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Paul Middleton
Freelance Communications Consultant
Paul Middleton is a communications professional who previously served as the Head of Communications at Third Bridge Group Limited.12 In this role, he was instrumental in growing the company's international presence and managing its communications strategies.
Career Highlights
Current Position:: As of June 2024, Paul Middleton has transitioned to a new role as a Communications and Engagement Consultant at Merlin Entertainments.1
Previous Experience:: Before his current position, Paul held the role of Head of Communications at Third Bridge Group Limited.12 During his tenure at Third Bridge, he was involved in various communications initiatives, including:
- Growing the company's international presence
- Managing communications strategies
- Potentially creating podcast series, as he mentioned this as one of his favorite projects3
Skills and Expertise
Paul Middleton has extensive experience in the field of communications.2 His expertise likely includes:
- Internal and external communications
- Public relations
- Marketing communications
- Content creation and strategy
Professional Network
Paul is part of a WhatsApp group for communications and marketing professionals, which is run by PR expert David Gallagher.3 This suggests he is well-connected within the industry and stays current with trends and best practices.
While Paul Middleton's specific LinkedIn username is paul-middleton-a7792933, it's worth noting that his profile can be found on various professional networking platforms, showcasing his career progression and expertise in the communications field.
Highlights
Senior comms pros are saying the jobs market is “brutal” right now.
Is that what you're seeing?
I’m part of WhatsApp group for comms and marketing folk, run by PR legend, David Gallagher. Ping me if you want to join. Recently, the in-house crowd discussed the jobs market for senior comms professionals. For a budding freelancer who may one day return to perm’ the results were eye-opening. Here’s my summary:
- The UK, US and Euro market for perm' senior comms jobs is the worst some have ever seen. The tech’ and construction industries are especially hard hit.
- Several groups including the PRSA and CIPR are discussing how rampant ageism has become and how it could be more central to the D&I agenda.
- Those aged over 50 say its “demoralising” to reach peak usefulness and gain so much experience only to be put on the shelf.
- To combat this the over 50s are working overtime to reinvent themselves and stay on top of the latest innovations, such as AI.
- Overwhelmingly, senior comms pros say LinkedIn Jobs is “a nightmare” and a “black hole.” Contributors spoke of “a numbers game” full of illogical knock-backs and “fake jobs.”
- Recruiters came in for criticism too with reports of ghosting, “random rejections”, and a transactional mindset. Some contributors had never had a good recruiter experience.
To address this, the group suggested job-hunters do seven things:
1. Use your network to navigate the jobs market and polish your CV. 2. Speak to recruiters over the phone or in-person. Don’t rely on email. 3. Consider executive search firms such as Spencer, Heidrik, Russell, Egon, and Korn. 4. Exude curiosity and positivity during the job interview process. 5. Ask discovery questions about the business, team, and its pain points. 6. Watch out for transference traps such as “oh yes, been there done that.” 7. Talk about your learnings and not just the events you’ve been part of.
I would add three more pieces of advice from my own experience of going freelance:
8. Try to enjoy the new opportunities free time can present. YOLO.
9. Exercise daily to maintain a winning mindset.
10. Set a variety of new personal goals to maximise your motivation levels.
Asked to summarise the current jobs market, one contributor said it’s “like dating but more brutal and less polite.” Ouch.
We’ve all been out of work at some stage and it shouldn’t be such a taboo subject. Let me know what you think.
I've left the corporate world to go freelance.
Thank you to everyone who has helped me get this far.
Some of you have given me technical advice and others have provided introductions.
I've also heard fascinating stories about your lifestyle changes.
A big shout out to the teetotalers, the expats, and toxic workplace escapees.
What these stories have in common is that we can all delay major decisions while we wait for perfect timing.
But I can see now that sometimes you just have to make a jump into the unknown and be prepared to learn.
And that's where I am now. Learning real fast. Setting up a company, building a website, deciding how to market myself. Thankfully the contracts are starting to come.
Taking a break from permanent employment has made me think about my health and wellbeing in a radically different way.
It's reminded me how valuable human relationships are and how foolish we are to neglect them.
But most of all it's given me the chance to dream a bigger dream.
If that sounds like something you can get behind please get in touch or share this message.
https://lnkd.in/eu67vS4U
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.