Paint Pool – The Future of Home Decorating, and Beyond

Posted on February 11, 2024 by Nicola Dunklin

I had an idea! Last week, I took a week off. What does one do with a week off in February? The answer is, one finally gets on with some decorating. As it was me that pledged to do it, and me that had a week off, it was me that was left to get on with it.

Decorating – It’s all in the preparation

In my head, we surely had everything I needed in the shed. In reality, my Monday morning visit to the shed resulted in me discovering a cupboard bursting with unusable paint tins that could no longer be opened, paint that had solidified, wood filler that was too hard to get out of the tube. Why had we stored it all for all these years? We could have used the space for other things!

A cry for help

I have an amazing neighbour. He is the man that can, and if he can’t, he will know someone who can. We discussed my plan over breakfast and when I drove him back to his house, I went in and collected: One tin of white emulsion (that he had bought off me when I finished my hall stairs and landing a couple of years before), one tin of white satinwood, and a sanding block. Later that day, after another cry for help, he gave me his bottle of white spirits, another item I had not prepared for. My parting comment of ‘I’ll replace everything I use’, was met with the response, ‘No, please don’t, I’m not going to be decorating any time soon.’ And there, was my eureka moment!

Eureka Moment

How many of us are storing partially used tins of paint, and other consumables, that are most likely going to ‘go off’, before we come to use them again, only to end up in landfill? Wouldn’t it make much more sense if there was a virtual facility to pool resources and pass on surplus paint and other consumables to somebody else to use. When we are about to embark on a new project, we simply look at what’s available, choose from the ‘pool’, and go to collect it.

Benefits of pooling decorating resources

I am sure this list is by no means exhaustive, but as a starting point:

  • Less waste
  • More economical
  • Better for the environment
  • Frees storage
  • It helps people
  • It’s the way forward!
Photo by James Lee on Unsplash

The Logistics -How could a decorating materials ‘pool’ work?

Community buildings, vacated businesses, empty High Street properties etc. could be designated as a sharing hub. Items could be added to a database as they are deposited so it is clear to see what is available. Anyone depositing items needs to agree that what they are leaving is ‘usable’, and a ratings system could keep things real.

Why stop there? Sharing is Caring!

While writing, it occurs to me, why stop there? How many of us are storing items ‘just in case’? Taking up storage space, ticking past their sell by date, probably never to be used. How much better would it be for this ‘stuff’ to be used by someone who needs it, and will use it. When it comes to the time that we do need something, we simply check on the sharing hub to see if it’s available.

#ReduceReuseRecycle

Two people decorating with paintbrushes
Photo of two people decorating by Roselyn Tirado on Unsplash

No Planet B

This Earth belongs to all its inhabitants, and while the few fragile egos out there are bombing, fighting, and destroying our beautiful planet, the majority of us on this earth are good people who care, and want to make the world a better place. Be the change.

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Take Pity on Litterbugs

Posted on September 7, 2023 by Nicola Dunklin

Take pity on litterbugs, they don’t understand

The rubbish they drop could stay on the land

For years, or forever, it won’t go away

And that so many litterbugs add more every day

Those misguided litterbugs need energy drinks

Drop the cans on the ground, they just do not think

Packets for cigarettes and empty vapes

Don’t leap in a bin, or evaporate

Red Bull aluminium can discarded as litter
Energy drink can that did not supply its owner with enough energy to throw it in a bin
Single use Vape discarded in countryside as litter
Single use vapes and packaging are adding to the UK litter problem as Vapers seem unable to discard their litter responsibly
Litter discarded by humans in countryside
Human activity impacts countryside and wildlife

Snuffling hedgehogs, heads trapped in rings

Fish stuck in crisp packs, horses dying

All caused by the litter, those litterbugs threw

Would they still drop litter, if they actually knew?

If you know a litterbug, try to be kind

Perhaps they weren’t taught to bear it in mind

They maybe don’t get it, that they’re not alone

The bugs, and their litter, should stay in their homes

Fishing industry polluting the ocean with discarded nets
Discarded nets from the fishing industry, polluting oceans and killing marine life Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash
Litter solutions
Litter solutions are out there, if we look

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Marketing Madness

Posted on September 8, 2022 by Nicola Dunklin

Once upon a time…

I nipped to the corner shop and bought some cornflakes, walking home I popped into the butchers and picked up some sausages then called in to the hairdressers to book a hair appointment for next week. The End

Fast forward a couple of decades…

I nipped to the corner shop and bought some cornflakes, walking home I popped into the butchers and picked up some sausages then called in to the hairdressers to book a hair appointment for next week. But it didn’t end there…

By the time I am home I have received two text messages, three emails and I am entered for a chance to win… In the week that follows I receive emails asking me to review the cornflakes, the sausages, the service, the ease of booking my appointment, and the service I received. Later, more emails packed full of helpful tips:

  • 7 Ways to prepare cornflakes
  • New sausages arriving soon
  • 39 Things you need to know about hair cutting
  • Exciting new offer on cornflakes
  • 13 Facts about sausages
  • You could WIN this amazing shampoo
  • Stock up on burgers this week
  • Nicola, exclusive offers on cereals

You get the idea.

Does all this marketing work?

Would any of these emails make me rush back and buy more sausages? Nope.

Am I going to call the salon to make another appointment? Nope.

Will I race back to the shop to buy more cornflakes? Nope.

As a consumer, I buy what I need, when I need it, from the most convenient/ethical source I can find; that is my choice. The choices I make are not influenced by myriad emails telling me that there is more in stock, or 5% off, or all the ways that product could ‘enhance my life’. As I write, I have over 1600 emails in the ‘Other’ folder of my personal email account, am I going to read any of them? Nope. Am I going to delete them? On it.

Marketing, a Changing Landscape

Millions of Marketeers are creating a huge amount of white noise that nobody has the time or inclination to deal with. Life is full on, we are bombarded by every business we encounter using every trick in the book to shout for our attention. The truth is, there are far more important things out there that people need to focus on, life, work, family, paying the bills. Knowing how many types of sausage there are at the butchers is just not up there in terms of importance.

For my clients I provide a service with integrity and honesty, supporting their customers/end users with information they need to make informed choices and function better. I write for clients who offer a credible product/service that I believe in. In turn, my clients naturally achieve good ratings and recommendations and business grows organically, firm foundations for sustainable growth.

Tips to Grow Your Business

Aim for organic growth:

  • Provide a good/useful product
  • Provide it with great service
  • Be ethical and sustainable
  • Be there
  • Be nice

Don’t push people to where you want them to be, meet them where they are

Meghan Keaney Anderson, VP Marketing, HubSpot

Life is tough, give people a break from the white noise and support them to live well in peace.

Thank you for reading.

Image Credit: Naseem Buras
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How to Find Finnich Glen (The Devil’s Pulpit) – Outlander Location

Posted on June 2, 2021 by Nicola Dunklin

I’m not the ‘fangirl’ type, and I prefer fact to fiction in life and TV, but when my mother-in-law messaged me saying, ‘You must watch Outlander’, I gave it a go. Over 60 hours of my life spent in front of the screen appreciating Jamie Fraser and before we know it we are headed to Scotland on an Outlander quest.

Outlander Locations

We travelled through time (a week) to Doune Castle (Castle Leoch), Dunure Castle (Silkies Island), Hopetoun House (Duke of Sandringham’s house and the site of the duel), Midhope Castle (Lallybroch), Linlithgow Palace (Wentworth prison), and Blackness Castle (the flogging and Claire & Jamie’s escape from Fort William, which we re-enacted) where we were serenaded by bagpipes after fun facts from Ray, the superb guide. All of these places are worthy of being on the ‘to-do’ list, notwithstanding the Outlander connection.

By far the trickiest Outlander location to visit is Finnich Glen, Devil’s Pulpit, the scene of Claire’s test of honesty by Dougal MacKenzie. Had she attempted it, I’m not sure my mother-in-law would have lived to tell the tale.

Finnich Glen – The Devil’s Pulpit (Liar’s Spring)

The first thing to say is, I think for now, the Scottish Tourist Board would really rather you did not go. Why?

  • It is quite dangerous
  • Parking is inadequate and oversubscribed
  • Locals are having their space, and driveways, invaded

Hence, parking restrictions are now in place and are being enforced.

However, if you are a determined Outlander fan (most likely), you will go to Finnich Glen. There are plans afoot to make it more visitor friendly, but in the meantime, here are some details you need for a safe and enjoyable visit.

Not for the faint hearted, or sufferers of severe vertigo

Parking at The Devil’s Pulpit is a Devil of a Job!

First off, there is a layby that lies almost opposite the access to the surface of the glen, alongside but behind the new double yellow lines. Do not park here, you will get a ticket!

Parking bay for three cars is now out of bounds, you will get a ticket! What3Words: wired.flukes.export

Where to park to visit Finnich Glen/The Devil’s Pulpit/Liar’s Spring

Be prepared for very limited parking, avoid busy times, try to go during the week or early morning/late afternoon/evening. The surrounding roads for miles around now have double yellow lines, every driveway has a sign asking people not to turn/park. There is an area that can hold around eight considerately parked cars, a short walk away from the steps down to the Devil’s Pulpit (See info later re how to locate the steps).

  1. Limited parking for approximately 8 cars
  2. Access to the top of the glen beside wall
  3. Location of the top of the steps down to the glen
Finnich Glen information

Once you have successfully parked (and you may have to wait for a space), walk along the A809 until you reach a wall on your left. There is a gate in this wall that is probably locked, at the end of the wall is a space that you can climb through

Next, find the steps! You can either use What3Words app, type in ‘ratty.access.airtime’ or follow the edge of the gorge until you happen across them, don’t go too close, the 70 foot drop is almost vertical, the going is tricky underfoot and the edge is, edgy.

It’s a long way down, those specks at the bottom are people

About the steps…

They are potentially slippery, and to say the least, uneven. Flip-flops are not a great choice. There are ropes to hang on to beside the steps most of the way. If you suffer from vertigo you won’t find this part heaps of fun.

Quite an achievement to get steps in place to be honest

The Devil’s Pulpit

The descent, and the glen itself are worth the effort, quite spectacular. Emerald green walls, water that appears red, this place feels magical.

What is it about people who leave litter?

I’m not sure what goes on in a person’s head to think it’s OK to drop litter. Most of us wouldn’t consider doing that anywhere, let alone in our beautiful countryside. It’s a bugbear of mine wherever it is, these people’s filthy habits harm wildlife and spoil the beauty of nature for everyone else, don’t be that person.

Be better than this

Finally, stay safe, have a great time, take a towel, you need to get wet if you’re going to venture around the glen.

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DIETS DO NOT WORK – Let’s be honest

Posted on December 31, 2020 by Nicola Dunklin

As an individual and as a content writer, this has been a bug bear of mine for years so I am just going to put this out there. Diets are probably the biggest cause of obesity. Let that sit there for a minute or two.

Yet again we approach the new year with a plethora of January publications offering diets with the promise of making us slim, toned, or happy. By promoting diets, they are totally missing the point and exacerbating the problem.

What about obesity?

Maybe it’s greed, maybe there are psychological triggers that cause people to overeat, but we seem to steadfastly ignore the causes. People overeat for myriad reasons, perhaps explanations are best left to the field of psychology, but those causes are what we should be looking at if we are to help people achieve a healthy life.

The problem with diets

Magazines that constantly resort to mindless articles showing size 6 models in bikinis alongside a temporary regime restricting calorie intake, need to review what they are doing. And therein lies the problem, a diet is temporary. If you go ON a diet, by definition, you will come OFF it. Suddenly restricting calorie intake will ultimately make your clever body adapt to the reduction in calories, its single aim is your survival. While a diet causes one’s mind to be yet more focused on food, or lack thereof, the body makes all necessary adjustments to survive i.e. it will decrease the rate of metabolism to conserve energy. Going on a diet may cause you to temporarily lose weight, and then you come off your diet.

What happens next is a predictable downward spiral of yo-yo dieting. Your newly decreased metabolism means that calories are burned less efficiently, food eaten isn’t used for energy in the same way. As you begin to eat ‘normally’ your body will not metabolise the increased intake of calories, but will conserve it. People desperately believe they have to ‘get back on’ their diet to lose the new weight gain. And so it goes on.

The solution is to resolve what triggers excess eating and adopt lifelong, healthy eating habits, moderation, and exercise, but that doesn’t sell magazines.

Quality Content Production

Why am I talking about this? I am not a big reader of magazines, but I do receive ‘second hand’ mags. Every year I am dismayed by the unwillingness to tackle the real issues behind obesity. It is certainly more complex to analyse and address what drives people to overeat, but that is not an adequate excuse to ignore them and continue with the ‘sticking plaster’ solution of showing people what they ‘should’ look like and convincing them to follow the path of obsessing about food intake.

Journalists, editors, content writers et al, how about it? How about digging a bit deeper and supporting your audience to look inward, to analyse the triggers that cause them to overeat, to value themselves highly enough to be able to lead a healthy, sustainable lifestyle? It’s going to be harder, it will take more knowledge and research but it is surely a more ethical approach that is healthier for your readers.

The reality is, the diet industry is worth billions, this male dominated world, targeted towards women, has no interest in increasing awareness that diets are bad. There is money to be made, books to be sold, ‘diet’ food to be marketed, good health to be destroyed.

Our responsibility

It’s time to change, the NHS is overwhelmed and under-funded, valuable resources being spent on obesity related illness are desperately needed elsewhere. We need to be more accountable and responsible for the content we produce, lives depend on it.

As a reader, I choose to ignore it. As a content writer, I choose integrity, I write content for companies and causes that are worthy and I believe in. As a person, I choose kindness, we have a responsibility to each other and to the planet we are lucky enough to inhabit.

I wish you a happy and healthy year ahead.

Image credit: Dan Gould on Unsplash
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Customer Loyalty

Posted on September 4, 2020 by Nicola Dunklin

Here we are at another Friday evening, the wine is open, my working week is beginning to wind down. Allow me to tell you about what happened to me this week.

Introducing my parents

I went to visit my parents. Throughout lockdown I have followed the rules, they are in the vulnerable category and I have done everything in my power to protect them. We have graduated from daily calls (My mother is now adept at video calling), to parking alongside each other in an outdoor space, to sitting distanced in a back garden, to standing in doorways, to actually sitting in the same room. I have yet to touch them but it is a small sacrifice to know I am keeping them safe.

Loyalty

‘Anyhoo’, that’s not my point. This week’s visit was timed around the arrival of their new bed. Again, this bed held within the promise of more comfort and more sleep. As a panacea to increasing age and ailments, this bed mattered. This bed was being delivered by the same company from which they have bought the majority of their beds, and other furniture for the past 50 years. Once again, my parents traveled all the way to my father’s birth town to make their purchase. Why? You may ask. Why? I asked.

How do you create customer loyalty?

Our daily lives are infiltrated with every marketing trick in the book, attention grabbing headlines, catchy subject lines, sales, banner re targeting, adverts, discounts, constant sales, offers…constant noise. Customer loyalty is the holy grail, what must we do to make it happen?

And here’s the thing

My father has remained loyal to this particular furniture shop because, just after the war, in 1945, 75 years ago, this company sent out a quarter of tea and two pounds of sugar to all their customers, two of whom, were my father’s parents. It was enough.

Why so loyal?

75 years of loyalty, thousands of pounds of custom, for a quarter of tea and two pounds of sugar. In my father’s words, ‘You couldn’t get it, I have no idea how they did it, but they did, and I have never forgotten it’.

How About A Return to Values that Matter?

I’m just going to leave that there. Enjoy your weekend.

Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash
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World Environment Day

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Nicola Dunklin 
We build and we mine
Burn forests, cut trees
We take lives for sport
And poison the bees

We pollute our oceans
Destroy every reef
We haul fish and dolphins
Leave our nets in the deep

We shoot elephant and rhino
For their tusks and their horn
We cage bears for their bile
Traffic wildlife just born

We fill air with pollution
Dump litter in streets
Don't care for solutions
Just our own selfish 'needs'

On World environment Day
look what we've done
We have to do better
You, me, everyone

#WorldEnvironmentDay
Image credit: John Cameron on Unsplash
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What do YOU want from the post Covid-19 world?

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Nicola Dunklin

In unprecedented circumstances, we adapted. We worked from home, we managed virtual communication, we sought fewer luxuries, we focused on our health and scheduled exercise into our daily lives. We realised that we could manage without driving to the shop on every whim. We dropped our litter into our bins at home, not in our streets.

We as a society began to recognise and appreciate those who matter: NHS workers, carers, refuse collectors, food store employees, charitable organisations. We learned that the highest paid footballers and celebrities were of little importance or benefit to society, instead we refocused on those who make a difference.

With our heads less full and our noses lifted from the grindstone we noticed the world around us, our parents, our children, birdsong, fresh air. We paid attention to each other and to the very best traits of human nature, for example, Captain Tom. We found time, we looked after each other.

Getting Back To Normal

And now the rhetoric refers to ‘getting back to normal’ in order to benefit the economy.

I have no yearning to ‘return to normal’. Normal, is unacceptable, normal harms and destroys, and only benefits ‘the few’.

This is what normal looks like:

  • Species become extinct at a rate of somewhere between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate (WWF)
  • Air pollution causes 9% of deaths globally
  • Around 75% of the population survives on less than $10 a day
  • 1% of the human population own 44% of global wealth
  • Each year, 14 BILLION pounds of plastic is dumped into our oceans
  • One person every 40 seconds chooses to end their life
  • We torture and kill animals and call it medicine, or entertainment
  • We kill our fellow human beings, daily, fighting for land, resources, for differences of opinion, because people in positions of power failed to communicate

Shaping your future

Think of all the ways your life has been impacted positively during the coronavirus pandemic. What would you like to retain? As master of your own destiny, what would your choices be?

  • Work from home more
  • Drive electric or hybrid cars
  • Support wildlife
  • Support the people who have a positive impact on our lives
  • Lobby for change
  • Vote people with integrity into power
  • Look out for each other
  • Stand up for what’s right, even when it doesn’t affect you directly

We must be better than this if we are to survive with any reasonable quality of life. Let’s not forget the lessons of 2020

View of the ocean sunrise looking into our future
Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash

“Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.”

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

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I Can Sing a Rainbow

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Nicola Dunklin

A little known fact about me is, I learned to speak in Bolton, ‘up North’. By the time I was six and we moved ‘down South’ my own mother could barely understand me.

New Beginnings

One of the first days at my new primary school was an eye opener, for them more than me. The teacher asked the class to recite the rainbow, as I proudly bellowed out ‘I can sing a rainbow’ in my strong northern singing voice, the rest of the class, turned to stare in unison as they recited a completely different version. I soon found myself the centre of unwelcome attention. My nonplussed teacher asked me to explain, so I sung her my rendition of ‘I can sing a rainbow’. Ignoring the fact that my version of the rainbow was scientifically inaccurate, she fetched Mrs Unwin with her guitar. Proudly, I taught Mrs Unwin, who arranged a guitar accompaniment as I sang.

Painted picture of a rainbow, red, yellow and pink and green, orange and purple and blue My Words Work For You copywriting
I can sing a rainbow…Incorrectly!

The very next day in assembly, Mrs Unwin taught the whole school my version of the rainbow. And so the south was introduced to the rainbow song. But here’s the thing…

You know when the wrong words to a song get stuck in your head and become the words that you sing every time? Well I, at the age of six, always sang

‘Listen with your ears, Listen with your eyes‘

(Nicola’s version)

And that, is what I taught Mrs Unwin, and that is what Mrs Unwin taught the whole school. Oops! I knew it should be ‘look with your eyes’, but that wasn’t what was stuck in my head, so that wasn’t what came out of my mouth.

Have you ever stopped to think it just doesn’t make sense?

Importance of Passing on Accurate Information

So why am I telling you this? Now more than ever we are ‘informed’ by social media. People read a message, interpret it their own way, then re-tell it in a way that makes sense in their heads. The crucial part is, many of us are guilty of accepting it as truth without question. For a growing population Facebook is fast becoming a replacement for News at 10.

Reinventing the lyrics of I Can Sing a Rainbow’ is of limited consequence. Passing on misonformation in these anxious times, is quite another matter. As a content writer, I have a responsibility to check everything I write and every source I use for accuracy, my reputation and that of my clients depends on it.

Work hard to seek out the truth, not the truth that you want to believe.

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Repurpose Existing Content

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Nicola Dunklin

Can you recall how searching for something on the internet used to be? Random results, but far fewer of them.

And now? Reams of results, abundant ads, oodles of organisations clamouring for your click. How does your content compete?

Write Purposeful and Relevant Content

Worldwide, internet users are carrying out over 3.5 billion searches every single minute.. 40,000 searches per second. Rather than adding to the treacle sea that is Google, we need to be making the data we put out taste the sweetest. Content needs to be relevant, purposeful and should motivate and inspire action.

Three Rules of Content Generation

  1. Know your audience: Who they are, what they want, how they look for it
  2. Provide a solution: Answer questions, solve problems, add value
  3. Keep it short: Searchers don’t have the time or inclination to wade through waffle
Laptop content writer producing purposeful content
Produce Purposeful Content

My Words Work For You services

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