John K Mitchell's Misc Blog

John Mitchell
Someone Has Harvested Your Email Address – What Can You Do?


Imagine receiving an email telling you something rather unsettling.

Someone has found your email address.

They have added it to a commercial database.

And that database is available for businesses to use when looking for potential customers.

You might reasonably ask:

How did they get my email address?

More importantly:

Why do they think they have the right to use it?

And perhaps the question that really matters:

What can I do about it?

This is becoming an increasingly interesting issue for anyone who has an online presence, particularly business owners and people whose professional contact details are publicly available.

It is also an issue that can be surprisingly difficult to understand because there is a big difference between an email address being publicly visible, an email address being collected into a database, and a company actually using that address to send you marketing.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2026/09/email-address-harvested-marketing-database/ https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2026/09/email-address-harvested-marketing-database/

John Mitchell
Shopping Cart Abandonment: Why Customers Leave Without Buying


TL;DR: Shopping cart abandonment is a normal part of online selling, but too much of it can cost your small business a lot of money. Customers may leave because checkout is too complicated, they have changed their mind, the website feels unsafe, or the final price is higher than expected. Before changing your online shop, try something simple: shop on your own website as if you were a customer. Then compare that experience with the way you use other online shops. The differences can reveal problems you may never notice when you are used to your own website.


How Many Customers Are Abandoning Their Shopping Carts?


If you run an online shop, you probably already know that not everyone who adds something to their shopping cart will buy it. In fact, shopping cart abandonment is one of the biggest challenges faced by online retailers.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3192 https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3192

John Mitchell
Computer Health and Safety: How Small Businesses Can Protect Their Staff


TL;DR: Computers themselves are not usually the problem. The real risks come from spending long periods sitting badly, using poorly positioned equipment, staring at a screen without a break and repeating the same movements for hours. For small businesses, a few simple changes to desks, chairs, screens and working habits can make a big difference.


Why Computer Health and Safety Matters to Small Businesses


For many small businesses, computers have become as important as the telephone was a few decades ago. Whether you run an office, manage a shop, work in an accounts department or spend your day dealing with customers online, there is a good chance that you spend a large part of your working day looking at a screen.

That makes computer health and safety something worth taking seriously.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3190 https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3190

John Mitchell
Business Premises Security: How to Protect Your Small Business


TL;DR: Good business premises security is not just about stopping burglars. It can protect your stock, equipment, property, staff and your ability to keep trading. CCTV, alarms, access controls, security patrols and other measures can all help, but the right solution depends on your business, premises and location. You do not necessarily need an expensive security system. Start by understanding what you need to protect and where your biggest risks are.


Why Business Security Matters


Business premises security might not be the most exciting thing on your list of jobs, especially when you are busy trying to win customers, manage staff and keep the accounts under control. However, it is one of those things that can suddenly become very important when something goes wrong.

A break-in can cause far more damage than the value of whatever a criminal manages to steal.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2026/09/business-premises-security-protect-your-small-business/ https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2026/09/business-premises-security-protect-your-small-business/

John Mitchell
Back-Button Hijacking: Why Small Business Websites Need to Stop Doing It


TL;DR: Back-button hijacking is the irritating trick that stops a visitor from using their browser’s Back button normally. Instead of returning to the page they came from, they may see an advert, a different page or be sent around a loop. It has annoyed web users for years, but Google has now made its position much clearer. In April 2026, Google announced that back-button hijacking would become an explicit violation of its spam policies, with enforcement beginning on 15 June 2026. Websites using the practice can face manual spam actions or automated ranking demotions. For a small business, that means a tactic intended to gain an extra page view could end up costing valuable Google traffic.


What Is Back-Button Hijacking?


There is a very simple rule when you browse the web: if you click your browser's Back button, you expect to go back. It sounds obvious because it is.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3182 https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3182

John Mitchell
When Your Mojo Disappears: How to Get It Back in Your Small Business


Running a small business can be exciting, rewarding and full of freedom. It can also be exhausting.

I was talking to a friend over the weekend who is an author, the one that has writen The Sleeping Phoenix series and he was saying about getting stuck on the most recent book.  This led me to say about writing blog posts and got me thinking.

Some days, you wake up ready to crack on. You have ideas, energy and a clear sense of where you are going. Other days, opening your laptop feels like a huge effort. The jobs you normally enjoy seem dull, and even small decisions feel harder than they should.

If that sounds familiar, your business mojo may have disappeared.

The good news is that this happens to plenty of small business owners. Losing your motivation does not automatically mean you have chosen the wrong career, your business is failing or you need to throw everything away and start again.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3178 https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/?p=3178

John Mitchell
Why You Check Emails While Getting the Kids Breakfast – and How to Manage Time Better


Do you ever find yourself buttering toast with one hand while scrolling through your inbox with the other? You’re not alone. Most small business owners start their day this way (I know I used to) – half in family mode, half in work mode. But why do we do it? And more importantly, how can we stop this cycle that leaves us frazzled before 9am? Let’s dig into the chaos, find out what’s really going on, and look at simple, real-world ways to get your mornings (and your mind) back.


The Breakfast Email Habit – How Did We Get Here?


Think back twenty years. The only way you’d check your emails before breakfast would be if you physically went to your computer, fired up your dial-up modem, and waited for that screeching noise to stop. Now, your phone is right there next to the kettle, flashing away with notifications before you’ve even had your first sip of tea.

It’s easy to see how this habit formed.

More at https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2025/10/why-you-check-emails-while-getting-the-kids-breakfast-and-how-to-manage-time-bette/ https://www.forestsoftware.co.uk/blog/2025/10/why-you-check-emails-while-getting-the-kids-breakfast-and-how-to-manage-time-bette/