Sport tends to mirror the best, and the worst of real life and that is possibly its greatest attraction. Sure there's the drama, the comebacks, the domination, the fierce contests between rivals - but I think sports is at its greatest and most dire, when it reflects...
Consistent marketing wards off invisibility
For a business to survive and thrive it needs to be seen – that may sound overly simplistic but it’s true. Being seen is the key to attracting customers, accruing revenue and sustaining growth. To be seen, a business has to market its brand, goods, and services and it...
Our day of sporting infamy
In 1981, New Zealand sports teams were involved in two events that have significantly shaped our sporting and cultural legacy. The first was the Springbok Tour - where the South African rugby team’s visit to our shores deeply divided the nation - resulting in...
Video killed the radio star, part 2
I talk to thousands of business owners and consumers each year. While they are all obviously different - in age, gender, racial and ethic background and life experience - the one thing they have in common is that they are trying to connect - with customers and with...
Creating space around the home
Now that Daylight Savings is here and we have an extra hour of evening light up our sleeves, it’s a great time to think about making sure that our homes are ready for all of the glories of long, balmy summer days. Think about pruning what you don’t need Just like with...
We can’t afford to mess with the truth
No matter which country you live in some things stay the same – the professions that top off the lists of most distrusted professions. Across the board it is politicians and journalists that take top spots (or bottom spots) in polls regarding trust and reputation....
125 years – and the fight goes on
This week marks a special milestone in New Zealand history – 125 years since women were granted the right to vote. While it may seem ludicrous now that there was ever a time that women needed to fight so hard and for so long to be granted a fundamental right that men...
The dangers of relying on word of mouth alone
For a while I have been thinking about one of the more remarkable statistics about online reviews that has been steadily increasing in the past few years. I thought about it again after reading a news story about a roofer in Dunedin who has allegedly done a runner and...
Online reviews are tangible goodwill for a business
A recent news story about a campground operator in Gore, Southland got me thinking about online reviews, goodwill, and word of mouth. The traditional method of spreading goodwill about a business was analogue and worked perfectly well in the pre-digital age. One...
Forging a new reputation
A renowned writer once famously wrote that there's no such thing as a second act in American lives - meaning that it's not possible to change, to reinvent, to forge a new path. F Scott Fitzgerald's epigram isn't a truism and wasn't intended to be. Reinvention is part...









