Will Francis

Technology, digital and social media expert in London, UK. Founder & Creative Director of Vandal London - digital innovation agency. Formerly held positions at advertising agency DDB and at MySpace UK.

[willfrancis]

My Snapchat Masterclass at The Guardian’s Changing Media Summit 2017

This month I hosted a session at The Guardian’s annual technology and media-focussed conference in London. The aim of my masterclass was to demystify, explain and contextualise Snapchat’s role in the world, and in the marketing mix for brands and agencies.

The presentation I went through is below and whilst lots of the content was delivered verbally, there are lots of useful stats, examples, best practice and case studies for Snapchat marketing in there.

If you have any questions about any of the content, or need professional help with your digital marketing drop me an email or tweet me @willfrancis​

[willfrancis]

5 Life Lessons We Can All Salvage From Trump’s Presidential Election

A man with zero military or political experience has just been elected as US president for the first time ever. The ultimate example of winging it all the way to the top. Despite multiple hurdles and blows to his campaign he went from rank outsider to winner. What does this say about hard work, ambition, luck and success?

1. Authenticity comes through candour.

Donald Trump has said truly unacceptable things. His speeches have rambled and gone wildly off-script. He’s a raw, unedited maverick. But when he repeatedly says he’s going to build a wall, people believe him.

Ever been to buy a car and the salesperson has candidly told you about something minor that’s wrong with it? A wonky mirror that’s easy to fix. You’re highly likely to believe everything else they tell you after that. It’s a classic sales tactic.

In business or politics many people have polished their speech and presentation skills until there’s no authenticity left. That’s great for people like Trump. He got to play the ‘real’ guy, with nothing to hide and who really means what he says.

But… you don’t have to be a dick about it. Be candid. Be open. Be vulnerable. Be unedited. People will like, trust and care about you.

2. Accept that not everyone will like what you do. Some will hate it.

Ask someone to name the most hated bands on the planet and people will say “U2, “Coldplay”, “Nickelback”. The list goes on, and funnily enough it closely mirrors the list of most successful bands.

Chris Martin of Coldplay has to wake up every day knowing that people literally loathe his music. It clearly doesn’t stop him making more of his music because lots more people love it, and making it is what he feels born to do.

Trump faced an unprecedented amount of hate in the media. Yet he ploughed on regardless. He seemed to thrive on it at times. You need to do this on your level too. Perhaps your own work should make more people angry, at least make them feel something.

“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

3. Having qualifications is never enough. Connect.

Hilary Clinton is widely thought to be the most qualified candidate for US president ever. Yet the loudmouth barged in and won the job. Is this because Hilary’s a woman? Quite probably. But it’s also because the most qualified person rarely gets the job.

When you go for a job or opportunity, the people assessing you just want to know you can do it. It doesn’t necessarily help if you also have a masters degree and have authored books on the topic. Sadly, that probably makes you unlikeable.

Beyond basic capability it’s about personality. About connecting with people. Trump convinced disenfranchised America that he listened and he cared. That he was on their wavelength and not that of the political elite. This mattered far more than any experience or qualifications.

4. Say something new.

A useful brainstorming technique in advertising is to try and list all the things that client’s sector would never do. The big stinking no-nos. A beer brand talking about getting blind drunk, or a car maker talking about speeding.

They create fun jumping off points that lead to some of the best and most surprising ideas. But ultimately it’s a way to craft a message that you’ll be the first to say.

Trump’s policies sound like the kind of thing they find in a mass shooter’s notepad when they posthumously search their bedroom. Or at least they used to. Now they’re his actual presidential mandate.

His unorthodox policy promises were hard to believe at first. But they provided a breath of fresh air to people who had tuned out from politics. They said “yeah, we gonna fuck some shit up” and people responded to that.

5. Listen. Listen. Listen.

If I had to praise The Donald for one thing, it would be his harnessing of disenfranchised America, through listening to them and playing their concerns back to them. He’s an accomplished salesman and this is how sales works. A politician doesn’t think like this and that’s why he won.

This wasn’t about poor vs rich, black vs white, men vs women. It was about voters sticking a massive finger to the political elite in Washington, who don’t really listen to ‘hard working people’ — a phrase they constantly chant but never truly understand.

Just like other right wing political elements in the UK and Europe, Trump identified a huge gap between politicians and citizens. And with nothing more than populist, polarising words he stepped up to podiums and closed that gap.

Bonus tip: My money is on Michelle Obama being elected US president in 2020 ;)

Header artwork: Mitch O’Connell

[willfrancis]

Thank You Pret A Manger

Image: Veggie Pret in Broadwick Street, London

No Really, Cheers

Thank you for having the idea of converting one of your high-profile branches to a vegetarian and vegan-only shop, and then extending its tenure for the rest of the summer.

Whilst on a purely selfish level it’s great to go in a lunchtime food spot and know I can have absolutely anything, that’s not what this post is about. It’s about the effect that opening a meat-free version of your ubiquitous restaurant will have on the hundreds of people who will pass through its doors each day.

The Backstory

When I became a vegetarian 15 years ago I was a staunch meat eater from the north of England who had gotten very ill in Thailand and stopped eating potentially unsafe meat for a ‘little while’. That short spell turned into the rest of my life. I became more and more aware of the ethical, environmental and personal health impact of meat once I viewed its consumption from a distance.

Veggies on the Rise... and Fall?

Back then in the early noughties lots of restaurants were improving their vegetarian offering, adding clearly marked ‘v’ symbols next to dishes on their menus. More vegetarian restaurants seemed to be opening, and Britain’s food scene appeared to naturally becoming greener. But somewhere in the mid-to-late noughties the trend for gourmet meat and fast food restaurants swiftly gathered momentum. Chains like Byron, MEATliquor and Nando’s grew rapidly. Independent meat restaurants and food trucks began to dominate our cities and all of a sudden it didn’t seem that cool to be veggie any more. A more ‘authentic’, pop-up, independent aesthetic pervaded and those helpful ‘v’ symbols started to disappear from even the large chain menus. Home cooking, barbecuing and smoking meat with beer cans up chicken’s rear ends and pigs on spits grow in occurrence. There are now clubs, festivals and a multitude of books devoted to meat.

So Meat Is Good...?

Somewhere the ethical dimension of that whole scene was omitted. Not hidden - Byron cheekily place plastic cows in the nooks and crannies of their restaurants, Gourmet Burger Kitchen joke about vegetarians in their marketing, American-style meat shacks proudly illuminate neon signs formed of pig silhouettes. Clearly then, no-one at these endpoints of the meat industry is bothered by the truth about how the meat arrived at their plates. Which is strange. As a nation of self-proclaimed ‘animal lovers’, the average Brit would wince at seeing any animal being mistreated. But the sheer ubiquity of these meat outlets creates an ‘everyone’s doing it’ socially-reinforced justification, perpetuating the moral gap between two inconsistent beliefs at odds with each other - ‘meat is good’ and ‘hurting animals is bad’. Meanwhile the alternative is increasingly drowned out.

Mac ‘n’ Cheese Always Wins

And so the voice of meat avoidance (or whatever the catch-all term for vegetarianism and veganism is) today is left to its more radical proponents - Morrissey, like the embarrassing un-PC uncle of veganism or PETA with its gruesome images and stories of animal abuse sure to turn eyes and minds away from the issue. I really don’t think they help the cause, but a sandwich shop full of tasty wraps, paninis, hot melts, mac 'n’ cheese, cakes and treats all made without meat absolutely does. It is hard to imagine someone won’t leave your Broadwick Street branch this summer thinking that perhaps they could enjoy a life without meat.

Further reading: Pret’s blog on their findings after the first few weeks :)

[willfrancis]

Latest Video: Samsung Gear VR on EE 4GEE

I spent a day exploring what’s possible with Samsung’s Gear VR, for the UK mobile carrier EE and leading tech magazine @techradar . If you’ve followed me on Twitter you might have guessed I’m a huge fan of VR, and whilst there will always be superior specialised (and expensive) VR rigs out there, there’s nothing like the accessibility and immediacy of turning your phone into a VR viewer. Today’s smartphones have sufficiently high-res screens to deliver an immersive experience, whether it’s VR movies, games or surfing the web.

There’ll be more VR-related reviews and content as the big players release their headsets over the coming months 🤖

[willfrancis]

Latest EE Video: LG G5

I recently had a thorough look at LG’s latest phone, the G5. It’s a very cool piece of kit and can be made all the more awesome with add-ons. Here’s my in-depth look at its features for Tech Radar and EE.

[willfrancis]

Boaty McBoatface, The War In Iraq and Modern Democracy

So, the polar exploration ship will now be called Sir David Attenborough, instead of the overwhelmingly popular Boaty McBoatface, for the obvious reason that it’s a more ‘sensible’ name. But does this reaffirm to those who voted that democracy only works when it aligns with establishment wishes?

I feel like I should have gone now, but I didn’t. In 2002 as my London housemates prepared to go to the protest of record proportions, I openly admitted I wasn’t attending because there was no point. I didn’t even bother to vote at this time of my life, such was my mistrust in and apathy for politics. I didn’t feel in the slightest bit vindicated when we subsequently went to war, against the wishes of a huge section of British society. I felt sad. I felt that the political establishment, a Labour-led one at that, had once again done what the hell it liked without regard for us.

A comparison with Boaty McBoatface might seem trivial, but the people who took part in this poll were not only the very people we need to engage in democracy — young, savvy and engaged — but people who clearly understand the contract you make when you ask someone to vote on something. The result and subsequent change of heart only serves to show them that no, there is no point in involving yourself in anything political.

Since the middle ages and the Magna Carta (and arguably far earlier) we have all been born into a bargain with the state. We give a little of our freedom — freedom to kill who we like and park where we want — in return for the order of society, and security of the state. We live with total faith in that contract, but when it comes to the less pressing stuff, not of being murdered but whether we invade a foreign land or name a boat after a venerable broadcaster, our faith is in tatters.

I believe this is why there are no ‘normal’ people in politics. No people like you or me, just the kind of socially awkward kids that joined a political party when they were 15 instead of doing the more usual stupid teenage stuff. ‘We’ don’t really care. We never have because the entire system seems rigged and apparently resists any real change. The Farages and Corbyns of this world get ridiculed for standing by grassroots political values whilst the PM successfully brushes off necro-bestiality.

And so it is with a poll or referendum — the key instruments of democracy. They are carried out to discover what we all think so a decision can be made based on that instead of an authority figure’s arbitrary hunch. They’re risky of course. The outcome may be surprising, counter-intuitive, ridiculous. But that’s why we hold them. By having national elections we take the risk that the far right British National Party might gain power and perform a sartorially inferior re-run of the holocaust — if that’s what people really want. Of course it isn’t, but we do clearly want a polar exploration ship called Boaty McBoatface because it’s a great name and we chose it.

It might seem churlish to express my ‘appalled’ views about a silly online vote, and pointing to it as a symptom of a broken democracy. But the shame of it is, that however silly or trivial, it’s one more reason for today’s twenty-somethings — tomorrow’s political, cultural and business leaders — to believe that voting doesn’t change anything, and ultimately every important decision is down to some old white guy in a suit.

[willfrancis]

Snapchat Appeals To Kids For The Same Reasons Myspace Did. But Can It Escape The Same Fate?

Remember Myspace? (I have to say that now when I intro myself to new people — my years working there are still a key part of my career history).

More importantly, can you remember the countless millions of teenagers who learnt HTML so they could ‘pimp’ their pages?

Kids Were Coding on Myspace!

That is unbelievable in retrospect. We got kids learning to handle (if not completely write) code just so they could make glitter fall down their page and have sexier buttons in their ‘contact box’. They knew how to open style tags, albeit simple ones like <b>, and then close them</b>.

Parents of course thought they had finally lost their young. They were witnessing their kids type and paste pure gobbledegook into boxes in some very confusing admin panel. Kids made their Myspace profiles resemble a sort of digital bedroom wall, plastered with a mess of everything they were into, and everyone they were associated with.

Confusing to ‘Olds’

The more I work with Snapchat (in my capacity running London creative digital agency Harkable), the more I’m struck with how this is the first platform since Myspace to appeal to kids largely because it bewilders and even scares their parents.

Even at my tender age I can still remember the sheer confusion the first time I used Snapchat. This of course was closely followed by a more composed, professional criticism of the UX (user experience).

The Thrill of the Dangerous

Just knowing you could send absolutely any kind of photo or video to anyone on Snapchat is in itself exciting.

Everything there is out of the gaze of authority. Seeing their parents’ horror just makes it all the more fun. And so it was on Myspace, you could be anyone and do anything. There were serial killers and sex offenders but we all accepted that the entire human spectrum was represented there, before everyone left for Facebook that is.

Is Snapchat Destined for Decline?

So the big questions looms. Can Snapchat avoid the fatal death spiral that Myspace disappeared into so rapidly? Ultimately the odds aren’t in their favour.

The only reason Facebook and Twitter have stuck around is because:

their general utility — messaging, groups, events, photos, news

their unprecedentedly high levels of adoption across all demographics — i.e. your grandparents use it, people in places with less access to technology use it

integration across the web and the wider media landscape — Facebook ‘like’ buttons on websites, hashtags in TV shows etc

Will my Mum really get on Snapchat before the youth leave for something new? Will it replace current forms of private messaging like email and WhatsApp? Can it really become woven into our other media experiences such as surfing the web and watching TV?

Seems unlikely but then the entire premise of the app would have sounded bonkers five years ago, so don’t write them off completely.

So Many Users, So Little Money

The big challenge for them will be monetisation. They are the classic example of the social media startup having boomed in user numbers, only to be faced with the task of turning that into a profitable business.

They currently sell vertical video ads (portrait video as opposed to the traditional landscape) which are inserted in between Stories and Discover, kind of like TV ads. They trialled sponsored lenses — augmented reality animated overlays for selfie photos and videos — but have discontinued that for now. There’s no self-serve ad buying platform, and agencies are struggling to justify significant media spend because of the lack of any robust analytics, other than reports on views and reach.

Snapchat’s Future Is Not In Mass Market

They’ll need to bring a much more rounded advertising offering with the ability to target ads and report on exactly what the money achieved.

But like Myspace failed to do, they’ll need to keep its core users interested. And rather than trying to attract that wider demographic, it might mean keeping mum and dad a little bit scared of it.

[willfrancis]

Are Productivity Tools Helping Us To Procrastinate?

In today’s world of relentless distractions including email, social media and app notifications, we’ve also become obsessed with organising that chaos through tools and processes which promise to bring order to our messy lives. But do these to-do apps, project management tools and the like really help, or are they giving us yet another reason to indulge in useless busy-ness?

Over the years I’ve tried everything, and I’ve come to the conclusion that our answers lie not in the tools, but a few simple principles.

Just Do It

The best thing you can do right now is just get on with it. If you look at successful people down the ages, they didn’t need any planning or productivity tools. Just the guitar, paintbrush or golf club required to do their thing. Their burning desire to create and complete something drove them on without having to overthink it. The most creative people I know all work like this, they simply do what they need to with minimal planning.

Realise the Preciousness of Time

For some it requires a major life event like losing a loved one or having a near-fatal accident to bring home the immense preciousness of life. For others, and I suspect this is a common trait in successful people, it runs through their head every single day.

So if you’re not thinking about your mortality and the fragility of life every day, try it. This sense of urgency you will feel is something you need to reconnect with on a daily basis.

This doesn’t just mean you should think about death every day. Just think about how precious today is, and at the end of it be grateful you got to have today, whatever happened. All the dead people you know would have done anything for today.

Know Your Calling

If you’re lacking that burning desire that naturally gives you the energy to get on with it, you’re likely doing the wrong thing in life. What is the thing that would truly excite you, and what’s stopping you doing it? Most likely the answer to the latter part of that question is fear. Fear to tell your family that you’re going to take a big risk and do something different from that which you studied or trained for. Fear of failure. Fear of losing your house. Fear of looking stupid. Fear of being told it’s not viable or a daft idea. Maybe even a fear of wasting your precious time (that’s a valid one!).

Answer that question and then…

A Simple To Do List

There’s clearly a lot of comfort in to-do list and time management apps. But having used a lot of them I feel that the filling in of tasks, checklists and deadlines is in itself useless busy-ness. We naturally love useless busy-ness. It makes us feel productive. It’s so seductive because it’s very easy to start (unlike the valuable things we should be doing).

Other things that fall into this category of activity are checking email, reading social media and wandering the internet. But useless busy-ness creates almost zero value for you or anyone, and is a killer drain on our two most precious resources — time and brainpower. Those resources, particularly brainpower — cognitive energy, attention or however you want to term it — need to be spent on what you’re really good at.

Keep a simple to-do list that requires as little management as possible. I have a Notes (on Mac and iPhone — your system has an equivalent) note containing a few small lists categorised by the life goal to which they contribute. Each task on there must drive towards that goal. There should also be a personal list for stuff at home like repairs, things to buy and looking after family. Each task should be the immediate thing you’re going to do. So instead of ‘publish a book’, just start with ‘write pitch for book about birds’. You don’t need a project plan for stuff like that because you know what comes next. Just get started.

So mine is a somewhat spartan approach to task management. But after all these years of trying so many different processes I’ve realised that being protective of my time and attention, because I appreciate its value, and then just getting on with it with a minimal to-do list is what works for me.

This post originally appeared on my Medium blog

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My Morning Routine: Live, Love and Laugh

Having read so many posts online about the perfect morning routine I really thought I should share my own. Hope it’s helpful 🤓

The Night Before The Morning After

It goes without saying that for any morning routine to work you need to go to bed at a reasonable time, like before 11pm most nights. Take no screens into the bedroom (blue light!) and put everything on airplane mode before you go to sleep.

The Routine

Alarms

Firstly, let’s talk alarms. I tried Sleep Cycle for over a year. It’s a fantastic app which I highly recommend, but I love it for the data it captures. I found out when I sleep best, under what conditions, at what times etc and that’s useful to me. I’m not sure I found my awakenings any less traumatic despite its ability to wake me when I was in light sleep. So I went back to the good ol’ bedside clock radio to wake me with a loud beeping, shortly followed by BBC Radio 4.

I did try getting up every day at 5am, for around 6 months. Whilst it’s not something I’ve adopted long term it did help me fully appreciate how amazing the time in the morning is. And nowadays I’ll rise between 6:30am and 7:00am which I would have thought of as horribly early not so long ago.

Fresh bread

One kitchen appliance I can’t recommend highly enough is a bread maker (we have this one). Every three days or so I wake up to a house full of the smell of freshly baked bread, and that combined with the need to take it out to cool gets me out of bed early two or three times a week. This then has the knock-on effect of making me tired early that night and so on…

Whilst it’s out cooling I’ll tidy the kitchen, clean the dishes or get back into bed to snuggle up with my wife Stacey for a few minutes. One day I will insert a short high-intensity workout here but for now this is fine.

As I remember, years ago these new gadgets made bread that wasn’t so great but now even the cheapest ones provide bakery-quality results. It really is one of those things where there’s no going back once you’ve tried it. I still love artisanal breads in restaurants and cafes but for my daily breakfast I just need homemade white bread, toasted. Whilst ‘white’ isn’t thought of as a healthy choice, when homemade there are just six good quality ingredients in there, and it’s fresh.

Breakfast

For breakfast I have the following, which I (unscientifically) think is a great blend of healthy, energetic and tasty:

1 kiwi fruit peeled and sliced with yoghurt (organic, unsweetened), topped with honey and omega-rich seeds

2 slices homemade white toast, buttered with real organic butter kept out of the fridge and topped with peanut butter or marmalade

1 large cup of white Americano coffee made with an Aeropress

Laughs and cuddles

[single people look away or grab a sick bag now]

Once I’ve made me and my wife breakfast — which means I start the day doing something nice for someone else — we take time to sit and eat together. Fortunately here in England Channel 4 screen Everybody Loves Raymond and Frasier in the mornings. So we eat breakfast, chat about our day or what we dreamt about and laugh at the TV. Having eaten we usually have time to cuddle up for a few minutes, just watching TV and being silly, before the task of getting ready and out of the house fires into motion. If you have a partner this is a very important thing worth getting up a bit early for. It’s a great way of reminding you how lucky you are and what’s really important in life, before the trivia of the day gets a hold of you.

Hot shower

I’ve read the benefit of, and tried, cold showers but a lovely hot, soapy shower with nice products is just how I roll. Unless it’s a very hot summer’s day, you still get that invigorating coldness when you first emerge from a hot shower to dry yourself. I come out feeling clean, warm and it really resets my energy levels.

Wear something nice, without wrinkles

Then it’s time to get dressed. A year ago we invested in this steam generator iron. It’s like a regular iron but the steam is produced in the sizeable base, piped at high pressure through the cord to the hot iron. You get your clothes ironed beautifully and fast. Perfect for lazy people like me who can’t stand wrinkles.

Travel

There’s something about getting on a train in the morning and moving through the land that’s weirdly satisfying. It makes you feel like you’re really going somewhere (because you are obviously), that stuff is happening and the day still holds the potential for all sorts of exciting things to happen.

You’re around people yet totally alone. You have licence to focus completely on writing emails, reading a book, jotting down thoughts or plans.

If I’m going to the Harkable office I catch the tube and get about 25 minutes to just be alone, look at my to-dos, get my head around big picture and small. By the time I walk out of the station at the other end I have a clear idea of what’s important in life but also today.

I’m still perfecting all my routines, habits and processes and no doubt will be for the rest of my life. But this really works for me. What makes your morning?

[willfrancis]

Video: My 3 Tips For Brands To Be Heard Online

I spoke at Enterprise Nation and O2 Business’ Digital Marketing Demystified event in London last month. I met some great business owners and marketers who were looking to take their digital marketing to the next level, and my talk focussed on social media, growth hacking and making the most of small resources.

The video team there asked me what my three top tips for business to be heard online were, and here they are!

1. Keep It Small - Do Less, Brilliantly

Many brands try to take on every social network and marketing channel and end up spreading themselves too thin. Ask yourself where your content and personality works best and just go there, at least initially. For instance if you are a small fashion brand with very little time, start just on Instagram and nail that before going elsewhere, as your content will work best and fuel a community most effectively there.

2. Keep It Authentic

Don't worry about being too professional or businesslike in social. It is after all a conversation. Consumers today understand that there are humans behind your brand and expect to hear from them, with all their personality and warmth. So just be yourself rather than a 'brand'.

3. Spend a Little

Over time, identify what content is working best for you and start to put small spends e.g. £20 - £50 behind pieces you feel should do well. Target the promotion at those outside of your existing network to reach new audiences (perhaps that of competitors even) who you wouldn't have reached without the boost.

And most of all, have fun with it. If you enjoy it, you'll do it brilliantly :)

[willfrancis]

The Perfect Apple Watch Face for Sailing and Watersports?

I’ve been stuck at home with a chest infection this week so suddenly had time for doing some random stuff, which included playing around with Apple Watch faces and ‘complications’. I had a go at putting together the perfect sailing watch face, and after some tinkering, here's how...

Water sports enthusiasts will know there isn’t one app that completely makes a tidal or sailing watch unnecessary. I’ve used some apps with glances, but these are horribly inefficient ways to access data given you have to swipe up, scroll to the one you want and then wait forever for it to load.

It took a bit of time playing around and some wasted money on apps but I think this is pretty cool, and worth sharing. You’ll need a few apps and here’s how to put it together:

Apps you will need:

Tide Pro - this simple tide app offers tide times for any location in a nice, clean format. Once installed, simply look up your desired location in the iPhone app, then open the Watch app and select that location. Once the tide times are displayed force touch to set that location as the one which shows in the Watch face complication.

Carrot - a weather app with a difference - your weather reports come with a dark, snarky sense of humour. It is nicely designed too, and provides powerful weather forecasting tools. The reason we use it here is because for an extra premium upgrade fee it allows you to choose other data points to show in the app’s Watch complication, including wind direction and speed.

Dark Sky - whilst you could use Apple’s native Weather app for showing the temperature, I really like Dark Sky as it also shows rain warnings in the complication as well as more detailed alerts about changing weather through app notifications. The iPhone app has been praised as one of the finest third-party weather apps for iOS and deservedly so. Through its near-perfect interface it allows easy access to shockingly accurate rain forecasting and all the other important weather data you’ll need.

Now to set up the watch face:

1. Force touch your Watch face to reveal the face selection and editing menu. Scroll to ‘Modular’ and tap ‘Customise’.

2. From top-left, the complications in the screenshot above are Date, Time, Tide Pro, Sunrise/Sunset, Carrot, Dark Sky.

3. That’s it. You can keep this face next to your ‘every day’ one to make switching easy.

The only thing I’d like to add is live wave height data, and when something comes up that can do that, I’ll edit this post.

[willfrancis]

Want To Get Ahead? Say “No” More Often

To achieve great things, we need to create great opportunities. But we also need to know when to turn them down. The decision to say “no” to someone is hard to make, and saying it is harder still. So how we do we arrive at that decision?

I believe that one great project is worth more than ten mediocre ones. At Harkable, the creative digital agency I run, we want to be the best agency in the world, not the biggest.

But we’re brought up to be ‘yes’ people. Saying “yes” feels better than saying “no”, regardless of its actual impact. For anyone self-employed, acquiring opportunities as prolifically and quickly as possible is the main goal. It is against everything in our bones to then turn down work that comes in. It feels like finding money on the street and throwing it back down the drain. But taking the wrong work can have all sorts of negative impacts on you and your business. You can become unprofitable and stressed very quickly.

The Three Fs Test

Our innate tendency to say “yes” is further compounded by our emotions. You might get on well with the person offering you the opportunity. You may love the brand’s products you’re asked to promote. But is it really worth doing? This is where the well-used Three Fs Test comes in.

This test works for everyone from actors to personal trainers. Designers to global ad agencies. It’s so when you receive an offer of work, you can divine whether your response should be a “yes” or a “no”.

Each ‘F’ represents the essence of why we do what we do. How many of these boxes you must tick is up to you but make a rule and stick to it. I would suggest you demand that any project ticks two of these at least.

Fame — means work that gets you noticed, garners respect and is likely to get talked about. It’s important because recognition attracts opportunities. People will want to work for you and with you. It also brings the satisfaction of your work being appreciated by others, which is highly motivational.

Fun — do you remember why you got into your industry and not into something ‘boring’? You need to stay connected to that, and get excited about doing the work this next project entails. Imagine what each phase of the project is and ask yourself if you’d do all that, even if there was no money in it. That’s how you know it’s truly fun.

Fortune — will this project bring money which does more than just sustain you? Will it bring extra profit you could spend on growth or improvement? In other words, look at where that money gets you, beyond covering your bills. If nowhere, it’s not a fortune project. Yet if it would bring extra funds for new equipment or a personal treat such as a holiday, it’s a fortune project.

So go forth, win the best clients you can to make you happy, wealthy and respected. You’ll be able to look back on a career of quality work and challenges conquered. Great people you met and worked with who appreciated your efforts. And most important of all, a proud sense of having made a valuable contribution to the world in your unique way.

This post originally appeared on Medium.

Photo by Sudarshan V on Flickr

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Avoiding Unexpected Data Roaming Charges Abroad

We’ve read the horror stories about people returning home from their dream holiday to find they’ve spent thousands on data. It’s remarkably easy to incur these charges, depending on your provider. Some UK networks (such as EE) won’t let you use the internet at all until you’ve bought a package. Others (such as 3) allow you to use data freely unless you call them to set a spend limit.

What Is Data?

Any content you send or receive that’s not a phone call or a text message is data. Browsing the internet, sending WhatsApp messages, downloading and using apps, syncing email and weather. A lot of this happens in the background - convenient when at home, but a potential nightmare when abroad.

How Can I Avoid Unexpected Charges?

There are a few simple things you can do to avoid any nasty surprises. I chatted about these on Good Morning Britain with Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway.

1. Switch ‘Data Roaming’ Setting Off

In your phone settings, look for 'Cellular’ or 'Mobile Data’. It may be called something similar depending on your phone model. In there is a switch called 'Data Roaming’. When switched on it allows usage of data over the cellular network, which will incur charges. Switch this off to know for sure that your phone is not using any data abroad. You can then switch it on for short periods should you need to, for instance, to search for a restaurant. Be aware that when you switch it on other apps and services will update and sync in the background, so switch it off as soon as you’re finished.

2. Use Wi-Fi Whenever Possible

Take the opportunity to send photos, sync email and browse the web when availing of free Wi-Fi networks in public places.

Wi-Fi is internet access that relies largely on the landline telephone network. It is then distributed to laptops and phones by a wireless router in the home, office or public space. Whoever owns the router pays the bills, not the end user with a phone or laptop. This means that logging on at a café or hotel is free, unless payment is clearly requested to obtain access.

If the Wi-Fi network has a padlock symbol next to it in the list of available networks, ask a member of staff for the password.

3. Call Your Mobile Carrier Beforehand

If, like me, you hate the thought of being without Google Maps and TripAdvisor on holiday this tip is for you. Call or go on your carrier’s website to set up a package. Some will offer daily allowances with a daily charge, and some will offfer a total amount of data for the duration of your stay. Think about how much and how regularly you’ll use data services when choosing. And make sure your usage is capped at the package allowance, so you’re cut off when it’s used up.

4. Know How To Check Balances & Buy More Data

Every carrier has an app or website for its customers to check their allowances and buy more. Download and login to the app at home before leaving. If it’s a website, load it in your phone’s browser so it’s in your history, or even better add as a favourite.

You’ll need to not be on Wi-Fi when accessing these as they identify you by your data connection over the mobile network. They never charge for accessing this, even when abroad.

So in conclusion, being a little bit prepared is the key. The internet is hugely useful when abroad for finding your way around and communicating. Spend a little time before you go and you can enjoy these benefits without the huge bills!

Bon Voyage!

[willfrancis]

Two Perfect Christmas Cocktails for the Holidays

With the peak festive season fast approaching I set about creating the perfect two cocktails to serve at my house this Christmas.

Based on a few ingredients you may well have lying around, these are both classics with a seasonal twist - the Christmas Old Fashioned and the Port Martini.

Once you’re done enjoying some fine drinks with friends, don’t forget that you can now use pocket breathalysers to keep track of your condition, as I looked at in my review for Gadget Buddy, head on over to their site to check it out :)

Note on measures: roughly speaking 1 oz = 30 ml = 1 shot

Christmas Old Fashioned

Ingredients

2 oz dark rum ¾ oz tawny port 2 dashes Angostura Bitters 1/3 oz sugar syrup Maraschino cherries

Method

Stir the liquid ingredients with ice in a mixing glass if you have one, if not stir in a tumbler. Old Fashioneds are renowned for their need to be stirred properly. Stir for a full minute to ensure dilution and cooling. Fill your Old Fashioned glass (a rocks glass or tumbler is perfect) with ice and strain the mixture in. Top up with ice if possible. Spear 3 cherries with a cocktail stick and rest on the rim.

Port Martini

Our second Christmas-themed cocktail is another classic with a yuletide twist. The vodka martini gets a burst of warm, ruby flavours from a good port, and a wonderfully spicy nose from the floating star anise. This is a fantastic drink but dangerously easy to slurp and very strong!

Ingredients

2 oz vodka 1 oz tawny port 1 star anise

Method

Fill a cocktail shaker 2/3 with ice and pour in your liquid ingredients. If you’ve ever wondered which order to pour your ingredients in, many bartenders agree that they go in order of expense, cheapest first, so if you spoil it for any reason you’re least likely to waste the expensive booze! For this cocktail that very much depends on how much you splashed out on each ingredient. Shake for half a minute until the shaker starts to frost on the outside and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Gently float a star anise on the surface and serve.

[willfrancis]

Abbey Road with Alan Parsons

This weekend I went along to Abbey Road in London, the world’s most famous recording studio, to attend a talk by Alan Parsons. As a producer and audio engineer he’s worked on some of the facility’s most legendary output including work by The Beatles and Pink Floyd, before becoming an artist in his own right.

Being something of a music production geek (I used to teach music technology) I had to go and see inside the famous Studio 2 where The Beatles recorded most of their work.

As well as getting the chance to see some pretty cool vintage equipment, all of which could do less than a Smartwatch app today, they had some famous instruments out including the Mrs Mills piano - a Steinway Vertegrand from 1905 used by countless artists and which can be heard on many Beatles tracks. I couldn’t help but play a couple of cheeky chords on its hallowed ivories ;)

Alan shared some great stories, which were a fascinating glimpse into working life there during the 60s and 70s, and explained the various roles he played in now classic albums.

By far the highlight of the evening was him talking through Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon whilst multi-tracking it through one of the vintage desks. Bringing up different parts in the mix and explaining them. He had to get the band’s permission to do this for us, as he was essentially remixing the tracks live. It gave the audience a unique glimpse into a seminal rock album, which was fascinating even if like me you weren’t too familiar with it.

Among the various grey boxes on show - it must look pretty nerdy to the untrained eye - was one of Abbey Road’s eight Studer J37 four-track tape recorders. These were used to record albums such as Sgt Pepper, with the more complex arrangements requiring them to have several machines bouncing down to each other to create more tracks. How this compares with modern software is mind-blowing, and yet producers here still achieved amazing results with such primitive hardware.

Another classic instrument was this Hammond RT-3 organ, which makes some incredible sounds and features on plenty of Beatles and Pink Floyd tracks.

A mixing desk created by EMI, back in the day when record labels were also developers of recording technology. This is the TG12345 Mk2, meaning it was the second in a line of four, so in use from the late 60s until the mid 80s. Alan used this to multi-track DSotM for us.

Loved this photo of four excited Liverpool lads posed against that very wall for a photo. Amazing that they spent their career working in this room, evolving from a Mersey beat foursome to the biggest and most influential band ever.

Overall it was really worthwhile, and I’d definitely recommend going to an event here if you get the chance (they don’t happen often). It’s made me go away and re-assess prog rock classics from Alan Parsons, Pink Floyd and the like with fresh, less dismissive, ears. I get why people worship this place too. There’s something undeniably special about being in a specific room where era-defining art was conceived and produced, and where modern heroes came to work each day.

[willfrancis]

10 Reasons Why Rocket League is The Best Video Game of 2015

The game that sounds like the most awful genre mash-up ever - racing and soccer - has been a surprise hit amongst gamers. I, like many, first took a look at the PS4 version when it was one of the free games in July 2015′s Playstation+ lineup. Within minutes of my first play I was grinning from ear to ear, shouting at the TV with exasperation and celebration in equal measure. I’d then meet friends and tentatively ask “have you played that game ‘Rocket League’ on PS+?”, only to find they’re as hooked as me.

Here’s why it’s so great.

1. It’s a truly kinetic game

At the core of the game’s success is the completely open kinesis of it, you are simply the car - a flat box - booting around a large spherical ball. The physics are perfect and within seconds of playing you feel how every tiny twitch of your controls counts.

2. A million possibilities every second

With those wonderfully open physics, it feels like every moment is unique, every shot different from any other that preceded it. It makes games like FIFA feel linear and scripted. Motion captured animations and off-the-shelf goals are replaced by constant freak occurrences.

3. It’s still really hard after 500 games

And so, as you’re completely in control of your destiny, it is far more likely you’ll totally mess it up rather than play the perfect shot. I’ve played well over 500 games now, and I still feel like there’s so much to learn when I come across better players. And aerial play is a whole other thing... 

4. When people online play properly, it’s a beautiful thing

Given how free and open the game is, it requires lots of discipline. Most games have at least one annoying player (dare I say n00b), who just chases the ball like an excited dog in the park, often competing with their own team for balls. When you do land in a game with others who know the score, which I think is happening more frequently as we all get better at it, you quickly form bonds with people and enjoy congratulating them, both with the preset chats (‘Great shot!’ etc) and custom words of gratitude (‘gg’, ‘thx guys’ etc). And “@%£$” of course!

5. Last-second goals make many games end dramatically

When the last second has expired the game doesn’t end until the ball has touched the pitch. This played out beautifully in the final of this summer’s MLG tournament - the first major competition around the game. I mean, you couldn’t have made that ending up!

6. A great replay mode

At the end of each game you have the option of saving the entire game replay in just one click. You can then go back in your own time and pore over your finest moments, directing them before hitting the ‘Share’ button to triumphantly post the video on your socials.

7. You’re playing Rocket League within a minute of wanting to

Seems like a small point. It isn’t. You can be doing anything other than playing RL at home and suddenly get a craving for adrenaline. Within less than a minute (I timed it) your PS4 is on, the game is loaded and you’re playing against people online. I don’t know if that was a specific aim of developer Psyonix but it’s the fastest game to get playing online I know of, and there’s something so awesome about having that at your fingertips, whether you have a spare 5 minutes or a whole evening.

8. It is a brilliant and legitimate e-sport

Such is the genuine skill you need to play this game, it has quickly become a credible e-sport, and became one of the most watched games on Twitch within weeks of launch. Again, check out this summer’s MLG tournament where some amazing games were played.

9. It’s more like football than any football game

I’m not the first person to point this out, but Rocket League is so much more like playing football than straight up soccer sims such as FIFA. You control just one player - you - rather than a team and you must create and take your chances in this often cruel world of open physics. When an opportunity for greatness raises its head you awkwardly strain and stretch to get that ball and the margin between success and failure is so narrow.

10. it was free!

Oh yeah, and it was free! But I would happily pay full price to keep playing it, even now. I've had more fun out of this game than any £50 blockbuster, so have been happily buying any DLC that comes along, including of course the Back To The Future Day Delorean.

Oh, and did I mention it’s cross-platform? That means PS4 and PC players all compete in the same games. So whichever platform you’re on, jump in!

[willfrancis]

Alfa Genus V2 Headphones Review

Last week I received Rock Jaw Audio’s latest in-ear headphones, the Alfa Genus V2. The follow-up to their Alfa Genus (which I never tried), they sport improved aluminium casing in place of wood, and the cable is now tangle-free thick rubber, in place of twisted rubber.

I can only compare them with my current loadout - Sennheisser MM 50 iP in-ear headphones and AKG K171 studio monitor headphones. First impressions are of course dominated by the prominent USP - three interchangeable frequency filters.

Silver offer enhanced bass, champagne (gold) offer a neutral response and black offer enhanced treble. The difference is marked and personally I prefer the default-fitted silver filters which give a response I think most consumers will be used to - a warm, bass-heavy sound which makes the most of rock and dance music as well as keeping podcasts smooth and easy to listen to. The neutral filters are very crisp and balanced in contrast, whilst the black treble filters are far too crisp and I can’t imagine anyone would wear these unless for a very specific, treble-heavy application. Whichever filters you use - and they take only a few seconds to swap out - the clarity of sound is impressive. Detail and separation are noticeably better than my Sennheisers after just a few seconds of listening to familiar tracks. I would expect this from a higher end pair of headphones but given the Alfa Genus V2 cost just £50 I’m impressed.

You get the usual selection of buds, including some expanding foam ones. The medium-sized rubber ones fit me best and provide a comfy seal allowing all that low-end goodness to fill my head. My only personal gripe would be that whilst there’s a microphone and button on the left ear cord, there are no volume buttons, something I use a lot as I switch between calls, music and podcasts in streets, trains and offices. Also, the right-angle jack is something I personally find less pocket-friendly but that’s a very minor issue.

Overall, I’ll definitely recommend these to people who ask me about good headphones under £50, even under £100.

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