Hello to those of you new to my website. Isn’t it terrible? It’s not designed to showcase half the stuff I can do. [Editor's note... I've since relaunched with my new beautiful website which I hope you agree isn't at all terrible!) As with all small businesses I have to steel myself to allocate proper time to all those head office type tasks – finance, marketing, website overhaul. But even I must admit, the time has come. The new website is ‘coming soon’. And so I find myself firmly in the same boat as many of my clients. Looking for professional services be it copywriting, web design, branding is a bit of a minefield. You want to find someone you can trust. You want to move forward quickl
Next week I’m giving a talk at the Kingston University Enterprising Women’s Network. My theme? Content and communications made easy. I was a little unsure exactly who attended this event and, as any good marketer will tell you, understanding your audience is key. So I went along to a session last month to gauge the lay of the land. The subject was ‘Marketing on a shoestring’ led by Kate Pilgrim. To say it was comprehensive is to undersell the word comprehensive. We all came away with an amazing checklist of ideas to bring in a lot more business. But what really struck me was the expertise in the room. One by one as we went around the room introducing ourselves I found my jaw slowly lowering
This isn’t one of those blogs where I tell you to learn to live with your weaknesses. I’m not going to tell you to fall in love with your thighs or accept that even though you’ve bought the book you’re never going to read War and Peace (watching the TV series is probably enough to get you through the literature section of the pub quiz anyway). No, the reason I love problems is that they are the spark that generates new ideas, innovations and change. In a world where we are bombarded by marketing messages,it’s not our problems we should be worried about, it’s how to be original. Anything that gives us a chance to do something different, that gives us a USP – even if it’s a problem – is an opp
No boss, no shirts to iron, no commute. Freelancing is heaven. Except… No boss? You know, I never expected to miss having a boss. But just as you lose the tyrant who expects you in meetings at 8am, you also lose the praise and support great bosses give. Now, I have to be my own boss. And whilst that obviously means setting deadlines, timescales and expectations, it also means taking the time to feel good about a job well done and making sure you book on the course that will teach you a new skill. Just as you set aside a few hours a week for marketing and managing your business, so you should set aside a little time for your own development. No shirts to iron? Well maybe. Writing for Blue Mar
