A few days ago I posted about how " I've always wanted to be the drummer boy ". I also hope that I continue to not take life to seriously. This is the sort of people I want to hang out with when I am older. To View More >>

Danny and I are in Germany at present, Cologne (Köln) to be specific, visiting the Photokina trade fair. It's been a whirlwind tour through Europe getting here. In 5 days we travelled through Las Angeles, London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne. What an incredible week of contrasts. The cities, especially Paris and Amsterdam, were incredible, so romantic with their old world charm and architecture, but with unfortunate modern contrasts. If Mc Donalds down the road from Notre Dame wasn't enough, how about the accommodation we have in Cologne? This is a table in the restaurant. The place To View More >>

In business there are no magic bullets, but this idea is so powerful it certainly feels like magic. I ran into an old friend yesterday, and it reminded me of a series of seminars I ran a few years ago that contained a section on how to increase profits. Especially when times are tough, it's great to be able to break things down into some simple rules that allow you to know where to focus, so I'll share this very simple but powerful idea with you now. Gross Profit is calculated on an "averaged basis" as: (Total number of clients x Average number of visits per year x Average sale x Average margin) To View More >>

In addition to work, I get hundreds of personal emails a week, and have got myself into a situation again of "email overwhelm" on my personal account and Facebook. Today I decided to catch up, and although I haven't got through the 500 odd emails completely I am stunned by what I have come across so far. - an email from an exchange student that lived with us over 20 years ago. - 2 emails from old friends remaking contact. - an email from an online friend telling me that her husband has passed away. - a tirade of emails ... first saying hello and then a number asking why I haven't replied, escalating To View More >>