Neill Watson @neillwatson - Tumblr Blog

The 3 step formula for a good April Fool social media spoof and your essential humour warning

April Fools Day can be a day when the social media and digital marketing teams can step out and have fun. However the 1st of April can also be a day when, in social media marketing, you can crash and burn if your judgement is off. Good April Fools Day content on social media requires some essential thoughts, some serious empathy and a degree of skill in coming up with a successful subject. I’ve…

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Cobwebs

Each morning I take a walk. Whether I think there’s anything to see or not, I take a walk. Because there’s always something. It’s just that we aren’t looking most of the time. Take this morning. It’s foggy. The moist warm air passing over the cooler surface, became over saturated. I know this because I am studying for my met exam. So when I wake, look outside, the visibility is just a few…

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#iphone

How Do We Save the World and Still Love Our Lifestyles?

I’ve written before about how I genuinely believe that we have all of the tools that we need to fix the problems that we have as humans on this planet. We can do this with small environmental lifestyle changes. You may not think so, indeed I know that many people are despairing right now. Some feeling frustrated. Others are feeling helpless. There may even be a tiny twinge of guilt every time you…

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Should You Work For Free to Get a Portfolio? 12 Years later.....

Should You Work For Free to Get a Portfolio? 12 Years later…..

This seems to be an eternal question for people starting out in a creative career. The whole issue of “Should I work for free to establish a portfolio?’ And if you’re just starting out getting a body of work that shows your style, ability and talent can be very hard thing to achieve.

As well as becoming know, you also need to pay the bills. And you know that deep down, while the gig is cool,…

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Porsche 964 Anniversary - With added turbo

Porsche 964 Anniversary – With added turbo

This is the one I wish I could have kept. The left hand drive Porsche 964 Anniversary in beautiful Viola. With the California turbocharger engineered by Ninemeister. Yes, that’s right. A turbocharged 964 Anniversary. And a bit of a mean one too. Sadly, back then I was working as a car dealer. And it was a car. So it was for sale and indeed sold, like all the other interesting cars I have been…

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What Made me Buy a Leica? And will I keep it?

I’m not normally a camera geek. I buy a camera and it’s a business decision, it works hard for it’s keep. I only ever replace it when it’s either worn out or something significantly better comes along that justifies the expense. And I hardly ever write about my cameras, so whilst this isn’t a Leica CL review, it’s something significant for me.

In March, I’m digging deep into the reviews for…

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Landcruiser Restoration - The Initial Diagnosis

Landcruiser Restoration – The Initial Diagnosis

“Some cars want to live. Others just don’t want to come back to life. This one wants to live.” These are the wise words of John as we stand watching the Landcruiser gently ticking over. And it hasn’t take much to get her running again.

In fact, a fresh set of points and condenser, some fresh petrol in the tank and a set of strong jumper cables and a little persuasion from John was all it took.…

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Landcruiser FJ62 Restoration - The Project

Landcruiser FJ62 Restoration - The Project. Can this old Toyota Landcruiser come back to life?

As I write this, I’m finally about to start a rare project for me. My old Landcruiser 60 Series Landcruiser restoration. Anyone who knows me will tell you I’m NOT a mechanical guy and while I can drive a bit and I’m pretty good at diagnosing car issues and setup, I’m no bodyshop expert or mechanic.

However, I’m looking at the sad state of my Landcruiser and I figure of Project FJ62 Landcruiser…

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Late Summer Sunrise

Late Summer Sunrise - Shot on iPhone, 2019. I can still imagine the feeling of the sun's warmth as the heat of the day begins to build.

Long after it’s begun to grow colder in the UK, the Charente – now Aquitaine – area of France continues to enjoy warm sunny mornings through September and into October.

This was shot on my iPhone as I was enjoying that first coffee of the day, barefoot in the garden and watching the sunrise.

Of course, anyone who’s covered basic science at school will know that ‘sunrise’ is actually…

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Artificial Scarcity and Why It Sucks in Selling

If you spend any time at all online you will have seen this tactic used to motivate people into action. The email signup or free training course signup box that says “Sign up now while registration is open.” The human trigger that you could miss out. It’s called FOMO – Fear of Missing Out. Too often, it’s artificial.

It’s the concept that something is a limited edition or has scarcity and that…

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The state of the collectable Porsche marketplace in 2020

Back in 2011 I wrote a blog post about the Porsche 996 Turbo, how I thought it was undervalued at the time and also how I figured that it would never really be collectable.A lot has changed in the Porsche 911 marketplace since then and indeed that article has been updated twice now. It has attracted much interest, so in response to various direct contacts and comments on that blog post, I’ve been…

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Do You Really Need a Website Any More? Here's Why You Need a Website More Than Ever

Do You Really Need a Website Any More? Here’s Why You Need a Website More Than Ever

I had an interesting conversation recently with a friend of mine. He’s a professional sportsman and working hard at developing a brand. We were chatting about some of the promotional things that had succeeded for him over the last twelve months plus as ever, the things that didn’t work. Including the website and relative lack of progress in that area.

Like many people early on in the task of…

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A Chance LA Conversation

It’s 2015, I’m sitting in the reception area of the Holiday Inn at Hawthorn, a district of Los Angeles. It’s around 8 weeks after the Paris terror attacks and having seen how the American TV news media are still wringing every once of value from that story in that exaggerated USA News Anchor style, I’m beginning to get my head around the American TV networks.

CNN just love the fact that they…

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The ABC of Optimism. How You Can Use it Right Now By Making it ABCDE

Are you struggling a little right now? It’s OK to admit that you’re not OK. That’s actually a good start. Knowing that there’s something wrong can be hard to spot as we push on through the challenges of our daily lives. However, that isn’t going to solve anything other than acknowledging that something needs to change for your own well being.

What practical steps can you take to overcome…

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Video Conferencing Tips - What Do You Look Like?

Video Conferencing Tips – What Do You Look Like?

Zoom, Skype and Microsoft Teams are the new conference rooms. If you’re not used to this and you are working from home, then it pays to prepare a little for the fact that you are sort of inviting your work colleagues into your home environment, especially if you don’t have your own study or personal office space to work from.

In this new world of COVID 19 communications we are now finding…

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Want to Write? Start Reading More

This follows on from my article on starting out as a writer. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s probably worth reading that first. For many of us, reading can actually be the hard part. It takes a little discipline in our busy lives to choose something to read and then actually sit down and read it. The distraction of TV, family life, that social media feed of pinging notifications can all eat into…

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There's More to This Than Toilet Roll

There’s More to This Than Toilet Roll

Thank you to everyone who responded about my article on working from home. If you missed it, you can read it here. One thing that shone through in your replies to my email newsletter was that there are a lot of concerned people out there. Not because of the actual Coronavirus itself. The concern is more about the indefinite nature of how long this will last. And also a wider concern about the…

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