Archive of posts from June 2025

In 2007, I spent £5,000 on a Mac Pro to be able to do the sort of work I did.

In 2023, I spent £2,000 on a Mac Studio that can do the same thing.

My next machine could be £1,300 Mac mini, to do the same thing.

The cost of power keeps going down.

Power is accessible to us all.

Power is accessible to you.

Will you use it?

If AI makes some artists turn to generating art rather than painting it…

We don’t lose art.

We gain two types of art.

Personally, I want nothing to do with the generated side. And until original artists get paid for their materials to be used as source material, I’m convinced it’s unethical and unlawful.

But we don’t lose art.

There is a market for generated works.

And there is a market for less ‘efficient’ human works.

There’s likely a market for AI-generated storyboard artists and background painters, for instance.

And yet I, and my team, continue to do those very things by hand, sweating into every frame of production.

And those who appreciate our work, appreciate the connection with real hands, who worked hard on it, got paid well, and are able to do what they do thanks to people like you who support the whole thing.

We lose nothing.

There are simply more options.

Why do you do what you do?

For pleasure? Money? Status? Connections? Revenge? Family? Happiness?

The only wrong answer is, “I don’t know.”

Because if you don’t know, how can you know if it’s working?

It takes a lot of volume to get good at something.

We can interpret that in one of two ways.

One, the volume sounds like a heavy burden, a weighty responsibility, a grind to survive. If this is your perspective, you’re unlikely to reach sufficient volume to get good.

Two, the volume sounds like a privilege, a joy, a fantastic way to spend your time. If this is your perspective, getting good seems inevitable.

Do you want to get good?

Get thankful.

We’re not on a TV gameshow.

We have no fingers on buzzers, where the fastest answer wins.

We have no rewards for speaking before you have answers.

Social media is full of people who do that.

We listen to those who don’t.

Sometimes, building on an idea makes it more complicated. Bigger. Harder to comprehend, engage, or manage.

Other times, building on an idea makes it simpler. Smaller. Easier to understand, want, or share with others.

There’s merit to both types of building. Sometimes there’s seasons for each.

It’s worth knowing which you’re building, and not judge it against others who are building the other one.

We used to write a word or two into an address bar, add ‘.com’, and hit enter.

Then we typed a few more words into a search bar, hit enter, and browsed for what we wanted.

Now we type many words into a dialog box, hit enter, and prompt our way to the information we wanted.

We don’t want more complex answers, but the amount of input required of us keeps going up.

As the world gets more complex, maybe it’s not worth trying to get complex with it.

Maybe it’s worth looking for simplicity and focus.

Maybe that’s worth more as the world becomes increasingly starved of it.

My wife went to a medical clinic. Waited in the waiting room, only to find clinic was off that day.

My son is awaiting an operation. The hospital doesn’t know what the operation is or what day it’s booked.

My broadband provider’s new router was shipped to the wrong address. Both the provider and the courier each wrote our address down incorrectly, in different ways.

All in one day.

This is your competition.

It’s annoying to live with, but it’s such good news for those in the market who want to make great things, isn’t it?

Productivity has no opinion on the things we do.

Only that we do them faster.

Effectiveness has no opinion over how fast we go.

Only that we do the right things.

There’s a lesson in there.

In the fight artists have with AI, we run the risk of losing something as important as our rights over our own work.

We risk losing the ability to create without worrying about ownership.

Creativity with a focus on ownership limits the act. It forces insular thought, reluctance to collaborate, and an environment where synergy, germination and remixes fail to materialize.

Graffiti trends aren’t owned, for instance. They evolve organically.

Artists let their art react to other art, like a natural conversation between works, without the artists uttering a word.

Creating with heart, but without concern for ownership, unlocks so many wonderful ideas.

But with AI looming over artists, the rush to protect our work takes that away from us, as it would if there were a thief running riot throughout our communial art gallery.

It’s difficult to suppose what we can do, as the thief seems to not be going anywhere anytime soon.

But I hope we, as a community, continue to prioritize fantastic creativity over protecting past works from a thief-in-residence who won’t stop pinching our works.

After all, if the thief stops artists from creating, it won, right?

I started buying Macs and Moleskines in 2005.

We used to buy Macs because they were where you’d find the best software.

Nowadays, you get the shiny tool, but the software mostly languishes.

We used to buy Moleskine notebooks because they made us feel something when we wrote.

Nowadays, the paper is thinner and bleeds easily, presumably to save cash, losing sight of why we bought them in the first place.

We don’t buy tools because of what they are, but for what they unlock.

I still buy Macs and Moleskines.

But I hope they rediscover why we buy them. Not for they are. For what they unlock.

You know your audience well enough…

If you can answer this question:

“What do they want to learn today, and how can I teach it to them in a way they’ll really enjoy?”

If yes? You’re good.

If no? Get to know them better. Then you’re good.

Simple enough, right?

If I have a headache, I take ……….

If I need a pick-me-up, I ……….

If I feel bored, I ……….

If I want to learn, I ……….

Brands are built on the dotted line.

Instead of looking for tricks/hacks to make ads ‘work’

Just avoid these things:

• Don’t be weird about it (ads are not bad)
• Don’t be boring (you’re interrupting interest)
• Don’t be valueless (they were looking at value)
• Don’t be low-effort (people can tell & don’t like it)

Lose the tricks/hacks/smartypants ways of ‘hacking attention’.

Focus on being valuable & enjoyable at the same time.

Isn’t that what we all want, really?

What if instead of sales follow-up,

You did one of these:

• Send something valuable
• Send something enjoyable
• Send something that combines both

Which sounds most effective to you?

If someone walks up to you and says:

“Hey you, I’ve got delicious cookies, but I won’t give you any unless you give me some money”

…You’ll think to yourself, “Okay that was weird, keep walking, don’t make eye-contact, they may find it threatening.”

If someone walks up to you and says:

“Hey you, I heard you liked chocolate cookies from that store there, so I got you some, just paying it forward y’know?”

…You’ll think to yourself, “Uhh, this person is awesome, man the world isn’t as bad as I thought it was, there are still some good people out there, I want to know this person.”

Same cookies each time.

Different delivery model!

Nobody tracks our losses, except ourselves when our mindset’s all wrong.

And by ‘all wrong’, I mean unhealthy, unproductive, and unworthy of listening to while in that mental state.

So if anyone DOES track our losses, they’re operating from that same place…

…unhealthy, unproductive, and unworthy of being listened to while in that mental state.

Worth remembering.

Slow down.

Like running your hand over where you’re about to draw on a canvas, pen in hand, before actually making the stroke.

Trace-trace-trace the movement, then make the stroke… in one go.

That stroke will look so much better than merely attacking your canvas with lots of little strokes, leading to an amateurish, unconfident mess.

The negative space — the lines of nothingness — are what make the actual work shine so bright.

If you want definite, sure-fire results, copy everyone else and get definite, sure-fire mediocrity. It’s the surest thing out there.

But if you want to stand out, be great, and build something wonderful? There’s some risk to that.

And that’s okay. You only have to be right once.

“The best” is something parents think about their children and, if we’re very lucky, vice-versa.

But the market wants us to be “specific”.

The best thing we can do is be specific. About what the value is. About what they’ll learn. About how it will entertain them. About how it’s thoughtfully crafted just for them.

It’s better at being the best than trying to be the best is!

Something that helped me a lot, is to think of “notes” differently.

Notes aren’t adding to your plate, ‘things’ to keep track of or action or even remember.

Notes are “R&D”.

Companies do R&D. They invest in R&D all the time.

Notes are your personal and professional R&D.

Not to be remembered or actioned… but to facilitate exploration, to see if interesting new ideas pop out.

And if they do pop out, they’ll reemerge as themes, thanks to the note taking and your subconscious playing nice together.

They’re not tax deductible, but they’re mental weight deductible — you feel lighter each time you do it, if you remember it’s not another to-do list.

It’s just R&D.

Some think that “hard work” is so you can later be “hardly working”.

But “hardly working” isn’t the goal.

It’s an opportunity to create space for you to amplify the buyer experience far beyond what it is today.

It’s an opportunity to invest in providing abundantly more value and enjoyment for those you serve.

It’s an opportunity to listen more intently, uncovering insights to “make their day” far beyond their expectations.

It’s an opportunity.

If you feel tired of marketing

Remember:

• It’s supposed to be hard, like most worthy things
• Be where your users are, not where’s trending
• Give them value +how they enjoy receiving it
• It’s OK to quit if you’re in the wrong place
• It’s OK to take breaks whenever you like

Don’t be bullied by platforms or peers.

Make great value & deliver it in ways your people enjoy.

You’re in control, champ.

Not all marketing is created equal.

If you find yourself working on…

• Another abandoned intent email
• Redeeming bounce rates
• Struggling for ROAS
• Fighting low CTRs

That’s not working hard.
That’s making work, hard.

Consider instead working on…

• Listening to customers more
• Making what they actually want
• Making it fun for them to experience

That works hard, for you.
(Even when you’re hardly working)

Isn’t that better?

Your customer decides these things:

1. What ‘valuable’ means (what they’re looking for)
2. What ‘useful’ means (what solves the problem)
3. What ‘fun’ means (how they enjoy consuming)
4. What ‘great’ means (what quality looks like)

If you decide? You fall short or waste time.

If they decide? You earn new customers.

Tough choice, huh?

Follow-up doesn’t work.

They say it’s where sales happen, but in reality:

• More of what you don’t want, doesn’t make you want it.
• We don’t want you to ‘check in’ or ‘circle back’ with us.
• What we DO want, is ‘draw-in’.

In this video, I explore ‘draw-in’ and how it’s a superior, drop-in replacement for ‘follow-up’.

I started reading a magazine again lately.

One I used to subscribe to back in 2006 when it started.

And I noticed something really interesting:

Reading a magazine is much different to reading blogs, RSS feeds or social timelines.

• People have thoughtfully curated what I might find interesting
• There’s a bunch of stuff I may never have gone looking for
• There’s no algorithmic push, no anxious energy economy
• There’s no ‘next step’ like many books have these days

I read about what people I don’t know have to say on a topic, but based on the merit of their ideas, not their social post ratios.

I read about interesting creations and workflows, but as a succinct perusal rather than a 400 page deep-dive.

I read about what’s going on in my industry without tracking it, just a latent bubbling to the surface.

It’s a much different pace than I’m used to. It’s… slower. And not in a bad way.

I’m really enjoying the mix of fast and slow inspiration.

Not sure where it’ll lead quite yet, but as of right now, it’s a real delight.

A list of my morning rituals:

• Play with my son (he wakes me we play)
• Write down what the day looks like, on paper
• Tear out the page, put it in my right pocket
• Use that page as my “phone” for the day

Sounds simple, but it’s a mix of priorities, play, and focus for the day.

Find your mix, and make it a daily thing. Something you’ll be glad to look back on.

Focusing on the algorithm kills your creativity & reach.

But focusing on your market means you’re free to:

• Make what they actually want
• Make it how they want to receive it
• Make it a great experience for them
• Make great relationships/fans from that
• Learn how to improve it with real feedback
• Learn how to make it profitable (if you choose)

Isn’t that better?

“What’s the big idea?!”

The best marketing knows the answer:

• Great creative focuses on one big idea
• Great campaigns focus on one big idea
• Great newsletters focus on one big idea
• Great pitch decks focus on one big idea
• Great sales demos focus on one big idea
• Great online courses focus on one big idea
• Great email nurture focuses on one big idea

If only there was a pattern to all these, huh?

A “big idea” runs through the entire buyer experience.

From first attention, to brand champion.It focuses everything you make around a single goal, angle, feeling or metaphor.

It makes you memorable, shareable, enjoyable, trustworthy, and a subcategory leader.

My best ideas come from a combo of:

• Publish something daily (done since 2017)
• Carry a paper list instead of a phone
• Write (vs generate) your own words
• Read on paper instead of digital
• Speak to target audience often
• Have 1 focus (‘no’ to the rest)
• Have 1 strategy (refine it)
• Practice daily (skills)

Whatever makes them pop out for you, work it out and do it often.

It’s a muscle worth training.