Date: January 2012 - Page 2

Sitting on a beach in the Bahama's sipping Pina Coladas, and soaking up the glorious rays of sunshine - ipad in hand... life could not get much better. If this is working, then I am totally up for it! Thus, is the virtual world. Anyone can do anything from anywhere - with no diminishing quality constraints.

The idea of a virtual anything is often something that we look at with trepidation - HOWEVER - is this the actions of a foolish person? Harsh... I get that, but as a stickler for little or no change, I am the first to admit that I am a slow adopter of many things that end up being very good for me and definately for my business. To change a technology that we may use, would be likened to going to the dentist and having my wisdom teeth removed without gas.

You can tell when you have hit a certain age and everyone is either wanting to get married and have babies or they are deluding themselves with their own positive affirmations that they are in fact 'happy' just the way they are and wouldn't change their world for anything or anybody. The latter tends to think that by caring about someone other than themselves or making any changes to their lives would only lead to 'unhappiness' or as I like to think, 'putting themselves in a vunerable situation in which they cannot control'. Having spent the last couple of weeks with a number of single, middle-aged, childless, unmarried individuals who proclaim that by having anything different in their lives, they would have to change their lives and that is something none of them aim to do. Going out, drinking too much, partying too much and holidaying at every opportune moment seems to be key to what they think is the perfect life - of course, until they wake up one day and realise that they are all alone and they have spent too much time loving themselves to realise that there is no-one there to love them when they need it most.

Ever sat down with a group of friends from another country and felt like the odd one out? Not because you dress particularly strangely, nor due to the fact that they eat a whole different menu than what you are use to (think peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - ughhh!), but because your accent and basic language is lost in translation and you are not sure whether to keep quiet to avoid embarrassment or to power through in hope of perhaps teaching your friends a thing or two about being Australian or English or whatever you may be.

When you have some down time, it is always good to use it well. Afterall, it's not often we have time up our sleeve, but at this time of year, many entrepreneurs and marketers take time off. I'm an avid skier, so I always head off to Colorado. Aspen and Vail are my two favourite spots, mostly due to the mountains and the great atmosphere both resorts tend to foster.

After sitting in the kitchen of a friend's home in Vail, I find myself spending literally hours trawling through websites on marketing from around the world. I am interested in what people have to say, their opinions and their advice. Sometimes the advice is game-changing and other times it is a little waste of effort. 

With entrepreneurs surrounding me, I constantly ask them what they read online, what apps they download and what is the best marketing campaigns that they have seen. Its an interesting conversation and everyone seems to have a number of websites they love that is consistent with the others and a few have a some 'pearlers' that are untapped by the average entrepreneur that is a must-have resource.