I use the word ‘interview’ a lot to describe what I do. But I wish I didn’t. I wish someone could come up with a new word because ‘interview’ is so loaded. Do you have a similar problem? Mention your profession – accountant, builder, coach – and you see your networking companion glaze over. Or… Read more
When you stop short, I’ve done a good job.
I’m a hunter gatherer. I interview business owners about why they do what they do, finding angles from their story that show why they’re special in the eyes of their clients. I have a secret rule. When I’m interviewing clients, I challenge myself to make them stop talking. It sounds weird and it’s not a… Read more
When you stop speaking, how much will your audience remember?
Even in the age of cyber marketing, doing the occasional event – a presentation, speech, workshop – in front of an audience of real human beings, is a good way to promote you and your work. But it has to be worth all the effort – the thinking time, the rehearsal and the nerves. You… Read more
Be a knock-out success with your audience. (When being weak is a strength.)
Does anyone have a question? It’s a question speakers routinely ask at the end of any session. In my experience, it kills the conversation. An irony, because it’s designed to do the opposite. And I understand that. When I go to conferences, I never want to speak up first. It takes me back to the… Read more
Which comes first, the dosh or the desire – and why does it matter?
Looking ahead to The Brighton Summit 2016. When I was a happy wage slave at the BBC, I used to think that everyone else on the outside – in the commercial world – was just in it for the money. Headlines about corporate fat cats didn’t help. But when I set up my own business,… Read more
Are beautiful body snatchers depriving you of leads?
Imagine cutting a photo of a model out of a magazine. He or she looks good in front of the camera, with a dazzling smile. The angle is right, the lighting is perfect, the figure is poised in a way that draws you in. You snip it out carefully and then you turn to your… Read more
It’s OK to get carried away. What I learned from my SiteVisibility interview.
Last week I was unnerved. I was a guest on the Internet Marketing Podcast. Produced by Site Visibility, it is one of the most popular internet marketing podcasts around. It’s been going since 2006, gets around 500-700 downloads every day and the total number of downloads has passed the 1 million mark. Turning the tables…. Read more
How to write memorable copy. Try mnemonics.
My daughter is at primary school. She’s navigating her way through the Kingdom of Rote. Learning by heart endless combinations of numbers and letters. I feel for her. When I was that age, I never relished my 9 times table. Or my 7s or 8s, for that matter. (To see how I overcame my jittery-ness… Read more
A festive personality test for your website: is it a pickpocket, pianist or panto baddie?
I have spookily long fingers. A villain? They are so long, that the eight year-old daughter of a colleague once asked her mother, in hushed tones, whether I was a witch. A proper witch like the ones in Roald Dahl’s The Witches – with wigs, clawed hands, large nostrils and no toes. For the record,… Read more
Daphne Todd: the Big Painting Challenge and why boilers and bricks deserve their moment of fame.
Daphne Todd has come to the nation’s attention as one of the judges on BBC1’s The Big Painting Challenge. There was also a flurry of headlines when Daphne revealed she’d secretly painted horns beneath a portrait of one of her sitters. People were a bit surprised that a former President of the Royal Society of… Read more
