I got a tweet this morning that GoogleTalk Voice is now available in SA. Many people may already be familiar with GoogleTalk, which is just another Instant Messenger, like MSN or skype-chat. But I think this is a real game-changer, and let me explain:

I use Skype for more and more calls these days – so many people are connected to skype, and it’s just much easier on my Macbook to call them via skype, than use the Telkom phone. Besides that, I have integrated video, so the people I am calling can actually see me and if they have a web-cam set up (most people do) then I can see them too. Frightfully space-aged, but increasingly “normal” in the circles I spin around in.

Then there is Skype-Out, which basically allows me to make a phone-call to any landline or mobile number in the world at a reduced rate. For example, I can call my friends in the UK and pay only a few pence per minute, far cheaper than via Telkom, and the quality is pretty great.

And that’s where Google Talk with Voice is coming to play … it’s going to offer us some ridiculously good rates. Here’s my quick comparison:

Telkom to Telkom: 50c/minute

Telkom to Mobile: 140c/minute

Vodacom to Telkom: 199/min

Vodacom to Mobile: 199/min (165/min Vodacom -> Vodacom)

Skype to Telkom: 58c/min

Skype to Mobile: 167c/min

Google to Telkom: 35c/min

Google to Mobile: 119c/min

As you can see, Google’s rates are ridiculous! It’s going to be cheaper for me to phone someone in SA on landline via my own Telkom Phone.

So the question is: One cellphone, or two?

Option 1: keep my existing phone but ignore the calls I don’t want to take. The downside is that the phone is always ringing, bleeping or blurping with SMS, Whatsapp, emails and calls. Also, some clients don’t like to have their calls constantly diverted to voicemail.

Option 2: Get a second phone, give this number only to close friends and family. It does mean that during a “normal” day I have to carry two phones around with me.

What would you do?

Last weekend I had the most amazing opportunity to chill out at The Winston in Simonstown, by far one of the nicest Bed&Breakfasts I’ve ever visited. Mike, the owner is an incredibly friendly chap and his staff are amazing. Boston, the resident chef prepared me scrumptious breakfasts each morning.

But the best part is the room and the view. Just a stone’s throw from Boulders, I keep expecting penguins to walk past the room, you are that close to the beach. Because the weather was really crummy, I was “forced” to stay in doors for much of the weekend, but I cannot explain how amazing it is to chill out, reading a book and watching the storm brewing over the ocean. Pure Bliss! I finished two books over the weekend.

Also, Simonstown is an absolutely incredible little town with the SA Navy Museum and the Toy Museum right there … of course there’s heaps of curio shops, Antique stores and a few great boutiques – a shoppers paradise. There are also a few great restaurants around … I loved it…Take a look at their website here: www.thewinston.co.za

OK, so the moral of my blogpost … I love the idea of talking a weekend a month off and doing nothing. And this place was perfect – I’ll definitely be going back. Mike says the whales should be around from August so it sounds good to me!

If you’re on the PSN network, take some care to change your password, as well as linked accounts (like gmail, facebook, skype) and keep an eye on your credit card statement for any fraudulent activity.

It all started when I made a donation this morning of 14 pairs of shoes to the BobsForGood foundation. It’s an incredible charity, set up and run by Bob Skinstad, to give shoes to under-privileged children. Incredibly, there are more than 7 million children in South Africa who have never owned their own shoes.

After my donation, I decided to challenge First National Bank to match my donation. Here’s my tweet:

A while later, this is the response I got from Michael Jordaan, the CEO of First National Bank:

Unbelievable! Who ever said twitter was useless? Ha! This is such an amazing opportunity to see the lives of 2300 (plus my 14) lives changed! I am incredibly excited. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think that this would happen!

Well done to everyone at First National Bank – from one very humbled client.

I’m sitting at my desk doing all sorts of bits and pieces for my clients when I thought about a meeting I had this morning with a new prospective client. She told me that she is also most productive at night.

Mmmh. Now I ask myself, are most entrepeneurs productive at night? And what is it during the day that makes you unproductive, and during the night that makes me productive?

For one, at night I don’t have skype/googletalk/MSN/mirc/email/phonecalls/sms/twitter/whatsapp bothering me (yes I have all those options available during the day!)

Also, it’s real quiet in the area – I can pretty much only hear the waves crashing on the shore – and that gives my mind time to think. And in my line of business I do need to be creative.

So are you a day person or a night person?

First I had to deal with the usual emotions … who does he think he is talking to me like that? I pay his salary! He should tow the line!

I then had to stop myself, because I knew he was right. I encourage truthfulness in my team, so I shouldn’t be shocked with the team call me out on my bad attitude. It may hurt (A LOT!) but I do need to hear the “eina-stories”.

Maybe you feel a little frustrated by your situation. The economy is bad, clients aren’t paying on time and money is tight. Maybe, like me, you feel like you’re banging your head against the wall.

In times like these, it helps me to focus on the words of Reinhold Niebuhr:

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Let me make a suggestion; take 30 minutes out of your day RIGHT NOW and ask yourself: Am I really this person? Am I living and doing what I am meant to do, or am I banging aimlessly against a wall I have absolutely no control over?

Secondly, ask yourself: What am I in control of? What can I change? And what am I going to do about it?

If I am going to grow up to be someone in the league of Donald Trump or Robert Kiyosaki, I need to ask myself … how would they act? Do they walk around like Mr Grumpy in the office? Or do they control their emotions?

So, decision time: Are we going to take control over our actions?

Take a look at their website at www.enrista.co.za

I’ve started 2011 off with a bang and won the Focus Award at Action Coach for being most focused at reaching my goals for the 4th Quarter 2010 – if anyone knows me they’ll know that for me to have focus is a complete miracle!

Thanks to my amazing Business Coach I am definitely taking the business forward. The next 3 months has really very scary goals but I’m convinced I can do them. I have learnt that without properly defined and written down goals we aren’t really going to get anywhere!

Just a quick post to let you know we’re planning a humdinger of an event on Monday 30 August at the Commodore Hotel just outside the V&A Waterfront. It’s just past the BMW Pavilion opposite the Somerset Hospital.

For more information, click on our events page!

Tony