I have a very lovely chap here right now deep cleaning my oven. If you make homemade Yorkshire puddings, you'll understand why that matters. It turns out the outsourcing I do at home has a lot to teach advice firms about handling the one job that always slides down the list, marketing.

You've already done half a SWOT analysis this month. You just filed it under "compliance" instead of "strategy." Here's what happens when you start reading your Consumer Duty paperwork with a different pair of eyes.

I scored my own digital footprint before I ever offered to score anyone else's. Here's why an honest audit has to come before any marketing plan, not after.

I built a 16-point audit to score other firms' marketing, then turned it on my own website, LinkedIn and Google profile first. The result was 62 out of 100, structured data broken, no LinkedIn Company Page, small errors nobody had caught. Here's exactly what I found, what I fixed, and where the score sits three weeks later.

Your existing clients get the worse deal in almost every industry except yours, or at least, they should. Here's why the newsletter you send every month is quietly doing more for your Consumer Duty evidence than half the paperwork on your desk, and what it actually needs to say to count.

After running five marketing audits in two days, the biggest red flag wasn't the copy or the social media, it was compliance. Firms are consistently scoring around 18 out of 30 against FCA and Consumer Duty standards on their own websites. Here's exactly what I check, and why most of it should be an easy win.

Most people think PR means press releases and photocalls. It's so much more than that. For independent financial advisers, a smart PR strategy builds trust, boosts your Google ranking and puts you in front of the right people at the right time. From podcasts to awards to speaking engagements, PR is about visibility with substance. And in financial services, visibility builds the reputation that wins clients.

How marketing should be working for you twice - once for your marketing endeavours, and once for compliance file log

Most businesses don't have a marketing problem, they have a structure problem. Here's the framework that connects branding, content, PR and every other pillar so your marketing plan actually delivers on the business plan behind it.

Most IFAs are brilliant at what they do. But brilliance doesn't show up on Google. Trust does. In this post, I'm breaking down how social proof, from Google reviews to VouchedFor profiles and client testimonials, can be one of the most powerful marketing tools in your practice.

Your website is either working for you or working against you. There is no middle ground. I reviewed a batch of IFA websites recently and only a small handful had a clear call to action above the fold. The rest were making at least one of the same nine mistakes — some of them fixable in an afternoon. Here's what I found.

Referrals are great. But while you're waiting for the next one, a prospect in your area just searched "financial adviser near me" — and found someone else. Here are 8 things competitor IFA practices are doing on Google right now that most advisers haven't started.

Financial advisers are busy. Compliance comes first. But letting marketing slip has a cost. Here's why it happens — and how to fix it without adding to your workload.

Most clients won’t pick up the phone immediately anymore. They’ll Google you first. Here’s why your online presence matters more than you think.

I have always been what I’d describe as a conversational writer I write like I’m talking to you. I like an em dash. I very much enjoy alliteration. I love things grouped together, particularly in threes, but this extends beyond writing. At home, decorative stuff is grouped into threes too. (Is that weird?!) I love linking phrases like “But here’s the thing…” and short, punchy openers like “And honestly?” But now? I find myself questioning whether people think AI wrote it… o

As a small business owner, we're not just the CEO. We are the marketer, the operations guy, the accountant, the customer service representative, the admin, tech services and so much more. With so many hats to wear and tasks to juggle, burnout can be real. Trying to maintain a presence on multiple social media channels only exacerbate this issue, leading to feelings of overwhelm and exhaustion.

The Golden Ratio is a magical number that's been used by artists and designers for centuries to create visually pleasing compositions.

Hey fellow entrepreneurs! Congrats on being your own boss. It’s a thrilling but damn scary ride, this entrepreneurship life. I’m sure when you were setting up your business, you would have read the headlines about the failure rate for new startups being notably high, with a significant percentage not surviving the critical first year. Failure rates vary industry by industry, but have you ever wondered why some startups in the UK don’t make it past year one? It’s not just ab

Understanding the true worth of time can be a game-changer when it comes to making critical decisions on how to allocate resources and streamline operations.

Marketing is crucial for any business, but particularly startups. Limited funds and a lack of know-how make it tough to crack. This is where hiring a marketing consultant makes sense.