Change your thinking

What it comes down to, is action. I'm not talking about 'snapping out of it'. I'm saying if you're feeling stuck in a rut, bored, stale, lacking in self belief or you've just run out of ideas, why not try doing just one little thing differently?

So often it's our thinking that gets us into a rut. Small business owners are particularly at risk of this because we tend to rely heavily on our inner resources. But when it's our thinking that gets us into that rut, how much sense does it make to try to think our way out of it?

I'm thinking, not much.

Meanwhile, the very act of deciding to do something rather than keep thinking about how to make a shift is itself doing something different. There's your first little step right there.

You may have heard the expression 'Act as...'. This is a technique for tackling unhelpful thinking or beliefs about ourselves. If one of your inner voices dishes out thoughts like, "I am not creative" for example, or put-downs that amount to the same thing, you need a strategy to restore your sanity.

You can counter that voice by imagining what things might be like if you were creative. What would such a person - yes you - be doing? What behaviours would provide evidence that you were indeed creative? What kind of beliefs would you have about yourself? What sort of inner dialogue would be going on in the mind of a totally creative you?

The invitation you can issue to yourself, is to act 'as if' you were creative; that is, to step into this picture of your very creative self, be it and do it and see what flows. Taking the action first can actually change the way we think, feel and experience ideas about many things. Creativity is just an example.

When we start taking different actions, despite feeling uncomfortable and anxious, it becomes a whole lot easier to rewrite the script for those inner voices. What's more, when we're actually walking that new talk, we're giving ourselves every reason to believe we are in fact creative, capable, courageous, compassionate, confident or whatever belief we'd like to have about ourselves. (Note: it also works for qualities that begin with letters other than "c").

Remember, you can begin with the tiniest change imaginable. To start with, shift your gaze 10 degrees, not 90. And watch yourself become more of the thing that crazy voice says you're not.
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The importance of customer loyalty

Loyalty leaders are successful because they have designed their entire business systems around customer loyalty. Building a highly loyal customer base must be integral to your basic business strategy.

Customer loyalty can be defined as the strength of the relationship between an individual's relative attitude and repeat patronage with a supplier.

It is a self-reinforcing system in which the company delivers superior value consistently to find and keep high-quality customers, (and, where applicable, employees).

The economic benefits of high customer loyalty are measurable. When you consistently deliver superior value and win customer loyalty, market share, revenues and profitability all go up, and the cost of acquiring new customers goes down.

A clear and structured new customer induction scheme will boost customer loyalty and retention, increase the frequency of purchase and raise the dollar value of each transaction and increase referrals.

Customer induction schemes are a vital step in business growth as they deliver higher yielding customers and drive up profits by reducing the need to spend money attracting new customers.

It is very much about long term retention marketing and is purely created through exemplary customer service. Creating an induction scheme does not replace the imperative of delivering excellent customer service at each and every transaction, it merely supports it.

I’ve said it before and it’s well worth repeating, “People do business with people they trust”. Furthermore, people do business with people who are knowledgeable, efficient and will deliver what they promise.

Nothing is harder to regain than lost trust.

We are at a time when gaining a customers' trust is critical. Building trust is a daily process, conducted on purpose. Now more than ever, we need to focus on behaving ethically and resolving problems with customers.

Only 2 percent of customers complain and credible research suggests a complaint, when resolved well and in a timely fashion, converts into a loyal customer. So welcome them if and when you get them.

Opportunity will not be greatest for those companies with the most technological bells and whistles; it will go to those companies that develop and nurture a service culture.

For more from Jack Fraenkel, head to www.flyingsolo.com.au, Australia's online community for solo business owners.
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Business commitments: Is your word your bond? Also in this section

‘Gumps’, the oldest member of my family, is a 91 year old country stockman. Back in the day, he did big deals on nothing more than a handshake.

But it seems business commitments and promises are getting increasingly casual. Is your word your bond?

Gumps was telling me that a couple of water bills that showed usage a little on the high side, prompted him to drop by his local water authority. It wasn’t the cost he was concerned about, but the wastage.

He was greeted by a ‘young fella’ who assured him the water used was within the normal range for a couple. Gumps, who has two huge rainwater tanks and is quick in the shower, insisted that they didn’t use that much.

Eventually he was told “Let me look into it for you and let you know if I find anything.” Gumps headed off unsatisfied, expecting to hear nothing more of it.

Millions of casual promises are made in business and life every day:

* “I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”
* “I’ll be there at 3pm.”
* “It’ll only take 5 minutes.”
* “I’ll send you a quote first thing.”
* “I’ll make a decision next week.”
* “Your call is important to us.”

Mostly the intentions of the business commitments are genuine, but often they are meaningless utterances said out of habit. The problem is that they erode people’s trust in your ‘real’ promises and reliability.

I like to finish business conversations with a commitment to action or ‘next step’. I know, however, that I need to keep the business commitment or not make it at all.

The good news is because people are used to being let down in a world of casual promises, it’s easy to set yourself apart just by doing what you say you’ll do.

That’s why when Gumps received a letter and cheque in the mail a few weeks later he was so astonished that he’s been raving about the great service ever since.

Why? All because the young lad had simply “looked into it and got back to him” as promised. And it was their error in the first place!

This level of service should come as standard, but it’s rare.

It’s the same old but true chestnut; under-promise, over-deliver. Or as Elvis would say “A little less conversation, a little more action.”

For more from Peter Crocker, head to www.flyingsolo.com.au, Australia's online community for solo business owners.
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Recovery of digital tech sector calls for new strategies

Now is the time to guide the future of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as it recovers from the effects of the economic crisis, the head of a United Nations technology unit said today.

“I am optimistic that not only will the ICT sector recover quickly, but it will also act as a catalyst in stimulating investment and growth in other sectors,” Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), said as the World Telecommunications Policy Forum (WTPF) opened in Lisbon, Portugal.

“WTPF presents a timely opportunity to forge global strategies that underpin the development and growth of future ICT networks and services,” he added.

ITU’s concerns have grown rapidly in recent years to go beyond fixed and mobile telephones to issues concerning internet bandwidth and the increased convergence of devices, applications and services that “facilitate seamless communications in a multi-protocol, multi-vendor environment,” according to the Union, which is sponsoring the three-day Forum.

This phenomenal growth of the sector, highlighted by mobile subscriptions reaching the 4 billion mark at the beginning of this year, prompted ITU’s Plenipotentiary Conference in 2006 to convene the WTPF to review emerging directions.

WTPF-09 focuses on key policy issues that will guide future regulatory and standardization efforts worldwide in the areas of new technologies and networks, communications security and regulations to bolster interconnection between different networks and types of communications, the Union said.

A Strategic Dialogue on ‘Confronting the Crisis’ opening yesterday ahead of the WTPF, moderated by TV anchors Stephen Cole and Vasco Trigo, and focused on how investment and financing in ICT can make a critical difference in the current recession.

At the session, repeated calls were made for a digital Marshall Plan, which had been proposed earlier by ITU at the Connect Africa Summit held in Kigali, Rwanda in October 2007.

Dr. Touré pointed out that Australia, the United States and several European countries are investing in stimulus packages based on the development of ICT infrastructure such as high-speed broadband.

Over 880 participants, representing 126 Member States and including 40 ministers, are expected to attend WTPF-09 along with representatives of the private sector, international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
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UN anti-crime tsar warns of global reach of organized crime

The head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) cautioned today that organized crime “has gone global,” posing a security threat to cities, countries and even entire regions.

In his opening remarks to the 18th session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said that drug cartels are spreading violence in Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean and West Africa. Collusion between insurgents and criminal groups is jeopardizing the stability of West Asia, the Andes and parts of Africa.

Kidnapping is widespread around the world, he added, with human trafficking also extending its global reach.

Blueprints for tackling organized crime, such as the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the UN Convention against Corruption, already exist, the Executive Director said.

But, he noted, “implementation has been patchy, there is almost no information on world crime and efforts to fight crime have been disjointed,” resulting in countries facing “a crime situation of their own making.”

Although the current financial crisis could exacerbate the situation, it could also provide an opportunity to end bank secrecy, close tax havens and boost regulation and compliance measures, he stressed.

States’ political will is “mightier than the greed and firepower of criminal groups,” Mr. Costa said, calling for stepped up global cooperation. “Working together does not mean surrendering sovereignty, it means defending it.”

The 40-member Commission – which will review methods of crime prevention and the bolstering of criminal justice, as well as ways to fight economic fraud and identity-related crime – will wrap up its session on 24 April.
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Kenya must stop organized harassment of human rights defenders

Kenyan law enforcement agencies have systematically harassed and intimidated human rights defenders, a United Nations independent expert said, expressing outrage at threats made against those who have cooperated with the world body.

“Dozens of prominent and respected human rights defenders have been targeted in a blatant campaign designed to silence individual monitors and instil fear in civil society organizations at large,” with many rights defenders having been forced into hiding or exile, said Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions.

The Kenyan police and military are violating the most basic rules governing the treatment of the world body’s fact-finding missions, he underscored.

“Non-cooperation with a UN mission is one thing, but making threats against those that have provided information to the UN, as well as harassing their families, is quite another,” the expert stressed.

Last month, Oscar Kamau Kingara, founder of the Oscar Foundation Free Legal Aid Clinic, along with a co-worker, was gunned down in Nairobi, one week after meeting with Mr. Alston.

Mr. Kingara’s foundation had provided testimonies of family members of people who had been allegedly killed by police to the Special Rapporteur and, in 2007, had published a report entitled “License to Kill – Extrajudicial Executions and Police Brutality in Kenya.”

According to Mr. Alston, the Government has accused the Oscar Foundation of having close links to a criminal gang, the Mungiki.

“We try to take every possible precaution to ensure the security of those that we speak with. At the end of the day if you have a very determined and ruthless group that is going to punish and intimidate these people, there isn’t much that can be done,” he said.

The expert noted today that “all indications seem to point to the face that the campaign has been carefully coordinated within the Government,” with people from a range of civil society groups having been targeted, threatening telephone messages having been left for many prominent public figures and security forces having frequently visited and threatened family members of defenders who have fled.

President Mwai Kibaki, Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and others who control the security have not spoken out against the intimidation of the rights defenders, Mr. Alston noted, and there have been no substantive responses to complaints lodged by the UN.

The expert – who, like all UN Special Rapporteurs, reports to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council in an unpaid, independent capacity – called on the Kenyan Government to immediately publicly order the police and military to end the intimidation and harassment of the defenders.

“The international community can not stand by as Kenya responds to findings highlighting human rights violations by unleashing an attack on those struggling to document and respond to such violations,” he said.
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Cholera infection continues to slow in southern Africa

The cholera epidemic in southern Africa continues to abate, but international and local health authorities stress the need to remain vigilant, the United Nations reported today.

“Overall, the duration and magnitude of the epidemic underscores the need for strengthening surveillance, preparedness and underscores plans in all countries,” according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

There were a total of 4,579 new cases between 3 and 17 April in the nine countries – Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe – affected by the often fatal disease since August 2008.

During the two weeks preceding 3 April, 6,460 new cases were reported, OCHA said.

Authorities warn, however, that cholera could re-appear in the coming one to three weeks, when waters from flooding in the region, which has affected more than 1.2 million people, subside and become stagnant.

Those displaced by the deluge lack access to shelter, water and sanitation facilities and are at higher risk of contracting the disease, OCHA said. To prevent that from happening, UN Country Teams and humanitarian partners plan to expedite their aid to flood victims.

In a number of countries, national cholera policies and contingency planning is also taking place, in partnership with the UN World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other organizations.

The cumulative total of cholera cases reported in southern Africa stands at 155,692, including 96,718 cases in Zimbabwe, the worst affected country.

The total number of reported deaths stands at 4,686, with 4,218 of those in Zimbabwe.
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Food emergencies continue in 32 countries despite supply rise

High food prices persist in developing countries despite an improved global cereal supply and a sharp decline in international food prices, the United Nations agricultural agency warns in a report released today.

“This is creating further hardship for millions of poor people already suffering from hunger and undernourishment,” says the latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation report produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The food crisis of last year has not ended in developing countries as cereal prices in most remain generally very high, in some cases at record levels, FAO said. Worst affected are the urban poor and food-deficit farmers who are dependent on the market to access food.

An analysis of domestic food prices for 58 developing countries shows that in around 80 per cent of the cases food prices are higher than 12 months ago, and in around 40 per cent higher than three months ago. In 17 per cent of the cases, the latest price quotations are the highest on record.

The situation is most dramatic in sub-Saharan Africa. Domestic prices of rice are much higher than 12 months earlier in all countries analyzed, while prices of maize, millet and sorghum are higher in 89 per cent of the countries compared to a year earlier.

Food prices remain at high levels in other regions as well, particularly in Asia for rice and in Central and South America for maize and wheat.

Moreover, the global economic recession is drying up remittances from family members working abroad that often sustain the food consumption levels of vulnerable households.

This year's world cereal production is forecast to decline by 3 per cent from the 2008 record, but it would still be the second largest crop ever, according to FAO's first 2009 forecast.

Most of the decrease is expected to be in wheat, mainly due to a significant reduction in plantings in developed countries in response to lower international prices.

In developing countries, cereal output could remain close to last year's good level, the agency said.
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UNESCO and its partners launch online library to celebrate world cultures

In a bid to celebrate the world’s myriad cultures, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and dozens of partner institutions today launched the World Digital Library, a Web site featuring cultural materials from libraries and archives worldwide, free of charge.

The new Library, known as WDL, will function in seven languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish – and includes content in over 40 languages.

James H. Billington, the United States Librarian of Congress, first proposed the creation of the online library to UNESCO in 2005, stressing that such a project could have the “salutary effect of bringing people together by celebrating the depth and uniqueness of different cultures in a single global undertaking.”

At today’s launch at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the agency’s Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura hailed the WDL, noting that it “offers and invaluable platform for the free flow of information, for international solidarity, for the celebration of cultural diversity and for the building of inclusive knowledge societies.”

Developed by a team from the Library of Congress, the project seeks to expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet; provide resources for educators, scholars and general audiences; and close the digital divide both within and between countries.

Among the information available on the WLD are manuscripts, books, maps and rubbings of oracle bones spanning the range of Chinese history, from ancient to modern times, contributed by the National Library of China.

Also on the site are Arabic scientific manuscripts from the National Library and Archives of Egypt and early photographs of Latin America courtesy of the National Library of Brazil.
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Even fewer will attend school due to falling basic education aid

Steep drops in aid to basic education in developing countries threatens to roll back progress made towards achieving the global goal of universal primary schooling, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) cautioned today.

Total aid commitments to basic education has dropped over 20 per cent from $5.5 billion in 2006 to $4.3 billion in 2007, according to the latest figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

At present, there are 75 million children out of school, with many millions more dropping out before completing primary education, the 2009 report of the UNESCO’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report Team said.

It also predicted that the goal of achieving universal primary education by 2015 will be missed by at least 30 million children.

Commitments made by donor nations have not been sustained, with only 5 per cent of all education aid going towards basic education in 2007.

Only the United States’ aid to basic education rose significantly in 2007, but too few countries stepped in to fill the financing gap.

“The concentration of aid to basic education among just a few donors means that financial assistance for countries is highly unpredictable,” said Kevin Watkins, Director of the UNESCO report.

The current global economic crisis could drive aid for basic education even lower, possibly even driving assistance down more than $1 billion by 2010, the study warned.

“This is not the time to be cutting aid to basic education,” Mr. Watkins said. “With the economic downturn pushing millions of vulnerable households into poverty and putting budgets under strain, donors should be providing a fiscal stimulus aimed at keeping children in school.”

The new report put the price tag for meeting key education goals in the world’s poorest countries at $11 billion, of which only one-quarter was received in 2007.

“Millions of children stand to be hardest hit by the [current economic] crisis, and face irreversible long-term consequences if denied health, nutrition and education,” said Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO. “We must invest in their future and provide them with the education they need to end poverty and improve their lives.”
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