Neil Martin · Beats, Business & Life

Business

Illustration of an old book lying open on a wooden desk at night, one page corner folded down, a pencil across the pages and a mug beside it under a warm desk lamp

Page 53: never say “we”

A marketing book I first read over 20 years ago has one rule on page 53 that most of us still break every day. Here is the test.

Illustration of a small theatre stage with red velvet curtains drawn partly open to reveal a clean classroom blackboard on an easel under a warm spotlight, empty seats in front

Edutainment in coaching starts with a rap album

Business

On ClickFunnels Radio, Chris Cameron asked me about edutainment. My answer started with a Boogie Down Productions record and ended at Cheltenham races.

Illustration of a small steam train stopped at the end of an unfinished railway track at dusk, with new rails, sleepers and a wheelbarrow beside it and golden flags marking the route ahead

You can’t build the track while you’re driving the train

Business

If you are always on the train, you can not build the track that lets it move forward. Why owners need to step off and start building.

Illustration of a home office desk at night with a podcast microphone showing a red mute light, and a laptop with a video recording window open

I muted my mic and posted it anyway

Business

I recorded a whole video with my mic on mute. No second take. I posted it anyway, because the message mattered more than the audio.

A cheerful puppet caricature of Neil standing on a brightly coloured street like a children's television set

What Sesame Street could teach your business

Business

One clear lesson, simple frameworks, massive repetition. Sesame Street had a formula, and it is the one your team needs.

The cover of Pig Wrestling by Pete Lindsay and Mark Bawden, centred in a thin gold frame on a midnight blue background under the words From my bookshelf, with the line “They just keep hammering away, assuming that everyone and everything else is wrong. That the world has gone mad.” beneath it

Why I still love a good business fable, starting with Pig Wrestling

Business

Spot when you’re wrestling a pig, find the times the problem isn’t happening, and see a stuck problem differently enough to solve it.

Illustration of two empty wooden chairs at a small round cafe table with two coffee cups, lit by warm golden light from the cafe window on an evening street

Good marketing makes you look clever. Great marketing makes the customer feel clever

Business

An AI summary of my masterclass picked out three lines I said. Here they are, and why the middle one matters most.

Neil in sunglasses peering up at the camera against a bright blue sky

Drop the corporate BS

Business

Phrases like “here at XYZ agency” put people to sleep. If you would not read your own corporate copy, why would your audience?

Illustration of a handwritten letter and its opened envelope on a wooden desk, with a fountain pen, reading glasses and a mug of tea in lamplight

A thank you letter from a client’s teenage daughter

Business

The first time a client’s teenage daughter wrote to thank me. It was read out at my morning networking meeting, and I had tears in my eyes.

What Key Person of Influence taught me about people buying people

Business

Why the people who get the best opportunities aren’t always the best at what they do, and the five steps Daniel Priestley uses to change that.

Illustration of a country road closed by traffic cones and temporary lights, with a yellow diversion arrow pointing down a winding side road

Roadworks, diversions and the goal you nearly gave up on

Business

Cheltenham is full of roadworks. Nobody abandons a car trip at a diversion sign, yet we do it with our goals all the time.

Episode 218: The Power of Saying No

Business

Nigel had said no to more that week than in years, and good things came in anyway. Why your diary is the place to start, and why doing three things average lets everyone down.