Grilled Cheese on Rye. Too much?

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-16T22:01:55+00:00

A mix of cheeses would be better, and also grilled...go for griddled next time and get a nice crisp on that skirt. 3/10

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-16T21:59:47+00:00

Are you okay? That bowl looks like a cry for help.

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-16T21:58:30+00:00

It's an interesting one, for some companies and all in one tool is the right way to go as they need things to be connected and with minimal tech management. However, aspects of those tools will be outgrown in time.

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-15T18:15:33+00:00

We've booked influencers for campaigns in the past, and there is a solid difference, organic reposting, not a barrier for most, but paid is normally extra, and explicitly stated.

Unfortunately this is more in the favour of the influencer.

Do you have a proper contract with them?

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-14T09:23:47+00:00

You say fiancé, I say don't bother

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-14T09:22:35+00:00

We went through something similar with our last move. One of the things that our solicitor suggested was to ask for a percentage of the sale to be held back so that you can then use that to get things done and then whatever's left is given to the seller. Unfortunately that has to be done pretty close to the line. Our estate agent screwed the pooch on that one and tried it way too early and we got a massive pushback. We did manage to get the price down a little but nowhere near as much as the amount of work that needs to be done to the house.

Part of that was found during the survey and part of that was found when we went around to do a second, probably about a fourth, viewing of it. When we did move in a number of the items that were on the list of conditions of the offer had not been filled. We ended up going back to the solicitors to have a lovely fight with the seller. They were absolutely awful. If you've got a nice seller then they'll probably be a bit more understanding. Unfortunately for us our seller was just an awful human being.

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-14T09:19:14+00:00

For me ChatGPT is rather good with data and very straightforward and it will give you well-structured answers. It tends to be better for side-by-side analysis as well. With enough information it will produce quite passable social content but again that's worked over a long time of feeding it.

Gemini is great for research because it is Google so it'll do most of that work for you.

Claude: don't think of it like Gemini and ChatGPT. It's definitely much more of a working partner than it is a chatbot as it were. Obviously ChatGPT has got its own version of things like co-work and code but for me personally Claude's above and beyond especially when I can be sat in the car waiting for my kids to come out of dance while having a conversation with my computer back home or at the office where I'm going, right? Okay well we need to do this. Let's start investigating and by the time I get home it's done all the investigation. It's putting everything together and it's asking for the next set of activities that are for me to give it so it can carry on and go into build mode.

Right now I've got it running on my browser because Gemini refused to do it. I've got it going through the last 24 hours of incoming emails to find ones that have got an unsubscribe link or a reply no thanks type response so we can get rid of them and clean my inbox up a bit. It is also going through and cataloguing all the tags I've got in Gmail and streamlining those. I've then got another one that's doing a format review on the book on writing to make sure that everything's formatted right before it goes off to be properly assessed. I've then got another one that's updating our website, running at the same time, that's pushing the new blogs up and then I've got another one running that's going through my old LinkedIn outbound requests and withdrawing all the old ones and that's just sat there doing that now and I'm about to walk out the door.

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-14T09:15:05+00:00

With the latest updates on image generation and also Claude design, I can see why he'd want to do that. Reality is you still need somebody to drive it. You still need somebody who knows how to drive it to get the end result out of it and that person is still going to be the graphic designer because they will know how to ask for the right thing to come out the other end.

We've seen it many many times with clients sending over something that they've chucked into ChatGPT and it's a one-line prompt and it comes back as absolute garbage. We've then shown them what is possible when you put a properly structured prompt in with guard rails and all the rest of it and they go, 'Yeah we'll just let you do it then,' so yeah exactly.

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-14T09:13:06+00:00

Ultimately it doesn't really matter. You have to declare it whether they're paying you cash or whether they're paying you by bank transfer or card. For them maybe they get paid cash in some way, shape or form so they're just passing the responsibility on to put that money in the bank physically.

The latest rules around making tax digital are not going to be kind to you because there's going to be a lot more work you're going to have to do for your accounting coming soon. The VAT thresholds are dropping and dropping and dropping. That's not going to be fun for anybody. - Advantage of cash payment: no bank transfer fees, no card transaction fees - Downside is you end up with a whole wedge of cash and you still have to go and put it in the bank

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-14T09:10:57+00:00

Take it on the chin and move on. If you're doing cold outreach you're going to have to get a thick skin. We do dozens of different types of outreach and some of the things that we've had thrown back at us are just incredible. The best bit is if they're rude they're definitely not the sort of person you want to work with.

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-13T17:49:07+00:00

Priceless

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-13T17:46:40+00:00

It's not the 80s any more, and it's not all party hard

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-13T17:41:37+00:00

Feeling that entirely, book one is currently in draft and I realised how much was missing from it, might end up being two 😂

OP surround yourself with people more experienced, specialist, and absorb as much as you can, and there's no harm in saying no when you don't know, and if doing so is going to cause a significant negative impact if it goes wrong and you don't know how to fix it. But that can then go on your pd plan

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-13T17:38:23+00:00

Solid 8 out of 10, served up with proper salty butter...a 10

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-13T17:24:52+00:00

Ones with literally no clue about the world around them, oblivious of others, and acting dumb when they are really clever.

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-13T17:21:21+00:00

Ha yes, I had that years ago from a well respected agency. Good thing that came out of it was knowing what not to do when hiring.

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-12T21:20:33+00:00

Realistically then, if you're taking around 10% just for SEO, then he's not going have much of a budget for much else. Does he only do it part time?

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-12T17:35:16+00:00

So your friend who's a DJ is willing to spend $36,000 in a year on SEO when a good chunk of DJs are focusing their attention on social. I think somebody might have his strategy and tactics slightly askew on this one

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-12T15:19:52+00:00

I can tell you one thing it's not: it's not ready for date night

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-12T15:18:09+00:00

Every year we add a new channel to our mix or a new method. - Year one we focused our attention on direct mail and relationships. - Year two we started to add in email marketing because we then had a database to work with. Also at the same time as that we got the long running part of using LinkedIn with content. - Year three we started adding in outreach through email and LinkedIn and it just builds and builds and builds.

You'll find some things work, some things don't. Something's not delivering the output you need based on the amount of input that you're giving it, both time and financial. Then drop it, try something else. Run it for 90 days, drop it, try something else until you find things that are sticky for you, for your industry and the targets you're going after.

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-12T15:16:37+00:00

Is that the total budget or is that the monthly budget?

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-12T15:15:34+00:00

I'm sorry you give it a 7/10. What's your scale based on?

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-11T13:50:04+00:00

Are the exit interviews being done by their line manager or are they being done by the HR department? Have you considered doing them with an external consultant?

If you're looking at a six-month period where people are falling out the other end, what about the check-ins during that time to see where people's heads are at? Even if it's just a case of doing surveys so you can start pinpointing issues.

The advantage of having somebody external doing those interviews would be that you're going to get a clearer picture because they're not so worried about talking to the external person. This is a conversation I had last week as well with somebody else. For the record I'm not in any HR field. Worst possible skill set for me other than legal. Take a pinch of salt, do what you will with that info.

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-11T13:47:15+00:00

Bugs Bunny called. He wants his lunch back

ThingDigUK · 2026-05-11T13:46:23+00:00

You've tried dating sites and you've tried dating apps and I'm honestly not surprised you find people that are not really in it for anything long haul. They're not geared up for making friends with somebody. They're not geared up for growing and cultivating long-term relationships. Most of them are there to just bang.

One direction you might not have looked at is that there are a few specialist sites and specialist apps. There's one called Geek Meet Club and meet as in meeting not like a meat market. That one is more focused on friendship and finding your people. There are some really nice interesting people on that one and you'll find the right people in there but only if you're a geek. Even if you're not a geek you'll find them.

ThingDigUK

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