Reviewing The World Of Online Reviews with Nick Bandy

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Phil Byrne 0:00

Welcome to Digital Sparks the podcast where you can improve your web marketing, enhance your online productivity, and spark your entrepreneurial spirit. All from the tips, tales and techniques. Our guests come here to share.

My name is Phil Byrne. And today I’m joined by Nick Bandy, co-founder of ReviewsWow, the new app that helps you manage your positive and negative reviews across the web. Hi Nick, welcome to the podcast.

Nick Bandy 0:36

Thanks very much. Thanks for having me, Phil.

Phil Byrne 0:38

It’s a pleasure Nick, and I’m looking forward to chatting about the online world of reviews with you today. But for those of us who don’t know you, tell us who you are and what you do.

Nick Bandy 0:48

Okay, my name is Nick Bandy. And I own my own retail consultancy, mainly working in the optical retail space. So I look after some retailers, I also work with some suppliers. But ever since earlier in the year, I’ve suddenly become a web app developer and marketer, which if you told me I was doing that last year, I thought you were joking. So me and a friend of mine have developed this nifty web application on the back of my experiences in the retail market. But yeah, that’s pretty much. That’s pretty much me.

Phil Byrne 1:31

You know Nick, that sounds a great point, to come into app development from. So you know, many online and App developing people have come from that technology background. So to come at it from you saying there, you’ve got this retail consultancy? You’re already embedded in that real world retail environment. So I think it’s actually a great position to become an app developer from. So tell us a little bit about the app and why you and your friend believe there was a space for it in the market?

Nick Bandy 2:04

Well, it’s like most things. I’ve known my friend Matt for quite a while and I didn’t even realise he could code. And we’ve had a conversation about reviews from a completely random perspective of having a few drinks in our local club that we use and he’s had a conversation with one of his NCT. Sort of fellow friends, I suppose that you meet when you have a child, as you probably, I don’t know whether you’ve done the NCT thing all you parent,

Phil Byrne 2:44

You bang on right Nick, we have and you’re right, when you’re meeting other parents at the same stage you are you tend to see them again and again. So you become friends.

Nick Bandy 2:54

Absolutely. So he’s had a chat with a guy who does has his own sort of well he said oven cleaning franchise. And they were having a chat about reviews and some of the successes he’s had on his journey with the oven cleaning franchise and knows he’s done quite well, he’s got quite a few reviews. And that got Mark’s entrepreneurial mind going. And when I was mentioning, having done a project last year with an optical supplier, which was to create some landing pages that were all kind of knitted into Google Maps, so that people could find out where the hell they were, and how they could get hold of contact lens trials and whatnot. And I was hanging out, it was amazing how many adults really set up Google My Business and hadn’t really kind of just didn’t really know what they were doing on that kind of directory and how they could sort of leverage it to put out some good power, some good vibes about what services they offering, what their customers think of them. So that came up as part of a conversation earlier in the year between me and my friend like to say and its kind of mashed together a couple of thoughts he had with a couple of thoughts I’d had and we kind we develop a, well he actually said it. He’d never developed a web app before and obviously neither had I. But he said so why don’t we develop something he said I’ve got the spawn of an idea and he said maybe you’d be able to help me out with it because he hasn’t got any kind of direct retail experience and what that kind of market needs and what kind of level of technicality people are comfortable working with. So I suppose in the long and the short of it, it was it was like a meeting of minds at a specific point in time that suddenly meant That we got this kind of, I don’t know this acorn of an idea. I suppose most things start out as really?

Phil Byrne 5:09

Absolutely. You are so right there, every great idea I’m sure starting the same way that yours did you know, in your case it was over a drink. And just discussing different things and you discovering that your friend Mark can actually code and not knowing that. Makes you wonder how much of all of our friends we don’t really know. Isn’t that when you when you hear people like yourself mentioning things like that. But you’ve managed to take an acorn of an idea as you put it, and turned it into a reality and that that’s probably the step that most people don’t make. So tell us a bit about that. How did you go from the acorn to the reality?

Nick Bandy 5:52

Well, Mark’s background is quite a classic trader background. And we worked for Goldman Sachs for a number of years. And they’re kind of high pressure environments that there are deadlines involved in things. On an hour to hour day to day basis. I guess he’s also one of these big influences in his life. His father and his father’s kind of journalists and active journalists, kind of retired now. But, again, deadlines wise, his dad’s very kind of snappy is like, Yep, let’s do this. Let’s do it now. And Mark and him had worked on a project with some legal firms over the last few years. And again, I think Mark’s got that very much. When we talked about him, I think it’s in January, early February this year, Mark kind of said, well, look, I’ll tell you what, we’ll have this launched by the 16th of March, and I went well this year. And he said, Yeah, we’ll put it down. We’ll get it, we’ll get it coded. We’ll get it the basis of it done. And we’ll get it launched on the 16th. Let’s put a date in the diary. And I said, Wow, okay. Because I think in my experience, people don’t always put those sort of sales parameters, or those sort of parameters in place. But he was he was on it. He was all over it. So I went right, let’s do it. Okay, let’s, let’s start working on it. And we actually launched the site a day early, we launched the app a day early, I’ll never forget it. We were going to watch I think was England-Wales rugby match during the six nations. And we just like, say, you went right, let’s do it. Let’s test it. And let’s launch and that was it. So yeah, we just we cracked on and Mark, God loving me, he cracked on and, and got this thing done. And obviously, between the 16th of March and where we are now we’ve, we’ve made a lot of ground, a lot of updates and, and whatnot, but it’s a case of get it out there chat to people about it, find out what they need, because I didn’t do any kind of authentication or kind of finding out whether people even want this thing, I had a rough idea that people would find it useful, but I hadn’t really qualified it with any say the clients idea with before we we’ve kind of gone ahead and done it but uh, you know, I’d probably done that slightly differently looking back, but we’ve kind of just gone ahead with it. And we’ve developed something I think it’s really quite useful for people so.

Phil Byrne 8:37

Great stuff. So first thing I would say there’s it sounds like your friend Mark is the dream developer, works to deadlines delivers early, you know, all these qualities that, in general, developers are not known for.

Nick Bandy 8:50

Now, I was quite surprised by it as well because, you know you think you know somebody and, you don’t really often know them at all. You know, I vaguely knew that Mark works on his own and is devoted having developed his own coding software and trade some of The US market so he’s kind of bolted the thing together over about eight or nine years. And like I say, he’s not a big one for kind of bragging about what he does he kind of just keep, he’s a bit of a low more room, keeps himself to himself. Like say he’s done a couple of projects with his dad. And I think with me, it’s the first time externally outside his family, whereas he thought, yeah, I think I can work with this guy. So which is which is great. And I think we both learn from each other actually. I’ve learned a huge amount from him. And I’m hoping to learn a bit more about me as well as we’ve gone on.

Phil Byrne 8:50

I’m sure he has Nick, you know, I think one thing that comes across is how different Your skills are. And that’s something I’ve learned myself in business, I think, maybe my first couple of goals of business, I tended to create them with people who were very similar to me. And what I’ve learned since then, it is actually better to create businesses with people who are very different. Because then your skill base collectively is much broader, which always makes a better business. And it sounds already that you and Mark are very different in the skills that you have maybe even in the kinds of person you are. And so you have something which has momentum because of that, because you both put in different aspects of skill and quality. All in all. So Nick, tell us about the very first customer reviews now.

Nick Bandy 10:43

The first customer, I put the word out on my social media, on my social media handles, as it were, and, and just sort of floated out there and said, we’ve developed this kind of thing. And I know quite a lot of people, and so does Mark, we’re community people, and we live down in Shoreham Beach, just down on the South Coast and between Brighton and Worthing, and it’s a nice little community. And there are a lot of small businesses in this area, actually. So couple popped up straightaway. And I also tapped into some of my optical clients as well, and a couple popped up from there. So we created a campaign as it were, we just cut a couple of things to the application and sign up for a free a free element. And also the first campaign as it were, that we launched was with a local club. And it’s funny, it’s the Shoreham Yacht Club, where Mark and I know the club steward there, so we launched them, launched a campaign with her. One of the strange things that when you do a like a freebie, I don’t know whether you’ve ever done freebies yourself, but we launched it with her and she totally got it totally understood the concept and the way the campaigns were super simple, it’s a case of, you know, anyone in your organisation can basically start the process by simply handing a card over with a telephone number to send an activation word to. She as yet still hasn’t activated any of the cards, which is bizarre, we were like, well that’s the simple part, we designed and developed it to be so easy for somebody to just start using. And so we went back to her to sort of know, what was the issue? You know, what’s holding you back? Is there a nervousness and apprehension of you trialing this application and whatnot? We haven’t really quite gotten to the bottom of it. But since then, I’ve approached, I suppose as I learned from that thing. Obviously, we’ve started charging for campaigns, I think when people have got a bit of skin in the game, there’s a little bit more urgency, but also that little bit of discovery about what it is somebody wants to promote. Because obviously, we’re in the business of helping people source reviews, but as a side note, or almost like a side benefit. With this thing that we’ve created can actually help you promote something you want to promote in your business. So it can be anything really so and it’s just for me, it’s been about learning how to just discover what it really is what a client wants to promote. First and foremost, the thing most people just find it really hard to think, they’re like looking at you blankly and go, well, I don’t know what I want to promote and it’s like well, what area of business do you think you’ve got some room to grow? So the very next one was a coffee shop in Shoreham and one which I had assumed did a roaring trade with takeaway coffees and they were like, well actually Nick no, we don’t, we do a lot of kind of coffees and cakes and normal sandwiches for people who come in and want to sit down and kind of watch the world go by and they just back off the road and the river insurance, but they don’t do a lot of takeaway coffees. So then well your takeaway coffees could be something you really want to look to promote to your clients. You see at the weekend, when you roaring and perhaps in the week they’ll come back in and have a takeaway coffee on the way to the station or on their way to work, and they were like, well that would be excellent. We’re all struggling on how we can develop and grow that part of our business, which I think for coffee shop, like so my assumption is you, you do your takeaways as well as you can have sitting coffees, that’s not knowing how a coffee shop exactly works for that would be a major kind of focus for your business. So it’s just finding out really and just using the right questions to discover what somebody would love to promote within their business and then attaching that to the promotion on the card that then generates the, the automation that we’ve cleverly designed the app to follow for people.

Phil Byrne 15:49

You know Nick, you made some really interesting points there. The first thing you brought up is, you’ve created this fantastic app ReviewsWow. And yourself and Mark of working with this app every day. So when you take it out to the market, and you present it to a customer for the first time, they are unsure. It’s amazing how we can struggle to explain what we do what we offer, to someone who’s brand new to it, we have that problem in our digital marketing world where things change so quickly, you wrongly assume that everyone keeps up with that pace like you do, they don’t. So you know, just today I did a new inquiry for a guy who doesn’t know anything about online advertising didn’t really know what the difference between an ad and any other kind of presence online was. And for you, there, you were talking about how your first customer the Yacht Club, never took up any of the other features, the cards that you created on your app, and how you’re having to talk a coffee shop through what they could do with those cards, how it helps them whereas to you and Mark, its obvious.

Nick Bandy 17:00

Absolutely. And I think that’s one of the key learnings, because I’ve worked in sales and a little bit of marketing for quite some time. And I think learning how to best present the service you can offer is a real challenge. I think and even though we’ve created something that’s really simple to operate and use, it’s how you get that message and deliver that message to potential clients, which is vital and I think that’s going to be one of the key challenges, I think going forward, we’re working through it, and every time you do it, you get better at it and I like to say that, that kind of discovery of what their needs are and how you can fit their needs into the service for them and give them something that they can they understand fully, really without being too technical. And there’s a lot of that, you and I both know this, I mean, the digital ad space is relatively new to me, something I’m not massively okay with. But, but I do realise that there’s so many so many challenges with actually communicating what that, if all the different services can do for any kind of business really getting the kind of businesses that really need to kind of promote their business, and to see the benefit of it in a very kind of simple way. And that’s really it.

Phil Byrne 18:47

Definitely so. And Nick, you mentioned there how yourself and Mark developed ReviewsWow to really extend beyond reviews, and turn into an active marketing to your customers. So is that where you believe review marketing will go? Is that the direction you think everyone will head or just that you have headed in?

Nick Bandy 19:08

I think looking at say our competition, because there’s a few people out there doing, I suppose similar things to what we’re offering. But looking at it, I don’t think there’s any kind of better thing than social proof. I think we all like to get somebody else’s opinion. Whether that be or just to get better sometimes, that feedback enables us to get to get better at what we’re doing in the first place. And that potentially then can drive and drive your business on but obviously, with the advent of influencer marketing, the sportsman paid millions to endorse products, sales that are made by association. Now that’s similar to what happens locally and in a funny way, because you’ve got your close friends and peers, the whole Keeping Up with the Joneses thing and know who did your patio? Who did your decking? Now, where do you get your teeth and your haircut? What have you. And you need that kind of always looking for that kind of recommendation. So I think, review marketing or review management and things like that are really important to kind of focus on because, anything how you shop, shop now is it we’re always looking at the kind of the best that we can get for our money, I suppose. And the best service the best products. And, you know, and obviously, it goes on the flip side that bad experience services and products can really make or break business. You know, and if that if that does go horribly wrong for a particular business, it can be really hard to recover from really hard.

Phil Byrne 21:05

Definitely so. Nick on those topics of our can go well or not so Well, what tips would you give to a company stepping out into the business world for the first time? How can they enhance their positive reviews? And what should they do, if they get a negative review?

Nick Bandy 21:24

I think the thing is with reviews, and talking to people about it as what’s kind of going on, people are a little bit nervous about it a little bit shy about it, especially in the UK, I think we’re a little bit different. We’re not as bullish as say, businesses in the US. And I think my advice would be, don’t be shy, don’t live in fear of bad feedback, because it can really help you grow and help you move forward and kind of to take those any comments good or bad as a compliment, because somebody is actually either with a bad review, they’re trying to help you, or could be trying to help you. And with a good review, they’re taking the time out to, to kind of tell, especially with a Google review, or a Facebook review, you know they’re probably recommending you to their group of friends, but they’ve taken it up a notch they’re actually recommending you to, to their wider circle of friends and even the world in some cases. So it’s something to be kind of embraced really, rather than feared. You just need to kind of just kind of embrace it and kind of do your best with it and make it work for you in your business.

Phil Byrne 22:45

Which is a tough step for a businessman to take in mindset, isn’t there? No, we’ve always had people saying great things about us, hopefully, and then every now and then every company has a negative experience. The difference now is it’s broadcast to, as you said, the wider world. And that’s where tools like yours come in. But it’s that mindset, as you said, to embrace it, we have to get over that. That fact that anyone can access reviews on our business, if they’re online.

Nick Bandy 23:17

Yeah, absolutely. And one of the features that we’ve added into ReviewsWow, is that, sometimes you can’t be perfect all the time, it’s impossible, in your staff. And that customer experience. it’s a constant challenge to offer your customers the absolute best day in day out. And if you’re a business’s striving to do that, you are going to come up against times where people haven’t had a great experience may haven’t had the greatest service. And, you know, it’s how you then deal that particular customer that’s had a bad experience. I think that’s key. And one of the features of the app is that, and as well, when you’re in a business, you’re running that business and you’re servicing all your other clients, you’re not necessarily got your eyes on your reviews, and what somebody said to you online or say about you online, you’re maybe a restaurant, or you’re in your kitchen, if you’re a chef, or you’re trying to house if you’re running a coffee shop, that’s one of the big challenges, it’s like how do you respond to a customer time complaint early enough to be able to make good on it? And so, one of the features on the app is that, it’s like an auto response, somebody responds and says you’ve got some bad feedback here. It’ll auto respond rather than in the in the first case it will also respond and say, Look, we’re really sorry what’s happened? And it’ll ask the customer to kind of explain what happened, what their problem was, because again, in America, and perhaps other countries and cultures, and people are more likely to, to complain to you, at that moment that they’ve got an issue where it’s in the UK, I don’t know where we’re a little bit more reserved, we’ll perhaps walk out of an establishment or a business or an experience and go, the service I got there wasn’t very good. And I don’t feel very happy about it, I haven’t got value for money, or I haven’t got the right thing that I asked for, or whatnot, and then we go back retrospectively and go, I’m going to have a bit of a moan here, I feel really hard done by. And that’s something that we’ve had in mind when we’ve developed this application, because I suppose it’s just a behavioural thing. It’s a cultural thing that the way we the way we kind of process and cognitively digest issues that we’re having on a day to day basis, whether we’re having a good day, bad day, and whatnot, and I think, with any kind of review, if anyone’s business or service, I don’t think it’s ever, it’s never personal, it’s always, often at 89% of the time is generally bound by what has happened to that person previously to be in in your space, or working with you or buying something from you. it’s often, something that’s kind of they’re caught up with. And like I said in the app, we’ve developed a little thing in there, that our little processing there that just allows that to happen more, so that you’re in control of it a little bit more. Before somebody, I don’t know, just unloads and unleashes on a Google review or unleashes on a Facebook review. And then once it’s out there, it’s kind of out there, there’s not a lot you can do, you can go back and kind of answer that person on the platform. And that’s what I’d recommend people do, if you’ve got any reviews, that are out there that you look at, you kind of go, that really doesn’t come across very well. I would always say to people deal with it and deal with it live on the platform think about how you’d want somebody to answer that. And, and what that would portray about your business if somebody was searching for a plumber. And that is a bad review. Two reviews into a Google it on Google or whatnot. So yeah, it’s visuals, it’s optics, it’s do you care enough to answer that query in the public domain? And I would always say, be brave and say, look, we’ve messed up, we’re really sorry, we try our best day to day hour to hour like most businesses do. You know, we’re a small, medium, large, whatever type of business you are and, you know, we’d love to have a chat with you about it, because that’s how we get better. Yeah, okay.

Phil Byrne 28:20

There we go. Yeah, I think that’s a great response. Be gracious. And as you say, use everything that we encounter, not just in business but in life helps us if we allow it to. And then what you’re saying that positive review always helps us, of course, a negative review can do as well, it’s just in a very different way, isn’t it allows us to improve all in all. So Nick, you’ve, we’ve learned a lot about your tool, and we’ll let you tell everybody where they can find it in a second. But are there any other tools you recommend people can utilise to help them in their review management?

Nick Bandy 28:55

And I think one of the key ones is Google. And I know, whenever I ask people about Google, they’re often split or businesses a split down the middle. But obviously, they’ve got a lot of our data. But I think that’s often one of the things that that stops people from registering for Google My Business account. And it’s such a good tool, and it is constantly developing as well. And it puts you on the map as a business. And it allows you to do lots and lots of really cool things. Like some of the social networks as well, but I think it’s actually in some respects, it’s half more powerful for your business. So definitely say, you know, Google My Business is a really good tool for people to learn a little bit about and do a bit of research and kind of find out how to optimise your listing and look at what you can and can’t do with it. And just keep an eye the new features that are on the way or down the pipe as it were. And I’ll definitely say that that’s well worth using, you know, in some of the other review platforms Google actually will recognise, and as well, so you know, what they call a third party platform. So if you’ve got a Facebook page, you’ve got reviews enabled on it will obviously take that on board as well. You’ve got various ones in other kinds of categories or sectors. But one of the other ones YELP. You know, I do a lot of work like in the Optical space, so you’ve got to have more categories specific. So you’ve got like NHS Choices. So it’s about making sure you’ve got, now you’ve got some exposure on there as far as reviews and what people think of the business. And that will help not only know, how your business works when somebody is searching for a particular business, but it also helps, your SEO and all that kind of stuff as well. So it’s well worth just investing a bit of time in those and learning a little bit about those, those platforms as it were so yeah

Phil Byrne 31:27

Definitely so Nick, and all those platforms, once we sign up for them, we can then use ReviewsWow to maintain and manage everything that happens on them. So for everyone that’s been listening, tell us where we can find and sign up for a bit of a go on ReviewsWow.

Nick Bandy 31:43

Yeah, like I say that there are those are kind of premium element to it, so anyone can sign up. So if you have a look at our, our domain, which is the normal www.reviewsworld.com. There’s a couple of new little features on there’s a little explainer video, if you click on the top of the homepage there, which kind of takes you through a little bit of an overview. And then what we’ve also done is just recently we’ve put together, like a walkthrough, I suppose of how it works or how it could work for you. So that’s, that’s well worth doing. And anyone can run through that when we land on the homepage. But if you want to sign up for an account, it’s really easy to do, you just sign up for a free account and we’ll set you up. And you can decide what review platforms you want to connect your reviews where our account to so you can connect Google, Facebook, TripAdvisor, whatever you want to, like say it will collect, Mark’s a big fan because he’s in that trading kind of mindset, he’s a big fan of graphs and pie charts and bits and pieces. So the dashboard is really quite nice to look at, you really just see how your reviews have grown over time. You can sort your reviews from the newest, oldest to the worst to the best, search lots of functionality there your own business, but there’s also we’ve built in some data for say, like your competitors as well. So that you know, you can have a look on the map there on your once you get into the dashboard. And you can see where your competitors are with their reviews. And you can look at what the tone is on some of their reviews and what people have liked what people have not liked. There’s a lot of data in that can even in that dashboard without even paying for anything. So there’s a there’s a lot of things to have a little nose around that. And it’ll also if you click through on that, it’ll give you a few little leads into your own Google listing your Facebook listing and what all that looks like. Certain key search keywords and bits and pieces as well. So here’s lots to kind of get your teeth into and then you can you can go in and you can be controlled setting up a campaign you can always pick up the phone to one of us and have a chat about what you want to do but really in truly setting up campaigns as easy as writing a text message really, as long as you know what you want to promote, you know the text boxes are they’re there for you to design your own campaign around what you’re looking to promote any time really. Yeah, it’s good to have a little with anything is it’s good to have a little click around and see what you want to do.

Phil Byrne 34:42

Definitely so I can recommend everybody goes to do that. If you are a business that wants to grow or manage your reviews, then ReviewsWow is one of the growing number of reviews management apps but as you can hear from Nick, him and Mark have created something just a little different that allows you to do a couple of other new things as well. So Nick, we’ve learned a fair bit from you about your world and how you got into it and why we should all look at review marketing. Any final message you want to give to everybody?

Nick Bandy 35:12

I think I touched on it before but I just say Don’t bury your head in the sand, you know? and just assume everything’s going to be alright. I think you know; customers are the lifeblood of any business. And if you look after, then they’ll recommend you to their circle and possibly wider so that’s really what I’d what I’d say to people is, Don’t fear it, embrace it and get it working for your business.

Phil Byrne 35:44

It’s a big online world out there isn’t that accurate is it?

Nick Bandy 35:46

It is and it’s hard to see often what’s right in front of you. Now, there’s so many things you can be doing in the digital marketing space. And it’s trying to pick out the priorities of your business, but I think if you don’t priorities your customers, then I think you can run into problems and issues pretty quickly. I think we just need to put them first, anything you’re looking at customers first and your potential customers. First, foremost, front and centre. And I think you’re the other stuff you can fit in around that really.

Phil Byrne 36:29

Definitely so great. So for Nick, it’s been a pleasure having you on the podcast this week. Thank you so much for being here. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Nick Bandy 36:37

You too, Phil. Thanks very much. Thanks for having me.

Phil Byrne 36:45

My name is Phil Byrne. Thank you for listening. I hope you got something good to take away from our great guests today. This podcast is brought to you by Positive Sparks a multi-channel pay-per click and web analytics agency. If you would like some more free help in promoting what you do, head on over and test our skills and your business at https://positivesparks.com

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Roman Dudariev

Media buyer 
Dnipro, Ukraine

What sort of Positive Spark are you? What do you do in the team? What are you good at?
I help businesses attract new customers through paid traffic sources. I like helping businesses develop and grow with us, regardless of their budget, location or business size.
I have extensive experience in various business areas and in many countries. It’s always interesting to learn something new about new types of business and projects.
This always keeps me on my toes when I have to strategize for budgets ranging from $50 to $5,000+ per day.

What do you enjoy about being part of the Positive Sparks team?
I like that every team member can jump in at any time and help me with the project. You will never be left with a problem alone. The client will never be left alone with a problem.
We are always looking for solutions and development for the project.

In any case, I like the fact that my experience is always multiplied by the experience of other guys who are always ready to help.

What do you do in your spare time?
I play guitar and drums

One unusual thing about them that not many people know
When I registered for the marathon, there were no more accounts for 4 km and only accounts for 10 km remained. I was lazy and stubborn about transferring this goal to another event, so I signed up for a 10K and ran, even though I had never run that distance before.

Nataliia Dubyna

Paid search specialist
Dnipro, Ukraine

What sort of Positive Spark are you? What do you do in the team? What are you good at?
I am a PPC specialist on various client platforms (Google, Bing). I help develop pay-per-click strategies, aligning them with clients’ business goals. I analyze the market, target audience, and competitors and determine the best ways to use advertising budgets. As part of my collaboration with clients, I not only attract traffic but also actively work on optimizing web pages to increase conversions. I also constantly monitor industry and platform changes to adapt to new trends and technologies.

What do you enjoy about being part of the Positive Sparks team?
Absolutely! I consider myself very lucky to have met such sympathetic, kind, talented people within one team. We are a real team, where everyone compliments each other and is always ready to help.

What do you do in your spare time?
In my free time from work, I like to walk with my dog Frodo. Several years ago I adopted him from a shelter and now he is my best friend. I also enjoy dancing and yoga classes.

One unusual thing about them that not many people know
I like to go fishing alone. This is my kind of relaxation.

Kelly Luff-Cooper

Account Manager
St Agnes, England

What sort of Positive Spark are you? What do you do in the team? What are you good at?
I make sure that the client’s needs are met whilst ensuring that our team has everything we need to meet (and exceed!) those needs. I have both a customer service and marketing background so I enjoy the mix of the two, and I think it’s really important as an Account Manager to be on the side of the client AND the agency. I think I’m good at understanding the wider business needs of clients and how our role fits into this.

What do you enjoy about being part of the Positive Sparks team?
I love how well the team gel considering that we work and live around the world. The agency feels different to others that I’ve worked with over the years, as we truly work as a team without ego and I really like that difference – it makes for a positive environment and a true partnership with our clients.

What do you do in your spare time?
I have two children who at 2 and 5 years old take up a lot of my spare time. We live right by the beach, so we spend a lot of time there. For myself, I swim in the sea year-round, run (slowly) and love to read and write stories and poems.

One unusual thing about them that not many people know
There is very little that people don’t know about me because I’m pretty open! I went on the TV programme Masterchef when I was in my 20s – it was super stressful and I hated it once we started filming, but went on to work in a kitchen for a few years afterwards!

Kateryna Petrenko

Advertising Manager
Dnipro, Ukraine

What sort of Positive Spark are you? What do you do in the team? What are you good at?
I am the one who analyses the data and uses it to optimise campaigns and implement new strategies, and try to make sure that the client gets the best results.

What do you enjoy about being part of the Positive Sparks team?
Having been part of the Positive Sparks team for many years, I’m fortunate in that my role is always transitioning, which allows me to expand my skillset with the help of the fantastic team I work with. What I enjoy most are the great people I work with every day!

What do you do in your spare time?
I love spending time with my dogs, and I also love taking photos and posting them on Photostock or taking part in photo contests.

One unusual thing about them that not many people know
A few random facts:
– I love to go fishing.
– If I had to change my profession, I would like to learn to be a barista.
– My first job was cleaning at a slaughterhouse.

Jo Harrison

Digital Excellence Manager
France

What sort of Positive Spark are you? What do you do in the team? What are you good at?
I’m the Positive Spark that keeps everything ticking along, testimony to my attention to detail and meticulous nature. I oversee the day to day operations, looking after client communication and team management to not only ensure that everyone is focused on what they are good at, but also that deadlines are always met.

Furthermore, my effectiveness at pulling everything together, creating streamlined processes and building strong client relationships are what drive me to focus on delivering the very best for every business we work with.

As a result, Phil knows that all web marketing projects will be delivered on time and in line with the client’s expectations – which allows him to concentrate on delivering what he does best.

What do you enjoy about being part of the Positive Sparks team?
Having been part of the Positive Sparks team for many years, I’m fortunate in that my role is always transitioning, which allows me to expand my skillset with the help of the fantastic team I work with. What I enjoy most are the great people I work with every day!

What do you do in your spare time?
I’m very lucky in that I live in rural France, which allows me to step away from my computer and straight into the countryside for long walks with my dogs. I also love fabulous French architecture and search it out whenever I visit new places. Reading is another of my big passions and I’m very lucky because I get to read plenty of books before other people do in my role as a professional eBook formatter. Finally, I love learning new skills – and will dedicate time to basically anything that catches my interest and broadens my knowledge.

One unusual thing about them that not many people know
Most people don’t know that I’m part owner of an actual castle! That’s right… I own a share in a French château called Château de la Mothe Chandeniers in the Loire Valley. I try to visit my château at least once a year.

Dipesh Sapkota

Media Buyer
Kathmandu, Nepal

What sort of Positive Spark are you? What do you do in the team? What are you good at?
I am a media buyer at Positive Sparks. As a Positive Spark, my role revolves around crafting and executing dynamic digital marketing strategies. I specialize in leveraging the power of Social Media to enhance brand visibility, engagement, and overall online success. I’ve mastered the art of multitasking, making sure everything clicks, just like your favorite TV remote (minus the lost-in-the-couch part ).

What do you enjoy about being part of the Positive Sparks team?
Being part of the Positive Sparks team is like having a daily passport to different corners of creativity. It’s inspiring to work alongside talented individuals who share a passion for making a positive impact. The team’s dedication to creativity, innovation, and fostering a positive work culture aligns perfectly with my professional values.

What do you do in your spare time?
In my spare time, I catch the travel bug and go on adventures to new places, exploring and trying all kinds of delicious food. Cheering for my favorite cricket team always pumps me up and adds an extra dose of excitement to my day!

One unusual thing about you that not many people know
In the realm of the unusual, I possess a unique superpower—I can turn any place into a cozy nap haven. Call it my secret talent or a low-key superhero ability, but when it comes to napping, I’ve mastered the art. Whether it’s a couch, the office chair, or even the most unlikely spots, I can catch some z’s and turn any moment into a power nap paradise. It’s my unconventional way of recharging for the next adventure!

Catalina Useche

Digital Marketing Specialist
Medellín, Colombia

What sort of Positive Spark are you? What do you do in the team? What are you good at?
As a Digital Marketing Specialist, I’m responsible for creating and managing online marketing campaigns to promote brands, products, or services through the appropriate social media channels to reach their target audiences and achieve the business goals. I use my experience and expertise to analyze the goals and create the best digital marketing strategy to achieve them.

What do you enjoy about being part of the Positive Sparks team?
I love being part of Positive Sparks because we always work together as a team, looking for the best for the company and our clients, making sure we all succeed and achieve our goals. Everyone is super friendly and always willing to help.


What do you do in your spare time?
I enjoy working out and spending time with my friends and family. I also like listening to music, and going to concerts and football matches in Colombia.

One unusual thing about you that not many people know
I used to play football when I was a teenager. Also, I’m very good at Maths although I never wanted to study any engineering or any degree that included it.

Aizel Balce

Company VA Porto, Portugal

What sort of Positive Spark are you? What do you do in the team? What are you good at?
I help make things look good and get stuff done. I take care of ensuring our documents are branded. I also assist in transcribing our goals and processes into a manageable system, we call pods. I help reach out to influencers, ensuring our clients connect with the right people for the brand. I’m your go-to person for creative design and assisting anyone who needs a hand.


What do you enjoy about being part of the Positive Sparks team?
I’m part of an awesome team that’s always working together towards success. The atmosphere is super friendly, and we value respect in everything we do. It’s a great place to be, where everyone supports each other, making work both enjoyable and productive.


What do you do in your spare time?
I enjoy going on adventures, especially exploring the beach and mountains. I also like watching documentaries and Korean dramas.


One unusual thing about you that not many people know?
I used to be an elementary teacher for almost 12 years. I enjoyed teaching mathematics and interacting with the little milestones of the kids.

Amanda Kerrison

Business Development Director
England

What sort of Positive Spark are you? What do you do in the team? What are you good at?
I am the glue that keeps everything together. I manage our client accounts and the various teams, within Positive Sparks that work with our clients. I ensure everything runs smoothly and efficiently. I develop relationships with our clients , help with marketing strategy and often advise on development.

What do you enjoy about being part of the Positive Sparks team?
I love the relationships we have with each other, although we are miles apart we are a very close bunch, who work very well together.

What do you do in your spare time?
In my spare time you will find me either singing or Paddleboarding (or both even, I’m great at multi-tasking 🤣)

One unusual thing about you that not many people know?
An unusual thing about me …🤔
I am a qualified Reiki practitioner