Kate Tribe wins $100 Donation From Zulu’s Village
July 30, 2008
Dry July - WINNER of the $100 donation from Zulu’s Village
Congratulations to Kate Tribe from Tribe Research who won the $100 donation in Zulu’s July 2008 competition.
Kate decided to participate in Dry July (www.dryjuly.org ) for two reasons: she thought it would be good for her health and to support the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation.
Kate said: "I have done health related research for over a decade and believe that charities improving the lives of people with health related issues is essential. Dry July was a great opportunity to help such a charity and improve my health at the same time. The most surprising thing was how much extra time I had and was able to reconnect with a range of hobbies that I hadn’t participated in for a long time. Highly recommended - bring on Dry July 2009!"
Setting birds free - a great way to celebrate a birthday
July 23, 2008
Usually when I travel I try my hardest not to be a tourist.
On my recent trip to Lao I celebrated my birthday by doing a tour on a long-boat up the Mekong from the quaint little town of Luang Prabang to the disappointingly ordinary Pak-au Caves to see ………… statues of buddhas in caves.
Enter the children with tiny birds in cages
I do not usually fall for the tourist trick - but these kids were only asking $1 USD per bird and I figured - "what the hell - I’m a heartless cow if I can’t spend $2 USD and release two birds to freedom and make two kids happy - on my birthday."
I could do with a little luck - and double that!
Think back to a few years ago when Richard Geer was suckered into putting an undefined number of birds on his VisaCard in order to help a little Indian girl send her brother off to school with (now) HEAPS of luck.
These kids didn’t take plastic - only crisp US Dollars.
Happy Birthday to me
Bomb Harvest the Film - 31 July Screening
July 23, 2008
Emergency Architects Australia are holding a screening of an Inspiring Australian Documentary:
BOMB Harvest the film
"This timely story is terrifying and yet filled with eccentric characters and moments of humour, it gives us a fresh and lyrical view of the most bobmed country on the planet, LAOS"
This fundraising event includes a Q&A with Director Kim Mordaunt and Producer Sylvia Wilczynski
Screening: 6:30pm - Thursday 31st July 2008
Chauvel Cinema, Paddington Town Hall Cnr Oxford Street & Oatley Rd Paddington NSW
Cost: $25 ( including post screening drinks)
Phone: 02 9332 4352 or 02 8004 7982 for more details or visit www.emergencyarchitects.org.au
Great little book on Confidence
July 22, 2008
I found this little gem on my travels.
a Thousand Paths to confidence by David Baird - ISBN978-1-84601-206-8
Here’s one little gem:
“Every moment of our life is absolutely precious and is not to be wasted in self-doubt. The wish to be confident and to live life with confidence is the vital first step. If you are prepared to take it, congratulate yourself - you have begun your journey on the path to confidence”.
I will share the other 999 paths to confidence as we go along. If you can’t wait - try and grab yourself a copy!
There is also “a thousand paths to creativity” by David Baird that is also worth seeking out… cover looks the same - just say’s creativity and not confidence.
Adding “Elephant Driving” to Zulu’s services
July 22, 2008
Next time you require the services of a trained Elephant driver - or Mahout - consider Zulu Communications as having the skills that YOU need. As long as your elephant can understand Laotion - we’re sweet.
Sue completed a two day Mahout training course in Luang Prabang, Lao where she learned ten key commands and gestures that are guaranteed to have your elephants stampeeding to the sound of your commands.
Just in case you find yourself in the situation where you need to jump on the back of a Laotion elephant and "drive" him to the river for a bath (like we did)- here’s a summary of words and actions that are sure to prove very effective.
Only problem is that the elephant needs to understand Laotion - so we’re not sure that these vocal commands are tranferrable internationally - yet a good solid "heel to the right side of the head" is sure to make them turn left in ANY country.
- Pai or Pai Pai Pai = Walk forward
- Pai Khua or Khua Khua = Walk to the right ( accompany with a kick with the left foot)
- Pai Sai or Sai Sai = Walk to the left ( accompany with a kick with the right foot)
- Thoy = Turn around
- How = Stop
- Ya! = No
- Map Long = Lie Down
- Look = Stand up
- Jab Ow = take something
- Tack Bone = spray water
The elephants actually did whatever the hell they felt like - so yelling " YA YA YA" when the elephant was ripping out bushes to eat while you’re sitting on his head - had absolutely no effect. Maybe I should have been saying " HOW HOW" or "Ya How"………Try it out with your kids first - minus the kicking of course!
No animals were hurt in the process - although you have to be REALLY careful when they poo in the river - they are BIG and hard to dodge!
Here’s the video taken by my travel buddy Peter!
Washing Elephants from Peter Gerrard on Vimeo . Viewing Tip: Switch of HD - it might run better!
Cheers from Sue the Mahout -wearing a blue mahout suit-and riding the biggest elephant in the jungle
My pre-emptive strike on becoming a PDA addict
July 8, 2008
Ok - so this morning - the eve of my long anticipated holiday - I am eagerly awaiting the (late) delivery of my new mobile phone.
I use the word mobile phone loosley- because that’s only one of its functions.
I have recently "persuaded" myself to embrace technology - step up - and get a "smart phone" / PDA device.
I’ve been holding back for a while now. I see a lot of my friends in and out of business glued to these devices and SWEAR that I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to be addicted to a small, small screen or fixated on hearing the "beep" notification that some more spam has been delivered to my inbox.
So why did I get it?
Is it peer pressure, shame or envy that has prompted this new embrace of the technology age? It’s a bit of "all of the above" - as well as the need to be a bit more accessible as I’m out of the office a whole lot more.
I really only intend to use this new device as a phone with the capability of doing OTHER things…………occasionally. I do want to still be able to have a conversation - business or social - without being distracted by the potential of being contacted by someone else by email. I still want the people and the business that I do face to face to take priority.
So - here’s my tetative pre-emptive strike on the PDA - a contract to me to ensure I don’t become addicted and antisocial with over use. I’ll let you borrow some of these rules too if you like!
- Avoid pulling out the "device" at dinner with friends - unless that is we’re seaching for something on the internet that’s relevant to the conversation. Furvative glances every 5 seconds is a bit off- putting and not a good tactic for engaging in meaningful face to face interaction.
- No PDA at the movies - the worst use I’ve seen has been constant SMS and email checking at the movies. I mean - WHY BOTHER going to the movies if you can’t separate yourself from the small screen to enjoy the big screen?
- No games on the PDA - I don’t play games on screen - usually. In the 80’s I was addicted to the arcade game Galaga (showing my age again - but who WASN’T loving Galaga in the 80’s??) I have no Wii, Nintendo, Xbox or whatever (maybe I don’t know what I’m missing) And I do prefer good oldfashioned card games, scrabble, backgammon and playing Poker - around a table with friends on a Saturday night!!
- No checking email in the early AMs - chances are the only email I’ll be getting at the "witching hour" when I have insomnia - is SPAM.
- No sending email in the early AMs - when you have insomnia - and the evil monkey on your back is messing with your head - this is NOT the right time to send emails……….. for SO many reasons
- NO PDA while driving - it’s tempting - I know - to respond to texts and emails while driving - but hey - it’s REALLY not safe.
This is all academic -until I recieve the thing and work out a) how to use it and b) get data turned on and actually start using it. I’ll keep you posted on progress - or not!
How long does it take to achieve real change?
July 6, 2008
I’m about to take a short break away from my business - which I admit - that I’ve fallen BACK IN LOVE with only recently - since I’ve achieved a few significant changes.
SIX MONTHS TO LIVE OUT MAJOR DECISIONS
First of all - I have to say - it is my belief that it takes SIX MONTHS to live out a major decision. This is not scientific fact - this is just my opinion and my experience - particularly over the last 7 years of self employment. Whenever I mention this to other people of like circumstance - they agree their experience is the same.
These last six months ( in particular the last three) have been an intense time for planning for and implementing changes that have resulted in the complete reinvention my business and giving birth to the new version of Zulu Communications. On the other side - I can now see the benefits of all that agonising mental, emotional and physical hard labour!
REAL CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION TAKES TIME & PROCESS
If I can step back a bit further to say that the need for these changes were flagged and critical up to 15 months ago! So what the HELL happened 15 months ago to trigger this change and why has it taken so long for it all to come to fruition??
I could write a book about this - but I am a self confessed armchair Psychologist and by no means profess to have all the answers or the ability to help everyone. If by sharing my story with you helps you in anyway - then terrific!
At the heart of it - every change for a business HAS to be owned and committed to by the owner and decision maker of the business with respect to the process of change. You have to REALLY want it in order for it to become a reality and it’s hard work getting there.
Here are some thoughts:
- To change something signficant in your life and your business takes process and time
- You can speed up the time by working through the process more quickly - that requires focus and committment
- You can’t reduce the time by limiting or skipping the processes - without altering the outcome
- There is no telling how much time things can take to change - even if you want them to change
- You can set goals - backed up by realistic actions and steps as one way to ensure you receive a result - again this is focus and committment
15 months ago………………..
I did a Vision Planning program for businesses 3 years plus - it TURNED me on my head. I completely freaked out as I had to review and confront the aspects of my business that really needed to be vastly different. It was all TOO hard, my confidence was SHOT to pieces and my business started to suffer because of it.
I sought professional guidance - some mentoring and lots of coffee meetings with other business owners - who didn’t seem to be having as hard a time of this as me……… or were they?? (This was the birth of GET REAL!)
I was advised back then that I need to:
- Come to terms with my client based and aim for a completely different market
- Consider a change from the isolation of home-based business BACK to and office and business community environment ( home-based was too isolating for a people-person like me)
- Up the ante on my whole approach to web and on-line marketing as my presence was far from "best practice"
- Raise my profile and be BRILLIANT
WHAT DID I GO THROUGH?
First six months: April-September
- Vison planning crisis and freaking out
- Moved into an office community ( prompted by circumstance rather than actually seeking it - never the less………………)
- Re-evaluation of financial circumstances as a result of now having an office…….. and more freaking out
- Re-evaluation of client base - who do I HAVE - who do I WANT
Second six months: October-March
- Being overwhealmed by all the big changes I had made quickly and marinating on what still needed to happen and wondering HOW on earth to do this
- Actively networking, researching, educating myself and planning for making changes (working out roughtly what, how and when I needed to do things)
- Trying to stay positive, working and brilliant despite the realities of a SLOW first quarter
Last three months: April - June
- Complete redevelopment of my web and on-line marketing
- Working with my NEW clients and presenting and consulting to a new range of businesses
- Becoming a mentor to a new business owner
- Planning and implementing the change over of my business entity
- Revising my entire work practices
- Networking and making contacts
- Maintaining a full workload of work
- Relaunch of website, blog and new business on 1 July.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF CHANGE - SUCCESS!
I’m a completely different person today in so many ways - and can appreciate the agonising and stress associated with realising these Real Changes which have already paid off for me and my business - in spades!
Finally - thanks needs to be given to all of those who help me through this process - from beginning to end. You know who you are - and I’ll never forget how you played a part in my transformation.
NOW - how can I help you through YOUR change process?
Your Business Confidante helps businesses GET REAL
July 6, 2008
A large part of Zulu’s work is being the trusted professional person that can give advice, offer direction and provide practical business and marketing expertise to bounce ideas off.
These business facilitation skills are now realised in two ways to help people running businesses gain clarity, direction and control of planning and problems solving in their businesses.
1. Get Real - the networking event that brings people in business together to discuss the challenges of being in business
2. Business Confidante - the NEW facilitation and mentoring service that focuses on helping people in business work through issues and offers consistency and support with the process of planning, decision making and implementation.
Get Real
Get Real has proven so successful in particular for solo operators and consultants of all ages in businesses. Those in the start-up phase have have expressed how much they have learned about the challenges of being in businesses from those who have been around a the block a few times.
Those in business for a number of years have expressed relief at being able to talk to like-minded people and express the frustrations or concerns they’ve been sitting on for some time. We’re finding that we can offer a sounding board and support just by being open to having a conversation about it!
The next Get Real is on Thursday 31 July and is dedicated to businesses in that growth stage of 3-7 years. Bookings are being taken now! click here to find out more
Business Confidante
Who can you confide in when it comes to working through a new aspect of your business or trying to find out what your opportunities are for moving your business on to the next stage?
Business Confidante is NOT coaching? It’s facilitating and mentoring you through a process that you can’t delegate to someone else - planning and decision making is your responsiblity. Without your confidence in your decisions - action probably won’t happen or be as assertiveor assured as it should be. click here to find out more
Zulu’s campaign to promote voice to voice and face to face
July 2, 2008
I used to get a little annoyed at being interupted during my working day by telemarketers and follow up customer service calls. Now I’m not so bugged.
Here’s why.
Businesses that STILL employ and invest in human beings to make contact with other human beings via the telephone deserve a TICK and not us getting CROSS at maintaining this very important marketing and public relations activity.
There STILL is a place for the human touch. These days the art of voice to voice and face to face communications has been sacrificed to email and on-line marketing and technology - to the extent that I believe, is detrimental to building real relationships and understanding amongst people.
Some of the great advantages of on-line communications and technology tools is that it’s instant, can be done en-mass, is a efficient and effective way of doing business and staying in touch with many at all times and is a cheap way to communicate and track communications.
High use of technology can also create distance between human beings. What’s lost is the ability to engage, dialogue, express ourselves, gauge mood, tone, inflection and the opportunity to have the social and human aspects of interaction.
Voice to voice and face to face is a lost art.
- Can you evaluate how much of your communication with others - business or social, travels across the internet instead of the airwaves or face to face?
- Are we not picking up the phone because we are trying to save on phone call charges?
- Is it easier not to "deal" with people (especially with emotional or difficult issues) by firing off an email?
- Does picking up the phone or making time to meet feel like an inconvienience to you?
- How much of your social time involves not seeing your friends or socialising face to face?
- Do you find that people require your immediate response to emails and get offended more if you don’t - than if you take a little bit more time to return a voice mail message?
- Does seeing your friends on Skype or Facebook constitute an acceptable level of "contact" with people that goes toward building and maintaining a relationship?
Don’t sacrifice the HUMAN touch to technology too much!
Businesses who continue to invest in opportunities to interact face to face and voice to voice - I believe, will survive better than those who don’t - WHEN the technology backlash hits. You’ll be relying on the relationships that you have established and the rapport that you’ve built - and the best way to promote that is by investing in the human touch.
Happy New Financial Year! - The month of Sue begins
July 1, 2008
1 July 2008 - Happy New Finanical Year!
This is a great time for every business to start FRESH, reassess, reinvent and rejuvenate their businesses.
JULY is the MONTH of SUE!
July has always been a month of celebration for Sue, celebrating birthdays - both personally and for the business.
Zulu Communications will be 7 years old at the end of July - and the COMING OF AGE celebration is that Zulu Communications has matured and will be come a COMPANY today!
Welcome Zulu Communications PTY LTD
Thanks to all of you who have supported me through the rollercoaster that IS business and self employment over last 7 years of growth - clients, suppliers, associates, family and friends!
I will celebrate today by having lunch with a few close business associates who have helped me keep my sanity (and solvency).
All the best and HAPPY NEW FINANCIAL YEAR!
Sue Liu, Director, Zulu Communications Pty Ltd
