Adventures for all!

I met a wonderful PR person last week. We had a spirited conversation about her business and mine and the possibilities and opportunities. And the next day she sent me an email that said "Thanks for making it all an adventure."

Well why not? Every day should be an adventure, otherwise what's the point? I hope yours are.

"Polish here, Shine there." Huh?

A good friend and marketing colleague used an expression I was not familiar with: "Polish here, Shine there" she said as if everyone knew what she meant.

Here's what that's about: You are doing your thing - working it as hard as you can, but often the results can show up where you least expect them. So you were polishing over here and the shine came out over there. Nonetheless you made it happen, didn't you.

I use this now to encourage us all to be putting effort into plans and schemes, into new products and outreach, whatever looks like it needs polishing.

And then we have to be alert to see where the shine comes out and be ready to take advantage of it even if it wasn't exactly what and where we expected it to be.

Phew - let's hear it for extended metaphors.

Are you Shovel-Ready?

We should all have some shovel-ready projects on deck for when things pick up. Yours could be a plan to make a hire, or to open a new business. It could be a new marketing push, or a new service offering. It could be all of these things.

Just have it ready to go. You will know when the time is right. We all know that procrastination is easy - "when things get better I will figure out what to do" you say - but procrastination is a false friend. And having something exciting to plot will make these dreary weeks pass in a flash. And as I just heard from the dean of NYs Angel Investor community at a NY:MIEG event, "right now it is infinitely cheaper to start a new company."

We are unlikely to leap from the recession straight into a boom, so when credit and spending do start, there will be intense competition. So be there and be ready, with your metaphorical shovel in your hand.

New Year: New Business Model?

A leading film postproduction business owner talked in the press recently about "a whole new contemporary business model." The NYT tells of ad agencies (former ad
agencies, perhaps?) who make and sell chocolate and furniture and tee shirts. Bake sale, anyone?!

Jim Cramer says, "Recessions are game-changers. It's when those who are smart pass those who are not." Paul Krugman said in the NYT that late 2009 the economy will begin to stabilize and he is fairly optimistic about 2010. So hadn't we better be getting fired up to be a part of it?

At the highest level the new business model will be like the old. We will provide clients with what is wanted and valued, we will invest in our businesses, we will charge a premium for exceptional talent, we will value-price, we will market effectively, we will create better stuff than the next guy. We will make profits. What am I missing here?

Oh yes - what exactly is wanted,and what exactly can you and your company do to provide it.

Marketers will still want to get more cans in people's hands, more site traffic, more bottoms in seats, more customer loyalty, more revenue. Customers will want more things of beauty, more entertainment, more value for money, more ways of expressing themselves, more security, more hope. So what is the Customer Value Proposition that you can bring to your target customer? Know this, and you'll be well on the way to your new business model.

We call ourselves creative people - here is a great creative challenge. Are we having fun yet?

All the best for an exciting and profitable 2009

Making To-Do Lists Work for you

Do you have a to-do list? I do. Some of you even have to-do lists that consultants have made for you.

How long have things been on that list? If you are like me, checking the list is probably on the list. Doing these checks makes me feel: Okay that was progress - now I can go off and make a pot of coffee. This is not so good.

There are several reasons that things get done and off my list.
1. It was fun to do.
2. It was easy to get started.
3. I got someone else to do it.
4. I really, really wanted to get it done.
5. It was on my calendar for a particular date and I did it on that date (that is such a good trick)
6. I decided it was silly or unnecessary and took it off the list.

I am sure you can come up with more reasons that work for you.

But what about those things that are still there? Go through them and figure out how to change them so they meet one of these requirements for getting done. Make it something you'd have fun doing, or get someone else to do it, or put it on the calendar - choose the way that you have shown will get results for you. Because a to-do list is worse than worthless if you never do the things on it.

Business Slow? Get your people ready for what's next

I have been telling my clients that when business is slow, this is a wonderful time to rev up your team with training and motivation. Improve their spirits and strengthen their skills: whether it's team building, learning new software, or making a spec promotional piece - have them do something that will make them more productive contributors - and will make them more valuable to you when business picks up.

A leading management mag tells that one software company reported 50% greater productivity from teams who had undergone team training than from teams that had not.

50%! That's a lot. And it's a lot more fun than sleeping on the desk.

Finding a new job - be specific

A friend with a long resume, depth in a couple of disparate fields - asked me yesterday how to go about finding a new job. She wants to take advantage of her unique, and potentially quite valuable, combination of skills – but there is no obvious job description to fit.

We talked about how employers aren’t going to make any effort to tailor something for you – unless perhaps you are interviewing with your father-in-law! But they will surely be interested in you if hiring you will solve the problem they have. And to them it will be quite a specific problem. They are not looking for just “a marketing director” or “a web designer”. They have a specific challenge to overcome – whether it be to reach sports nuts who play video games, or they need someone who understands the ins and outs of the gravestone business, or who can make a complex data driven website with deep functionality and an offbeat sense of humor.

This thinking applies equally to independents and freelancers as well as to staffers.

So when you eventually get their ear or your resume or portfolio comes into their view – you will need to be specific too, about what problem you are especially suited to solve for them. When you are applying for a job, it’s not about you – it’s about solving the employer’s problem and that problem is quite clearly defined in her mind. In her mind is where you need to be.

So be specific when you market yourself. It works. More on this over the coming weeks.

How I know this economic mess is all going to work out okay

So here is why I feel really good about the way things are going to turn out. It's because of what I hear every day from my amazing clients (you know who you are - I applaud you!).

If their commitment to a successful business future is any indication - and I am sure it is - then all across the US individuals and business owners in the creative industry are rethinking and retooling and repositioning and doing what it takes to get themselves launched on the path to future successes.

There is no sitting around and looking for bailouts and blaming the economy here. They are so positive and determined and working so hard. They look at what is going on and see opportunity - even create opportunity. This undaunted energy tells me that between us all we will indeed put our economy back together.

It's been pointed out that during the dotcom bust Apple launched the first ipod and in the US alone more than ten other disruptive innovations started during the same period. Sam Palmisano, the head of IBM, said he was sure that new leaders would emerge from the current calamity who will "win not by surviving the storm by by changing the game".

As a new client just wrote me excitedly, "I guess I am already opening myself to more possibilities". This is the stuff that is going to make it all turn out okay.

New Workshops Designed To Help Creative Companies Effectively Sell their Work

I am excited to announce our new TransformationSpark Workshops to help creative people to be more effective at communicating their ideas and to build stronger, more productive teams.

These unique Workshops are perfect for Ad people, Producers, Directors, Designers, Editors, Composers, Audio Engineers and Sales Reps: anyone who presents creative work or has to interact effectively with clients and team members.

Creative projects live or die based on how effectively you present yourself in meetings, conference calls and work sessions. Listening closely and communicating your ideas clearly and persuasively is critical to your success.

TransformationSpark Workshops are inspired by the techniques of improv. They are a carefully designed mix of games, exercises and guided discussions. Motivating, informative and entertaining: you'll see real and immediate results. You'll get new confidence, you'll learn to listen without interrupting and you'll communicate your ideas so much more effectively.

TransformationSpark is a joint venture with April Jaffe, CEO of Transformation and Executive Producer at music company Expansion Team. April is a smart and successful EP and consultant on new business development and marketing; she brings a deep understanding of the value of the improv techniques that are the basis of this program.

We have just given a Workshop for about a dozen staff and managers at a leading New York design firm, and they were most enthusiastic about it. Here is what they said:

We just put some of last night's techniques to use on a (client) call a little while ago, thanks for the workshop!

Fun, useful and helpful. I will totally recommend it.

Everything I learned is useful for me at work and outside work, I'll try to apply everything.

The discussion at the end about how to solve problems with conference calls was really helpful.

I'd recommend it. I think it was as much about team building and working better with your coworkers as it was about effective communication - and both are very important.

Let us hold a TransformationSpark Workshop for your team. Learn more about the Workshops at TransformationSpark.com

Mark Twain - business wisdom

Here's some business wisdom for you from Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court:

"A man can keep his trademark current in such a country, but he can't sit around and do it; he has to be on deck and attending to business, right along."

So what are you waiting for? Get on deck and attend to business!