Blogs. Everyone loves a nice blog, I myself blog quite often. If your not sure what a blog is then it is rather simply a online diary, where you can share videos, photos, music and text with anyone.

There are loads of blogging platforms to use some of the most popular being; Blogger, Wordpress, livejournal and my favourite, Tumblr. Most of these blogs enable you to change the layout, colours and fonts of your blog so it matches the style of your website. Also if you happen to know a little bit of HTML or CSS you can code your own template for the blog.

Blogging takes a little time to get used to if you've never done it before, but once you get used to updating your blog it can provide many benefits.

The personal touch
With a blog you begin to make your company more approachable and friendly, you can also reach out to more people who could then become clients.

Search engines
Google, Bing, Yahoo and all the rest of the search engines love a blog provided you keep it updated regually. Once or twice every 2 weeks is enough, but once a day is always fun too! Make sure you link back to your website on your blog and link back to the blog on your website!

Support your customers
If you have some important news, support articles or updates then create a post to let your customers know. If you run a shop deal them about special deals or offers.

Please remember!

• Keep your posts to a good length, a few paragraphs are all you need, your not writing an essay! If you have a really long piece you wish to blog then break it up into parts, this will get people interested and keep them coming back to read the next part.
• Try to not write in a formal manner, keep your writing style more personal. This is a blog not a CV!
• Take your time, it took me a year to get 140 followers of my blog and a few months before Google really took any notice of my blog. Linking to my website and my twitter helped bump it up in the rankings though.

Having watched a few very unsuccessful pitches on The Apprentice recently, I thought this might be a good topic of conversation for today! If you want a sales pitch that wows...you must be prepared to work on it extensivley before your present it to prospective clients. You need to ensure that you know your product inside out and (very importantly) know your numbers. Tell them what sets you over and above your competition by picking 3 or 4 things that gives your business the edge, andbase your sales story around these points.

The best way to pitch your clients is to understand each client and what they need - this way you will be able to position your productservice much better. For more useful advice click here

Ever wondered how to keep the cash flow flowing for your business? I've just come across a fantastic calculator that could help you work out the best strategy for your cash flow - especially useful in these hard times... click here to find out more.

Just found a really great website, which might be helpful for those of you who are starting a business or thinking about starting a business! It has lots of information and advice on things like finding a location for your business, laws to know before starting a business, what's the difference between self employed and entrepreneur etc. Click here for more details.

Have you been thinking about treating yourself or a loved one to an iPad this Christmas - well before you go ahead and buy...check out this review on the Guardian website about the best deals for tablet computers! Click here for the full article.

And if it's an iPad you're interested in, Mr Site will be at the Business Startup show in London Earl's Court on Nov 30 and Dec 1 with our good friends from design company, Longtail Services...and they'll be giving away an iPad! If you fancy your chance to win an early xmas present or just want some advice on how to expand your Takeaway Website, come and see us on stand 360. Tickets are completely free and you'll be able to get lots of fantastic advice for your business. To register, just click here - hope to see you there!