Switch on the TV news or open any good newspaper and there it is - the R word. Nobody wants a recession and anyone guilty of talking business down into a hole deserves to suffer alone. Equally we have to be grown-up. We can't bury our heads in the sand and pretend that the doom-sayers are all entirely wrong.

I will own up right at the outset. This subject is something of a hobby horse of mine. Over the past 25-plus years I've spent in marketing, I've seen the printwear industry grow from pretty much a cottage industry to a serious, mature business sector. During that same period, I've seen radio advertising and more recently the Internet do the same thing. However, both the latter have developed an advantage which still shackles printwear: they have figures to support their sales arguments.

Your clientele on your doorstep. "Just 5 minutes away" is a powerful marketing message, which as we'll see can be used in a wide variety of ways. It reflects one of the key advantages of the small independent business - you're very convenient. To buy from you is easy.

Your hands go clammy; your pupils dilate; your heart-rate jumps and you feel an uncontrollable urge to go to the bathroom. Yes, you've been asked to do a presentation.

Can you learn selling from books? I question whether you could start from scratch, but am convinced that you can improve your selling skills by reading. Having just read a selection of books on the subject, I'm also certain that no single book has all the magic answers, but that each has valuable nuggets. These are the best I came across.

It's that time of year when we dust off the crystal ball and attempt to peer through the murk in search of what the coming year holds. Those who recommend living for today because we know nothing of tomorrow have clearly never met a business banker and don't have a board of directors asking for next year's business plan. Either of those will be looking for something a little more scientific than a wet finger in the air.

Is there an employee anywhere in the world who thinks they're paid enough? Equally, is there anyone who thinks their benefits package couldn't be improved?

The end of 2007 is nearly upon us and no doubt with a glass of Champagne in one hand and a party popper in the other, our thoughts at the end of December will soon turn to this year's achievements and our aspirations for 2008.

Having a website is now a staple requirement of almost every business; at its bare minimum it should reinforce your corporate identity, tell your potential customers what you do and also provide a means of contacting you. Assuming that you’ve ticked these boxes, your next objectives should certainly include the following points:

The customer is king right, right? Sometimes customers can be demanding, a strain on resources and difficult. Sometimes they can be a dream to deal with, to talk to and you have some fantastic relationships with customers that have been developed over long periods of time.

Put a group of small business owners together at a function. Then introduce someone who says: “Hello I’m a health and safety inspector.” You know what’s going to happen, don’t you? They’ll all quietly drift away, carefully covering their nametags so the inspector doesn’t know their business names.

With new research from the UK Venture Index revealing that funding for start-up businesses has fallen since the end of last year, Bibby Financial Services is advising owners and managers to revisit basic financial principles in order to maintain a healthy cashflow.

According to e-lick, Internet shopping is predicted to reach £42 billion in 2007. On average, online shoppers will splash out £1,600 each and 860 million parcels will be shipped to 26 million Internet customers in Britain this year.

You can't ignore the law because it won't ignore you. But it's a daunting prospect – even lawyers don't know the law, they just know where to check the detail. For the small business, it's a much tougher call. You don't have any legal expertise on tap like large competitors or clients, but you're still subject to the same laws. So what do you do?

The idea for this month’s article came from an old 80's track I was listening to on the radio the other day (Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus I think) when a line, 'reach out and touch me', got me thinking that marketing a business is exactly this.

Setting up a business in the garment decoration industry is relatively inexpensive. A single embroidery machine, heat press or hand carousel print machine can get you set up and running in no time. In fact, research shows that there is currently little growth in the overall market, with 80% of the industry made up of small- to medium-sized businesses all competing for a larger share of the same sized pie.

Are you finding it difficult to win business from the bigger customers you are targeting? Do you get frustrated when you know these prospect companies are buying what you sell but despite what you do, they are not buying from you? And do you feel that you are ‘frozen out’ of your target customer’s business?

Interesting colour, green, given its association with money, envy, gullibility and environmentalism. The latter, according to cynics, neatly incorporates the first three. But cynics tend to be wrong and there is no doubt that the population at large are treating green issues more seriously.