Archive for the ‘My Creative Thoughts’ Category

My house is a mess. There is clothing, suitcases and papers everywhere. Emails are pouring in with last minute questions from clients, and I am trying to get 2 projects finished before 5pm. Why? Because tonight, the hubby and I are boarding a red-eye flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico where we will be spending 6 very relaxing days with my best friend.

Even better? I am taking a completely tech free vacation. That means as of 4pm today, I will have no computer, no email, no blog, no twitter, no facebook (okay, maybe a few tweets/FB updates to share pictures of the amazing places we’ll be!)…the point is, there will be no technology and a lot of relaxation!

Our itinerary includes:

• Relaxing at Manati Beach
• Kayaking in the bioluminescent bay
• Rum Tasting
• A Catamaran and snorkeling trip
• Dinner at Bottles Restaurant
• Charco Frio (the natural waterslides)
• and a whole lot more

I will be back in the office on March 17th returning emails and getting in touch with everyone. I will not be writing over my vacation, so while I am gone, I would love if you would peruse some of my archives and check out some of my older posts. I would love to come home to lots of great new comments!!

Oh, and for a little sharing…this is a photo my friend took of one of the many beaches we will be visiting while we are there to tempt me into coming

Recently, I have attended a bunch of great networking events, and in the next few months, I plan on attending a lot more. I know that making a good first impression is important, so I always make sure to be on point, and act properly. Overtime, I have learned a lot, both from watching what others do and my own experience with people. With that experience, I have put together a great list of networking advice. Here are the 10 steps you should always follow to make sure everything goes just right:

1. Tell anyone and everyone who will listen your personal life details. They really want to know everything about you.
2. If you have to give a presentation, don’t practice. People expect you mess up, and forget what you were saying.
3. Leave your phone on loud, then answer it as soon as it rings, no matter who you’re talking to already. Don’t worry, they’ll wait.
4. Drink as much as you want, and eat as many appetizers as you can. It may be awhile before you get more free food and discounted drinks!
5. When other people are telling you about them is the perfect time to think about what you will say next. You’ve got to be prepared.
6. Start every conversation with how amazing your product/service is and why this person you just met needs it. Because you know best, and need to tell them.
7. Don’t email or call people when you tell them you will follow up. They should contact you if they are interested.
8. Wearing whatever you want is perfectly acceptable. There is no reason to follow common dress code courtesy. After all, sweats can be ‘business casual’, right?
9. Talk about your business at every break in the conversation, and sometimes, interrupt to remind them about it. You don’t want people to forget what you do.
10. If there is someone there who you don’t really get along with, make sure everyone in the room knows about it so that they can help you avoid them.

If you follow these steps, there is no way you can fail at your next networking event!

Of course, if you take any of them seriously, you get what you deserve

I am not a creative snob, I don’t think it is reserved to one area of life. I love it in almost every form, the only thing I ask in creativity is that it is easily accessible to the masses. I want the world to be able to see it (even if they can’t afford to own it). I also tend to find certain pieces, designers or styles of work that I love and stick with them…so when I am looking for a creative jolt, I will look at their work, in whichever form I can, and enjoy the new focus it brings. Here are just a few of my favorites, divided by their genre.

When I want to be astonished by great websites, I always turn to Smashing Magazine. Their inspiration section is filled with designs from all over the world, and I find it so interesting to see the trends. While I would never copy someone’s work, I do often find new ideas that I can tweak to work into my clients designs. My most recent find? A new trend in fabric backgrounds…leather, silk, etc. I am looking forward to trying those out on a new clients site!

If print advertising is what I need, I love Communication Arts. It is a submission based magazine (thick enough to be a book!) of interesting pieces of work. I love their advertising series, as the photoshop work and taglines are just so incredible. I know how much effort it takes to get a design from start to finish, so to see all these completed pieces is not only inspiring creatively, but helps me to put my goals into perspective. If I get to the point where I feel that I am ‘rushing’ my designs, I can look at the work here, and realize that good design takes time…and it helps me to slow down my process to make sure it is the best. While I don’t do any print work, the freedom of expression found in many of the pieces is still motivating.

On a different side of the coin, I have many designers that I love, but only two have ever taken my breath away. In shoes, it is Christian Louboutin (his site is actually very cool as well). His designs are so clean, most are very simple, but each is so beautifully hand crafted and perfected that he has me head over heels (hahaha!) for his work. While I don’t any any of his creations (yet!), I have two pairs of his shoes that I desperately desire…a pair of simple nude pumps that make you look anything but simple (top picture) and a pair of over the top, beyond glamorous, completely impractical and oh so perfect for me, pink, sparkly pumps. Both are very simple in their structure, but their details, material and design make then anything but. Unfortunately with a combined price tag of almost $2k…I’m just dreaming right now.

In clothing, no designer for women can hold a candle to Diane von Furstenberg. I own one of her suits (in pink, of course!) and every time I put it on, I feel different. It’s powerful. Just like the rest of her designs. They are all colorful, creative, and unique (my favorite one is on that link) without being too over the top. I love to watch crazy runway fashion but it doesn’t inspire me like a piece you could actually imagine wearing. She makes women feel gorgeous without having to be scantily clad, and she never ceases to amaze me with the way she uses fabrics…

Photography amazes me. Especially because I have zero skill whatsoever when it comes to cameras. There are many great sites dedicated to photographers, but I don’t really like looking at it on the web. So when I need my photography fix, I wander into my bedroom, where this piece by Thomas Mangelson, hangs on the wall. Standing in front of the photo, you can almost feel the fur on his nose, and his eyes have about 11 different shades of colors, beautiful and intricate. The picture is so simple, but you feel something the minute you look at it. It has raw power and a cool strength that gives me motivation on a tough day.

Do you have certain places you turn for creative inspiration?

Sometimes all it takes to achieve your goals and get what you want is writing it down. So I want you to finish this sentence, and then figure out how to make it a reality.

If I had an extra $5000 I would use it for…

What would happen if the original 8 Disney Princesses started their own business? Who would do what? And how would they work together?

Here are my thoughts on their roles and behaviors…and whether or not it would be a successful company.

(Described from left to right)

Jasmine - Foreign Relations: Being the daughter of a Sultan, she has a lot of experience with foreign dignitaries. Add that, with her strong personality and cleverness, and she will be great negotiator. Of course, the fact that she keeps a tiger as a pet might help convince them to deal with her business as well…

Snow White – Human Resources: If she can handle seven obnoxious men with Napoleon complexes, I think she can take on hiring and managing an entire staff. She is strong willed and as long as we keep her away from the (apple) juice, she’ll do great.

Mulan - Chief Financial Officer: She was well educated by her tutors as a young girl, and her time as a man in the military will give her great insight for dealing with the tough world of finances. Her bravery and strength, mixed with her lack of focus on love will allow her the freedom to work late (and odd) hours that money business demands.

Aurora - Chief Executive Officer: The only one of the women who was a Princess by birth, she will use that station to gain the upper hand and her daddy’s money to finance the company, making herself the CEO. While the rest will worry at first, her mellow nature and love for all people will prove her to be a fair CEO.

Cinderella - Operations Manager: After running an entire house for a bunch of demanding step siblings, she finds it easy to slide into the role of operations manager, directly below Aurora, making sure that everything runs smoothly. Other than her occasional conversations with a supposed “fairy godmother”, everyone respects and appreciates her hard work.

Pocahontas - Eco-development: She is independent and a free thinker who loves nature. She would be in tune with the other women because she is caring and compassionate but would also be tough on the rules. She would require that the company be green and promote health – benefiting as many as possible with their product.

Belle - Marketing Manager: If this woman can turn a beast into a man, there isn’t anything she can’t do with some serious marketing. Give her the products and free space to go promote it, and she’ll have those shelves emptied in no time!

Ariel - Product Development: Look at what she did with a fork, a sheet and some rope? She is resourceful, driven and will stop at nothing to get to where she needs to be. She can survive without talking, and definitely knows how to make a splash. If she were in charge of product development, she would be sure to create incredibly useful products.

All in all, I think these women would run a killer company – and would definitely take the world by storm.

I love words. The problem is, I love fun, mouthy words…ones that make you pause, and re-read them. Words you rarely hear in common discourse but love to say. The problem is, in writing, these are words you should avoid as according to Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Readability one should write for about the 8th grade reading level, unless you are writing technical documents. This past weekend, I was playing scrabble with my hubby and parents…I played the word zeal, and it started a conversation about how people speak, write and the words the choose. For example, I adore words like facetious, acerbic, zealous, whom, cantankerous, dilapidated, etc…words that sound pompous (oh, another good one) but are just so fun to say/read. But, I rarely use these words because when I do, I get called pretentious (and…another good word!).

But, I still think these words deserve their spot in the sun, so, I’ve decided to have some fun: a-z, these are my favorite overly complex, absolutely verbose, but completely fun to use words:

Acerbic
Boisterous
Cantankerous
Dilapidated
Engorged
Facetious
Gregarious
Hoary
Ignoramus
Jovial
Kaleidoscope
Ludicrous
Malicious
Nuance
Obstinate
Pathology
Quixotic
Resplendent
Scourge
Trepidation
Undulating
Verbose
Whom
X (okay, so there is no word I really like that starts with x…)
Yammered
Zealous

What are some of your favorite words? Do you avoid overly verbose words in your writing?

We are already 5 days into January, but it is not too late to get your blog calendar started for this month. If you’ve already done it for January, I am very proud of you, and we can use this for February. Just give me 10 minutes of your time, and we’ll get your blog calendar created:

1. Open a word document. Start writing down as many ideas as you have for posts. They don’t have to be perfect, just general thoughts. It could be as simple as “answer a question”, “explain how to do something” or “respond to someone elses post”. Write at least 30.
2. Open whichever program you use for your business calendar (Outlook, Google, etc)
3. Add the posts to your calendar on the days you want to write them (remember, they can be moved). Make sure to put at least 4 per week.

The point of this exercise is not to come up with complete posts, it’s to get you started – it’s to create a place where your mind can flow, where you can add ideas and move them around. The more you allow yourself the freedom to think without boundaries, the easier it will be to develop a wide range of ideas. As the month goes on, you can add notes to the topic, find pictures and links that prove your points and build the posts in your calendar.

How do you keep your blog calendar managed?

Today, @MiaChambers posted a link to twitter about ghost tweeting, asking for our thought on whether it was right or wrong. Most responders were quick to say that they thought ghost tweeting was wrong in all areas – but I disagree.

I believe that ghost tweeting for an individual would be wrong, but a ghost tweeter for a brand is completely acceptable (and is commonplace).

For example, if @scottmonty had a ghost tweeter and didn’t tell us, that would be misleading. However if @Ford hired their marketing company to manage twitter for them, that would be perfectly acceptable as we don’t expect it’s the ghost of Henry Ford behind that account.

What say you?

We all have hundreds of great ideas that come to us – while we’re sleeping, while we’re working on other projects, or just sitting and relaxing. Unfortunately, most of these ideas will simply be passing thoughts, forgotten about as soon as they were thought up. This can be very frustrating down the road when you are looking for great ideas but don’t have any put away.

This is where all those extra ideas come in handy. Rather than allowing yourself to let an idea tickle your brain and then disappear, find a way to translate the idea into something usable for the future, even if it’s just a simple note in your idea book.

What? You don’t have an idea book? Okay, step 1: Get an idea book (anything that you can write on will do). Step 2: Keep reading.

“Idea” does not mean fully developed plans of action, “idea” means random titles for a blog post, websites that would be fun to create, a picture you want to take or a type of person you would like to meet, etc. These are all quality ideas, and need no more than a couple words to remember them. Then, you can come back through your idea book when you are looking for inspiration and poof! tons of already started ideas for you to develop further. I know many people who love their moleskine notebook’s and use those for their ideas…I am not a fan. Why? Because I feel like a book that pretty requires pretty notes, complete thoughts and shouldn’t get scribbled in. My notes (no, I will not be sharing) are messy, random peices of paper, partially ripped, all put together in one folder. I like it messy because ideas are messy, and deserve to be free to change, grow, move and be re-arranged….moleskine doesn’t move pages and recombine. Although, I may just be biased because I also have trouble rationalizing spending $10 on paper-in-a-binding. But, much like ideas are your own, the way you choose to keep them is too, so if moleskine, a computer or the back of matchbooks work for you, then use them.

Your ideas are like tiny little pieces of gold, one or two may not be worth much now, but if you can gather hundreds of them, well, that’s worth a lot. (wow, that’s really cheesy, but too true not to type!). Anyway, keeping your ideas somewhere that they can be built upon allows your mind the freedom to jump from one place to another, without concern of forgetting your thoughts. You can always go back and look at something later, add to it or get rid of it. Although, I caution throwing ideas out too quickly, I recommend keeping them for a month or two before giving them the heave-ho. This gives you a chance to really see if you can use it or build on it before just getting rid of it.

Let’s take an example…my sister-in-law got engaged at the end of August and wanted a website that she could update with details of the wedding, the wedding party and of them as the wedding got closer (for all the out of town guests). So, I designed a site that was fun, colorful and really captured her and her fiance’s personalities. Unfortunately, I caught the wedding bug, and all I could think about after designing their site was the designs for other bridal sites (either for the bride and groom or for a wedding planner). Instead of brushing off the idea, I started jotting down notes, what would go where, the styles, fonts, etc. Pretty soon, when I had a few extra minutes to spare, I was working in photoshop to create a mockup. Finally, after 3 months of tinkering with this random idea, I created a complete mockup, ready to code and deliver to some lucky bride or bridal consultant. (oh! you want to see it? Oh okay…here it is; my bridal or bridal consultant wordpress theme!)

Was it sold already? Nope. Do I have someone to sell it to now? Nope (unless of course you know someone looking?). Will it make a good piece for my portfolio and hopefully entice someone to purchase it or hire me for something similar because of it? Absolutely!

…now what if I had just let the idea pass through my mind without a note to spare? I wouldn’t have a gorgeously fun new design to show off, and I certainly wouldn’t remember my idea should someone come to me desiring a beautiful wedding site.

So what do you think happens when you let your ideas slip away? Exactly.

Tweetup Tomorrow!