Just a quick post today…

Fraser Edwards from RedWine.co.uk and WhiteWine.co.uk was kind enough to send over a couple of bottles of wine.

Just wanted to say thanks to Fraser for such a kind gesture! If you’re a wine drinker then head over to Red Wine or White Wine.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be sponsored to attend Doug Richard’s School for Startups. It was a full day event held at RGU in Aberdeen, hosted by the ex-dragon himself. The day was aimed at businesses (or prospective businesses) in the web and software sectors.

Being an affiliate marketer and looking to invest some of my profits in both software and web based businesses I felt the day would be very beneficial, I was not disappointed.

The seminar was held in a lecture hall at the Aberdeen Business School. The very same lecture hall I fall asleep in week in week out on my University course! There were over 100 people attending and the morning started off very fast paced with Doug grilling random people about their business ideas.

Doug gave his insights into which questions you should ask yourself when starting out in business. Overall the day was very interesting and insightful. At the end of the seminar I felt compelled to go and speak to Doug. So I headed down to the front of the lecture hall…

Me : “Hi Doug, just wanted to say, thanks very much, today was excellent, learnt a lot and found it very interesting, I hope you can come back to Aberdeen sometime to give some of your other talks”
Doug : “Glad you liked it, I could be back, it all depends on life. Sorry if I am appearing rude, I’ve got to pack my stuff up pretty quickly cause I’ve got a train to catch!”
Me : “Do you need a lift into town?”
Doug : “That would be great, I’ve actually forgotten to book a taxi”

At this point, you can imagine how excited I am at the prospect of being able to pick a multi millionaire’s brain during a 15 minute drive! So, I ran up to my car and tidied it up a bit, its safe to say the outside has never looked muddier! Headed back down to the building and Doug was ready to go.

I asked if he had a Twitter account, turns out he does (@DouglasRichard), so I then asked if I could take a photo to twitpic, he obliged…

So, I nervously reversed out of my space (I felt I had a great deal of responsibility!) and off we go to Aberdeen Train Station.

We had a great chat in the 15-20 mins he was in the car (I drove particularly slow so we had extra chatting time!) and it turned out to be a very productive journey. I wont say anymore than that, but let’s just say I’m very glad I offered Doug a lift!

Moral of the story, ALWAYS say Thank You (if its deserved!) -  because it might just lead to a 15minute car journey with a very successful millionaire!

Big thanks goes to Informatic Ventures for sponsoring me to attend the course.

Hey Folks,

I’ve been wanting to get an affiliate marketing/personal blog up for a very long time now. I have only recently discovered (obviously I discovered it years ago, but only recently have I had a decent play with it!) WordPress, however now having had a good play with it I’m confident its an excellent tool and will serve me well.

I’m not the best web designer in the world, so please forgive the messy layout! I tinkered with this theme to get what you see now.

The idea is I’ve scattered a few objects around the design that may let you know a little more about me:

• The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford – Absolutely cracking book, I can read it over and over without getting bored.
• Falkirk FC Badge – I’ve been a Falkirk fan since birth. I grew up in a wee town called Linlithgow, so it was my closest team. (and my Gran’s been a season ticket holder for longer than most of you will have been alive, she’s MAD about footy)
• Counting Crows’ album August and Everything After – Easily the best album ever made, I’d definitely take this to a desert island!
• Google Adwords Professional Badge – I’m just happy I finally have somewhere I can display it.
• £50 note – I love making and spending money. Who doesn’t though?
• The Breakfast Club – best film ever.
• Kilt – I’m Scottish and proud.

So, the plan for the blog is to post a few times a week, hopefully with some good information for newbies and also with some interesting posts for the rest of us. In a year’s time you can let me know how I got on.

Cheers,

Mark