I’ve never really understood the attraction of getting suited and booted to go to the office (and I did it for long enough). See, I’m more of a PJs girl, which is part of the reason I love working from home. We don’t have swanky offices in the centre of Manchester as we’ve never quite figured out what the point would be (other than to be closer to Hotel Chocolat and Starbucks). And it seems an increasing number of people agree with us - a recent article in the Telegraph reckons around 60% of small businesses are considering ditching their office or industrial spaces by the end of the year.

With advances in mobile technology and the escalating costs associated with running an office, working from home is an ideal solution. Need more evidence about the growth of home based businesses? Enterprise Nation is a website dedicated to people who run companies from their spare rooms/kitchen tables/garden sheds/full on posh garden offices.

So until someone develops a suit that’s as comfy as my pyjamas and a desk that I like working in as much as my bed I’ll stay right here, saving money, in my home office.

So, so true…

1. “Fine.”

This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to stop talking.

2. “Five minutes.”

If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour.  Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the match before helping around the house. In fact, that really means two minutes.

3. “Nothing.”

This is the calm before the storm. This means “Something” and you should be very wary. Arguments that begin with “Nothing” usually end in “Fine”.

4. “Go ahead.”

This not permission - this is a dare. Don’t do it!

5. *loud sigh*

This is actually a word; it is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means that she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing (refer back to #3 for the meaning of nothing).

6. “It’s okay.”

Possibly one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. “It’s okay” means that she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

7. “Thanks.”

A woman is thanking you - do not question, or faint. Just say, “You’re welcome”.

8. “Whatever…”

I think we all know what that means…

9. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it.”

Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking “What’s wrong?” For the woman’s response, refer to #3.

Continuing on our theme of ranting writers, check out this chap (those of a delicate nature watch out - he uses a naughty word or two). You’ll be glad to know we’re a little more reasonable about fees.

Last week I went to the Brookfield networking event at Innospace in Manchester. As I was leaving the organiser cornered me to do a quick video testimonial. Little did I know this beautiful piece of film, with me looking like I’ve been dragged through a bush backwards, would end up on You Tube. Yikes.

But it did get me thinking about the power of videos and what they can do for a business. Several years ago I had an in-depth conversation with a nice video chappie about the future of the net and use of video to engage customers. At the time video took up huge amounts of bandwidth and slowed down websites so much that I couldn’t ever see it working. But technology has moved so fast you can now have a small video on your website (or host it on somewhere like You Tube) to really bring your business to life. Rather than having a list of written testimonials you’ve got a real person telling you exactly what they think of an event as it happens (and the same principle could well apply to a product or service). It’s more real than staged advertising and in a world of changing media it has real power and potential.

I’m not particularly precious about the words I write. But I do spend a long time writing, editing, thinking about the language I use, often choosing a particular turn of phrase because I know it will engage the audience. And I can get a wee bit grumpy if people start incorrectly correcting my work. However, I’m not a patch on Giles Coren and his rant to The Times…