According to Wikipedia – The Internet actually started in 1969, (yes, only 1969!), as the ARPANET, a Defense Department system designed to let survivors share files after a nuclear attack. From being available on just a handful of top secret computers, it’s grown to millions and millions of users.

And it’s still growing. According to a recent survey, the volume of Internet traffic is expected to double annually over the next five years. Consumers are expected to account for 70 percent of all Internet traffic over that period with the rest of the market made up of business users.

What does that mean for you?

It means customers—millions of them.

No other business tool can put the products you sell in front of so many people so easily. Nothing even comes close. Read More

I had a great dream last night – it was about chocolate!
I actually dreamed I was writing for an advertising campaign. I even remember this poem from my dream…
“What does chocolate do for me?
It’s comfort food when you’re feeling low
It’s something to grab when you’re on the go
It’s smooth as silk
It’s made from milk
Comes in a box tied up with a bow….
Tacky eh! Read More

Don’t you love it when people ask you these questions!

I do try to answer as best I can but without knowing the person or their blog speciality it is difficult to give a helpful answer.

Unless you’re one of the blog gurus who have been blogging for many years then I suppose the answer has to be “no”.

But don’t let that put you off, you can make a tidy living from your blog but it comes with a price. You need to put a lot of time and effort in, the old saying, “write it and they will come” is a fallacy.

The magic word is traffic. You need to drive traffic to your blog. Sure, regular posts will attract the search engines over time but you need to grab your marketing with both hands and promote yourself in the right places. See my previous posts on marketing in places like LinkedIn and Twitter to drive traffic. Read More

Did you know that blogging is the new “BLACK”?

A blog can be uploaded to networking sites to spread the word about your business – that’s free advertising!
A blog gives you the chance to voice your opinions to the world.
A good blog can generate subscribers and we all know how important they are!
A blog with the right keywords will help the search engines to find you.
An informative blog can give you kudos…you could be seen as an expert in your field.
A blog can create an income from affiliate advertising and adsense.

So what are the 8 things you should have on your official blog site.

1. A subscriber’s sign up box. This will enable visitors to subscribe to the RSS feed of your posts.
2. A newsletter subscription box. Once they have agreed to receive your mailings then you can safely market to them by e-mail – it is always better to add a few subtle links to your products or services in a newsletter than to bamboozle them with adverts. Read More

Isn’t it frustrating when you arrive at an office reception only to find that there’s no receptionist! There you stand, waiting for someone to notice you.

And some how the staff manage to beaver away while at the same time giving you glances but, infuriatingly, not making any effort to come to your rescue?
You think to yourself, should I wait, should I talk, should I….

I have worked in many busy offices in my time and the one person who seems to have the most fun and the cushiest job always seems to be the receptionist.
The problem is that when a company has a belt tightening period, then the receptionist is usually the one that bites the dust leaving a void in the reception area and some poor employee out of work and me, the poor visitor, left to her own devises. Read More