Bowler Hat

Talk and write – you’ve got plenty of time

In difficult coronavirus times the personal ‘touch’ is more important then ever, although ‘touch’ is almost certainly not the right word. ‘Thought’ is probably better.

Technology is doing a fantastic job of keeping us in contact with family and friends – although not all of us. My elderly uncle is 85 (plonk in the at-risk group) and doesn’t own a…

Now's the time to start learning the stuff that you've always wanted to learn/

There’s never been a better time to do what you’ve always wanted to do

We’re in a horribly horrible situation. Coronavirus is hurting each and every one of us. By now we all have stories, either of lost loved ones or of loved ones lost – those living on their own and battling the pandemic alone.

So what to do? The answer has to be: not nothing!

When this chapter in history finally…

Now’s the time to write your book

There’s never been a better time to publish

Are you one of those individuals who’s always been meaning to write a book but never had the time?

Suddenly you have loads of time – and plenty of potential readers who also have loads of time.

Never in history has there been a more ideal moment to get going on the literary venture you’ve been thinking about for ages. And never before has it…

What’s the best way to say Goodbye?

Do you have a standard sign-off for emails or do you vary it for each recipient?

I would guess that most of us throw out rules if we’re emailing friends or clients we know well. But it would be handy to rely on a standard sign off for anybody who falls into a more formal group. Thinking about it the other day, I realised I couldn’t be happy with mine because I’m always finding reason to fiddle…

Supermarkets need to ditch trolleys and provide baskets only for shopping

Supermarkets: Get rid of trolleys and make people use baskets

To properly limit food sales supermarkets need to get rid of trolleys so that customers can only shop with baskets.

Less food would fly off the shelves and certainly slower than at the current hysterical rate.

Supermarkets could easily have worked this out for themselves – so what am I missing?

The panic buying that’s going on…

I am seriously shocked by the panic buying that’s going on and even more by the choice of goods that are being panic bought.

Come on, Pot Noodles! Have the people stockpiling Pot Noodles ever eaten them before? You’d think not…

This is 100 per cent a true story: I walked into Windsor (my nearest town) a few days ago intending to buy, among other stuff, some handwipes. I always like to…

She slammed the phone down or did she?

A woman slammed the phone down on my friend yesterday – or did she. They were talking, she got angry and she abruptly and angrily ended the call. But did she actually, literally, physically, slam down the phone on him? Probably not.

I mentioned this and he realised I wasn’t concentrating on his story but wondering about the turn of phrase.

“You know what I mean!” he said.

Yes, I know what he…

I don't drink alcohol - I get a horrible reaction to it and ridiculously nasty hangovers. I really don't care if you're drinking alcohol. Please don't judge me because I'm not!

I used to drink alcohol but I can’t anymore. I don’t know why that suddenly happened, but it did. I’m ok with it – other people aren’t.

If I drink alcohol I get the mother of all hangovers. Not a bad head or a dodgy stomach the next morning but, for three days at least, a searing, horrible, sickening pain in my head and a tummy that repeatedly wants to get rid of anything I put in it, including…

When retail gets it wrong ...the store and the customer suffers. Here's the solution.

No you can’t help me!

When I walk into a shop laid out for browsing I don’t want a sales assistant to rush up to me and gush ‘Can I help you?’. Frankly, If I wanted help, I would ask for it.

Why have a shop layout which encourages customers to have a good look around if sales assistants are going to hound them from the time they walk through the door.

Maybe I sound like a grumpy old woman. I’m…

Don’t let your mate proofread for you!

This is the true story of a guy who thought he could save a bit of money having his friend proofread a marketing newsletter for him – and is now counting the cost.

The guy’s an accountant who works on his own and wanted someone other than himself to look at the copy before he sent it out. (I agree it’s always a good idea to have a fresh pair of eyes look at your copy because the author tends to…

The secret language of the written word

When you speak to someone they know what you’re saying because they can hear the words and, importantly, how you’re saying them.

When you text someone they can’t always be sure of what you’re saying – or, at least, exactly what you mean – because they can see the words but can’t hear the tone of voice behind them. So your innocent reply can be misread.

The same goes for content on a website.…

New data act didn’t do much, did it!

There was a lot of fuss about the GDPR (the new data act) and it was brought into being for all the right reasons. Data about you and me was too easily found and shared, partly because our details are available on the internet and partly because companies ‘assumed’ the right to share information. The latter resulted in the suicide of the 92-year-old poppy seller who received 3,000 requests in a…

Emirates wins unsubscribe turkey trophy

Over the years I’ve come across many a company who makes it difficult to unsubscribe from their emails but Emirates, I think, takes the biscuit.

I’ve written a blog before about this because it takes us all so much time to unsubscribe. Sometimes I’ve wondered if it’s me being stupid but now I have Twitter to check if I’m  alone. When Living Social UK presented me with so many options I really…

  Queen Victoria and her beloved servant, Abdul Karim

History was my least favourite subject at school. It meant nothing to me – just a list of dates that seemed to have no relevance to my life. I was more a ‘books’ type of pupil where I could delve into a good story or use my imagination and make one up. So English – language and literature –  always appealed.

Only the other week I realised it…

It amazes me how companies use a completely different language when it comes to their written marketing stuff which should be directly connecting with customers. They don’t write the way they talk and people have to work too hard to understand what the company’s offering.

If you see anything on my site that falls foul of what I’m about to say – please pull me up on it. I mean it. I don’t want to…