I don't know about you, but when I went to school, the coolest kids in the class who were destined for greatness somehow fell short of their schoolyard celebrity status and became, well, um, not as successful as their parents and friends first thought.

I remember all those cool  kids who seemed to have it all at the ripe age of 14, while I sat in the library reading a book because, quite frankly, I wasn't as cool, nor did I win any particular popularity contest to speak of.

Instead, I wrote my weekly debates and hoped that the cool kids' "coolness" would somehow rub off on me and overnight, I could hang onto their coattails too. But that was not to be - instead, I spent every free hour at school secretly hoping that one day I would be cool too.

Ever wondered why people soak up every word that a truly successful person says? Or why, they seem to do less talking than the person engaging with them in conversation?

Successful people are unique. They don't need to buy a Ferrari (or any other car like this - if you get my gist)  to show that they have money, nor will they order the most expensive wine in a restaurant. They typically do not wear obvious designer briefs and they never tell you how good they are or what accomplishments they have made.

Instead, they listen attentively, ask questions and put the spotlight on others.


Someone who is successful and I am talking in the upper echelons of success (i.e. billionaires or at least with 50 million bucks in the bank), are bespoke. Instead of telling you how great they are, they are happy to find out about you and what makes you unique or special.

In my time as an entrepreneur, I have met some of the most amazing people from every imaginable walk of life. I have been fascinated by success and revolted by people who are flashy (and tacky) or who desperately are looking for people to notice them. I always wonder why some people behave like they do and yet the people who really have a few notches on their belts in the success department, stand tall and say very little.

I learnt early on when I first met some seriously successful people that I would walk out of a room and know nothing about them, but somehow I spilled the beans on every aspect of my life. They have an art for asking the right questions, making you feel very comfortable with them and almost familiar rather than a stranger they met five minutes ago.

Successful people also talk slowly. Have you ever noticed that? I am not sure whether that is good education, or that they process what they say and choose their words more wisely.

I have also observed that successful people never put others down. Instead, they support, encourage and promote people that they believe in or have crossed their paths. They happily give up time to speak to people they deem worthy of a conversation, not based on how successful or important they are, but because they are worthy of their time.

Another thing that I have noted about successful people of all ages and that is that they never check their mobile phones when they are talking to you and they don't have facebook accounts. In fact, they don't waste time on things that are not conducive to giving them a better life or improving their knowledge or status quo.

And last but not least, many of the people that I have met that are successful are charismatic. They have an inner confidence and exude strength and positioning. But it is funny that when you actually get to know these people, this intimidating factor is diminished through familiarity and they become just like you and me.

I woke up this morning at 3.30am and could not stop thinking. My brain was on overload. All I could think about was business.

Expanding a business internationally is not exactly the easiest task to undertake. It requires a lot more work than you think and some serious planning.

When a person has a big business goal, it can be all-consuming. It's a 24 hour, 7 day a week gig. And when you put that sort of effort into something, you are looking for one hell-of-a-return. I know I am!

Most entrepreneurs think about the end goal. What is it that they are trying to achieve. Then they work back from there. What steps need to be taken to achieve this goal.

To me, this is the norm, but what sets one successful person apart from the run-of-the-mill entrepreneur can often come down to a set of traits. So, what traits make a successful entrepreneur?

21 Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur

If one more person has the conversation with me this week, that I need to stop working hard, I will SCREAM.

This built up emotion from people with all the good intentions of the world, opting to tell me that I should not be working so hard. I am frustrated, confronted and in desperate need of explaining myself so that hopefully good natured people understand that some things require work.

This may surprise many who read my blogs, but I am a firm believer that women should support their men.

Coming from a European family, where the men rule the roost and women play the pivotal role of supporting their man, I am an advocate of women doing what it takes to support their families and in particular, the men in their lives.

When I grew up, my father was the provider. He took the rubbish out and mowed the lawn. He fixed anything that needed to be fixed.

As a marketer with 20 years experience, I am always trying to figure out the psychology behind why a client picks one logo over another, or one way of doing things over another.

Sometimes, they have insight that perhaps marketers do not. Mostly, they just like a particular colour, font style, identity mark or a way of doing things that may not quite be up with the times.

I was thinking... when you have stars in your eyes, anything is possible. In every aspect of your life, if you walk around with stars in your eyes, it opens the world to possibility beyond anything you can ever imagine. While this is contrary to what most people believe on the topic of people who have 'stars in their eyes', there is some justification for what is popular opinion. 

Dreamers are something that like entrepreneurs, should be applauded. They make our world much more interesting. Every great idea started with someone dreaming it. But there is a difference from being a dreamer to being someone who has the ability to be successful.

Marketing Eye was approached by Spanish Doughnuts with the view to promoting the first annual “World Churro Eating Competition” to be held at Melbourne’s Federation Square. With just over two weeks to go before the event date it was full steam ahead from the off-set. Marketing Eye met with Michael Aldemir, Director of Spanish Doughnuts Australia for an initial brain storming session, from here the promotional strategy was developed and implemented.

"What I gleaned from viewing “The Social Network” was bigger and more important than whether the scenes and details included in the script were accurate. After all, the movie was clearly intended to be entertainment and not a fact-based documentary. What struck me most was not what happened – and what did not – and who said what to whom and why. The true takeaway for me was that entrepreneurship and creativity, however complicated, difficult or tortured to execute, are perhaps the most important drivers of business today and the growth of our economy." Eduardo Saverin.