Out of the ad industry!

With a shock yesterday, I realised I'm no longer part of the advertising industry. With a final invoice paid last week, there's no part of my income I now get from dreaming up campaigns. I'm strangely happy.

That loosely-defined mob of multinationals, agency brands, creative boutiques and marketing services companies I've worked with for a decade no longer forms any part of the 'pump's fees. Two years ago, it was 50%. These days, my time goes on web application design, project management, and helping run a small consultancy group with big prospects. That group is fun to work with - and because it's essentially a startup, there's plenty to be done: expanding it to a 100-man+ European operation in five years isn't going to be easy.

That's my new life, and I hardly even noticed it arriving. Already, my sisters are joking I've got a 'proper job'. Well, I'm not drawing a payslip yet...