The old adage, ‘you only get one chance to make a first impression’ is so true. A friend of mine was recently invited to an AFPOP evening where 3 companies had a captive audience to present themselves and generate sales or interest in their products.

A lot of people find marketing confusing, expensive, time consuming and even intimidating.

This especially applies to the owners of cafes, coffee shops and restaurants. It probably also accounts for the reason that the closure rate of this type of business is three times higher than other business types.

In its latest international poll, Gallup has ranked the Portuguese government as one of the most corrupt in the world based on the perceptions of the Portuguese people.

Of the 129 countries surveyed, Portugal is up there with the worst - though not quite as bad as the Czech Republic where 94% of respondents think corruption is widespread in their government, followed by Lithuania with 90%.

The  'Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the UK' networking lunch in Albufeira last week shows that networking is not dead, in fact it is more important than ever.
This was a true networking event at the Varanda restaurant at Balaia Golf village with members and guests keen to meet new faces and chat before sitting down to lunch.

It is said we all have a book in us.  That's great but is your book going to be a best seller .. and will you ever write it? A few weeks ago I completed my latest book.  In the past I've written, or contributed, to some fairly heavy titles and they have done fairly well within their restricted specialist field. But this time I'd written a book that had wider appeal ... or so I hoped.
My latest book is called "Advertising Secrets: Essential Advertising Tips That Advertising Sales Reps Prefer You NOT To Know".  It is a composite of my 30+ years of experience buying advertising space; I've had responsibility for a £5.5million annual spend in a previous life and I still write and place a lot of ads even now.

In the swings and roundabouts of public life in Portugal, the on-going economic crisis has produced another political one.

Small businesses no longer need a level playing field; the playing field is now sloped in their favour. A tie up between Eire based Pubble and Stefan Drew Associates means small businesses now have competitive advantage and outcompete their biggest business rivals. 

For years large businesses, with huge budgets, customer service centres and large IT teams have had the upper hand when it comes to answering customers questions. This has particularly been the situation where website visitors have been able to pose questions online via expensive software systems that have been integrated into company websites.

The Portuguese media yesterday highlighted an issue which affects self-employed people when they submit their IRS return this year, the deadline for which is 31st May. We have looked into the reports and have the following information for those people who are sole traders and work on the ‘green receipt’ system.

With the alteration of the Portuguese Social Security Contributive Code, it became mandatory to present a declaration that the majority of the taxpayers may not be aware of.