1. Founders are my heroes

Look, I’m not trying to butter you up with empty, cloying flattery. It’s actually true: Across my 18 years in marketing, it’s been business founders who’ve consistently proved to be the most interesting and inspiring people I’ve come across. 

No matter how great an idea, product or service you know you have, it’s never anything less than a Herculean task to launch it out into the world. So I’ve nothing but admiration for founders, and that admiration is at the root of why I do what I do. 

2. I love (love, love) the beginning of a project

Obviously, I enjoy the conclusion to a marketing project. Watching everything come together in a glorious crescendo of ROI, new leads and smashed targets is always going to be a thrill. But for me, it’s those early days that give me serious goosebumps. 

Because I love that initial deep-dive into a business. It’s all about sitting with a client to hunt out those clear, marketable truths – together – amidst the jumble of ideas that inevitably builds up over time. 

I also love seeing the relief on a client’s face when they realise that someone else gets their vision. And not only that, they can articulate that vision, loudly and convincingly, to the world at large. 

3. I 100% don’t believe in luck 

Call me jaded and unromantic, but when it comes to marketing, I don’t believe that good things just ‘happen’. Good things come to those who plan, and plan well. 

Having a proper plan in place means you can work smarter, not harder. And with someone else executing that plan on your behalf, you recoup hours of your working week. That time can then be spent pursuing opportunities that might otherwise have been missed, or focusing on an area of your business that’s perhaps been neglected. 
I tend to hear “You know, we should’ve got you in months ago” a lot. 

4. I am dead serious about laughter

Given that we spend the vast majority of our waking hours working, it seems a shame to spend all that time in a frowny fog. I believe the best client relationships have a sense of fun and humour underpinning them. Because not only does that make the working day more enjoyable, it also keeps energy levels raised up so that more of the serious stuff can get sorted. 

It’s not like I turn up to meetings with a squirty clown-flower in my lapel, or open every presentation with “Knock knock…” But yes, I do like to keep it light. And besides, I can’t tell you how many brilliant ideas I’ve seen start life as silly, off-the-cuff jokes…