What is a Pattern Interrupt?”A pattern interrupt involves breaking an individual’s routine, habitual thought or behavioral pattern so as to shake it up”When you are flicking through facebook on autopilot while waiting on a friend, in the docs or on the throne…..Have you ever been stopped by an image and read a story because of […]

When you put too many words in your images, they look complicated and messy.Stop doing this in your images FFS, you are hurting yourself by doing it.Why?When your audience see a graphic filled full of words they subconciously think that its too much work/effort to read and flick past itRemember they’re on Social Media to […]

I make templates for everything I do and for every client that I work for.It helps me to produce large numbers of high quality images fastAnd I dont think I would be able to keep my clients images as consistent as I doThere are 3 main reasons that I use templates1. Speed of graphic creationLets […]

Ever been to the local takeaway, its busy as fuck and there is a queue building behind the nugget trying to remember their order.Everyone is mentally trying to kill the time waster gibbering at the head of the queue.Bet they wished that they wrote it down and not trusted it to their memory???The human brain […]

Do you have something you wana get done in Canva and you don’t know how or where to start??It’s pretty frustrating, right?I have got something that will help you.My 1 hour Canva Masterclass has been designed to help you get over these hurdles with a personalized 1-2-1 zoom call.We jump on a zoom call and […]

Do You need to use images as part of your social media plan?No, you are free to do what you wantI don’t do them for every post, only 99% of them.I and my clients have noticed a jump in engagement when using images on their posts.Especially now that the social feeds are so busy and […]

30 years ago if you wanted to create a business you had to have some sort of product (still do :D) and then you had to find customers.Which meant in the main, you spent money on advertising, mailshots & telesales etc etcIt was not cheap to do and you generally had to hire expensive people […]

How can I find content to create Social Media posts?The best way to do this and the quickest way is to REPURPOSE what you have already written.You can torture yourself to come up with witty quotes and funny one-liners then torture yourself how it should look.We want the content for our Social Media posts to […]

What you NEED to know about social media graphics What do you NEED to know about your social media graphics?PerfectionIt will crush your output quicker than almost anything else you can do.We are not trying to recreate a vogue coverYou won’t get any bonus likes by tinkering for that extra 3 hours trying to make […]

I took this pic a few years back, in a train somewhere in yorkshire. This is what you are up against.People staring blankly into their phones waiting on *something.Whether that something is a train, bus, coffee, friend etcThis is the state most people are in surfing social media.Your image has an opportunity to break the spell […]

I have added in a new training in my Mailerlite training course.How to use Conditions in your Automation workflow – it’s easy to set up and can allow you to send different emails to different people based on a condition you setMailerlite is the email software I use to keep my email list and broadcast […]

I thought we would have a look at the point of Social Media Images. What’s really the point of doing social media images and putting in time and effort to get them right? Well, there is just so much stuff on social media. Just so many people selling and marketing their shit left, right and center. It’s really, really […]

how to use the checklist canva template Congratulations for downloading my free canva checklist template!If you have not downloaded it, you can get it hereNow you have your template, how do you tweak it to make it look right for your business and your brand?Fear not, the video below takes you thru that, enjoy.

ADD YOUR SCREEN ONTO A COMPUTER SCREEN IN CANVA Why would you want to add your screen onto a computer screen in Canva?If you sell digital products, this is one easy way to bring your products to life in your buyers eyes.It will help your audience visualise what your product could look like on their […]

how I design podcast graphics Designing a set of podcast graphics can look daunting at firstAs with everything I do, a system is in place to make this easier on the brainWhich means less procrastination and more work,We are gona look at a set I recently designed for @martialartswithjakeWe were looking for something simple, bright […]

How do you create a custom size graphic in Canva? Let’s say you need a graphic and it needs to be 1000px x 850px Canva can do it, really easy too Check it out in the video below 

A great Social Media Headshot can massively help you Do you want to get the perfect profile pic for linkedin/facebook/insta?A good headshot will help you look more professional and allow you to project a positive brand image.Instead of having a sloppy, poorly lit image with your tv in the background as your profile pic Check this video […]

My 3 step design process, to help give you more clarity around designing for images/adverts/flyers/posters etc…1. First of all, people could not give 2 fucks what you are called or what your logo looks like, so don’t let the first thing they see be your company name or logo.They want to know what you can […]

When designing images I make sure the image looks balanced. People read from left to right, top to bottom. People scan for things in a question mark type fashion ? Left to right and top to bottom. It’s why I design my images the way I do Over the years I have noticed that some […]

Social Media is an ever expanding world that I spend a good part of my life in. It’s getting harder and harder to make my voice heard among the constant noise that social media now generates. It’s got even worse with the Corona virus pushing traditionally offline businesses online As they try to salvage some […]

Weird facts have always intrigued me, as I am sure they have intrigued you as well. I stumbled across the story of a jockey called Frank Hayes who on June 4th 1923 at Belmont Park, Long Island managed to win a horse race despite having died midway through the race. “But when the horse crossed […]

Been talking to a few clients recently  – getting an overview of how they work social media.What problems they are facing and how can I help them overcome it.Bouncing ideas back and forth, that kind of thing.I noticed a recurring theme – “How do I post about my business without seeming spammy and going overboard […]

25 YEARS AGO………To have a business meant you had to have some type of physical product. Generally, this cost a bit of cash to put together, plus a whole lot of expertise to get up and running.You had to have a business premise (office/showroom) – you didn’t work from home as much back then.There were […]

Why being Lazy Helps Productivity When I say lazy, I don’t mean sitting cross legged waiting for the universe to provideI mean be lazy and use templates at the core of your social media graphicsThere is nothing more soul destroying than staring at a blank screen and waiting for inspiration to strike.Especially if you have […]

I been working alone for a few years now and I have got a few tricks up my sleeve to keep me saneLooking around social media this last week I can see a few people are starting to find that special place that can come with being stuck insideSo here are 5 things I do […]

Everyone struggles with content creation.The easist way to create great content, for me, is to create great headlines to write to.I have tried various methods of doing this over the years.Here is my favourite full proof method for getting posts out your head and onto paper……Here is what you need to do and we are […]

WHAT IS A LEAD MAGNET? AND SOME USEFUL IDEAS TO HELP YOU CREATE YOURSA lead market is an incentive that we use to get a potential customers email address or other contact information.In order to be a good incentive lead magnets can take many forms such as ebooks, checklists, reports, videos etc etc.The important thing […]

All a meme does is allow you to present a small piece of text in a way that stops people flicking past it on your social media and allows them to get a quick insight into your world

Struggling for ideas on what image would be right for your post? Struggling to get creatively moving happen to me all the time (especially for my own stuff) and is very frustrating. And if you don’t have a system for overcoming this you can very quickly get stuck in the default mode of struggling for […]

Here we go – my Top 5 fonts – the ones I am using more than any at the moment are:- 1. Abadi MT Pro – Loads of variations here condensed/light/regular/italic/bold/Extra bold This one is a paid for font that I get thru my adobe subscription and it is one of the most versatile fonts […]

Understanding what social media half life is, is one of the most important ways to kill your fear of designing. When I say the fear of designing, I really mean the fear of what other people will think of your designs. And there are always people that are ready to shit all over the things […]

Good Enough is the new perfect came up in a conversation with a client The never endless drive for perfection when designing images for social media. You know what I mean here? The constant tinkering that takes a 15 minute design into a 3 hour journey of self discovery……….. The problem with perfection is it […]

  On Social media today there are thousands, millions of people who do exactly the same as each other. The same type of graphics and the same boring themes. Why it does this happen. The main reason that would happen is because instead of testing to see what works people look to the guru’s, the […]

Ever noticed that the nice HD photos and images on your phone have uploaded and look a little blurry? Here is why, the Data saver option compresses images and videos to save your data when out and about on your mobile. This is a great option if you have a small data plan but not […]

Having balanced social media images where everything lines up and sits nicely in its own space is key to having a professional looking image. Its one of the most overlooked parts of designing your own images and can be the difference between an image looking professional and looking like it was quickly knocked up with […]

If you think of how your audience uses social media then you will see why am I always talking about thumbstopping, pattern interrupts and grabbing peoples attention. Have a look around you when you are out and about. Social media and our phones has become a subconcious habit. Anytime we are doing nothing then we […]

Thas been transcribed from Episode 6 of the podcast Crush Your Social Media Using Images, which can be found here ======================================= I never invented the concept but invented the living in cracks phrase. Now, who are they? Everyone has them People who read your stuff but neither like, comment or share on anything you do […]

Having engaging social media graphics that stand out amongst your peers and competitors is an easy way to get your content read and get more engagement on your socials. Here are 5 ways you can do that, quickly and easily without too much thought…. 1. USE CAPITAL LETTERS Capital letters are easier to read at […]

IS CANVA FREE? OR WILL I NEED TO PAY FOR IT? Canva exists in both a free and a paid version. Which one do YOU need? There’s a whole chapter in the training section of the Design Academy comparing the free and the paid version of Canva. So you can decide what’s best for you. […]

How many people here are looking for the “money shot” That one post, that one image that will get you all your enquiries, get you all the engagement and put you on the map Everyone does it You spend ages crafting the killer post, and the killer image. You spend days making it perfect. The […]

We are bombarded with so much information on social media, that it’s all too easy for your content to be missed or overlooked. Our brains are furiously trying to drown out the noise of all the info and marketing on social media. There are so many people on social media that are competing with each […]

Do your social media images need a helping hand. Are you looking at other peoplex images and wondering, how can I do that? Here are some tips to help you stand out and be more unique. Some are practical and some are psychological. But they will help your social media images stand out and get […]

Getting the right stock image for your graphics is crucial. Making sure you can use them legally is a must as well. You don’t want someone coming after you for copyright further down the line. This will cost you money as they sue you for using their image without permission. I get messages from people […]

This design hack will shave loads of time off your designing. Time you don’t need to be spending doing it, meaning you can focus more time on your business. Posting your content on multiple social media channels can be a time suck. Especially, if you are having to redesign your image for the many different […]

Don’t make this one mistake in your images, and a 3 step process to sort this. When people start designing their own images/advertising/posters/flyers they tend to do one thing. Look to the giant corporations and copy them, which to be fair is a decent strategy. After all, these huge corporations have spent millions and millions […]

Social media is awash with people selling their skills and knowledge. People have little idea of how to market themselves so look at the big players in the industry. They duplicate everything they do. The market is saturated with everyone looking the same. If you are doing this how are you standing out against your […]