Here is a little testimonial-ish piece from one of my clients, a masters swimmer who has made some drastic improvements. Please see below extracts from the emails which he updates me with following a gala.

This gentleman came to me with 1 major problem and several smaller ones. The major problem was that his one leg would give a huge thump of a kick every second stroke… and that was it as far his kicking went. So after 3 weeks this is how it goes:

Day 1 of 3 of WP Masters at UWC

50m Free (long course)

“Warmed up with lotza flutter kicking + then tried to keep focus on the kicking during the event.”

“Was in Heat 5 of 9 (pretty much in the middle of the range of all swimmers taking part) and was wanting to improve on my last gala time of 33.42 secs.(23.01.10)”

“Looks like I was able to take a second 1.05 secs off my last gala time and equal my PB of last year – 32.36 + 32.35 secs.”

And now for an even better part:

Day 3 of 3 of WP Masters at UWC

100m Free (long course)

“Did 4 X 50m length warm-up (in 2 X 100m slow sessions) and did manage OK to get the legs working in the warm-up.”

“Was in Heat 3 of 6 (pretty much in the middle of the range of all swimmers taking part) and was wanting to improve on my last gala time for the 100 m Free event this year of 1 : 17: 56 (23.01.10)”

“Looks like I was able to take 4.17 secs off my last gala time at Paarl-East last month (23.01.10) with a  1 : 13 : 39 and better my PB of 2009 by a bit.”

“During the event itself I could feel I was putting most of my energy into the upper bod and not as much as I should have into the legs.”

“Guess I just went back into the ‘old technique’ with the pressure of the competition itself.”

“The training we have been doing must have some influence on the time though – hence the new PB.”

“So am very happy with this.”

“The next frontier (with your help) on the 100m Free will be to break say 1 : 12 : 0 :”

So that’s how it goes. Many swimmers think that watching videos and trying to make improvements on their own will make the difference they’re looking for. Not so. And in other unfortunate news: If you have a bad technique you can train all you want, you will only be able to go so fast.

Get a technique coach. Learn the drills and don’t be afraid to substitute a hardcore session for “technique” session… especially when you’re tired.

Happy swimming. Oh and well done Pete. Proud to be of assistance.

Wake up, get dressed, go to work, ask yourself: “WHY?” Work some more. Go home. Arrive home irritated because the traffic was not to your liking, eat dinner, and relax for a short while. Sleep. And start over. Rinse and repeat.

Not being my idea of fun, I pursued a lifestyle change; one that would allow me to come and go as I please. Doing what I enjoy and being able to experience those beautiful summer days that always seem to occupy every Monday of December, January and February.

As of March 2010 I will be required to work 20 flexible hours per week as a marketing specialist. I love marketing. It’s dynamic and exciting however I cannot spend five sevenths of my life doing it. That may be slightly dramatised but it’s strange how 24%, which represents your 40 hour work week, can feel like five sevenths, or 71%.

So 20 hours would equate to 12% of my week. I will spend 12% of my week as a marketing specialist. But let’s look a little closer at what it means for me to be able to spread those 20 hours per week as I see fit?

Firstly I will not need to sit in traffic. That cuts out up to 1 hour per day. Secondly I can work all 20 hours into 2 or 3 days if necessary, saving the rest of my week for pursing the opportunities that will present themselves as I meet and interact with more people thanks to extra mobility.

Currently I am working 8.5 hours per day which includes my lunch break. So work time is therefore 7.5 hours.  However commuting is around an hour and therefore from home and back to home again I am unable to pursue anything within an 8.5 hour period. My estimated daily duration from March will be around 4.5 hours per day. Now that is slightly higher than half of what I am doing but since I am still confined to lunch within a given window, and include travelling in that I have a 9.5 hour day. Suddenly I’ve gone from 53% to 47%. That’s a 6% difference which means I gain 34 minutes and 12 seconds per day and earn 6% more per hour.

Suddenly I have more time and more money. It’s not a huge difference but the results speak for themselves. And all this happened within the space of a 10min conversation. Not so bad from a progress perspective.

Now most of you might be thinking, “Yes sure you’re working half day now but that means you are earning half of what you used too?” This is indeed true. However now I am able to apply these same principals to my new venture, Triathlon Coaching. I get to be outdoors, do what I love. Priceless? Not quite. My earning potential has increased by 150%.

“After all, mobility and time is the wealth of the new rich. Being mobile presents opportunities. Having time allows one to pursue those opportunities.” – Inspired by Tim Ferris, author of the 4 Hour Work Week

Here’s one last thought for you:

Now that you have identified what you don’t want to do, it’s time to define what it is you would like to do. Rather than broadly summarise your ambitions, define your goals!

If everyone is saving more than they are spending, what does that mean for the economy? It’s certainly not all sunshine and hay. That’s precisely why it is up to you to ensure that you are a credible company that the consumer can trust. In these desperate times people will only buy from a credible company.

There are three reasons for reduced consumer spending. Firstly, people and businesses won’t buy what they can’t afford. There is no confidence in purchase during these desperate times. Fear fills the consumer. Consumer uncertainty is your worst enemy. That is why it is up to you to educate the consumer. A consumer who has accurate information is a confident consumer, and if you are the company responsible for instilling confidence in the consumer they will look to you for information in the future. All of which will add to your credibility.

Secondly, if the consumer cannot pay cash for it they might not buy it because paying interest makes someone else rich. Right now the consumer is selfish. They have worked hard for their money and they will spend the necessary minimum where they can. A penny saved is a penny earned.

Finally, there is also a lot of debt hanging over the heads of many and spending has taken a back step because of this.

What you need to do is the following:

• Leverage existing satisfied customers
• Ask for referrals
• Back off on the pressure selling
• Focus on the best selling opportunities
• You need to sell:

·           Reliability

·           Peace of mind

·           Safety

·           Security

(People buy benefits, not features)

• Become a problem solver
• Know something about your prospect. This impresses them and improves your credibility.

Indirectly this recession has had a negative effect on company credibility. The consumer was previously happy to simply make a purchase based on convenience; the “convenience” store is now nothing more than convenient. Instead, the consumer will now make sure that they make their purchase from someone they trust. It is up to you to make sure that you are the company they trust.

G’day and welcome to my first post regarding what I do for a living. I am in marketing and this is my latest press release written by me.

In an IT industry where service levels seem to be dwindling consumers are continually frustrated by endless similarities between IT companies delivering almost identical products and services. Consumers do not want “much of a muchness, six of one half a dozen of the other” shopping experiences. These days the only things that separate IT companies are service levels and turnaround time. Why then have the majority of IT companies adopted such a seemingly blasé attitude when it comes to service levels? In less than comfortable times one would think that all companies, including IT companies, would seek to provide exceptional service in order to maintain their loyal customer base and uphold, or ideally improve their current reputation.

Along with the need for service excellence and current Green IT drives, Living Tech has entered the IT industry intent on making their existence significant. Developed from an extremely successful IT company, Third Quarter, Living Tech already has established systems and processes in place and thus are able to avoid “new company” teething problems.

Living Tech, formerly Third Quarter managed services, is a managed services IT company which prides themselves on Green IT and customized service excellence. With specific focus on SME IT infrastructure support, Living Tech has a unique and innovative business process ensuring step-by-step workflow thus maintaining high levels of service delivery.  Using the latest in support technologies, Living Tech is able to deliver this world class service remotely – this means that resolution time is decreased and with the reduced need for travel, Living Tech stays socially responsible by keeping their carbon footprint under check.

“I am excited about Living Tech as we have already established ourselves as a leader in the Managed Services environment. The combination of great technology and excellent people will mean that we can challenge a stagnant industry and prove that IT can be company growth asset without it been seen as a financial and energy burden.” – Brenton de Scally (MD, Living Tech)

Living Tech has appointed Highland Strategic Marketing as the one’s they will entrust with their branding venture. Highland Strategic Marketing is a division of Highland Rental Finance and specializes in marketing, branding and PR for the IT industry. Together, Highland Strategic Marketing and Living Tech will introduce a brand launch campaign called Brand Emergence by way of new media marketing through blogging and social networking websites such as Twitter. The aim of this will be to create awareness for Living Tech by allowing the world to follow the campaign and for followers to then become a part of Brand Emergence. Follow Brand Emergence on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BRANDem. Keep an eye out for the launch of Living Tech’s blog coming sometime in August.

Living Tech is proud to announce their entry into the IT industry. Leading the way in business processes, Living Tech aims to set new standards in service excellence through consistent delivery on their brand promise – “Service excellence personified.”

I hope you enjoyed that.

For more press release written by myself please visit http://www.itweb.co.za/office/highland/

Have a good week.