About Paul
Hello, I’m Paul Mackenzie Ross, a highly experienced and talented digital professional living in Farnborough, Hampshire. I’ve spent over 22 years as a hardcore digital marketer, specialising mostly in SEO, as a copywriter and designer/developer too.
I’m currently the Digital Marketing Manager for design and digital agency Clever Marketing, although my exact title was once changed for a few months to “Content and SEO Manager” to highlight my apparent singular specialities even though I’m a multitalented autodidact. I have effectively been the “Head of Digital” there, steering the web development arm of the business and guiding the IT function, as well as overseeing the digital marketing department. You can read about what we get up to in the digital marketing blog that I’ve been running in my 6 years there.
As an incredibly experienced, holistic digital marketer, content manager and digital project manager I have skills in editorial, journalism and copywriting all mixed in with a bit of graphic design, photography and a ton of people skills too. Apparently I know enough HTML (since 1998) and JS/CSS etc. to make me a web developer too! I love creating digital marketing strategies and content marketing strategies and seeing the data as traffic, engagements and conversions improve.
In previous roles I have been:
- IT/Digital Project Manager at LifeScan/OneTouch part of Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Care Companies.
- EMEA Digital Technical Analyst or, in English, the Portfolio Manager and Digital Project Manager for LifeScan in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
- Social Media Outreach Officer for the Guide Dogs charity.
- Webmaster for Cycling UK (formerly CTC, the national cycling charity) plus their deputy IT Manager.
- Web Designer and Editor for the UK small business website www.is4profit.com for 13½ years before it was sold to Startups.co.uk.
It was at is4profit where my digital career took off. As one of the UK’s first small business directories and I earned a massive amount of experience as a digital marketer, SEO guy, webmaster, content manager, editor, copywriter, Content Management System (CMS) wrangler, researcher, business analyst, systems analyst and project manager. You could say I’m a “jack of all trades” but, as the sci-fi author Robert Heinlein once wrote, “specialisation is for insects”. And besides, being a “well-rounded individual” is much more appropriate.
Since 2000AD I have run my own small business, 22i design, providing domain names, web hosting, web design, SEO and IT services. I host & build websites for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs – or SMBs as they say in the USA – Small businesses to you and me), designing layout & logos, providing photography, writing content with a sound basis in search engine optimisation techniques, social media & online marketing experience.
If ever there’s a spare moment in the day when I’m not working, I like to relax as best as I can, usually reading, walking or cycling and finding a good real ale pub to stop at on the journey.
Being from Generation X I can’t stop tinkering online in my precious spare time and you’ll see me running my own personal websites on the Opel Manta (in much need of a revamp after 23 years on the web), design & environmental issues. The challenge of being so active and having so many interests is to stay organised with so much to do and only 24 hours in the day.
What Others Say About Paul Mackenzie Ross
I used to be overtly modest but have realised that to really drive forwards I needed to accept my successes and be less self-effacing. Here are a couple of quotes from recent work I’ve done:
“Until Paul got involved, it did feel chaotic.”
“It’s so nice to read an email from someone in SEO who obviously knows what they’re doing.”
“Paul did me some great blogs on legal”
I was once the Vice Chairman and later Acting Chairman of the Friends of the Tumbledown Dick and am currently a member of:
- The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).
- The Project Management Institute (PMI).
- The Professional Copywriters Network.
- The Drupal Association
In a personal capacity, I am a member of:
- The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
- The Woodland Trust.
- The RSPB.
I am a very sociable character, always happy to meet fellow minds, so feel free to catch up and introduce yourself on Twitter. However, with the upheavals at Twitter since Elon Musk took over, I’ve got an escape plan with my additional account on Mastodon.
If you’d like to connect with me on Facebook or LinkedIn then please introduce yourself with why you would like to connect. I am more than happy to be approached for genuine offers of work too, so if you like what you see here then please do contact Paul.
Where to Next?
TBH I’m not looking to go anywhere at the moment as I totally love my role as Digital Marketing Manager at Clever Marketing. I love SEO, PPC and digital strategy but am limited in consultancy due to the sheer volume of work at our agency.
My Favourite Quotes
Some of my favourite quotations should give you an insight into how I think and what I like:
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyse a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialisation is for insects.” -Robert A. Heinlein
“Stand up to be seen. Speak up to be heard. Shut up to be respected.” – anon
“Put brain into gear before engaging mouth.” – old military saying.
“Speak because you have something to say, not because you have to say something.”– anon
“If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.” – Winston Churchill
“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room!” – anon