found us

Friday 17th January and found us

Morning people. It’s is Friday 17th January 2025. I’ve a day off! Whoop whoop. Later on catching up with Claire for a coffee after she finishes teaching at the wonderful Western Isles Hotel.

Today I am going to attack personal resentments (actually business as well) that I still harbour. I intend putting pen to paper, fingers to keyboard and so remove them from me. I find that writing and typing such things out takes the power out of them. You see them in front of you, minuscule, unimportant, pointless.

I’ll also do a bit of work on my business website, www.foundus.co.uk, and lovingly write some interesting copy, even if it is only for me. At the moment I am on the hunt for consulting business and search and selection briefs.

But I am now up in Scotland in Tobermory, and have not chased or been in touch with people. And unfortunately the ad’ game likes to have egos massaged, and is notorious at not contacting suppliers like myself, and soon forgetting them to look at the new shiny thing (in this case fecking AI) that they think a) a customer needs, b) can charge for, c) or wax lyrical over, consuming reams of editorial on how it’s to be the next big thing to save the world. Yawn…. And it’s all BS and blah, blah, blah.

People are only really interested in attention being focused on them as they position self as an advertising expert, and in current climes AI. It’s all BS to be frank and the driving of Ego. Rant over.

You don’t need an ad agency to sell you what you don’t need.

Ad agencies in the UK are a waste of space in my opinion for the most part.

A pretty bold statement but one I believe more fully in as I’ve grown older. But like all statements has flaws.

A reputation for charging and piss poor service or Groundhog Day schedules does not endear many to ad’ agencies, and please do avoid them. They damage the institution of advertising and those agencies that do a bloody good job of strategising, implementing, and delivering on a company’s marketing, and quite rightly charge their rate.

And we too can be piss poor and live Groundhog Days.

Like the repetitive agency not taking risk and reinventing the marketing schedule, we can be creatures of habit or dangerous repetition. Dull, staid, and acting out the same narrative. But what we can do is launch a new marketing plan for ourselves as in one sense we are all like a limited company, maybe even a plc. We can at any moment change our marketing narrative to both ourself and world.

We can market of how we live in the moment, that the past is gone, tomorrow yet to come; and in focusing on the now our full attention is devoted to living life and enjoying each moment, not obscuring the next moment.

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." - Buddha


Footnote

Avoid all the bollocks that is the newsfeed on LinkedIn. You are better than that, as is your business. Time spent on you and your business will attract customers and like minded people; not ego centric posts whose motives are questionable.

Ello, We're SearchUp

Well it is time after 8 plus years of being a solo entrepreneur to get involved with a lovely Search Marketing agency called SearchUp. As they say, “Your digital marketing is about to get a serious lift...”

I have known the wonderfully honest and funny Terry McCusker for a number of years and both of us share the same view on life; namely being honest, treat people nicely, do your best, and bring good to the world. Which is also applied to work and business.

So, a while back Terry and I spoke over SearchUp, a lovely little Search Marketing agency he is a director of. And I also met it’s original founder Craig Griffiths, who I have discovered is a Hong Kong Fooey of SEO. Terry and I are commercial, sales, account management etc. etc. etc. Hence our being older than Craig, and potentially more sarcastic. Craig is also a nice honest chap with ethics. This is why I got into business with them and more below on this.

SearchUp I discovered is very good at delivering sales results via Search for its clients, utilising technology and best practice to mirror and drive client metrics, sales and commercial needs. And all with honesty and transparency, and fun. Something that appealed to me bearing in mind how I run my consultancy, found us, and also having spent years in the cut and thrust of working in advertising and not necessarily ascribing to its darker side. Lastly, I originally come from a Search background, in the days of GoTo./Overture, and always enjoyed it.

So, I have decided to work with the guys two days a week as a Director to help them grow and reach more clients, or realistically like minded people in symbiotic or mutually beneficial relationships. Something I’ve always tried to do, i.e. help people you admire, aspire to, or want to plain help.

I’ve liked the fact that there is so much potential within SearchUp business for personal growth, and the growth of other people and their company, whilst everyone making some money in a happy manner.

Search is the core proponent of the business, and behind it all is a skilled utilisation of data and insights, marrying client sales and commercial metrics together with Search to deliver transparent results. SearchUp has rolling monthly contracts and also works to revenue share models, such are the results it delivers to new and long retained clients.

So, get in touch if you require help with your SEARCH marketing or analytics, needing to see a return on ad spend with comprehensive tracking.