Strange how there is this disconnect - is it because saving the environment at this time of the year is inconvenient, or ‘we’ve always done it like this’?

Or maybe I’m just ‘Bah! humbug!’

BREAKING NEWS - Sociologists discover a new people group! (Thankees)

You may know that I am involved in an extremely exciting project. What you may not know is that the marketing I am doing for this is completely new to me.

I never studied Social Media at University, I never used it because it hadn’t been ‘invented’ at Pepsi or at Nestle (2 of the biggest, most dynamic marketing companies in the world) and yet here I am leading a global marketing team developing a break-through product.

How did I manage? One word describes how I learnt about this great new world. ‘Thanks’!

- Thanks to everyone who posted information on the web. It is so easy to find help with all kinds of new subjects I knew nothing about.
- Thanks to everyone who linked me with someone in their network that could help me.
- Thanks to everyone in the many groups I joined who accepted me and helped me learn new ‘stuff’.
- Thanks to everyone who ‘gave away’ information instead of holding it and trying to make money out of it.

You know what I am going to do? I am going to do the same thing all these ‘Thankees’ did - I am going to give away information freely, I am going to help people connect with other experts, I am going to donate to the online knowledge bank.

It feels good to give away. Funny, Jesus said it would!

What kind of ‘internet carbon footprint’ are you leaving on the web? Are you you just taking and enjoying without leaving a positive legacy or are helping to build knowledge and helping other people fulfill their potential

PS - if you want to see how much I have learned why not go to http://www.yahero.com and see the legacy my Thankees have left me