I make no bones about the fact that I’ve been in the creative industry for over 20 years, I haven’t seen it all but I have experience, managed departments at a high level and been responsible for quote large budgets.  10 years ago after having had a belly full of listening to the usual marketing bull from agency after agency, marketing professional after marketing professional, I decided to become self-employed.

My goal was simply to offer an honest service to small businesses up and down the North West, trouble is I stumbled upon a problem that’s even worse today.  The problem quite simply is people don’t believe marketing people and are even more cynical than they were 10 years ago.

If you caught The Apprentice last night and listened to the total load of bull uttered by good old Tricky Dicky (Richard Woods) and then the elaborate and whimsical tails woven by Gary Poulton, it comes as no surprise that the rest of the business world is really wary of creative’s, marketeers and the such like, all extolling the virtues of the next ‘goose that laid the golden egg’.  I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it but the show outlines just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what’s wrong with the creative and marketing sector.

In the past the type of waffle spouted by Richard was endemic, today it’s worse with abbreviations, dodgy web developers and frankly people who are more interesting in making easy money than actually working hard to play by the rules.  It comes as no surprise to me that some of the population thinks creating a website, a logo, or a brochure is as simple as pushing a big button labelled ‘Design’.  No wonder coding professionals label designers as ‘Colouring in Experts’  (nice one Steve)

Put quite simply no matter what you say or what you do 9/10 prospective customers are cynical about the industry because of large promises that fail to deliver time and again, or become exposed as something much less than they were sold as.  From designers using off the shelf themes and passing them off for thousands as their own, to seo specialists seeding links off websites of no relevance just to beat Google and to gain top ranking.

So am I any different?  Some may say you probably spout the same type of bull as Richard, or use the same practices as many other creative’s and marketeer’s.

The truth is (and few will believe it) I simply don’t make claims I can’t deliver on, when I say it’s my work, it is, my organic SEO practices are simple and transparent. I am not the best work in the world, I am not the best at SEO, coding or otherwise, but I do have vast experience and work hard for the client. More importantly I genuinely want other people’s businesses to be successful and will go the extra mile for them, I’ll not promise the world but will deliver on what I agree to, etc etc.

How do you believe me … it’s simple you probably won’t, by virtue of the fact that you’re reading this post and I’m a marketeer and creative, you probably believe there’s some hidden meaning, some catch, some twist, that the very content has been cut and pasted from some other website.  If you think the above, you’re wrong, but you probably won’t believe that either.

The only way you will ever know what I say is the truth is by speaking to me and using my services and experiencing the results.  But be warned – I do not deliver the world on a stick, I only deliver a decent professional job consistently time after time and will design what ever you want within the budget.

So if you are looking for the sun moon and stars, the goose that laid the golden egg, or an easy way to get top spot of Google then look elsewhere, there are many thousands of marketeers ready to take your money.

If you want someone on your team, working hard for your business and someone who genuinely goes does what they say on the tin, then give me a call.

The Apprentice this year for has been entertaining, but one thing has shone through for me, many of the contestants seemed to be either naïve, full of bull, or worse, simply in the wrong type of game show.  To have 3 franchises in the semi final, the Tricky Dicky business plan of bull and of course Varna’s Super Mario Dating concept says more about the world of business today than any other series – innovation is lacking.  It would be nice to see some older people on the show, some contestant with greater diversity, and maybe we may start to see some fresh ideas or at very least a few businesses with clear unique selling points.

If you haven’t seen last nights episode, take a look, Richard is the epitome of David Brent … oh by the way Richard I hope your mum gives you a proper clip around the year, surely she brought you up better than that :-).

Good luck to the final two in The Apprentice, and good luck to you too, watch out for the Tricky Dicky’s!