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Marketing Success

Posted by Andrew    Posted in Business, Education    Posted in January 22, 2012    |    No Comments

Hello out there.

Simon and AndrewWell it has been an exciting start to the new year, and 2012 is definitely shaping up to a defining year for me, my family and my business. I find myself totally ecstatic about the things that are going on. My children are growing in independence and knowledge, my love for my wife continues to grow daily, and day after day I rediscover the power that lies within me, that lies within us all.

Look what I wanted to mention in this post is a meeting I had with a gentleman by the name of Simon Treselyan, you can read more about him at his website. It is a meeting that will stay with me for a very long time, and that is due to the vision that Simon has, and the content that he intends to deliver at an up coming event called The Summit of Ultimate Marketing Success, this is going to be a 'must see event' and it is initially going to be held on the Gold Coast of Australia. I have been confirmed as one of the keynote speakers at the event and will be talking about Web Marketing strategies for small to medium businesses.

We are still waiting for the final dates of the event, so right now that is about all the information I can give you, I can let you know that I, personally, will be sharing some pretty cool (and easy to implement) ideas on how you can increase your lead generation for your business, and also how you can generate more from your database.

So stay posted, I will be providing updates here on the SUMS and what other speakers you can expect to see and how this event can launch your business powerfully into the stratosphere.

Look forward to seeing you there and share more with you about it.

 

To Your Success

Andrew-HawkesAbout the Author

Andrew Hawkes is an Entrepreneur that has had good times and bad, he draws on all the experiences that he has had, military and in business, to provide solid information that anyone can use and understand to improve the results in thier own life and therefore show others to imrpove thiers. He believes that anyone can make a difference in the world and that ultimately anything is possible.

I’m fat? You’re ugly, at least I can lose weight?

Posted by Andrew    Posted in Andrew Hawkes, My Rant    Posted in September 30, 2011    |    No Comments

With an ever growing obesity epidemic is it now time to start to regulate food? I am all for freedom of choice and fully believe that people, should,  and ought to be able, to make the choice for themselves as to what they eat, and also that they should be responsible for the health they are in. Yet in the society that we live, one of 'it's not my fault' and 'I will sue you for the fact that I spilled hot coffee in my lap', it seems that there is no end in sight to the madness and the fact that society is OK with people who wish to play the victim their whole life as it is easier to blame someone else than it is to realise that you create your own reality with your actions or inaction's.

A little while I ago I happened to be in my car and listening to the radio (one of the few occasions where I am not listening to good brain food) and there was a debate going on as to whether or not Ronald McDonald was to blame for obesity in children... what I heard shocked me. There were all sorts of people ringing in about it, including Doctors, and I would have to say that 95% of them said that yes, Ronald McDonald was to blame.. WTF? Seriously?

It is this sort of thinking that is causing the decay of mankind, not some organised religion or something even less understood like climate change.

So then if regulation is not the answer (as I still firmly believe that I am responsible for myself, not anyone else), and people already know that to weigh less they need to eat appropriately and exercise more and the clearly makes no difference at all... then what do we do? Or rather what can be done?

Well let me answer that with first addressing another issue... all to often I hear that healthy food is too expensive, and that it is just easier and cheaper to grab some maccas or BK (Hungries in Australia), or even a Sub, I mean they're healthy right? They are endorsed by Doctors Inc (in case you don't already know that is the name of the company that own them, not necessarily doctors). So its just easier to get the cheap and easy stuff.
And while on this tangent lets also look at the health system, people are crying because they are being taxed to pay for health care, and believe me it will get to the point in the not too distant future where your government will no longer be able to offer health care as it is too expensive because of the ever growing obesity epidemic.

So back to the original question 'what can be done? Well here is a thought, now it is a little radical, and of course it would be meet with all sorts of friction and opposition, yet if the government really wanted to do something to stop the ever growing obesity rate they would implement this right away, and that is this; put a junk food tax on all junk food, yup I said it (and trust me I eat my share of junk food so it would effect me too) tax ALL junk food. I mean imagine ordering your Big Mac value meal, 'yes sir/madam, that will be $7.95 for your meal and a further $5.00 (each meal) for your junk food tax. (I would love to be a fly on the wall for that!)
Now for anyone out there that has read anything that I have put out you would know that I am not a big supporter of tax of any kind... I firmly believe that the government should be run like a business and if it was then there would be no need to tax the people of their country, yet this one makes sense, as it would be beneficial two fold... it would not only make junk food more expensive (therefore more of a luxury than an everyday event) and with the tax, it would NOT go into the government coffers it would be used directly as a subsidy for healthy organic food (or as our grandparents used to call it, food) therefore making it more affordable for even the people on benefits.

It just makes sense, unfortunately due to the fact that apparently to be considered in politics you need not have a spine (this is how politics occur for me, well at least for 95% of the politicians) it would prove to unpopular and cost to many votes, although that being said it could prove more popular than Julia Gillard's carbon tax.

So as I said, a little radical, maybe even a little controversial, its just that if nothing gets done then the scene from the movie WallE where all the fat people are flying around on hover scooters as their bones can no longer support their own body weight does not seem too far fetched at all.

That is my two cents, would love to hear your thoughts here, remember to share this with your friends, perhaps we can start a revolution, who knows.

 

Until then, make it a most outstanding day and tell the special people in your life that you love them.

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To Your Success

Andrew-HawkesAbout the Author

Andrew Hawkes is an Entrepreneur that has had good times and bad, he draws on all the experiences that he has had, military and in business, to provide solid information that anyone can use and understand to improve the results in thier own life and therefore show others to imrpove thiers. He believes that anyone can make a difference in the world and that ultimately anything is possible.

Big Shoes to Fill…

Posted by Andrew    Posted in Education    Posted in September 7, 2011    |    No Comments

Hello out there in cyber-land, it has been a few weeks since my last confession....

Wait, I am not a catholic... therefore I don't actually do confessions right? Ah well, since my last rambling.

So I have been doing some thinking, about life, about how things are, and about the books that I have read and am reading that ultimately expand my mind. I also had a great thought about a great post to write... but I couldn't remember what it was, so you are getting this one instead.

Now the subject would suggest something about shoes and the filling thereof, now my close friends and family know that my boys are named after famous people that changed the world and it often leads to the discussion as to whether or not we place to much expectation on our children, and whether or not we are setting them up for failure (which of course is part of life and ultimately part of winning), of course that conversation can go one of two ways.

Now it is no secret that I do not put much into the victim mentality that there is about in the society we live in these days, and in fact that we have lived in for thousands of years, I mean really what have we learned in the last 4000 years? The Egyptians were struggling with the same problems that still exist today, so apparently nothing.

My boys will grow up with the freedom to choose what they would like to do with their lives and the choice will be what I tell them.... OK so I am kidding, they will be free do do what they think is right for them, that does not mean to say that I should not provide them with everything they need, and every encouragement, verbal or physical, that is warranted to help them do exactly that.

I am of the opinion that we create our world from what we continually think and speak about the world that we are living in, and I think that was summed up beautifully by Helen Keller when she said got words, she got the world. So by naming my sons in the manner that they are named it actually provides them with a new possibility to live into, and as they become more and more aware of what is being said to them and start to understand contextual concepts then they will know who it is they are named after and what it was those people did to change the world.

So why is it that I am going on about all of this then? Well, I guess it is because that I finally understand the importance of naming my sons they way Sarah and I chose to, I finally understand that the only reality there is, is the one that we speak, we create our reality simply by the thoughts we have and the words we speak. And when you truly get that, then wonderful new possibilities open up that would more than likely have been missed before. It really can be as simple as saying something different.

Well that is about it really... would love to know your thoughts, so please leave them here, if you have any questions ask them and I will be glad to chat with you.

 

NAMASTE

To Your Success

Andrew-HawkesAbout the Author

Andrew Hawkes is an Entrepreneur that has had good times and bad, he draws on all the experiences that he has had, military and in business, to provide solid information that anyone can use and understand to improve the results in thier own life and therefore show others to imrpove thiers. He believes that anyone can make a difference in the world and that ultimately anything is possible.

Extract from “The Evolution of Physics” (1938) by Albert Einstein

Posted by Andrew    Posted in Einstien, Notable Quotes    Posted in August 31, 2011    |    No Comments

"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world. In our endeavor to understand reality we are somewhat like a man trying to understand the mechanism of a closed watch. He sees the face and the moving hands, even hears its ticking, but he has no way of opening the case. If he is ingenious he may form some picture of a mechanism which could be responsible for all the things he observes, but he may never be quite sure his picture is the only one which could explain his observations. He will never be able to compare his picture with the real mechanism and he cannot even imagine the possibility or the meaning of such a comparison. But he certainly believes that, as his knowledge increases, his picture of reality will become simpler and simpler and will explain a wider and wider range of his sensuous impressions. He may also believe in the existence of the ideal limit of knowledge and that it is approached by the human mind. He may call this ideal limit the objective truth."

Carbon Tax…. will it really work?

Posted by Andrew    Posted in General, My Rant    Posted in July 11, 2011    |    1 Comments

So I was watching the circus last night... sorry I mean channel 10's coverage of the Carbon tax... how it had the importance to be breaking news type stuff is beyond me... I mean it is not like the government actually listens to the constituents, or for that matter holds it promises. If that were the case there would be no carbon tax at all.

Now I live in Australia and being a resident here means that I pay tax, just like anyone else who earns money here, unfortunately (or fortunately depending how you view it) for me I am not eligible to vote, however it seems that I left one country, which was at the time being run by a 'dictator-esq' woman, only to be thrown into another. (well that is not quite correct, but I am sure you get the picture).

To say I am a little confused about the governments decision here in Australia regarding the carbon tax would be an understatement. It is flawed from the outset. I mean when it all boils down, the only people that are going to be the losers out of this are the very people that the government are claiming that it will benefit the most, and from where I sit the only beneficiary will be the government.

Big business, which is who they are targeting with this, have the resources to simply find new and inventive ways around the tax, whether that be by offsetting the tax by shopping overseas (costing jobs) or by moving their entire operations overseas (again costing jobs). Now some may scoff at the latter statement there, however I have seen it happen in the past. And if you think about it, when you make a call to your major telco provider, where are the people you are talking to located? Get the point?

Now whether or not you believe that global warming or climate change is something that humans are responsible for is totally irrelevant, introducing a carbon tax  (because the people in power don't know how to manage money) will NOT fix the issue (if there is one to fix), certainly not when it is one country (that is right Australia is the ONLY country to introduce this). Finding new an efficient ways of doing business has a far greater impact long term than taxing an already taxed nation. And if I got started here on tax it would take you all day to read the post, just know that as a whole, my view on tax is simply like a bully taking your school lunch. I may write (more than likely will) on this in the future.

Personally I don't believe in climate change, there is far to much scientific proof that what is happening on the planet right now as we speak is all part of the earth's cycle, and has happened countless times before. NOW, do I think we can be doing more to create sustainable solutions, absolutely, and I believe that on a whole we are making a difference to our resources that are seemingly disappearing and as we continue to evolve we will do a better and better job of it. In the scheme of things, we have been here but a moment in time, in fact our life is but a moment in time. Does having or not having a carbon tax somehow change our responsibility? Of course it doesn't, quite the contrary. However simply introducing a carbon tax will not automatically make people responsible either.

If it were as simple as letting the people have their say, there would be no carbon tax, however it apparently is not that simple, now I am not trying to be political here, however this will be seen that way, when you look at the facts, Julia Gillard promised that under her rule, there would be no carbon tax, so does that mean that she is actually a puppet and really being controlled by the greens? Interesting right?

No there is more to this than what the people want... that being said I think that the people will have their say about her on polling day.

I honestly thought Australia was a free and democratic place, yet the evidence would suggest other wise, on two occasions since first moving here I have heard the people of Australia speak for what they wanted to see, and on two occasions I have seen the government do the complete opposite... somewhere in the din the Australians have lost their voice... very sad for such a proud and patriotic nation.

Anyway, they are my thoughts, take what you like.... leave what you don't.

 

Andrew

To Your Success

Andrew-HawkesAbout the Author

Andrew Hawkes is an Entrepreneur that has had good times and bad, he draws on all the experiences that he has had, military and in business, to provide solid information that anyone can use and understand to improve the results in thier own life and therefore show others to imrpove thiers. He believes that anyone can make a difference in the world and that ultimately anything is possible.

It’s Never about the time, it’s Never about the Money

Posted by Andrew    Posted in BLOG, My Rant    Posted in May 4, 2011    |    No Comments

Hey out there in Cyber-land and the real world too, sometimes it is hard to decipher where the real world ends and the online one begins...
This is more than likely because the online world is becoming more and more a part of our everyday life, it is part of our everyday existence, hell even bullies exist online, and of course they are even more cowardly here as they can remain 'anonymous' well at least they think they can, most of them would not have the intelligence to be able to hide their digital signature... perhaps that is why they are bullies, because they are not intelligent enough to be anything else? Anyway I digress.

I was talking with a coach friend of mine recently and we got into a rather interesting conversation, ways we could save the world and create huge empires to help others succeed, you know all of the usual stuff.

We started talking about human potential and the apparent lack of accountability found in most people. Having been involved in sales as long as I have and the interactions that I have had between myself and other  would be entrepreneurs (if you could call them that) I hear pretty much the same thing...
"I haven't got the time", or "I haven't got the money"

What complete and utter horse s#!t, it is never about the time, and it is most certainly never about the money. These are simple little lies we tell ourselves to try and justify our own short comings and inadequacies.

Let me qualify that comment, let me use the example that my coach friend and I came up with, we were talking about a project he is working on the content and the products that needed to be created before it was finished. We both thought about 15-20 hours work... ok not bad half a week of solid work, no worries... Yet it is still incomplete... and the same excuse he was getting from himself was that 'I don't have the time'. (sound familiar). When it was analyzed, he found that a recent trip that he had taken took about 4 hours on the train, and then another 3 hours in a car and so on and so forth (numbers may be different but you get the point) You see he MADE time to do those things as that trip was important to him.

I could go on and on with example after example, however it ALWAYS comes down to same thing, we always find the time for something that is important to us, we always find the money for the things that are essential, hell we even find the money for the things that are not essential, yet when it comes to the things that could truly make a difference in our lives there always seems to be something more important.

So I want you to ask yourself this week as you go about your life in the normal fashion that you do... what is the lie that you have been telling yourself, or something you have been putting off because of that lie?

You will truly amaze yourself, I give you permission to take the time you need to get something done, believe me the world is not going to end because you do... and you never know you may actually enjoy yourself and choose to do it again.

Talk to you next week.

 

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To Your Success

Andrew-HawkesAbout the Author

Andrew Hawkes is an Entrepreneur that has had good times and bad, he draws on all the experiences that he has had, military and in business, to provide solid information that anyone can use and understand to improve the results in thier own life and therefore show others to imrpove thiers. He believes that anyone can make a difference in the world and that ultimately anything is possible.

Beautiful People, Victims and Control Freaks

Posted by Andrew    Posted in BLOG, Featured, My Rant    Posted in February 11, 2011    |    1 Comments

Hi there,

So its 1130 at night and I am here at the screen of my Mac. You know when you are lying in bed and there is something that comes to your head and you just have to get it out there...? Well this is one of those times, and the funny thing is it was really only the title that came to me, but something said I had to get up and write it.

I my life I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the most amazing people, and I guess that is what this is about, it is about giving thanks to that fact. To give thanks to all of the people that have touched my life in someway. I have learned something from everyone I have ever met and for that I am truly thankful.

Not too long ago I was involved with a home business a home business that is now defunct, which is sad and a good thing all at the same time, it is sad due to the fact that I believe it was built on solid principles and somewhere along the way they got lost and the company ultimately failed, one director was sent on a hiatus due to extra marital affairs while the other secretly coveted the the power of the whole company as his own, and ultimately had an affair himself.
The good part about that company was the beautiful people that have come into my life because of it and the impact that they have left on me.

I was lucky enough to have spoke to two such people today. So let me tell you about one of them.

The first conversation I had was a wonderful surprise, my skype went out of the blue from someone that I had not spoken to in over 6 months, and it was like we spoke just yesterday. This is someone who had put her faith in a company, not because she believed in that company, but because she believed in herself, and knew that with enough searching the right path would be shown to her, and what do you know, low and behold it has been.k This person had a vision board with a goal on it, a goal that most average people would think to lofty to consider. Upon review of this vision board some two years later the goal has been achieved. Was it easy? I would think not, there were hard times where she would have questioned herself as to whether or not she was doing the right thing, she would have had friends and family telling her that she was mad, and when would she come back down to earth, she would go through a life threatening situation only to pull through the other side to see a business with so much promise fail. Yet here she now stands with her goal reached and life exactly where it was meant to be. Why? Because when adversity stared her in the face she said NO I am NOT giving up, I DESERVE ALL OF MY GOALS AND MORE.

She is one of the beautiful people that I am proud to call a friend, you know, the ones who don't care if you have $20, or $20,000,000, you are still just their mate.

Victims

So the second part, you know in any good plot there is an protagonist and an antagonist, you know the good guy and the bad guy. Well you see there are these people in real life too. You can recognise the antagonist by the language they use, things like 'Its not fair, the water company is charging me too mcuh for my water' or 'Why can't I get a high paying job that I don't have to work for' or 'The government doesn't provide me with enough money each week'. You know what, I am going to say it here and now, why because I can, this is my blog my little piece of online real estate, GROW UP GET A FREAKING LIFE, stop bitching and start living, stop thinking you are entitled to something for nothing and get off your fat ass and stop being a victim! There is a thought!

Control Freaks

Ok so the last one here, and then I am off to sleep, control freaks.... I firmly believe that we all control our own destiny... so lets see where this rabbit goes, the thought obviously came from somewhere.

So if I think that we are in control of our own lives who am I referring to when I say control freaks? I guess it is the people who want you to live by their rules and then get shitty when you don't They are all paly paly until you do something different to the doctrine that they have set out and they you don't hear from them, well at least not until they need something from you and then wham! They are there, asking you once again to conform to their rules. You know I said it my post yesterday that I have had the most clarity when I realised once again that I am so powerful, sure people have tried to help me see that before, even the control freaks... yet it means nothing until you take ownership of it yourself.

So there it is a short little rant, and a MASSIVE Thank you to my beautiful friends, you all know who you are, thank you and NAMASTE

To Your Success

Andrew-HawkesAbout the Author

Andrew Hawkes is an Entrepreneur that has had good times and bad, he draws on all the experiences that he has had, military and in business, to provide solid information that anyone can use and understand to improve the results in thier own life and therefore show others to imrpove thiers. He believes that anyone can make a difference in the world and that ultimately anything is possible.

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