Do Mealtimes With Your Kids Work For You?

Do you enjoy mealtimes together as a family, do you even have time to sit together, are you happy with the food choices you make and feel you have good variety and balance, is eating with your kids an enjoyable experience?

The knock on effect of eating together isn't just that kids usually eat more healthily research has shown there's a whole host of other benefits, including reduced stress, good mental health, improved…

This week we listened to Becky for the 10-minute slot informing us of ‘Ways to Subtly and Easily Enhance your Brand Identity by Getting Creative’ from Abstract Print & Design.

ICONS

• Icons can be used to separate different areas of your business whilst keeping a consistent brand
• A more visual way to represent your services
• Make it clear for your customers to understand what you offer
• Provides more personality for your…

Securing the best commercial cleaning contractors to clean your hotel rooms can be daunting.  After all, you are allowing total strangers full access to your guest rooms, their personal belongings and other private areas of your hotel. There will always be those ‘stranger danger’ warnings at the back of your mind, however, most people who have bravely opened up to cleaning contracts have found out that it’s not as bad as it may seem and there are many benefits.

Here are a few reasons…

One of my favourite networking tips is to always take your own name badge along to events...

If you have a badge, you are always prepared for meetings where the organiser either doesn't issue badges, or just hasn't got one for…

Don't you just love passionate people?

Yesterday was the first meeting with a lovely lady supported by her husband on their start-up business.

From the moment we started talking, the passion she felt for the product she wants to sell was very evident and extremely infectious.

The couple described the origins and the inspiration for their new product. They…

A close friend mentioned that he was in a restaurant recently and was astonished at how poor the customer service had been - this was particularly disappointing as it was a good quality restaurant and still relatively new.

This comment coincided with another made to me by a friend who commented that she only ever seems to go to a restaurant 3 times - first to try it…

There are lots of interesting pubs and bars in every city and something that they often have in common is the hardwood floor. It’s understandable since this type of flooring is classic, sturdy and hardwearing at the same time. It also fits in with the decor and the ambience of most pubs.

However, it’s been said that maintaining a pub’s wooden flooring can be a bit taxing and hard work to look after. Firstly, the high volume of traffic that the place gets during opening hours can take…

Updating Your Website Weekly Could Save Time, Money & Also Generate More Business.

1. Updating your site – even if you are using it as an online brochure –…

It's a great time to get gardening.

But I must confess, I'm not very good at it - but there are few things more enjoyable than seeing a plant you've put in the ground grow and flourish.

It's difficult not to draw significant parallels between gardening and…

If you are responsible for the cleaning and upkeep of your wooden sprung dance floors you will know that they need special care and attention. Here we provide top cleaning tips to ensure that your wooden sprung dance floors are given the attention that they need.

Caring for your wooden sprung dance floor

Our suggested daily routine

• Vacuum, sweep, or dry dust mop
• Keep the floor surface dry
• Clean up spills immediately so that they…

After presenting at a recent seminar, in the Q&A session, one person asked a great question; "How can I make sure that I can run a successful and reusable marketing campaign?"

These are the 5 elements that I shared that I consider essential for any campaign to stand a chance of success.

In my opinion, the 5 essential elements are:

1. Define your Market Dominating Position (MDP)
2. Create an effective sales offer
3. Avoid the…

I've seen 2 social media posts recently where people have been reaching out for support (both with a very generic 'Looking for a business consultant' message which, in both cases, has turned out to be not quite what they were looking for).

Anyway, in both cases, they had a string of responses/offers on the social media platform, in one case over 100 separate…

Hotels, Guest Houses and B & Bs are popular places that many different people frequent. Lots of us love to take family holidays, weekends away and now have breaks all year round. For the owners and managers of the Hotels, Guest Houses and B & Bs, keeping the premises clean and in good condition is extremely important if they want to remain in business.

These days this is even more important, because when people stay in them, not only will the guests be concerned about their…

Last week at our Yateley Networking Meeting we had the pleasure of Jon Davies from Jon Davies Hypnotherapy to carry out the 10-minute speaker slot.

Fear, Phobia’s, Habits & Addictions

• Fear                       An emotional response to a real or perceived threat

                                        Basic survival mechanism – Fight or Flight

                                        If we didn’t experience…

Customers, business partners and suppliers are all key components of a successful growing business. They often come and visit the office and keeping them comfortable will help establish and continue a good and healthy relationship.  But, nothing can be more embarrassing than having to escort your business guests onto a seat with grimy looking upholstery.

Just like you would in your own home, you will want your guests to feel comfortable and at ease in your office to create the perfect…

Audrey Hepburn once famously said;

“Everything I learned I learned from the movies.”

I think she might just have been right!

If you have never seen the movie Cool Hand Luke played by Paul Newman, you are missing a treat. It's a gritty story of a man who refuses to accept the rules and will not conform to the 'norms' in a rural prison set…

At the MyBoard networking event yesterday, there were two really good questions raised about different business strategies.

One was asking about the development of a 12 month email strategy and the second was about how to make the most of social media. This second question seemed to really resonate with people as many people seem to find themselves doing…

With the weather picking up – Spring will be upon us sooner than you think!

There comes a time in a busy household, especially where there are lots of kids, when we have to put our foot down and declare an ‘all out’ crusade against dust and grime. Plus, if there are pets running lose too – then the need for a spring clean is even greater!

Imagine putting freshly laundered tablecloths and seat covers on, only then to discover that messy hands have left stains on them.  Or what…

I'd like to share a story with you that a previous boss told me many years ago that has stayed with me ever since. It's a story that I have referred back to many times and have found to be true in both business and personal lives!

As a boss, one of his (many) strengths was that he used very visual examples to make a point - and this is one fantastic example!

Let me start first with a little history.

From the moment we took to the…

You will often hear big name business speakers talk about the big name brands they’ve worked with and the marketing strategies those big brands have employed to drive the connections they make to consumers, especially in the B2C arena.

What you don’t often hear about is that many of these companies actually spend a lot of time trying to replicate small businesses!! 

There is a desire in big, lumbering organisations to mimic the…