I’ve written about e-books a couple of times in the past, speculating as to whether they would really take off. Well, according to Amazon it is now selling more electronic books than hardbacks. So, it appears that the Kindle is here to stay and that electronic book readers will continue to grow in popularity. This is largely due to:

-     Reduced pricing: the Kindle now only costs £109. It was almost twice the price when  it first launched

-     Increased competition: the iPad has now entered the fray which has forced Kindle to raise its game

-     Improved product quality. The latest Kindle is a much better product - see headline picture

So will e-books outsell paperbacks on Amazon in the near future? Absolutely. Will the paperback become obsolete? Probably. I’ll have to add the Kindle to my Christmas list.

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My old friend Beverly has just started a new business - Boogogo, which sells fabulous stickers for cars, scooters and all kinds of stuff. Click here to view the site. It just shows how with a great idea and a beautifully designed website its easy to set up a new business.
It also demonstrates that people from Derby are natural entrepreneurs!

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Thinking of packing up your marketing job and working for yourself? Here’s why you should.

1.       You get to work on interesting stuff, not the boring stuff

2.       You can lead a nomadic life and work anywhere.

3.       You can spend time with people you really like

4.       You don’t have a boss

5.       You have the opportunity to earn decent money

6.       You stay sharp and hungry. Otherwise you won’t earn decent money

7.       You can take the kids to school more often

8.       You can take holidays when you need them

9.       You don’t have to waste away your life in meetings

10.    You’ll regret not having a go at running your own business.

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A friend forwarded me an email from the advertising agency Ogilvy about their plans to open up a pop-up branch in Brixton Market called Idea Shop. Over 3 days in early Feb, small businesses can book in a 1 or 2 hour slot to discuss their advertising or marketing problems with some of the best brains in the agency - free of charge. There will also be a series of interesting talks which you can attend.

I think it's a fantastic ideas and I wish them well in this innovative new venture. Pop-up shops are not new, but I've never heard of pop-up marketing advice. Maybe I should set up a stall in Tooting Market?

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A friend of mine told me about this fabulous new invention - the Wifi Body Scale. All you have to do is stand on the scales and it automatically records your weight, fat mass and BMI which you can view from your computer or iPhone.

Apparently, up to eight people can use a single set of scales. It can even send to tweet to your Twitter account every time you weight yourself so your entire social network can follow your progress. Amazing.

I think this will be successful because:

- People need to set targets to achieve their ambitions and its a great way to track progress. A bit like Nike+

- Going ‘public' encourages dedication: Weightwatchers Clubs understand this

- It's a cool gadget to have in your bathroom

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Yesterday was a big day for the book world. The Man Booker Prize Winner was announced - the Oscar /Bafta for books (which was Wolf Hall) and Jeff Bezos of Amazon announced the Global launch of the Kindle a ‘revolutionary wireless reading device'.

I've never tried the Kindle, but to find out more, click here. The 2 big benefits they talk about are

- The paper like quality of the screen

- The fact that its wireless, making it easy to download books, mags, etc

This is the second big entry into the e-book market, following on from the Sony Reader - which I've written out before - so competition's sure to hot up. I should be the prime target audience for this. I travel and read a lot. Market predictions are bullish. However, I'm still unconvinced. You just can't beat the simplicity and beauty of a real book.

A lot's going to come down to price. At the moment it costs $279 to buy and the books cost full price to download. There has to be more in for the consumer, particularly as the cost of electronic s  has come down so much in recent years. Also it's the kind of market where word of mouth is key. If enough people I trust start recommending it, then I may be persuaded.

So who's going to win in the battle between the Sony Reader and the Kindle? My money's on the Kindle. Amazon is so strongly associated with the book world that I think it'll have the edge. Will be really interesting to see.

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A friend of mine recently installed an Omlet eglu - a chicken house - in her small back garden in Barnes. I think this is a fantastic innovation. Stylish, environmentally friendly, educational. A great way to connect urban dwellers with the countryside.

They've recently introduced the Beehaus, which encourages people to keep bees, which again is a fantastic idea. I really like their products and what they're trying to do. Click here to see their website.

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One of my favourite innovations over the past year has been Spotify, which has revolutionised the way I listen to music. Spotify is a web-based music library that allows you to listen to millions of tracks through your computer. Simply tap in the name of the artist, genre, album and listen to your heart's content. There are lots of other clever features and its really easy to use.

Access is free, as long as you're willing to put up with an advert every 30 mins or so. For a small fee, you can remove this - although I can't imagine many people do. Not tried it yet? Click here.

The only drawback is that its not currently available on mobile devices. However, I'm sure this will happen soon. (It may well be available now....) When this does, what will happen to the iPod and the iTunes library?

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