neilmartin.me
Beats, Business & Life
Proud Dad and family man. A lifelong obsession with music. 3 decades in business and technology. Stuff about this thing called life that I’m still figuring out.
Latest
Fresh off the press
Start Your Day the Night Before: Marcus Aurelius on Meeting the Difficult Ones Ready
How to walk into the awkward conversations ready: what Marcus Aurelius told himself each morning, why I start my day the evening before, and why the difficult thing goes first.
How to Get Buyers Mentally Moving In: Claude Hopkins on Being Specific
Why vague claims slide straight off people, how specific client results make you believable, and how to let a buyer picture the after before they commit.
The Changingman by Paul Weller: A Record for When Change Is in the Air
The Paul Weller single that went in at number seven in 1995, the ELO riff hiding inside it, and why it’s the record to play loud when the ground feels like it’s shifting.
Sort the boring plumbing first
Before AI agents can help, everyone needs the same data and the same definitions. Rig’s Toby Mather on the unglamorous bit that matters most.
Track by TrackA soundtrack for Today
The Changingman by Paul Weller: A Record for When Change Is in the Air
The Paul Weller single that went in at number seven in 1995, the ELO riff hiding inside it, and why it’s the record to play loud when the ground feels like it’s shifting.
Previous tracks
Time 4 Sumaksion by Redman: The Record to Get You Out of Bed and Into the Gym
The Redman record Mike Tyson walked out to, the Cypress Hill sample behind its chorus, and why it’s the one to put on when you need to get up and get going.
Breathe by Dust and Data: Permission to Slow Down
A track about slowing down, taking a breath and giving yourself some grace, and why the pause is often where the clarity turns up.
I Can by Nas
I Can by Nas is my track for quiet resolve: nothing comes easy, it takes practice, and if you want to be the noun you have to do the verb.
Moment of Truth by Gang Starr
Moment of Truth by Gang Starr is my track for patient generosity: actions have reactions, and we never really know what’s going on for other people.
Beats
From the Decks
A lifetime of following music down the rabbit hole. The beats, the lyrics, the samples… but more than anything, how it makes you feel.
Sunday Selector
Sunday Selector: Hip House
Rok Da House came out in 1987, the year I started DJing. It was British, made by The Beatmasters with the Cookie Crew on the mic. First time round it barely charted. A year later it was remixed and put out again, and this time it went to number five. It’s often called one of the first hip house records.
If the name’s new to you, hip house is exactly what it sounds like. A house beat with an MC rapping over the top. The kick drum lands on every beat and the tempo sits somewhere around 120 beats a minute.
read more…The Changingman by Paul Weller: A Record for When Change Is in the Air
The Paul Weller single that went in at number seven in 1995, the ELO riff hiding inside it, and why it’s the record to play loud when the ground feels like it’s shifting.
Time 4 Sumaksion by Redman: The Record to Get You Out of Bed and Into the Gym
The Redman record Mike Tyson walked out to, the Cypress Hill sample behind its chorus, and why it’s the one to put on when you need to get up and get going.
Business
Business In Plain English
Some of it’s about tech. Some of it’s about teams. All of it’s about the conversation that changes everything.
How to Get Buyers Mentally Moving In: Claude Hopkins on Being Specific
Why vague claims slide straight off people, how specific client results make you believable, and how to let a buyer picture the after before they commit.
Sort the boring plumbing first
Before AI agents can help, everyone needs the same data and the same definitions. Rig’s Toby Mather on the unglamorous bit that matters most.
Be the One They Can Hand the Letter To: A Message to Garcia on Trust
What A Message to Garcia still teaches about reliability, why I put trust before liking, and how giving trust builds a team you can hand things to.
Life
Everything Else
The stuff off the clock. Good food, fresh threads, and trying to be a bit better than yesterday.
Start Your Day the Night Before: Marcus Aurelius on Meeting the Difficult Ones Ready
How to walk into the awkward conversations ready: what Marcus Aurelius told himself each morning, why I start my day the evening before, and why the difficult thing goes first.
Getting Up When You Don’t Want To: Marcus Aurelius on Rising to the Work
Marcus Aurelius had unwilling mornings too. Why the unexciting foundations are what build your future, and how keeping small promises to yourself gets you out of bed.
The One Hour That Makes the Other 23 Work: Arnold Bennett’s Daily Miracle
Everyone gets the same 24 hours. Arnold Bennett on the daily miracle, and how to protect the one hour that makes the rest of your day work, then actually be present in it.
About
Hi, I’m Neil
I got my first turntables in 1987, when I was 12, and I’ve been playing records to people ever since. I’ve been in business for three decades and I wrote a book called Done Beats Perfect. This is where I write it all down.
By day I’m Director of Marketing & Edutainment at ActionCOACH UK.
DJing since 1987Three decades in businessAuthor, Done Beats Perfect
The book
Done Beats Perfect
A short, honest book about putting things off, and how to stop. Paperback, Kindle, or the audiobook read by me.
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