A Few Strong Words…

I’ve worked in some design agencies before as a freelancer brought in on certain projects. One agency in particular had this awesome “ideas” room. Everyone meets in there, brainstorms ideas, bounces them off one another, and skims the best off the top.

But for the independent freelancer or business owner, this isn’t always possible. Here are the five basic steps I’ve found that will help anyone working on their own come up with awesome — and most importantly useable — ideas.

SEO is the Way to Go

The first thing you should do is pretend you are putting together a list of SEO keywords (perhaps you need to anyway…) Identify what keywords best describe your product/service/concept. Come up with as many keywords as are necessary, but try to keep them as relevant as possible.

For example, if you are coming up with a marketing plan for a horse stable, you might come up with horseback riding, scenic tours, afternoon picnic in the mountains, etc. However Purina Horse Chow, though relevant to the horses, likely won’t be relevant to your target audience.

Just Ask Roget…

Once you have a list of keywords, grab the thesaurus. Someone said (I can’t remember who — maybe Stephen King?) that the thesaurus is the last bastion of the lazy mind, but I think it has its place. The mind is an awful jungle sometimes, and following signposts can help you get to where you are going faster.

The thesaurus is like a collection of those signposts. Different words can trigger different ideas in your head. Best of all it lists different synonyms for different meanings, opening whole new pathways and setting you up for some nice double entrendres and other plays on words.

Google It, Baby!

Yes, your handy search engine can open up possibilities as well. Googling words, or better yet phrases can give you different ideas as well as show you what other people working with the same set of words have done before. This will help stir the imagination pot, and show you pathways through that jungle you may not have seen before.

Start Your Own Path

Once you’ve done a bit of research — or even in the middle of your research — start jotting down ideas. And then play with them. What if I said it this way, or what if we did it that way?

As you refine your ideas, keep in mind what your original keywords were and the goals you want to reach. Always keep your target audience in mind.

You’re Not As Alone As You Think

Once you’ve done some of the legwork, start bouncing ideas off your family and friends. See how they react. If they get excited about it and try to add their own ideas, you know you are on to something. If they say “Oh, that’s nice…” and leave it at that, bounce some different ideas off them. You’ll likely know what the person thinks, but remember they might not tell you what they truly think. Friends and family usually make the worst critics at face value (and that’s usually a good thing…!)

It really does take an intrepid soul to search the jungle solo. Luckily, freelancers and SOHOers tend to be intrepid souls to start with. Trust your ideas. Most importantly, trust that little voice inside of you. Even if consciously you are loving the turn of phrase you came up with, give yourself the chance to decide whether or not it is truly the path you should take.

~Graham

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First — apologies. If there is a recession, you sure couldn’t tell from standing in my office. Been running ragged as of late, and this blog has suffered the consequences. Hope to be back to a regular posting schedule soon…

Today, a bit of a departure from the norm — a book review (and my first since Grade 8, come to think of it…! Enjoy!)

I’ve been waiting a long time for this book.

When I first met Casey Hibbard (you know, in the cyber sense), I found out she had a book coming out. I was fascinated. Partly because anyone who puts out a book stirs admiration, awe, and yes a bit of jealousy in me. And partly because this is the first book that I know of that covers case studies.

I’ve written a few case studies in my time, but back when I was learning them I had to discover the formula the old fashioned way — by deconstructing other case studies. A book like this would have been an invaluable resource, if done right.

I’m happy to say that Casey has done it right.

If you are familiar with Michael Stelzner’s Writing White Papers, you’ll easily get into the rhythm of this book. It goes through the whole process of writing case studies from determining when and why to use a case study to gathering information and interview contacts to writing and polishing those studies.

Like Michael’s book too, it is aimed more at the business person than the writer. Don’t get me wrong — writers will get tons from this book including Casey’s little hints on interview techniques, follow-up etiquette, and more. I think that this approach opens her book to a much, much wider audience (a hint for all of us with a book or two in the drawer…)

I do take exception to one of her statements. In a section dealing with spelling and grammar, Casey suggests that you always default to American-style English regardless of which country you are targeting. The theory is that if an American reads it, he or she will assume that the case study is full of spelling mistakes whereas the non-American reader is used to American English.

I can tell you from experience that this is not the case — not completely anyway. Yes, a lot of American English makes its way into other English-speaking countries like Canada, the UK, Australia, etc. But it does look foreign, and it will likely undermine the credibility of your case study if you do not use local grammar and spelling. This is especially true with an educated audience.

Other than that somewhat minor concern, I believe that Casey has put together a solid book at exactly the time where customer testimonials and “success stories” as she calls them are gaining prominence. If you have ever considered creating case studies for your own business or for those of your clients, get this book. (And if you haven’t considered case studies yet, perhaps you should…!)

You can find out more about it here:
http://www.storiesthatsellguide.com/

~Graham

PS - For the sake of full disclosure, please note that this is not an affiliate link — I do not make any money off the sale of this book.

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Although I am a writer at heart, I also do quite a bit of web design for my clients. It is something I’ve always been interested since back in the day where websites were completely hand-coded.

Today programs like Dreamweaver certainly make life easier. But no matter what the tool, the question is always one of design.

Vandelay Designs has a great little blog that features, among other things, different ways types of web designs. One of my favourites is 25 Beautiful Minimalistic Website Designs, along with a few sequels. In fact I studied quite a few of the designs listed there before creating my own new website.

Vandelay Designs also offers other web designs in its other “25 Beautiful…” series, including Dark, Colorful, and Unique. There are some great Photoshop tips there too.

Now I realize that not all of us are web designers. But this is also a great resource for people looking for ideas for their own websites. You get your best results when you give your web designer at least an idea of the type of websites you like. Not only are there plenty of examples in these various series, the category breakdown will help you solidify in your own mind — and in turn enable you to communicate to your designer — what style of website appeals to you most.

Now don’t get me wrong, your web designer will certainly have ideas for you. You might even go in a completely different direction based on his or her recommendations. But this way you have a mutual starting point, which (trust me!) is always a big help.

If you have a minute, take a quick look at 25 Beautiful Minimalistic Website Designs and see what inspires you!

Happy Hunting,

~Graham

PS - I have no connection with Vandelay Designs, and I am not getting paid for this link in any way. It is simply a great resource that I use for inspiration, and I wanted to pass it along to you!

PPS - In the market for a new website? I can help! Contact me for more information about my web content and design services.

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If you have ever researched “setting goals” (as many of us tend to do this time of year…) you have likely come upon the SMART method: setting Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Related goals. It is a good, solid, logical approach – and therein lies its greatest flaws.

First, do you really know what your goals are? For example, you could be broad and say “to make more money this year”. But have you examined why you want to make more money? Is it because you foresee some big expenses down the road (kids’ education funds, retirement, new car), or because you want to worry less about money? Maybe you simply see your income as one measure of your success – the more money you make, the more successful you are.

Second, have you taken enough time to actually envision these goals? If you are a copywriter, you might automatically think that you want more clients because that would translate into more money (if money is your goal…) However think that through. Is it possible to make more money with fewer clients? The answer is yes, if you find the right ones. So would you like fewer clients and less variety, or more clients and more variety while making your million?

What are your goals, really?

Take a moment to re-evaluate your goals. And make sure they are your goals, not someone else’s idea of what someone in your position should be achieving. If you have a broad goal like the one mentioned above, try to determine exactly what it is you are looking for: freedom, diversity, less stress, less work, more work, etc.

Then open a new document or get a pen and paper and try this simple exercise. Brainstorm with yourself and find all the possible ways of reaching that goal. No answer is silly or ridiculous. Do not censor yourself at this point.

My Goal This Year:

Avoid Work/Family Conflicts To Spend More Time With the Kids

Ways to Get There:

• Quit working
• Home school
• Buy a boat and sail around the world with them
• Get rid of the TV
• Meet them at the bus after school and go for a walk every day
• Kick the soccer ball with them every day
• Let the grass grow an extra week
• Rearrange my schedule so that I’m working more when they are sleeping or at school
• …
• …

Okay, once you have a sizable list, you can start scratching out ideas. Quitting work, for example, isn’t feasible for most of us. Neither is buying a sailboat and exploring the seven seas or opening our own home school.

But rearranging your work schedule – that’s an interesting one. Making an effort to be there every day after school (much like booking a meeting with a client) is also a doable thing. You might be able to pull it off better by scheduling some work time after the kids go to bed…

Pull out and do a macro view as well. How will working at night affect your relationship with your spouse or significant other? Is this something that he/she can get on board with as well? Will being out of the office during some “normal office hours” impact your business at all? Will the path to this goal conflict with your other goals? (Prioritizing your goals will help you make decisions here.)

Viewing your goals from different angles

The point is to get creative with your goal setting. Brainstorm with yourself, dig deep to find out what your true goals are, and envision many different paths of getting there instead of trying to find the “best” path the first time out.

And do plan for failure. If you are human (and if you are reading this, you likely are) there will be days when you don’t want to work towards your goal. You might give up on the whole strategy altogether. It might help to write down the reasons why you want to reach this goal, and refer to it when you are feeling less than motivated.

Re-evaluate your strategy on a regular basis. Even the most creative ideas can end up flopping when you put them in practice. Be open to the possibility that you’ll hit a dead end and will have to find a new path to your goals.

This isn’t an either/or proposition. You can use this method to solidify your goals in your mind, and then use the SMART method to logically plan how you are going to get there. After all, critical evaluation is crucial in any creative process – just let your muse talk first.

~Graham

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I’m not one of those who enjoys wrapping presents. Yes, I try to do a good job, and yes, I enjoy giving presents.  But the actual wrapping part I can take or leave.

Once in a while, I find myself wrapping an extra large gift for my wife like a pottery wheel or some other big box. Not only is it difficult to physically move the box around to wrap it, but the paper is often not big enough or it rips under the weight. Very frustrating.

Well, here’s an idea I hit upon: wrap it with fabric. I trot out to the fabric store (I’m very well acquainted with their locatations, having dropped off my wife there on a couple of occasions…) and get a couple of metres of the stuff. Something with a nice print, even Christmasy if they have it, in a bold red or green or blue.

Once home, I simply place the box in the centre of the fabric, draw up the sides, and tie it all together with a length of thick ribbon (which you can also find at the fabric store). It’s fast, less frustrating, and still makes a huge impact.

Most importantly, no ripped paper, so that your surprise remains a surprise until Christmas morning. Plus, if she likes to sew, she can also use the fabric. The ultimate “green” wrapping paper!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a very enjoyable Gift Wrapping Season to you!

~Graham

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This past weekend I covered a story about a local charitable organization giving money to a gym that helps underprivileged youth. The organization had one of those big novelty cheques, and wanted to have a picture in the newspaper of them presenting the cheque to the gym founder.

Unfortunately, the paper shies away from pictures like this. I think the organizations love it because it is proof of the good work they do in the community. But from the newspaper’s point of view, well, there are only so many pictures of giant novelty cheques you can print before it gets boring for you and the reader.

In short, it’s just not novel any more.

What the photographer did instead was set up a very fresh and interesting shot. One thing the gym is known for is teaching boxing skills to the kids. There is a full-size boxing ring in the gym complete with gloves, shoes, headgear, and the whole bit. So the photographer had one of the organization members put on a pair of gloves and start sparring with the gym founder, with the other members looking on from the background.

The picture, which you can see here, is infinitely more interesting than five guys handing another guy a big cheque. In the end, it will draw more readers into the story, benefiting both the organization and the youth gym.

So what is the moral of my story?

Let’s start at the beginning. Before you can get your story in the newspaper, you need to attract the media attention. Say you sent out a press release stating “Local Organization to Present Giant Cheque to Youth Gym”. You may get some press there, or you may not, depending on the organization. However they will not be clamouring to your door to see yet another giant cheque changing hands.

But suppose instead you led with something like “It’s a Knock-Out! Jim’s Gym to Show President the Ropes in Boxing Demonstration and Donation Ceremony”. Now there is a bit more of a story with a great photo op. Add something like all who attend will also get a free boxing lesson, and you’ll generate more interest.

Of course, this exact scenario won’t work for everyone. But it helps to consider what you do, and how you can make that exciting for the newspaper. Get creative and make it an event, not just a ceremony.

Newspapers want to add colourful stories to their pages. Give them an interesting angle and create the story for them, and you’ll be more likely to get them to your door.

Have you come across any interesting press releases or other media event? Let us know in the comments below!

~Graham

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Here’s an ad that caught my eye not too long ago. However, as I am beginning to realize, it did not catch my nose (a fact that I may be glad of…)

On the surface, this starts off as a great idea. Essentially, the ad is a plastic or vinyl sticker of a cup of Folger’s coffee that is placed over a manhole cover. Holes are punched through the sticker to allow the “steam” of the coffee to waft up from the cup. The campaign was designed for NYC; the tagline encircling the coffee cup reads: “Hey, City That Never Sleeps. Wake Up. Folgers.”

The visual is quite amusing. But then you start digging a bit deeper and wonder how it holds up in the real world. First, I think that the vinyl will quickly become dirty and/or ripped from all the traffic. Yes, I’ve seen stickers work before (grocery store stickers leap to mind) but this is outdoors, and covering an uneven surface.

Second, the smell that often wafts up from sewers is not one of coffee… If the association doesn’t put you off coffee, it might at least make you think twice before you reach for the Folgers!

There has been some discussion about whether or not this ad campaign was real, or at least implemented. Many have suggested that this image is simply a mock-up the marketing agency drew up for Folgers (Saatchi & Saatchi was the agency, apparently). However, it was all true — this was a real campaign.

You got to wonder what they were thinking. A huge company like Folgers, and a respected ad agency. Someone must have realized this was a bad idea.

If this was a city-wide campaign, then yes this would be a very bad idea. But dig deeper still and consider this. The marketing agency placed just one sticker on one manhole cover, and even that lasted just a couple of hours. In that time, passers-by took photos of it, sending it viral on the Internet. The campaign also got coverage in BusinessWeek, the New York Post, AdFreak, and other publications. It reached millions of people — more than it could have reached on that New York street corner alone.

And here we are, two years later and still talking about it. Not only was the ad itself creative, but the execution was just brilliant.

I think that ad did its job, don’t you?

~Graham

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I won’t be around much today — we got about a foot of snow in the past 24 hours, so I’ll be spending several of my next hours digging out.

But as I was thinking about the snow, I was thinking about the billions of different combinations of snowflakes there are out there on my driveway. As many of you know, snowflakes are fractals, which Wikipedia defines as: “a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole.”

When you look at a snowflake, you see a definite design to it. Except that there is no “designer”. So can this be called creative?

I don’t think so, since I agree with the definition I gave in my first post on creativity. It is the act of turning ideas into reality. But since there is no “thinking” involved, there can be no creativity.

But take that one step further. Nature created humans, just as it (she, He) created snowflakes. So although we can think, and admittedly we are a few steps advanced from a snowflake, we were still spontaneously (and unthinkingly) created by nature.

We developed creativity through nature, or as a result of nature, or because it was instilled by nature.

So is our creativity just a fractal of some other aspect of nature?

That might be heavy for a Monday morning, but it will give me something to think about while I spend the next six hours snowblowing the 1.7 quadrillion individuals out there lying about on my driveway…

~Graham

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Here is the perfect illustration of how science fails us.

Most of us (perhaps all of us) get creative epiphanies when we are in the shower. You know, you’ve been struggling with the phrasing of an article, or trying to decide the best way to attack a problem, and then BAM! there’s the answer. (Or Emeril Lagasse is brushing his teeth in your bathroom, one of the two…)

Yet ask a scientist why this is, and he or she will claim that there is no scientific basis for it. One Harvard psychologist I read about even quipped: “Are you sure we get really do get good ideas in the shower? Or do we just think our ideas are great?”

Okay, as people go, I am more of a prove-it-to-me kind of guy as opposed to take-it-on-faith. But when pretty near 100% of the people claim the same experience, there has to be something to it. In fact, what my own research turned up is that there is no scientific basis for it because nobody has studied it. You might call that “ostrich science”…

However, there are certain clues.

I came across this post by designer Cameron Moll. He explores some of the possible scientific explanations for it, including the “white noise” effect, the minimal mental power needed (allowing your mind to wander), and the lack of distractions. He even references an actual scientific paper written by Professor Lajos Székely about “creative pause”.

All of these make sense to me, but I think there is more.

Carey Goldberg wrote a column for the Boston Globe five years ago called “Shower Power” that illustrated her own problems with getting firm scientific data for the phenomenon. (I couldn’t find the article online, but I did find a PDF of it here.) Her research found theories related to the creative pause theory, that any idle time is a rich soil bed ready for ideas to spring forth.

Again, perhaps. Certainly it makes sense that when you stop concentrating on a problem, your mind will wander on its own untethered, finding new spots in the forest off the beaten path. This can certainly turn up ideas and solutions.

But why the shower in particular?

I came across more scientific research suggesting that physical movement sends signals to the brain, keeping it active. That is why walks are good for “clearing your head” I suppose. And indeed, many people also claim that walks help them be more creative. But the Eureka! moments again are more often found in the shower.

Here’s my theory. It’s perhaps the Unified Shower Theory of Creativity because I think it all has an impact. The white noise, the alone and idle time, the monotonous routine. But also the water pelting your skin, which sends thousands of stimulus impulses to the brain. The warmth of the water, relaxing the mind and body. Even the movement — all that arms up to wash the hair, bending and twisting to clean the body. For some of us desk-jockeys, it is the most exercise we get all day! There are also studies suggesting that simply bending the joints stimulates brain activity, another characteristic of showering.

A shower is a rhythmic, relaxing, almost hypnotic experience. When you think about it that way, it is almost obvious why the shower would be the perfect creative trigger.

It’s also kind of like that scene in Dead Poet’s Society where Ethan Hawke’s character is blindfolded, spun around, and yelled at, reciting whatever comes to mind. The body and even the conscious mind are occupied and bombarded by stimuli, so that you aren’t really pay attention to what you’re thinking about, then cha-ching, like a gumball machine, you knock loose some golden gobstopper of insight.

Of course, I could be wrong. I have no scientific data to back it up. But you know what? I’m a writer, not a scientist. I’ll take whatever works, scientifically proven or otherwise…

~Graham

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I enjoy advertising — good advertising that is. Yes, perhaps being a copywriter helps, but I really love the way a good billboard or magazine ad connects with the reader instantly.

Hey, we’re bombarded with ads 24/7, and most of them are annoying. Perhaps that is why the engaging ads are so much more, well, engaging. A little bit of creativity goes a long way to helping increase both impact and stickiness.

I am going to dedicate some posts to taking a look at creative ads, and dissect them to see why they work. The point is to gain some insights into the creative process, whether it is through advertising or otherwise.

Today’s ad: a FedEx poster from Germany.

Came across this ad last week. As far as I can tell, this isn’t actually a truck wrap (though that would be really cool…) but simply a poster. It was produced by BBDO Germany, and apparently won an award, according to the company profile.

Why It Works

The message is direct and to the point: even its competitors rely on FedEx to get their deliveries there on time. There are some nuances worth pointing out here though that really help make this ad work.

First, the FedEx logo is bigger than the UPS logo. This is very important — if the logos on the sides of the UPS trucks were bigger, I think the ad would lose its impact. It is fairly risky putting your competitors directly in an ad anyway. But if you are going to go for it, you need to ensure that the company appears bigger in every way from the competitor.

The other way they have accomplished this is with the use of white. Not only is the banner with the logo at the bottom in white, but the “inside” of the truck, the outside edges, and the tractor truck itself are all white. The UPS brown is there, but it is completely enveloped in white.

Second, this ad does not rely on any advertising copy (though the ad credits do list a copywriter — strange!), so it works in any language. This is important in a place like Germany. As part of the EU, there will be many visitors and even people living there who do not speak German. In fact, adding a tag line (in any language) might lessen the impact anyway. The ad really does speak for itself.

Why This Inspires Me

As a copywriter, I tend to think in terms of words. When it comes to advertising though, especially billboards and posters, brevity is key. You have to find the true “essence” of the product, and find a creative way to let that come out. FedEx delivers packages — which is obvious in this ad.

But this poster takes it one step further by implying that it is so good that it delivers other companies’ packages too. Now every time you pass a FedEx truck, you’ll wonder if there are UPS trucks inside.

What do you think? Does this ad inspire, or is it just cheesy? Let us know below!

~Graham

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