A duck and a dream

I had the pleasure of watching arguably the world’s best magician David Copperfield live in Melbourne recently. The magic itself was awesome...

17 reasons you should always carry a book with you

1. As someone who used to spend a lot of time waiting for real estate clients to show up – I know that clients / appointments / people in general are often late...

Reality Television your way to Success

I think I’m one of the only “motivational speakers” (not that I call myself that) who will openly admit that I watch television. I watch bad television too… even… dare I say it… reality television.

Where is the love?!

One of my businesses, Elephant Property, works in the notoriously under appreciated category of residential property management. The old adage in property management...

The power of the word

I’m quite distraught. I was eating my personal trainer approved afternoon snack of 12 almonds (my suggestion of 12 Tim Tams: not approved)...

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Kirsty Will Be Speaking At The Arise Summit In Launceston on 10th May 2008


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Monday, April 21, 2008

Book Review - Unleashing The Ideavirus by Seth Godin

Infect Me With The Virus!

Starting my own dot com (reallysold.com) for the first time (as opposed to running traditional bricks and mortar businesses as I’d done in the past) I knew I had to read as much of Seth’s work as I possibly could. Unleashing the Idea Virus was right at the top of my list. Seth yet again spells out simple easy to understand ideas illustrated with fabulous examples. Yes – the book is a little out of date now with its references - but it’s also pretty fun seeing which of Seth’s predictions have come true! I’d recommend the read for any business owner or marketer looking for the answers to the question “how can I get people talking about my business without laying out a mint on traditional interruption advertising”

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17 Reasons Why You Should Always Carry A Book With You

1. As someone who used to spend a lot of time waiting for real estate clients to show up – I know that clients / appointments / people in general are often late. If you’ve got a book with you, the time can be wisely used.
2. Books can be heavy and if necessary, a large book can be used as a weapon of self protection.
flickr photo credit
3. Doctor’s can’t tell time. OK – so I‘m sure they can, but they’re not usually too fussed with sticking to it when you have an appointment. While away those hours reading a good book.
4. Waiting room magazines are usually from at least 5 years ago do you really want to see pictures from Fergie’s wedding (the Duchess of York variety, not the Black eyed Peas’ Fergie) again? Read a book instead. And also - do you really want to be fondling something so many sick people have held and spluttered over?
5. Books can save your life. Baghdad, Iraq - A US soldier serving in iraq believes his Bible saved his life after it stopped a sniper's bullet. 22-year-old Army Private First Class Brendan Schweigart had his Bible tucked in a pocket beneath his bullet proof shield when he was shot with a high powered rifle while on a mission in Iraq. The bullet missed his vital organs, came out his chest, and lodged in his Bible before it could do more damage.
6. Having a book on public transport makes you less of a target for the chatty grandma type or that guy who just can’t seem to observe personal space
7. Kids play sport, sometimes not well, read a book instead. Also consider using a calming book as the antidote to being one of those crazy sidelines parents!
8. We all have an unreliable friend. Rather than roster him or her off the social calendar. Tell them your lunch date is 1.30 (when it’s really 1.45) and take a book just in case.
9. Books are ideal when you’re stuck in the car with boring company. Discard this tip if like me, the motion makes you a little queasy (books + vomit = a little hard to read).
10. Your computer crashes, read 5 pages, there’s power outage, read 15 more.
11. Handbags are so big now anyway – you may as well have a book (or an entire library in there). Guys, get a satchel or a man-bag, I think they’re hot.
12. I remember when a trip to the hairdresser took half an hour, these days with the shampoo, head massage, colour, foils, trim, layering, complimentary choccies and beer, blow dry, straighten I’m out for half a day. Read a book instead of listening to the gossip.
13. Speaker Pat Mesiti’s (www.mesiti.com) on board. He offers $1,000 to anyone who catches him without a book in his bag. Apparently his teenage daughter asks each day.
14. Books make you look intellectual (glasses, a pencil in your hair and a good solid pocket protector also add to the geek-chic).
15. I love a good airline magazine, but they tell people to take them home, people take them home and then I rarely get to read one! Take a book as a back up.
16. If you don't know what the person you're mean to meet looks like (this happens to me way too often) arrive 20 minutes early, read your book and then it’s up to them to find you.
17. And finally – if even Paris can do it, surely you can too!

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Monday, April 7, 2008

Book Review - No Mountain High Enough by Linda Armstrong Kelly


Frank, Funny and Charming
Reading Linda’s story I instantly knew I’d want to lend this book to my Mum after I’d finished it. Are high achievers born or made? You won’t find the answer in reading this book, but you’ll see how a determined young woman who had every reason to fail succeeded and raised a champion. More importantly I feel – this story isn’t just about Lance. It’s definitely hers, it’s quirky and charming, easy to read and definitely gives you a feel for her character. I preferred It’s Not About The Bike – but I definitely recommend this as a great follow up read.

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Friday, April 4, 2008

Thanks Indiana

Watching Indiana Jones (of all things) last night with my husband I was reminded of one of the more memorable places I’ve ever been.

I was 21 years old and on my first trip overseas. A Contiki tour through Europe – comprising something ridiculous like 13 countries in 5 weeks. Many would say, not enough time to enjoy any of it and I might agree but for the fact that at 21, I had no idea what in Europe I wanted to see.

Sure I had vague images of the Colosseum and the Eiffel tower but aside from these bastions of what Europe was in my just post teenage mind – I was stumped as to what I actually wanted to see. So I just went with the flow. Loving almost everything I was, albeit briefly, exposed to.

Of all that I most adored on this trip: cobbled streets in Florence, friendly bocce players in Barcelona, the hushed silence in Notre Dame, one place chilled me but also stuck with me in a really memorable way.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade reminded me of it last night in a scene where an Austrian woman (a bad-guy mind you) holds back a tear at a Nazi book burning site in Berlin.

When I visited Bebelplatz, Berlin at first I didn’t understand what the empty shelves illuminated underground meant.


I didn’t realise I was standing up on the site where Nazis burnt over 20,000 books in 1933. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bebelplatz)

The monument is elegant and simple and is something I’ll never forget. Nearby to it there is a plaque which quotes Heinrich Heine, a German poet: "Where books are burned, in the end people will burn."

Thanks Indiana Jones for triggering a memory so powerful. Thanks to the tour guide who adequately explained Bebelplatz to me. Thanks to a world where, thanks to the internet, expansive libraries and blogs like this – we are all free to read, grow and learn.

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Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Need Some Inspiration? A Brain Jolt? Just A Good Laugh?

To follow are some of the sites and emails I run my eye over when I need a new perspective, a new idea or a business related giggle:

www.idea-a-day.com – this daily newsletter always manages to give me a smile when I read my back editions. From the inane to the insane… This one on Pringles is a champ I think!

Manufacture Pringles containers with a spiral perforation around the outside, allowing the tube to be shortened as the snack is consumed. This innovation might help eradicate 'hand stuck in a Pringles tube syndrome' once and for all.

www.sethgodin.com – Seth Godin is one of my favourite business “thinkers”

From Seth… What will be on your tombstone
So, every single article about podcasting mentions Adam Curry (which makes sense, since it was his idea). And every article ever written about Adam Curry mentions that he was once an MTV VJ. For no good reason. (We're talking almost 100,000 google matches). AND, every single article about Google (until recently) included the phrase, "And employees eat lunch in a cafeteria where the food is prepared by a former chef for the Grateful Dead." For no good reason. (We're talking 25,600 matches). What's they have in common is pretty obvious: oxymorons. It's a safe piece of trivia that no one expects but then it's pretty easy to remember. Oxymorons make it easy to tell stories. Do you have one?

www.springwise.com – if it’s new and funky, it’s happening here from in-store wave riding to a pocket sized printer.

www.thatnametagguy.com – he’s zany, he wears a name tag 24 hours a day and he blogs some of my favourite “lists”.

For more of my recommendations head to: www.kirstydunphey.com/recommendations.html

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Book Review - A Lotus Grows In The Mud by Goldie Hawn


Caught Me Totally By Surprise

I guess I’d always sort of looked down my nose a bit at Goldie Hawn. From what I could remember from my childhood in the 80’s – wasn’t she always playing the ditzy blonde? So why did I even grab a copy of this book – who knows (I usually only read business books!). I’m so glad I did though. This goofy and effervescent woman charmed me from within every page. I read it over a few days and was sad to put it down each time. Enlightening, funny, warm and enough to really change my mind.

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