I have just read about the economic uncertainty ahead of us in 2012, house prices are said by many to be going to fall. Unemployment here in the UK is set to rise BUT it is NOT all doom and gloom. As I write this Google are hiring, they are actively looking for young people to join them. Other companies are reporting the same problem, they cannot get the right people. So what do you do?
Make 2012 your year of change. Set your targets to learn something this coming year. Buy a book a month as an investment in you and your education. There has never been a more urgent need to invest in your own skills and education. You are the CEO or managing Director of YOU Inc or YOU Ltd and now is investment time.
Do a SWOT analysis. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Make a personal plan, what are you good at and how can you enhance these skills/knowledge? What do you need to improve on? Where are they hiring and how can you get your name out there? What threats exist that can affect me in 2012?
Now set a monthly plan. If you have not done so, join your local library and maybe an academic library and set out to read 2 books per week in your field. Learn how to mind map and mind map each of these books. We have a Mega study course in development in the Mr Educator office so do keep in touch with us, we will be showing you how to study learn and pass exams in the second half of 2012. In the meantime look out for John Kennedy's Study skills book from Studymates.
Whilst I recognise it is difficult, you need to be optimistic for your own sanity. The economic woes will not last forever, they will pass and you can still prosper.
Wednesday 28 December 2011
Sunday 31 July 2011
Good design is a good advert
I parked the car in the library car park in Abergele when I saw it. It was a beautifully designed Mercedes van. the design was breath taking. It was for a carpenter called Carl Hughes. I do not know him but if he is prepared to put such hard work in the design on his van, it shows that the quality of his work should be good.
This is the point, if you want to sell your products or services you have to be world class. With the internet, your customers could be anywhere, you need to consider that for your products and services.
There is a shop in the West Country of England who makes cheese and sells it..... In New York. That demonstrates what people are doing now, what could you do?
Good design sells well. That is why I always try and make the covers of my books look so attractive. A beautiful product gives pleasure to the owner.
Take a look at Carl's site, what do you think?
http://www.bespokejoinerysolutions.com/gallery/
Sunday 11 July 2010
Letter From Abergele
Letter From Abergele
July 11 2010
I was right about Nick Servini
Well first of all my apologies for not writing but I have been wondering when the public will see what we have been saying and that is starting to happen. One of the problems in being an academic is that you can be too far ahead of the curve and we probably were on this one.
Thankfully the world cup has been a distraction but the last time I was on Radio Wales with Jamie and Lou I made the point that Nick Servini will be coming on our tellies and radio in Wales to announce job losses and it has started to happen. ( If you are not in Wales Nick Serrvini is the business correspondent for the BBC in Wales).
The answer has to be a long term strategy to educate the population to do higher level 'value added work'. Why do I argue this? A factory has just closed in South Wales, the factory is relocating to Mexico because the labour costs are cheaper. The Welsh labour force did nothing wrong, they worked well, they produced good quality products but the fact is that in Mexico they can be made cheaper and therefore the company gets more profit. Whilst this may appear to be greedy and it is, it is also a fact of life that sadly we have to get used to. Yet in Wales there are a small number of high tech companies that are at the cutting edge in bio technology. My own publishing company is selling books around the world. What is common between these two different sectors is the difficulty in finding people qualified to a high enough level in mathematics and science.
Yet the fact is the UK government is cutting back on the new school build, this is utter madness, short term thinking and is detrimental to ordinary people in Wales and across the UK as a whole. We need to spend more money on our young people not less. The idea that we can educate people for 21 st century jobs and motivate them when they are in nissen huts that are literally falling apart is hysterical.
How many Tories will send their children to the type of school where the woodwork on the windows is rotten? We have to invest, and to cut back this programme is naiive. Schools last for 100 years +, it is something that is done once every four or five generations. The Labour government were right to introduce this policy to educate our young people, this government is wrong yet again.
July 11 2010
I was right about Nick Servini
Well first of all my apologies for not writing but I have been wondering when the public will see what we have been saying and that is starting to happen. One of the problems in being an academic is that you can be too far ahead of the curve and we probably were on this one.
Thankfully the world cup has been a distraction but the last time I was on Radio Wales with Jamie and Lou I made the point that Nick Servini will be coming on our tellies and radio in Wales to announce job losses and it has started to happen. ( If you are not in Wales Nick Serrvini is the business correspondent for the BBC in Wales).
The answer has to be a long term strategy to educate the population to do higher level 'value added work'. Why do I argue this? A factory has just closed in South Wales, the factory is relocating to Mexico because the labour costs are cheaper. The Welsh labour force did nothing wrong, they worked well, they produced good quality products but the fact is that in Mexico they can be made cheaper and therefore the company gets more profit. Whilst this may appear to be greedy and it is, it is also a fact of life that sadly we have to get used to. Yet in Wales there are a small number of high tech companies that are at the cutting edge in bio technology. My own publishing company is selling books around the world. What is common between these two different sectors is the difficulty in finding people qualified to a high enough level in mathematics and science.
Yet the fact is the UK government is cutting back on the new school build, this is utter madness, short term thinking and is detrimental to ordinary people in Wales and across the UK as a whole. We need to spend more money on our young people not less. The idea that we can educate people for 21 st century jobs and motivate them when they are in nissen huts that are literally falling apart is hysterical.
How many Tories will send their children to the type of school where the woodwork on the windows is rotten? We have to invest, and to cut back this programme is naiive. Schools last for 100 years +, it is something that is done once every four or five generations. The Labour government were right to introduce this policy to educate our young people, this government is wrong yet again.
Saturday 17 April 2010
Letter From Abergele April 17 2010 The cuts are coming
April 17 2010 The cuts are coming
I have been saying this till I am blue in the face, after the election we are due for cuts in public services. The news is littered with details of possible cuts. Mr Brown has said there will be cuts but not yet, Mr Cameron has said he will cut immediately. Yet, and this is what amazes me, some people are still living in dreamsville. Some trade unionists are 'determined to protect members living standards and resist all cuts to pay and changes to working conditions.'
Guys the cupboard is bare, get real! When the economic crisis hit, we were hours away from total meltdown. We were hours away from cashpoints closing down, hours azway from trains and buses stopping running. Whatever you think of Gordon Brown, on the economy he got it right and this election is all about the economy. This is where the pain is felt and will be felt for a long time. This is why the Back to the Black programme ( www.backtotheblack.co.uk) is so important. There has never been a more important time to clear debt and create wealth.
I was in a meeting yesterday in Wrexham where I heard of one poor chap here in North Wales who is soon to lose his home. The idea that there can be sections of the community that are immune from cuts in services ( and that means less teachers, less nurses and so on) is nonsense. We will all feel the pain, there does have to be cuts and rises in taxation but not yet.
A lot of politicians are now bemoaning the fact that many public services now have an increase in managers. Hang on, this means that doctors spend their time treating patients, teachers spend their time teaching children, not dealing with admin. Cutting managers is not the only answer. The answer has to be to sustain the economic recovery by avoiding cutting this year. That keeps people in work, that keeps taxes flowing into the treasury and keeps public services going. Then when the economy, which has had the economic equivalent of a heart attack, will be given chance to recover. Then when the economy is stronger we can make the cuts that are needed.
This will keep people in work, it will keep people in their homes and it will help generate wealth that will make the economy grow. Then when we have generated some more cash, and we will, then we can start paying off the debts and that is the sensible way to move forward. Making cuts now will risk giving the patient another heart attack and this could be fatal.
So you have to make a decision, do you carry on as if nothing has happened? Do you blame the current government? ( Don't, it wasn't their fault), or do you hunker down, clear any personal debt and then invest for your future?
It is your vote on May 6th, use it wisely.
I have been saying this till I am blue in the face, after the election we are due for cuts in public services. The news is littered with details of possible cuts. Mr Brown has said there will be cuts but not yet, Mr Cameron has said he will cut immediately. Yet, and this is what amazes me, some people are still living in dreamsville. Some trade unionists are 'determined to protect members living standards and resist all cuts to pay and changes to working conditions.'
Guys the cupboard is bare, get real! When the economic crisis hit, we were hours away from total meltdown. We were hours away from cashpoints closing down, hours azway from trains and buses stopping running. Whatever you think of Gordon Brown, on the economy he got it right and this election is all about the economy. This is where the pain is felt and will be felt for a long time. This is why the Back to the Black programme ( www.backtotheblack.co.uk) is so important. There has never been a more important time to clear debt and create wealth.
I was in a meeting yesterday in Wrexham where I heard of one poor chap here in North Wales who is soon to lose his home. The idea that there can be sections of the community that are immune from cuts in services ( and that means less teachers, less nurses and so on) is nonsense. We will all feel the pain, there does have to be cuts and rises in taxation but not yet.
A lot of politicians are now bemoaning the fact that many public services now have an increase in managers. Hang on, this means that doctors spend their time treating patients, teachers spend their time teaching children, not dealing with admin. Cutting managers is not the only answer. The answer has to be to sustain the economic recovery by avoiding cutting this year. That keeps people in work, that keeps taxes flowing into the treasury and keeps public services going. Then when the economy, which has had the economic equivalent of a heart attack, will be given chance to recover. Then when the economy is stronger we can make the cuts that are needed.
This will keep people in work, it will keep people in their homes and it will help generate wealth that will make the economy grow. Then when we have generated some more cash, and we will, then we can start paying off the debts and that is the sensible way to move forward. Making cuts now will risk giving the patient another heart attack and this could be fatal.
So you have to make a decision, do you carry on as if nothing has happened? Do you blame the current government? ( Don't, it wasn't their fault), or do you hunker down, clear any personal debt and then invest for your future?
It is your vote on May 6th, use it wisely.
Sunday 28 June 2009
Clearing debt
Since I have published my book, Back to the black how to get out of debt and stay out of debt, I have become convinced of one thing, we may not realise it but we are living through a period that will go down in history as a political and economic change unlike any we have seen before.
In the book I talk about how to organise your finances to ensure that you live within your means and can pay your debts. But the fact is most people don't. In America the average person lives on about 122% of their income. In other words they borrow against future earnings. In Europe we are not quite as bad but not far off.
OK quick question, who are we borrowing off?
Answer China.
The Chinese are bailing us out big time. This has an effect that we need to be aware of: the Chinese will emerge as the global dominant power by 2050 at the latest and the power of the USA will wane. This is already in the system and frankly it is too late in many ways to do anything about it. Or is it?
Well there are things we can do at a personal level and one of them is to live within our means. Think about what this means in real life. It means you do not owe anything and you own everything. It means there is nothing in your home that is on HP, there is nothing that you do not own outright.
Remember what I have said in the media about credit:
'They agree to lend you money and you agree to make them wealthy'
That is the reality of this type of lifestyle and it is not sustainable. It also has political implications and I will be writing about this in future blogs. In the meantime if you need help with finances it will be my privilege to help, my book is called Back to the Black, how to get out of debt and stay out of debt published by Aber Publishing isbn 978-1-84285-141-8
In the book I talk about how to organise your finances to ensure that you live within your means and can pay your debts. But the fact is most people don't. In America the average person lives on about 122% of their income. In other words they borrow against future earnings. In Europe we are not quite as bad but not far off.
OK quick question, who are we borrowing off?
Answer China.
The Chinese are bailing us out big time. This has an effect that we need to be aware of: the Chinese will emerge as the global dominant power by 2050 at the latest and the power of the USA will wane. This is already in the system and frankly it is too late in many ways to do anything about it. Or is it?
Well there are things we can do at a personal level and one of them is to live within our means. Think about what this means in real life. It means you do not owe anything and you own everything. It means there is nothing in your home that is on HP, there is nothing that you do not own outright.
Remember what I have said in the media about credit:
'They agree to lend you money and you agree to make them wealthy'
That is the reality of this type of lifestyle and it is not sustainable. It also has political implications and I will be writing about this in future blogs. In the meantime if you need help with finances it will be my privilege to help, my book is called Back to the Black, how to get out of debt and stay out of debt published by Aber Publishing isbn 978-1-84285-141-8
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