Internet Business for Seniors

In this week’s newsletter, from SA the Good News, we have reproduced the analysis section of the latest Adcorp Employment Index, released on February 13th, which we found very interesting. In it, Loane Sharp, labour economist at Adcorp, analyses that over the past decade, two important personal income trends have emerged in South Africa.

Salient features from the January 2012 Adcorp Employment Index

• The economy created 80,000 jobs in January, representing annualised growth of 5.0% over the previous month. Nonetheless, the economy is still 420,000 jobs short of the peak employment level observed prior to the 2009 global financial crisis.
• All employment contract types reported gains in employment, notably temporary work (+7.1%) and agency work (+8.0%). Temporary work now represents 3.87 million workers or 30.1% of the workforce.
• All sectors of the economy reported gains in employment, notably wholesale and retail trade (+13.6%), transport and logistics (+8.8%) and government (+3.1%).
• All occupational categories reported growth in employment, but high-skilled categories (management and professionals) reported the strongest growth (+4.7%), reflecting the economy’s ongoing reorientation toward high-skilled positions. Clerks, service workers and sales and marketing staff reported strong growth (+8.0%), reflecting the relative economic buoyancy of the consumer sectors of the economy.

Adcorp Employment Index

Read the complete article, with all the facts and figures here.

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“Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.”  ~Will Rogers

It was like a scene in a movie. I was waiting to cross the street while pedestrians were crossing the perpendicular one. A number of cars were piled up, with drivers waiting to turn when the people made it to the sidewalk.

Several impatient drivers honked, as if they didn’t understand why the first one wasn’t going. So that first guy stuck his head out his window and yelled at the pedestrians, “Come on—hurry up!”

Then one of them yelled back, “I’m &%*#ing pregnant %$*hole. So shut up!” (No swearing here—this is a family friendly place!) She was pregnant—visibly. Meaning that first driver either didn’t actually look at her, or knowingly yelled at a pregnant woman because people behind him were applying pressure.

This got me thinking about an accident I read about many years ago. Several cars were stopped, and a woman behind them couldn’t see why, so she sped into the left lane to pass them—fatally injuring a third grader who was crossing the street.

Both situations boil down to urgency—that need to keep moving, and quickly. This not only fills us with anxiety and compromises our judgment, it also affects everyone us.

It can cause us to be careless in ways that directly impact others, and it creates an environment of tension that creates stress for everyone within it.

It’s when the person serving customers feels the need to run because he can sense people in line are getting impatient (or worse, he’s responding to criticism from them). It’s when you don’t really hear what someone’s saying to you because you’re too busy thinking about what you want to get done—not later, but right now, instead of having to listen.

We might gain five minutes we could otherwise have lost. We might get a sense of accomplishment for finishing one extra item on the to-do list. We might feel a sense of control instead of having to stand still and feel stuck or unproductive.

But we might also lose our peace, our composure, and opportunities to really connect with other people.

Wherever we are, this is life—it’s happening right now. Do we really want to rush through it?

“If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.” ~ Mary Engelbreit

Change Your Perspective

Maybe you feel like the fire is gone and there’s just nothing exciting in your life. Maybe you’re just plain disheartened with who you have become and the life you are living.

No matter how discontent you might feel, know it’s only temporary. You can choose to change that feeling if you lift your veil of dismay and aim to create clarity about your life and what matters.

Focus on these 12 gifts and the world will seem like a much brighter place:

1. Your buddy network.

Friends are there to comfort and guide you every step of the way. They also deal with trials every now and then, like you. It is adventurously therapeutic for you to walk together, communicate authentically, and support each other through times of difficulty.

2. Your beautiful world.

Stop and take time to appreciate the trees, the birds, and the wind blowing in your face. Look around you. It’s a magnificent world that’s available to you 24 hours a day—for free. The simplest things that can make you happy are around you, right now.

3. Your ability to work.

Even if you’re currently out of work, there are opportunities, and you will seize one eventually. It’s always empowering to realize you have options to earn and take care of yourself.

4. Your opportunity to travel.

It’s a big world out there and you have the chance to explore new sights and different experiences. The cultures of other countries will leave you mesmerized with how congruent or vastly different we all are, even though we live under the same blue sky. And if you can’t travel far, you can still venture to unfamiliar places and experience something new.

5. Your opportunity for altruism.

Release worries about your own plight and focus on others in need. Join causes and relief programs, talk to a suffering friend, or assist people in hospitals. When you take the focus off of your life through meaningful advocacy and volunteering, you will make a difference and appreciate how fulfilled you really are.

6. Your family. To see the remaining gifts click here

This is an excerpt from an article by Clem Sunter – Scenario Planner, who has some very sound advice for government and citizens in South Africa. If you don’t already have your own business, start thinking about it right now. Read on:

Scenario guru Clem Sunter, who presented at a FASA breakfast held recently gave his take on the turmoil that the world seems to find itself in. Where before he would outline the importance of taking either the ‘high’ road or the ‘low’ road, these days he sees South Africa either having all its ducks in a row; none of the ducks in a row or plunging into a failed state.

With hard times predicted for the next five years in what Sunter calls the threat of ‘forked lightning’, all eyes should be on China who, if they don’t suffer a potential property bubble, could be leading the economic recovery and be the next powerhouse. Emerging markets seem to be faring far better than established markets with seven out of ten of the fastest-growing economies in the world in Africa (not as one would think in Asia, Europe or Latin-America). Sunter warns, however, that South Africa needs to tread carefully with its political, social and economic strategies to ensure that it takes up one of those leading slots.

As a strong proponent of entrepreneurship and a great supporter of franchising, Clem Sunter believes that focusing solely on job creation without looking to the entrepreneurs who can create the businesses that will create those jobs was a mistake on the part of government. “The only way to turn our exclusive economy into an inclusive economy, in which citizens broadly participate, is to precipitate an entrepreneurial revolution. This means putting a huge focus on our informal sector and creating conditions that will be conducive to allowing the small businesses that inhabit this sector to graduate into the formal sector. There has to be a bridge. As Steve Biko said, “For society to be stable people have to do it for themselves.” That’s entrepreneurship. It’s not a subsidiary issue. It is the issue.” Visit www.clemsunter.co.za……..

This is a contribution by Jackie Vecchio

“I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Once upon a time my mind was filled with negative talk and self-doubt. Those thoughts were so loud I could not hear my authentic, true self shine through. On a deeper level, I knew she existed, but I didn’t how to get to a place in which I could connect to her.

I believed I would have to work at it, change myself, somehow be good enough so I can be free to be myself. I believed the key to happiness was figuring out how to “fix” everything that was wrong with me (and oh, was there a lot to fix).

If I fixed myself, then I could enjoy life and be that free woman I always envisioned myself to be. Little did I know the key to this freedom wasn’t fixing myself at all, but was realizing that the little voice coming up with all those things to fix was a big, fat liar!

My outer world, like myself, wasn’t something that needed to be fixed, changed, or controlled so I could experience peace in the future. This outer reality was a direct reflection of my thoughts, and as they stayed rooted in negativity, so did my world.

True freedom doesn’t come in the future, from a situation, or “from” anything at all, but is within you right now.

The following are four ways you can shift your thoughts so you can feel freer, lighter, and happier in your life instantly. Click here  to see them all.

The Senility Prayer

God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I like, and the eyesight to tell the difference.

Now that I’m older (but refuse to grow up) here’s what I’ve discovered:

1. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.

2. My wild oats have turned into prunes and all-bran.

3. I finally got my head together-now my body is falling apart.

4. Funny, I don’t remember being absent-minded.

5. Funny, I don’t remember being absent-minded.

6. It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.

7. The only time the world beat a path to your door is when you’re in the bathroom.

8. If God wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees.

9. It’s not hard to meet expenses. They’re everywhere.

10. These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter.

11. I go somewhere to get something and then wonder what I’m hereafter.

What’s holding you back in your business or career? It may be something you are doing now and don’t even realize it.

The seed of this lesson comes from the former president of Coca-Cola, Don Keough. He wrote a satirical article about ways people lose in business. A few of the points that I will share with you today come from that article.

So let’s get started. Here are some rules and attitudes to follow if you want to lose in business.

1. Quit taking risks.

“A ship in the harbor is safe… but that is not what ships are for.” Isn’t that a great saying? Anybody who has been in business realizes that risk is a big part of it. The moment you decide not to take a risk is when your competitors will pass you by.

It isn’t the incompetent who destroy an organization. The incompetent never get in a position to destroy it. It is those who have achieved something and want to rest upon their achievements who are forever clogging things up.

2. Rely totally on experts and research to make decisions for you.

Charles F. Kettering said, “Research is an organized method of trying to find out what you are going to do after you cannot do what you are doing now.” There are some wonderful consultants out there who add value to our businesses. The key word above is totally. When one allows what the experts say to totally govern decisions, that’s when trouble arises.

3. Always ask yourself, “What would the founder have done?”

The simple fact is that no one knows what a great leader would do in a new set of circumstances—except that he would not lose. There simply is no eternal formula for success handed down through generations.

4. Concentrate on your competitor instead of your customer.

I’ve read everything that has been written by the late John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach of the UCLA Bruins. Not only was he an incredible coach, but he was also an incredible teacher to his players and others who knew him.

In an interview he was asked how he prepared his team for the next game. It was widely known in the basketball coaching circles that Coach Wooden wasn’t one to send his staff out to scout teams that were coming up on their schedule. He said, “The way to build a team isn’t to worry about your competitor; the way to build a team is to play to your strengths. If we play our game right, they will be playing our game. We won’t play their game.”

Coach Wooden realized it’s much better to spend time making your team better than trying to anticipate what the other team was going to do.

Remember that the customer is king. The following customer service truths are the results of research conducted at the Tyler International Research Institute Inc., as well as that of the Technical Research Assistance Institute and other supporting research organizations.

> Poor service is the No. 1 reason American companies lose business.

> The average dissatisfied customer tells nine others of their dissatisfaction.

> Conversely, the average satisfied customer tells only five people.

> It costs between five and 10 times more to attract a new customer than it does to keep an old one.

> Customers pay more for better service.

5. Administrative concerns take precedence over all others.

When the organization becomes bogged down with administrative issues and bureaucracy, growth can screech to a halt. Zimmerman’s Law says regardless of whether a mission expands or contracts, administrative overhead continues to grow at a steady rate. Isn’t that the truth!

In the article that I referenced in the beginning from Don Keough, he has some scathing things to say about the cost of administration: “Look at any well-oiled bureaucracy. Innovation is never permitted to get in the way of the preservation of the organization. Such bureaucracies have something in common: Most of them are consistent losers or soon will be.”

Read more at http://bit.ly/nlB30t

Remember the master teacher said 2000 years ago, “Unless you can become like little children, your chances are zero, you haven’t got a prayer.” A major consideration for adults.

Be like children and remember there are four ways to be more like a child no matter how old you get –

1) Curiosity – Be curious. Childish curiosity. Learn to be curious like a child. What will kids do if they want to know something bad enough? You’re right. They will bug you. Kids can ask a million questions. You think they’re through. They’ve got another million. They will keep plaguing you. They can drive you right to the brink.

Also kids use their curiosity to learn. Have you ever noticed that while adults are stepping on ants, children are studying them? A child’s curiosity is what helps them to…

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