That includes my family, friends, work colleagues and business associates. I feel it is my responsibility to impart a little inspiration in everyones lives, and so if ever I detect someone in my circle is in need of spiritual nourishment, I do whatever I can to help.

Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s in suburban London, was a puzzling mix of positive and negative experiences. Good because the hardships of the depression and war years had at last rescinded sufficiently for families to enjoy reasonable standards of living. People were working, there was food on the table, and the majority of us were enjoying luxuries, like Cars, TV’s and family holidays. things that our parents never even contemplated.

The problem with that however was the understandable mindset, many of my fathers generation came away with. Understandable because they suffered for so many years with hunger, poverty and unemployment, that they lived in fear of our generation having it all snatched away from us.

Consequently, our fathers and our teachers, many who served in World War Two, became to safety conscious, and wrapped us up in this ball of mediocrity. I can recall both my father and my careers teacher discouraging me from a career in Journalism, instead persuading me to take an apprenticeship so that I could learn a trade. In those  days we did exactly what they said we should do, because we thought they knew best. In reality they were unintentionally holding us back.

Any ideas of innovation, learning business skills, or developing  hidden talents further were dismissed out of sight, in favour of “getting a job”  and that’s exactly what many of my peers did. I got myself a job that paid a very average weekly wage, got married, bought a house, and spent the next 10 years as Mr Average.

Things began to change for me when I came across a book by an old entrepreneur and author called Joe Karbo. Joe was old school, he became successful in the 40’s and 50’s selling cardboard boxes when the United States was regrouping after the War.

What he taught me was that we only use a fraction of our brain’s capacity. He described our mind’s as like an unconscious  computer, that we there is so much more depth to it if we allow ourselves the time and space to develop it.

Since then I have read many more books that testify to that thinking. Paul McKenna is one who digs deep into the notion of our unconscious mind in his book “Change your life in 7-Days”

Paul Hanna’s “You can Do It” is another inspiring read designed to show people that if we trust ourselves the rewards will come to us.

These books are available here —–>

I’ve managed sales and marketing teams within my chosen profession, and helped invigorate, motivate and inspire people to achieve objectives that they didn’t believe they could.

It comes from your soul, deep within your soul. Look deep within yourself and you will find the greatness that hides inside of you. It will take time to develop it, but if you keep at it, you will find greatness.

Now let me define greatness, at least my perception of greatness. It means different things to everyone. It doesn’t necessarily mean fortune and fame. Some people don’t desire wealth, and they don’t want to be famous, yet they still seek greatness.

Mother Theresa and Ghandi are both examples of greatness. They both achieved so much, for others and received such glorious historical recognition, yet lived largely impoverished lives.

They didn’t seek the glory, they just saw it as their mission or their calling.

That doesn’t mean wealth, fortune, money etc should be sneered on. Money is not the root of all evil as some people would say. Maybe the love of money is immoral, but there is nothing wrong with having money, because it can do great things for all mankind.

Attitude is the most important ingredient, because if you believe you can, then you have a chance. That is only the start mind. Belief won’t get you the end result, but it will help set you on your way. Belief will give you hope when there is none. Without belief, it doesn’t matter what you do, you are beaten before you start.

What’s that saying, if you believe you can do something, or you believe you can’t, you are more probably right. Kind of says it all.

If you are looking for your greatness, please leave a comment or visit my website

Added a touch of poignant music and it became a nice little tribute on ANZAC Day.

Battle of the Somme revisited January 2012. Tribute to the Fallen

I am a proud sponsor of GoDaddy and am very happy to endorse them and their products here.

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Have a look and get your head around it , and see if this is for you right now.

Just back from one of the best holidays ever, to Europe visiting my homeland, family, friends in the UK including one or two old classmates. people who I have known for almost 40 years. Also crossed the channel on two occasions to spend a few days in Belgium and France.
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As you get a little older, some things start to mean more to you than perhaps they did earlier in life. Rather than focus on the career, the car, the new house and other material things, I find myself these days, appreciating the memorable experiences in life, much much more. -

To put it in perspective, let me first talk about how I fulfilled an ambition, that I have held since I was about 14. Always a keen student of History, I wondered what it would be like to see the places and experience a little of what our heroes from World War One and Two, did, how they fought against tyranny and gave their lives for us.
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That was special, but more about that later, first I want to talk about friendship and bonds with people. Someone once said to me that if you can count three real friends in your life you are very, very fortunate. If that is the yardstick, then I would consider myself richer than Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch put together.
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Not Facebook,  where the one with 5,000 Friends (some of whom have never met) on Facebook wins, it is about the quality of the people you hold dear. Real friends, people who know every thing they possibly could about you, and still like you, even when they probably shouldn’t.
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People who may not be around all the time, but when they are, they are never any different. They don’t care about what you do, how wealthy you are, or what your share portfolio is like. All they want to know is, are you the same person that they always knew. Nothing else matters to them.
What has this got to do with anything you may ask?  Well a lot really, you see, I have like most of us been striving hard to achieve results, more leads, more sales, more money. All very important stuff and something we must never ever sway away from, a life without purpose isn’t very fulfilling. But, at the end of the day, what is it that matters the most?
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What is it that gives us the most satisfaction?  Sure  material things do matter, but only if they can lead us to real happiness. If not it all counts for nothing. The moments we experience with the people we care most about, are the things that no one can ever take away from us and these are priceless.
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I have memories of over 30 years, reliving some of the hell raising, yet harmless antics we got up to, and I can replay those moments in my mind over and over and still laugh, even more than when they were happening. Yes, they were wonderful days, and we are all mightily grateful for them.
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See the following two photos, one from 1981 at TOTS nightclub in Southend, the other taken on January 5th this year at the Crumpled Horn pub Upminster. Same people, same pose left to right Tony, Bill, Pete and me on the right, yes the one with the curly hair!!!!!  The fact that we are still such great friends 30-40 years later, will tell you a little about the values and principals of myself and the people I choose to call friends.

Who knows why 42 year old Speed, chose to end his life so unexpectedly, but he obviously had in his own mind a reason to do so. Trouble is though, it seems no one else had a clue, what was going on inside his head.
What is clear, is that this much loved guy who played more than 500 Premier League games for Leeds United, Everton and Newcastle, has left a huge hole in the footballing world. The tributes have been pouring in from just about everyone who played with him and against him. Ironic really, that since he became the Manager of Wales, their results have improved out of sight, and giving the Welsh real hope they could make it the 2014 World Cup. Absolute tragedy. See BBC Report

It used to be a lot easier. A customer needed to find a service provider, a Plumber, a Car Mechanic or maybe a Lawyer, so they went searching through the Yellow Pages, or possibly through the Classified section of their local Newspaper.

That is not happening anymore, or if it is very rarely.  Yellow Pages has become virtually redundant, particularly in Canberra.

These days a high percentage of people find businesses by searching Google, so much so that Google has become the lazy persons solution to life’s problems.

The Internet has changed everything,

In many ways for the better, certainly from the consumer viewpoint. It has given them more access, more choice, but with it more confusion. Too much choice, and a whole heap of Information overload.

We are time poor to begin with, so when we now search Google for something we need, we are unlikely to look any further than the first page of search results

So what does this mean for the Service Provider who tries so hard to grab the attention of potential customers?

Well, if you are not on the first page of Google results when prospects search your keyword, you are losing business to your competitors. No other way of saying it, Money is staying on the table.

You might be spending thousands on TV or Newspaper advertising, which is great for brand building, but if you haven’t taken care of your online presence and made it easy for your customers to find you, then it’s likely that your competitors will benefit from your own advertising.

The Internet is the most effective medium to advertise, and Google it’s main vehicle, but it too has it’s challenges. Google is a complicated beast and is not easy to conquer, unless you have an understanding of the complexities around it.

So what’s the good news?

Very few have figured out how to master Google. Do this and you can out-flank, out-perform and out-class your competition.

We can help display your  business in the first page of Google search results when your prospects search using relevant key word.

Benefits to you

• Most cost effective advertising medium that will save you money
• Generated leads from Google search are highly targeted, and will gain new customers for your business.
• Your return on investment can be tracked and calculated, so you can measure how effective it is.
• Once established correctly it’s almost impossible for your competitors to push over you.

Call Ash Morgan at Goosebumps 0418 434 701 ash@getgoosebumps.com.au

Having worked with Lifeline Australia on a range of marketing and branding projects, we were honoured to be involved, working on creative ways to promote the event.

Hosted and facilitated by award winning journalist Hugh Riminton, the lunch featured a diverse panel of speakers including Chris Uhlmann, Jessica Rowe, John Brogden, Joe Roff and Professor Beverly Rafael.  Together they covered controversial topics like mental illness, suicide, homosexuality, domestic violence, racism and more.

The result was an extremely interesting, honest and frank discussion about todays’ taboo topics, why we find them so hard to talk about and what we can do to break them down and talk about them as a community.

Pete created a brand for the lunch based on the famous pop art painting series by Andy Warhol – a nice way to introduce the ‘Can of Worms’ conversation.

It was a stirling effort from the team specifically Pete, Kath and Anthony in building a Hugh Riminton-sized can of taboo subjects to decorate the stage (see below), as well as table centerpieces, pledge cards, and associated collateral.

Aside from increasing awareness, the event also raised money for Lifeline’s new ‘Lifeline Foundation for Suicide Prevention’.  The money raised will go towards helping the Foundation conduct research and disseminate knowledge about how we can prevent more suicide in our community.

Such an incredibly important cause, given that suicide is the leading cause of death for people under 45 in Australia.

Congratulations to Lifeline for organising such a polished, interesting and worthwhile event!

If you or someone you know is experiencing a personal crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For more information about Lifeline’s services, or to find out about their online crisis chat visit www.lifeline.org.au

The need for organisations to brand themselves, and to have a sound SEO strategy in place is vital. Your competitors are starting to step up, so don’t get left behind.