Hi there!
I’m Matthew
I specialize in marketing and experience design. My aspiration is to create experiences, optimize, solve problems and provide solutions to serve users and customers, and help society or businesses do better with the opportunities that new technologies create.
Welcome to my website!
This site should give you a brief snapshot of who I am, some experiences I’ve had, and a few of the things I’ve worked on. Have a look around, discover more about me and let’s connect together!
About me.
Here’s a quick summary – I’m a final year MSc student in Digital Marketing and Corporate Communications with a minors degree in Strategy & Experience Design. Also a “side-hustling” freelance web-designer, marketer, and occasional gigging musician. I love Jazz, gaming – when possible, potato chips! and exploring new places. Fun fact! I once hitch-hiked to the Shire (from Lord of The Rings) in rural New Zealand. See my Bio below.
Here’s why we would connect well:
Communication oriented
Excels at being able to communicate, be it written, spoken, or creative design. CX and service-minded.
A "campaigner"
Enjoys using insight and creativity to help others and think about innovative ways to improve things.
A people-person
Adaptive, sociable, positive, warm, polite, and diplomatic. Driven by people-centricity and growth.
Diverse work & life experience
Diverse experiences have shaped me to who I am; through work, travel, cultural exposure, and education.
Prospective outlook
A curious mind that loves exploring environments that influence human experience, and value creation.
Positive-growth mindset
Willing to share, evolve, and learn and expand my job description. Next step is the unknown, ready for challenge.
My Bio
Matthew is Canadian-born with Irish dual-citizenship from his parents, raised in Aurora Ontario 40km north of the greater Toronto area. Matthew has experienced living in 4 different countries and traveled to many, has passengered a two-seater cargo bush plane to live on a small Tasmanian island for 4 months, has hitch-hicked with a friend to the Shire (movie set location from Lord of The Rings) in rural New Zeland, surfed the frigid cold waters of the Irish-Atlantic, he’s performed at a music concert for an arena of 800 people, and met his lovely Finnish partner of 10 years-strong in the sunny city of Brisbane, Australia.
In the past, he’s worked at an aquarium retail store, has been a drum builder’s apprentice, a short-order cook, event catering server, an in-store sales representative for a well-known Canadian apparel brand, a boarding school teachers’ assistant, to helping develop a family-run business, then later working for a unit of the United Nations, digital agencies and startups. His curiosity, eagerness to explore, learn and diverse background has helped him to not only step out of his comfort zone but also approach things holistically in everything he does with a positive impact.
In 2013, he started his formal education journey in Finland, studying a bachelor’s in tourism, raising his interest in experience economy, mobility, and destination marketing. Having done a thesis focused on contexual localization in the travel industry, it influenced him to pursue a master’s degree to deepen his knowledge in the dynamic field of digital marketing. Matthew also has a fascination with psychology and environments (physical and virtual) which influence behavior. During his time as a student, he’s been taking on freelance side projects (e.g web design & optimization) and engrossed in internet business and the functions that drive it. For example, one of his latest accomplishments involves helping a traditional small business become more digital-centric, which now generates around 80% of its leads and on-going revenue through its web presence. Though not limited to, Matthew gravitates his interest towards industries like retail, hospitality, transportation, music, entertainment, and of course design, marketing, and advertising.
Being growth-oriented, Matthew is always ready for the next big challenge and step into the unknown. He most enjoys working with value proposition, creative endeavors, and people-centered roles. In pop psychology assessments, Matthew scores high in Openness to Experience in his Big Five profile with moderately high scores in Agreeableness and Extraversion. You can find Matthew at your nearest music venue, gaming by building virtual cities, at the gym, and spending time with friends, and his partner.
Featured projects I’ve worked on.
Website design portfolio
12 featured projects
Summary
Featured website design projects, some of which include active clients where I’ve fully manage their website, content, online positioning, and advisory.
Business & website optimization
Business development, marketing, SEO & CRO
Summary
A small business client site I’ve worked on since 2014 transforming their online positioning through website design, search engine optimization (SEO), content strategy, conversion-focused A/B split testing, and analytics monitoring.
Project page coming soon…
Music Venue & Gig Listing Platform
Passion-project, web development, and live events
Summary
A Jazz resource platform and directory site, covering festivals and events, jazz venues, gig listings, and musician promotional activities in featured cities around the world. I co-established this project working with web development & design, marketing, content production, data sourcing & collection, user acquisition, and development of the platform.
Project page coming soon…
BA Semester Projects
3 featured company commissioned projects
Summary
A brief overview of my bachelor’s studies in university of applied sciences – featuring three-semester projects: planning & production of a travel trade show event, corporate travel management research, and a brand image & customer satisfaction research. These projects were company commissioned.
Project page coming soon…
Audience Engagement & Insights
Business project & strategic design research
Summary
Conducted research & strategic design consisting of audience understanding, persona and customer journey planning, and communication plan for Aalto Universities’s corporate engagement department (ADCO).
Project page coming soon…
Google Marketing Challenge
Google Adwords (PPC) campaign project
Summary
Strategizing & Running a Google Ads Campaign for Megan Meier Foundation. The project was hosted and funded by Google (GOMC), matching a selected non-profit organization with a qualifying small student team to strategize and manage the client campaign over a 4 week period with $10k ad spend.
Project page coming soon…
Startup Funding Event
“Start-up” venture, event planning & production
Summary
An international collaborated project established by a small team of entrepreneurial-minded young-professionals. Starting from an idea, we established an international event that expanded into four cities and in three countries, bringing together start-ups, world-class founders, and investors.
Project page coming soon…
Virtual CV.
My experience with study-related projects, as well as my diverse work background which includes freelance web design & optimization, has sparked a passion in me to work with clients, testing, measuring, and improving outreach, honed by an entrepreneurial mindset, creativity, and people skills at my core. I have a solid understanding of digital marketing and web concepts, along with an aspiration to create experiences.
Education
University of Jyväskylä
MSc: Digital Marketing and Corporate Communications
Minor studies: Strategy & Experience Design (ITP, Aalto University)
Thesis: In-store behavior analytics and shopper marketing (in progress)
Extracurricular: Cultural Planning & Creative Placemaking
(Open university course from Sibelius-UNIARTS Helsinki)
2018 – present
Jyväskylä, Finland
Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences
BA: Business Tourism & Events Management
2013 – 2017
Porvoo, Finland
Work Highlights
Marketing-Designer
February 2015 – Present | Freelance/Remote
I’ve been freelancing on the side for over 6 years, focusing on creating marketing-centric websites, design, and content (e.g copywriting), advising clients, and business growth for a variety of business niches. Being a freelancer, I have worked on my own acquisition, and offering affordable and high-quality services and coaching to small business clients. In addition, I’ve offered Whitelabel services and have worked in collaboration with boutique digital agencies; Acebo, AtelierDigital Ltd, and AuthorityWriting.
- Conversion-focused websites using modern web design and UX practices.
- Coached and helped clients understand their needs and which design and marketing solutions would best match their goals and expectations for online positioning.
- Designed multiple WordPress websites and worked on growth marketing tactics.
- Used website optimization and reporting tools e.g Google Analytics, Hotjar, and SEMrush to improve traffic, user engagement, improve user journeys, and implement ways to increase lead generation and conversion rates.
- Implement innovative marketing ideas, and new areas of business for clients.
- Client acquisition
Travel Management Associate
United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) – Full-time Contract
Jul 2015 – Oct 2015 and May 2018 – Oct 2018 | Helsinki Finland | Website
- Handling communications related to travel, and liaising with event participants, travellers, and UN personnel.
- Management of over 300 travel accounts and travel documentation processing.
- Resolving any difficult and or urgent cases.
- Initiated and led a live music entertainment programme for the duration of the conference event days.
Destination Marketing & Event Assistant
Toolbox-Travel Marketing & Consulting – Full-time Intern
September 2016 – March 2017 | Helsinki, Finland | Website
- Assisting with the organization of MeetFinland and MatkaTravel trade show events.
- Liaison officer and stakeholder communications between suppliers and buyers.
- Creating marketing material, promotion of tourism packages, and destinations to prospective clients.
Extra Experience
Volunteer
- Slush, 2019, Helsinki
Event support, Sustainability Team - Startup Funding Event
04.2018, Rotterdam, NL & 11.2018, Helsinki FI.
Founders team, organized by WhyNot3. - WhyNot3, 0.1.2018-2019
Business ideation and team building small group. - Porvoo Jazz Festival, 2014
Event planning, ideation, and onsite event support. - Lattitude Global Volunteering, 2010-2011
Spent 1 year in New Zealand as a school assistant, followed by 4 months in Australia as an outdoor education assistant.
Achievements & Certificates
Self-Learning Certificates:
- Google Online Marketing Fundamentals Certification
- Google Ads Fundamentals Certification
- Hubspot Inbound Marketing Certified
- TeamTreeHouse Front End development track
Project Certificates:
- Google Online Marketing Challenge (GOMC)
- Stukent Marketing simulation Certificate
- St.Peterline brand image research project
- Team leader, Matka travel trade show
- Aalto ITP diploma
Skills & Tools
Web
- WordPress (Divi Specialist)
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Basics of SEM/Google Ads
- Basics of Facebook Advertising
- Social Media Management
- Copywriting & content production
- Email Marketing
- Market Research and Analysis
- Solid understanding of web concepts and various areas of digital marketing
Tools & Software
- WordPress, Wix, Squarespace
- Canva & basic Photoshop
- Google Analytics
- Hotjar
- SEMrush
- MailChimp
- Familiar with other mainstream tools e.g Hubspot, Unbounce, Bannersnack, WooCommerce, Shopify
Language
- English – Native
- Finnish – Basic
Relevant Other
Professional Interests
- Experience design (CX, UX, service design, and physical)
- Marketing-design and Growth
- Shopper Marketing
- Advertising & Brand/creative
- Location-based advertising and mobile marketing
- Multi-channel / omnichannel
- Digital services and solutions
- Product Marketing
- SaaS, Martech, adtech & retailtech
- Behavior analytics (offline & online)
- Research & development
Thought leaders
Industry-related: Rory Sutherland, Paco Underhill, Doug Stephens, Niel Patel. Personal/Other: Jordan Peterson, Gary Chapman, Simon Sinek
And more…
Hobbies
- Playing & listening to music
- Gaming (PC)
- Reading
- Travel
- Gym/walks/outdoors
- Spending time with my partner and friends
Books of Influence
Key personal traits:
I worked with Matthew on various jazz-related web projects in the past, along with his help to work on client projects. Primarily used him because of his attitude to a work ethic I admired. Not one to quit anything he has a passion for adding to his dose of detail he adds to tasks or projects. I’d happily recommend him for his digital mindset with a proactive customer-centric approach to his native thinking. I’ll be working with him again soon on many new projects we have lined up.
Matthew has helped me with my business and it’s online positioning since 2014. He has done a fantastic job on my website and has generated a lot of business for me. I would highly recommend Matthew for your project or to join your team.
We are all impressed by Matthew’s attitude and efforts towards his responsibilities at Slush as a volunteer. No matter the pressure, Matthew was there to take on the tasks with strong ownership, careful planning, and extraordinary results. Collaborating with Matthew has been a pleasure and our team is happy to recommend him.
