Do you remember the 1980's? I was a teenager then and remember fondly one particular TV commercial where a young Naomi Watts gives up a date with Tom Cruise for a lamb roast.  Fair enough today, but back before couch jumping on Oprah he was a huge star! Today I did something similar.

I thought the ultimate question was that one about the meaning of life! But ever since the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy delivered the answer (42, by the way) there has been a gap in the market for a new ultimate question.

I know what you're thinking, is this guy serious! Business travel is for eating at fancy restaurants on the company tab and drinking at the airport in the morning because you can pretend your from a different country. "Sie sprechen Deusch?"

LinkedIn is the business networking tool of the now. Respect is represented by getting over the magic 500+ connections and everyone is clamouring to build their databases. But the question arises of 'who should you connect or not connect with?'

Where the hell did 2014 go!? One minute I was sitting in my Southbank office all by myself thinking of how to grow my little enterprise and suddenly I'm in very cool Melbourne CBD office with six staff planning to launch two huge programs! 

OMG it's Christmas already! How did that happen? It seems like only a few weeks ago I was stressing about my July tax return and recording my ice bucket challenge at the snow (I think that must have worked as I don't see the videos anymore).

If you are blogging to establish yourself as a leader in your industry and haven't yet used LinkedIn to blog you are missing out on a huge opportunity to grow your reach and personal brand.

Dr Cameron is passionate about eradicating migraines from peoples lives. If you have ever suffered one you will appreciate his lifelong dedication to studying how we humans work and why we get these debilitating headaches in the first place. If you have ever had a migraine yourself or know someone who has, read on. If not, consider yourself lucky!

I have been reading Steve Job's biography (on a Kindle strangely enough) and see in his story what I see in a lot of entrepreneurs I work with - a huge love for what they do. They care. A lot.

We all know how vital client referrals are to business. They are the best sales opportunity you can possibly get with a 50-70%* close rate - try getting that from Google AdWords or Facebook. But how do you get more of them? 

Are you are a business traveler like me? If you are then you probably end up going to amazing countries but with only limited time to look around. So if you were in Dubai for a night what would you do? 

Just over 21 days ago I started testing out the Lenovo YOGA 2 compared to my trusty Apple MacBook Air. In that blog I mentioned that Lenovo had contacted me and asked me to be an ambassador, they don't pay me but provide me a free laptop to test and flew me to London for the global launch of their new range. 

What's the best way to launch a new product and get e-ttraction?  Is it a huge mainstream media burst to get awareness, creating a funny video you hope will go viral to generate interest or running a once in a life competition to stimulate desire? In my view none of those works as well as influencer marketing.

Do you ever feel that when you want something really really badly, the more you try to make it happen, the more it moves further away as you push? You might be in your own business trying to grow, pushing your clients for more, selling hard but the more you push the less they want to buy? Or you might be in a job you don't like and want a new one that better suits your values. 

Thanks for being a great friend and supporter of me and my business Social Star. As we approach our first birthday (we sent out our invitation last week, so if you missed it connect with us here ), I sat down and looked back at my journey over the past year.

How much do you love your computer?

As Founder and Personal Brand Consultant  at Social Star which specialises in crafting peoples online brands, my computer IS my business. I am pretty much always on my computer. It's where I wrote my book, blogs, look at pictures of my kids and work with my clients.  Even when asleep it is next to me whilst I dream of writing biographies and building websites - sad but true! Those of you who are digital professionals will understand...

If you are lucky enough to live near a ski mountain, take advantage of that white goodness. Great fitness and the kids love it! Sure it can be challenging to get them there, keep them warm and enjoy your turns too; but by following my top 10 ski tips for beginners, you will have a great day at the snow and a life long activity to do with your kids.

Think about the leaders that you admire and respect for a moment. Think about their lives and what draws you to follow them. Is it their strength, honesty, integrity, how much money they made or the perceptive decisions that seemed wrong at the time but turned out right.