Category: Announcements and News

Hi All, here’s to a happy and prosperous 2011 for us all. This time last year I made myself a promise that I would try to post more often in 2010 – I think I did do that, just. Certainly during the year the blog received more and more traffic and with this came two things, a large number of emails and personal messages, plus an increase in the number of comments (including, unfortunately, a large increase in spam).

Answering all the questions and comments has been both enjoyable but also time consuming – and this has inevitably slowed down the posts – but if I am helping people then I am not too worried how I do it. The increase in spam (which I take as a compliment, as they just want their URL to appear on the site) means I am spending more time screening the comments and this can also mean I am a bit slower in my response to them – so bear with me if I don’t get to answer you straight away.

Anyway, I am looking forward to 2011, there are some exciting things on the horizon and I hope to keep you all posted. In the mean time, and a bit off-topic, I want to mention a friend of mine, Helen Jennings and the service that she offers through Purple Prose . Although I am confident in my specialist knowledge, I always struggle when it comes to writing, stressing out over my grammar and spelling, worrying about whether I am trying to be too clever or too simplistic etc.  Whilst my style on this blog has always been conversational, (and that means I can get away with quite a bit) I have also written articles for magazines and other publications and that can require a greater degree of professionalism. If you are involved any professional writing, then a good copy editor can be essential. Helen, a writer herself, is one of those people to whom (did I get that right?) the English language comes easy, so if you are looking to ‘get it right’  – whatever it is you are writing – check out Helen’s site, and check out her blog for some insights too.

OK, so the keen-eyed amongst you will have noticed the big blue Twitter button (bit too big maybe?) on the right hand side of the blog. I thought it was about time I tried to keep-up, so now you can follow the Tile and Stone Blog on Twitter.

http://twitter.com/TileStoneBlog

While we are on the subject I would be interested to hear from anyone using Twitter, particularly if you are in the tile and stone, installation/care and maintenance business. I am interested to hear if it is successful for you and how so.

Shortest post I have written in a while!

Well 2009 was a busy but odd year to say the least, a lot of things happened in the world of tile and stone with many suppliers and retailers really feeling the pinch.

As we go into 2010 let’s hope it will be a better year for everyone. I am sure there will still be some belt tightening for some time to come so more of us may be thinking of how best to restore , clean-up or care for existing tile and stone installations rather than buying new.

For my part I am looking forward to spending more time on this blog than I managed last year, hopefully providing some little help and useful information.

I hope to make a start really soon, but for now, all the best for 2010

Ian