My eldest daughter will soon be three. We have taken her swimming now for about a year and it really is just about her favourite activity.

But as I watch I think about how we learn things that we can’t master instantly - like say, sales…

The Intelegant definition of sales is knowledge + focus.

Sales starts as learning to swim - you either love it or you learn to love it by diving in over and over again - but to get good requires application, dedication, and time. Note: the best sales people are not necessarily the most enthusiatic, or driven. They are rather committed professionals.

Do we still think of sales as a “dirty” word - something done by those who aren’t bright enough to be in the finance department, or smart enough to go straight into marketing. But a good salesperson is not pushy, exploitive, or manipulating: rather, a good sales person makes the other person interested by being professional, and engaging; and then genuinely listens to the clients’ needs and delivers a much better all round experience…

Just like the swimming pool…

The internet is becoming a better place to buy products and services…

This week I tried some personal outsourcing.

And I got a web designer - professional with references, portfolio etc; for €99 / 1000 SEK and that’s not bad!

Some background: The website for Business Intelegant was in beta testing when my web designer - Elvan Williams - died.

Elvan was a wonderful chess player, and a creative mind, and one of the handful of real friends I had here. As an ex-pat he got the jokes and we would sit at the Öl Kafé near Möllevången in Malmö having coffee and playing chess - I miss him much more than his skills. From a British Jamaican background, and a huge prescence physcially, he loved his new life in Sweden, and I miss him and his laugh badly.

The site now needs some adjustments that I do not have the skills for. So what to do? I put a call over Skype to my twin brother in Australia who is part of the global network that is the Nerds On Site phenomenon. This means that he lives 50% of his life inches away from a SCSI port, and the other 50% inches away from his wife pouring coffee into his greater loves circuit boards. (Just kidding Charley - you’re a great husband and father!)

Nerd on Site administrate computers remotely - they can reboot your machine after permission without you doing a thing anuway in the world, and make it better - Outsourcing IT managment!- anyway, Charley recommended a look at www.guru.com.

So I checked it out: web designers, financial specialists, database builders, translators all available, and a totally open bidding sytems. Guru.com seems to list just about anything that requires a freelancer.

And the choice is exceptional. I out in a detailed request, and received back some 12 offers ranging from $99 up to $250 - which was the budget limit I set.

So just to state that again - I got a web designer - professional with references, portfolio etc; for €99 / 1000 SEK and that’s not bad.

I am in correspondence and will let you know how it works out…

Autumn has come to Sweden. Driving in the Previa watching the passing of late summer in Sweden is like watching an old master adding touches of light and dark to achieve the heightened illusion of depth - chiaroscuro - or rather, something more Godshape in nature at work. Rather than mile after mile of pine and grey roads found throughout Northern and Central Sweden, Skåne (Pronounced SK-O-ne, not SK-A-ne, please) has beautiful beech forests if you know where to look. We all needed a family outing after a busy week. And, a chance to explore new places that are less than an hour from Malmö.

Torup Castle lies only 30 minutes from busy Malmö, yet is another world; modest in its pretension, yet fittingly (Sv: passande / avpassande)regal (Sv: kunglig / majestätisk [eng: majestic] Idiom: “fit for a King” = when someone has made a special effort for you, or a place is exceptional so, “The meal was fit for a King.” use discretely and purposively, can sound sarcastic otherwise.). It was home to Danish royalty, and considered a major Swedish gain, renovated in the 17th century it has almost a chateaû feel to it. The gardens have walnut trees, acacia, and wonderful yew hedges, but it is the beeches and very indigo Jones’ lawns - large, and rolling - that dominate. There is a deer park, and a dramatic moat. In typical Swedish fashion the coffee rotunda, itself an architectural gem and former hunting lodge, is run very slowly by a very modest and archaic worker. Not a hint of customer training skills here (and I will blog some thoughts on this subject next week) - just plain service, and three choices of sandwich (cheese, ham, and creatively, ham & cheese). He makes an excellent hot chocolate. We sat out in the brisk air enjoying the lack of speed and fuss, cold on the outside and warm on the inside.

[Source: http://hem.passagen.se/swedala/vytorupbara/torup.htm]