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I was reading Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko and there is an exercise about finding inspiration. He says that everyone should have a personal Hall of Fame that exhibits people who inspire you in. Just like any good Hall of Fame it should be well-rounded, remember, inspiration isn’t just needed in one aspect of your work. So I’ve been compiling a list of people that inspire me in multiple areas. While compiling this list you should note that you should have something from those people that you can read or watch that will inspire you. This is the important part, if you write, read what others wrote, if you film, watch what others filmed. Having a go-to list of inspiration before you are needing it is being properly prepared.

“Chance favors the prepared mind.” – Louis Pasteur, 1854

Who is in your Hall of Fame?

I’ve been writing quite a bit for clients but have had writers block for my personal writings for a while now. So I sat down and just began typing, it’s not much, it doesn’t match the usual content of my blog. As small of a step it is, it’s a step forward. Enjoy and as always feel free to comment or tell me how you break writers block.

There are times in my life where my world slows as I commit the most simplistic action like setting my keys down when I walk in the door from a long day. As I pause, my mind focuses and aligns my priorities, flashes of those who are most important. It’s inside those moments, those tiny shreds of time that stretch for what seems like minutes that I find peace. It’s those moments where I can replay my favorite times with those whom I love. In that rigid gap of time I am reminded that no matter how long or hard of a day I have, there are those who will always stand beside me, regardless of position, because they love me. It’s in those moments where I picture my wife, how lovely and happy. Someone who can make me laugh even when life seems unfair and arduous. Those moments surround me, I appreciate those moments. It’s there that the day’s worries and burdens and obligations fall off my shoulders, freeing me.

Consciously, I know this won’t last forever or even more than a second but as time slows, actions and colors blur, creating for a moment the best place I’ve been all day. How selfish I wish it could last longer but accountability is staring me in the face recalling my obligations, telling me it’s time to move on. Time relinquishes to the commitments of the day and as quickly as it began it vanishes leaving me only with appreciation. Appreciation for the sweet, precious time I have with those I love. Time is my friend and my enemy. It gives me youth, it brings me old age. Time grants me hope, it befalls disappointment. Time inspires creativity and builds barriers. Time paints words, it blotches words. And now that is what I am without.

This was originally posted at Coffee House Ideas where I write about this stuff but I know you guys would appreciate me sharing something since it’s been so long. Enjoy.

With the mass of social networking tools and marketing gimmicks it’s no wonder that people continue to tune out marketers messages.

It seems that everyday that spammers, scammers, and low-lifes are vying for you attention, your misdirection, and naivety. These marketers are always attempting to trick you into clicking and buying their piles of worthless subscriptions or product. However, it’s not just the slimy marketers that are attempting to maneuver you into their sales funnel. Many, many upstanding companies use these marketing techniques to ruse you and many other companies into buying their product or service. It’s amazing that no matter how many times you are presented with these tricks of the trade we all say, “Who would do that, don’t they know it rarely works?” However, marketing tactics, strategies, and campaigns wouldn’t continue on with shadiness if they didn’t work. But just because they work doesn’t mean it’s right or truly effective in the long run. Just because you gain customers due to a campaign that tricks people doesn’t mean that they are happy or that they will continue to be a customer. With this type of marketing you’ll find that your attrition rate will always continue to rise no matter how many people are schemed into buying your crap.

Too many times people want to categorize what is shady, what is slimy, what is ineffective; they list rules, guidelines, manifestos and claim this will fix the problem. The problem isn’t that we all ignore the rules, it’s that we aren’t relating enough, we aren’t reaching out with genuine concern for our potential clients. It’s seems all too easy for this to be the fix, for this to be the answer to this epic problem of people increasingly ignoring the messages of marketers. I’m not saying that knowing this and practicing this is simple or easy to scale but it is a much better approach that helps customers become loyal fans not because they just buy the product or service but because they love the people behind it and that’s why they stay and hand over their money.

Often, marketers feel that it’s all about giving away free samples or some type of value based freebie which lures them in. How many times has that ever worked out for both parities in the long run? Most of the time the potential customer takes the free product, not because they necessarily saw value or quality, they saw free and that’s what drew them. I’m in no way worthy to speak on the subject of business and the basics of how businesses work and succeed but I’m pretty sure that at some point in a businesses life it must actually sell something to make money. I’ve always thought that how the economy of business works, you have a product or service and you want to sell it to me who obviously needs it and in turn I give you money. But with so many online properties (businesses) giving away free crap they begin to cheapen the customers that they might have had if they had only taken the time to relate and reach out to them rather than con them into using their free sample. Now I’m not saying that giving away free samples is wrong or incorrect but you know what I’m talking about. Those gimmicks that say you can win money if you tell the company how much you love them or tell five other people and you’ll get free product. Those gimmicks and the like are the ones that bring down the entire industry of marketing.

It’s amazing how many marketers are solely interested in moving the needle purely based on the now, how well the trick worked, basically. They aren’t measuring the customer sentiment from beginning to post-purchase. And if they are, it seems only to validate that the scheme worked today and it was successful and that they should dump more money into that avenue. At some point though for marketers, there has to be a line drawn in the sand with those who give a shit about their customers and those who don’t. If we lead with how our customers feel about us when we do this, then I think we can eliminate many foils that might reach our brain as an amazing trick that will convert millions of dumb, sheep-like people into purchasing machines.

So I know that right now you’re asking who are you to tell me how to market and how not to market. And I know you’re totally asking yourself who they hell is the design company think they are by telling marketers how to “truly” do it right. First, by no means are we saying our methodology or approach is the only one or that it will make millions with the click of a button. Second, we aren’t marketers, we are designers who understand people and since we get projects from a lot of marketers. We have designed a lot of stuff that has worked well, and we have had a lot more that have not. Now one might suggest that it isn’t the message but it is the designer, sure, you might be right on a few projects. But we have found that when we have suggested new options to our clients and they embrace them and worked together to make it hit the right corporate marks, that’s when we found that there was something more than a witty, flashy, exhilarating design or well-planned marketing trick. That’s when we knew there was more to this marketing arena than just stupid advertising banners, websites, giveaways, and email newsletter asylum.

There is a better way to communicate with customers and it has nothing to do with what platform you use, what cool presentation or call to action you show them.

It’s called being human.