The year did not start off the best by any stretch of the imagination. I had a regular meeting with a manager and his first words (first day back) were ‘your position has been made redundant’. For anyone else that has ever been in this position you will know what I mean when I say that it is like the world stands still and you are looking back at yourself. The sheer shock of the statement, coupled with the timing was the timing, was a real head spinner.

To give a little more perspective to my situation at the time, I had just taken our business unit through an audit process that had taken me the better part of 2 months to prepare for. We passed with flying colours just prior to the Christmas break. There was also the rather large issue of our second baby on the was in 3 months, and facing a situation with 2 parents not working was a scary fact.

At some point several weeks later I made the decision to start my own business within the research industry. It is something I probably jumped into a lot quicker that I should have, but from what everyone says it’s the only was to do it. Had I not, I would still be contemplating things. Setting up a company and having a second child in the same few weeks is not really something that I would recommend to most, but it was just another step in a wild ride for 2009.

In March we were greeted with our lovely baby daughter with a smile that just lights up a room. Even when I was sitting up for nights on end figuring how I would pay the bills (and I still do at times), her smile at those night feeds and early morning wake ups would make it all worthwhile.

Towards the middle of the year things started to settle down with Demi sleeping better and the business taking on that magical second and then third client. It is amazing what a different feeling it is when you have more than one client, you go from a virtual employee to a business.

The support that I received from family and friends throughout the year has been without a doubt a life saver. The other groups that have been an amazing source of motivation and inspiration have been the people who attend the @CoffeeMornings. I started attending only this year, and have met such a vast array of people that have really helped replace an office social environment that I miss.

It was at this meet up that Gavin Heaton (better know as the Servant of Chaos) asked me to participate in the Man Week campaign being conducted by Triple J and the Inspire Foundation to help men talk about their feelings and to combat issues faced by young male- specifically depression and suicide. I started with this post, and then a second post for the Man Week campaign, and ended up culminating in The Perfect Gift for a Man book.

If you asked me at the beginning of 2009 if I thought I would have my own company and have contributed to a book to help change peoples lives, I would have told you to switch to decaf.

It has been extremely hard work with the business in the first year, but is has also been incredibly rewarding. Having control over my environment and knowing that when I work harder I seen the fruits of my labour, is a very satisfying thing. Instantly becoming the Director, Sale Manager, Marketing Manager, IT Manage, HR Manager, CTO, CFO and Receptionist is a bit of a culture shock as well.

So now I am sitting on the couch at what is almost the end of a VERY interesting year. New child, new business, new life and more. It all started with bad news at the beginning of the year and has ballooned into nothing but positive energy.

Ask you self- if the same thing would happen to you next year, what would you make of it?

I started writing this post from a cafe up the road from my house whilst waiting for my Chiropractor appointment. I needed to go to the bank and post office so figured I would just stay out and get some work done. Searching for a cafe to work from I suddenly remembered that it was Melbourne Cup day and every place had a special lunch running thus making free tables somewhat of a scarcity. I finally found a small cafe/ deli around the corner with decent coffee and planted myself there for an hour or so.

As always my first priority is to find some open and free wifi to connect to and get some work done- this is where things got interesting. There were several networks locked down, and the only one without security was of all things the RTA traffic routers at the intersection. To my astonishment there was no security on this access point and I was freely able to connect and access the web. I could have tethered my iPhone for some 3G access, but this is cumbersome, and in many cases the wifi will always give better access and stability. I have gone to some decent lengths to be able to work more freely without it costing me (much) more. I even downgraded the OS on my iPhone so that I could use tethering for 3G access when WiFi is not available.

This got me thinking about how hard it is to get decent web access when out, and why cafes still do not see it as an advantage to offer such a service.

There are a few VERY smart cafes in the city and the east that have put in wifi to varying degrees. Some have a cumbersome log in procedure whilst others simply have the network wide open. Others are doing an interesting experiment and offering the access outside of peak times (lunch and dinner) to promote trade in those periods.

Whatever the decision, I can simply say this- if there are 2 cafes in an area I need to work in and one has wifi and the other does not, guess where I am parking myself!!!

Just a little food for thought for cafe owners looking to drum up some extra business.

We have all experienced it. The lazy shop attendant, the rude waiter, the shopkeeper that just doesn’t think his business even needs customers.

Our experience with these people and businesses often leave a lasting impression for a variety of reasons. In some cases we actually made a purchase from said business either out of necessity or the need to keep one’s sanity whilst the kids are screaming all the way through Westfield.

What often does not leave a lasting impression for us is when we have a positive customer service experience either pre, during or post purchase. Is this because we have come to expect a level of mediocrity in service that we only care to remember the disastrous and not the pleasant and helpful?

My recent experience in needing to purchase a new television (my beloved plasma died in a power surge) is not only a poster-child for the negative above, but a shining example for the positive.

Like many tech lovers out there, I relish the opportunity to purchase a new item and enjoy researching the various options available as well as digesting all manner of opinions and reviews. Having a short period of time to do my research when our TV departed this world, I went straight to the review blogs and hit up friends on Twitter for all manner of recommendations.

Within a few hours I had read all the reviews I could handle, and the tweets were coming in thick and fast recommending particular brands and answering the eternal question of Plasma vs. LCD (I went for Plasma).

Armed with the latest product knowledge from reviews and recommendations, I headed up to the Local Westfield to see what the local retailers had and if there were any decent specials. I visited David Jones, Myers, Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, Bing Lee and JB HiFi- this is where things got interesting.

Only 2 of the retailers even had staff interested in talking to customers, and of those only one was helpful. This ended up being on of the most positive buying experiences. The sales rep at JB HiFi was incredibly knowledgeable and honest (a rear quality). He mentioned reviews on blogs that I had read, and swayed me away from a more expensive product as it’s advantages were not worth the cost. I ended up receiving a good price for the unit and made the purchase on the spot.

Such a positive experience can leave a lasting impression on a consumer for years to come and cement the foundations of a positive and ongoing relationship with the brand. Additionally what many organisations, big and small, fail to understand is that one happy customer is worth a hundred more if they talk about their experience (the same is also true for the negative- with negative consequences).

In an age where conversation happens at the speed of light, and positive and negative experiences and feeling are shot around Twitter in an instant, organisations must pull out the proverbial finger to make sure that their customer service and overall customer experience is not just satisfactory but extraordinary.

I was sent the video below this morning. Definitely worth a look to brighten up your day.

It also got me thinking about the power of an individual in starting something from nothing (watch the video and you will see what I mean).

Interested to hear of some great examples you can think of where an individual started something brilliant.

Leave a comment and let me know.

The now famous/ infamous Clare Werbeloff was initially thought to be another social media stunt.

Either way, the very interesting fact is that it has made many people think definitely about social media and traditional media in general. Did this even change your views?

Interesting article on Life Hacker today about how fast Firefox is being taken up in Europe They are quoting a Reuters story saying that Firefox has just edged past IE 7.

It will be interesting to watch the numbers with the eventual release of IE8.

Over the last few years, online has been producing some of the best April Fools day pranks. The stand out performer in many cases has been Google, with the launch of often crazy product/ service offering.

This year has again seen some great ones from the likes of Mumbrella and News.com.au.

For a few more from this year, check out the Mumbrella article.