What’s Your Background?
My Story

How does someone get into marketing, strategy, content and process?

Good question. Here’s my answer:

The ’90s Strategy Games Geek Turned Marketer

When I was growing up, there was nothing I loved more than playing Age of Empires, a ‘90s strategy game.

Don’t worry, this is relevant. Seriously.

And as soon as I worked out exactly how to master it, it was time to move onto the next strategy game. It was always more exciting to get to grips with a new system than it was to continue with the old game.

At school and university, I excelled at marketing and psychology. To me, they were two sides of the same coin. Both subjects obsess over human behaviour.

Whilst at university, I listened to Booka Shade for the first time and suddenly, everything changed: My obsession with dance music was born.

Again, don’t worry, this is relevant.

From there, I dove straight in marketing nightclubs and festivals, including the Ministry of Sound. I loved it. I loved the passion of it.

That year, they made their most profit ever… and then I was made redundant, which wasn’t so great.

Getting Excited About Marketing and Recruitment (Yes, Really)

I started up working for a recruitment company, followed by a few other B2B businesses.

These companies were really interesting, but they always failed to communicate just how interesting they were to their customers. This was especially true online, where most businesses just copied the market leader and expected to overtake them.

This provided me with fertile ground to test my ideas.

Unfortunately, in one of those companies, my boss was a total dick (ask me about it if you want). So I quit my job and decided to set up my own business. 

Most Marketing Advice is Crap… to Put it Politely

So I started from scratch: I learned to code, built a site and read every marketing blog and book for start-ups I could get my hands on.

It all seemed so easy.

I built a website based on that advice, put it live, and… I got nothing. My traffic didn’t increase. Nothing did. 

That’s when it hit me. Most marketing advice I’d read was simplified rubbish. The basic principles were correct but it was short-sighted and often copied from other articles.

And that gave me my most valuable lessons:

1. Opinions are cheap; don’t listen to those who haven’t risked their own money.

2. If it looks too easy to be true; it often is or they spent a lot to learn that lesson.

3. Most marketers aren’t that creative; most just go through the motions based on following the same advice I’d rejected.

I went into marketing consultancy, creating marketing strategies for large firms.

And another realisation hit me: most of these companies are too risk-averse to do anything  interesting.

Their marketing was safe and soulless, their processes clunky and slow.

Which brings me to where I am now.

David vs. Goliath: A Modern-Day Epic

My goal is to help smaller businesses punch above their weight and make a serious impact, even when the odds are stacked against them.

I do this because it is more fun. I like a challenge. I like to be creative.

I like diving into a problem, tearing it apart, and building a plan for success. Ever since I first picked up Age of Empires, that’s been who I am.

Most marketing agencies, the Goliaths, will tell you to dress up and act like a Goliath. To throw all your resources at copying those leaders. I call bullshit on that.

You’re not Goliath, and you shouldn’t try to be. I can help you be smart and strategic – in other words, I can help you be more David.

All of our strategies are tried and tested on ourselves. Our approach blends strategy, content marketing, and process improvement to get your firm where it needs to be.