Interview with Saul Colt – Marketing Magician

The Interview

Name: Saul Colt (Damn what a cool name! Sounds like a star!)
Age: 36
Occupation: Head of Magic @ FreshBooks, Marketing & Communications, Nighttime SUPERHERO!

My job is full of challenges (even though it is the greatest job in the world) because I have accepted the challenge of teaching creative professionals and freelancers that there is a better way to invoice and get paid than the way they are doing it currently. FreshBooks is an online invoicing and time tracking service designed to help freelancers make more money, get paid faster and look more professional!…and no I have never considered giving up, too exciting much work to even think about that.

Failure is a harsh word and I don’t think anything we have done falls under that category. We have had some learning experiences that have been very helpful in rethinking how we would do things in the future…but no failures!

Our greatest achievement so far has been our RoadBurn tour where we rented an RV and drive from Miami Florida to Austin Texas having 2-3 meals a day with FreshBooks Customers and getting a up close look at the lives of the people who use our service. This was an amazing adventure as well as learning tool for what we need to do to continue to serve our customers in a superior way…and we made a splash http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2008/03/25/10-ways-to-become-an-unofficial-sponsor-of-sxsw-interactive-2008/

We don’t get a lot of negative feedback but when we do we try to build off of it and turn it into a positive. Things can be learned from every experience (good or bad) and that is what we try to do.

People like William Gaines inspire me, Conversations inspire me, Pretty Women, Summer Weather, Balloons, Cereal, Television, Bad Television, Dolemite Movies . Basically what I am saying is that inspiration is everywhere and you just need to look for it.

My favourite two quotes are:

• “Luck is just probability made personal” – Penn Jillette
• “Be the Change you want to see in the world” – Ghandi

I love these two quotes because they make me seem smart and they speak to me.

Jealousy is a wasted emotion.

Creativity and Water

To be named Marketer of the Year for some fancy magazine (or internet website *HINT HINT*)

I buy shoes (Nike AF1’s) and keep them on a shelf for years so when I do wear them I will be the only person with those shoes in those colors.