Monthly Archives: January 2010

How to make your PR more newsworthy

Posted by & filed under PR & Marketing.

Guest blogger Lesley Singleton has been working in consumer PR and the media for more than a decade. In that time, she has worked for big London PR agencies (including PR Week’s “Agency of the Year”) as well as in-house for a major airline and a high street bank. Here she gives some advice on how to use calendar hooks to make your news more newsworthy.

Your business is up and running and now you’re on a mission to drum up custom. You’ve done your research and already know your product is relevant to readers of the Times & Citizen/The Sun/Saga Magazine or whatever your target titles might be, but what exactly do you have to say?

Read more

Thought for Today: To Thine own self be true

Posted by & filed under Well-Being.

thought for today

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1.3

This is my favourite quotation and one which, whenever I am in doubt about something, I call to mind. Whether the issue concerns your children, your partner, your friends, your colleagues or customers, the only thing you can ever do is be true to your own beliefs and do what feels right for you. Nobody knows you better than you know yourself – so trust your instincts.

Read more

Intellectual Property – 5 things every business owner should know

Posted by & filed under Legal.

You may have a successful business, a fantastic product or a sought-after service – but how safe is your business idea and when should you start to think about protecting it? Here Trademark Attorney Aaron Wood gives you an overview of Wood’s 5W’s of Intellectual Property – What, Why, When, Who & Where?

A new baby in the family……

Posted by & filed under Work Life Balance.

Just over a year ago I had a new baby, but it was very unlike my previous two children. It had been discussed for a short while and was very wanted, but there was some doubt as to whether this was the right time.  I already had 2 children, but I had a new partner and she also had 2 children, so how would the new baby fit in? Perfectly, because I’m not talking about a real baby; I’m talking about my ‘business baby’ – Mum’s The Boss.

Like many mums, both Sam and I rejected the ‘going back to the traditional workplace’ option once we had had children. We were both drawn into the ‘franchise type business model’  which were not what we had hoped for, but then we met and formed our support network. Mums the Boss was started from a casual comment on a forum, and has grown to what we have today – a large and growing network and support group for the many mums who have their own businesses.

Read more

Losing the Toddler Fat (mine, not theirs) – Part 1

Posted by & filed under Body Image.

After a post-Christmas weigh-in I find myself with something of a problem. I am the heaviest I have ever been (including being pregnant) and I need to lose weight. Yes I’m a mummy, but this is not Baby Fat. This is Toddler Fat. Let me explain……

Call me a freak, but both times I’ve been pregnant I have lost weight. I spent the first 12 weeks feeling nauseous all the time, thereby losing weight. Then once the sickness had passed my body just seemed to turn all the food I ate into pure baby, leaving me a neat little bump and relatively slim thighs. Therefore, both times after giving birth I actually weighed less than when I had fallen pregnant. Weird.

Read more