thinkitcreative

Trying to keep up with news from Tom Peters is a lot like trying to read a newswire: you never have to wait long for something new and interesting to pop up. This post is no exception.

Want your organization to be a hothouse of creativity (and of course you do!) Invest in innovation and give your staff the authority to be in the driver’s seat.

Here’s further proof that both Tom and the Gallup study he quotes are on to a great point. Back in 2000–2001, a lot of people in North America were worried about a deepening economic downturn. This was particularly true in the technology sector, where layoffs and cuts to R&D had already become the mainstay.

Not all followed that course, mind you. One firm, which itself had a near-miss with bankruptcy just a few years earlier, decided there was a better way to make the company grow. The CEO announced that rather than shrinking his R&D, he was telling staff to stay put and think big…no holds barred, adding: “We’re going to innovate out of these hard times.”

Many were impressed with that kind of gusto. Others, quite the opposite.

Fast forward by six years to today. That company—Apple—is at the top of its game, thanks to products spearheaded at the beginning of that great innovation push. Among those that were the outcome of this smart investment: a little device you may have heard of, called the iPod.

Make no mistake: being creative is your engine for growth.

Ottawa, ON—September 2006
Peak Sales Recruiting, Ottawa’s specialists in finding high-performing sales professionals with superior technical and sales abilities, has engaged the services of thinkit creative—writers skilled at unlocking the power of writing that sells.

Gatineau, Que—September 2006
Senior executives of the Labour Program at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada have engaged the skilled speechwriting talent of thinkit creative to craft engaging keynotes and Parliamentary speeches that inspire and motivate an audience to action.

Getting Real by 37signals. The book is a collection of ideas about creating simple, user-focused software, but its core messages are as relevant to copywriting or any other kind of media that interacts with your audience.

The authors state…

Getting Real delivers better results because it forces you to deal
with the actual problems you’re trying to solve instead of your
ideas about those problems.

Which is quite true. Your products, messages and ideas will resonate better with your audience when what you do and what you say is all about them.

But where I disagree with the authors of Getting Real is their later contention that “old rules don’t apply anymore,” and by inference, that what they’re calling for is somehow a new approach to doing things.

Look back at the history of successful ad campaigns and you’ll find that among the things done right was to showcase a message or product in a way that put the needs of the audience ahead of the company that was doing the selling.

Simplicity and being user-focused isn’t about old ways versus new.

It’s about the right way versus the wrong way to communicate and sell effectively.

Ultimate! Perfect! Unique!

When writing fresh copy, it can be tempting sometimes to hitch an idea to the hyperbole bandwagon. A product is just a product unless you say it’s the ultimate at what it does, right? The trouble with this approach is that it’s predicated on an empty promise and does very little to set you apart from the fray. As Seth Godin points out:

There are 345,000,000 Google matches for “ultimate”…

Want to make the best case you can to clients about what you do, or what you’re selling? Drop the self-congratulatory clichés and instead create copy that communicates benefits to your reader.

Remember rule #1 in communications. Your message is not about you. It’s always…always…about them.

Ottawa, ON—September 2006
Majority Marketing, a leader in helping companies attract, retain and increase business in the female consumer market, has chosen thinkit creative as its copywriters for hire.

Tom Peters has collected his favourite tips on ways to success for businesses of all kinds. It’s a great read and free. Here are the first 50 in a promised list of 100 (I’m looking forward to reading the next instalment, Tom).

One of my personal favourites is item #18…

Lunch is essentially 20 opportunities every month to start a new relationship with someone and learn something new…

Don’t waste another lunch.

Not everyone believes in writer’s block, but the underlying symptom—ideas and words that suddenly don’t play nicely together—is experienced by even the most prolific writers from time to time. And in my experience, how you deal with it is what makes the difference between being afflicted or just mildly bothered.

One of the better bits of advice I’ve seen about this comes courtesy of 43folders. I’ve been keeping it handy in my ideas folder on my desk, but blogging about it just makes so much more sense.

Let me add a few more tips and elaborate on at least one that they mention:

Cut and paste some text. Find something—anything—and drop it into the document you’re working on. It’s often easier to develop a thought when it’s couched in text rather than a couple of lonely sentences orphaned on an otherwise blank screen.

Write for an audience of six-year olds who had sugar for breakfast, because kids are among the most unforgiving when it comes to buzwords and wordiness. You’ll get to the point in a hurry.

Write something else. On a bad day, I find email is especially helpful because it gets me sitting down and typing. Sometimes all we need is a little push to get the momentum working again.

Go have a shower. I’m being serious, here. Not only will you feel better, but it’s where some of the best ideas can pop into your head. Maybe it’s the isolation and the white walls around you. Who knows? But it works. Heck, Holiday Inn is so convinced of this, they’ve turned this idea into a benefit of choosing them for accomodation for business travel.

Go somewhere else. Grab your notebook—be it one with a pencil or one with a keyboard attached—and get out of the office. Go to the backyard, to a park, or go to a place that offers free wifi. Grab yourself a large cup of something, and then take another kick at the can. Some of my best copywriting ideas have come knocking just by making a change to my thinking environment.

Have some of your own failsafe tips about what to do with the creative turns from warm honey to cold molasses? By all means share!

Ottawa, ON—September 2006
The creative minds at thinkit communications have consolidated their brand and web/email address as thinkit creative. Same great service including winning copy that sells…just at a new online address. Visit us today at thinkitcreative.com, email us at pgant [at] thinkitcreative.com, or call our office today (613) 825-3233 for a free quote.