So, I’m sure you’re wondering what all this has got to do with your online business, after all, we’re not selling cars … well, neither, strictly speaking, were the folks at Jaguar – with those little extras and options, they were actually selling individuality and exclusiveness … and you can do exactly the same with your products. Continue Reading
“If you wish to be successful – copy success” … and while this of course is wisdom of a sort, you need to also apply some common sense but make sure you are actually copying the right things. Continue Reading
So, instead of it being like ‘the old days’, back before Google took a rather dim view of squeeze pages and a ‘free report’ was just that … you are now paying a fiver (more, if you buy the Upsell) for practically the same standard of content – which seems to me to make as much sense as buying that hotel Coke… Continue Reading
Nobody ever started an online business because they had to ‘fill’ four hours a day … our lives were already full of family commitments, our full time jobs (if we had one) and not forgetting the things we actually want to do … all before we tried to shoehorn in some time to make a bit extra online. Continue Reading
One of things that I found interesting about my latest trip to New York was that nearly all of the VIP type upgrades I made actually added something to the experience, whether it was less time spent queuing, a slightly different area to stand-in which afforded a better view, or more access to tour guides or staff to give you more information, or provide anything you wanted. Continue Reading
You’ll be pleased to know that I didn’t do anything beastly while I was over in New York, and in fact, my visit brought home a couple of things I long suspected were not ‘all bad’ about our friends in the colonies… Continue Reading
I will admit my experience was coloured slightly by a very unwelcome bout of the flu, but I’m certain even without the distraction of my affliction, I would be hard pressed to find too much to recommend my visit to… Continue Reading
When it comes to the content you need to attract the right amount of traffic to make this pay (a niche site can be a real ‘slow burner’ of a way to make money online) the dilemma is usually whether to go for quality or quantity… Continue Reading
When I’m in a slightly mischievous mood, I have been known to spend the time it takes my computer to warm up in the morning to go wandering round HQ and ‘prodding’ various Minions (usually waiting until they’re right in the middle of something else) and asking them awkward questions I already know the answer to…;-) Continue Reading
It seems in recent times, people in the online world will go to great lengths and deem it their duty to give us a ‘reality check’, to solemnly tell people that it’s not easy and that it’s all hard work … and whilst that may well be the case, it’s only half the story – because while it can be all hard work … hard work isn’t ALL there is to it.. Continue Reading
During my trip to HQ the other morning, the large amount of inappropriately parked BMW X3s and large yellow cardboard arrows made it apparent that School Sports Day season was in full swing, and I braced myself for the oncoming deluge of opinion I see every year bemoaning the lack of competitiveness of such events, and how it does not equip children for life in the ‘cold hard world’… Continue Reading
This person, we can only assume, must be going through what I can only describe as the online business equivalent of a ‘teenage phase’ … and I’m afraid there’s quite a lot of it about.
Metaphorically speaking, we all start as babies in this industry, then we learn at our own pace and eventually have some degree of success, and that’s when it can all go a bit wrong… Continue Reading
It is certainly true that the only constant in life is change, and, if you have been part of the internet community for more than five minutes, you’ll know that things online can change very regularly indeed. The good news though, is that when it comes to making money online the large majority of the change is not, as we are told, revolutionary, but is, in fact, purely evolutionary… Continue Reading
To compound the felony, even if you’re only on half the mailing lists I’m on, you’ll probably receive three or four of these emails, all from different marketers, all saying the same thing, all insulting your intelligence … now what does this tell you about the value they place on their relationship with you? Continue Reading
It was for this reason, of course, that I ‘assembled’ my ‘Minions’ (their choice of name, not mine) 😉 to help with things like this, and since they started last year, have helped hundreds of Lowedown readers (and a few followers of their own) with their various queries and problems.
However, there is one common problem you won’t need myself, a Minion or anybody else to help you with, and is one I had myself just the other day… Continue Reading
It seems to be the agreed wisdom in the ‘make money online’ community that the best time to sell to your customers is “when you’ve just sold them something and they’ve already got their credit card in their hand”. This, on the face of it, seems to make perfect sense … but if you get it even the tiniest bit wrong, you can do the complete opposite and really, really annoy the exact same people you are trying to build a relationship with… Continue Reading
Yes, I’ll agree, it’s a slightly provocative way to start … but something occurred to me as I stood there watching the funeral procession of Baroness Thatcher that really could provide a wakeup call to those who might feel they are stuck in something of a rut… Continue Reading
This week of course started with the sad news that Baroness Thatcher had passed away. Whether she was known in your household as ‘Thatcher the Milk Snatcher’, ‘The Iron Lady’ or just as ‘Maggie’ … the impact she had on this country and its people during her decade or so as Prime Minister is undeniable, and is almost certainly a contributing factor to why you are reading this today. Continue Reading
One of the many things I was mulling over earlier was the way some of us manage to talk ourselves out of succeeding and how, when given enough time to ponder, will carry on asking more and more intricate and convoluted questions until we finally get a negative response … or instead of planning how to succeed will sit there and work out how it is ‘impossible’ to make something work (despite the fact that others might actually already be doing it). Continue Reading
I read a number of years ago that it was during the Easter Holidays that the most DIY was done in Britain’s homes, which is why I’ve always found it a good idea to book a short break around now to somewhere nice and warm, therefore putting as much distance as possible between myself and anything likely to need rubbing down, nailing up or painting back at Lowe Towers… Continue Reading
Now, during in my decade or so as part of our online community, it’s always been this way – there is always someone richer, faster or cleverer than you – and there always will be. Despite all this, the number of people making a living (if not a fortune) online increases every year. (and yes, some of them are the ones with the slick and shiny videos) Continue Reading
..and that, really, is the way it should be … after all it’s probably no secret that I go into everything with the real and genuine expectation that things will all work out very much as I had planned … and anything that doesn’t go to plan, like that rather unfortunate episode with the steak a week or so ago, is just a temporary glitch. Continue Reading
In fact, here’s a video diary Andy made for the first week of February 2013 so you can see for yourself how simple and profitable the AITradesafe template is to use. Continue Reading
Chances are, everything you’ve got so far, you’ve got by being reasonable … and if you’re not happy with what you’ve got, if it just doesn’t seem like it’s enough … then may I suggest you give being unreasonable a bit of a go instead… Continue Reading
I’m sure you will share my belief that the only real way to long term success online is not to treat people like a load of battery hens but to build long term lasting relationships based on mutual benefit… Continue Reading
There’s always something that escapes our attention or is overlooked. Not because we don’t see it, but because something else has caught our eye instead, and quite frankly … we’d rather be doing that. It’s the unfashionable, unglamourous bit of… Continue Reading
I’m sure, just like me, you get emails from others in our Making Money Online community, including some of the ‘big names’ with the same sort of title as the one you’ve just opened decrying the state of things in the face of the current economy and greeting each Google slap or algorithm change as if it is the apocalypse itself … and I hope that, when you get these emails, just like me, you think they might be over-egging the situation a bit.. Continue Reading
Anyone at HQ looking out of their window at that moment would have seen me adopting a series of uncomfortable and unflattering positions as I attempted to clamber over to the passenger seat without impaling myself on any gadgetry, and treated to the rather unappetising sight of various bits of me squashed up against the windscreen in a most unflattering manner… Continue Reading
Let me explain … when it comes to getting online success, you can’t do everything … which is actually quite good news … because, like me, the chances are you won’t be any good at quite a lot of it… Continue Reading
Let me start by wishing you a very happy 2013 … I hope you have had a great start to the year so far, and that unlike some here at ‘HQ’ … at least one or two of your New… Continue Reading
Twas the night before Christmas, and there in his house
Still some chap sat working, just clicking his mouse.
Then from above came a terrible din,
and he looked at the roof, just in case it fell in.
He found not a sleigh but a super charged car
And a pink-shirted man who had come from afar Continue Reading
Last Saturday saw the ‘office’ Christmas Party in full swing, hosted as usual, somewhere ‘stately’ a few miles south of HQ. I really enjoy it as it’s a chance to celebrate with everybody that works for me, or closely with me Continue Reading
Last week of course we had the news that Will and Kate were expecting their first child… and whist congratulations are undoubtedly due to the proud parents to be … and yes it is really good to see good news in the papers … the actual reporting of the event had very little to comend it… Continue Reading
‘The Approved List’ is NOT a list of ‘Make Money’ systems … instead it is a list of resources, websites & useful tools I have either used in building my own business or at least wished were around when I first started … it’s completely free for you to access, and will, of course, be updated as and when I find something I think is good enough to add. Continue Reading
Jump forward to this year and early indicators are that, so far at least, as many people have bought online as have physically been to the shops for their presents (and this includes the millions spent on ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’) which I’m sure you’ll agree is a massive change in peoples shopping habits, brought about mainly by a gradual change in attitude that online shopping is now safe to do. Continue Reading
This week saw me taking a trip to Glasgow, for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with business and everything to do with attending a very good friend’s party. Those of you familiar with Glasgow will know that architecturally it is quite like Bath in places … and rather like Beirut in others Continue Reading
An ‘exact match’ site like would have been a very google friendly site and would include affiliate links to the product on Amazon, Clickbank or wherever that particular product was being sold … and would earn a commission for every time someone visited the site, clicked through the link and bought the item.
Many of these sites offer no ‘real’ content (usually just a ‘mock’ review) is based around only one item and was constructed for the sole purpose of appearing on the first page of Google and cashing in on free traffic and affiliate commissions. Continue Reading
This was all explained for the rather logical reason that by telling me how the problem occurred, it would also explain why the solution that was proposed was going to work. Now I really like that kind of logic … but it doesn’t seem to apply everywhere…
When things aren’t working out online, but you don’t know what the problem is, you can spend a lot of time (and money) you haven’t got trying find the root cause or end up spending a fortune on a solution that may not be right for your site, or just wasn’t designed to solve the exact problem you’ve got. Continue Reading
Not only that, given some recent very high profile incidents of how much can go wrong with an ill advised tweet, and given my track record with upsetting people who are a) needlessly aloof, b) terminally half witted and c) American (three categories which seem to make up a good deal of the people on Twitter) I have for a long time decided only to tweet when I am updating my blog… Continue Reading
“You see, it has always amazed me that whereas what you, I and all the other people in our industry say on the internet is constantly under the strictest scrutiny from those in authority … it seems it can often be completely fine to build a website spouting any load of nonsense you like.” Tim Lowe
(Publisher, Tim’s Business Lowe Down) Continue Reading
Of course, getting people to help you achieve the results you could not on your own is not a new idea to the Online Industry by any means (nor is it a new subject to the ‘Lowedown’) but during my couple of days away I met a chap who effectively uses a ‘twist’ on the usual ‘gun for hire’ method that we are more familiar with.
Continue Reading
I’ve just spent less than 5 minutes on the site and in that time I have found people who would install Wordpress on my hosting and add essential and useful plugins ($5) design a professional header or logo ($5) Install a plug-in with a ‘fill in the blanks’ squeeze page ($5) and somebody who will set up my Aweber auto responder for me ($5) … so once I’d bought my domain ($9.95ish) and hosting ($7.96/month from somewhere like Hostgator or GoDaddy) and joined Aweber ($1 for the first month) I could get all the niggley techie bits done for a whole $20! Continue Reading
I must say, I am quite glad to be back on dry land … you see, I had been convinced (possibly against my better judgement) to undertake a short cruise around the Baltic – and while I was very pleasantly surprised by nearly all of the countries I visited, overall it pretty much confirmed my opinions about the whole ‘cruise’ thing… Continue Reading
It can also feel like that with some things we do online, when something can go horribly wrong due to an almost unbelievable set of coincidental circumstances that leave you scratching your head, wondering if your efforts are somehow destined to failure due to being cursed from on-high… Continue Reading
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – If it ain’t fun … I ain’t doing it – usually followed by a brief sideways glance to enjoy the sight of ‘She who must…’ visibly cringing at my deliberate… Continue Reading
Remember, any viral traffic you get is not only completely free traffic, it is very targeted and has also been ‘pre-sold’ because the person has arrived here on a recommendation … so the more of it you can encourage by providing people with something they are more than happy to tell others about … the better.
Continue Reading
You will have to forgive this email being slightly earlier than usual, as I am trying to get this sent and squeeze in a 'respectable' breakfast before we get things rolling on what will be the penultimate day of a… Continue Reading
On reflection, I think there are a couple of things that I might not necessarily excel at … one could easily point at any number of things happening in the Olympic Stadium in the near future that would not be my forte, but above all those I would still probably put ‘Life Coach’…
It’s not that I wouldn’t get results … but I think the ratio of upstanding individuals created verses the ones left gibbering incoherently under their desks would probably not win me too many awards….
Continue Reading
This latest offering is laden with money-making gems you may not have considered (or even heard of before), but this little prod in the right direction may be exactly what you need to kick-start your online endeavours, especially if you feel you are struggling with some of what are believed to be the more ‘traditional’ methods. Continue Reading
My ‘Minions’, it seems, have been very busy … obviously I expect them to be busy, (in the same way they, ‘one day’ hope to see some wages) 😉 but to be honest – It isn’t always obvious what they are trying to achieve…
You see, when I venture down to the lower reaches of HQ, I will often find them looking at websites for such diverse things as the actor Jason Statham or UFO Abductions, purely (or so they tell me) for the purposes of research … then, just as I am about to invite them up for what is euphemistically called ‘an interview without coffee’ … they show me websites they have created that are on the first page of Google without spending a penny on SEO or advertising (or anything else for that matter) Continue Reading
The difference between those who will manage to change their lives beyond measure and those who will be sitting in the 8.30 traffic jam for many years to come are those who recognise this, see things for what they are, and step out of their comfort zone to reap the massive rewards on offer. Continue Reading
It is no coincidence, I think, that nearly everybody I am aware of that you and I would consider ‘successful’ are largely unaffected (at least in business terms) by what others think of them, and have developed a ‘shatterproof’ confidence that shuts the fear of criticism away.
Successful people recognize that opportunity and risk are inseparable, and that failure is an inherent part of the process. In fact I would go as far as to say that I have made more mistakes in this business than many people who have proclaimed themselves to be complete failures and thrown the towel in.
Continue Reading
As we start a rather splendid four-day weekend that will be a fantastic celebration of all things British (including it seems, the unpredictability of the weather) coming as it does on the back of a mini heat wave, it seems… Continue Reading
Tim’s Minions (www.timsminions.com) has been online for a couple of months now and is updated almost daily with training materials, information on hot niches, techniques for getting traffic to your site, in fact anything and everything to do with making money online … and is already used as a source of information by thousands of people every single month. Continue Reading
Funny chaps, techies … and as you would expect, over the last decade I have crossed paths (and occasionally swords) with my fair share of techies, from those that won't say boo to a goose to those who like to… Continue Reading
One opportunity the rather disappointing but predictable Bank Holiday weather presented for me was to set up my new cinema surround sound system, an event delayed until now because, as you can imagine with it being a top of the range system … there was a good dozen or so pages of mucking about before I would be able to sit down and enjoy anything…
Continue Reading
If you ask any halfway decent copywriter, they will tell you that a good, powerful emotive headline is the most important part of the process. So much so, that they tend to disappear off for a fortnight to go and… Continue Reading
‘The Development of Men’s Swimsuits and It’s Really Ample Assortments’ … That is, you’ll agree, one hell of a title … it is certainly designed to make you look twice (certainly caused me something of a double take when it… Continue Reading
Things are very busy here at HQ … the sound of many odd shaped fingers tapping away at keyboards and clicking mouse buttons is broken only by the yelp of various ‘minions’ as they are prodded with the pointy stick… Continue Reading
Before we start, I would like to make it clear that there is no need to send for the Grammar Police … I am fully aware that is not a civilised way to treat the word ‘coffee’ (nor, I should… Continue Reading
Don’t worry, you haven’t been transported back to 2004 … this really is an email from me on a Sunday evening, just like it used to be, back in the ‘good old days’… Like so many others, I decided to… Continue Reading
Well … it seems if you can keep a calm head while all those about you are losing theirs, you are almost certainly not queuing up to buy petrol… The reports presented to us in all forms of the media… Continue Reading
It will be perfectly clear to any Lowedown reader that has met me, (or seen the photo at the top of the email for that matter) that when the sun is shining, some bits of yours truly will go bright… Continue Reading
As I have gone to great pains to point out previously, I am nothing special … I’ll admit I do have a bit of a flair for some parts of this business we are all in, which I can assure… Continue Reading
I’m sure you’ll agree that in years gone by, the Yellow Pages was a far more substantial beast than the poor thing that gets left on our doorstops these days. Despite it’s now diminished stature; we can still learn many… Continue Reading
When people ask me how they can make money online, I will occasionally, rather mischievously, ask exactly how much they want to make, because I know that, almost exclusively, I am about to be given a blank look and the… Continue Reading
The entire spectrum of Lowedown readers has everyone from experienced, multi-millionaire marketers right around to those who only got the idea about making money online last week … but regardless of your level of ability and experience, you could easily… Continue Reading
One of the more interesting birthday presents I have ever received was a pair of tickets to attend a sausage making evening at a rather fine establishment in London which also ran special butchery classes (well, you would expect me to go abseiling or flower arranging now would you?) 😉
Continue Reading
Just like last week, I was flying to a European destination … just like last week; it did not go well at all … however, in sharp contrast to last week, apparently this time it was all my own fault…… Continue Reading
Normally in the Lowedown, I will usually recount what I hope is a mildly entertaining event from my own experience to illustrate whatever particular idea I’m trying to get across … but last week when I flew to Italy, I had the misfortune to witness first hand the near perfect example of exactly how NOT to do just about EVERYTHING … and, put simply … if you run your own business like this bunch of clowns it’s only going to go one way… Continue Reading
The point is, half the jobs people do today, didn’t really exist 20 years ago (along with the internet itself) … and this industry that we are part of is less than one generation old … so very few people who use the internet today would have had much in the way of formal teaching, and just like me are pretty much self taught… Continue Reading
I’m afraid I must announce I’m not sleeping well … not anything to do with my business (the New Year has seen an avalanche of orders – but more on that in a moment) it just seems my mattress is… Continue Reading
The #1 question I always get asked… which, I’m sure you can guess is … ‘How do I make Money Online…?’ Well, the majority of Lowedown readers should be interested in something I have put together with my good friend… Continue Reading
Over the last few months, you may have heard me refer to my-in-house chaps as my ‘Minions’ … I can assure you that it is all done with my tongue very firmly in my cheek, and it is a running joke that is happily embraced by everyone here at HQ. I’m actually proud to say that every one of them is excellent at what they do … as well as being, (just so they fit in with the rest of us) … ever so slightly odd… 😉
Continue Reading
If you have even the smallest amount of exposure to the news, you can’t fail to have noticed the recent events surrounding the capsized Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia, and you will also probably have seen the widely reported, and virally distributed, image of the Belfast Telegraph’s front page with the wholly inappropriate ‘Win a Dream Holiday’ advertising banner sat above the headline that was relaying the tragic news…
Continue Reading
let’s be perfectly frank, you’ve no doubt heard all this before … and just like the diet, or the yearly attempt to give up this or that, the super organised and efficient ‘New You’ that seemed ever so possible at 9am on January 1st, is beginning to run out of steam … and you’re already starting to slip back into your old ways…
Continue Reading
Here at HQ, the ‘minions’ have been shuffling paper ever more loudly and staring more pointedly at the clock, hinting strongly that I should do the decent thing and let them be on their way a little early (I think you can probably guess my thoughts on this, but at the risk of being visited by three ghosts this evening I shall keep them private) 😉 Continue Reading
Last Thursday I was roused from my office here at HQ by sounds of merriment from downstairs… Suspecting this frivolity could very well be a sign that my ‘minions’ had removed their noses from the grindstone and were in fact… Continue Reading
It is not easy to talk about things like finding the
‘missing 1%’ without beginning to sound like an advert for training shoes or
some new fandangled energy drink … two subjects on which, you can imagine, I
claim to be no great authority…
Continue Reading
They’ve done it again … Google have just thrown a spanner in the works by deciding,
without warning, something was ‘wrong’ with one of my websites – ironically the
thing that was wrong was exactly the same thing that made the website so
‘right’ for them back in April…
Continue Reading
If I was to ask you to hazard a guess at what would be the perfect dining experience for yours truly … I expect you might conjure up images of a Michelin starred restaurant with an extensive menu, carefully matched… Continue Reading
Now, I know you can probably feel your eyelids getting heavy at the mere mention of the word statistics, and I agree it wouldn’t be top of my list of ‘fun’ things to do either … but if I told… Continue Reading
I am asked all the time how some people can start online and make thousands in their first month, and yet others have been plugging away for years but still seem to be approximately where there started … well, you’ll… Continue Reading
A couple of days ago, the lady that books my flights,
makes sure my shoes get repaired and does a million other wonderful things,
wandered into my office, bearing my afternoon cuppa and a ‘purely medicinal’
Kit Kat … then suddenly thought she might have something of a crisis on her
hands…
Continue Reading
This week something occurred that reminded me of an old story which perfectly sums
up what can easily happen if we just keep doing things the way we’ve ‘always’
done them and is equally true for life in general as it is for any of your
online endeavours… Continue Reading
One of the things I seem to be asked more frequently
for these days (rather than just tips on how to get started) are various tips
on how to communicate with your new list of contacts … and how those first
attempts at building a relationship or making that first offer – can lead to a
severe case of writers block…
Continue Reading
The latest addition to my team here at HQ, a fine
bunch whom I fondly refer to (with, may I add, my tongue very firmly in
my cheek) as my ‘minions’ … is a chap who spent his formative years learning
his trade in a joiners’ workshop, and one of his more repeatable tales was
about his former bosses’ rather sudden fall from grace … as a result of doing
something that seems to happen a lot in business, but is very foolish and also
very harmful to your relationship with your customers…
Continue Reading
I don’t usually like using famous quotes in my posts;
especially as the title … however you will have to forgive this one
particular Oscar Wilde gem, given today’s subject matter…
Continue Reading
Regardless of how ‘gung-ho’ you are about your online
endeavors, from time to time, you are likely to become distracted by one thing or
another. I may have ‘occasionally’ been guilty of becoming distracted … as
anyone who has witnessed one of my frequent ‘asides’ (often straying in to the
the topics of fine restaurants, even finer wine and fast cars) will certainly
testify 😉
Continue Reading
Whether it’s in the world of politics, entertainment and especially in the online world, not a day seems to go past without something or somebody being the ‘next big thing’ that will revolutionise this or that, or change the face… Continue Reading
What do you know about me…? My enthusiasm for powerful cars … probably … My love of fine wine and restaurants and my ability to muddle together a ‘few quid’ on the internet … I certainly hope so. But I’ll… Continue Reading
If you could have seen me on this day 25 years ago, it
is almost certain that hay fever would have me red of face, puffy of eye, and
completely unable to ask for a second class return to Nottingham (readers who
remember a 1970’s advert for a certain menthol based cough sweet will fondly
remember what I’m on about)… Continue Reading
For most of my life I’ve seen the world through a pair
of glasses … in fact I was first introduced to the joys of the opticians
chart whilst I was still at school … yet somehow all through my schooldays I
managed to escape most of the ‘kind’ comments and special attentions that are
usually reserved especially for pupils with ‘four eyes’… (I suppose after
some early exchanges, even the most half witted bully worked out very quickly
that it would be wise to seek their sport elsewhere). Continue Reading
Persistence … if your online endeavours are to
succeed, you will need heaps of it … and I’ve always thought my complete
inability to take no for an answer (especially when seeking another helping of
tuck from She Who Must’s… kitchen) has been absolutely key in everything I’ve
achieved, both online and offline.
Continue Reading
You know, if I had to sum up what it is that I’m good at, it would probably be with the phrase ‘predicting what others will think…’ Well, that’s all very good, I hear you say … but what exactly do I mean by that (and more importantly how can I do it too…?)
I’m sure you’ll agree, it would be great if you could know ahead of time exactly how someone will feel, think or precisely what questions they would ask before being presented with your offer, proposal or idea? How much easier would it all be if you knew exactly what your customer wanted, and what their needs and objections were likely to be…? Continue Reading
I would like to, in advance, urge caution to any
Americans reading this … especially if you are easily offended … and though
I can guarantee the following account 100% truthful … I’m afraid it does not
paint some of your fellow countrymen in a positive light…
Continue Reading
When it comes to music, I’m more of a ‘greatest hits’
type of listener … however I must admit a fondness to grand, dramatic pieces
… especially whilst cooking (though you would never catch me standing in the
kitchen, resplendent in striped pinny, conducting an imaginary orchestra with
my spoon) 😉
Continue Reading
I’m afraid I’m not a big fan of shopping … (traditionally,
I used to get roped in to act as ‘pack horse’ but now I have managed to perfect
the art of dropping ‘She Who Must…’ off and then retiring to a safe distance
until the whole sorry business has run its course …) 😉 but on the other hand,
I’ve always considered myself to be a really good customer … Continue Reading
I have just
returned from a little break away in the sun for a few days … the approved
destination for which is usually a small, out of the way place – somewhere
sunny (but without spending too much time on a plane), which for one reason or
another, seems to attract the more ‘interesting’ type of guest…
Continue Reading
I came across this quote the other day…
“Having the world’s best idea will do you no good unless you act on it. People who want milk shouldn’t sit on a stool in the middle of a field in hopes that a cow will back up to them.” — Curtis Grant
And whilst I will admit to being a bit hazy on the precise technicalities of the milking process, the principle of it all did strike me as completely true … and set my mind wandering on a trail that ended up with me coming up with the rather curiously titled email you are currently reading… Continue Reading
I’ll start this week with a confession … I have to admit I’m not necessarily all that ‘brilliant’ at following directions…
There, I said it.
This of course is not exactly news to ‘She Who Must…’ who has ‘enjoyed’ the experience of travelling with me for many years, and taken part in many a mid-journey ‘full and frank exchange of opinion’ … One such episode resulted in left and right being renamed ‘left’ and ‘the other left’… 😉 Continue Reading
I will often hear people say that they simply do not have time to put in the amount of effort they need to really get their online endeavours off of the ground.
So why is it then that some people can? … What I want to share with you today is a little process that could help you to get more done, a LOT more done…
Before we go any further, I’m not going to suggest you cancel your family holiday, ‘try harder’ or chop the plug off the televion to prevent re-runs of soaps, quiz shows and gardening programmes… (What the fascination is with Alan Titchmarsh I’ll never know, but anyway I’m digressing…)
We all have 24 hours in the day, so what can you do to turn that same amount of time you already have, in to something that provides you with ‘results’… Continue Reading
Now, as a lover of fine food, you may be expecting me to ‘wax lyrical’ about what was on the menu or the different wines on offer (and I must say, HRH does indeed do a fine spot of dinner… 😉 ) – but I’m afraid eating in the throne room at Buckingham Palace, even with entertainment provided by Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall, was not nearly as noteworthy as what happened as the the evening drew to a close and people started to disperse… Continue Reading
It’s probably not a massive surprise to you that I really, really love to read, and can quite happily spend all day ‘lost’ in a really good book, with nothing more than a simple sandwich to sustain me every couple of hours… 😉 In fact, many a day on holiday has been spent reading (my current ‘approved position’ is reclining under a tree, in ‘dappled’ sunlight), while all about me are engaging in entirely unnecessary holiday activity such as riding bikes, horses or splashing around in swimming pools…
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Apparently, there are a wide range of things that I’m absolutely useless at doing … though for full details I will have to refer you to ‘She who Must…’ who will of course be able to list them for you in either alphabetical or chronological order, whichever you prefer… (in fact I believe we’ve actually gone beyond a list now and she has more of a ‘scroll’ of my ‘areas for improvement!’ – I might add this comes from somebody who set fire to her head (need I say more – see last week’s tip if you want to know more about this!)… ;-))
OK, now I know you’re thinking this is some sort of attention seeking headline … and well … if it caught your attention, then I guess it is! 😉 The difference here is … that my dear darling wife did literally set fire to herself yesterday… :-/ Don’t worry, she’s OK, although she is currently sporting a somewhat singed fringe…
When she rang to tell me I have to admit that I did envisage a Tom and Jerry type cartoon image with her staggering about charred, with smoke whisping unwards from her head… But I’ve been filled in on the details and its not quite that bad… Continue Reading
In this issue of the Lowedown I’m going to cover another one of the most popular queries from when I ‘opened the floor’ to questions a couple of weeks back… “What should I do if I don’t have any products… Continue Reading
First of all, thank you for all the kind comments regarding my recent run in with the local ‘oiks’ and, despite my requests, all the suggestions for what I would be called if I were to become a superhero… Continue Reading
If you could have seen me at the weekend you would have witnessed me, clad in a rather fetching pinny (don’t worry, it was a rather manly striped blue one…;-)), wooden spoon in hand having a ‘dry run’ for a bit of an informal gathering at ‘Lowe Towers’ in a couple of weeks time for which I decided that I would do the cooking…
It’s just the way they do it… credit cards are usually sent in the post in a standard ‘DL’ envelope containing an unsigned credit card stuck to a letter with that awful super-stretchy glue… you know the stuff! And it’s… Continue Reading
I’ve now arrived back safe and sound in the UK after my travels, and whilst I enjoyed them tremendously, I can honestly say I’m absolutely delighted to be back home. ‘She Who Must…’ may have slightly different views of course…… Continue Reading
If you launched a new campaign and it took off, you could find yourself twice as busy, 4 times, 8 times, 16 times. Could you cope? Could you fulfil all your orders within the agreed delivery timescale? Could you keep things in stock? Could you provide support to all of these customers…? Or, would you be compromising something along the way and putting your sales (and possibly your reputation) in jeopardy…?
It’s 2.30pm on the tenth day of my trip to Australia… It’s wonderfully hot (my eternal thanks to the inventor of ‘Empire Shorts’) and instead of following my co-conspirators’ example of having an afternoon nap (to sleep off the effects of yesterdays ‘consumption’) I thought I’d take the opportunity to relay my recent ‘experience’ with some of the local ‘wildlife’ and I’m afraid to report it wasn’t entirely favourable… Continue Reading
Well, although I’m particularly useless at many things (‘She Who Must…’ would say most things), I already have a whole load of very exciting things planned for this year that I’m absolutely convinced will be even bigger and better than last year (and last year was pretty good, although I’m trying to convince those around me that austerity measures need to be firmly in place…to prevent unnecessary over-indulgence in double-sided post-it notes and gold plated staples or whatever it is that people get excited about in times of plenty…) Continue Reading
I have thousands upon thousands of them… I really I do, file upon file of testimonials. ‘She Who Must…’ jokes that I should sit down and read (and watch – many are on video) them all some time in one go… but I fear my head wouldn’t fit through the doorway afterwards, with all that ego massaging!! (One day maybe…)
But still, the first time you receive an unprompted testimonial will stand out for you … in a similar way to the day you make your first sale after setting up your own business… Continue Reading
Almost by default ‘the X factor’ is something you can’t quite put your finger on… And no, I’m not talking about the TV programme… (although the ‘X factor’ that Simon Cowell and his cronies are searching for is perhaps a similar elusive thing we’re all in search of once in a while… Continue Reading