From the archive Archives - Page 22 of 62 - Neil Martin

Illustration of a smartphone on a small tripod on a wooden kitchen table, its red recording light on, pointed at an empty chair in warm morning light

You don’t have to post your first video

Every business needs video, but plenty of people hate being on camera. My tip from 2018 still stands: practise where nobody can see.

Illustration of a large hourglass with golden sand on a checked picnic blanket in a park at sunset, two mugs and a closed laptop beside it and a city skyline across the water

How much is your time worth?

Business

Everyone gets 168 hours a week. Two ways to work out what one of yours is worth, and why the second one matters more.

Illustration of a tall indoor climbing wall seen from below, handholds climbing up into golden light, with a coiled rope and a small chalk bag waiting on the floor

How to achieve the impossible

Life

A short list I wrote in 2018 about doing something that hasn’t been done before. Be yourself, do more, then do it again. And remember, done beats perfect.

Illustration of a fountain pen resting on an open notebook under a desk lamp at night, with crumpled paper and an old cassette tape beside it

Words are like weapons

Business

One joke at a business dinner in 1991 sank a jewellery empire. Why your words carry more weight than you think, and why they need to sound like you.

Illustration of a block of flats at dusk seen across a quiet street, its windows lit in warm gold and cool blue, some dark, with plants on the balconies

Always think of the other person

Life

Behind every lit window, someone has something going on. Why it pays to think of the other person before you decide why they’re acting the way they are.

Illustration of a lighthouse on a rocky headland at dusk, its single golden beam reaching across a calm dark sea and lighting up one small wooden fishing boat

One email, one idea, one person

Business

In 2018 I wrote ten ways to get more people reading your emails. Most of it comes down to three things: one idea, one person and plain words.

Illustration of two old tin can telephones joined by a taut string across a wooden desk, one can resting on a stack of books and the other on a windowsill, in warm lamp light

Conversational marketing isn’t new

Business

In 2018 everyone was excited about conversational marketing and chatbots. My take then, and now: the conversation was never new. Only the way we have it.