On the blog…
Email Setup – POP vs IMAP and why it matters
About 10% of the people who ask me about emails are struggling with accessing email on several devices (phone, laptop, tablet) and finding things disappearing from one place or not appearing in another. Before we begin sorting out Inboxes it is important to make sure...
Have you thought about the impact of your emails?
The start of the year is a time for goal setting and resolutions. Lots of the resolutions I've seen people sharing this year are about reducing things. Reducing waistlines is always a pretty common January theme but this year, after the startling revelations about the...
How do you know if you’ve ‘made it’?
I took the train into London a couple of weeks ago and passed some time reading the Metro as whizzed through the frosty countryside. One thing that caught my eye was was an article on how you know when you've 'Made it'. A survey showed the top 40 things that people...
What Are Your Terms of Employment?
Last week I sent a more personal email out to my newsletter subscribers than I would normally. It was inspired by an unfortunate coincidence of quite a lot of bad news for friends and hearing a few 'inspiring speakers' talk about how much they had sacrificed in terms...
3 Reasons I don’t like Mailchimp
Is Mailchimp making you frazzled? Mailchimp is a very poular email marketing tool and almost seems like a right of passage for new business owners. A part of the initiation test of whether you have enough tenacity, grit and determination to make it as a small business...
How to set up Google Local
Google Local is what you see every time you look for the nearest chip shop or try to find a plumber in your local town. But to be found you need to set up your business. This short video shows you how:<script...
How to backup a WordPress website
This post is a plea for all WordPress website owners to ensure they have a their site backed up and that they have a copy of that back themselves. You never know what might happen to your website, hacking is all too common and it is devastating to discover that...
Should you be an Experimenter? Or a Systemiser?
I'm on a mission... to help small business owners find the right systems and technology to save them time and money. I've been on this mission for a few years now but I've often struggled to articulate how I can help people. I knew that deep within me there was a...
What to look for in website hosting
I get asked the same techie questions a lot so I have decided to turn them into a blog series. Question no 1 is: "What website hosting do you recommend?" Often when I respond to questions about tech I have a few options available. This question is one of the few where...
No Early Birds Here…
... does this mean I won't catch the worm? This is a post about why I'm not doing early bird pricing for my upcoming website course (more here). This is also a non tech related post, unusual for me. I usually like to tell you about nice, logical things that you...
3 ways with websites – which sort of website to have?
For many new businesses a website can be their biggest initial investment. I get asked lots of questions about websites and which are the best. I thought a post outlining some of the most common options might be useful. So what are the options for a website? I am...
Why I’m writing a book… even though I don’t really want to!
I am writing a book. It's a bit of an unexpected thing to be doing if I'm honest. I'm not someone who has always wanted to write a book; quite the opposite. I wrote a thesis at university and that was quite enough thanks! I have been on a bit of a roller coaster with...
What Email Address Should I Use For Work?
When you start a new business one of the first things you might think about is your email. "What email is the best to use for work?" is a question I get asked quite a lot so I thought I would create a reference to cover some of the key points. 1. Choice of email...
A handy little income options spreadsheet…
Goal setting Last week, (a little later than planned!) I spent a whole day planning and goal setting. Such luxury to spend a whole day out of the normal business and take a step back to think about the year ahead. (At the Manor by the Lake as well which is one of my...
Why Decisions Are Restricting Your Business Growth
Today I would like to share a useful fact with you in case you should ever get on the wrong side of the law and end up residing at Her Majesty's pleasure. I appreciate that this is probably quite unlikely but still it is worth knowing…. when you go for your parole...
When willpower is trumped by the lure of social media
We all know that the fastest way to grow a business is to focus like a ninja on the things that are going to have the biggest impact. Unfortunately those things are also usually the things that scare the pants off you and which you will do anything to avoid. Like...
Time to reboot…
Traditionally Sunday is a day of rest. But like many traditions it is not really upheld any more. Sure the majority of us don't go out to work but for those of us who run our own businesses it is likely that there will be some 'work' going on. And because the shops...
Why Systems are Like Zumba
I tried that and it didn't work When I am out and about and get asked the inevitable 'What do you do?' and I usually explain my love of technology and how it can help make more time in our lives for the things we love. I often hear 'I tried that but it didn't work...