Are freelancers the future of small business?

I made a big decision a month ago. I decided to stop the hybrid freelance/agency employee existence I’d lived for the past two years and to become 100% freelance. It wasn’t a decision I took lightly, by any means. Turning your back on a regular salary is never easy to do, but having spent two […]

No more alternative facts – the day social media came of age

Twitter used to be the place you came to escape the more negative aspects of modern life. It was a refuge for the smartphone-addicted masses, where we could share jokes, memes, animated gifs and comment on the frothy, entertaining things in life. What did we think of the latest ‘showstopper bake’ on the Great British […]

A positive manifesto for making 2017 great

Life can be tough: there’s no way to deny that. It’s tough in a multitude of different ways, depending on geographic location, the size (or scarcity) of your wealth, the strongly held beliefs you hold, the social structures you find yourself part of, or the race, religion, gender or sexual orientation you find yourself born […]

Why I’m fundraising for Movember

Back in 2012, I grew a moustache for Movember. At the time, I was working for a big corporate organisation where fundraising was actively encouraged and the spirit of Movember was something that definitely caught on with many of the men working there – if you’ve ever worked with sales and marketing people, you’ll know […]

10 simple ways to improve your business blogging

If you’re running your own business, or looking after the marketing of a small company, then having a blog on your website can add a huge amount of value to your content marketing. Blogs are nothing new, of course, they’ve been around for decades. And most of us know what personal blogs are in their […]

6 ways to stay healthy as a remote worker

Ok, hands up. I’m a remote worker! I’m one of those annoying people who sit in the local coffee shop, hogging the power outlet, using the Wi-Fi and ‘working remotely’ while sticking innumerable americanos and cups of tea down my neck (I can feel your disdain already…). You may *think* we’re all frustrated novelists with […]

Too many messages = no communication at all

I was sat in the waiting room of my local doctor’s practice recently, idly staring at the walls and hoping that I’d be called in soon for my appointment. As I casually read the many, many posters, leaflets and signs that covered the wall space, it struck me what a great example doctor’s waiting rooms […]

Real-time Twitter, or predictive algorithms? The choice is yours

Twitter is allegedly about to make a BIG change to its timeline function. Gone will be the real-time experience of tweets shown in chronological order, and in will come algorithmically targeted tweets, shown for their relevance to the user, rather than when they’re posted. And the twittering classes seem less than enamoured with this proposed […]

Goodbye, Mr Bowie: there’s a starman, waiting in the sky

It’s been a very sad few months for music, with many talented, influential musicians going to the great gig in the sky – and RIP to all these souls. But Bowie is different… so, so different. Losing Bowie eclipses EVERYTHING. Having Ziggy and Major Tom snatched from us in such a heartbreaking and untimely way […]

Don’t be a star: be a musical visionary!

The music industry has always been full of moguls promising to turn young hopefuls into stars. It’s nothing new: it’s been going on ever since there’s been a way to record a song and make money out of selling it. The big cheeses will always want a hit – simple as that. But we seem […]