You’ve had it happen. Probably even this week. Someone said something, did something (or didn’t), and you thought: “Well. That wasn’t very nice, because…” And your mind literally filled in the gaps. The truth is, we don’t know. That’s why our brains (wired for story) leap in to “help”. But since we are humans, full
To be fair the chances of me completing a book called “Finish” seem higher than for other books. The title alone stares at you, judges you a bit until it’s done. I’ve written before about my tendency to pull back right before something big is completed: Self sabotage, finishing your writing, and the power of
Marketing strategy can feel confusing – and even pointless sometimes. Surely it’s mostly a bunch of talk, and if you have to go through it you will, but really you want to just get some marketing done. “Executed” is the marketing term, but I find that rather war-like and creepy sometimes, so I tend to
“So I see you have values like creative space, and rest… but you also have impact and decisiveness,” an accountant said to me this week. “One is slow and measured; the other gives the sense of speed and movement. How do you see those fitting together?” What a great question. It’s one of my favourite
Your people. Your offer. And how your offer matches what those people need. That’s it, really. That’s marketing in a nutshell. When I go through a series of “Foundations” sessions with a new client, this is ultimately what we’re digging into. We have four in-depth sessions, with a lot of questions. (My favourite is when
I’ve not always been ready to make resolutions at the start of January. Some years I pushed myself. This will be my year, I’d promise myself, as I bought or pulled out yet another notebook – or a series of notebooks, like one year when I wrote a different word on each one, like “creativity”
Company values are excellent things. And sometimes, they need to be revisited. Not because they aren’t right: but because in business, as in life, things change. Your perspective shifts. What was the right area of focus before doesn’t fit the way it used to. I’ve been discovering that’s the case for me and my agency:
Real client reviews and testimonials have some of the biggest impact in marketing, because they mitigate the buyer’s fear of making a bad decision. Your buyer is thinking something like: “What if this doesn’t work out?” “I’ve heard this before – it sounds good but it did last time too” “Will I really get the
As business owners, our gut is often right. That person we hired, but had a little niggling feeling about, didn’t work out. The project with a big cash injection, but with a slightly annoying client, ended up draining energy and resources for months. “I knew it,” we think. “I wish I’d listened to my gut!”
There are things you want which are on the other side of asking a direct question. “Could I be a guest on your podcast?” “Is there a speaking slot available for me?” “What do you think about working more in partnership?” “Are you ready to start?” We often take the side road, the hint, the
