I can help you when:

• You need to get clear on who you are as an organisation or business - shaping a brand message that connects

• You want to understand how to transform your website and online marketing so it drives results.

• You’re keen to find your voice and write valuable content.

• You want to put together a winning content strategy.

• You’d like research and insight to get to understand where your true value lies.

• You are looking for an effective communications and marketing approach to win people over and drive positive change.

Who I work for

I help people and organisations with a social purpose. My clients are leaders, experts and marketers with important ideas to share: expert in what they do, driven by a desire to change things for the better. ‘There must be a better way…’ is the question that unites them.

I’ve worked on brand positioning, website and content projects for:

• Leaders of charities and not-for-profits such as Sustrans, The Organic Research Centre, Quartet, WithYou and Community Organisers

• Founders of purpose-led technical, creative and consultancy firms, doing great work and wanting to spread the word more widely.

• Teams in large corporations including University of Bristol, Met Office and Nationwide Building Society.

If this sounds like you and you want to get to the heart of what you do and find the confidence to share your ideas in a way that connects, let’s talk.

Alongside my consultancy and coaching work:

• I co-authored the award-winning book, Valuable Content Marketing: How to make content the key to your business success, published by Kogan Page (2013, 2015).

• I am a writer and teacher. I run a monthly Content Writing Club at the School of Valuable Content with co-author, friend and long-term collaborator Sharon Tanton.

• I founded and run Bristol Content Group, connecting content enthusiasts around the city and beyond.

• I speak at conferences and events around the world. (You can watch one of my talks here)

• I’m passionate about the role of listening in business and in life. I’d love to unleash a listening revolution in the business world. Imagine the radical change that would happen as a result!

• I adore the great outdoors and believe that getting out in nature widens your view and helps you think more clearly. I’ve led idea generation workshops for groups up mountains, by rivers and amongst the trees and would love to do more of this.

• In my downtime, I like to swim outside – the colder the water the better. I’ve competed in two world winter swimming championships in recent years, in Slovenia and Estonia (the Baltic was 0.9 degrees below freezing that year!).

My valuable content story

I began my career as a salesperson for consultancy firms, selling to large corporates across Europe. It didn’t take me long to work out that cold-calling and traditional sales tactics often led to dead ends. The marketing material I was given to help me sell didn’t do much to open doors either: prospective clients just chucked it in the bin! I wanted a more natural and effective way to start conversations.

I changed tack, sending out copies of thought leadership articles my team had written for the trade press to open conversations. It worked! I realised that sharing ideas sparked connection, kindling relationships that led to sales. The people I wanted to do business with appreciated the helpful, thought-provoking information. This realisation coincided with the arrival of blogs and social media, which cut out the middleman and allowed companies to tell their own stories and reach their audiences directly.

“Sharing ideas sparked connection, kindling relationships that led to sales.”

These early experiences ignited my interest in a communication approach that I’ve termed valuable content marketing – engaging prospects and motivating action by generously sharing your ideas.

Experience has shown me that if you continually focus on producing valuable content for your customers, then good things happen for you and your business. Over 20+ years, I’ve been on a mission to help organisations large and small to free their ideas and create meaningful content for their customers, transforming their fortunes as a result.

My recent interim role as Head of Content Design for Nationwide Building Society taught me that the valuable content approach works as well for teams wanting to drive change and influence stakeholders inside a business as it does for winning over external customers.

I now work as a consultant, listening partner and valuable content evangelist, using audience research and collaboration to deliver content-led experiences that change hearts and minds.