I’ve been married for 28 years to Roselyn, she’s the most wonderful lady in the world. In fact, she plans to be at NamesCon this January to meet many of my domaining friends so be on the lookout for her! I’m blessed with three children, Tim and Sarah are in their early twenties and Elise just turned seventeen.

I was up really late last night finishing an analysis on the publically traded registrar/registry company, Rightside, for a future blog post. It seemed only moments later that I had to get up early to go and see Elise play in her netball final.

Sadly, Elise lost her final but in my eyes she won the whole game. Despite being really sick this past couple of weeks and just coming through her final exams she put her heart and soul into the game and did the best she possibly could. I was a really proud father….regardless of the score.

Sarah is coming to the end of her course in specialist make-up (for movies and television) while maintaining a pretty full-on part-time job selling streetwear clothing. She’s killing her sales targets and is now one of the key members of the sales team.

Tim has just secured a position teaching English to Italian students through drama. This means that he’ll being heading to Italy first thing next year for five months of traveling to different schools around that country….what an experience! In the meantime, he’s just about finished writing his first book.

So why am I sharing a brief snapshot into my family? It’s so easy to take our loved ones for granted and assume that they will always be there…..and meanwhile time goes by. Sure, we have our difficult times, who doesn’t, but the reason why family is important is because…..well…..we’re family!

Over the years, finding out what really makes each other happy is crucial to happy family life. For instance, Sarah loves hearing that she’s doing well and getting little presents. Elise loves a cuddle on the couch, Tim likes any good conversation that also involves food and Roselyn loves it most when we spend time together.

If you’re struggling with your own family life or with a family member then my suggestion is to think about what really presses their buttons in a positive manner. We’re coming up to Christmas and it’s all about giving so why not think about your different family members in a new way. Instead of a gift voucher from Amazon, you may take your daughter out for dinner, spend some time getting some advice from your son about an investment or arrange for a day spa treatment for both your partner and you.

What I’ve found is that my family is just so important and provides the motivation to many things in my own life. Whenever I invest in my family I always seem to reap an incredible return….the challenge is to continue to invest for one day you may get surprised.

For example, a couple of hours ago Tim came home and presented Roselyn with a bunch of flowers and a box of chocolates for us both to share. He did this to just say thank you for dropping him off and taking him to the airport to visit his girlfriend in Sydney. It was a huge surprise for us both and a few tears of happiness were shed.

It made both Rosleyn and I so proud of our son and that some of those ratty teenage years were well behind him. As they say, “Ask a teenager while they still know everything” and spoken by a young man in his twenties, “it’s amazing how much smarter my parents are the older I become.” The person that coined these phrases really understood the torment that teenagers can sometimes bring a family.

If you’re going through this time, don’t worry, someday in the future your children will return to you and all the effort of bringing them up will be worth it.

Have a great weekend!

Michael

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Michael Gilmour has been in business for over 32 years and has both a BSC in Electronics and Computer Science and an MBA. He was the former vice-chairman of the Internet Industry Association in Australia and is in demand as a speaker at Internet conferences the world over. He has also recently published his first science fiction book, Battleframe.

Michael is passionate about working with online entrepreneurs to help them navigate their new ventures around the many pitfalls that all businesses face. Due to demands on his time, Michael may be contacted by clicking here for limited consulting assignments.

This past week I saw my son Timothy come alive. I’d just stepped into the house after the 30 hour journey from ICANN, Dublin and he told me that he’d just been found out that he’d got a job. This wasn’t just any job but one that involved him going from school to school teaching children English through theatre in Italy.

After competing for the position from applicants from all over the world he’d managed to secure the position and he was over the moon! I was so happy for him and it wasn’t long before the whole family was caught up in his enthusiasm.

As a part of his application Tim had to put together a “show reel” for the company in Italy which showcased his acting talents. I must admit that it was hilarious and that his Russian and Irish accents for the big bad wolf and three little pigs was a scream.

There’s something really special about achieving a goal. Whether it’s getting a new job, building a business or achieving something personally in your life. It’s more than a tick….it’s an inner sense of satisfaction that causes you to smile on the inside…..and then let it burst out on your face.

For the past eighteen months the ParkLogic team have been completely redeveloping our entire platform from the ground up. Several weeks ago at “The Domain Conference” we released a sneak preview of the dashboard (you can see this at http://next.parklogic.com) and just this past week we completed migrating our complete hosting infrastructure to a new environment as we gear up for Next.

The redevelopment was a big audacious goal that had a lot of risks with it as the team balanced the needs of the existing platform with the new development. The good news is that we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel….and it’s not a train coming in the opposite direction.

ParkLogic Next will be released in early 2016 and like my son I’m going to have a great big smile on my face at NamesCon. It’s not just that the platform is much better than our legacy system. It’s the fact that a goal will have been achieved and what's inside will reflect on my face.

Have a great weekend!

I hear too many people moan and groan about their job, their family or their life. They often feel disempowered to make positive changes over their life. Let me whisper a little secret in your ear….you can change your circumstances for the better! You just need to think a little differently.

For example, let’s imagine that you love your job but can’t stand your boss. Each day you find yourself in two minds of whether to persevere or quit. Solution! Get your boss’s resume and hand it onto a head-hunter. Your boss will get a better job and with any luck you’ll get promoted! It’s only a matter of thinking a little differently.

If you run a company then when was the last time you fired a painful customer? I remember I ran an Internet Service Providing business a number of years ago and our help desk was being driven insane but a painful customer. I got on the phone and politely told them that we couldn’t meet their level of service expectation and provided a list of three competitors.

They responded by saying, “You know your competitors don’t help customers the way you do!”

I then said, “Well here are the ground rules….”

We kept the customer, managed them appropriately and the support desk was happy once again.

I was speaking to a domain owner who was complaining that they were being harassed thirty to forty times per day by inbound buyers wanting to buy their domain. They have a super-premium domain and have no intention of selling at any price (well....almost). I suggested that they get a premium dial-in number and put a charge of about $10 per minute on it. Suddenly the hassle became worth it and a good source of revenue.

A couple of decades ago I overheard my sales team complaining that they were getting the run around by a potential customer. No matter how many times they called and left messages they couldn’t get the person to reply. I asked for the phone number that ended in 55 and dialled 54.

While the phone was ringing at the other end one of the sales team pointed out that I had dialled the wrong number. I replied, “I know.”

Sure enough the person who answered the call worked for the company that we were after and after a brief conversation that involved, “whoops, I dialled the wrong number”, I was speaking to the person my team had long sought. It’s just thinking a little out of the box that makes the difference.

So you want a better life? Here’s a few simple suggestions.

Get eight hours sleep….you’ll become more potent during the work day and life will look a lot better. Trust me when I say that I used to work to 3am each morning and I was not nearly as focused during the work day.

Think of someone that you love and do something special for them. There’s nothing like seeing their smile…it ignites something on the inside of yourself and them.

Pay the grocery bills of the person behind you in the check-out line at the local supermarket. I’ve done this quite a lot and I can reassure you that I’ve received more out of doing that then the person receiving my cash. You can also do this at the drive-through takeaway…it’s awesome fun!

Do you want to make your family life better? I wrote about fifty little messages on how I thought my daughter was wonderful for her to find scattered around the house. Learn to drink the beverage that your wife/husband likes. For me, it was tea and coffee. What I didn’t realise was that the activity had nothing to do with the drink and more to do with spending time with my wife.

Do something special just for yourself….and then don’t tell anyone. A few years ago I gained my private pilot’s license and didn’t tell any of my wider family. My dad discovered that I could fly when I had him sitting next to me in the cockpit. It was an incredible experience keeping the secret and then going “taaadaaa!”

Life isn’t a chore it’s more the way we are viewing it. Thinking out of the box is taking a look at the challenges that we all face and trying to view them differently. Sometimes we can be so bogged down in the swamp of problems that we don’t realise that the sun is shining overhead.

Have a great weekend!

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Michael Gilmour has been in business for over 32 years and has both a BSC in Electronics and Computer Science and an MBA. He was the former vice-chairman of the Internet Industry Association in Australia and is in demand as a speaker at Internet conferences the world over. He has also recently published his first science fiction book, Battleframe.

Michael is passionate about working with online entrepreneurs to help them navigate their new ventures around the many pitfalls that all businesses face. Due to demands on his time, Michael may be contacted by clicking here for limited consulting assignments.

For the past week and a bit I’ve been working my way through the “joys” of Influenza Type A. When your body has integrity, everything seems to function just right and work is a great reward in itself. When there is an invader like Influenza, everything gets out of kilter…..in a similar manner people can get out of balance with their ethics.

A number of years ago I was asked to mediate between two friends that were having a shouting match about who should pay their landlord $300. It was at lunchtime and I calmly ate my meal while I listened to the both of them really go at it.

I finally got up and said, “You both disgust me.”

They both turned to me and asked, “Why?”

“Because you value the friendship at $300.”

I then walked out…..so much for mediation.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy to help different parties out when there is a genuine dispute over a matter. When people value friendship at so little then it makes anything that I would say as completely irrelevant. These people have much bigger problems than $300.

At the recent Namescon conference I was speaking to a few guys that jointly owned a large domain portfolio. At the end of the conversation we shook hands on a deal and everything was great. Over the next few weeks they dodged phone calls and avoided replying to emails….obviously, their word was not their bond.

I don’t mind if people get a better offer….this sometimes happens in business but don’t avoid talking to the party that you’ve made an agreement with. If there is a problem then speak with them straight away….otherwise, you end up just looking like an idiot and a person that lacks integrity.

I was recently speaking to one of my kids and they were faced with an opportunity that could have saved them literally thousands of dollars with no one knowing. For some stupid reason they got me involved and they asked, “What should I do? No one will know.”

I immediately replied, “But you’ll know.”

There’s no such thing as “no one knowing”….it just depends how much you’re willing to ignore your conscious and sell you’re integrity for.

My business partner and I had a coffee at a local shop and we were so focused on our conversation that we just got up and left without paying the bill. The next day we discovered our error and I made the journey to the shop to fix up our bill. The coffee shop owner was stunned that anyone would make a special trip to pay for their coffee…..I didn’t want to know that I’d just sold my integrity for the price of a coffee.

Integrity is as much about being true to yourself then being a bit of a showman to those people around you. It’s being able to look in the mirror and like the person that is staring back at you.

The benefits of leading a life of integrity are multitude. When you sit down and talk with me I’ll tell you things straight. I won’t lie, shake your hand on a deal and then renege. If I can’t tell you something then I won’t. I’m entirely disinterested in short-term relationships which means that I’m committed to developing our relationship into the long-term. You should have the confidence that you’re dealing with someone that respects you and just as importantly, takes it very seriously when asked to look after your assets.

The benefits to me are incredible. I end up doing business with some really great people. I’ve known many of them for well over a decade and had the pleasure of seeing their children grow up. I don’t have to remember which lie I told to whom….I just tell the truth….it’s so much easier! If something goes wrong then we discuss the issue together and work on resolving the problem together.

I have people ask me what’s the secret of running a successful business and I tell them it’s really hard but also really simple. Live a life of integrity and you’ll attract the right customers that stand with you rather than war against you.

The result of this mindset has been that my own company, ParkLogic, has continued to grow year after year. Every client has a line directly to me. If there is a problem I want to get it resolved as quickly as possible. I also like hearing about the good news as well!

I would like to say that I get it right all of the time….but I don’t. I make blunders and the wrong decisions on a regular basis but I would like to think that I make amends, learn from the experience and move on. Living a life of integrity is not a destination but a journey of constant self-improvement. It’s working on the little things and learning to enjoy the simple satisfaction from doing what is right.

Like my Influenza Type A, knowing that you’ve just done the wrong thing can begin to eat away at you…..trust me when I say that it’s not worth it. When I got sick I went to the doctor to get checked out….who do you go to when you damage your integrity? Everyone needs someone.

Have a great weekend!

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Michael Gilmour has been in business for over 32 years and has both a BSC in Electronics and Computer Science and an MBA. He was the former vice-chairman of the Internet Industry Association in Australia and is in demand as a speaker at Internet conferences the world over. He has also recently published his first science fiction book, Battleframe.

Michael is passionate about working with online entrepreneurs to help them navigate their new ventures around the many pitfalls that all businesses face. Due to demands on his time, Michael may be contacted by clicking here for limited consulting assignments.

I was talking to a 20 year old at a party last night. I generally enjoy getting enthused by young people as they tend to have a really different outlook on the world which inspires me to new ideas. In the case of the young man, it was really sad to see that his life completely revolved around doing absolutely nothing. Nothing isn’t strictly true, as he sits in front of the television watching movies or playing games all day. Doh!

I love life and just wished that I had more hours in each day to do all the incredible things that seem to come my way….so to say the least, I was a little flummoxed during the conversation. His speech was slow, he moved slowly and everything about him seemed to be just plain slow. There was nothing wrong with is faculties but he had just ground down to a halt.

I tried to get him excited about doing Youtube videos or a blog about something that he was interested in. He told me that they were awesome ideas but when I looked in his eyes I saw that he was going to do absolutely nothing.

In the end I said to him, “I’d never ask you to do anything for me.”

He replied, “Why not?”

I said, “Because you’re not busy.”

It was his turn to be a little confused so I expanded on what I meant by saying, “In my experience, if I want something done then I give it to a busy person. They add it to their list of things to do and it gets done. People with a lot of time on their hands tend to push things off to the next day.”

As I looked into the young man’s eyes I could see a light bulb suddenly turn on in understanding. And just as quickly it looked like the dimmer switch had been wound back. There was nothing…..absolutely nothing there.

What’s amazing is that it’s actually quite easy to become a successful person online and make a whole lot of money. All you have to do is create at least three blogs or videos per week for about five years. Over time you’ll build up a lot of content that Google just loves and you will gain a following.

The problem with many people is that they give up after the first few months. I’ve been writing my own blog for over ten years and during that time I’ve built up a lot of readers. The challenge is to constantly provide quality content that readers want to read…..if you disrespect your readership in this manner then don’t expect them to hang around.

This is actually a really good lesson for young people. It’s rare that anything happens quickly….good things take time and perseverance. The problem with the instant generation is that they expect to become an instant hit immediately and get despondent when it doesn’t happen.

My book Battleframe took me around 20 months to write and publish. My company, ParkLogic has been in business for over 8 years. As I mentioned, I’ve been writing my blog for around 10 years and been in the domain industry for around 14 years.

Sure, I’d love instant success with any one of the new business ideas that I’m trying out but I’m also realistic in that I know that it just takes time. Some people think that it’s luck that determines success. Golfer Arnold Palmer said, “It’s amazing how lucky I seem to get the more that I practice.”

Have a great weekend!

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Michael Gilmour has been in business for over 32 years and has both a BSC in Electronics and Computer Science and an MBA. He was the former vice-chairman of the Internet Industry Association in Australia and is in demand as a speaker at Internet conferences the world over. He has also recently published his first science fiction book, Battleframe.

Michael is passionate about working with online entrepreneurs to help them navigate their new ventures around the many pitfalls that all businesses face. Due to demands on his time, Michael may be contacted by clicking here for limited consulting assignments.