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
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.
A, B or C? How to Decide Which Clients Get Your Time
A simple way to sort your clients into A, B and C, spot the lovely ones quietly draining you, and invest your time where it pays back for you and for them.
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.
Most AI search advice is nonsense
llms.txt files, self-made best-of lists and hidden AI prompts. What the research says about three popular ways to game AI search.
Track by TrackA soundtrack for Today
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.
Previous tracks
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.
You Don’t Know Me by Armand Van Helden, and why it’s on my soundtrack
Why You Don’t Know Me by Armand Van Helden, one of my favourite house songs ever, is my track for the person we never take the time to understand.
Faithful by Common, and why it had to make my soundtrack
Why Faithful by Common, from his 2005 album Be, is my track for trust and loyalty, and why one of my favourite rappers was always going to make my daily soundtrack.
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…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.
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.
A, B or C? How to Decide Which Clients Get Your Time
A simple way to sort your clients into A, B and C, spot the lovely ones quietly draining you, and invest your time where it pays back for you and for them.
Most AI search advice is nonsense
llms.txt files, self-made best-of lists and hidden AI prompts. What the research says about three popular ways to game AI search.
The Little Things: Samuel Smiles and Why Details Decide Your Business
Samuel Smiles said business runs on six little things. Why details, discipline and how you show up matter, why we decide on emotion, and how five 10% gains compound to 61%.
Life
Everything Else
The stuff off the clock. Good food, fresh threads, and trying to be a bit better than yesterday.
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.
Nothing Changes Until You Do: James Allen and the Little Things
Nothing changes until you do. James Allen on improving yourself before your circumstances, the little things done over and over, and why be plus have makes behave.
Which Handle Are You Holding? Epictetus and the Two Handles
Epictetus said everything has two handles, one you can carry and one you can’t. Brené Brown, holding the mirror up to myself, and the difference between life happening to me and life happening for me.
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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