Notes from doing the work

Short, practical pieces on marketing, technology, AI and business, drawn from client strategy, digital systems and commercial partnerships.

Latest

Most recent

Business3 min read

Why I keep building things on the side

A day job, a startup, a podcast, a series of conversations and a garden business. Why I do it, and what each one teaches the others.

31 October 2026

Technology

From Jayden

New articles, straight to your inbox.

One email when something new goes up. Plain, practical and short, like the articles.

All articles

Business

Why I keep building things on the side

A day job, a startup, a podcast, a series of conversations and a garden business. Why I do it, and what each one teaches the others.

31 October 2026 · 3 min read

Technology

Speed to lead: the first reply matters more than the ad

Businesses spend weeks perfecting an ad and then take a day to answer the enquiry it creates. The reply is the part that wins the job.

28 October 2026 · 3 min read

Where AI actually helps a small business today

Skip the hype. Five practical, low-risk places AI earns its keep in a small business right now, and two places I'd still keep a person.

25 October 2026 · 3 min read

Marketing

Most marketing reports answer the wrong question

A report full of clicks and impressions tells you the marketing is busy. It doesn't tell you if it's working.

22 October 2026 · 3 min read

Before you buy an AI tool, clean your CRM

Everyone wants an AI strategy. Very few want to clean their customer data first. The second one decides whether the first one works.

18 October 2026 · 3 min read

Marketing

Conversion went from 15% to 35%. Here's what changed

No new channel and no bigger budget. Campaigns, CRM and analytics finally connected, and the follow-up finally measured.

14 October 2026 · 4 min read

AI won't fix a follow-up process you don't have

Automation makes a good process faster and a bad one louder. Where AI helps a growing business today, and where it doesn't yet.

10 October 2026 · 3 min read

Technology

Your CRM is the most expensive tool you never open

A rebuild added 30% more pipeline. Most of the work was deciding what not to track.

6 October 2026 · 3 min read

Business

Sponsorship should start with the brand's problem

Selling brand partnerships taught me the best deals were built from the brief, not the rate card.

2 October 2026 · 3 min read

Marketing

What good marketing leaves out

The best campaigns I've worked on were defined by what we cut. A short case for saying less.

28 September 2026 · 3 min read

Technology

The boring stack: what a $5M business actually needs

A website, a CRM, an inbox and a dashboard you trust. Everything else earns its place or goes.

24 September 2026 · 3 min read

Business

Pricing is a marketing decision

Most businesses set price in a spreadsheet, then ask marketing to justify it. It should work the other way round.

20 September 2026 · 3 min read

Say hello

Got an idea, a question or a guest for Off The Record?

Send me a message. If it's help with your marketing you're after, that happens through Cushy Digital.

Get in touch