Although I have an unhealthy obsession with technology, gadgetry and anything that has a spark of electricity running though it, my aversion to eBooks has been strong.

I just love the feel of a book in my hand, something very comforting about it.

I've been bombarded by a host of research papers, eBooks and PDF's which meant that I had to sit at my computer all day or find an alternative. Unlike the iPhone onanists who still tell me that they can read documents fine on their mobiles (no, you can't - stop being so childish) the eBook reader works really, really well. I'm sort of converted.

I doubt I'll be reading non technical stuff on it, but as a reference library and freedom providing gadget it gets the thumbs up from me!

I'm not quite old enough to remember the last recession. Well, that's not quite true, I'm old enough but as they were my student years, I can only remember blurred drinking sessions and a few too many hours spent playing Doom over the LAN rigged up with my flat mates.

So I can only read about the waves of businesses collapsing, houses being repossessed and general downfall of society.

Fast forward sixteen years and I get to experience a recession, albeit one with a nice soundbite; the "credit crunch" - putting aside the economics of that term; how anyone thought that driving the global economy by reckless borrowing was a good idea, I find myself in a lot of conversations with business people and members of the public about how worried they are about the whole situation.

And it is worrying; if all you are planning to do is cut back, reducing spending, stopping training, slashing prices. Its a bit like your local chippie, worried that fewer customers are coming in, cutting back on potatoes to save costs. Selling fish an ch isn't going to entice them in.

In my businesses we've actually increased advertising and marketing budgets. Its costing more but the return still generates a profit. When the economy is under pressure, as it is now, concentrate on making just one more pound (or dollar)

In my businesses we're looking at changes in the way we deliver our products. One of our major projects turns our standard PT operations on its head. We've planned it all out, its still shit scary, but taking a risk, taking a step forward has got to be better than hiding and hoping the problem goes away.

Start negotiating. Your suppliers will be feeling the pressure and may be happy to discuss prices. If you're a long term customer they'll be happy to look at prolonging the relationship. Look at ways of cutting costs without affecting service.

Now is not the time to be paralysed by fear. Standing still and hoping that the recession will ignore you isn't going to work. Your competitors, the braver ones, will be pushing forwards and trying to take a piece of your action. The question is are you going to let them?

I've been a customer of play.com for seven years and have placed over 140 orders with them (and that doesn't include playusa)

In the few instances where things go missing or arrived damaged the play.com customer service has been exemplary and reviews (used) to agree with me.

Unfortunately I fear that has all changed.

The delivery timeframe has shot up from a reasonable 14 days to a frankly ridiculous 21 days. I have an e-commerce business and experience with Royal Mail tells me that if something sent first class in the UK doesn't arrive in a week and a half its been condemned to sorting office purgatory.

The response speed for emails is beyond terrible. I sent three emails about the missing item over a week. I still haven't received a reply to any of them.

The phone based customer services seems to be located on Mars. And are considerably less helpful than a Martian would be.

So play.com has lost me as a customer. I'm sure that it won't even register as a miniscule pimple on the gigantic arse that is their customer services but I'm at the age where complaining is pleasurable.

I'm sticking with Amazon from now on who at least respond to emails and have a funky next day delivery for a reasonable annual fee.

Being in business I find that I spend a great deal of time learning about the skills of entrepreneurship. Marketing, sales, operations...you name it, I'm studying it.

One of the recent areas I've been working on is sales. Now sales always regarded with suspicion but ethical selling is simply about informing and assisting potential clients about what you have to offer. However I'm going to open a window on some of the "dark arts" of sales.

The use of pain in sales
If you have ever had the joy of signing up to a gym you'll most likely have experienced the pain method of selling fitness. You get encouraged to talk about how you're getting fatter, less energetic, a whole heap of fun to get you emotional about your fitness state. And it works; press the right buttons, get the emotions going and you get a sale. As long as your product delivers and cures the pain so to speak, both the seller and the client win...however, I'm not really a big fan of this and the main reason is does anyone really like being in pain? Apart from those that attend certain establishments, I think not. And when the pain has gone, what is there keeping your client from leaving? Very little unfortunately, unless you crank up the fear levels again, which is a whole new ethical dilemma that we could look into. Perhaps an alternative is in...

The use of pleasure in sales
We all like to be pleased. Its actually hard wired into our physiology. Dopamine, a hormone that appears to be triggered by unexpected reward (sort of like sex when you're married), provides feelings of enjoyment. As part of a feedback loop we are naturally inclined to keep performing actions that trigger the release of dopamine; we like getting pleasure. The advantages of selling pleasure should be clear. In a fitness context you'd emphasise the benefits of training rather than emphasising the problems you are solving. Talk about the new bikini your client will fit into, for example. Being a feedback loop, consistently rewarding your client with their achievements means they have a much stronger reason to keep hiring you to get that dopamine fix.

It should be clear which side of the fence I sit on in this but as with everything in business, test it for yourself and your prospects.