Getting the deal across the line

So, you’re about to buy an investment property, or any property for that matter and you want to get the absolute best deal. Always keep in mind that a contract for purchase doesn’t just consist of a price. Many times there are other conditions on the contract which are just as important to the seller as the price.

If you’re trying to get your offer accepted and it’s not quite at the sellers asking price, or you’re in competition with other buyers and want to make your offer stand out… here are a few things you can try to help smooth the deal.

1. Leave the settlement date (the date when you officially own the property) off your original offer and let your agent know that you’re happy to settle whenever suits the seller. If a certain time specifically suits them (quick or a long), being flexible may just help you get the deal across the line

2. Put down a sizeable deposit. This shows you’re serious and are capable of completing the contract. Oftentimes attaching a cheque for the deposit to your offer is enough of a mental stimulus for the seller.

3. Where possible make your contract unconditional or subject to as little as possible. Unconditional means that a contract isn’t subject to a building inspection, finance, selling another property etc. If you can get your building inspection done prior to offering and have your finance approved, this can be a very strong incentive for a seller to sign and put the sold sticker up straight away.

4. Consider letting the agent pass on your circumstances. You’d be surprised how many sellers I’ve dealt with over the years who like to know who is going to own their property after they’ve moved.

It’s important to note that if you’re not able to do points 2 and 3 – DON’T! These are only handy hints and they only work if you’re able to do them.

The points also work in reverse if a seller wants you to come to their price. You can then start to be more rigid with settlement date (perhaps you want to stretch it out so that rent increases can be completed) or deposit (perhaps you want to put down NIL deposit so that your cash isn’t tied up).

Contracts are like living breathing organisms and they’re open to being changed, amended and reworded so that they best suit the parties involved. Before you sign any contract make sure the agent takes the time to explain it and that you’ve read every part of it. Where possible, take it to your conveyancer or solicitor to check over.

Happy purchasing!
Kirsty

By Kirsty Dunphey with 1 comment

Is there a bomb on your bus?

Have you heard that much touted employee hiring practice of “getting the right people on the right seats”? Whenever I hear that I always think of seating people on a bus… and then I always think of the movie Speed.

You remember Speed right? Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock burning down the road jumping broken bridges, looping cameras, staying above 50 miles per hour, flirting like crazy and all so the bomb in the bus doesn’t detonate (ok, the flirting may have been optional in terms of bomb safety but you get my point).

How different would this movie have been if Ellen Degeneres were cast instead of Sandra Bullock?

She almost was you know! Now don’t get me wrong, I think Ellen’s a riot (and I dance with her daily) – but I can not imagine that movie with her in that role!

In my early days in real estate I almost put on a staff member who I’m sure would have been good, but would not have fit in with my organisational culture. In short, they wouldn’t have been the right fit for my bus. The short term loss of not putting them on stung (but nowhere near as much as the long term pain of having that cultural clash would have).

Now the bus analogy works equally well when you’re looking for work. Don’t do a Meg and miss the fabulous bus.

Meg Ryan has had some great hits, but Top Gun not withstanding, what about the movie lead’s she turned down – Pretty Woman, Basic Instinct, The Silence of the Lambs and Ghost. Some great busses for sure there.

Whichever bus you’re hopping on or loading people on today – I hope it’s the right one for you!

To reproduce this article head here: www.kirstydunphey.com/usemebaby.html

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Stop Making Promises!

Just this morning a friend called a service provider and was told by his office that he’d call back in “10 minutes”. 30 minutes later, he was on the phone to let her know that he’d call back “in an hour”. 2 ¼ hours later, she’s still waiting for his call.

Two broken promises within the first 3 hours of the day. How keen do you think she is to give him her business now?

Wouldn’t it have been easier for his office to say that he would “call her back”, or “call her today”.

Then when he’d called 30 minutes later to let her know he couldn’t help her immediately she would have been pleasantly surprised rather than thinking “is this your definition of 10 minutes?”

What’s more, he doubled the mistake by making yet another promise (which was soon to be broken).

My advice:
• Don’t allow others to make promises on your behalf.
• Don’t make promises where you don’t have to.
• When you do make a promise – KEEP IT (write it down, tattoo it on your arm, put a reminder in your phone, figure out a way to make sure you keep your promises, or let the person know that you can’t (prior to the promise elapsing)
• Learn what a promise is. A promise is a claim that you’ll do something. Don’t feel like you need to say “I promise” for it to be a promise, all you need to say is “I will”.

And finally – just remember the old adage that promises are like babies… easy to make, hard to deliver.

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By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Foot in keyboard disease

When I was 19 years old, I told a friend’s mother something that my friend had vented to me in confidence. My intentions were only the best. The result: foot jammed well and truly in mouth.

At age 21, I told a girl that her boy was talking trash about her in front of others (only I told her in front of a whole swag of people). My intentions, again were only the best. The result: far less than the best.

At age 23, I impersonated a small child dancing in an amusing way in a chemist. My intentions: harmless fun, I was in a silly mood. The result, I got “jumped” by her drug addict mum (so the chemist informed later) and a small gang outside the chemist. The result: my first and only fight. (Disclaimer: the “gang” were actually teenage pyjama clad girls, but they kicked and slapped with the best of them I can tell you).

And just yesterday, my intentions lead me to fire off a poorly worded email which ended up landing someone else in trouble. My intentions, as before had no malice, but the results… well I think you can guess.

This last outbreak of foot in keyboard disease got me wondering when this would all end. I’m a grown woman and yet still, every now and then I still stick my foot in it so badly.

The remedy? The only one I can think of: learn something from where my foot has historically ended up on occasion.

The solution?
• Take time to think before I email / say something
• During that time, ask myself how I’d feel if everyone I spoke about in that conversation or email heard what I was saying
• Don’t dance in chemists

It’s so easy today to fire off something verbally or via the keyboard without taking the time to think about it. 5 seconds thought about the email I sent yesterday would have been all I needed to realise it wasn’t a good idea. Unfortunately, I saved myself those 5 seconds and cost myself a whole lot more trouble in the long run.

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

What am I most proud of…

I’m often asked what I’m most proud of from my career in real estate. Well we won lots of lovely awards, sold tonnes of houses, had lots of clients… but the thing I always think to when I’m asked what I’m most proud of is what the people who were part of our team have gone on to do since that time. Many are still with the company, some have gone on to new adventures and some have ventured out on their own entrepreneurial paths.

So I thought in this post I might just make mention of a few of them who have gone on to starting up their own businesses and give them a little plug at the same time.

The youngest 21 year old real estate business owner – Emma Matheson – who proudly told me when she took my title of youngest real estate business owner in the State! You go Ems!

http://www.sthelens.harcourts.com.au/

Sharyn Crack, Maureen Lacey and Andrew Michieletto have all gone on to co-own two real estate agencies each – sensational stuff.

http://www.tamar.harcourts.com.au/
http://www.northeast.harcourts.com.au/
http://www.northernmidlands.harcourts.com.au/

And there’s even been excitement elsewhere in the business world with the always inspirational Bella Fountain opening up her own online bridal boutique http://catchthebouquet.com.au/. They’ll custom make the most stunning wedding dresses for you and the prices are so affordable.

And that’s my answer to what I’m most proud of. I’m proud to have worked with an exceptional team and to have watched them grow and fulfil their own potential in whatever way has worked best for them.

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Three quick easy and not too shameless ways to get publicity for free

1. Entering (and preferably winning) awards programs = free publicity and credible media opportunities. But you know what, entering, being nominated or being a finalist and not winning also has the fabulous benefits of the networking opportunities and in many cases it gives you an ability to sit down and do some very cathartic thinking about your business.

2. Perform a survey and put out a press release on the results. We just did one recently on the real estate industry here: http://kirstydunphey.blogspot.com/2008/09/real-estate-agents-trustworthy-is-new.html using a free online survey program and having 500 people respond. The results give journalists some statistics to work with and help get your name out there when you're published as a source.

3. Subscribe to HARO (help a reporter out www.helpareporter.com/)! There are lots of journalists / bloggers out there looking for great sources – it can be a bit US centric, but there are still awesome opportunities to be found.

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By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Anyone Can Be A Star

I love this clip…



… (even though I sadly found out it’s not a genuine and was part of a Gatorade advert that never went to air).

The reason I love this clip though is that it reminds me that in any group, organisation or company it doesn’t have to be the highest paid, the highest ranked or the loudest that gets to be the star on a given day.

The junior waiter who notices a restaurant critic eating dinner during that night’s service can be the star. The receptionist who wows the huge prospective client on the phone can be the star. The ball girl at the baseball game, could be the star.

My point… If you’re working your way up through your organisation, look for ways to shine and then be humble, if you work with good people, your work won’t go unnoticed.

And if you’re in a position where you often get to the best star (you’re the business owner, top sales person, manager) – look for the ball girl in your organisation and make them feel like a star when they deserve it.

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By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

10 ways to reward (and therefore retain) staff

1. Give them a pay rise.
The downside: A $2,000 pay rise may equate to an increase in take home of only say $25 per week to your employee, not ground breaking. Plus, you’re then committed to that extra $2,000 ongoing.

2. Give them a bonus
The upside: A bonus is a one off, it’ll mean a lump sum goes to your employee (to some this is much more exciting than a trickle feed of $25 per week). It’s also not an ongoing commitment.
The downside: A lump sum payment can be harder on your cash flow.

3. Public praise
The downside: Some people can get really embarrassed and you can be seen to be playing favourites.
The upside: For those that love the spotlight, this praise in front of their colleagues can be worth more than gold.

4. Private praise
The upside: This is so easy to give, as long as you remember to and are sincere.
The downside: The words “come into my office I need to talk to you” may initially strike fear into your staff if they are more used to fire coming from your tongue than praise.

5. Home style praise
Sending a heart felt card or letter home to a staff member’s parents (for Gen Y’s) or to their partner or kids is a gorgeous way to show your appreciation.
The downside: sending the same letter to all your staff is just lazy and you’ll get busted.
The upside: having your staff member’s family feeling awesome about where their relative works and what type of person they work for.

6. Gifts galore
The upside: A well thought out gift is remembered and talked about, cultivating a stronger culture for your organisation. Using the “magic form” we developed in our organisation is an ideal way to get the low down on what would really delight your staff. Want a copy? Contact me here and I’ll send it to you: www.kirstydunphey.com/contact.html
The downside: A lame impersonal gift does nothing to cultivate the relationship going forward.

7. More responsibility / promotion
The upside: If you chose the right person to move forward in your organisation they’ll grow and shine with the responsibility.
The downside: Promote a person not yet ready into a management role and you’ll not only have issues with that person but with all they manage.

8. Flexibility
The staff member who knows that they can take off an afternoon to watch their kid’s swimming carnival and make it up later tends to value the organisation a lot more than the rigidity of always adhering to the letter of the law.
The upside: adding flexibility such as the above example, or allowing a staff member to start an hour early, or offering a day off per year for your staff to do charitable work can be easily implemented.
The downside: it takes management to monitor this to ensure flexibility doesn’t equal you being walked all over.

9. Train them / develop them
One of the greatest compliments you can give to a staff member is to say – I appreciate you and I want to see you develop and grow. Easy ways to do this: get a speaker/trainer into your office, do a training session yourself, go buy a book or buy one for each of your team members or set up a training library your staff can borrow from at any time.

10. Your time
One of the biggest complaints by staff in my experience is that “my manager doesn’t listen to me”.
The upside: It’s easy fixed if you know about it and care to take the time.

The manager’s dilemma?
You now have to pick the right reward for each of your individual team members. For the introverted person, public praise could be the worst thing they can think of. For some, throwing money at them when all they really want is a heart felt thanks could be a huge insult.
It’s not easy to reward appropriately, but the best manager’s try and try again until it becomes another skill in their talent war chest.

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By Kirsty Dunphey with 4 comments

It’s Not That Hard To Change The World…

I’m sure deep down, we’d all like to make a difference in the world, but sometimes our day to day lives get a little hectic and we don’t get around to it.

Here’s 3 ways you can make a difference right now:

1. Go donate blood (you can save a life, help someone with burns or cancer RIGHT now)

2. Find a cause online and get out the credit card (it’s simple and you’ll get a happy buzz that’ll last you all day long – check out www.hollows.org as one great example)

3. Send someone who makes your world a better place a handwritten card and let them know.

4. Antoinette Wood (sensational event organiser in Townsville) gave me this fantastic idea. Get together a bunch of friends (fellas, sorry I think this may work better with the ladies!) for a cocktail and have them all bring along any clothes they have that are in good condition but just don’t get worn any more (perhaps these items are the wrong size or were impulse buys). Then auction them off amongst your friends with all the funds going to charity (and consider donating any left overs to charity as well!).

So simple, and do-able right now. How have you changed the world for the better today?

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Kiva loan to Tajikistan

Hey guys - just another update on a recent Kiva loan I've just completed. I'm a huge fan of Kiva and highly encourage you to go and check out just how easy it is to make a micro loan to an entrepreneur in the world.

Today I've made a micro loan to a this entrepreneur.

Check out our Kiva group here to see what some friends of our weekly newsletter have been up to: http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=1756

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

What I would look for when choosing a real estate agent

I’ve worked in real estate since I was 15 years old. One of the main reasons I wanted to open my own agency at the age of 21 was that I was aware that not all real estate agents are equal. Some are dreams, some are nightmares and many are in the middle. I get asked all the time – “how do I find a dream agent to sell my home?”, so this is what I’d look for in trying to find my dream agent.

The dream agent shows me the price
An agent who can SHOW me why they’re saying they can sell my home for a certain price. The way they would need to show me would be by showing me what comparable properties had sold within the past 3 – 6 months (I’d want to see addresses, photos and sale prices). Even better if they have personally or at least their company have been responsible for some of these sales.

The nightmare agent tells me the price
I don’t want an agent who:
• Finds out and then tells me the price I want to hear
• Finds out the other agent quoted prices and then quotes a selling price higher to get the business
• Plucks a price out of their head
• Bases their price on properties that are not comparable to mine

The dream agent’s marketing is first rate
I want to look at your website, your property presentations on real estate portals (like realestate.com.au), your brochures, your sign boards, your newspaper advertisements and see:
• Consistency of branding
• Quality
• Readability
• Descriptive eye catching wording

The nightmare agent’s marketing isn’t flexible
I want options and I want to know why you recommend that marketing option for my property, not a one size fits all approach.

The dream agent talks with me
Their presentation is question based and they take time to find out about me and what I’m looking for. They know their stuff, but they find out what areas I’m most concerned about before launching into a recorded message-like presentation.

The nightmare agent talks at me
Their presentation is said at me and they speak more than 80% of the time.

The dream agent is a natural negotiator
I can test this out by asking them to drop their commission (if they don’t negotiate hard for their money, what are they going to do when it comes to negotiating for mine?). I can also test their negotiation skills if I’ve ever bought from them before – did they get top dollar out of me then?

The nightmare agent is a natural regurgitator
The other agent offered you 20% off? Well we can offer you 25%... The other agent said they’d do that? Well I can do better.

The dream agent cares
I can test this out by showing up 10 minutes before one of their scheduled open homes and watching them arrive, set up and conduct the open. I can test it by taking note of any promises they make (they’ll call me Monday, they’ll find that information out by Wednesday) and see if they live up to it.

The nightmare agent talks at me
The nightmare agent screams in at the last minute for an open home, doesn’t tell me their name and doesn’t follow up.

The dream agent has fans
And they’re more than happy to let me know about their fans by showing me testimonials (lots of glowing ones) and by allowing me to contact people they’ve sold houses for in the past month.

The nightmare agent has people fanatically trying to track them down
(to complain)

The dream agent remembers me
Long after the sale.

The nightmare agent develops acute amnesia
As soon as they get paid.

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By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Finding Mentors

Excerpted from Kirsty’s first book Advance to Go, Collect $1 Million

Be careful when you approach a mentor! Realise that if it is someone very successful they are going to be very busy. Here are some tips for making your approach.

Be serious
Most mentors immediately start suggesting things that will push you past your comfort zone. If you’re not prepared to try everything your mentor suggests, stop now.

Ask permission to approach your mentor, recognise their time constraints and be reasonable with your requests
For example, I frequently get emails from young people entering the real estate industry. Many of them ask me questions like: “Can you tell me what your secrets are? Can you tell me what to do to be fantastic in real estate?” How do you answer such questions without typing back a 100 page email? These people are on the right track but that’s not the sort of question you ask of strangers. What I usually tell them is to find a local agent who they can shadow, emulate and learn from. I can no more tell someone all I know in an email than tell them how to be a great lawyer or hair-dresser.

Put forward options that would make it easier for your mentor to help out
For example, I have only approached a possible mentor very recently and was terrified! She is a superb professional speaker and I thought she wouldn’t have time to assist, so I‑gave her some options.
• Option 1 – Give me her upcoming schedule and where possible I could fly to watch her speak and learn from her.
• Option 2 – I could organise a monthly fee in exchange for assistance over the phone or via email.
• Option 3 – I could fly her down to watch me speak and have her comment if possible.
By giving her these options I was guaranteed a better strike rate than if I’d just gone in with option 3.

Tell them why you want to learn from them
Be honest and tell them why you want them as a mentor. I told my speaker mentor that she was the best I’d ever heard (and I’ve seen some of the best in the world) and I wanted to learn from the best. Don’t go over the top, but this person needs to know why you want to learn from them.

Be careful of who you associate with
Don’t let anyone else bring you down. If they make you feel insecure or less than the fabulous person you know you are, take yourself out of that situation and surround yourself with positive and inspirational people. Don’t let anyone steal your dream away from you. Often the most dangerous are those with “your own best interests at heart.” Sometimes in life, to get what you really want you do have to take risks and this can scare those near and dear to you.

Don’t settle for mediocre company! Surround yourself with brilliant, knowledgeable, motivated, creative and talented people. This is positive for your business, and for your professional and personal growth. When I say surround yourself, I am not just talking about people in your office. Offer to take the most inspirational business person in your town out to lunch. Subscribe to an email list of one of your mentors. Or, take a huge risk and pick up the phone or email one of your heroes – you will be surprised at their responses.

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By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Melbourne To Cairns - ride for depression awareness

Richard Jansen is embarking on a solo adventure covering all coastal towns along the east coast up north to Cairns. His aim is to raise awareness of depression and to help raise funds for Lifeline.

Help Richard make a difference to this dreadful illness which so many people suffer from in Australia. Follow Richard as he meets and talks to people along the way.

www.arideforalife.com.au

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Celebrate bad times… come on

(sung to the eternal Kool and the Gang hit tune)

Loving this Seth Godin post I just read on his personal “career ending” failures.

Here’s someone who has achieved so much and is one of my personal role models and yet his failures are equally impressive I have to say!

When I interviewed Seth in 2008 he had this to say about his failures:

My list is way too long for this email. I regret not starting a search engine in 1995. I regret thinking too small in many of the first businesses I started. Small thinking with small goals and small deliverables to the wrong clients. But you know what? I'm not sure I'd change much. The misses are worth at least as much as the hits.

Which just reinforces the fact that it doesn’t matter how much success someone appears to have had. They’ve usually had just as many if not more failures along the way. The successful person just doesn’t give up. They learn, they become better, they move on and up not making those same mistakes again.

What have you failed at lately?

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By Kirsty Dunphey with 1 comment

“It”

January 15th, 2009: exactly two months before my 30th birthday, was the day I first found “it”.

“It” symbolised everything I’d ever wanted when I started my first business at 15 and my first real estate agency at 21.

“It” represented “experience, knowledge, wisdom, understanding”. Almost everyone else in real estate had “it” when I first started.

If only…

… I’d had “it” at 21. Perhaps I wouldn’t have been mistaken from the receptionist so often.

… I’d had “it” at 18 perhaps I wouldn’t have felt the need to sell my beloved first car to get something more appropriate to be seen with the black BMWs.

But then…

… if I’d had it at 20, perhaps I wouldn’t have pushed myself in the classroom to learn so much about my industry so that I could show in my own special way that while I didn’t have “it” I still knew enough to be an industry leader.

… if I’d had it at 24, perhaps I wouldn’t have taken so many risks on my crazy ideas, many of which paid off so well and helped us earn our reputation as true innovators.

… if I’d had “it” at 27, perhaps I wouldn’t have made the decision some said was crazy and sold out of my group of 6 real estate agencies.

January 15th, 2009 was the day I saw my first grey hair. But, you know what… I’m glad I didn’t have it before now and I hope it doesn’t change the way I act in business now.

Despite “my age” being more traditional in the business arena now (with my grey hair to prove it) I still hope…

… I continue to take risks.
… I continue to feel like I need to go above and beyond.
… I continue to mess things up.
… I continue to be different.

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By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

It’s Not You…It’s Professional

It’s not you it’s me… I need some space… I want to concentrate on my career…

I could go on and on with this list of corny overused dumping phrases, we’ve all either heard or said them, but what to say when you’re doing a professional dumping.

By professional dumping I mean rejection in a business sense…. Firing someone, not hiring someone, saying no to a sales person’s pitch. We really have an awful lot of professional dumping to do in the business world.

How do you do it so that you get your message across without having the dumpee despise you, key your car and run over your puppy?

Well how about this for a rejection letter:

We're sorry to say we couldn't accept your proposal for funding. Please don't take it personally. Despite the stock market crash we got a record number of applications this time, and the average quality was high. And since there's a limit on the number of interviews we can do, we had to turn away a lot of genuinely promising groups.

Another reason you shouldn't take this personally is that we know we make lots of mistakes. It's alarming how often the last group to make it over the threshold for interviews ends up being one that we fund. That means there are surely other good groups that fall just below the threshold and that we miss even interviewing.

We're trying to get better at this, but it's practically certain that groups we rejected will go on to create successful startups. If you do, we'd appreciate it if you'd send us an email telling us about it; we want to learn from our mistakes.

Y Combinator Staff

It’s from the team at www.ycombinator.com and I think it’s one of the more brilliant rejection letters I’ve ever seen. It’s humble and endearing yet it gets the message across.

I’ll definitely be rewording my “professional dumping” after reading this – how ‘bout you?

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By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

As Unexpected As A Kangaroo?

As I sat this morning eating my breakfast cereal I saw a brown something move out of the corner of my eye. Investigating further I saw, not a cat, not a dog, but a kangaroo* making its way through my front yard.

I was stunned and scrambled to grab my camera managing to get this very un-Attenborough-worthy shot before my new furry neighbour moved along.

I text messaged my husband immediately with my exciting news. His response was much less excitement than mine. He’d seen this kangaroo before and in fact he was quite the regular in our yard apparently.

So something that blew my mind, was a non event for my husband because of his past conditioning.

Which lead me to compare it to the business world.

For the inexperienced, a disaster blows your mind. Could be… your best staff member leaves, your boss announced your redundancy, your major client gives you the flick, your company gets bought out… you’re a virgin kangaroo viewer and your whole world gets shaken.

For the person who’s been there and seen or done that. The disaster happens but it’s met with experience which lessens the impact. You’re the kangaroo whisperer (like my husband)!

So what can you to do become a kangaroo whisperer without actually having a kangaroo (or a disaster fall into your lap?)

Imagine the kangaroo
Spend a couple of minutes and write down the 5 worst things that could happen in your business right now.

Make friends with the kangaroo
Is there anything you can do right now to lesson the chance of any of those 5 worst things happening? Get jumping.

What would you do if there were a kangaroo?
If you can’t remove the possibility, you can at least spend a little time preparing for it.

If your “worst thing” is your biggest client giving you the flick how can you increase the service, how can you increase their loyalty. Perhaps you don’t even want to keep them at all? And there’s no harm at all in preparing for a worst case scenario.

Now don’t get me wrong here – this is a ten minute exercise, spending all day focussing in your kangaroos is dull, a little depressing and not nearly as much fun as finding one in your front yard.

* If this is actually a wallaby and not a kangaroo, forgive me, contrary to some of my US readers popular belief, I haven’t seen that many kangaroos and I’m certainly not accustomed to either kangaroos or wallabies bounding through my front yard!

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By Kirsty Dunphey with 2 comments

Book Review - Business Stripped Bare by Richard Branson

To me, this book is a perfect follow on from Losing my Virginity and I enjoyed it more than Screw it, Lets do it. Yes, it’s a not so thinly veiled sales pitch for all things “Virgin”, but it’s also a fabulous insight into one of the more interesting business minds on the planet. Being Australian I was surprised at how much of an Australian focus there was with the tales about Virgin Blue and I think US readers would get the same feeling with the parts on the mobile networks there. There were times I cringed (Branson conducting a job interview from under his sheets in his bed) and others when I was super envious (mainly at the mentions of Necker Island) and more when I was in awe (this book conveys a far more philanthropic side to Branson that in his others). Easy reading and a great insight.

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By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

2008 has taught me…

Inspired by this post by entrepreneur Ryan Allis I’ve decided to complete my list of what I’ve learned in 2008.

1. Life can be too short. Despite being almost 30 years old I haven’t had to deal with death much in my life. This year however I’ve experienced it in a more up close and personal way with people in my life passing who 33 and 42. While they weren’t immediately family or my BFFs their passing’s affected me immensely.

2. Life can be too long… if you spend it without really living. My aim for 2009 is to continue to attempt to remove those things in my life that are negative, that get me down and that don’t help me live life to the fullest.

3. Life is full of love if you know where to look. The wedding I went to this weekend showed me this. I didn’t know either the bride or the groom prior to the day but I was awash with the emotion that spilled over from them. I also saw that it doesn’t matter where or how two people show their love for each other, just that they do. (Much love Elin and Tom)

4. It’s ok to stop doing something even if it was previously a big goal of yours. Thanks to Seth Godin’s the Dip for that.

5. It’s also ok to keep doing something even if you’re not exactly sure why you’re doing it. For me this has been finishing my MBA at university. After dropping out of my undergraduate degree I’ve always felt as though something was missing. Who knows if I’ve “peer-pressured” myself into getting a degree but – I know the feeling of accomplishment I’ve got going on right now (with only 5 days and one exam to go) feels pretty darn good.

6. I know what I’m good at (and what I’m not). I work well within time frames, I love deadlines, I love order and structure, I love jobs that have a finite completion or at least parts which can be completed, I love to tick things off a list.

7. It’s next to impossible to have amazing quality of life if you’re not healthy.

8. If you find something tiny that makes you happy –expose yourself to it as often as you need. For me this can be as tiny as watching my crazy budgie take a bath. My husband obviously knows me better than I thought which is why he insisted we put up our Christmas tree even though we were only going to be home for less than a week before Christmas. He knew that getting out each of our Christmas decorations and talking about their history was an absolute high point for my year. Loving this quote as well: "If you want to feel rich, just count the things you have that money can't buy." – Unknown

9. Sometimes people won’t “get” me and most of the time… that doesn’t really matter as long as I “get” me.

10. Same same, not different. If you’re just going to be like everyone else – why bother doing it?

Things I haven’t learnt (yet)… perhaps you can help?

1. Why do I talk in my sleep so much!? What on earth am I trying to say!

2. Why a cupcake excites me so incredibly, and yet a muffin is ho-hum.

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By Kirsty Dunphey with 1 comment

Take It And Leave It

My favourite read of the day comes from Bob Nelson’s newsletter www.nelson-motivation.com where he shares that: Zappo’s, the up-and-coming women’s shoe online retailer that offers free shipping for both orders and returns, offers all employees $1500 to quit their job after they have finished the company’s initial 2-4 week training orientation. It’s the final test of if they have hired the right employees…

Talk about money where your mouth is! I love Zappo’s dedication to getting it right.

What else is Zappo’s doing right?

Communication: http://twitter.zappos.com/employee_tweets shows you Zappo’s staff and even their CEO http://twitter.com/zappos are using Twitter to communicate with and engage their customers.
Contagious Culture: Each year Zappos 31 year old CEO asks each employee to write a description of the culture of the organization. Something’s working with employees writing statements like: “Everyone at Zappos is so warm and inviting, like a nice bowl of oatmeal.”
Fan-makers: Their customer service creates fans. From the standard:
“customers can order shoes as late as 11 p.m. and still get next-day delivery” to the extraordinary as shown in this online testimonial:

“My wife had ordered a pair of sandals from Zappos. When they arrived, she found that they didn't fit. She tried to order the right size, but Zappos was sold out of her size. So here's what the company offered: she could return the sandals (for free), Zappos would refund the purchase price and they'd send her a $25 coupon toward her next purchase.

But wait — there's more! Zappos also offered to try to locate a pair of the sandals in her size from another vendor. (Hah! Sure, they will!) Fifteen minutes later, the company called my wife and told her they'd found her sandals, in her size, at another online merchant — "and," the Zappos clerk told her, "they're even cheaper at this other site!"

So.. in short, their staff love them, the public love them and their customers love them and wait… they sell SHOES! Seem’s like a great start to me!

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By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments