It's No Secret with Dr T.

My brother I grew up on the Gold Coast, and we spent a lot of time crabbing on the weekends. We’d go out early in the morning, just before sunrise and we’d get back at sunset. On a good day, we’d catch dozens of mud crabs.  Once caught we’d place them in a large bucket, well actually it was more like a big plastic rubbish bin, with two sturdy handles on either side for ease of getting it out of the boat. Lid Not Required What was interesting is we never bothered placing a lid on the bucket because our parents taught us that the crabs would never get out because as soon as one tried to escape, the other crabs would quickly grab hold of it and pull it back into the bucket with the rest of the crabs. I witnessed this time and time again, and it never ceased to amaze me. Instead of helping and supporting each other to escape, the crabs would do whatever it took to keep them in the bucket. Negative Friends Now I know I’m talking about crabs, and they don’t have the intellect ...

Today I have the pleasure of talking with Cindy Rodriguez, from Orlando Florida about startups, her podcast The Fierce Entrepreneur and what she has learnt through her entrepreneurial journey in the business world.    Entrepreneurs Mindset All entrepreneurs struggle with the same two things, time management and giving up control and it takes time to be able to come to terms with them and use them to your benefit.  Entrepreneurs understand the importance of networking. If you want to grow your business or promote your startup you've got to learn to not be afraid to reach out to people. Business can be a very lonely place, and more often than not your friends don't quite understand what it is you do, so you need to network with other business people.   Travelling The Same Path It's important to find others travelling the same path as you and you must be willing to share. The more we openly share with others the better it is for everyone. It's import to...

For the past three years, and this year will be my fourth, I’ve attended a 3-Day event in Tempe, Arizona, run by  Success Technologies  and Dave Frees. Each year the event alternates its theme. One year it will be 3-Days To Success and the other year Business Black Ops, both fantastic events. Last year, or it could have been the year before someone commented on how new employees or new members joining your team, where a pain in the butt and as soon as they arrive they want to start changing our systems. You’ll have systems in place that have worked exceptionally well for years, but from day one they come to you with ideas and suggestions on how they can be improved.  Initiative Is Good Now don’t get me wrong, I love the initiative and also like knowing the employee cares enough about my business to think about how things can be improved…However, it can be frustrating when it happens every single day. Anyway, Dave Frees shared how he handles this in his law firm, which...

Today I talk with Paul Wright about the concept of information marketing and packaging your thoughts for profits. Paul Wright is a Physiotherapist, business coach and mentor, and author of the best selling book How to Run A One Minute Practice. It’s important to point out that you can learn a lot from other professions, outside of what you would usually listen to, which is why Paul Wright is the perfect guest for today’s episode. If you’ve been in business for many years, you’ll have intellectual property that people are willing to pay for, such as: • Templates • Tools • Resources (audio and video) • Systems and protocols Getting Started If you’re running an event, workshop, or guest speaker, you need to record it because you don’t know if it’s something that will be worth packaging at a later date. Paul did this very early on, and it is now a profitable business. Continuity Income If you sell a DVD, a book or an audio series the deal ends when cash changes hands, but long-te...

Today I want to share a story from my childhood and how my mums Cherry Ripe chocolate taught me a great lesson about systems and why slight system changes can have devastating results long-term on your business if you don't keep an eye on them. My mother loved Cherry Ripe's, and about once a month she would treat herself to one of those large Cherry Ripe bars. She would tear open the bright red shiny wrapper at the top, peel it back slightly to expose the rich dark chocolate and proceed to take a moderately sized bite. She would then pull the wrapper back over the exposed cherry and coconut and place it in the fridge in the butter compartment, so it was out of sight. On average this Cherry Ripe bar would last her at least two weeks because she would only eat a small amount each time. Just a Small Bite On one particular week, I saw mum unwrap it, take a bite and put it back in the fridge, and I thought to myself...if I take just a small bite she probably won't notice. So...

Sam Harrop  is a very successful Business Coach and Mentor and is the author of two books,  Getting Stuff Done and Small Business Big Exit . Today we're going to discuss Sam's first book, Getting Stuff Done: How To Procrastinate Less and Achieve More...and who doesn't want to get more stuff done? To Get More Done You need to understand WHY you do something, and WHAT it is you want to achieve. Knowing these two things will motivate you to do more than you normally would and it helps you set priorities.  Half-Finished Projects People will often have many half-finished projects because they run out of steam. And they run out of steam because there was no real WHY behind their actions. Without a strong why you'll lack the motivation to keep going.  There is always another bright idea, and people tend to chase shiny bright lights, which is a distraction. Most ideas start out as great ideas, but when the initial excitement ends so will the idea if there's no WHY....

About three weeks ago a friend and fellow Seacret agent, that’s S.E.A.C.R.E.T agent, not Secret Agent, from Canada, Nicole Humphries, was visiting Cairns and while she was here she ran a workshop on leadership. She shared some awesome information and I especially liked her comments about goal setting. “You don’t have to hit every goal, you just need to be moving in the right direction”. Another topic she discussed, which really stood out and had an impact on me was when she discussed listing your successes and why this was important to do. It’s really easy to focus on the things we’ve done wrong, especially the most recent ones, but we tend to forget we have far more successes than failures in life and we need to start writing these down and reading them on a regular basis. Where's my medal?  Every December we take a trip down to the Gold Coast to catch up with family and as part of our annual holiday, we go to the Southport lagoon, grab a kilo of prawns and eat them on the bea...

Nicky Jurd owns a website development company in Cairns called  Precedence , who specialise in building websites for small businesses, and she feels many small business owners are leaving the financial future of their businesses in the hands of social media channels, which they do not own or control. A great social media profile is important, but it will not replace a well-designed website that you own outright.  Only building your business on social media platforms is like handing over the keys and control to someone else...it's risky.  Web Developer or Free Site Nicky openly admits there are many free sites where you can build and design your own website, however, to do it right you need to commit time and also some creativity, otherwise it will look poorly designed and poorly designed websites lack credibility.  Trust Triggers A poorly designed website does not build trust and people only buy from businesses they trust. Things to avoid include:...

Last weekend I was at a SEACRET Skincare conference in Melbourne at the Exhibition Centre, and during the first lunch break, on day one, a group of us shot over to DFO to quickly get something to eat. When we walked into the food court I immediately spotted a hamburger shop I thought YES, it’s burgers for me, as I’m a bit of a burger lover.  Now, I’m not going to mention the name of the burger joint, which is a shame because the burger itself wasn’t too bad, but nothing else was. Overall it was a terrible experience To begin with, two guys with a frown greeted me as I reached the counter. Between the two of them, neither could muster a smile. Once I placed my order, one guy immediately began cooking the meat patty while the other prepared the buns and associated salad and condiments. I tried to make small talk with them both, but I only managed to get the occasional grunt. Meanwhile, they talked with each other in a language I could not understand. I’m not sure what they wer...