I figure if I f*ck up my next career decision, I’m f*ckd.
Possibly i’m f*ckd in the same way a 21yr old thinks they no longer have their youth, or a slightly too old hipster yearns for the “good old days”.
U R only as old as the adage u use etc, so alot of these r just January mind f*cks, pre the Working Year kicking in full bore - Which usually happens when the cheque signing decision makers kids go back to school post Australia day weekend.
Which is not to say important people are not yet at work downunder. They are. The people that do the work, surprise surprise, are working.
And with $8.93 in debit I really should think of getting back to work.
Because just as I’m successfully on day 6 of not having nicotine / eating cereal not toast for breakfast since midnight New Years Eve - I’m going to work this year. And work hard. But to bogart another phrase - I’m gonna work smart.
I started to work smart 2009. It hurt the bottom line, alot. But the little I did, I was happy with. And I believe the people I did work for+with, were happy with the work I did. I also did it without needing to be there; All of it in Sydney. So I didnt have the scenario of driving 3-4 hours a day for meeting(s) that went half the driving time. But doing such work requires trust on both parties, and also very good word of mouth for those that havent used your services - as well as overdelivery on value delivered.
It may sound simple, but it is very hard to do the kind of work you like / love / are good-thebest-competitive at doing / and to do the work for people who need-value what u can do / have the budget to do / then u complete it successfully with no bullshit on either side of the herman miller / and the end product working and creating a great result for client/customer/consumer/agency.
THE OPTIONS : For some1 like me there are a few generic options available when it comes to that thing called Work;
Option A : Reorder what I currently have/have done + Bootstrap (out)/Build a Asset centric proprietary tech innovation type business whether it be a working beta/prototype or a website/app that lots of people visit. Prob Option F +/or the whole iphone app thing which at least people pay for unlike websites. Call it B2C.
Option B : Sell services, consulting, technology, customer databases, plugins, apps, processes etc as time based work - hours/days either one off or retainer. Do what clients want to pay for. Can work, pays the most, ends up with lots of driving… The whole B2B thing - ideally focused on a sector where there is a company good at what they do with unique assets etc In this area I would continue to refine what I currently offer/do and keep getting scale efficiencies in that what I do now is similar for different clients in different industries.
All I’d simply do is find ways to automate processes largely as well as eliminate some duplicative tasks. Boring I know but boring is doing same thing many times when u dont need to.
Option C : Get a Job. Get paid over summer when on holidays. Be at the office by/pre 9am on weekdays.. Fixed fortnightly.monthly pay. Be part of a team. Not have to secure new work but keep boss happy. For me this option would also entail driving 3-4 hours a day to/from Melbourne or moving within Melb train system… Could involve working for media/online company on expanding a flattening website or starting a new division… Or working for a traditional Co who wants to get into social/digital.. Seeing this happen in the US on twitter more and more.. Really seems the best option if going to work overseas where there are hires looking for people with 15 years experience in online rather than 3-5 years. Not to mention ultra supportive of startups who have actual funding… and importantly a much bigger market working on cutting edge product development - which doesnt happen largely in Australia outside of the Atlassians etc
Option D : Start something new in a totally different industry - possibly in collaboration with people/players/companies who are established in a vertical but dont know how to expand in new space : There are 2 real options here : Create something new in established sector..

Acne Studios Collective work across a range of apparel, advertising and luxury to create a range of things for a range of reasons...
Ala what Super did for Sunglasses; Supra/Kr3w for kicksnapparel; Comune, Hundreds for streetwear, not to mention Acne Studios, Huf, Triumvir, UNDFTD, Mishka, 10Deep, etc - Brands that sell physical products.. but build brand, online sales and retail foot traffic via online buzz. And more than buzz, have collaborative production and product development processes where it is hard to tell where manufacturing, retail, marketing, on and offline end/start.
The interesting angle here… given that I’m good at the online buzz side but not necessarily production is entry via the “Collaboration” space: Finding partner(s) that are leaders in making products + on the other side leaders in consumer retail.
Would call it “Collabs” or “Collabs X” or “X” with X being the syntax used for a collab eg Reebok X Undefeated being the joint brand name… so X is the glue. Downunder we seem miles behind on Collabs : There are the obvious categories like sneakers, apparel etc- but australia doesnt have jack in many “essentials” categories where creatives/designers/experts/manufacturers can be combined with online distribution and physical bricks n mortar retail.
Walking into Myer, Target, Kmart, David Jones home brand physical spaces… as well as popular Australian online retailers there is a big gap in products that are brand simplistic, expertly produced and manufactured, authentic, functional, limited, affordable, enviromental and smart.
But what is most interesting to me are the dormant Australian brands and businesses and retail product lines not offering anything in this space; Even companies mega-successful in this space like Target who collaborate with rafts of successful designers, creatives and brands in a range of categories not offered in Australia.

Reebok did a textbook set of collaboration with 20 online/offline clicks n bricks Sneaker etailers for its 20th anniversary Pump Kick, with each designing a model for. This model should not just apply to Sneakers... it can be scaled from anything from Soap to Bicycles... as Crooks and Castles is trying to achieve.
Yesterday for example I received some River’s (remember that shoe brand) tshirts as a buggift - Good quality, actually very good quality, good cut, etc - Vneck tees in black/charcoal/navy/heathergrey etc : $5.95 AUST each… Now if Rivers could just collaborate their offering.. maybe get some young Aussie designers to offer some stencil’d up tees for $12.95 hehe

Go and check out the comune... why cant brands like rivers reinvent themselves - or spinoff new brands that leverage their assets but negate their faded discount branding ?

Not to mention an essentials line.. that added minor details - numbering / the type of cuts - which people are sick of having to pay Diesel $90 for or Industrie $45 for a bad knockoff..

10 Deep is another player in the whole collective music / clothes / design space : Their lookbooks don't use models/actors.. but "normal" people - Not Jennifer Hawkins normal.. normal as in.. normal. Well i guess they have to fit the clothes... but 10deep is generous with sizing options.
And both those brands downunder (diesel, industrie) have a whole lot of other problems for the majority of buyers (one overpriced, the other lower price but even lower quality - mcdonalds disposable clothing..)

like/want diesel shott long sleeve button down shirt IN STREAKY DISTRESSED INDIGO DENIM. but its $145USD : what about Kmart doing a collab with young aussie materials design team + selling for $45AUD but at a huge volume...
Suffice to say there is a big opportunity that overseas - collaborations, online and social networking, and flexible/customised production processes and online commerce.. have helped solve.. But they just havent made it to Australia. Now retailers say they want competition.. and creatives no matter what they say, want to get paid (says he with $8+!)
Philippe Starck Reality designs $8 chairs for target.… Rodarte for $10-$80 at Target rather than thou$and$ for a dress charges well under $100… Stella McCartney.. Kate Moss for Top Shop…
Option E : Import/License/Work for existing overseas growth company who want to expand International/Asia/Australia… Whether it be the next foursquare/gowalla/social gaming-app co’ - U have the support of overseas story, work with pros… potential to get overseas stock.. On a smaller scale it’d be good to expand an Aussie business not yet in Melbourne/Vic..
Option F : I think of this as my Codename : Socialism Co’ play… a new type of social monitoring biz… combination of algorithimic and curated industry + company approach for social/twitter.. There needs to be a freemium site+ services biz in Australia that aggregates and scores company mentions in twitter and other social media.. it needs to be more than algorithms.. and ideally scores entries to create a real time Social Company Index by Industry
Option G : Similar to Option G it’s a demopsychosocialgraphics index of influencers by high priority advertiser consumer segments - So when clients want to reach new mums, rich boomers, seniors, Y’s, gamers, outdoorsy, fmcg’ers, online traders, etc - there is a simple social crm meets marketing activism biz to call. Kinda a new age talent agency biz. Already Royals aligned ere… but lots of work to go to actually create/manage/monetise killa hyperlocal social crm database.

Option H : I meet a very impressive entrepreneur and business and work for them doing what I do.. Quite open to this suggestion - would luv to find a kickass business where I did execution of tasks rather than generation of ideas and enablement of people. Problem being seems less likely for this option to be in Australia. Feel free to pitch me… I’d luv to be amazed.
So that’s a sample of what is in my head.. most are mid-term January thoughts..

So I’m on Day 6 of not smoking.. Yday Wordpress ate a multihour in the making post about the films i’ve been watching this summer and recommendations… maybe Wordpress will publish it..
But in the meantime.. i’ll get back to the proposal and open work projects I have on… that will bump the $8 in the bank up.. The Aussies after a Hussey century and huge stand with Siddle.. are trying to get Pakistan out before they make 176 runs… so far they have 3/51 runs…

Update - Aussies have won by 40+ runs…. bowling Pakistan out for an extremely low score in their chase of 176 runs to win.. OK Now I can run!



























![Some more Tiger on Vanity Fair "Tiger’s story has been driven by sex, tons of it, in allegedly all different varieties: threesomes in which he greatly enjoyed girl-on-girl, and mild S&M (featuring hair-pulling and spanking); $60,000 pay-for-sex escort dates; a quickie against the side of a car in a church parking lot; a preference for porn stars and nightclub waitresses, virtually all of them with lips almost as thick as their very full breasts; drug-bolstered encounters designed to make him even more of a conquistador (Ambien, of all things); immature sex-text messages (“Send me something naughty ... Go to the bathroom and take [a picture],” “I will wear you out ... When was the last time you got [laid]?”); soulful confessions that he got married only for image and was bored with his wife; regular payments of between $5,000 and $10,000 each month to keep his harem quiet. It’s all there and more in what is the greatest single fall in popularity of a nonpolitician in the history of public-opinion surveys: a drop in approval from 87 percent in 2005 to 33 percent, with an unfavorable rating of 57 percent, according to a recent USA Today/Gallup poll."](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4244520218_7d5742eff5.jpg)





















































































































































































































