We all have our own opinions about the different brands that we interact with; some we agree with others and some we don’t. What do the following brand say to you? John Lewis, Aldi, Primark, Alfa Romeo, Skoda or BMW?

As a past marketing director, my financial director would always throw in this question at budget time; "So, Shirley which half of your marketing budget will you waste this year?" Find out my answer

You are ready to push the button on your marketing campaign but what if it is just too successful? What will you do when you are flooded with orders?

In the good ol’ days, contact with customers focused on 4 main channels: direct mail, cold calling, face to face meetings and off the page advertising. You had teh really think about your campaign nowadays....

Our first impressions of people we meet really count in business – those first few seconds can make or break a future business relationship. Here's a cautionary tale.....

I never find it much fun playing with PowerPoint but this time it’s been really easy - I've cut out 75% of my slides! Why, because I'll be telling lots of stories instead. We all remember the stories we learnt as children so why not for businesses?

The biggest skills gap in high growing businesses is marketing followed by sales and then funding. We shouldn't be surprised,but what can we do about it....

I recently attended a business awards dinner expecting to hear about lots of successful business's. I had been to the same business awards last year and really enjoyed an inspiring event so, I was definitely looking forward to it. Another chance to mix with positive successful business people, all competing to be best in class.

You have your business (or an idea for starting a business) in place but how do you let your potential customers know what you offer, sell and stand for? You need to develop strong, exciting, enticing and effective marketing messages to help you make sales.