What lack of childcare places? Government’s take is that you are just imagining it

Whilst women are continually finding it a struggle to secure childcare places, it seems, according to the Government, they are simply imagining there is an issue. Not sure if you read about it, but late last week the Rudd Government broke its 2007 election promise to build 260 new childcare centres. Apparently the reason behind this is the findings of a recent report they commissioned showing there were 65,780 long day care vacancies every day so there was no need to deliver the pledge. Read the rest…

Contributed by Lynette Palmen .   Lynette Palmen AM is the Founder and Managing Director or Women's Network Australia. She started WNA 20 years ago to offer support, inspiration and services that would inspire women to succeed in their career and business endeavours. WNA is now the Nation's premier networking organisation for business and professional women. T: 1800 052 476.

Lynette Palmen has written 44 article(s) for us.

Visit http://womensnetwork.com.au

Criteria Based Selling – It’s all about the questions

The age of features and benefits selling is dead. Remember the days when we all watched John Cleese videos on how to close a sale! Oops, maybe just a few of us baby boomers remember those days. But modern day selling is all about understanding the needs of your customer, this is where criteria based selling comes in. Read the rest…

When is “I Don’t Know” The Right Answer?

Lily Allen may not be an authority on business, but she hit the nail on the head with her honest, irreverent spin on a timeless mystery - “how to know what to do when you have no idea and you’re not prepared”.  In her platinum selling song, she sings:

I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore
And I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore
When do you think it will all become clear?

Everyone knows that we have been conditioned NOT to admit that we don’t know all of the right answers.  Even though we know it’s not true, our teachers, bosses, politicians and even the media have modelled this ‘fake it until you make it’ mentality.  Since the mind doesn’t know the difference between a real or imagined event, acting ‘as if’ seems like the logical solution to temporary uncertainty, or does it? Read the rest…

Social Media Rules Of Engagement

Since social media has exploded onto the scene, a new set of cultural rules has emerged to accommodate each tool and it sometimes can feel like there is a secret handshake to gain access that no-one told you about!

Firstly, it is important to understand that all social mediums were not created equal! Socialising approaches are different for each channel, for example, I would not post on my Blog in the same tone that I Tweet, and I would utilise a different approach when updating my Facebook page in comparison to updating my LinkedIn account. Read the rest…