Wooo-ooo - it ‘s Halloween, and the 'trick or treat-ers' are out in force... spooky! I wear a devil mask to answer the doorbell, just to enter into the spirit of things - and because I'm a big kid at heart.

I'm like a kid in a sweet shop at the moment, because I'm just in the process of launching my new networking group – the MyTeam…

I just received an email newsletter from Networking in Berkshire Member John Cassidy, Photographer, and I couldn't agree more with the excellent point he makes... in fact, it matches a blog post I made on NiS two and a half years ago! (check it out here)

Here's John's piece:

First Impressions Count…

Webinar Presentations – 12 Tips for First Timers

 If you’re reading this the chances are your boss has asked you to give your first webinar presentation. Either that or you’ve witnessed the rapid growth of webinars and want to grasp this fantastic opportunity to put your message across.  Either way, it’s a presentation format with its own challenges and rewards.  Mastering the challenges will produce an attractive and effective…

When I started secondary school, I remember coming across mathematics problems that went something like this: “The total wage bill at the Widgets Factory is £10,000 per week. Men are paid £2.00 per hour, and women are paid £1.50 per hour, for working a 40 hour week. If there are 100 men employed, how many women are employed at the factory?”As it was an all-girls’ school, we were naturally incensed that men and women should be paid at different rates…

Anyone SERIOUS about Networking may wish to take advantage of a slip Keith has made!!

I made a point of becoming a founder member early in 2012 at a special quarterly introductory rate of £29.95.  Well his new annual fee is LESS than that until 1st November!!

I've previously posted a comment on the excellent value I believe it represents at my own…

Are you scared of Networking? Me too!

I was chatting with a fellow networking friend this morning and 'he' said I should start a blog on being a networking newbie............

So he rattled my cage, so here goes!

To be honest, this is rather hard for me to wite as I was petrified - it brings back memories of…

I met Gerry McGovern a few years ago while working on government websites for the Inland Revenue (as it was then called - stop boo-ing at the back please! :0) and for Business Link. 

He's a genial Irish genius, blogging about the total online experience in general, and specialising in helping large organisations all around the world (particularly in the public sector) to create and manage large-scale web projects.

Gerry's blog is one of the few that I follow, and one of the…

With recent government showing that 80% of the population who reside in our cities and towns have a real  fear of their home being vulnerable to crime.

So wouldn’t it makes sense to take “sensible precautions” to ensure that not only is your property safe but also your family, and that you have the added security of “peace of mind” as well with the help of a Burglar…

LinkedIn is taking a page out of Facebook's, er... book!

Facebook's just fun for kids and socialising, right? Serious businesses use LinkedIn - the…

f you are planning sending out a number of emails to several customers and clients that you are hoping will jump on board and buy your products or services, then you need to make sure they do not click on the delete key the moment they set eyes on your header or subject line.

It’s no secret that companies are still sending out emails by the thousand to attempt to get potential customers interested. In fact the practice has been increasing in recent years and despite all this those…

I've added a great video to the site here, with links to four more, which together provide a fascinating analysis explaining the European and global economic crisis  in laymans terms - well worth a look!

I'm grateful to Robert Craven (of Directors' Club fame) for drawing my attention to…

Business Link the organisation was wound up last November with the demise of the RDAs around the UK.  Now the national businesslink.gov.uk website is to be amalgamated with Directgov into a new web presence called GOV.UK.

I have a certain nostalgia for the site having been involved in writing some of the content a few years ago, but that's progress for you!

Here's some…

This is Ian Hamilton again (of the infamous "Free Lunch" seminars!) reporting on 3 more interesting events I attended recently.

1.  Law of Attraction events on 25 Sept & 03 Oct in London. After some serious upheavals these past few months I'm warming to this group of diverse characters seeking inspiration & direction weekly.  Too much info to divulge here but I'm well impressed!!  Business people who run seminars etc. do take note that the host makes a point of buying all…

This week saw the introduction of the long-awaited “Automatic Enrolment” regime for workplace pensions. Conceived by the last Labour Government, it is now being implemented by the Coalition, with the intention of encouraging the large number of employees without access to a workplace pension scheme to get into the habit of saving for their retirement.

Perhaps surprisingly, a recent survey by Scottish Widows found that more than half of the UK…

Figures from housing charity Shelter have found that 56% of borrowers would struggle to keep up with their mortgage payments if interest rates rose by 1%.

More worryingly, 11% said they would be unable to pay monthly payments altogether.

Campbell Robb, Shelter's chief executive, said: “These shocking findings show that over half of mortgage holders are living on a…