We think of angel investors as people who have cashed out of their businesses and who swan around distributing funds from their own massive reserves to interesting start ups.

Image: Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

But you don't need money to be an angel investor.

You have a raft of skills which are fantastically useful to most new businesses:  read more »

"Ticking away, the moments that make up a dull day.

You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way."

Image: Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I bought the album when I was 16. And I've since purchased it as each new format has become available - I've made my contribution to Nick Mason's Ferraris.

I played it, for the first time in ages, while I was painting a room yesterday.  read more »

This was meant to be a learning experience, a training exercise. We asked a group of fairly inexperienced bloggers in our Beyond Blogging Project to create, design and make ready for market an E Book. The idea was that they would learn the process, and understand the planning.

I always expected them to do a decent enough job - they're a talented bunch of individuals, with a lot of business and real-life experience to support them.

But I wasn't expecting to be blown away by the finished product.

And I have been.  read more »

I've been playing with an iPad this week. What a fabulous piece of kit!

Image: Carlos Porto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

But in the end I couldn't think why I'd want one. Other than to do stuff online while I watch TV, and as I don't watch TV, that's no use at all. It's not as good as the Kindle as a reading device, and it's not as good as my laptop for anything else I might want to do away from my main computer.

Then there are the other, well documented limitations of the device.  read more »

I was being interviewed by someone the yesterday on video. In the preamble they described me as a "Social media guru."

Rest assured, that won't appear in the final cut. I put them right.

Image: Gregory Szarkiewicz / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I'm still learning and still experimenting with social media, but I feel I'm beginning to understand it reasonably well, and I think now is a good time to share how I give and gain from the three key social media sites in which I invest time.  read more »

It's been a tempestuous few weeks here in blogland. We've all become immersed in vexed questions like:

 read more »

I've recently read a couple of interesting posts on David Risley's and Jordan Cooper's sites, which are talking about dramatically changing the way their blogs look and work. Start by checking those posts out:

Thinking outside the blog

You're not only as good as your last post

Image: Felixco, Inc. / FreeDigitalPhotos.net  read more »

There's a dual purpose to today's post.

I wanted to talk about why my story about finding the first Lexus in the UK did so well in terms of traffic, and I also wanted to check out a new, very easy to use service called Audioboo!

Audioboo is completely free of charge, and it allows you to create short audio pieces and then send them out to social media sites, or embed them on your own blog.

So please listen - it's less than five minutes long - and let me know what you think. Is it something you'd like to hear more of?  read more »

It's the question I am most asked by other bloggers: "I want to create a book, or an E Book, either to sell or give away to subscribers, but I just don't know what to write about. Can you give me some advice?"

The good news is that the clues are already on your blog, and by using those, and doing some research, you should be able to find an answer.

Image: Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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This is a cracking story, so grab a coffee and settle down for a few moments.

1990

Way back in 1990, I was still in my 20's and had recently been appointed to a role as a Training Manager at Toyota GB in Surrey. Ice, Ice Baby was at number one, Nelson Mandela had been set free and we were still marvelling that the Berlin Wall had come down the previous year.  I loved my job, and it was a fabulous time to be working for Toyota, as we were preparing to launch a whole new luxury car brand onto the UK market - Lexus.

From memory only around 30 Toyota dealers had initially been selected to offer Lexus, and I was lucky enough to be part of the team tasked with training those dealers on how to present, sell and service the new car. It was a real "hearts and minds" program, and to understand why, I should give you some background.  read more »