Dmitry Greku, M. Sc

All of us in business create and build our enterprises with a purpose to provide services and products to people or other businesses – this is so obvious that it should be a silly statement. Unfortunately, it’s not always so obvious.

Do you know that last year there were 150 magazines operating in Australia which did not even exist?¹ Operating is probably not the correct word to describe their activities in the market – scamming is a better description. They were selling advertising space in publications which didn’t exist thus damaging the reputation of the whole industry.

How many of them are around? How can a business owner make the right decision as to whether or not promoting their business in a particular magazine is likely to be beneficial?

Here, I would like to introduce you some “common sense” points to help you in making the right decision when you are in a process of choosing a medium for your next marketing campaign. All these facts are taken from my own experience.

Readership – the people who read or are thought to read a particular book, newspaper, magazine, etc.

Ask your service provider where the readership numbers have been taken from. This should be independent audited data and nothing else. Between us, I still don’t trust this information anyway, unless it’s based on paying subscribers. Readership can be presented in a very misleading way. Use your common sense. Who can actually count every person reading a newspaper or a magazine? Just because a publication has been received by mail or stuffed into a mailbox doesn’t mean it’s been read. In many cases management multiplies the circulation of their publication by three and claims this number as their readership.

Circulation – the number of copies of a newspaper/magazine distributed.

This is a very important characteristic of a publication. This number shows the quantity of copies actually delivered. Please note, this number can be less than the quantity of newspapers/magazines produced. Ask your publisher for proof of number of copies circulating or at least produced. This could be in the form of audited data and/or a tax invoice from their printing supplier.

Distribution – the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business.

Any sheet of paper is a medium when someone writes a message on it. The power of this medium depends on how many people are actually interested enough to read this message, and on the method by which the message was delivered to a potential reader. Assume for example, that a publication has the best look and has best articles ever, but the delivery component is not working. Would you advertise your business with this medium? The answer should be “no”. This great look and valuable content must be delivered to the readership – your potential clientele – in order for it to be useful. Ask for a confirmed (!) distribution model.

You’re the best judge in some cases. Ask yourself some questions and try to find answers by yourself:

1. Do I know this publication?
2. Do I see it around as often as the publisher claims?
3. Do people I know and/or my clients know or read this newspaper/magazine I am considering?
4. Did I check their website? Does this publisher look transparent on its website? Is the website up-to-date and does it provide all the necessary information about their publications?
5. Does the publisher offer an add value scenario?

Please use my advice for any published mediums in the market place and check your publisher carefully. The good ones will be happy to provide all necessary information supported by their suppliers, readers and clients/contributors/advertisers. Make a wise decision – don’t support scammers.

Lying to clients is a crime.²

You can contact me at any time if you need more help in choosing the right advertising medium for your business.

Have a great day. Take care of yourselves and your clients.

¹ NETT Magazine, August 2011, issue #41

² Section 176, Crimes Act:

Whosoever, being a director, or officer, of any body corporate, or public company, makes, circulates, or publishes, or concurs in making, circulating, or publishing, any written statement, or account, which he or she knows to be false in any material particular, with intent to deceive, or defraud, any member, shareholder, or creditor, of such body corporate, or company, or with intent to induce any person to become a shareholder, or partner therein, or to intrust, or advance, any property to such body corporate, or company, or to enter into any security for the benefit thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for 10 years.

I spoke to one of my good friends recently; he is an executive of one of four major

Dmitry Greku, M. Sc

Australian banks. I asked for his forecast on the Australian economy, and he responded with a very much expected opinion – don’t get too excited unless there is a change of the federal government.

Let’s ask ourselves a simple question: “What exactly is a government?” Imagine if the government was your business. There was no profit for 5 years. There were no visible infrastructure improvements. The office equipment and furniture is getting older and morale of your staff is dropping on a daily basis.

What have your managers done? They were very proactive – busy providing “historic and revolutionising” solutions. Let’s name some of them.

Due to the low performance of the business the staff members were not happy and their performance was flagging. Your managers couldn’t find any better solution than to bribe your personnel with extra payments. This was going to keep them happy for some time.

Another problem to resolve was what to do with a constant stream of individuals who liked your office so much that they broke inside without having been invited. They also wanted their “fair share” which they received in a format of free accommodation, meals and other goodies which cost your business a fortune, but your management needed to maintain and support their “humane” image.

The rest of the money was spent on a couple of sheds which you didn’t actually need for your business. They were built just in case something happens and you or your neighbours or somebody else would need them some other time. There was no time to think about little things like the correct use of your investments.

Your managers were always busy planning something, building something, taking care of someone, improving and innovating. All was at the expense of your business, but nothing was done to make it more efficient and more profitable.

When someone in your company was not happy (possibly because they thought your managers’ methods were just plain stupid) there was only one thing to do – enforce the no tolerance policy for anti-collective and pessimistic behaviour and get rid of those who couldn’t keep their negative opinions to themselves.

Now comes the time to think about a reward for the managers. They’ve done a great job (by their own account), worked hard and devoted themselves. A double pay rise is clearly the way to go, not for everyone of course, for the leading management only. It’s better to do it now because it will soon be too late – the business is going to be gone, ruined and bankrupt.

What do the shareholders think? Some think that it’s easier to stick their heads into sand, vote when they have to, quietly go home and stay away from discussing and dissecting on possible problems that may stem from their choices.

They say: “Stay away from discussing politics”, but I believe that politics is directly tied to our well-being, our business performance and our country’s prosperity. It all comes together whether you like it or not.

Politics is the Business of running a country and the performance of the management (read government) makes our business (read country) more or, unfortunately, less successful. So to the company shareholders (read citizens) – get involved, do something to make a difference, pull your head out of the sand instead of complaining about others who are trying to bring you back to the reality.

Now, just ask yourself – what would you do if you had these managers in your business?

Dmitry Greku

Business Resource & Lifestyle Magazine Issue #39 Nov-Dec 2011

I don’t think Australia is simply a “lucky country”. Such success could not be the result of

Dmitry Greku, M. Sc

simple luck, and I expressed my view on the term “luck” in one of my previous letters. What is becoming more obvious is that Australian people are one of the most patient people on this planet.

The “lucky” mob is the federal government. They are the ones who seem to enjoy the most comfortable living in these tough times. They have no understanding of economy or business – but they’re in charge (and we use that term loosely) of both. They managed to kill the whole cattle industry of Northern Territory in just one day. They seem to have plenty of money in the budget – or should I say the union workers’ budget – to spend on prostitutes. And they can get a free “Labor After Party Recovery Grant” of $90,000.

This government has disgraced itself so many times – they don’t have anything to lose anymore. Currently, they’re digging an even deeper hole for themselves, and unfortunately they’re dragging the whole country down with them.

Mr Rudd enjoys his visits to Africa giving Australian taxpayers’ money away under the mistaken impression that he’s got our mandate to save the world. Anyone can understand that these funds are likely to find their way into hands that will spend it on expensive cars, houses in Europe, and to support drug trafficking and arms dealing. Why wouldn’t this government choose instead, to assist struggling Australian farmers and manufactures to develop and export their products? Is it that complicated? For this government it is!

And I for one would like to know how much money has been wasted by this government as they blunder through potential asylum seeker solutions and other issues, making rash announcements here and there without doing their homework, and consuming TV air time as if it was oxygen. They stubbornly dig their heels in for weeks on these issues before eventually doing a less-than-elegant pirouette and starting all over again. No wonder they all seem a bit dizzy. Or is that ditzy?

Clearly the Australian People are on the bottom of the list. This government spends its energy and our money debating and worrying over a 0.1ºC temperature increase over 1000 or 1500 years, the future of education in Indonesia and gay marriage issues.

Perhaps they’re worried about the comments that the Secretary-General of the UN Ban Ki-moon makes from time to time about Australia’s responsibility as a member of the international community to accept more ‘disadvantaged’ individuals from all over the world and send more money to support less fortunate populations. They shouldn’t be. How many refugees does South Korea take? Perhaps the UN Secretary-General should take a moment to reflect – then go to South Korea and comment on asylum seeker policies of his country. Clearly South Korea doesn’t have any plans of introducing any significant number of refugees into their community.

Is it too much to expect that our government starts thinking about this country and its people? There’s been nothing happening in that direction for most of the last 5 years. Some of our government representatives are organising their international careers at our expense, others are fighting for the survival of glaciers in Greenland, while it seems others are simply too busy with prostitutes to be much use at all – although, at least that pre-occupation is less expensive that some of this government’s other “green, progressive and revolutionising” fetishes.

Let’s support those who are trying to turn this sad and destructive chain of events around. Let’s restore this great country to its former glory and prosperity.

Have a great day. Take care of yourselves and your clients.

Dmitry Greku

GWP Magazine Issue #38, Sep-Oct 2011

Dmitry Greku, M. Sc

Aren’t we all tired of the seemingly endless excuses our government and its supporters have been feeding us for the past several years? As we all have heard, there is now a tendency to blame overseas natural disasters for the failures in the Australian economy rather than the incompetence of public servants.

Recently, a complaint to a TV program came via email exclaiming that it was not right for Tony Abbot and Scott Morrison to make any arrangements with the Nauru Government because “everybody knows” that Nauru is a paradise for money laundering of the Russian Mafia.

Russian Mafia is raging through the Planet. American economy is having a devastating effect on “prosperous” initiatives of the Australian government. Hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes keep bringing illegal immigrants to our environment-unfriendly highly-carbonated shores.

Who and what else can they blame for their failures?

Watching the news and reading newspapers, it looks like we have nothing to worry about but the treatment of cows in Indonesia and the rights and welfare of illegal immigrants. I don’t condone animal cruelty in any shape or form. But when did cattle become more important than Australian farmers?! As a result of the publicity-grabbing livestock export ban, some Australian cattle farmers may lose their businesses and the welfare of their families may be at stake. But at least the cows will be okay – until they’re slaughtered!

Why do 22 million Australians, including children and pensioners, have to take care of planet Earth with its population of 6.5 billion? While the government is busy looking for excuses and quick fixes for problems that in fact should be the responsibility of foreign governments, tens of thousands of Australian families can no longer afford the full use of electricity in their homes, and others are risking their lives and health dealing with detention centre riots and fires.

I recently watched a documentary about a border patrol in the US. The patrol officers had the slogan “Removing Illegal Aliens” on their uniforms. This is exactly what they do and it’s a necessary task. But can you imagine someone being so blunt about it here? They’d be shouted down for saying something so politically incorrect. Here’s what is politically incorrect – politicians who disregard the simple needs of their own people while they try to look busy solving issues of other peoples in other countries. And politicians who accept responsibility for the welfare of cows in Indonesia while ignoring their responsibility for the welfare of their own people.

It’s easy to fight something somewhere for someone’s greater good. Our government has become very addicted to solving the World’s problems while overlooking our own. Taxpayers’ money is being drained overseas into a black hole of climate change, awareness programs and support of “freedom fighters”. Our public servants are starting to look like a student protest rally for world peace – they’re making a lot of noise and not achieving much.

And the last helpful thought for this letter: in these dark times for Australian families, every household needs to introduce a new swearing jar. Whenever any family member or a guest in the house says “tax” or “tax you” or “we’ve been taxed up” they have to add 50 cents to the jar for the family survival fund, unless we start doing something correctly somewhere. And that “somewhere” better be here.

This time I do have some good news – the NSW has a new Government. There is no guaranteeing their success running our Labor-ruined, long-suffering state, but knowing a lot of Liberal politicians personally, I have strong confidence in them.

The biggest mistake of left wing politicians is their mistreatment of the business community and taxpayers’ generous donations – Tax. What scares me most is rhetoric about the so-called Carbon Tax. Let’s look a bit into the history. It’s actually very easy to predict the results of one political decision or another. We just need to be able to find a similar situation in the past and create a parallel analogy between our current situation and the events of the past.

In socialist-communistic states like North Korea, USSR, former Albania, etc., some people decided one day that something they do not own themselves belongs to “The People”. It might be natural resources and the mining industry to start with. And it doesn’t matter for some that someone has already invested billions of dollars into pulling those precious resources from the ground, selling them overseas to create a massive stream of funds into the state budget. Those some still want a “Fair Share” and it’s time to start yelling: “Give me! Give me!”

Stage two. The same people after fixing the mining industry visit my business and other businesses to say: “Your magazine is a “People’s media – give me!” I’ve been accused by the same “Fair Share” individuals of pushing “my agenda” and supporting one wing of Australian politics. They don’t care that I have to pay for “People’s Pages” in our magazines and they don’t want to know that I contacted offices of Kristina Keneally for a cover story and David Borger for the Publisher’s Guest interview. I couldn’t even get through their receptionists or PAs and my offer was rejected. But this is another story. So, expect one day a share of your business becomes “People’s Property” with their “Fair Share” and be ready for a compulsory re-distribution of your hard earned wealth. So-called Carbon Tax is the exact scenario of this kind of re-distribution.

Stage three. How many bedrooms are in your house? 4-5? Are they all (!) for only 4 family members? This is definitely too much and it’s time to share. You can comfortably accommodate your family in one bedroom and share the 3 other bedrooms with “less fortunate” members of our society. If you disagree, and you have a full right to do so, you will be sent to one of the beautiful Pacific islands to a labour camp where you’ll be helped to fix up your mind. Some other “better” people will be found to take your spot in our “ideal” community. Luckily we’ve got plenty of candidates in the growing number of detention centres waiting for their time to have their share.

People in any government should be more careful in choosing words describing their actions. The use of a dictionary with the words “revolution”, “fight” and “people’s share” looks very innocent at the beginning but never brought any good to any country and their peoples. These days we can see that our situation is not getting any better. New taxes for different industries are announced and discussed almost every day and pre-election promises are broken on a regular basis. Now we’re being told to rejoice in a new tax because the uncertainty around it for businesses has finally ended.

Imagine where we would be with our businesses if we run them the way the government is running the country.

Please write to me your views. The best will be published in forthcoming issues in our soon-to-appear “Let’s Spin a Good Yarn” Section.

We all had the chance to see leading federal and state politicians work hard to fight natural disasters, support communities and help broken communities to recover. I cannot deny these facts. This is what they are hired to do.

I still would like to have a clear view of some issues which came to my attention in the last couple of months.

For example, why was one of the Labor federal ministers and a proud front bencher The Hon (the honourable) Chris Bowen MP having a comfortable vacation at Norfolk Island during the worst days of the flood crisis?

The first reasonable idea which came to my mind was that the Federal Disaster Control Centre is now located on a Resort Island and our head politicians are all on the island to manage the disaster activities from a secure location. But no, most of them were at the disaster zone. He was probably lost. This condition is very common for the honourable members of the current government.

Another possible scenario is that The Hon Chris Bowen’s duty on the island was to organise a red carpet welcoming for the newly arriving boat people. After all he is the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.

A bunch of disorientated individuals in power is a disaster for a country and its people. This is a fact and it doesn’t matter what country.

No natural disaster relief fund – new extra tax is a solution.

Australian cows’ farts are an environmental issue for the whole world – here is a refreshing carbon tax for you.

They changed the “Home Insulation Safety Plan – Think Change” to the worst, but now they will give us a new “revolutionary” NBN which is 24 times more expensive but 10 times slower than in South Korea*.

What’s next, dear comrades in the government? What’s next?

This could be quite funny if it weren’t so sad.

*The Australian, February 9, 2011

I am usually very enthusiastic writing my editor’s letter, but this time by the end of 2010 the evolution of political sanity came down to its worst and lowest point. To my disappointment, I’m pretty sure that people in charge with our country and “world leaders” will entertain us in the new year with more unpleasant surprises and mind-blowing freacken* tricks.

WikiLeaks was the biggest hit of the last year where the World Democracy failed or I’d say the world democratic governments failed to have the guts to admit their inglorious actions of varying scales. Most of the WikiLeaks’ “News” were not actually news at all for a thinking part of the world population with at least half a brain in their heads.

Most of us already know that our ex-PM is a freak* who could be stupid enough to suggest the US use force against China. According to his statement, he also “Can’t care less” that Australian people would like to receive his comments on his suggestions to our largest ally. At the same time, our current (which might be not a case when this issue is out) PM is still trying to convince us that Mr. Rudd is still a worldwide respected politician and diplomat.

These days a lot of the people in charge are very upset due to their wrong doings being exposed and now it’s the time to fight back. A good start could be sending someone to prison or to the mental clinic ward (another valid option available to get rid of someone who stays in the way of “progress and democracy”). There could be a lot of legitimate reasons found, for example – absence of a condom and being too horny at some inappropriate time of a night.

Because of my helpful nature, I would like to suggest to the world “Democratic Leaders” to create an International Condom Checking Wearing Organisation under the auspices of the United Nations to avoid further “confusions and misunderstanding” (favourite bureaucrat’s terminology) which will make democratic processes much more transparent and lawful. No doubt, this will certainly require an opening of an international fund similar to the Climate Change Fund where we can dump more of the taxpayers’ money and lead the Global-Universal establishment and construction of all the condom-wearing checkpoints and procedures on our green Planet. This should become a major “Revolutionising” Project for the ALP and Greens for 2011. I could exhaust myself trying to help, but they always beat me with their new and most unexpected ideas.

Unfortunately, 2010 has brought so much frustration and uncertainty that I only hope that 2011 will be more prosperous for all of us.

frea-cken, -verb; pp. of freak. Diplomatic and politically correct term used to describe ex-PM K. Rudd to the United States Government.

This is an obviously rhetorical question and I am not holding my breath expecting Mrs or Mr Common Sense to purchase a tour and visit our country in the near future.

After a long and difficult electoral pregnancy we, the electorate, gave birth to a delusional baby, which we now call an Australian Government. Some say it will be dead soon. This is no shocking surprise – it’s not very healthy to be honest. First of all, it has several heads. One thinks it is still a PM, another one is “not good at these things”. Just for the sake of curiosity, which things is it good at? The third head can’t wait to chop the first two off and become the one.

This baby is now surrounded by many mutant friends – even more delusional little helpers. They have an ugly, unhealthy green skin and spew their red nasty ideas all over the place all the time.

Let’s have a look at some things this union of political mutants has done and plans to do in the future:

The PM invites the Leader of the Opposition for a tour (!) – is the PM lost and frustrated or is it a simple setup or both? It was always common sense for politicians from a lot of countries to keep their plans to visit war zones classified. Unfortunately, our PM clearly doesn’t care about the health and life of her political opponent as well as Australian soldiers by simply using them for her cheap political tricks.

National Broadband Network. Are you aware that every household may have to pay $3000* for an internet connection according to the electrical industry experts? Will you?

The Government paid $5.4 mm in fines to people who illegally broke into the country.

Australian military personnel is getting moved out from their homes to clear more space to accommodate more criminals coming from overseas. I don’t understand why wealthy people ($5.4 mm) require free accommodation.

Three diggers are charged for protecting their country and serving its people.

Carbon Tax. What Carbon? What Tax? The delusional and hypocritical climate change warriors drive V8s while we get to pay our electricity bill. Please don’t get me started here.

Unfortunately and sadly it’s only a tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of examples when whole nations have been thrown into chaos for decades because of the delusional mind of the minority. Is there anything wrong with that the current government has received 700,000 votes less than the current opposition? Of course not, the accumulation of power is the ultimate goal and a satisfaction of their own selfish egoic needs.

Peace man. And who cares, bloody hell?

*The Australian, August 21, 2010

The definition of “luck” is a combination of circumstances, events, etc., operating by chance to bring good or ill to a person according to www.dictionary.com. Or in layman’s terms, when you get something for nothing.

I have always asked myself why the word “luck” is used to describe Australia. You can win a lottery – this is what we call lucky or do something completely illegal (e.g., arrive in Australia illegally) and receive permanent status – this could also be considered “luck”. In another word, luck is something that comes to us without any or substantial effort. I cannot consider a Nation which has been working hard for the last 200 years to get to the point where we now define ourselves as simply a “lucky” nation.

These thoughts have crossed my mind a long time ago, but I decided to write this letter after I had the chance to visit a couple of East European countries which were previously part of the Soviet Union. I couldn’t believe how many changes there were in the last 12 years, some positive and some, unfortunately, negative. The vast majority of private enterprises were really well organised – great service and great food in restaurants with interesting themes. Unfortunately, the government which is supposed to protect and serve the people is a major source of problems. Government employees consider themselves to be running some sort of private enterprise where everything belongs to them and everyone owes them something. This includes fire brigades, tax officers, parliamentarians, ministers, presidents, etc. Cutting the long story short, tens of millions of smart, innovative and well educated people cannot put their lives together due to a social cancer which is total corruption.

Here in Australia, we are experiencing the most comfortable and well-established society which could be built on this planet. We can be disappointed with politicians from both sides of politics or upset with our suppliers, clients and employees or with other minor issues (e.g., traffic jams, a rude neighbour or the absence of available car spots in the shopping centre on Saturdays). But, looking at our Australian way of life from a global perspective – we are a happy Nation, not “lucky”. This “luck” was earned by the hard labour of many generations, real citizen freedoms and an open mind that did not allow our political system to rot. Everyone does what’s best for themselves (read: for the country) – this is the formula of our success and “luck”.

After this trip, I’m even happier to be part of this Nation and to call myself Australian.

Have a great day. Take care of yourselves and your clients.

Taking my scientific background into account, please allow me to play the role of a Professor of Psychobusinessology for a while or simply a Psychobusinessologist.

Running a business is a stressful exercise, but we are not in business to put ourselves under stress. I personally enjoy every day in my business because of all the people around me. Even if something is not looking positive, I prefer to take a lesson from it and make it positive.

But some things we hear or see very often when communicating with people still frustrate me and require investigating and understanding.

Case 1. You are calling your supplier or a client who is overdue with their payment to find a legitimate answer to a very reasonable question: “Where is the item/payment I was expecting from you?!” Sometimes the answer comes in the least expected form: “I was busy!!!”

Why do they keep forgetting about people who have done and supplied what was necessary and expect their reward? Nobody’s perfect, but it would be an embarrassment for me to say: “Obviously, I haven’t supplied your artwork because I was busy.” Or “I was too busy making money for my business, so I can’t justify a payment as it will not help my revenue to grow.” We can all have legitimate reasons and we empathise with other people – but we don’t need to waste time trying to understand this kind of “Busy Businessperson” syndrome.

Case 2. Have you ever heard this boorish demand: “How dare you?” This is one of the most bizarre impositions you can ever expect. I think we need to go back into the history of this country to find a “How dare I” answer. I think Australia with its culture and success has been built on an “I dare” concept. How dare soldiers and convicts, Ned Kelly, Henry Parkes and other great Australians do what they did? And how dare some people say what they think. They say: “It’s the luckiest country on Earth”. I believe it’s true and it’ll stay true while we can still dare.

Luckily, we don’t hear these expressions on a daily basis. Probably we should pay more attention to what others do and think things through. This will definitely help us to be less “Busy” and avoid asking “How Dare You?”

Have a great day. Take care of yourselves and your clients.

Anti-Disclaimer: All stories are presented in this Editor’s Letter for their humorous value and are true. If one of these stories happens to become a fact, it should be considered a real story, and as a result of a real situation that actually happened. If our story happens to parallel any other real story, that, too, should be considered as not being a coincidence. There are seven billion of us on the planet and stuff happens.

Please send us your Psychobusinessological Cases, so we can share them in our upcoming issues with our respected business audience.