TVNZ Close Up current affairs program opting for plagiarism and gutter journalism to bolster sliding rankings.

Recently they were busted for stealing a story from an American network. As show presenter Mark Sainsbury puts it “A story we screened on Thursday night was inspired by a similar concept produced by our affiliate ABC America” (source). The reality is they copied the story word-for-word and shot-for-shot.  Admittedly they did change out American made for New Zealand made as the story was about the buying habits of consumers and how well they support locally made products.

Not happy with such an embarrassing display of desperation to help rankings. They now admit they have no credible journalistic talent by scraping the gutters for “controversial” stories. Tonight these included a rehashed story about a dating website that encourages marriage infidelity and a story about the colour of the alternative English rugby jersey. Ninety percent or more of the comments they received on their Facebook fan page were fans voicing their disgust at the lack of noteworthy content on the show.

One may wonder if there is any other reason for the continued lack of decent stories given air time. We are being fed diet of the activities of the fringes of society which are always going to generate more discussion from the moderate majority and out-cries from the other extremes of society. Which in the short term may seem to bolster rankings – but will eventually cause most people to seek other channels for their news. Surely even TVNZ realizes this, so why do they persist down this road?

Perhaps they let a little too much slip tonight after the show when they bombarded their Facebook page with links to a sex therapist’s site who apparently featured on the show. This was obviously the actions of a program that has “sponsors” for their stories. It seems that in a tight economy our independent news reporters have stooped to selected stories based on the budgets of those seeking airtime. I haven’t looked into it but I suspect there are rules about the advertising that porn/sex sites can buy on TV especially during prime time. I also suspect that “editorial” content has more relaxed rules. Correct me if I am wrong but that is certainly how it appears to a bystander.  Especially when comments were made to this end on the CloseUp fan page and shortly there after all posts and references to the sex sites and show clips featuring them were removed from the front page.

The other alternative is that CloseUp has decided to listen to the majority of their fans and clean up their act. Maybe Sainsbury has been convinced that his Jerry Springer/Jeremy Kyle act is taking a long walk off a short plank.

If I can plagiarize a Tui commercial “Yeah Right.”

But who knows, perhaps if the silent majority keep speaking out we may eventually convince them that there is a market for positive stories and genuine investigative journalism on TVNZ Close Up.

“Good Fences Make Good Neighbors” or for those of us who speak English “Good Fences Make Good Neighbours”

This age old proverb was popularized by poet Robert Frost in the early 20th Century with his poem Mending Wall. In the poem Frost tries to explain to the neighbour that there is little point in their annual wall re-building exercise since the neighbour has only pine trees and Frost has only apple trees: “My apple trees will never get across, And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.”

However, Frost’s neighbour understands the wisdom that his father taught “good fences make good neighbours.” So each year the two meet on an appointed day and walk the boundary line between the two replacing the stones that have fallen or been torn down from their stone wall boundary fence.

In this politically correct age it seems there are no fences any more. Everything we do on our own property is under the constant scrutiny of someone. We can not cut down trees, dig holes, or push in roads without permission.  We are not allowed to hurt ourselves without a Government agency investigation into the matter and probably leading to a conviction because you dared to endanger yourself.  Trespassers are able to sue you if they suffer an misfortune while illegally carrying out activities on your property at any time of the day or night.

Never-mind the shenanigans that exist on a global scale. Countries that dictate what other countries should or should not do while ignoring the state of their own backyard. I guess the wisdom in good fences make good neighbours is for simpler time with simpler people.

I see wars break out in the world of virtual communities (much like the typical TV soap opera) and “friendships” breaking down because your friends list includes my enemies list. I am reminded of the old saying that you should not eaves-drop on other people’s conversations if you do not want to hear anything bad about yourself. This is especially true in our global age of the Internet. Where every is connected to everyone else by virtual friends lists. If I am going to nose around in your friends list I am sure there will be overlap with my enemies list.

The age old wisdom that sounds so simplistic in our advanced technological age is no less wise. It is these basics of life that are elementary and yet essential to the foundation of everything we do. You cannot build a community without a few basic ground rules and not the least of these is the understanding that good fences make good neighbors.

There is no escaping the tragedy that the Christchurch earthquake is.

And I am sure the shockwaves are going spread to the whole country both on a personal level with family and friends directly affected and eventually on an economic level. But these are nothing compared to the trauma the people of Christchurch are facing after the massive destruction and loss, and once again facing the ongoing trauma of after shocks.

A situation like this does bring some thoughts to mind however. Thoughts like where are those morons that were flocking to Christchurch after the last earthquake to protest unsafe historical buildings being bulldozed.  Take some pictures and put the dozers to work. The millions spent trying to shore them up has come crumbling down anyway – this time claiming lives.

Obviously it wasn’t only historic buildings that were crippled by the latest quake but the fact remains that they are safety hazard and the question must be asked how many lives is it reasonable to risk in order to keep them standing for people to admire. One would hope other cities are also looking closely at this – cities over due for an earthquake themselves (Wellington).

But that is not the only issue that the earthquake is highlighting.

Here we have a national disaster and everyone in the country is pulling together as one people to help out our neighbours. At the same time we have a Bill going before parliament that is going to put control of the seabed an foreshore into the hands of a minority (a minority within that minority at that).

Given that there are already disputes over access to beaches etc by some within the Maori fraternity I fail to see how the problem will improve by giving them rights to the lot.  Rights that they already share along with the rest of New Zealand at the moment I might add. This is an absurd situation and it will be interesting to see if it pushed through while the country is focused on the earthquake.

In a disaster we are one country. Any other time we are divided by minorities and people pushing their own agenda. Isn’t it time we learned a few lessons from these situations?

Today I took the kids to a local camping ground for the day to let them loose on the various amenities at the camp ground.

What never ceases to amaze me is the amount of junk people need to take with them to have a few days camping. Wagons with roof racks loaded up and towing over loaded trailers pull into the camping ground. Everything from ping pong tables to fully stocked refrigerators.

It is no wonder there is no respect for the land anymore. Nobody experiences it. Even when they go into nature for a camping trip they take that much clutter that they barely notice they have left home.

What started as a farmer letting people pitch a tent in his field down by the river was almost shut down recently because the local council said he had to provide full facilities for the campers – including running hot water and kitchen facilities.  What a disgrace. Imagine going to a camping ground that didn’t have running hot water!

Almost as disgraceful as the actions of some of the morons that turn up to the camping ground. There is pond that has Eels living in it. Eels being Eels are a naturally inquisitive and easy to “tame” fish.  They will eat out of your hand no problems at all even if they have never encountered people before.  So what do the campers do – enjoy feeding them and allow others the same experience?  No, of course not.  They have to drag them out of the pond and kill them.

There is a reason I don’t go to town much, and don’t mix with town folk when they come to the country as a rule.  People that don’t appreciate the land don’t know how to respect themselves, much less others.

We are a self centered ignorant species.

McDonalds is under attack from the gay community because it chose to block several gay websites from its family friendly Wi-Fi connection.

Once again this vocal minority is out to force its views on the rest of the population.

The McDonalds restaurant chain is providing a free service to its customers and as such it has every right to block whatever websites it chooses. I for one support their choice to try and make their restaurant safe for children to surf the Internet, or eat in the restaurant without other adults in the vicinity surfing porn sites.

Ok the gay population says their sites aren’t all about porn – yeah right.

I hope McDonalds has more backbone than the NZ Government that allowed “civil unions” because the vocal minority claimed it was something much in demand.  Since the Government made its decision to validate sodomy there has been no rush for civil union. In fact the numbers of civil union since the bill was passed is nothing short of an embarrassment for those who pushed it through. So embarrassing that our illustrious leader of the time had to flee the country (sure, she would claim it was for a job in the UN – others would say it was trying to save face).

Congratulations McDonalds, for taking a stand where others have not. Hopefully you do not let a minority persuade you change your stand.

What kind of sadistic Government department sends out its bills to arrive on Christmas Eve – ACC it seems.

Is it really necessary  to have bills arriving Christmas Eve ACC?

I guess it was necessary because another investment choice of the Accident Compensation Department  has gone belly up. When the Pike Mine went into receivership we find out that ACC was one of the major stake holders. Once again all the money that we have been taxed has gone up in smoke.

The mismanagement of the ACC funds has been colossal. It seems that they feel gambling with our money is an acceptable past-time. Given that they loose more than they win and consequently have to keep raising funds by increasing the tax on everything I am very tempted to write in and tell them where to stick their Christmas card.

Of course they are the Government so a war against them will never be won by an individual.

Merry Christmas ACC.

With 2010 rapidly drawing to a close, it will soon be behind us and fading into the realms of distant memories. Perhaps it will go down in New Zealand history at least as being one of the most tragic years in living memory.

We saw a City shaken if not stirred, and the 2nd largest life claiming mining disaster that the small West Coast mining communities have experienced. This was on top of unusual snow falls that crushed the new Southland Stadium and decimated the sheep population, and now the unusually dry spell that is threatening to cause major water and feed problems. An odd disease that has turned the Kiwifruit industry on its head. Who can forget the year beginning with the collapse of one of our largest financial institutions. And a global recession that was threatening to drive many businesses to the wall on its own account.

Yes, 2010 saw its fair share of problems.

Do not get your hopes up for any great improvements in 2011. The financial forecasts are for more global strife. As Western Governments are trying to micro-manage the eb and flow of global wealth shifts by building dikes in streams – which will ultimately end in flash-floods as they come crashing down.

Of course there will be those who chase famine and disaster to profiteer from it. There is no denying that in times of shortage and need a lot of money can be made by exploiting other people’s misfortune. There will be others who make money by providing solutions to those in need. As man much wiser than I once said – “there is nothing new under the sun.”

So looking ahead to a new year you can allow your self to be exploited by the extortionists, or you pay those who will help you – for a fee, or you can make a stand and do something about it for your self.  Begin a new chapter in your life. Start a new challenge. Step out of your comfort zone. Even try and do something that will help someone else and expect nothing in return (although that is probably getting a little too radical for most).

Christmas seems to be the time to celebrate our wealth. To remind ourselves why we work so hard to pay for the things that we don’t have the time to enjoy because we are working to pay for them.

If only Christmas had more meaning – if only there was more to life than this debt cycle we are trapped in…

Once again the justice in the New Zealand Justice System seems to be severely lacking.

How is it that a man who has a beautiful wife and two gorgeous kids and the farm he has worked his whole life for one day, and the next day has almost nothing?

According to the justice system it works like this: the woman he loved after committing serial adultery (sleeping with other men) walks out taking the children and half the farm (not to mention the money she bleed out of the bank account over the past 12 months or so).

This woman, whose friend is a lawyer, very calculatingly spent months setting up this coupe, and carried it out with ruthless precision. She managed to buy a new house weeks after moving out, and yet has never had a job. She bought that house in a different town (conveniently located near her latest lover – another married man breaking up his family). And yet her first husband is left with nothing in the bank, and no way of buying her out of the farm that he worked his whole life for.

The man has held two jobs since leaving school. Working during the day, and farming after work and in the weekends, building up his stake holding in farms to be able to afford his own one day. The woman came into the relationship with nothing of her own, and yet is entitled to half of everything.

The woman originally walked out of the relationship without the children, and has spent little time with them even when they were supposedly in her care since leaving. It would seem that she only wanted them for the money that they would bring – both from the Government and from her husband in the form of maintenance.

The so called justice system take no consideration of the damage that divorce brings to society, nor of the statistics that show the likelihood of children being abused (even killed) in homes of single women with serial partners. It seems they reward such behaviour by granting this woman who has broken up two homes custody of the children, and consequently half the farm, and on going payments from the husband.

Is it any wonder our society is in such bad shape. When the family unit is no longer considered sacred, and one partner is granted such economic reward for leaving the other.

Adultery may seem like an old-fashioned term, but the consequences have not changed by calling it by more palatable terms.

Another goof by Goff leader of the opposition, when delivering a major address on the Labour economic stance, mis-naming his minister of finance.

But that is not the worst of his behaviour. He repeatedly treats New Zealanders as dimwits with no memory.

Labour were in power for nine years in some of the most globally prosperous years of recent times. What did they achieve during that period? Nothing. How did they help the low income people who were traditionally their bulk of their votes? They didn’t.

Yet ever since Clark left the country after making a pigs ear of the economy (to run UN development – go figure) we have had to listen to Phil Goof pontificating drivel. They haven’t come up with a single thing that sounds remotely plausible to improve the economic situation, but have done plenty of bagging. I am sure throwing more taxes at high income earners to fund tax cuts on fruit and vegetables is going to stimulate growth. Nor will it improve the diet of low income earners.

Is there anyone that thinks Labour will win an election with Goofy Goff at the helm?

Get rid of him now so we no longer have put up with his pathetic behaviour and ridiculous policies. Find someone that can actually put up an opposition in a future election.

If you think this is a National party pooh pooh post – you are wrong. I will not be voting for a party that bows to minorities at the expense of the general NZ population.

Is anyone going to stand for non-communist policies?  If so, they will get my vote.

I have had enough of our left wing democratically elected dictatorships.

One of the great sales pitches used online is the ability to “make money while you sleep.”  There is some truth in that statement because of the nature of the industry. You can make while you sleep, but only if you spend your waking hours setting up the systems that will enable you to do this.

What I have observed is that most people with money make their money while other people sleep. That is to say that they work for it. The people with money are taking action while many of sleep – or watch TV, or are involved in other forms of recreation.

One of things that never ceases to amaze me is the mental aptitude (or lack of it) with a lot of successful people. They were not the smartest kids in school, in fact many of them dropped out of school at an early age. They may have successful businesses, even serial successful business, and yet talking to them you might wonder how they did it.

They all have one thing in common. They took action.

While others discussed the pros and cons, or thought someone should do it, these are the people who went out and did it. They learned as they went, they failed, they got back up and tried again. Eventually, it paid off for them. Yes, I know that some people took a different route and got University degrees, corporate jobs, and eventually bought a company or started their own, but they seem to be the minority.

People who are successful in this life tend to be action takers. All the knowledge in the world will do you no good unless you take action. You can attend as many courses, seminars, programs as you can afford and it will do you no good at all unless you go out and take action on the information you learn.

Another interesting thing about these successful people is that they don’t wait until they know everything there is to know about something before they take action. Yes it pays to some due diligence before launching into a venture, but there is nothing like on-the-job training to accelerate the learning process. The key is to be able to learn from your mistakes, and learn quickly. Don’t keep repeating the same mistake hoping for a different outcome. Find a way to fix it.

Don’t fear mistakes. Many people are afraid to do something in case they fail. Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb, is credited with this quote when questioned about his failures “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  He did not invent the theory behind the lightbulb, but he set about creating a system that could be reproduced  where electricity generated light. He did not look at the early attempts as failures, rather as narrowing the options. When he exhausted all the methods that wouldn’t work he knew he would be left with the way that would!

Another quote attributed to Edison is “everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.” Or put another way “Great ideas originate in the muscles.” Edison knew well that success required action. People who took massive action were the only ones reaping massive rewards.

The world has changed since the days of Edison, but the principles of success have not. If you want to be more successful than those around you, you have to take more action than they do. Make money while others sleep.

A couple of recent events in New Zealand have dominated the news in recent weeks.

The first was the largest earthquake to shock one of our major cities in recent times. Fortunately, it did not come with a large death toll, due in no small part because of the time of the day (4am) that it occurred.

The next, and still continuing, is the tragedy of Pike River Mine. Twenty Nine men presumed dead in a double mine explosion. The toxic gases still emitting from the mine preventing a rescue/recovery mission as there is a very real danger of more explosions.

What did these two events have in common?

The media massed on the scene seemingly within minutes of each disaster.

What follows next is a disgraceful display of insensitive stupidity.

The earthquake was constantly on TV as soon as they had reporters on the scene. Even before that they were interviewing people around the country about the state of affairs.  Most of the people they kept hammering with the same questions had no idea of the answers because they had not seen the damage. Assessments had not been done. No one knew anything, but they were all on TV having stupid questions asked of them.

The current mine tragedy was exactly the same situation.  All and sundry being interviewed and asked questions they either could not answer, or the answer was that obvious that anyone could have answered it. Stupid questions, like how did the families take the news when it was announced that a rescue mission was now officially a recovery mission. But this same stupid question was asked of everyone present that would appear on camera. “How did the families appear to take it from your perspective?”

How do you think people would have taken the news of the presumed death of their loved one?  They were angry, grief stricken, and in shock.  I wasn’t there, but I could have answered that question.  Stupid stupid questions. Asked over and over.

Why do we have streaming live broadcasts when their is no real news on the situation, no updates of relevant information, just pointless interviews with people who know nothing being asked questions that cannot be answered?

There is a tragedy. Tragedies attract viewers. Lots of viewers sell ads. Get the tragedy on the screen. This seems to be the motto.

Not to mention the appalling behaviour of individual reporters hounding the grief stricken, some making false allegations about mining practices locally and over seas.

It is a sad reflection our society that we need to be so “in your face” at times of grief and mourning.  Yes it is nice to be kept up to date. But I don’t need to see people crying with cameras stuffed in their face to know it is a sad day.  I certainly don’t need to hear politicians and “experts” who aren’t even on the scene telling me they don’t know what is going on.

Just another example that our media has lost the plot.

The newspaper – once a dynasty and now a dinosaur.

I find it fascinating that despite the downward spiral of the mighty newspaper that they have seemingly learned nothing along the way. At least that was the impression I got talking to a lady in the newspaper office today.

The story goes a little like this: I plan to run a competition in the local area as part of my marketing promotions for local businesses. This promotion will have some nice prizes for the participants (total prize pool in the thousands of dollars), it will also supply the businesses several forms of marketing material for the competition, and it was scheduled to have a center page spread in a local community newspaper.

To me that all seemed pretty logical. I provide a significant amount of effort organizing and supply the necessary material and prizes in return for payment from each of the businesses.  As part of the deal I would also design the entry forms/advertising to go in the local paper and pay the paper to run it.

……. SCCCRRREEEEETTTTTCCCCCHHHHHHHH ……..   STOP THE PRESS

According to at least one lady from one of the local papers, what I am doing is “ad farming.”

“I am sorry … what do you mean?” I reply.

Well … she goes … you are making money from our services.

So here is a newspaper telling me I am not allowed to advertise in their paper if I am making money from their services? Yes it is true. They are worried that I might steal their customers by buying in bulk and on-selling at a cheaper rate.

First of all, that is not the main intent of what I am trying to achieve.  Second of all – SO WHAT?

No wonder newspapers all around the world are going broke if they are all so anal that someone might be making money from selling their ad space. Ad space, which I hasten to add, that they are incapable of selling themselves.

Seriously, that is the way business works. Someone manufactures something, they sell it to wholesalers who make a profit by selling it to distributors, who make a profit by selling to retailers, who make a profit by selling to consumers.  But not in the newspaper game. No sir.

In the newspaper world (land of the dinosaurs) the only person allowed to make a profit is the newspaper, which is why they are not obviously.

The lady I was talking to said she wouldn’t be allowed to profit from my services.  I said why not? As long as I am making my money why should I care who else is making money? Which of course was not something she was able to comprehend.

I just can not believe that businesses in this day and age are so backwards in their thinking.

Hopefully my negotiations with the local competition newspaper do not also hit such an obstinate road block.

I guess if they do then at least I have found a way I can enter the local newspaper trade and run the others out of business.

**Wandering off shaking head in disbelief … muttering not very polite things about the small minded stupidity of newspaper publishers**

Talk is cheap. Lots of people got the talk and plenty of it. But unfortunately they don’t stop to process what they are saying.

Sometimes what people are saying is good stuff, it really is. The trouble is, that they aren’t doing what they are talking so no body is going to listen to them anyway.

Other times what people are saying makes no sense what-so-ever. And if they actually stopped to think about what they said I am sure they would make arrangements to remove themselves from public life very quickly.

I have heard people make claims that defy the laws of nature. For example, when speaking about archery a person stated this particular bow shoots arrows faster where as that particular bow shoots arrows further. Now I am no physicist but all else being equal I am pretty sure that speed and distance are related.

Observing people in online forums I see people adamant that what they are posting is “helpful advice” and not spam. However, when they seek clarification from the site admin they find that they are in fact in violation of the forum T.O.S. and what they did was spam. It isn’t rocket science; if you are making self promotional posts then you are spamming.

Other people suggest we should have compassion on all and everyone. That some spam isn’t too bad, and if we get email spam we should just delete it and ignore the situation. Which is why we should not worry about children stealing candy, or teenagers stealing cars, or people killing other people if it is a first offense and they didn’t really like the person they killed. Spam is a criminal offense and spammers will continue to re-offend while they believe the law will not be enforced.

A victimless crime is one of these bleeding heart liberal lies. Someone is always paying. Even if it is the faceless shareholders of a huge company when an employee of that company takes an extra half hour at lunch. That employee stole half an hour of company time – a victimless crime. Unless you happen to be a shareholder whose dividend was not paid this year because the company made no profit.

Kids having a laugh smash my letter box. I have to shut down a forum I invested $2000 in because it has become the target of spam bots. Victimless crimes that I am footing the bill for.

Talk is cheap. People like to talk a lot. Sometimes I wish they would think through what they are saying before they open their mouth. There is enough noise pollution without people talking just because they can.

Has The Definition Of Commitment Changed?

I find it interesting that as a society we seem to have lost our commitment. Or maybe we have redefined what commitment means.

The old definition of commitment according Websters Online Dictionary is: The trait of sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose.
Further down the page I found another definition: An expressed intention to undertake an action.

Is the new definition of comment now the second definition?

Although the two of them seem similar they are actually very different. Once upon a time I remember when people committed to something it meant they would follow through and actually do it. There was an expectation placed upon them that should follow through once a commitment was made.  If they did not complete the task there was usually a consequence.

Now however, we seem to be able to express an intention to undertake something and that is the fulfillment of the commitment. Whether or not we actually follow through on what we committed to seems to be immaterial any more. Long gone are the days of consequences – they are too politically incorrect.  So we feel able to break commitments all the time as if it means nothing. So commitment has now become the intent not the action.

An example of that which I am talking about can be found in the YouIncPro Star Video Challenge. Not that I want to pick on these people, but it provides a good illustration.

Joyce Penner came up with an idea for a video challenge on a forum, and YouIncPro Richard Bravo decided it was a good idea, so together they created the YouIncPro Star Video Challenge (this is not an endorsement for any of these people/websites – use at your own risk).

This challenge was to be a 7 week commitment to produce and publish a video a day. The commitment was stressed, and they had in the vicinity of 50 people sign up to this commitment.

When the challenge launched there were already 10 – 20% of the commitments that were no shows. Yes they had committed to the challenge by registering. A commitment to the people organizing the challenge, and a commitment to themselves. A commitment in intent only.

After week one there an even greater number of commitment causalities, and week two took more of a toll. As I write this they are mid way through week three and there is probably just over one third of the original commitments still involved in the challenge.

Now we all get busy and what seemed like a good idea one week may not the next, which is why aren’t intending to be hard on the challengers here.  What I am trying to illustrate is the high level of broken commitments in society today.

People who commit to doing a job for you and never follow through. People who commit to giving up smoking or over-eating but lack the fortitude to carry it out. And because we do not punish people in society in general we have a bred an apathy into our commitment to keep commitments.  We will keep them if it works, but won’t if doesn’t, it doesn’t matter either way.

If you are a person who doesn’t keep commitments I would encourage you to begin following through on your commitments. If we wish to get anywhere in life we have to keep commitments made and have a reputation of keeping commitments made.

I have been helping out a friend recently after he lost out in the latest tender round and had to pull out of a contract that he has held for the past 20 odd years.

Not given so much as a thank you, much less a gold watch, for  the previous 20 years of service he was told by former employers and by the new contractees that “that is contracting.”

Admittedly, he did nothing to help his own cause by tendering exclusively with an out-of-town firm this time around, so the local firm that got the contract left him out in the cold. Where as they might well have used him had put in a price with their tender.

That being said, the way business is done is incredibly wasteful on resources. I have seen it many times where contractors are ousted by someone under-cutting them. On the surface it seems like a good deal for those letting the tenders. But the reality is that this drive to screw the contractors down to a lower price invariable results in a poorer service, more problems, and greater expense at the end of the day.

Even when a saving is made on the monetary front it usually results in a greater cost on human resources. The people employed to do the job are put in greater immediate physical risk, by substandard equipment or operating procedure, or they are in greater physical risk because they have to work longer hours for less money. Families suffer, as does society in general.

Given that many of the contracts are let by Government on a national or local body level it seems very short-sighted to me. Usually the immediate “cost saving” is only a few percent of the contract price as well.

Even when the company letting the contracts is in private hands this constant swapping of subcontractors cannot be beneficial in the long term success of the company. Each new contractor requires training, monitoring, and a loss of efficiency during the settling in period. Knowing that you are only as safe as the next tender date does not inspire extra capital outlay or training to be invested in your staff to do the job more effectively. There is no loyalty in this environment either.

It may be somewhat naive of me to view business like this – after “that is contracting.” But perhaps during a  recession it is perhaps a good time to re-evaluate the way we do business.  Is it possible that even though that is the way we have been doing contracting for the past hundred years there may be a better, more effective and efficient way?

How does a Government get around the fact that it has a bankrupt pension fund?

Easy. They start a new one and name it KiwiSaver.

After being signed up to this scam called KiwiSaver by an “employer” who I hadn’t actually worked for in recent years, I was feeling a little ticked.  This person for whatever reason signed me up after making a submission to our Inland Revenue Department (IRD). The fact that he neglected to pay me the amount in question for work I never did doesn’t seem to matter to IRD.

So I have been signed up to KiwiSaver. Now it is up to me unsign myself. I am supposed to do this every time I start a new job within a couple of weeks. Which is a little hard since I didn’t know I wasn’t being paid the wages submitted to IRD at the time. I only just found out months later.  Now I have to make a submission that is examined on a case-by-case basis.

If this isn’t a case of people creating job security I don’t know what is. It is costing the country thousands of dollars to keep signing people like me up for me to unsign days later. This is Government efficiency at its best!

So how do we solve this problem.

Well it appears that we make KiwiSaver compulsory – that will solve the unsubscribing issue, and it will create a fund that the Government can borrow more money against to pay the retirement fund of an aging population who’s retirement fund the Government has squandered.

This is just another case of communism alive and well in our parliamentary system. It shows that our “center right” Government is so center right it is in the middle of the communist left. I predict that a genuine right leaning party will be the undoing of our current Government – in like manner to the role Sir Robert ‘Bob’ Jones played. The difference being that it is highly likely they will be elected this time around.

I am tired of Governments mismanaging my money and I would like to manage my own and I believe I am not alone.

So go ahead and make my day John Key – it may be your last chance.

I see this topic debated on forums regularly.

It is worth giving some thought to if you are looking at starting a business.  What do you want from your new business, and what do you expect to put into it?

As far as starting a business goes, there is no cheaper way to begin than what is traditionally called a home based business – a Multi Level Marketing or MLM business. But is this really a “business”?

I suggest that MLM businesses are actually commission based sales jobs and not businesses. As a “distributor” you are bound by the rules of the company that you belong to. You run the risk of losing your “business” should the company deem you to have broken any of the rules. You have no control over the direction the company may choose to take, and many people have lost their incomes when the company decides that the MLM business model is no longer in their best interest so they switch other forms of marketing.

I have been told that I am wrong in my assertion, but I see no difference to someone working in MLM as compared to someone selling life insurance for example. A life insurance sales person gets monthly residual checks based on their clients continued business with the company, they may get an initial signing bonus, and they may get performance based incentives. Some companies also pay bonuses for every new sales you bring to the company. It sounds very similar to an MLM pay scheme, and the control over the way you conduct business is equally similar. Again you are usually penalized for poor performance in both – if not being fired, then by lower/lost commissions.

Does this mean that you should not enter into an Multi Level Marketing or Network Marketing business?

Absolutely not. They generally have a very low entry cost, and many millionaires have been created in this industry. If you treat it like a business and work hard there is every opportunity to make a good income in MLM. It can be worked in conjunction with another job until such time as you are making enough money from your part time job that you have replaced your income from your full time job should you choose. Just remember that despite the hours it is still a job and not a “business.”

A more expensive option that is closer to a “normal” business is a Franchise. These are often considerably more expensive to buy into as they require a premises or specialist equipment, stock, and branding rights. Once you are established any franchise worth their salt will provide you with the training and systems to help you build your business. Although you are running your own business, it is again not fully your own business. The franchiser can at any time revoke your right to the brand should you break any of the terms, and they can take the company in a direction that you have no say over.

The reasons to get into a franchise are similar to the reasons to enter into Multi Level Marketing; they are generally cheaper than starting from scratch with no brand recognition, and they provide the training and systems that a new business does not offer.

But there are advantages of starting your own business if you have the capital do so. The rewards can far exceed the other options, and you have complete control over the business – you won’t be fired. A good business will continue to grow without your input if you hire good staff and a growing business is going achieve good capital gains.  For me the ability to run the business as I choose is worth the extra investment.

Your goals may be different, and the vehicle needed to get you to your goals may also be different. Just do not blindly believe what you are being told by someone trying to sell you a business. Make an informed decision.

Relationships And Business – Diametrically opposed?

I have had some interesting experiences recently that highlight for me the value in building relationships. These were people who I initially had no business involvement whatsoever, although we meet through a business forum. We connected as “friends” first and then as friends. We never tried to recruit each other, or to sell to each other.

Some time later we have found ourselves in a position where we can work together.  It has just been a natural progression and not forced in any way. But there is potential for good rewards for all concerned.

Recently I was talking to a young man doing a business training program at a local polytechnic. He is being taught in the business management class, that good business managers are less about relationships and more about efficiency. He is also doing an entrepreneurial class which does teach more about the value of relationships to the entrepreneur. It is good that the business owners are being taught about relationship building, but where have we gone wrong that managers are not.

It is as Robert Kiosaki predicted going to be the downfall of Western businesses. You have a boss (manager) who cares only about efficacious production figures. Their bonus/reputation is built only on how much they produce and at what margin. The workers do not factor into the equation. And because the type of managers this system breeds are either insecure (more intelligent people threaten them) or they are natural power trippers (they like to abuse their authority) there is no flow of information from the lowly worker to the corporate box office.

A more beneficial relationship is as Kiosaki describes with the Japanese business world. Where workers are listened to by their superiors and a family type relationship is fostered. Not only is productivity improved by a naturally more pleasant work environment, but also by the adaptation of the system by the workers for the workers.

There are many ways in which good relationships build stronger businesses. To be teaching otherwise is backwards and typical of our way of business management. The “us” and “them”relationship has failed for decades and yet we continue to encourage it.

No matter what job you have, or what stage you are in life, today is a perfect time to start working on building your relationships. You never know where they might lead you.

I was reading Seth Godin’s blog today and one line made me laugh.

When you talk to yourself is anyone listening?

We all want to talk about ourselves, and although you may deny it, you only really discover just how true this is when you are with someone who just won’t quit. They leave you no opportunity to speak up and before long you either start trying to talk over the top of them or you walk away (or wish you could).

So we like to talk about ourselves. But do we stop to listen to what we are saying about ourselves? This was the point that Seth was making. How are we presenting our self to others, and what do we really believe about ourselves?

I watched a movie last night that had a punchline of “Who are you? And what are you going to do about it?” (in slightly more colorful language). Do you really know who you are and what your potential is?  If you do, are you making the most of that potential or are you drifting through life being tossed to and fro?

Today would be a good time to stop and listen to what you are actually saying about yourself if you have not done so recently. What we truly believe about ourselves will influence the way we conduct ourselves and the decisions we make. Often we may think we know we feel about ourselves but our actions reveal thoughts.

If you can’t hear what you are saying about yourself ask some close friends to tell you what you are saying about yourself!

Today I went to two hardware stores. They are both large stores and they are next door to each other.

One store has a greeter at the door (a pretty young lady today) the other does not. I went into the store without a greeter at the door and wandered up and down the isles for 5 minutes  looking for an item. I was only approached by a member of the store staff because they wanted to walk past me and I was blocking the isle.

The store with the greeter was holding workshops for children during the school holidays. Today they got to decorate a small flower pot with paint, then a small candle was given to them to put in it. They were also given a blow-up tool with the company logo and were able to choose a cardboard box to put their treasures in. Total cost to children = $0.00.

Of course I went shopping while the children were busy being entertained. I was approached by several staff during the course of my browsing. The experience was entirely different from the other store. Guess which one is the most popular store with the general public?

There were a few staff members that I noticed even in the user friendly store that were more interested in personal conversations than making sales. So they could use some kind of monitoring system to ensure everyone is pulling their weight.

Amazingly there are many stores that do not train their staff in how to spend their time. Perhaps equally amazing is the attitude of the staff. In a time of recession you would think they would be doing everything can to ensure they have a job next week. This would include proving that you are a valuable member of the team, and making sales to ensure the profitability of the business.

You can tell those who go to work with an employee mentality. They believe the company owes them, is probably screwing them, and they are always looking for a way to get something for nothing. Entrepreneurs, even when working for other people, will be looking for ways to improve productivity and increase sales. A smart company will make sure they invest in these staff to retain them. A company that looses staff members with this aptitude will not only loose the benefits that these staff members generate, they will be giving their competitors a boost in productivity or may even be creating new competitors if the entrepreneur starts up their own business.

Tip for employees:

No matter your role in the company you have the ability to make yourself indispensable to the company.

Tip for employers:

Train and monitor the performance of your staff – then provide good staff an incentive to stay.

Irrational is probably not what you would care to be labelled as, and yet that is exactly what you are. Dan Ariely shows not only are you irrational, but you are predictably irrational.

How can this be so?

Well, many of the illogical decisions you make can be predicted in advance. For example, one of the illustrations in the book involves two samples of chocolate. One is a world famous exotic chocolate and the other is the recycled waste sold as chocolate in convenience stores.

The experiment began by selling the two chocolates side by side in small one bite sized samples. The price of the authentic chocolate experience was 15 cents and the price of the imitation chocolate was only 1 cent. An overwhelming majority of people confronted with this decision concluded that the exotic chocolate was a better buy.

However, once the price of both chocolate samples was dropped by 1 cent something strange happened. You could say it was entirely irrational. The price difference between the chocolates was exactly the same, but now the majority of people took the low quality chocolate.

What caused this switch when the price differential was exactly the same?

The low end chocolate had dropped from 1 cent to free. That magic word free had altered the equation, tipping the value balance away from the quality chocolate.

This is just one of the many cases where our irrational behaviour can be totally predictable. Advertisers are taking advantage of this knowledge all the time. Even when you think you know what the advertiser is doing, you may be surprised to find that he is doing something entirely different on your subconscious level.

This is a great book for anyone who markets anything, or even sets prices on supermarket stock. It is also a must have for anyone considering making a shopping excursion.

If you would like to help support this blog please purchase through this link.

Everyone loves the under dog.

The current Soccer World Cup is no exception. The host nation, South Africa, were the first home team to bow out before the second round in the history of the Cup. But they are heralded as heroes.

Why this heroic celebration of what others consider to be a failure? Because there were the under dogs. No one expected them to win. However, they went out and played with heart and enthusiasm. They gave their best.

New Zealand has now been adopted by many South Africans. They will be cheering for the team from down under because they too were never given a chance. Several of their team are not even full time soccer players, and many of the other teams are made up of professionals all earning million dollar cheques.

Will they win? Unlikely. But while they are still in there is always a chance. And in the mean time we will all celebrate each victory (and anything other than a loss is a victory when you are at the bottom of the table) as if we had won the cup.

We all like a victorious under dog story. Sylvester Stallone made a career out of playing this role in movies.

Why do we cheer the under dog so?

Because we all wish life had turned out a little differently?

Maybe we have given up the fight to achieve our dreams and would rather live vicariously through the actions of others.

Many a successful person is remembered for what they achieved, but we have forgotten the many failures that person went through to achieve what they did.

Don’t stop short when the next action you take could be the one that propelled you to achieve your dreams.

Success Isn’t An Accident. It Is A Culmination Of Failures
~ Dean McNamara

Has innovation died?

Time Magazine published an article “10 Ideas For The Next 10 Years” and number ten on that list made the statement that we have entered the “boring age.”

We think we are innovative because we now have phones integrated with web browsers and touch screens. But the article asks where is the innovation that invented the phone? Where is the innovation that invented the combustion engine?

Sure we are tweaking already existent technology, we have smart phones and more efficient engines. But we don’t drive flying spaceships and we don’t have vacations on the moon.

What we do have is oil slicks destroying large tracts of our oceans. We have more cool electronic gadgets that replace old clunky items that came from the past. But how much of this innovation is just filling in time. Much like the new social media craze online – people waste a lot of time on social network sites. Some even believe they are building a business. The reality is that they will be doing the same things 5 years from now, still believing they are building a business.Just as engineers believe all their gadgetry is innovative.

I think we are ready for some real innovation. Who knows it might create some jobs and economic growth.

source

We have a meet the teacher evening coming up next week for our primary school kids. After getting their second term reports we have no real reason to go, although we will anyway. It is good to know what the teachers are trying to accomplish.

The interesting thing about the reports is not so much the teacher’s assessment, they just tick the boxes to say average, above average, or not average. But it was the section where the kids got do their own assessment.

One of my daughters achieved a mostly average report from her teacher, and when it came to assessing herself she ticked mostly “achieving” boxes as well. The daughter is one of the oldest in her class because of they way school system works here (essentially holding her back 6 months instead of pushing her forward). So she is mostly above average in her class. But when it came to the self assessment she ticked all the “excelling” boxes. She has a high opinion of herself!

Combine these results with the book I am currently reading by Robert Kiyosaki:

I may make a few cents if you buy through the above link

Although it is 20 years old, few lessons have been learnt since the time it was written. The school system has become a little less results oriented (although I am not entirely sure I agree that this is actually better for most students), but they still do not teach a child that they can achieve anything they can dream.

I will be interested to see if my optimistic daughter still believes she is “excelling” in all areas as she moves through the school system.

I hope I can teach my children what the school system failed to teach me. And I hope they can learn it at a much earlier age than I learnt it.

What about you?

Have you educated yourself so that you can educate your children in a way that they might have a chance of retiring independent of the Government? Or so they might achieve any of their dreams?

Great news! The recession is over in New Zealand.

At least that is what our Government believes, so they have raised the OCR (Official Cash Rate). This done the same week that the financial spending of our politicians has been exposed by way of the public information act.

So these same politicians who believe that the tax payer should be funding their porn addictions, golf clubs, alcohol addictions, and clothes (and who knows what else is about to be uncovered) are in a position to know how financially sound the rest of the country are.

I suggest they are that far removed from reality that they have no business running a tap never mind a country. Although running is certainly not something that many of them could manage anyway.

Even if there was a slight recovery happening (although this is still in dispute) you would think the politicians might give the country a little slack before the tax hikes already set in place actually take effect. But no.

I am guessing that we are supposed to react with a ho-hum oh-well there we go attitude. Not a corrupt lets see how we can work the system and make the other taxpayers pay for it kind of attitude.