The photo I uploaded to Facebook that really hit a nerve. Awesome Australian’s Hate Lazy People. And so do I!
What a positive heading? I bet my critics are reading this article going “Oh yes, we got Edward again and he is a negative sod”. Well it’s true! When it comes to Awesome Positive People I am nothing but positive and encouraging and when it comes to negative people – I am nothing but negative and “No Way”.
I was meeting an awesome friend / client of mine the other day in Parramatta (Sydney) and I saw this great headline newspaper photo that I uploaded straight to Facebook. It became incredibly popular, it was shared and because quite a focal discussion point.
Including myself – people were fed up and sick with people taking advantage of the welfare system in Australia. To emphasize our point here, almost everyone I know is pro-welfare (I give plenty to charity and donate my time!). North American politics is quite more polarized on this issue but in Australia both sides of politics are pro-welfare. If anything, it’s one of the areas almost everyone in our British Based Parliament believe in which is a testament to the Australian culture and way of life.
As this post continued, it was shared multiple times and you could see the frustration and borderline hatred come out against people who are lazy and just ripping off the system. I think it’s a great thing this frustration came out as “Hard Work” and “Fair Pay” are really Australian Values and people just taking advantage of the system. Yes, we love helping Single Mothers, Injured and Long-Term Poverty Stricken – true people who need a hand, but we are all drawing the line at people that just enjoy living off others.
Bringing this conversation more to a Small Business and Entrepreneur respect we see this all the time. Fortunately most people are totally awesome and work hard and as business owners I would argue the opposite – most aren’t paid fairly for the work they do.
Then you get some people out there that are really out for a laugh at our expense. These are the type of people that say charge really unreasonable prices, use people for free and play people off against each other just trying to screw honest hard-working people out of the money that they deserve. I have seen this myself first hand – business people who expect a free meal, expect everything for nothing, want to charge top rates – but pay / do nothing in return. Fortunately I don’t deal with many of these scum-bags, but I have had a few lately to contend with for sure.
This is actually quite against Australian Values and the evidence that I wish to provide is that they go against our awesome “Hard Working” / “Fair Dinkum” Australia virtues. Regardless of the motives being fear that is manifesting as laziness, greed or even just being “vague” on what they are doing – people are assessed on their actions ultimately.
I do not like getting up at 5AM in the morning and if I have a cold and I have to be all bright eyed and bushy tailed for a Networking Event – I will make myself do it! Why? Because I want to make sure I am in the zone to help others, create a compelling experience and also continue building my business.
My awesome friend Martha Arifin is one sharp operator and I have been very lucky to not only work with her, but see her business grow from start-up to established over the past few years. She is insane like me, works very long hours, delivers value for her clients and is truly a woman of her word loaded with integrity (check out her awesome business site right here).
In our Networking Environment she is not only well liked, but popular and is often one of the top choices when people are considering who should do their website or give them a hand with Facebook Marketing etc. Ironically she is Indonesian Chinese and is one of the truest / bluest “Aussies” I know who I have complete respect and admiration for.
Talking pure Marketing, Business and Making Money – being lazy is one of the worst “Marketing Strategies” ever. Sure, you may be able to lie to people for a month or two – but these people often don’t last years long, being revealed and generating a really bad word of mouth (meaning they don’t get many if at all any ongoing referrals).
The opposite is so true too! And going back to Awesome Martha as the poster girl of this post, people know she works hard, charges fair prices and they are going to get a great deal from her.
My advice and learning’s from all this? If you are a “Bit Lazy” then may I invite you to change that behaviour. Figure out why you are a “Bit Lazy” get motivated and get focused. This may be tweaking your business to make it more interesting, outsourcing what you don’t like and really focusing on your goals and what you want in life. It could be a great reason to get yourself a Motivational Coach of some form or whatever floats your boat.
If you are hard-working already – please keep that up and make sure you communicate to your clients how hardworking you are! If you are say charging $3,000 for something and it takes you 20 hours of time to earn that – then tell people exactly what it takes so they know they are getting a great deal. It’s a great way of doing great work, being rewarded and getting awesome word-of-mouth and referrals. As you get better, your reputation goes up, sure you can charge more but you still deserve the fine premiums you are earning.
Martha lives and breathes it which I am very proud to not only work with her and call her an awesome friend!
Thank you for the awesome read, have a fantastic day / night and appreciation from Edward Zia – Marketing Mentor who loves hard-working awesome people!
No responses yet