Adele Morrish

When chima mmeje🏳️‍🌈 moved to the UK in 2022 and launched the Freelance Coalition for Developing Countries, she quickly noticed something surprising: 90% of people signing up for the Tech #SEO training thought it meant “SEO for tech companies”. This was a simple misunderstanding caused by a lack of awareness and she knew she needed to do something about that. She realised many people from developing countries had historically gravitated toward content work, as it’s often the easiest entry point into the industry. Chima shares how she herself first got into SEO through content, simply because it was something she could teach herself without formal training. Chima also shares how instrumental Aleyda Solís was in getting the FCC off the ground in its early days - and how she didn’t hesitate for a second to offer her help. Watch the full episode here https://lnkd.in/eyaWT7Ks

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Top tip for my freelance marketing homies out there: Stop trying to justify the costs involved in what you provide. Focus on the value/deliverables it will provide instead. I see a lot of people breaking down the fact that their prices include insurance, software, equipment, holiday pay etc. And whilst that’s all absolutely true, I’ll let you in on a little secret: That potential client doesn’t give a toss. They only care about them getting results/returns from whatever the service is that you’re selling. Try this instead: “That price is a bit steep. Especially as we didn’t get any results last time we did this.” “Interesting. How much did you pay for this last time, what did you get for it, how was it implemented, and what did you get back?” “We spent £300 on [let them specify shit deliverables from the fella from Fiverr] and got nothing back” “What’s an avg client worth to you?” “£3000”. “Ok. Well for [insert price], here’s a full breakdown of our process, all the exact deliverables you’ll get, how they’ll be used, and the metrics we’ll measure to show how they’ll affect your bottom line. I’ve also attached 3 examples of businesses similar to yours that we’ve done this for and the results they got. If we can land you [x] new clients from this in [y] time, how much profit does that leave in your pocket each month?” People think they want someone to “do a thing”. What they ACTUALLY want is confidence that there’s a clear system behind the investment that will return more than they’re putting into it. Frame your conversations this way and you’ll have a much nicer time on sales calls. P.S- there are plenty of people out there that are inherently just cheap/daft and will always place price above logic/evidence. Don’t waste your time or energy on those. The economy will teach them harsher lessons than you ever could. #Freelance #Marketing #Sales

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This is me at the lectern last week giving a talk on AI, SEO and Digital PR. It was a Figaro Digital event for marketers working within financial services, professional services and B2B. I've been asked quite a lot about this subject recently so here are a few of the main take-aways from my talk: 1. Don't panic. Yes things are changing and it's ok to feel overwhelmed by the avalanche of AI news, but things aren't changing quite as quickly as some would have you believe. AI search is tiny compared to organic Google searches and the intent behind those searches is quite different. You have plenty of time to consider your approach and adapt activity before Chat-GPT overtakes Google, if it ever does. 2. SEO isn't dead. If you are doing best practice SEO then you are already doing most of what the LLMs care about. Ignore the hype. Rather than being dead I think we'll see the opposite, a boom in demand for good SEOs who understand how to rank in both search engines and AI. 3. Brand mentions are vital. Having your brand spoken about and reviewed in the press and on social channels is one of the most important things if you want to get more AI traffic. That's why being great at Digital PR is a superpower. 4. Data is limited. We're at the start of things so the tools we are used to haven't been created yet or are far from where we need them to be. Those great keyword suggestion tools and the ranking software you're used to aren't really a thing yet. This is important if you are requesting or defending budget for this work as it's a lot harder to do projections and harder to prove value. I was hoping people would find the talk useful and thankfully the attendees did, with 94% of the room rating it "very good" or "excellent". With that in mind I'll be delivering it at other event in the coming months. Watch this space.

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You’re not alone I’ve worked with agencies across the UK, US, and Australia. Different structures, specialisms, and markets. But the same five challenges show up again and again. They’re not caused by a lack of ambition. They stem from systems that haven’t evolved to support the pace, complexity, or commercial demands of agency life today. Here’s what I see most often, and where to focus if it sounds familiar. 1. Success is defined differently across the business Creative wants standout work. Client service focuses on delivery, margin, and retention. Strategy wants to challenge the thinking. Ops manages risk and resource. Everyone is working hard, but in different directions. That friction drains energy and slows decisions. Start with shared clarity at the top. Define the kind of clients, work, and growth you want more of and make sure every team understands how that translates into priorities and decisions. 2. Leadership becomes a bottleneck when the conditions for leadership are missing Founders try to step back. SLTs carry delivery. Teams look up for answers because they don’t have the tools or confidence to lead. Most people are capable of more. But they need commercial visibility, clear decision rights, structured coaching, and feedback that builds judgement over time. Without that, progress flows back to the top. 3. Account management is asked to do more, without being shown how to lead The role has expanded, but support hasn’t. AMs are expected to grow accounts, protect margin and shape client experience, but few are taught how to influence outcomes or lead conversations. That changes when agencies redefine the function, make commercial expectations clear, and build confidence in strategic decision-making. 4. Teams are sometimes not burnt out, but emotionally flat Workloads are stable. The chaos has eased. But energy is low, and momentum is missing. This is what happens when autonomy increases but clarity and feedback disappear. What teams need is alignment on priorities, meaningful one-to-ones, and regular input on how they’re tracking. 5. The positioning looks credible, but doesn’t convert You have strong work and solid creds. But conversion is slow, and too much relies on individuals selling the story. The issue is often relevance. Most propositions are shaped internally, without testing against what clients are actually trying to buy. You can’t mark your own homework. If the brand isn’t doing the heavy lifting, your team will always have to. So where do you start? Clarify what kind of growth you’re building toward. Strengthen your leadership layer with clear roles, commercial context, and coaching. Build habits that connect ambition to action. If you’re unsure where to focus, I’m happy to share the questions I use with new clients to uncover what matters most. I'm here to help.

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How to use AI to improve agency performance! Episode 2 of the Prompted podcast has just wrapped up - this one all about how agencies can use AI to improve performance. (And some painful examples of when they really shouldn’t). This month, me and Nick Handley were joined by the ever insightful and inspirational Stephen Kenwright. Stephen was the first person we wanted to get on to talk, having such a rich history in agency leadership, the nuggets in this episode were non stop. We discussed: - The right (and wrong) ways agencies are using AI - Ways to bring your team along on the AI journey without killing creativity - Practical use cases that can make a real difference to client results And what you can do about it. Sharing actionable insights you can use to help you out day to day. Big thanks to COLONY for hosting us 🙏 Look out for the episode when it drops in a couple of weeks once our editing skills have improved somewhat 😂 As we map out the next few episodes, I’d love to know, who would you like to see us bring on next??

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ChatGPT-5 launched last week and naturally I’ve written about it in my latest AI Marketeer newsletter. Don’t worry though - this isn’t another hot take on the new model (there’s plenty of that to chew on already). I’m far more interested in how information about GPT‑5 has spread and where we’re gathering to make sense of it all. One channel in particular that has been key...Substack. Yes I know... a Substack about Substack! 🙄 But, it is quickly becoming the place for deep analysis, trusted creator voices, and community-led context, and last week I was lucky enough to interview Christina Loff, Head of Lifestyle, Partnerships at Substack, on behalf of Edelman’s tech team - to unpack what this means for marketers. Here I share my observations of the GPT-5 launch and Christina’s advice for marketers looking for success on Substack. Please have a read, let me know your thoughts and subscribe. Link in comments! #ChatGPT

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CEOs. Neglect LinkedIn at your peril. If your work in any way connects to corp comms, can I point you to Helen Dunne's excellent, weekly ‘Corporate Affairs Unpacked’ Newsletter. The latest one is right here https://lnkd.in/eZHYnJQm. It’s 15 minutes well spent for interesting views and information. I don't love a self-promotional plug BUT digital exec comms is a hot topic of mine, so, full disclosure, I do feature in the latest one (feel free to eye roll me. Let's not get into the argument that ALL LinkedIn posts are self-promotional). To expand on the lunchtime chat I had with her, this is what I'd say to those in senior corporate positions: 🟢 Traditional media isn’t enough: press opportunities are shrinking. LinkedIn has become a credible alternative front page for modern business, where audiences and journalists already are. In a crisis, it also enables CEOs to speak swiftly and directly. 🟢 People perform over pages: CEOs generate 35% more engagement than their brands, despite having less than 10% of the following. Their voices cut through further than logos ever can. 🟢 Authenticity is expected: stakeholders want leaders who are human and visible. A credible digital presence now signals modern leadership - building trust, reputation, and even career advantage. And should you want to go even deeper here, you can read our full report on People Over Pages. https://lnkd.in/eijARMuQ

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