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This morning, I came down the stairs in my new dress….Only to be laughed back upstairs again by Mr V. You see, I popped into a shop recently and thought “oh, that stripy dress is in the sale. And there’s loads of them…. I’m sure they’ll have my size”. I didn’t try it on as I don’t like to waste time (oh the irony). They did have my size. The fact was, they had EVERYONE’s size. It turns out, there was a reason that those dresses had all been left behind. CLICK HERE AND YOU MIGHT SEE WHY!!! It made me think about selling our products or services as business owners. There are reasons why people try before they buy – and when it comes to a lot of our businesses, “trying before they buy” means checking your business out …

When I was in my late teens I took a job, cold calling, for a company in Romsey. This is how it went: 1. I dialled a domestic property from a pre-printed list, asking to speak to the allotted name I had been given. 2. I told them they had won a holiday! 3. They had to meet three key criteria to be able to take up the holiday, so I had to ask them: Are you the homeowner? Are you over 21 years old? Do you have a combined income of over £x? (I think it was about £15,000 at the time) If they met that criteria, then yipppeeeeee…. They won the holiday! I would then pass the details over to the supervisor to deal with. I’m sure you can guess – this was a timeshare sales opportunity for …

I have a little tale to tell; where the take-out has HUGE IMPACT on any business when it comes to making the sale….. My twins are 7, on 4th and 5th of May – yep, born 2 minutes apart, but either side of midnight. And it’s that time in their life where their little baby teeth are gradually falling out. Each tooth leaves a huge gap, followed by an oversized tooth that looks far too big for their heads, where you can’t help but think to yourself “ahhhh, will they ever grow into it?” We were chatting about this in the office the other day, and thought it rather amusing that a child is always so DESPERATE for their teeth to fall out… “so I can be like Isaac”… “because Luke has already lost both his front teeth”…. “and Harry …

Last week, I booked a train ticket online. As I looked through my options and the pricing… whilst also thinking of the work I needed to do whilst on the train… I decided to opt for First Class. It didn’t quite work out as I’d planned… as you can see from the picture! I was very disappointed with the arrangement; with the only difference between first class and your average ticket was a little piece of white fabric on the head rest! But… that’s me all over. If there is an enhanced offer, then I’m there. I want it. Which also led me to agree to an upgraded “Elite” ticket for the Event Claire and I are attending next week, when I was called by their sales team with an offer this week! I couldn’t resist the “free” bar and seats at the …

Renowned Hampshire Business The Silk Bow Group are the latest to confirm their support for the All Star Small Business Awards 2019 As the All Star Small Business Awards 2019 gains traction, so does the level of support received by the Hampshire Business Community! We are thrilled to welcome The Silk Bow Group as our latest Category Sponsors for the coveted award of ‘Business of the Year’. Find out more about The Silk Bow Group and read what their Director’s Pam Bates and Jen Todd said on sponsoring the awards this year! Tell us a bit about The Silk Bow Group? The Silk Bow Group incorporate Silk Bow Events, Silk Bow Bookkeeping, Silk Bow Business Basics, Silk Bow Global Yachts & Silk Bow Accounting Consultancy. SILK BOW EVENTS: We organise high end events both in the UK and Italy, bringing people together to celebrate success and introducing business to business opportunities …

Hampshire based Recruitment Business ‘The rpc Group of Companies‘ are the first confirmed sponsors of the All Star Small Business Awards 2019. All Star Marketing Club is delighted to announce The rpc Group of Companies the first confirmed sponsor of The All Star Small Business Awards 2019. The rpc Group of Companies, who were previous sponsors of the Awards in 2018, have re-confirmed their support for the event again in 2019 and will be sponsoring the award for the ‘Influential Business Owner’ category. We caught up with David Beck (Managing Director) and Anita Searle (Executive Director) of The rpc Group of Companies to find out a bit more about their business and to learn more about why they have chosen to sponsor the Awards again this year. Tell us a bit about The rpc Group of Companies? The rpc Group of Companies is …

I’m giggling as I type as I’ve just got on a train to Horsham, having been dropped off at the train station by our Marketing Director, Claire, which was a pretty hilarious journey. You see, Claire wears a Banana Clip. Every other day. One day her hair is down… the next day it’s in a banana clip. And on goes the pattern… very predictable. Have you ever seen a Banana Clip? They are basically from the 1980s, and generally not seen that much in the 2000s. Except for in the All Star office. But we have never had this conversation about Claire’s Banana Clip before. I have just come to accept that we have to live with the banana clip in Claire’s hair at All Star Marketing Club, in all her banana-like glory. And who am I to tell her what …

Recently, Claire and I have been in London, completing days 2 and 3 (of 7) of the NLP Practitioner’s Certificate; where we are learning the tools, techniques and models to change or enhance the way individuals think, feel and behave, in order to drive improved business results. We’re excited to complete the training because it will be FANTASTIC to further support you all! It’s already proving invaluable; and amongst all of the fantastic models we’ve been learning, there’s one word that has had quite an impact. It is this. CURIOUS. This is a word that has been used over and over again within the course, and it sure is having an impact. Here’s how in just one week…. “What if we do things differently and make change?”It has elevated our business plans to a whole new level; and we’ve taken some …

I’ve been complaining about my weight recently. I’ve put on a dress size (OK two) since last Summer and nothing fits – but I can’t stop eating naughty things. Anyone feeling the same pain? Anyone…. please?! I’ve discussed about this with a couple of people this week (you know who you are!)…. to say that I’m paying £111 per month for my health club membership and not going…. and perhaps I need to get to Slimming World and get on the scales….. This was met with the following response: Person 1: Go and get weighed tonight. If you don’t, then you are just going to find excuses for another week as to why you can’t start your diet.Person 2: Any small amount of exercise will do. You don’t need to make time for the gym… just get out and have …

Last week, I booked flights for our Summer trip to Portugal. As we’re going with a small group, we’re opting for a Villa…. so I hopped onto HomeAway, as I’ve booked with them before, to search something out in the Algarve. Wow. I found a stunning villa…. 5 beds Huge private pool Two amazing lounges – one considered a day lounge, and the other an evening one Indoor swim spa And all for just £300 a night! I was thinking… “Is this is too good to be true?”So I contacted them to find out their availability, using the instructions given: “Please contact us on this number via WhatsApp, as our calendar is not synced with the HomeAway calendar”. After contacting them, I continued my search only to find the SAME property for over £1000 a night in a different location on …