The video below is the latest by Jim Kukral promoting his new book “Attention This Book Will Make You MONEY”

I interviewed Jim about his new book back on August 1st so if you are interested about making money online give it a listen by clicking the above link

But first my story about smiling

When I travel I like to stay in places where I get to mix with the people.

Usually this means small, apartment style hotels.

The last time I was in Phuket I stayed at such a place where I had a small apartment with a full kitchen and a balcony overlooking the back alley, or as they call it, soi.

The people who lived along the soi always ate outdoors. There were barbecues and small table top stoves everywhere.

I would walk down the soi while coming and going and I would always smile at a nice old lady who was always cooking and cleaning outside her little apartment.

I tried to engage her in conversation but all we could do was smile and nod our heads.

One day I was coming back from a day trip and there she was cooking some barbecued fish.

I have to tell you the aroma was fantastic.

As I approached her, she saw me, and with her big smile grabbed my arm and directed me to sit down.

Suddenly six or so of her grandchildren, maybe even great grand children , all came running out to sit with me.

They were all smiling and laughing and I had no idea what they were talking about but no doubt I was the topic.

At first I felt a bit uncomfortable.

But then the fish was served with some extremely hot dipping sauces.

I was in heaven even though I was turning beet red.

Somehow I connected with her just through smiling.

It is the same in business.

If you smile you are approachable.

If you frown or turn away you are telling people to stay away.

The next day I bought all of the kids t-shirts and new sandals, trust me they needed them.

My question for you is “are you approachable, do you smile and make eye contact” or do you avoid drawing attention to yourself?

Tell me in the comments below.

Peter Fuller MBA CA
905-566-1927

P.S. If you enjoyed this post please do share it.

I think most of us are aware of the Law of Attraction.

In simplest terms we attract what we think.

The law is really an observation.

And in many circumstances a personal observation.

Some, like Wattles and Hill explained the observation in terms of placing out thoughts in the “interspaces of the universe” or ether.

Others have been looking to Quantum Physics for answers.

And some have made it into some sort of mystical secret.

The problem with looking at the law in isolation is that it becomes a push button solution to your desires. Those who promote the law this way know this because it helps create push button sales for their products.

“All I have to do is think about my desires and the universe will provide them”

If only it was that easy.

I promised you something you may not know about the law and I alluded to it above, and here it is:

• The Law of Attraction is really an observation and requires the Law of Awareness to make it work.

We all know that if we sit in isolation thinking of riches nothing will happen, right?

Something more than chance is required.

Before I wrote this post I searched for other people’s thoughts on the Law of Awareness and found mostly mystical explanations.

I am not much of a mystical person even though I do occasionally refer to “kharma”.

The first step is self or inner awareness.

This inner awareness can be as simple as developing the desire for something or more complex such as performing a critical look at our lives.

A good example of this is Kathy Jodrey’s post about attracting abundance.

Kathy tells a great story about attracting a Jet Ski.

Kathy, through watching someone else Jet Ski realized that she wanted one for her family, but at an affordable price.

Her new inner awareness that she wanted a Jet Ski for her family suddenly manifested itself in her neighbourhood.

But did it?

Her inner awareness actually manifested the second step of awareness, her outer awareness.

When Kathy realized what she wanted, she now became aware of a unwanted Jet Ski in her neighbour’s yard. It was always there, she just never noticed it.

Kathy became aware that she could now own her own Jet Ski but she had to take an uncomfortable action, knocking on her neighbour’s door to ask how she could obtain it.

Some people justify their lives by saying that others are lucky because they get all of the opportunities.

Luck has nothing to do with it.

Those “others” are just more aware of opportunities when they present themselves.

Have you ever been given a thought about something, say from TV and then suddenly you see it everywhere?

Guess what, it was always there but you were not aware of it.

The last step of awareness is to create awareness in others of what you are doing to achieve your desires.

In business some refer to this as “Attraction Marketing”.

My friend Marcus Baker wrote a great blog post about how Attraction Marketing works and doesn’t work.

Here is a quote from his article:

“You cannot truly value others or share value until you are totally aware of your own value”

In Napoleon Hill’s famous book “Think and Grow Rich” he tells the story of Edwin Barnes. Barnes did not place his thoughts in the mysterious ether as Hill would explain, but rather through his actions and words he placed a seed, a thought, in Edison’s mind. He made Edison aware of him, enough so that he got his foot in the front door.

First we become aware of our desires.

Second we manifest those desires through our own outer awareness by seizing opportunities.

And finally, through our outer appearance, attitude, actions, and our spoken and written word, we create awareness in others in what we are doing.

If you are attracting people and events to your life that you do not desire that means your outer behaviour does not match your inner desires, you are not congruent.

When was the last time you had a really good talk with yourself and done some critical thinking of where you are right now in life and where you want to be?

Or are you living life unconsciously hoping things will work out?

Some may argue that they are living life consciously?

If you do not have a written plan for your desires and steps to achieve them, then I would argue you are living life unconsciously, just hoping things work out.

In my next post I will share my personal story and how I have applied the Law of Awareness.

For now share your thoughts in the comments below. I welcome differing opinions on this subject.

If you have your own story of awareness please share.

And finally I appreciate any sharing of this post through the various social media buttons at the top or bottom of this post.

Peter Fuller MBA CA
905-566-1927

P.S. Call me and make me aware of you

If you are thinking about starting your own business or just want to get better at your job the key is to practice, practice, practice.

Identify the skill sets that you will need, obtain the necessary training and then be prepared to do some serious practice.

And not just any type of practice, but “deliberate” practice.  The kind of practice that involves setting objectives just beyond your reach.  Your activity requires feedback and tons of repetition.

And while most may think of this in terms of such activities as sports it actually can be applied to your business or job.

Instead, it’s all about how you do what you’re already doing – you create the practice in your work, which requires a few critical changes. The first is going at any task with a new goal: Instead of merely trying to get it done, you aim to get better at it.

Report writing involves finding information, analyzing it and presenting it – each an improvable skill. Chairing a board meeting requires understanding the company’s strategy in the deepest way, forming a coherent view of coming market changes and setting a tone for the discussion. Anything that anyone does at work, from the most basic task to the most exalted, is an improvable skill.

Great article, now go read it.

Peter Fuller MBA CA
905-566-1927

I left the seller a 5 star rating, well deserved.

The phone is solid and easy to use, came with two batteries and shipping was free.

It even has a built-in flashlight.

I inserted my Sim card from Thailand, checked my balance and expiry date, and everything is ready to go when I arrive for my vacation later this month.

I also bought the activated Sim card on eBay as well

The phone looks good and has all of the functions I need while travelling, not to mention it is a quad band and it will work anywhere I travel. If I lost the phone, no big deal. I even bought an activated simm card on ebay two years ago. I make sure I top it off just before I head home so that it will be good for another year.

But this quote from the seller is what erks me about Ebay’s feedback policy.

We appreciate your business in my store , if you are satisfied with our service, please rate the details of the transaction (Detailed Seller Ratings) on eBay with a “PERFECT 5 STARS” and leave us a positive feedback.
Our system will automatically do the same for you when you leave me a 5 stars positive feedback to me

In my opinion the seller should be leaving feedback first, not the other way around. And that feedback should only be based on the customer’s timely, or not, payment.

The seller’s policy above is similiar to one where I demand feedback before I make my payment.

Why should I have to give “good” feedback first to receive my feedback, especially when I have completed my duty as a buyer.

So, what is the solution?

Simple, buyers cannot leave feedback until the seller does.

But is that a really good solution?

Some would argue that the seller would then be under pressure to leave good feedback.

How about a secret feedback system. Both parties leave feedback that is kept secret for enough days to allow both sides to leave that feedback.

But this solution would not satisfy those who like immediate feedback.

My solution, request feedback from the seller first, especially since I pay for my purchases immediately. If the seller is unwilling to leave feedback until I do, too bad.

I have been away giving birth to a kidney stone. I will not gross you out with the details.

I went to the emergency and had to wait my turn, a pain, but not the end of the world.

I was then admitted when it was discovered I was going through renal failure.

I then had to wait for my turn for surgery, a few days but the food was great.

After surgery I got to hang out at the hospital for another day.

Total cost to me, zero.

I did not have to mortgage my house.

I did not have to cash in securities.

Think about this.

How is it possible to take out a second mortgage for $100,000 and travel down to the US and not have to wait your turn for surgery.

The answer is that health care resources in the US are not fully utilized, but rather they sit waiting for the rich.

In Canada we do need to improve wait times, no doubt, but at least our system is fair.

Did I mention that they took very good care of me and it did not cost me a dime.

In high school I wrote a short story where we would interact with the world through holographic images. Televisions were no longer a physical object but high definition holographs that we could float anywhere we wanted and at any size. This was before the internet and the world wide web so I did not consider social media.

My holographic devices were just for data retrieval that fed an implant in your head. No one else could see your holographic devices since they were just an image generated in our minds through the implanted device that could also measure our interactions with those devices.

If I was to rewrite that story today I would include social interactions where I could project my images to others though their implanted devices. I can imagine one day sitting on a beach and interacting with my holographic computer.

When I watched this video on TED as Pattie Maes demos the Sixth Sense it brought back memories of that short story.

http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html

Please do not get me wrong, I am not passing judgement, some people feel that I am a moron and based on the particular context they are probably not wrong.

I was reading ReadWriteWeb during my lunch today and specifically the article “Are Trolls Ruining Social Media?”

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/are_trolls_ruining_social_media.php

My first gut response to this question is “no”, in fact sometimes they make it interesting. Some do not realize that what they are expressing has some truth to it, albiet in a moronic way.

All you have to do is look at what is on tv, and especially the top rated shows, to realize people like rediculous drama. They like to watch others suffer, cry or make fools of themselves, and somehow that is entertainment. I am waiting for the day that I can sit on my couch and zap some idiot on tv in real time, of course only if enough of us vote that way.

One solution offered by the article to counter trolls is to end online anonymity.

I disagree with that solution, which is different than online verification.

Face it, technically 99% of us could be easily tracked down if we exceeded our normal troll behaviour and delved into criminal troll behaviour.

Anonymity allows us to express ourselves freely and that should not be taken away easily.

Think about it, what better way than to secretly catalog morons from non-morons, let them freely express their opinons.

If you have ever read the short story “The Marching Morons” by Cyril M. Kornbluth you know that there is a neat solution on how to to deal with the ever-exploding moron population. Let’s just say it is a one way ticket to Venus.

A similiar solution could be applied to the morons who cheerfully expose themselves online. What better way than to deal with the pressing issues of the day like over-population, global warming, dwindling resources and traffic jams.

And who knows, maybe I will finally get to fly first class.

Peter Fuller MBA CA
905-566-1927

Philosophers have pondered the question “what is the meaning of life”

Theologians have argued over that question.

Scientists have prodded all kinds of things looking for the answer to that question.

In quiet times you may have even asked yourself that question.

Guess what?

No one knows the answer.

And to be honest it really is a waste of time thinking about it.

The most important question to ask is “What is in it for me”

Now this question may sound selfish, but it’s not.

It depends on how you ask the question, or the context in how you ask the question.

Get ready, this is going to be corny.

Do you wear that question on your forehead or do you keep it in your heart?

Yep, that was corny.

You can always see the person coming that wears it on their forehead.

They send you messages like “Thanks for …… Now please take a look at ……”

The people that keep it hidden are the ones that truly help you.

They ask you for nothing.

They produce videos on how to do something.

They help you setup a website.

They write informative blog posts that make you think.

They voice audios to help motivate you.

They do these things because they have asked themselves “If I help people what is in it for me”

Philanthropists give publicly to have their names permanently attached to something.

It gives them a sense of immortality.

Others give privately because it makes them feel good.

There is always a selfish reason for our actions, albeit very good reasons.

Not all selfish reasons have to be bad.

The next time you are pondering the meaning to life, just get yourself some popcorn, load up a Monty Python movie and ask yourself what’s in it for me.

Peter Fuller MBA CA
905-566-1927

They are a quirky bunch living from tick to tick.

The ones that do make money can see patterns that the average trader does not see and no computer program can identify.

So, what kind of opportunities exist for people like me and possibly you.

Well, first I live in Canada and even though I have strong financial experience to the best of me I cannot figure out why the UK Pound is worth so much more than the Canadian Dollar.

I know Canadians are nice and polite and we are considered only valuable for our unprocessed resources.  As the commodity market goes so does our dollar.

However I still do not get it.  Why can I spend $20 on a meal in Canada and spend £20 on the same quality meal in the UK.  I can go on and on but in most cases what I would spend here in dollars to obtain a product or service is the same that I would spend in the UK in pounds to obtain the same product or service there.  The problem is it cost me $36 for that £20.

Now let’s take Thailand.  It is the opposite.  Not only is the exchange rate quite favourable but what I can buy with it is also quite favourable.

So, where is the opportunity.

Well, I can play both ends of this exchange difference.

I can create a business in Thailand the produces a product that I then sell in my online store to people living in the UK.

I could sell the product in Canada as well and I will.  However I can take advantage of the exchange rates to make more in the UK.  What I sell in Canada for $10 I can sell in the UK for £10.

Seems like a good idea.

I have been working like a dog this past month.

Of course as I write this I wonder where that saying comes from, especially knowing how hard my dog works.

Anyways, my mind has been wandering tonight back to the beautiful beaches of Phuket, Thailand.

I took the above picture while relaxing on Kata Beach back in January.

Kata beach is just south of Karon and Patong beach.

Even though I am thinking of the beach, I am also working.

In fact I am testing Windows Live Writer right now by writing this post.

I’m impressed, even if it is a Microsoft product.

I am also on my laptop using Vista which sucks big time.

You will need a Windows Live ID and if you do not have one it is easy to register for one.

I have one that I have only used a few times and it appears Microsoft has added a few features since my last visit that I will have to check out later.

Here is a aerial view of Kata Beach.

Very easy to add a picture, a map, resize them, move them etc etc.

And my laptop has not even crashed yet!

Categories are available with just a click of the mouse and I can easily enter my tags.

Maybe I have not yet figured it out, but I cannot select from tags previous used.

For now I have to type them in.

The editor works so much smoother when running from your own computer verses using the WordPress editor online.

Sometimes the online editor has a mind of its own.

All in all I recommend Windows Live Writer if you are interested in writing your blogs from the comfort of your own computer verses using the online editor.

Peter Fuller MBA CA
905-566-1927

I like to watch golf, not love it, but like it.

I also like to watch curling.

I love watching the NFL.  I even own a fantasy team, almost twenty years now.

I am a Canadian so I naturally love doughnuts.  My favourite is the walnut cruller, and my waistline shows it.

Which brings me back to golf and my new hero, Angel Cabrera.

Previously my hero was John Daly until he turned a bit strange.

Yes, I know a Canadian has won the Masters, you know, what’s his name, too skinny and in shape to take seriously.

So I have made a decision.

Tomorrow I am going to start to work out so that I can hit the golf circuit next year.  I figure I need a year to get in shape.

I am going to get up early and drive down to McDonald’s for breakfast, probably the griddle sandwich, maybe a few burritos as well.

Lunch will be doughnuts and some pop so I have the energy I need to get ready for my nightly workout.

In the evenings I plan on diligently hanging out at my local bar testing the different beers of the world.  This workout not only prepares me for golf but also makes me well rounded when discussing beer with my friends.

I figure by the end of the year I will have the necessary form to be able to hit that little ball.

Peter Fuller MBA CA
905-566-1927

Ok, so where is my proof.

Well, lately I have been thinking about twitter and facebook, specifically why I auto-friend and auto-follow.

It occurred to me that I really only want to follow people who I find interesting or I can learn from, or maybe even find a mentor.

It also occurred to me that I only want people to follow me for the same reasons.

The reason I auto-friend and auto-follow is because I want to be polite.

So as I am thinking about this Michel Fortin posts a new rant:

http://www.michelfortin.com/twitter-populated-drones-frauds/

which nicely addresses the issue of auto-follow.

The other day I was also thinking about all of these new fancied named, killer products being offered that promise the world but do not really answer the universal marketing question, “How do I get traffic”.  Many just satisfy the sales function, not the marketing function.

In fact the question “How do I get traffic” from a internet marketing point of view is similar to “Why do I exist” or “What is the meaning of life” from a philosophical point of view.

Many can tell you the mechanics of getting traffic but they really cannot answer the question specifically for you.  There is no magic button for getting traffic.  The missing part in the equation is your creativity, which only you can answer.

Anyways, as I am thinking about “traffic” my email suddenly starts to fill with some interesting emails about traffic.

I do understand the complete marketing and sales cycle however I also understand that without traffic everything else is mute.

Really, when is the last time someone suffered from too much traffic.  Sure it is important to get targeted traffic, test and convert well and all that other stuff, but knowing how to generate traffic is still king, as Guy Fieri would say, that’s money.

So where is my proof that you are all a figment of my imagination?

As I was thinking about these topics suddenly answers started to appear from my imaginary world.

Peter Fuller MBA CA
905-566-1927

My first patent is called “Method and Apparatus for obtaining Remote Access to an Interior Location”.

Essentially it allows you to obtain access to an enclosed area through a movable device.

The device could rotate, swing or slide, either manually or automatically.

The device could be made from natural or man made materials, thus being extremely flexible in design.

I already have a court decision to enforce everyone to install a special apparatus that measures usage and automatically deducts licensing fees in real time and transfer them to my account.  Non-compliance will involve hefty fines and jail time.

The special apparatus will cost $19.99 or 3 for $39.99, good deal.

You can also lease them at $1.00 per month.

The licensing fee will be a very reasonable “one penny” per access (no in and out privileges).

The people down at the patent office were so friendly and accommodating.

They even helped me choose just the right technical jargon to make it fly.

I may just sell the thing to a bunch of lawyers and retire.

Peter Fuller MBA CA
905-566-1927

When I was a teenager I was a big fan of science fiction, still am.

I loved the Dune series by Frank Hebert. I think the politics intrigued me the most.

Space travel was only possible due to a commodity, the spice melange from the planet Arrakis. They had a monopoly. The Spacing Guild navigators would consume the spice so that they could achieve heightened awareness and prescience to be able to plot a safe course through space.

Imagine a huge space craft hitting a small rock traveling at unimaginable speeds.

Also imagine when they realized spice was actually worm shit, and we are talking about some pretty big worms here.

When I was a kid watching Star Trek I would always think “what would happen if they hit something at warp speed?”. I came to the conclusion that we really could not travel at such high speeds even if it was physically possible.

We haven’t even figured out yet how to prevent birds from getting into airplane engines so it would seem rather an enormous task to prevent a small pebble from getting in our way as we trek across the galaxy.

Recently I read where the Space Station crew had to seek shelter in their capsule when “space junk” posed a dangerous situation.

Think about it.

In a very short period of time for man to be in space we have already littered it so much that space travel is now even more dangerous due to this junk. Given the vastness of space we can actually run into this junk, or more likely have the junk run into us.

So what does this have to do with investing your money?

Well, watch the news for any companies who develop “space junk” removal technology.

Honestly, we are all going to be stuck here unless someone does.

If you are looking for a more practical investment then look at companies that specialize in cleanup technology because trust me, more and more ecology disasters are in our future.

Peter Fuller MBA CA
905-566-1927

I am not here to promote any one product and make money online with this blog, maybe other ones, but not this one.

If I discover interesting people, articles, or other blog posts I hope to share them here.

And remember: Our thoughts affect our actions and choices, our actions and choices affect our circumstances, so if you want to change your circumstances change your thoughts.