I am sure most business owners (at one stage or another) struggle with the work/life balance.  Generally you have your own business so you have the freedom to work your own hours, but in reality you work more hours than you would like.  This is one area I really struggle with. Particularly as...

We’ve all gotten them at some time.  An email that someone has forwarded on because it seems like such a great offer, or, worse still, it tells about a child that has gone missing and they hope that you have seen them so that you can help.  So how do you know if the stories are true and need...

We’ve all stopped to gaze at a shopfront display at least once. An outfit, accessory or an interesting product has caught our eye, drawing us back for a better look, which is exactly what is supposed to happen. Retailers use their physical shopfronts to send an instant message to consumers, telling...

The word brand is one that gets thrown around a lot, particularly in business. We talk about our marketing material and stationery needing to match our brand, that our brand is all about X or that we’ve decided to change our brand in this way or that way. I asked myself: how many business owners...

There are many things that you can do *before* your computer guy comes to make sure that everything runs as smoothly (and quickly) as possible. 1. Write Down Error Messages EXACTLY This is a really important habit to get into. It’s probably worth going to one of the back to school sales and buying...

These are the slides of a presentation I recently did to travel business owners in Australia. Many of them would have said they didnt need a social media strategy before the presentation but now they are considering putting one together. What do you think? Does your business need a social media strategy? View...

Since 2006, hundreds of thousands of people have gotten on the Twitter bandwagon. Users of the social media micro-blogging platform have grown recently at a rate of 1382% per month! While I have a following of more than 1,300 people now, when I started on Twitter a few months ago, I had no idea what...

You’re sitting at your desk, pen in hand, viciously trying to think of new ways to expose your business. You wish there was a cost effective way of staying in touch with your existing clients, reinforcing your knowledge and experience to potential clients and of course, we all like to think we’re...

Belonging to a community has never been more important than it is now. As our lives get busier and busier, people are constantly looking for ways to feel connected within their community – and the perfect way to do this is through a website. According to www.internetworldstats.com 75 per cent of...

The corporate world can be a bit grey at times – you travel to work on the same route, sit at the same desk every day, complete the same tasks, go to meeting after meeting… After 15 years of this grey existence I wanted to add some colour to my work life. While working in the very corporate world...