We both stood at opposite sides, staring suspiciously at a cheese and spinach roll.

"Have you tried it?" - he asked.

"No. Have you?" I replied.

"Rock, paper, scissors?"

This is how David and I met for the first time, last week at a conference in London.

Instant "besties".

Throughout your lifetime, you meet people, build friendships, and some fade away into noise.

With some people, we click instantly; with others, we struggle to have a casual conversation.

I used to be burdened by this. I'm direct, tough love, sometimes lacking diplomacy, yet open-minded, playful, curious, and have an unapologetic sense of humor reflecting that. Although my intentions are never malicious, I can get misunderstood from time to time.

I hated that.

After many years of struggle, I learned to see it as a superpower. I realized I am not for everyone, nor should I be. Humor comes in handy as a great vibe check, leaving me surrounded by people who fill my batteries.

After all - why would anyone want to be surrounded by people who drain them out?

Seems simple, but it’s one of those things that is not that obvious in practice.

☕ Caffeinated weekend cheers,

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But here’s the thing: If mastering WordPress isn’t your primary skill or job, you simply don’t have the time. I quickly found myself tangled in an overwhelming mess of tools, add-ons, and endless hours trying to piece together an idea and vision I had in my mind. Thousands of dollars in potential costs and countless hours wasted later, I had to ask myself: Was this worth it?

As fun as getting frustrated was, I needed something simple and easy to manage - a way to share my work online, give potential clients an easy way to connect, and that’s it. Spending money on unnecessary subscriptions or hiring developers just didn’t align with my priorities. I like simplicity, saving money, and focusing on what truly matters.

I’m a one-man band. Writing about myself as "we"? Feels fake. Writing about myself in third person? Equally weird and not my style. I'm direct and like to get my hands dirty and get into the weeds of a problem. So, I ditched the norms. I stopped chasing the dream of a picture-perfect website and embraced what was only essential.

Instead of battling WordPress, add-ons, and my sanity, I opted for something simpler. A clean, functional website that works without breaking the bank—or my patience. Turns out, scrapping the “perfect” for the practical was the best decision I made.

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Welcome To My Work Home

I've been a die-hard Notion fan for years - personally and professionally. I organized and over-organized pretty much anything I got my hands on. From shopping lists to templates, freebies, products, organizing processes, and databases - I did it all with a smile!

Having a website to represent my working environment seemed like a good idea, so I dropped everything I've been doing on the web and simply published a Notion page.

This past weekend, I turned that idea into reality.

This is how you do it.

I'm realizing this reads like sponsor content. It's not - just one crazy Notion lady in her element, sharing her journey. 'Tho having a free pro version would be neat...

The setup? Super simple, especially if you’re already a Notion user. You’ll need any paid plan (mine is $48/year). While you probably don’t need a guide, I skimmed the FAQs so you don’t have to. If you’re after a quick-and-dirty speed run, here’s the gist:

1. Pick or create a Notion page: Decide what you want to share—your workspace, portfolio, or anything else. Add your services, a portfolio using Gallery view, short description, maybe an email or a contact form, and you’re golden.

Adjust the permissions: Make the page public by clicking "Share" button in the top right corner. You'll get something like this:

3. Recommendations (Here is the part where I stop you from spending any of your precious time. Speed run!)

• Turn ON Search engine indexing - do this if you want your site to be visible on search engines

• Set Link expiration to None - For your site to be published until you decide to remove it.

• Turn OFF Duplicate as a template - We don't want that here. It’s your page, not a template.

...and under Site customization

• Favicon - that little logo you see on web sites - add a logo if you have one. You can add anything you like, such as a photo of yourself if you’re going for a portfolio vibe.

• Header - the top part of the website, also known as “navigation”. Explore options and set whatever seems right for you. Don't overthink it. All of this is optional.

• Add your Google Analytics tag - it's free and easy to do. It's a small price to pay to be able to stalk your website visitors at 1 a.m. while drinking hot cocoa because you were sucked into the YouTube wormhole of "What did Lindsey Lohan do with her face to look normal again" type of videos. You can add this later on.

• Save, click Publish Changes and refresh your Notion page. (Ctrl+R or Cmd+R)

• Congratulations! You saved yourself from the trauma that comes from learning WordPress.

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4. Using a custom domain: You can also connect your domain if you have an additional $96 lying around. A great option to have, make it official and professional.

I love that they've added the option to connect your domain, however, the price feels a bit high for what you actually get right now. I’m holding out for future features that might make me eager to part with my money. For now, I'm sticking to my cheap guns and keeping the OG notion.site domain. I’ve made a redirect from my consultancy domain for visitors with a bookmark.

What I Like

Creating a website in Notion is ridiculously easy - especially if you already feel at home in it. It’s quick to publish and even quicker to unpublish if you mess something up (goodbye, mistakes!). You always have a real-time preview of what your page looks like, and editing or moving things around is easy-peasy.

What I love the most is that my website now lives alongside the rest of my work-home in Notion ecosystem - my tasks, products, client notes, calendar, and more. Everything is in one place, which feels natural and organized. It’s an extension of how I already work which hits all sorts of spots in my book.

What I'm missing

Notion’s greatest strength - its structured simplicity - is also its limitation. I couldn’t do everything I envisioned, but honestly, I’m okay with that. The restrictions kept me focused and helped me stick to the Functionality > aesthetics mantra.

That said, there were a couple of pain points:

• Contact Form: Ideally, I wanted an embedded form, but that’s not possible (yet). I worked around it by linking an external form behind a "Contact Me" button. Functional, but not perfect.

• Social Media Previews: While Notion lets you customize how your page looks when shared on social media, it doesn’t display well when embedded. Fingers crossed for future updates on this front.

In the end, the simplicity of Notion is what keeps me hooked. Sure, it’s not as flashy as other website tools, but it works for me - and that’s all I need.

Wrap Up

I am happy with how it turned out. I already have a list of improvements I want to make, but for now, it does exactly what I need it to: it works. It feels like me. It’s functional, adaptable, and completely relevant to how I work.

Websites don’t have to be fancy and pricey to get the job done. They just need to work for you. If you are a startup, a small company, or a freelancer of any kind, I think this is a great option to consider. If you use Notion professionally, this is a clever way to showcase your skills.

Resources:

• Here is Notion's guide to their sites. You will find additional ideas on what you can use the sites for, internally or externally.

• This icon archive is my go-to place for pimpin' up my Notion pages. I like this fruit pack. I assign a fruit to each client and mark anything related to them with the same fruit. I also love this office pack for organizing client's in-house processes and databases.

Thanks for reading! If you feel inspired and decide to make your website using Notion, share it with me! I’d love to see it.

Kudos to WOP friends , , & Juan P. for sharing their eye-opening feedback. 💚

“All that exists in the world of marketing are perceptions in the minds of the customer or prospect. The perception is the reality. Everything else is an illusion.”

~ 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing** by Al Ries & Jack Trout

Unpacking the Illusion

The quote reveals a profound truth, not because I’m a “marketer”, but a consumer.

Apple is a bottomless pit of great examples. Apple's core strategy shaped its brand being perceived as innovative and premium. Add a slick, detail-obsessed design and a legendary brand is born. A genius move of removing most of the furniture and transforming their stores into what resembles an art gallery, Apple made iPhone fans into worshipers. When they release a new product many believe it’s the best in its category - even if their technical specs might suggest otherwise, and their updates often aren’t groundbreaking.

Water resistance, wireless charging, widgets on the home screen, and always-on-display are all examples of features introduced to iPhone after Android phones have had them for years. Apple sits back and lets other companies beta test things, and then when they do decide to jump in, they plug it into their ecosystem and do it “the Apple way”. That is the secret sauce their customers love - how their products look and feel in your hand, how they sound, and how everything connects flawlessly if you're an avid Apple user . 

Luxury clothing or handbag brands are classic examples, too. They craft expectations around quality, pricing, exclusivity, and customer experience, reinforced by luxurious, often over-the-top packaging and top-tier service for those who are worthy. The harder it is to obtain a product, the more desirable it becomes.

Luxury lovers rave about “the experience” of buying luxury goods and keep coming back. One well-known example is the “Hermès game”, well discussed on the Internet and in luxury communities. Hundreds of videos, if not thousands, are just a YouTube search away from stories of “How I landed an Hermès bag in Paris.” Securing a Birkin or Kelly isn’t as simple as walking into a store and buying one. This deliberate scarcity strategy drives shoppers mad, leaving them frustrated or even offended which, naturally, calls for another YouTube video. 

Ironically, this challenge is what keeps Hermès on top. Many customers spend fortunes, not just for the bag, but for the thrill of the hunt itself.

While Hermès uses scarcity to heighten desire, other brands, such as Tesla, Starbucks, Coca Cola, to name a few, build their market power through different approaches. Whether it’s technological innovation or creating a ubiquitous presence in our daily lives, these brands master the art of shaping perception. These examples all have brand power, as they call it, an influence and strength in the marketplace and in the mind of consumers. This is often what earns marketers the reputation of being "devil's little helpers," Yet, these brands maintain their status for a simple reason: consumers keep on voting with their wallets in brands’ favor.

Objective “facts” about a brand or product don’t make it better than the competitor’s. There is no universal truth in what makes a product “good” or “best” in an absolute sense. What we perceive about a product is what we believe to be true. Apple has been telling us a great story, nice for our eyes and ears, Hermès packs their handbags worth of legacy in orange boxes with a bow on it. And we love it.

Marketing Sorcery

Every ad, every story, every campaign is carefully crafted. Behind the scenes, designers spend hours finding the perfect color palette, testing taglines, and designing imagery that resonates. Marketers craft targeted strategies to reveal the product’s value in ways that will strike a chord. Crafting perception isn’t about deception—it’s a form of artistry. It’s not about fooling people; it’s about connecting with them on a level that feels authentic.

Beautifully crafted stories, PR finesse, as well as the tactile charm of the product design are all different spells, each adding dimension to a painted perspective in your mind’s eye.

Embracing Perception

“There is no objective value attached to anything that's independent of your perception. You're marketing whether you like it or not⁠⁠.” ~ Rory Sutherland

The narratives we create, what we imagine and believe all shape what becomes real for us. The magic of marketing lies not in deception, but in storytelling. When perception shapes reality, it doesn’t strip away authenticity; it adds another layer, turning the ordinary into something worth noticing.

Monday coffee cheers,

Sources and inspiration for this post:

• The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries & Jack Trout

• Rory Sutherland - YouTube Short

• Marques Brownlee - YouTube channel

My “gamer” nickname has always been Thumberlina, or Thumb for short. “Thumb’s Playground” has been my Instagram theme for a while, and now I’m keeping the tradition alive - opening the Playground to anyone that wants to join.

This is my space to share thoughts, ideas and insights, not tied to any company, client or entity. To me, this means freedom.

What to Expect

When I started my career, I couldn’t find a place that truly resonated with me - somewhere to get inspired, gather insights about the topics I cared about, and follow someone’s real-time growth. There are some great blogs on user acquisition (UA) and resources out there (more about those later!), but this is my perspective and experience from a fresh angle.

With this in mind, I created this Playground as a space I wish I had 2, 5, or 10 years ago. It’s designed to help anyone new to mobile user acquisition, such as performance marketing enthusiasts or CEOs and founders looking to save time and money.

Who Am I in This Story?

I’ve been in performance marketing for 10+ years and started my career back in University as a hungry newbie with big dreams and grit. I started in an agency and eCommerce, but since then I have specialized in mobile games and apps, singlehandedly managing 7-figure budgets, and leading teams, I’m a now a full-time consultant.

I’ve partnered with CEOs, and startups, and built Performance, Growth, and UA teams from the ground up. I’ve worked alongside Creative teams, Data Engineers, Devs, and Product teams, tackling ongoing challenges in the field. Now, I’m sharing my questions, findings, and insights (*no NDAs broken, promise).

Lately, I’ve been vetting UA managers as I help companies hire. More on that soon!

🧠 What I learned this week

First, making websites is hard. Since I embarked on my website redesign journey, tackling WordPress for the first time, I got lost in the WordPress.com vs Wordpress.org fiasco and I gave up 12 times already. To be fair, I’m doing it for the first time ever, so bear with me.

If worth saving someone’s headache → WordPress.com is a service, something like Wix, Squarespace, and what’s-its-name. WordPress.org is an open-source tool for websites, the free one you’re looking for. Naturally, the .com version will try to get you first - don’t fall for it. I didn’t know there were two in the first place.

Second, I desperately need new photos of myself.

I’ll end this intro by sharing a somewhat creepy illustration and AI vision of what “Thumb’s Playground” looks like. Thanks for reading and subscribing.

Caffeinated Saturday Cheers! ☕

Have a request or topic you can’t wait to read about? Leave me a note here, I’d love to hear about it. ✨

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