I’m going to be honest: I’m not reading many newsletters at the moment.
It isn’t because they’re bad. Time is just tight, and “here are several interesting things you could read” can still feel like another task.
So this month, before the Jessanol news, blogs and disappearing chocolate, I’m giving you one useful thing you can do in ten minutes.
We’re starting with the slightly feral collection of shortcuts sitting across the top of your internet browser.
💡Your 10-minute business reset
Organise your internet bookmarks
If your browser bookmarks have become one enormous line of tiny icons, half-remembered websites and links you saved “for later” in 2024, set a timer for ten minutes and give them a quick sort.
You don’t need an elaborate filing system. Start by creating a few broad folders:
Everyday business
Clients and projects
Marketing and content
Sales and networking
Finance and legal
Learning and reference
Useful platforms
Archive or review later
Keep only the websites you use constantly visible on the bookmarks bar. Then deal with everything else:
Folder it. Delete it. Or put it in “Review later”.
Full disclosure: I don’t keep any links visible. Everything is tucked into a folder because, if I’m sharing my screen, I prefer to keep the behind-the-scenes bits exactly that.
A few things to keep in mind:
Organise links by what you use them for, rather than the type of website.
Avoid creating lots of folders within folders.
Delete duplicates, outdated links and anything you no longer recognise.
Do not start investigating every forgotten bookmark. That is how a ten-minute reset quietly consumes an entire afternoon.
You probably won’t create the world’s most immaculate bookmark collection in ten minutes. You can, however, turn a digital jumble into something much easier to use.
This particular reset was inspired by sorting my own Jessanol bookmarks, but July hasn’t all been spent rearranging internet shortcuts.
For a virtual service, Jessanol has been surprisingly IRL lately. I’ve had lots of conversations with fabulous businesses, mainly across the Midlands, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting out, meeting people and hearing what is happening beyond the polished version we all put online.
I’m also spending more time at a co-working space at Warwick University, usually at least once a week. As we head into autumn, I’ll be offering more opportunities to work together face to face there too.
Client work has been nicely varied: organising and managing files, refreshing compliance e-learning modules, developing a blog series and completing a warm-lead follow-up project.
Different jobs, but with a familiar theme: taking something important that has become messy, outdated, scattered or repeatedly postponed and getting it properly sorted.
A FEW THINGS WORTH SHARING:
What we’re noticing, building, and sharing this month:
✓ A useful blog about knowing what to outsource
✓ Three business stories worth a look
✓ A free worksheet
✓ Where I’ll be this autumn
THE SPOTLIGHT
How do I keep track of client follow-ups without relying on memory?
Client follow-ups are simple in theory. You send something, make a note to chase it and confidently assume you’ll remember.
Then the week gets busy.
This month’s Spotlight looks at how to keep follow-ups in one reliable place, give each one a clear next date and separate what you’re waiting for from what somebody else is waiting for.
It’s a practical system that can be as simple as a spreadsheet, notebook or task list. The important bit is being able to answer: who needs what, and what happens next?
YOUR FREE TOOL
Not sure what you could hand over?
You know you could do with some support, but working out exactly where to start can feel like another job for the list.
This free Virtual business support worksheet will help you spot the admin, follow-up and behind-the-scenes work you could hand over — no perfect task list or pristine handover document required.
WHAT WE’RE SHARING
When does outsourcing admin make financial sense?
Outsourcing admin isn’t simply a question of whether somebody else’s hourly rate is lower than yours.
This blog looks at the time, attention and opportunities tied up in continuing to do everything yourself.
I need help, but I don’t know what to outsource
You don’t need a perfectly organised list of tasks before asking for support.
This blog explores how to spot the work that is consuming your time and headspace, even when it doesn’t yet resemble a tidy handover.
Jane, Aidan and getting slightly carried away
A slightly different look behind the scenes at Jessanol: Jane and Aidan interview each other.
This blog is about working with AI, where it genuinely adds value, where human judgement matters and who is actually in charge.
WHAT WE OFFER
Give your warm leads a proper follow-up
If conversations, introductions and promising contacts are sitting across your inbox, LinkedIn and assorted notes, I can help you work out which are worth pursuing and organise the next actions.
Three focused hours to bring some order to the follow-up pile and get those conversations moving again.
Three-hour follow-up sorting session: £90
Get those jobs sorted before Q4
Perhaps you planned to use the quieter summer months to update the files, finish the document, organise the process or tackle that behind-the-scenes job that keeps being postponed.
Flexible virtual business support is available from £35 per hour, with more opportunities to work together face to face at Warwick University from the autumn.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
When 12 tonnes of KitKats disappear…
So this was in the media a little while ago and I loved watching the impact, but it’s now become a marketing go-to and well-worth a revisit. More than 400,000 KitKats disappeared while travelling between Italy and Poland. Nestlé could have quietly dealt with the rather expensive problem behind the scenes. Instead, its marketing team spotted an opportunity and acted quickly.
The result involved a missing-chocolate tracker, other brands joining the joke and an enormous amount of attention.
It’s a brilliant example of what can happen when people are trusted to recognise a good idea and run with it before the moment passes.
Your team could be your best LinkedIn content
People often pay more attention to other people than they do to company pages. Yet the knowledge, experience and personality sitting within a business can remain largely invisible online.
This article looks at how employees can become a valuable part of a company’s LinkedIn presence, without turning everyone into an unofficial salesperson or expecting them to recite marketing copy.
Choosing an email marketing platform in 2026
There is no shortage of email marketing platforms promising to do everything. The harder part is working out which features you genuinely need and which ones you’ll be paying for indefinitely without ever using.
Inc. tested a selection of the leading options and identified seven worth considering in 2026. A useful comparison if your current platform has become too expensive, too complicated or simply no longer fits.
And plot spoiler, Beehiiv, the tech solution for this newsletter features.
WHAT’S COMING UP
Tuesday 28 July, 11am | Online
Making AI work for your small business
An FSB event with Rishi Sunak, exploring how small businesses can move beyond talking about AI and start using it practically.
Thursday 30 July, 10am | Warwick Innovation District
She Scales: Female Founders Enabling Tech to Scale
A session for female founders looking at how technology can support business growth. I’ll be there, so please come and say hello if you’re attending too.
Friday 11 September, 10–11.30am | Online
FSB BIG Networking for Small Businesses
A national networking session bringing together small business owners from across the UK for new conversations and connections.
BEFORE YOU GO
It may only be July, but this year appears to have mislaid its brakes.
If you have a summer list of things you were definitely going to sort before September, you don’t need to tackle all of it at once. Start with the bookmarks. Choose one larger job next. Then see what else you can stop carrying into the autumn.
One thing properly sorted is still one less thing following you into Q4.
Have a good summer,
Jane, Founder, Jessanol