People who are divorced, or those whose relationship has broken down, are being penalised because many mortgage lenders don’t accept child support as income, meaning that they could be forced to keep their ex’s name on the mortgage, or be denied a mortgage altogether.

Two lenders, don’t accept child support payments as part of a borrower’s income at all.

Two others don’t generally accept child support as income, but say they will look at applications on a…

The interest-only mortgage timebomb is ticking loudly and will only get louder according to statistics revealed in the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) thematic review into interest-only mortgages, which was published earlier this year.

The review revealed there are now 2.6m interest-only mortgages due for repayment by 2041.

Worryingly, as many as 48% of those face a shortfall at repayment day, with an average figure of around £71,000.

Even more worryingly, the review…

This week I was asked to provide some guidance on setting up the email, calendar and contacts of several businesses so that they could access the data anywhere and on any of the mobile devices that they used.

Although I'm a Google Apps and Android person myself, I had to get this working on Apple devices. The set up on Android devices, as should be the case, is very straightforward but it wasn't as straightforward to get things set up on the Apple devices. On an Android…

As a copywriter I always like to learn from the best, and Drayton Bird (crazy name, crazy guy:0) is a Direct Marketing guru who is always worth listening to... He's British, and advertising legend David Ogilvy, who he worked with while at O&M Direct said of…

Apparently we are blessed with long and happy lives here in leafy Surrey, according to this article on the Telegraph's website.  And on the subject of the Telegraph, I've added a link to their   cartoon to the NiS home page  so whenever you're on the site you can click to enjoy that day's example from the best topical cartoonist of all time, IMHO!

London commuter belt is healthiest place to…

I spotted this fascinating article on the InformationWeek website. I'm particularly interested in how to monetise the social web because I'd like to make a business out of the 'Networking in' concept :0)

5 Top Social Media Trends For 2014

From social media faux pas to a prominent IPO, 2013 was full of social media highs and lows. According to Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter Group, this year marked social media's move into the…

I read loads of articles on networking and it's nice to find I'm in good company when I recommend networking as the twenty-first Century way to find business success...

Here's a promising looking chap called RIchard Branson explaining his enthusiasm for networking on Entrepreneur.com...

"Q: How much of an impact does a really effective networker have on a company's success? Does it ever make sense to hire someone whose only…

Tip 1

If you're struggling to find a really good tool for helping you manage your personal or business tasks then do take a look at Trello (www.trello.com). It's free (which is a winner to start with) and although it has a paid for version, there really is no need to upgrade. You can manage as many tasks as you like and categorise them into projects (or organisations as it…

The quarterly inflation report out today suggested the Bank of England could raise rates as early as the end of 2014 if unemployment continues to tumble and the economy improve.

Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney commented Bank statisticians forsee a 40% chance unemployment will reach the 7% threshold by the end of next year. He added there is a 60% chance it will happen by the end of 2015.

Under the terms of Carney's Forward Guidance, the MPC…

Hi There,

I have just signed into the Networking in Surrey Group and although I have been in sales for years and working for Peninsula for 20 of them, I do not see myself as a good networker.

I have been to many events in the past and failed to make any signifcant headway in, what I believe to be, the networking sector.

Is the problem that, I am not sticking it out long enough? I know that trust is everything and maybe I do not 'hang around' long enough to build that…

...you get sued!

Was asked a question a few weeks ago by a consultant.

The question was:

“What happens if I make a mistake and I get sued by a company?”

I then asked: “Are you a limited company?”

They responded: “No”

I then had to explain that, potentially, they have put their personal assets at risk as by not having a limited company they are holding themselves personally responsible.

“Ah…” they said.

I then explained that he could…

Whilst watching the Infusionsoft Conference Twitter feed a couple of days ago, I saw a tweet that revealed a powerful list building strategy that I want to share with you here today.

Jordan Hatch spoke from stage at the conference, and at the end of his talk offered copies of his slides to the 2,000+ audience.

There’s nothing too unique about being asked for, or offering copies of slides after a presentation, I get…

Not all the blog posts in NiS are serious business stuff - witness my two recent posts about Surrey Hills, the forthcoming reality TV show about the rich young things of Elmbridge which apparently is our very own answer to The Only Way Is Essex!

I couldn't resist posting a link to this story on This is Surrey (which you've…

Facebook Groups are my favourite aspect of my social networking strategy. Through groups, I’ve met some amazing people who have gone on to become my customers, referrers and raving fans – and me theirs!

Recently, I shared the story of how I’d been able to attribute £20k of revenue from Facebook in a 6 week period. Without…

As a Facebook Page owner, I imagine that like most people, you rely on the notifications flag to tell you whether your fans have liked or commented on your posts or posted on your timeline?

But the problem is, you can’t rely on notifications to flag everything up!

What if Facebook decides you aren’t going to see a post?

What if Facebook decides a comment or post is spam and hides it from you?

You might think that parental control is what you use to…

Another Networking focused blog post I liked this week, is on the Materials World Magazine website (oh yes, I have an eclectic reading list!). You can read the rest of the article here...

"After setting up an account and creating a LinkedIn profile, you might feel ready to tick online networking off your to-do list. Unfortunately for those short of time,…

I read ten very dull blog posts about How to Network for every good one, so it's great to find a gem like this article by Isaiah Hankel,

The Networking Barrier

Most big deals don’t happen online. Understand that power moves are made in person. It doesn’t matter if you’re shy or talkative, an introvert or an extrovert, a software…

Another great blog post from the ever-reliable (and never dull!) Twitter Queen, NiS Member Veronica Pullen...

I've been advising service-based SMEs to 'productise' their offerings for many years now, so I fully agree with the sentiment Veronica…