The Blog-Studio

How our blog-studio bloggers are faring so far

Almost two months after our first  "Introduction to Blogging" workshop our bloggers bring us the following figures, facts and news on their blogging 'adventures':

Company Doctor Richard Calderwood's blog has been quoted to from three different long-established blogs:

• Bad Debts: Sitcom article on Kent Blumberg's Executive Coach blog
• A Cup of Coffee - Caffeine Related Business Building on Liz Strauss at Outstanding & Successful blog(gers) weekly category: Connecting dots with The Idea Dude
• Maintain Attitude, or you will surely crash on Robyn McMaster's Brain Based Biz in the category "Intrapersonal Intelligence" of the regular Fly High! Tap More Intelligence series.

Plus Richard is testing the 'blog'waters with a different blog platform (Wordpress) which offers more flexibility for his specific purpose than typepad at the moment:
bizRichard (since 18.11.07 the former Company Doctor's blog is redirected to this new blog)

Where there's a Will - Jaci Godman Irvine, after publishing three posts and three pages so far, definitely feels her blog will help her to have more and professional conversations with (potential) clients.

The "Healthy Water for Healthy Skin" from Flowsoft - BetterWaterSolutions receives hit after hit from all over the world from (sometime desperate) web searches.
And blog-owner Peter Allen is on the verge of launching a new blog on one of his other expertises "Nutrition for Life", so stay tuned!

Jamie O'Connell with his Credit Control Solutions blog - "Making your cash flow" reports increased traffic to his normal 'static' website after the launch of his blog. Jamie dedicates Tuesday evenings to blogging - reading, searching, studying and of course writing!

Catherine Velge of Hand Picked Wines got off to a flying start with her "What's in your glass" blog: two posts and two pages published in one day!
(And her blog is hardly 1 week old - so keep up the good work Catherine, go for it! Educate the whole world about your wine.)

Find out more about our bloggers by subscribing to their blog feeds, join in the conversation there and if you want to start your own blog adventure see our dates for the next workshops.

Happy Blogging!

The Tolson Family Blog from My 1st Blog Workshop.......

I'm sitting in a Blog workshop, run by my friends Karin Herman of Wood You Like and Lesley Perk of Ashford Computer Training.  As part of the exercise I have to create a Blog.....

.....so this then will be my attempt to produce a vehicle to enable my scattered, immediate, family to share their thoughts and activities.  If I look at the immediate family, geographically we are really well scattered, from Folkestone to Vancouver and from Baltimore to Northampton and loads of other places in between.  In addition a quick tour of the "world-wide-web" for "Tolsons" shows they are scattered across the world like a rash, and this means that we are, perhaps, genealogically interesting.

Another thing that I find fascinating, and who knows, others might too, is the range of activities and interests we cover from long-distance marching to rebuilding vintage cars and from sailing to riding horses. Also how we make our livings, from cooking food to landscaping - from building to selling utilities - from being retired to being educated from primary school to university - from administering business to looking after old racing cars - from teaching to audio visual - and all the rest.

Of course a blog is only as interesting as the participation it draws from those who contribute so - contribute - all you Tolsons out there - tell us all what you're doing - what your plans are - your latest planned project - successes and failures - any details of your day to day life.

Geoff Tolson

Why Blog?

I've got to say that the whole concept of blogging is alien to me.Why would anyone feel compelled to write about themselves on line? And even more of a mystery why would anyone want to read it?

I thought that a Blog was purely an on line diary, this is probably because I had never read one (an absurd but not untypical boast) I am always the last to to embrace new technology,computers in general have remained a mystery to me. I have a very old computer at home that I only use to go on the Internet. The finer points of Word Excel PowerPoint have eluded me thus far.

Recently my Luddite views have seemed more and more ridiculous,especially from a business point of view when so much business is done on line.We have recently  become almost fully computerised at work, although we are still learning how to get the best out of it,I can already see the tremendous benefits that it will be able to offer.

So why have I enrolled on a Blogging workshop?

I have joked that every time I go to Ashford BNI as a substitute Lesley Perk seems to be doing the 10 minute spot,for someone so heavily involved with computers she has an easy going not over technical manner. On my last visit the slot was about blogging. As Lesley explained further I realised that not only was this a potentially interesting thing to become involved with, it also offered a tremendous business opportunity. By now my appetite had been whetted and I signed up for the course.

So here I am writing my first post!!!

 

Trevor Fitzgerald - Fitzgerald Jewellers

The Power Service (Kent) Ltd

The Power Service is an Electrical Testing Company we work in both Domestic and Industrial markets

We are CORGI Registered and N.I.C.E.I.C. approved and we cover all of Kent.

The Power Service (Kent) Ltd  is a member of BNI Ashford.

We are agent for all of the district councils in Kent to conduct there Part P certification this allow all

un-registered electricians and the D.I.Y home owners can comply with the law in getting any electrical work that has been carried out oin there homes registered.

The Power Service also conducts all types of NICEIC testing  including "Periodic Inspections"

"Installation Certificates" and "Portable Appliance Testing"

We also do minor remedial work in domestic property

For any electrical not carried out by a registered electrician the job must be registered with the local authority before any work is carried out.

After the work is accepted by the Local Authority you will be contacted by The Power Service and arrangements made to visit the customer to carry out 2 inspections.

The first inspection is undertaken during the 1st fix stage of construction, this will satisfy the inspector that the wotk is being installed to comply with the 16th edition of the Electrical Regulations.

The final Inspection is undertaken on the completion of the work. It is important that the job is complete including all decoration,when this is complete the local authority will issue a completion Certificate,and record the work at the Land Registry.

Nick Osborne - Safety is our Business

The reason I Like Bordeaux wines

Hello!

I'll start with a tiny bit of background:

First off, what many people should realise is that Bordeaux wines were marketed by the English tradesmen who invented modern day marketing by announcing the arrival of the new wines for the season, ahead of time to the buying public at home. The trip was treacherous over the channel up to the early 18th century and wine was preserved with great difficulty in small tuns made of French oak. But realize that even if you hate the French, you have in fact contributed to the fortunes of Bordeaux directly or indirectly through your English ancestors, who simply put, had a passion for "Claret". For more historical facts please refer to the wine god Hugh Johnson's fabulous book The Story of Wine.

So the wine we have today is the culmination of many different and painstaking trials to get wine to your table in a stable form. Bordeaux wines are all bottled in tall straight bottles which are distinctly different from the Burgundy bottles which often resemble the New World bottles, tapering to a slightly larger bottom.

My opinion is that Bordeaux's distinctive characteristic can be expressed in three words: blend,blend and blend. It is blending the grape varieties the way they do in each and every vineyard which is the secret of their centuries old wine-making method. Most winemakers will tell you that their product is unique and they would probably be telling you the truth.

With 10,000 different vineyards in the entire Bordeaux area the choice is vast and should you wish to taste them all, there is little doubt that the average non-professional  wine amateur would probably take an entire lifetime to do so..After all there are so many hours in a day.

However, not all Bordeaux are created equal. And not all the more famous ones are necessarily much, much better that the wines made by a very dedicated wine-maker in an unknown vineyard, struggling to be known and doing everything, save the harvest, on his/her own. Not all budgets or starting capitals has ever been created equal either. This, the wine market, although not yet mature is extremely competitive..

But I digress. I am partial to wines from Bordeaux, not obviously because I do trade in them but for the following reasons, which I know you will appreciate:

• they are blends of up to 5 different grape varieties
• they are always lower in alcohol than the other French and other regions for a same vintage.
• the French oak used for its ageing is an essential part of its refinement and gives off essential aromas for subtlety and distinction.
• they are very natural, short of organic, due to very strict laws retricting the use of strong chemicals during the growing and wine-making.
• this makes them easier to "process" in the body and wake up refreshed rather than poisoned

But the main reason for me is the subtlety of taste and aromas which makes each wine a complete "package".

So, what can you do with this information?

• Just try Bordeaux wines. Anywhere and everywhere.
• Sign up to a wine tasting event: Many pubs and restaurants will promote their establishments and wine list by inviting you to such an event to get more customers interested in them, charging you a minimal fee and without any purchase obligation to the wine merchant.
• Or sign up to an informal class in wine-tasting at the many events available accross the country specializing in Bordeaux
• Go visit Bordeaux!
• Or come as a guest in my networking group in the BNI

I hope this helps seduce you to the wonderful world I live in, with, through and by: Bordeaux.

Happy tasting!

Catherine

Hand Picked Wines

"If you have a nose for wine, make sure yours is hand-picked!!"

Yes why am I here...?

Yes why am I here...? I love taking on new ideas and love doing new things. I must admit I keep hearing people talking about blogging and for some strange reason I have not really understood how they work. I have seemed to shut off when any one talks about one. Initially like many others I have associated them with my space and face book and keep resisting the temptation to join in those. I don't really want people who I went to school with 'poking me' out of the blue!

But I keep hearing you cannot afford to close your eyes to blogging, because they're simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself and they're going to shake up just about every business.

I presume I associated it with computer geeks but now mainly through Lesley and Karin I see 'normal people' talking about it, so I must find out what it is all about.

I heard that through blogging you can raise your company profile and increase your hits to your website. That can only be a positive thing. And blogging is FREE!!

So I am hoping that through my introduction into blogging I can help raise the profile of my Promotional gift and clothing company.

Daryl Carter - (making "you" stand out from the crowd)