About me ‍👨‍💻

Hi! 👋

I’m on a mission to find the perfect software for all kinds of business and personal development needs.

On this journey, I’ll share as many of my learnings as I can, here and on various social media channels, to find the best setups for you to enjoy your own quests more, too.

If I can start by asking you a question:

What brought you to my website, today?

Once you’ve had a read, please feel free to ping me a message.

I’m always keen to learn more, see if there’s something specific I can help you solve, and to hear your advice — for what you’d like to see, or learn about.

The first question we tend to ask ourselves about anyone is:

What can I learn from you?

(If you were thinking; what can you do for me? Well, that goes both ways.)

Shared experience tends to create the most value we can offer to the world.

So, here we are, and here we go…

September 2023 update

Some things are more difficult to write than others, sometimes technically, sometimes from lack of inspiration — and sometimes from the fear of misinterpretation or, because it does happen, unfair advantage seeking.

I feel it’s the right time to share a personal story that, I hope, may at least give pause for thought on how quickly life changes — and remind that we only get each day once.

In 2020, I lost my elderly business partner of 18 years (83). Then, after a long battle, 6-months later I lost my Dad (70) to Parkinson’s.

From 2020 to now, September 2023, I have just not had time to publish anything here — with all the things that still need to be done, after people are gone. I haven’t yet decided if I’ll write any more on this, but I to try to take an interest in other’s stories, as we are all connected.

To get through difficulties, I try to learn from them — by keeping notes on thoughts, details that might otherwise be forgotten, and ways to navigate the unexpected in life.

I write in the hope that we can all help others a little more from sharing — and in thanks for the help from all those that made time for me, when I couldn’t.

Reading and writing is a gift. In my remaining time, I hope to do all I can to encourage both — for all the many benefits it can have to the mind, spirit, and connections that give us all purpose and meaning.

Back to blogging

With the advent of AI, our digital creations can now be turned into avatars of our unique experience and perspectives, from our brief mortal time here.

The investment we make in creating, and sharing, now has a unique, and unprecedented freedom — to travel in space, and time!

Blogging as a public and social good

Blogging is more-so a great way to show and tell — with a website you can grow over a lifetime.

I hope to encourage more people to learn and try, too.

Create one website link to the things that interest you — the things you use, like, or experience — and for all the things you wish you’d known before, too.

Publishing challenges you to a higher standard in your endeavours.

Making time to write and record is your responsibility to those following or relying on you — and gives thanks to all those that guided you, for the sacrifices they made to share more.

Public profiles and content assets

Blogging is unique in that; it is an asset for both the teams and organisations we work with, and a profile of expertise that we can benefit from us projecting.

Search engines, particularly now, look specifically for this personally-accountable authority on each subject being discussed.

Tools of the trade

If you’re here to learn more about my work, the tools I use and recommend, or to do something similar — this is where I’m up to…

I work in online communications, systems development, and digital media — creating websites, software setups, and content — for people to do and create more good things with them.

Everyone and thing needs a purpose

My aim in life, as instilled by my ever thoughtful mother, and inspired by my eternally caring dad, is to leave things better than I find them.

This blog is a place to share my discoveries and inspirations, time permitting, and an example of a personal blog that anyone can build — to offer your insights, on your specialist subjects and interests.

With the obligation of our shared social contract — to contribute more than we consume — I like to think that we all win from growing a network of experience.

When we invest in sharing — to earn our reciprocations before asking, as we surely will — we’ll never be without options for trusted allies in learning.

Communications and journalism

I thrive on making the complex simpler, the craft and nuances of communication, and building automations — all to achieve more with less, and see the real-world results that people work and hope for.

The challenges I find, to research and solve, become the stories and inspirations to publish — and solutions for many more to use in their quests.

Having created many websites and systems for others over the years, I’m finally making a little time for my own.

This is a journal for my adventures, with and without technology, including articles, templates, and the tools I find useful along the way.

FAQs

For the FAQs I tend to get on technology, and life, I can publish the answers in more depth here — and share the capabilities born from them.

These articles are often inspired by conversations with friends and colleagues — working across many industries and noble endeavours — where the needs are often the same:

What’s the best app/company/brand/solution/thing for {{insert challenge}}?

I publish my findings here to help you learn in minutes, what could have otherwise taken years — or may never happen, without a degree of confidence.

Growing a body of work in public

It’s a collection and expansion of thoughts that would otherwise be lost in timelines and inboxes — for sharing the things that are made to bring you joy and success, by putting your audience’s experience first.

And, the internet just wouldn’t be what it is without blogging — where anyone, from anywhere, can so quickly find and benefit from these shared experiences — all documented with the enthusiasm and generosity of others.

The duty to return goodwill, and be a net positive to the world, motivates me more than anything.

Trading time

With time as a currency, I aim to help save you from the almost infinite distractions and confusions there can be online — with abundant competing information — where I may have already found or created a happier solution.

The robotic work of computers can be inflicted upon you, or save you from, repetitive chores (aka werk) — to free your focus for creating, entertaining, and enabling the good times in life.

Information overload

There’s so much information online now — with many options, and even more opinions — there’s an ongoing need for curating research & development.

We can share our real-world experiments, experiences, and successes — that are relatable and human — to counter to the growing abundance of AI-generated content — that has no experience of its own, and bears no consequences for its output, accuracy, or potential slights in bias.

We all want to make decisions we can rely on for a long time to come — so we can retain focus on what we’d rather be doing, or need to do, that no computer can.

Engaging for inspiration

I’d love to learn more from any discoveries or ideas these posts may lead to.

So, please share your questions & recommendations — wherever you find me.

Leading by example

I also hope to use this website as a working example — to encourage more people to blog — and show you how to share your portfolio of work, expertise, and creations — for all the reciprocations it can then inspire.

Your legacy

Build something for you, and your connections, as a more permanent place to share your story and insights — and to help others learn from your journey, too.

Creating and publishing is a great motivation to do more of the things that add real value and interest to life.

Community

By sharing value, and values, we can truly do better for our communities — knowing we have an audience we owe it to — for their equally important time and attention to grow their communities.

Blogging and forums are some of the best ways to find others, also looking for like-minds — to compare notes with, collaborate, and exchange support as a community of compounding experience.

Copy me

If you want to make a simple website like this (anyone can, and I hope you will), there’s a step-by-step guide to get you going with Ghost, the easiest platform I know that anyone can start with.

If you need something a bit more advanced, there’s not much I don’t know about WordPress, after 20+ years with it now. Try me.

(This website is also my base framework, using WordPress — all optimised for speed, accessibility, and search engines. I have quite a few more notes and links I hope to share on this, too.)

Thank you

Thank you for reading, or at least scrolling, this far — it helps “the algorithm”.

If I can help in any way, let me know — and if I already have, as they say, please do like & subscribe for more.

Yours,

Marcus

One more thing

P.S. The question at the beginning (What brought you to my website, today?) the answer wasn’t for me, it was for you:

Remember why you’re here — and get that one thing you’re seeking the answer to, solved for good.