Broadband and Me

I wrote about my sea change in presenting a pitch solely based on the things I believe here. I promised an update and wonderfully those people who I was pitching to bought my vision of the world. Well, at least they bought me as a person and therefore I have a new role starting in mid April. I’ll talk more about it when the time is right but suffice it to say it is looking after a company’s online brand. So in one fell swoop I get to focus on the things that interest me and hopefully implement the ideas I believe in.

I am now very excited by the prospect and a little annoyed that I can’t get going on it straight away - (I have to see out the notice period on my contract).

One thing I do want to mention is that without blogging I would not have got to where I wanted to be as I have had a lot of advice, ideas and friendship from people online (and in real life) to help me with this. I put it together and did the deed however a quick pointer to the people whose ideas I used (and referenced) hopefully not too gushing and in no particular order:

Johnnie Moore for ideas regarding improv, sound advice and some dessert rather than desert and of course Beyond Branding (well his part of it and the blog).
Curt Rosengren - whose passion catalyst website and books slowly inspired me to use belief
Hugh McLeod - the power of something to believe in is infinte, carttons and of couse Stormhoek wine as a case study
James Cherkoff - whose Open Source Marketing and Open Sauce with Johnnie got me firmly hooked on this way of thinking
Stuart Smith - who first introduced me to complexity theory and keeps wanting to work with me (strange fellow )
Tomi Ahonen and Alan Moore for Communities Dominate Brands which just puts it in the right way for me.

And my lovely wife, who grounds me and allows me to soar.

Talk to all of these people and you start to get a view of the world that makes more sense than it does for most business and work now.

Blimey… how do I follow that as a post? Answers as always on the metaphorical postcard. By the way, did I mention I was happy ?

I have been essentially frustrated of late. Frustrated in the sense of not being able to achieve certain goals I set myself and not being able to articulate in a meaningful way how to move forward. Its led to a blogging paralysis as well where I’m keep trying to second guess myself on what to write.

The reason I mention this is because I think its something that quite often happens in business as well. A company ends up navel gazing far too much and not focusing on what its customers want, or even more fuindamentally who are its markets?

From my own perspective I felt the market wanted a piece of paper to say I can do things. I spent two years getting a formal qualification in marketing. Last week I went and received my award: a Professional Post-graduate Diploma in Marketing from the CIM. Quite a grand occasion at the Symphony hall in Birmingham, with some surprisingly passionate speeches by Professor Maclolm Macdonald and Lord Heseltine. The passion being in a rallying cry to graduands to continue to develop marketing as a profession and evangelise marketing to others as something more than promotion and advertising.

Has it allowed me to move forward? Well its allowed me to look at business in a quite different light. It allows me to use the ‘correct’ words in describing concepts such as segmentation, situational analysis, and utilse acronyms like AIDA and SVA and actually know what they mean.

So from having some experience in doing, to having a formal bit of paper, therefore the market should love me? Yes? No.

I’m making the same kind of mistakes that companies do too. I’m not talking to cmpanies and finding out what they want, I’m not engaging with the market. I’m also not differentiating myself from others in a positive way.

The key reason for this maybe like a lot of firms as I mentioned above is that I haven’t clearly established in my own mind what is my target market and how to make that market aware of my existence.

So why am I telling you this? Well primarily I’m telling myself. I can’t hide from this, and I need to provke myself to move forward. And it gives me an excuse to write in a more targetted way. Perhaps even engage some people in conversation.

Johnnie reports from Reboot

I’m liveblogging from reboot7 in Copenhagen. But I’ve just realised I’d rather be listening than blogging!

I’m not jealous… much…

CIM Exams - Reboot in Copenhagen - Which would you choose?

I think I chose wrongly

In catching up with Evelyn’s Crossroads Dispatches, I found a recent post about Niching Authenticity. Sounds interesting and as usual with Evelyn’s writing it grabs you (well it grabs me anyway) and that’s exactly what she means in terms of niching i.e. getting under your skin - in through the crack in the armour.

It is difficult (but immensely rewarding) work to stay open. To write and speak and act from the heart. It’s not necessarily relevatory writing. I don’t need to know your social security number or your girlfriend’s quirks or what your nightmare last night was about. What is required is staying still when you want to bolt and then writing from that stillness.

I wish I could do it more often but I end up putting barriers in the way of expressing myself, but I’ll have a go now….

I HATE BEING UNEMPLOYED!!!!! I am fed up. Its my job to get a job but I have to admit to not liking it. I despartely want to find something that will pay me a decent income and ieally something that will provide fulfillment. Its not easy and I am too self-deprecating sometimes so that I self-edit jobs out of the equation that I should apply to. I have had a few good interviews but no pay off as yet. One thing currently out there that I have fingers crossed for as its working for a company that I would love to work for (although I’m not optimistic about my chances).

One advantage of being unemployed with some cash reserves has been the ability to go and spend sometime with my children doing their weekly things, like swimming lessons. My older son’s face when i was there watching him was thrilling and made me remember why it is I do this work thing i.e. to provide for them and keep opportunities open for them.

Perhaps then my ideal job would be working from home with the flexibility to continue to spend time with them, however I’m not sure how I could make that happen. Which is probably why I am frustrated with the whole unemployment thing.

I can hear my son shouting and screaming in delight, playing downstairs while I search for jobs on the web. My daughter is practising her recorder (quite well as it happens - I’m very pleased) and the sun is treaming in through the window in between the rain clouds. It could well be a metephor for how I feel.

In my head I want to know the answer - I want someone to tell me the answer while at the same time knowing that the only answer will come from me, from within, to drive a solution. I’m not a victim. I am me and I will get out of the hole. (Wasn’t that a Jesus and Mary Chain song, In a hole?)

A number of books I have read talk about the primacy of action - the need not to think but to do, to make things happen. Sounds great. I’m all for making things happen. The only question is ‘What?’

Some thunder is rumbling in the distance. Or maybe its a plane landing at the airfield.

Feeling that this is a bit incoherent, even for a stream of consciousness.

Answers on a (e)postcard to contact[at]betaroad.com please.

Today has been (in theory) my last day at ntl.

After 8 years and 5 months. Its been the best of times and its been the worst of times.

I was very touched by a gift of some Champagne and Chocolates from my old team mates in Internet - most unexpected but I am very grateful.

Thanks to them and all the other people at ntl who have made my time there a pleasure, an experience that I will never forget. It is rare you get to be at the cutting edge of a new market (broadband) and new products - I was very lucky.

Where to next? Remains to be seen but watch this space, as they say…

And now its time to say goodbyee ntl…