Vector & Verse

08/09/2026

Somewhere in almost every business is a process that made perfect sense when it started.

Someone fills in an enquiry form. It lands with Jo in Sales, who adds it to a spreadsheet and sends it to Mark in Operations. Mark checks something with Finance, Finance sends it back, Mark sends it back to Jo and eventually Jo emails the customer.

Nobody is entirely sure what Finance checks anymore, including possibly Finance, but everybody knows it has to go there. 😂

There was a reason for all of this once. Maybe the system couldn't do something. Maybe somebody was off. Maybe there was one spectacular incident involving an invoice in 2022 and a process was hastily invented to make sure it NEVER HAPPENED AGAIN. Whatever happened, somebody probably said, “We'll just do it this way for now.”

The trouble is, “for now” has a remarkable habit of becoming “this is how we do it.”

Businesses collect these things without really noticing. Temporary spreadsheets that are now old enough to start school. Extra approvals that were added as a precaution. Manual emails and little workarounds that everybody knows about, so nobody thinks they're particularly strange anymore.

None of it is spectacularly broken, which is probably exactly why it survives. It works. Technically.

Then somebody comes along without years of company history stored in their head, looks at the whole thing and asks, “Why do you do it like that?”

Sometimes there's a perfectly good answer. Other times there's a slightly uncomfortable pause while everybody tries to remember, before somebody eventually says, “That's just how it is.”

And I think that's an interesting sentence, because sometimes “that's just how it is” really means “it's been like that for so long that nobody thinks to ask anymore.”

Maybe the useful question isn't always, “What should we do next?”

Sometimes it's simply, “Why are we still doing that?”

06/09/2026

One of the problems with owning a business is that eventually you forget what its like being a customer of it.

You can't really help it, because you know too much. You know that if you click Services, scroll past the big picture, ignore the first button because that's for something else, click the tiny bit that says More Information and then go into the second tab, there's the price.

Perfectly straightforward.

Except it absolutely fu***ng isn't. 😂

It's the business equivalent of giving somebody directions by saying, “Turn left where Woolies used to be.” YOU know where Woolworths used to be. They've just moved here.

We do this in businesses all the time. We automatically fill in the gaps because we know what's supposed to happen. We know what the weirdly named service means, which form somebody needs to use and what happens once they've filled it in. We know Sandra from that department will email them afterwards, so it doesn't occur to us that absolutely nowhere have we explained that.

Sandra knows. You know. Your customer does not know Sandra.

So let's try a slightly uncomfortable little experiment. Go and see if you can buy something from your own business. Start somewhere you wouldn't normally start and pretend you know absolutely nothing that isn't actually in front of you.

See how far you get before your brain helpfully goes, “Well obviously you'd just…”

And when it does, stop.

Because “obviously” is usually where it gets interesting...

03/09/2026

Apparently we’ve reached the point where I should probably tell people what it actually costs to work with me. 😂

I know. Revolutionary.

I’ve talked quite a lot recently with a lot of people about what I notice when I look at businesses from the outside. The things that don’t quite join up. The stuff you can’t see anymore because you already know how it’s supposed to work. The marketing you’re doing because somebody once told you that you should, and the perfectly bloody good bits that really don’t need another consultant interfering with them.

So I’ve finally put some proper edges around that work.

It’s called The Outside Looking In.

I experience your business as somebody encountering it for the first time, then we get into what you’re actually trying to achieve, and I go away and work out where those two versions of the business aren’t quite meeting.

You get the diagnosis, my thinking and a clear plan for what I’d do first.

It costs £895.

There. Actual price. On the internet. Nobody even had to book a discovery call to find out. 😂

If your business has got to the point where you suspect you might be too close to it to see what everybody else is seeing, the details are now on the V&V website.

The Outside Looking In is officially a thing.

Words . Design . Strategy . Sorted I've spent the last 15 years building businesses where people choose to spend their time.Some have been brilliantly successful. Some have taught me lessons the hard way.Now I help other business owners build places people remember, recommend and come back to. Talk...

28/08/2026

New on Things I’ve Noticed…

I can sing.

I’m also absolutely terrified of singing in front of people. 😂

Last night I was reminded that being good at something and feeling confident doing it are apparently two completely different things.

So, naturally, I wrote about it.

It Wasn't Cos I Couldn't Do It 👇

Stories, observations and occasional rabbit holes about business, branding, storytelling and the things we stop noticing when we're too close to them. From Vector & Verse.

27/08/2026

I've made a new bit of the Vector & Verse website.

A little blog space called Things I've Noticed, and it's somewhere for me to write about the things I spot in businesses, marketing and customer experience that make me stop and think:
Hang on…why are we doing that?

Or, sometimes:
Hang on…why the hell aren't you telling people about THAT?

The more I've thought about what I actually do at Vector & Verse, the more I've realised that most of it starts with noticing something and asking a question.

So I knew exactly where the first story had to start.

Years ago, I went for an interview for an admin job at a promotional marketing agency. During the interview I questioned why they were using some of the tests they'd given me, only to be told:
“Well, we've always done it this way.”

Dangerous words around me.

Especially because I'd already had a nose around their website and socials before I arrived and had, erm...noticed some things there too.

So I told them.
All of it.

Which is perhaps not the recommended approach when you're trying to persuade somebody to employ you.

Except somehow, rather than showing me the door, they told me about another job they thought I might be better suited to.

I walked in interviewing for an admin role.
I walked out as their Business Development and Marketing Manager.

And looking back now, that interview probably explains Vector & Verse better than any carefully polished About Me paragraph ever could.

So that's where Things I've Noticed begins.

I Didn't Get the Job I Applied For.
Have a read

And yes, there'll be more.
Apparently I've been noticing things for quite some time. 😏

The WTF behind V&V

07/08/2026

Morning all!

I came away for a wee holiday to the Norfolk Broads with every intention of switching my brain off.

Mr Caroline was convinced this would be the week I'd finally stop working. Drink good w**e. Eat good food. Watch the boats drift past. Generally behave like somebody on annual leave.
He was...optimistic.

By six o'clock this morning I was sat on the deck with a strong coffee, everyone else is still asleep, and somehow I've ended up disappearing down rabbit holes about other people's businesses.
…my brain doesn't understand holidays.

The funny thing is, slowing down doesn't stop you noticing things. It actually makes you notice more.

This week I've realised nobody remembers the places they planned to visit. They remember the ones they accidentally adopted. The little bakery they went back to three mornings in a row. The pub where lunch somehow turned into the afternoon. The seafood restaurant where the menu arrived on a chalkboard because it depended on what had come off the boats that day.
They stop being businesses and quietly become part of the story.

That little thought has followed me around all week, and this morning it turned into thirty emails to thirty different business owners.
Not one of them talked about websites.
Not one of them talked about SEO.
Not one of them talked about social media.

Every single one talked about people.

Because I'm becoming more and more convinced that most businesses already have a brilliant story, they're just standing too close to see it.

It's a bit like trying to read the label when you're inside the jar.

Anyway...Mr Caroline thinks I'm reading a novel.

I'm going to do my best not to prove him wrong for the rest of the day.

29/07/2026

I blame my parents.

They clearly encouraged me to ask far too many questions because I can no longer walk into a pub without wondering why this one. Not the one down the road. Not the shiny new one. This one. The obvious answer is usually the food, the b**r or the Sunday roast, but I don't think that's the real reason at all.

I think every village has a pub that quietly becomes woven into people's lives. It's where birthdays happen without much discussion. It's where families meet because everyone knows where it is. It's where visitors get taken because you know they'll leave with a good impression. Somewhere along the way it stops being somewhere you choose and simply becomes your pub. That's a fascinating thing to earn because nobody can manufacture it. It happens one conversation, one good meal and one familiar face at a time.

I spend an unhealthy amount of time noticing things like this. Not because I'm secretly reviewing pubs for a living (although if anyone's offering...) but because I'm fascinated by the stories businesses tell without ever realising they're telling them. The best ones aren't always the loudest. They don't need to be. They quietly become part of people's routines until one day they're part of their memories.

It's funny really, because people often assume Vector & Verse is about writing websites. It isn't. It's about spotting those stories before the business has found the words for them. The website is just where the story eventually ends up.

If you're interested in what I do - head to the website:

www.vectorandverse.co.uk

You can even book a free 30 minute consultation with me while you're there!

Words . Design . Strategy . Sorted I've spent the last 15 years building businesses where people choose to spend their time.Some have been brilliantly successful. Some have taught me lessons the hard way.Now I help other business owners build places people remember, recommend and come back to. Talk...

23/06/2026

Happy first birthday to V&V. ❤️

To celebrate, I sacked Corporate Caroline and rebuilt the website.

Apparently I was one inspirational quote away from pivoting with purpose.

Thankfully I've come to my senses.

Dog hair still included at no extra cost. 🐶☕
www.vectorandverse.co.uk

27/05/2026

Britain appears to be having a mild identity crisis and currently identifies as a Greek island, which means business owners across the country are attempting to answer emails, run companies and remain vaguely operational whilst quietly heat-exhausted.

Which has me thinking…people rarely just buy the thing. Alongside the product or service itself, they’re also deciding what it’s actually like to do business with you.

Was it easy? Did things feel human, straightforward and reassuring…or did the process slowly chip away at their will to live?

Because when people recommend a business, they’re usually talking about trust, ease, confidence and the feeling that somebody made life simpler rather than harder.

Anyway…a mildly heat-addled thought from the trenches 😏

21/05/2026

Small business owners…a small coffee fuelled rant for your pleasure!

Your marketing doesn’t need to look like AI and Canva had a very intense weekend together 😏

I’m not anti-AI. I use AI. I like AI.
BUT…

If your content looks like the same shiny, hyper-polished visual soup everyone else is posting…people stop seeing the actual point.

And if people scroll past because your content blends into the noise…your reach will suffer too.

Most small businesses don’t need more polished marketing.
They need marketing that feels more human.

More recognisable.
More them.
Use the tools.

Just don’t let your business disappear behind them.