Hi, I’m Craig Bailey and this is my personal blog where I write about technology, business systems, HubSpot and general life experiences. You can read my posts here.

(If you are looking for the Content is King post by Bill Gates it is here)

I’m involved with three agencies in Sydney:

  • The first is XEN Systems. We help government departments and mid-large B2B technology companies with their sales and marketing strategy, including implementation and training in HubSpot 
  • The second is XEN Create. We provide premium graphic design services to companies, with a focus on using the latest AI tools, including Midjourney
  • The third is XEN Solar, where we help high quality solar companies (dealers, installers) with their sales and marketing processes.

I also co-host HubShots, the podcast and YouTube show focussed on getting the most out of HubSpot. We are the creators of the HubShots Framework.

Craig Bailey presenting

Latest stories

Content Quantity starts to repel

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I’m a big Alex Hormozi fan. Have been for a while. However, I’ve noticed a change in my response to his content, as it has grown in quantity lately (ie last year or so). Whereas before I used to watch all his clips, especially YouTube, these days there’s soooo much content that I don’t watch any of it. There’s a strange feeling of overwhelm that dilutes the perceived...

Bond films

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As I noted on Threads, I’ve been rewatching the Bond films. The stakes are higher in some than others. The Spy Who Loved Me: Bond stops Stromberg from destroying the world Moonraker: Bond stops Drax from destroying the world View to a Kill: Bond stops Zorin from destroying Silicon Valley Die Another: Bond stops Graves from starting a war in Korea Casino Royale: Bond stops Le Chiffre winning...

HubShots 305

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Ian and I have released our final episode for the year, you can watch it here and read the full show notes here. This episode we dive into: Preparing for a Fast Start in 2024 Quick shots (Loom, Clearbit acquisitions) Active lists of non-marketing contacts who used to be marketing contacts How to build a list of ZoomInfo contacts Adding images in meetings in the HubSpot app Using LinkedIn Sales...

Apple Notes

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Just a quick note to record that Apple Notes is working for me. I moved over at the start of the year after years of using Evernote. Not that there was a functionality problem with Evernote, but I was very concerned when they were acquired and the new company didn’t give much confidence the product would be maintained. Since using Apple Notes, I’ve also adopted Tiago Forte’s...

Automation shouldn’t add new stuff, it should first automate existing manual processes

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In the HubShots Framework, Stage 3 is focussed on automation in HubSpot. That is, automating as many processes as appropriate. The key word to note here is: appropriate. Many companies try to add completely new stuff using automation, before they’ve even automated their existing manual processes The trap they fall into is automating a bunch of processes that add little value (eg mass spamming) to...

Preparing for a 2024 Fast Start

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As I write this there are 15 business days until Christmas – the race is on. Whilst many are focussed on finally being able to crash and relax, others are already planning for a rapid start to 2024 in early January. Which camp are you in? At XEN, we’re in the unusual position of potentially working right through the holiday break (this hasn’t happened before), simply because a number of our...

Plagiarism as a Strategy

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We received this request a little while back: The email had a competitor’s brochure attached. Essentially the brief was: take the competitor’s brochure, switch out branding, spin the content. We declined (of course). I’m all for taking inspiration from others, but it’s concerning when a company has no differentiation and instead feels that copy and paste is a worthwhile...

Consultant versus Coach

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Useful clarity from Chris Marr in his book Becoming an Authoritative Coach: Have been reflecting on this in terms of both clients and team members. For clients = we are consultants (may be different for your business though) For staff = I need to be more of a coach (as do the senior leadership team) The trap I often fall into is trying to solve the problem for a team member, instead of coaching...

You do you

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I used to ridicule this kind of behaviour as well:

But now I’m like, if that makes you happy, saving and sharing a moment then more power to you.

As long as you aren’t impacting those around you (eg with bright flashes) then you be you.

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