Search Results: why this, why you, why now
Joining The Dots Works But It’s Not Art
filed in Strategy
Or…. why I dislike writing ‘how to’ blog posts.
Do you remember as a child, when you realised that your stick men and two dimensional cats weren’t actually a true representation of the real thing? Maybe like me you tried using those join the dots books? The first time you produced a drawing by following those instructions you felt pretty good, but after doing the first few you knew that it was cheating.
Even a five year old knows that there is no soul in something that is created by following instructions.
If Seth Godin were to lay out his entire blog writing process for you with no holds barred, timings, schedules, strategies, where to get ideas, how to write great beginnings and compelling endings. Would you feel secure in the knowledge that you could make the same impact as Seth does? Even if you could write as well as Seth, would you feel like you were putting your unique ideas out into the world, or more like just a cheap imitation?
I know that ‘how to’ posts will drive more ‘traffic’ to my blog, but I rarely write them because you are not ‘traffic’ to me. My job is to enable you to bring out the best of yourself and elevate your unique ideas, not to give you a book full of numbered steps to follow. Following how tos and joining dots teaches you to count and tick boxes. They are not the foundations of ideas that matter and will never satisfy your creative, pioneering soul.
The Cycle Of Striving
Are you stuck in a cycle of striving? Busy brainstorming, creating, iterating, going for it, launching, succeeding and then doing the rinse and repeat routine.
Sometimes we get so caught up in our projects and wanting to make everything work, that we forget to stop for breath, or come up for air. We adopt two postures. One is waiting for the starters gun and the other is striving. Going for it for all we’re worth towards the finish line. And what happens when you get there, when you finally achieve your audacious goal, have the ‘big win’? You probably just turn right around and start again, without even looking up.
When you get stuck in the cycle of striving and don’t give yourself permission to celebrate you eventually burn out and lose longer term momentum. I know I’ve lived it and I’ve seen it happen to countless other ‘driven’ people. I also know that you’re driven, that’s why I’m putting this out there.
When you do great work it needs to be acknowledged and celebrated by you, not just the rest of the world. It’s okay to stop, drape the flag around your shoulders and stand smiling on the podium.
Image by Matt Hinsta.
How Not To Name A Startup Or Anything
filed in Brand Naming, Strategy
A brand name is more than a word. It is the beginning of a conversation. ~ Lexicon
Everyone can agree that there’s nothing really objectionable about calling your business ‘Bargain World’. It’s an innocuous name and most people won’t hate it. And that’s the problem.
If you’re going to name your business, non-profit, product or service something that people won’t hate, then you’re giving yourself an identity that they will never be able to care about either.
Bunkum! I hear your cry what about Apple and Amazon, aren’t they just unobjectionable words too? Back in 1976 when Apple was Apple Computer, tech startups and corporations were called IBM (what does that stand for?) and Microsoft. I bet a few people were laughing behind their hands at the idea of branding an incorporated tech company with a stripey apple. When Jeff Bezos named Amazon after one of the biggest rivers in the world in 1994, other book stores were called Borders Books and Waldenbooks. It didn’t take people long to fall in love with Amazon, which of course aspired to be the biggest, fastest, get what you want bookstore, (that had room to grow not to be just a bookstore) in the world.
Your business or product name is the hook on which you hang your story and start the conversation with customers. It’s the mechanism you give people to identify you. And when you earn their trust and loyalty it’s the way they spread the news about you. Your brand and product names are some of the most priceless assets your business can own. They should make you stand out, not fit in.
If nobody can find an objection to the brand name you choose, then you’ve probably got the wrong name. This kind of brand naming architecture often happens by committee, which means you end up with something that will be forgotten. Your name should polarize people, spark their interest and make them want to get to know more about what you do.
Here’s a simple test. If you can’t imagine someone wanting to wear your name on a t-shirt one day, then it’s probably not the right name for you now.
I know that choosing a name for your brand has caused you to waste valuable time and slowed down growth and momentum in your business, so I’m working on the brand naming white paper you asked for, which will be available to you soon. Hallelujah!
How did you choose your brand, blog or business name? Which brand names do you love and why? Which ones do you wish you’d thought of first?
Image by World of Good
Close The Gap Between Dreaming And Doing
Everyone wants to sit around and think up cool stuff. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to actually build something. The energy isn’t in the idea, it’s in the execution. ~ Seth Godin
I think you’ll agree that sometimes we get stuck, even when we know we have a great idea. Sometimes it’s easier to sit and wait for just the right time to execute, to see if it’s safe. The thing is if you’re waiting until it’s safe then it probably is. Most of what inspires us in our world didn’t come from a place of safety. Don’t wait to feel safe. Go be audacious!
Obvious to you. Amazing to others. from Derek Sivers on Vimeo.
RECOGNIZING YOUR GENIUS ~ Derek Sivers
PROVIDENCE ~ Bob Geldof
WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM ~ Steven Johnson
IDEAS THAT SPREAD WIN ~ Seth Godin
Jason Fried @ Big Omaha 2009 from Big Omaha on Vimeo.
WHY FAILURE IS UNCOOL & PLANNING IS GUESSING ~ Jason Fried
Tim Brown on Change By Design from IDEO on Vimeo.
CONVERSION OF NEED INTO DEMAND ~ Tim Brown
Image by Chris Devers.
Evolving
filed in Storytelling, Worldview
“Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?” Marianne Williamson
Heather Spriggs is an artist. She’s a gifted designer and visionary stylist, with a fine arts degree. Heather is a one off, an original.
When I first started working with Heather she had been blogging for two years about modern romance and vintage style, at Gathering Spriggs using the typepad platform. She had built quite a following over that time but wasn’t earning any income from her blog. Heather also ran an Etsy store, selling beautiful hand crafted pieces online for way less than their true value, taking into account the time and talent that had been put into them. As if that wasn’t enough Heather had built a full time home decorating business over a period of eight years. She clearly had no shortage of entrepreneurial spirit and drive!
One of the first things we spoke about was moving Heather’s website to it’s own .com domain, (something she was in the process of working on with her designer). The timing couldn’t have been better. But instead of launching GatheringSpriggs.com as a result of our consultation Heather re-launched her blog at HeatherSpriggs.com. At the time I think this was a big decision for Heather and part of her journey to stepping into her light.
We covered a lot of ground quickly, including what was working for Heather, what was taking up her time and energy and where it might be better directed. We worked out who she really wanted to speak to on her blog and what their worldview was. We discussed her audacious goals, her vision for her brand, plans for her business and where she wanted to be. We had some soul searching conversations along the way.
Once she called herself a decorator, now Heather is an artist, stylist and designer.
Contact and services pages were added to her website. Her craft store closed but her vintage store remained. Rooms by Heather became Interiors by Heather, for that is exactly what they are, beautiful whole world transformations. She offers new services like styling, decor and colour consultation, which she has been doing for years, but not profiting from as she should be.
Heather is increasingly showcasing her own work on her blog, (where she used to mainly showcase the work of those she admired). In July she is releasing her own 100 page magazine ‘Gatherings’, with paying advertisers getting on board. And we’re just getting started, this is only phase one!
Heather just continues to rise to every challenge. She now owns her unique vision and extraordinary ability to see beauty in the world and put it together in ways others could never do. She also values and expresses her vision and talent enough to earn an income from it.
Your attitude defines your brand.
Here’s how Heather and her brand are evolving and why she is embracing ‘living in the shift’, in her own words.
I’d love you to share your own experiences and stories of evolving in the comments.
Image by Heather Spriggs.
Ruby Slippers
Every single idea becomes what you can communicate.
Dorothy’s ruby slippers were magical. They sparkled, they shone and everyone including the wicked witches with all her power coveted them without knowing exactly how they worked and why.
Naturally you want to explain to everyone how to tap their heels together three times. But maybe all the world wants for now is your ruby slippers.
You set out to give people proof about the features and benefits of a great product or service when you want them to understand why they ‘need’ your particular something. And yes, results matter. In the end even the ruby slippers would have been worthless if they hadn’t been able to get Dorothy back to Kansas.
Sometimes though it’s okay to sell the sparkle first and the heel tapping later.
Ideas don’t necessarily fail because they are bad but they often succeed when you work out how to put the magic back into them.
Which businesses are doing this best right now? How could you put the magic back into your business story?
Image by Dennis Sylvester Hurd.
What’s The Most Important Marketing Question In The World?
“The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.”
George Eliot
Head down to your nearest Borders bookstore (while there still is one) and you’ll find hundreds of titles that all aim to help you answer this question. If Borders had asked the very same question and acted upon the answer they probably wouldn’t be liquidating right now.
So what is the number one thing you should ask yourself before launching a product, designing that service, writing your book or opening the cafe?
Why will people care about this?
*Bonus* – The second most important marketing question in the world is:
How can we help people to care about this?
Image by las-initially.
Understanding How To Spread An Idea
“Everyone who’s ever taken a shower has an idea. It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference.” Nolan Bushnell
So how do you begin to make an impact and spread an idea?
1. Create something that people want to talk about.
2. Give people a way to share it.
3. Know who you are talking to or targeting.
4. Understand your audience.
5. Work out what people want before they do.
6. Think about what one person will say to another to recommend it.
7. Question why someone will buy, use, or talk about your thing over another.
8. Believe in the idea yourself.
9. Be the best choice.
10. Create for a few.
11. Make it work for the many.
12. Ask people to try it.
13. Engage people and build trust.
14. Connect your true fans.
15. Help people to care about what you do or sell.
16. Ask your followers to share it.
17. Make people laugh.
18. Make people cry.
19. Do something unexpected.
20. Be generous.
21. Promise something and deliver on it.
22. Create something people want, not just something they need.
23. Be passionate.
24. Start!
25. Evaluate and make it better.
Image by Today is a good day.
25 Ideas On Using Instagram For Business
Instagram is a ‘real-time’ photo sharing application currently available as a free App for iPhone and iPod with plans to extend to a website and other mobile platforms in the near future.
More than that though it’s a storytelling, entertainment and engagement platform with 3 million users and growing, (update now at 10 million+) from every corner of the globe. You can see the world as it is, as it’s happening through the eyes of real people, share your own images and start conversations. Instagram also enables users to share their photos on other social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Four Square.
Why are people using it?
The beauty of Instagram is that it erodes all of the problems of photo sharing. It’s fast and easy to use on the go. It makes photos, even ordinary ones look beautiful with a series of filters you can apply in seconds. It integrates seamlessly with other social sharing platforms. There are an increasing numbers of websites and platforms which allow Instagram users to share and buy physical products of images. It connects and entertains people. It allows them to tell their story. And it’s free!
Why should brands and businesses be interested?
Instagram is a place where people are sharing and telling their story through images in the moment. It goes beyond Twitter’s; ‘what are you doing?’. In fact many commentators are describing it as Twitter meets Flickr.
It provides ‘real time’ insights into how people are interacting with the world and most probably your product. This platform will enable brands to connect directly with users and customers like never before and gain ‘real-time’ insights into how consumers are interacting with their brand.
How and why businesses and brands should use Instagram?
1. It helps brands to find products for their customers not just customers for their products.
2. It’s an opportunity to conduct real-time market research.
3. To drive momentum.
4. To get people talking about what you do and why you do it.
5. For customer engagement and intuitive marketing.
6. To deepen relationships.
7. It enables you to put the customer front a center.
8. For running competitions.
9. To see and hear what consumers believe about your brand.
10. To get opinions before you need them.
11. As a way to create a buzz about what you are doing.
12. As a platform to help fans find and interact with each other over a shared love of what you do.
13. It’s free!
Getting started
14. Download the Instragram App and create your profile.
15. Obtain the all important username (many brands have yet to act on this, think Twitter).
16. Post photos of your products and behind the scenes of your business.
17. Announce your Instagram arrival to your followers and fans on other social sharing platforms.
18. Ask for feedback.
19. Listen to comments.
20. Interact with your followers.
21. Search hashtag categories to gain insights into how people are interacting in your space.
22. Tell your brand story in new and interesting ways.
23. Post regularly and monitor your account.
24. Share your photos across other social sharing platforms.
25. Optimize.
UPDATES:
How non-profits are using Instagram to engage with their communities.
Is your business on Instagram?
How to run a photo contest on Instagram.
Instagram tips from top beverage brands.
Image by Xava du.
There’s Only One Orla Kiely
filed in Storytelling, Strategy
There’s only one Orla Kiely but a hundred ways to experience her brand. A brand that appeals across generations from teens to youthful grandmothers.
That doesn’t mean that Kiely’s multicolored designs inspired by the 1960s and 1970s appeal to everyone, quite the opposite. You will either love them or hate them. Orla says that “they are for confident women who know what they like and who are not necessarily victims of fashion.”
I’m guessing that when she moved into designing handbags rather than hats (after her father noted during her first London Fashion Week that everyone was carrying a handbag, but no one was wearing a hat!), that Orla didn’t design things for everyone. She already had a clear picture in her mind of the women she was making things for.
And because they weren’t for everyone her bags were something to covet and once you had one, to share. I was introduced to a friend’s purse once with the words; “this is my Orla Kiely”.
Whatever your idea is, whatever you hope to sell or spread, you need to consider how and why your customer will share it with her friend. There may not be a scarcity of handbags or designers out there but there is a shortage of stories we care enough about to share.
Create those kind of stories and who knows maybe one day your design will be featured on a bus, car, or maybe even a postage stamp.
Image by Tilde Shop.