In business there are no magic bullets, but this idea is so powerful it certainly feels like magic. I ran into an old friend yesterday, and it reminded me of a series of seminars I ran a few years ago that contained a section on how to increase profits. Especially when times are tough, it's great to be able to break things down into some simple rules that allow you to know where to focus, so I'll share this very simple but powerful idea with you now. Gross Profit is calculated on an "averaged basis" as: (Total number of clients x Average number of visits per year x Average sale x Average margin) To View More >>

 Photo by Brett Harkness I just wrote about why I love photograph albums, but the story got a little long so I've edited it. I guess the truth is we love the industry, the books and just as importantly, we love design. Queensberry's love and focus on design is a story all by itself. Let's face it, though, some albums suck ... Sorry but they do. The book is cheap and plasticky, and no consideration is given to what photos are included. A great album is so much more. I'm not trying to turn this into a shameless plug, and I know quality is subjective, but I believe we produce the world's finest To View More >>

Sitting here eating my sushi today ... my mind wandered and I found myself considering the answer to that eternal quesiton ... "What is the meaning of life". I have heard the answer is "69" but although that sounds like fun, it seems a little to simple. So I wondered quietly ... maybe if I allowed myself a couple of minutes the internet might have the answer ... ha ha ok google might. Here is a couple of things I found ... The "big question" has a wiki page ... to see it click here Ok I don't have that long to read ... I live in a modern world ... I need answers NOW OMG it even has an FAQ Yawn To View More >>

I love Malcolm Gladwell, he is such a clever thinker and actually very entertaining for what really could be boring intellectual ideas. Please enjoy watching the following video to find out "What we can learn from spaghetti sauce" By the way, if you enjoy this video go read his books "The Tipping Point" and "Blink". If you can't be bothered reading use iTunes to download audible versions of these books to your iPod and go take the dog for a walk :-) To View More >>

In my blog description I say that I love the "simple solutions", I have to say this has to be one of the best I have seen in ages. By taking the abundant energy of children playing and using that to pump water from clean under ground water supplies Play Pumps have created a way to ease the problem of getting fresh water to villages of the world. These people are really inspiring. To View More >>

Ok, I don't condone violence at all and especially physical discipline of children but I found this video exceptionally funny. Ironically I was at a friends the other day watching the Pacific Island awards on TV and commented that although I found the humour funny I also found it sad that so much of their identity when it came to humour was around crime and violence. I'm of two minds as to whether this is a good thing, as it keeps it out there to discuss or sad as it confuses children regarding their role models and culture. Anyway, sit back and enjoy To View More >>

'Wake Up Cat' is by an English animator called Simon Tofield and it is actually called 'Cat Man Do'. He works for an animation company called Tandem Films. I think Simon must have met our cat Sabby as this is what we go through every morning with him ... To View More >>

I while back I wrote a post about Malcolm Gladwell, someone I think is very interesting and also a deep thinker. In my Post I talked about one of his books called "Tipping Point", well it seems all is not good in the world and there are doubters out there ... In this article on FastCompany Duncan Watts asks "Is the Tipping Point Toast?". Great reading if you are interested in consumer marketing, and I got as much to think about from this as I got as I did Malcolm's book. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/is-the-tipping-point-toast.html?partner=rss To View More >>

Ok, this is pretty amazing, I can't say I have seen anything like it before ... To View More >>

Someone asked me the other day what Twitter is ... I swear my jaw almost dropped. So from the Twitter FAQ ... What is it? Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Bloggers can use it as a mini-blogging tool. Ok I must admit when I heard of it myself, there was a bit of a yawn and disinterest stuck around for quite a while ... but for some reason a month ago I decided to go have a more serious look ... and I must say, it is strangely addictive. LOL not that To View More >>