We've all heard about the pace of change, and how it's increasing, but what does that mean to you and me - on the wrong side of the Gen-X, but not yet quite old enough to be needing adult diapers? (Although, I bet you too are feeling aches and pains in places you didn't know you had.)

A few weeks ago, I sat in on a weekend conference on Internet marketing in Vancouver. You'd imagine that these folk would be blase' about technology - but the room was full - about 600 folk (including quite a few old enough to be dusty)! And they were learning how to add more value, more quickly, and less expensively, to the folk that are currently your and my clients!

It's very sobering (that's a gentle way of describing the uncertainty I felt) to see a group of people of all ages learning skills that are going to render the world - as we currently know it - obsolete. Which brings me to the point of this much delayed Petes Weekly: continuous education.

Until pretty recently we could survive on the skills we learnt at school or university for the whole of our lives. No more. If your income is currently under threat - chances are that you're in a skills deficit situation. (Tempting as it might be to blame it on BBBEE, AA, or any other acronym that springs to mind.)

So here are a few suggestions:

Consider formalising your business skills by investing in a postgraduate diploma or MBA. Not only will the knowledge you gain add immense value to your financial future, but that august piece of paper carries immense weight if you ever choose to take your business international and feel the need to move your head office to Australia or Canada. (I am doing a MBA - via correspondence and the Internet - through University of Southern Queensland for both these reasons, and having a bunch of 'fun' en route.) You will find them here, and their SA representative office is here.

Consider putting a rocket under your sales and marketing skills by investing in some of the superb material from the Internet Marketing Centre. The reason I have an income, and Petes Weekly, the Business Warrior community, and the CrashProof book exist, is because of the skills I gained from these guys. And they're continuously updating their material as the Internet shrieks along at an unrelenting pace.

Their best products right now:

Insider Secrets to Marketing your Business on the Internet (my marketing bible)

Blogging for Dollars (taking internet marketing to a new level)

and their Accelerated Wealth DVD series

It's extremely tempting to 'blame' whatever pain we may each be experiencing on the current SA political, economic, or infrastructural situation - but that should inspire us to work smarter, not to throw more and more effort down a rapidly narrowing tunnel.

It's not easy for anybody, anywhere, right now so lets get on with the job.

April 25th, 2006

Peter Carruthers

Under a local baobab tree while after donating my ADSL line to support Telkom strikers in their bid to get more money for less service.

PS If you're planning to travel internationally - at any point in your lifetime - you might want to start arranging your SA passport this week. The delays in that division are unpredictable and creating all sorts of challenges - so solve them by applying now, long before you need it.