Posts Tagged ‘creative ideas’

Last week, a great new site launched. A site with huge promise and a great premise…

The sites creators, Joseph Morin and Mike Uesugi, are both brilliant business minds and I am very excited to be the lead on the graphic design side of this project. It is currently in beta, but is growing and will be out of beta soon and in full swing.

SocialRewards is a simple principal: Brands have reward systems (like hotels, airlines, restaurants, etc) that already reward people for using their services. Now, they are taking it one step further and giving brands a chance to reward your loyalty even further. Now, when you visit some of your favorite sites, you can join their Social Rewards program which will give you extra loyalty point for just sharing their special offers! Currently, all rewards are set through twitter, but the site plans on expanding to facebook, foursquare and according to Joe Morin, SocialRewards CEO, “the distribution capability extends to even email to pass along word of mouth marketing if a person isn’t a Twitter fan for instance but wants to pass along a really good deal to their email contact database”.

In addition, this site is extremely unique, in that it is not consumer facing – it is directed at more of a b2b back end distribution platform, they will not cannibalize a brand’s own loyalty database and prefer to work seamlessly in the backend by powering a brands own loyalty program that they can pass along to consumers.

A final note is that this is open to brand’s even way beyond hotel’s and airlines but to merchandise, movies – anyone with or even without a loyalty program but still wants to reward consumers for word of mouth marketing. Just like Twitter grew by uses they hadn’t contemplated or built into their model such as the retweet and hashtag, they expect end users will give ideas that they hadn’t dreamed of and incorporated them into the system. Joe continued, “just yesterday we were approached by a major conference and asked how we might be able to help them promote an upcoming show via word of mouth marketing and we came back with a loyalty program that rewarded blog posts and retweet with points that could be earned and used towards discounts to future shows, including an affiliate-like conversion program where someone who generates enough actual show bookings could potentially get a free ticket to attend the conference – which isn’t cheap”.

Overall, the goal is to introduce a new business model that will become a defacto standard in online marketing – and I am thrilled to be a part of it!

Unless you’ve been away from your computer and on a beach in Hawaii for the last week, you’ve probably seen a tweet or two showing how poorly Southern California handles “weather”. It’s true, us Southern Californian’s are pretty pathetic when it comes to wet and windy.  We are avoiding the roads, staying inside, and have been complaining about how awful all this wind/rain/etc is for days. While I agree that the rain does make driving a little precarious, and I would definitely prefer the sun, the rain does provide some interesting inspiration.

Normally, I reserve phone photos for Friday’s, but these two, sent to me by my husband were my motivation for this post. Each photo is of a grease spot on the ground of his shop (he’s a Volkswagen Tech), untouched by humans and manipulated only by the rain.

At first glance, while these are very cool images – they’re only that, just images. But, if you take some deeper analysis, you start to uncover some new opinions.

The first image is not just a “spot”, it s a flying meteor aiming towards earth, the edges slowly burning up as it enters the atmosphere. And the second picture – an young Phoenix, its head facing down, tail plumage beginning to show the colors of adulthood, and growing in strength.

Or, for those of us in the design world, we can can look at the images and pull out some colors.

(image 1 colors)

(image 2 colors)

What could you do with these colors? Website design? Email advertisement? Twitter background? New bedroom theme? A clothing line? Office decor? The usage of color is unlimited, and with unique palettes, you know it will turn out beautifully.

One of the most important things I try to remember when working on a new project is that we are only limited by our own creativity – if you looked at the photos and saw grease spots, that would be all they ever were. But, if you could separate yourself from what they are and instead, figure out what they could be, you have opened an entirely new world for you to play with.

What can you be inspired by today?

Over the next 25 posts, ending on my birthday, I will be covering an incredibly creative moment or idea from a year of my life AND one creative moment in either the marketing, advertising, technology or media world.

My two-words: preciously precocious

Media two-words: created

Today’s blog post is one you need to get involved with. To start, open a word document (or just grab a sheet of paper).

Look at the picture:

Now immediately type or write the first thing that comes to your mind.

Got it? Okay…then let’s keep it going with 5 more photos (After each, write the first thing you think of , then move on):

You should now have 6 quick thoughts based on the photos.

Some may be great, some may be silly…that’s not the point.

The point is that you let your mind run free and opened yourself up to whatever came first. You had quick responses based on immediate reactions. This is the key to strong writing.

Most blog posts that I write don’t have a beginning, middle and end. I react to something, start with a quick response, then I turn it into something solid. Writing doesn’t need structure right away, writing needs the freedom of creativity, and quick responses allow for that creativity.

To wrap up this post, I’d love to see your quick responses: pick your favorite thought/word/phrase and share it in the comments (or share them all if you’d like!).

*Thanks to all the Photographers whom I borrowed images. To visit their sites, click on any of the images*

Today is the final one of the 7 sins of creativity and writing. If you haven’t seen the rest, start with the first 6, lust, gluttony, greed, sloth,  wrath and envy.

Wrapping it up is pride. While taking pride in your work is important, too much pride is dangerous – so dangerous that pride is actually considered the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins, and indeed the ultimate source from which the others arise.

But what makes pride so dangerous? Pride sneaks up on you, it is subtle and very good at hiding just under the surface. You don’t even realize that you have been overwhelmingly boastful until it’s too late and you have alienated someone with your attitude. Unfortunately, we all boast in our writing, even the top bloggers are guilty.

Ari Herzog did it when he talked about getting fans to facebook like he did, Copyblogger did it when he wrote about how he made tons of money using Amazon affiliates, Chris Brogan did it when talking about new book being a best seller. While all of those posts were designed to teach something (facebook fan pages, how to use amazon better, and how to get a book promoted) the undertone of pride was almost too much to bear.

But, we give them a break because they know what they are talking about, have a blog with a lot of readers and are considered experts in their fields. We allow them to write in this manner, and don’t say a word.

The question of the day: Should they be granted that free pass to be prideful just because they are good at what they do? What about someone like me who may have had too much pride when I wrote about starting my own business?

Lastly, never one to keep an incredible find to myself, I just discovered that the entire Divine Comedy, the book that started my curiosities of the sins, Dante Alighieri’s incredible work, is available entirely online and for free! I’ve read it twice, but somewhere in all the moves I have made over the last 5 years, it was lost. I am so excited to be able to read it again and I cannot recommend it enough: The Divine Comedy, translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

We are getting close to the end of the 7 sins. If you’re just tuning in, make sure to check out lust, gluttony, greed, sloth and wrath.

Now, let’s turn our attention to envy. The difference between envy and greed is rather difficult to explain, so I will let wikipedia do it for me: “Like greed, Envy (Latin, invidia) may be characterized by an insatiable desire; they differ, however, for two main reasons. First, greed is largely associated with material goods, whereas envy may apply more generally. Second, those who commit the sin of envy resent that another person has something they perceive themselves as lacking, and wish the other person to be deprived of it.”

Creative people come up with unique desires and goals. Envious people want something some one else has.

Simply put, envy isn’t creative.

Be creative and write 1 of your own desires or goals in the comments.

So far in the series of 7 sins, we have covered lust, gluttony, greed and sloth. The next in line is wrath - an uncontrolled feeling of anger or rage. When you combine this with the ease to publish content to the web, it can be very dangerous.

So what is the solution?

Don’t write when you are angry.

Wrong.

The solution is managed wrath.

Huh? What do I mean?

I mean that if you allow the wrath to control you, you can end up like…

…the woman who takes to her facebook page to complain about her boss and forgets he is a friend on Facebook?

…Or, tweeting about a job that you just got, and losing it almost immediately because of complaining about it like a new hire from Cisco did!

…Or tweeting about how much you can’t stand the town you were just in for an extremely important meeting like a Ketchum Exec did to FedEx and Memphis, TN.

…And there is always that blogger who goes a little crazy without sleep and a with new baby (and apparently a really bad Maytag washer).

But, if you can manage your wrath and filter it into something productive, you can wind up with incredible articles and stories like…

…when a health care company completely failed at its job, reported by Steve Woodruff

…then there’s Karen’s story about Steak and Shake denying a her service because she is deaf.

…and we all remember what happened when United broke a guys guitar.

These were all successfully put together and executed properly because they managed the wrath! That is the key. Writing sometimes needs a little anger and frustration, but only if it can be managed.

Have you seen an example of wrath that was either managed or mismanaged? Share it here!

So far, we have covered Lust and Gluttony. The next in line is Greed. Traditionally, Greed in the 7 sins stood for the desire for copious amounts of wealth and a person who would stop at nothing to acquire that wealth. Over time, greed has been more loosely associated with the desire for too much of anything.

Whenever I think of greediness, the first thing that comes to mind is a book my mother used to make me read every time I was being greedy… The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies. Whenever I would start asking for too much, or acting ungrateful for what I had, she would threaten to make me read it again. It worked really well.

*honestly, if you have children and don’t have this book, I’d be surprised. The entire series of Berenstain Bears is actually worth owning as they cover almost all of the ‘lessons’ kids go through…I cherish the set I have of them.*

So, what does writing and creativity have to do with Greed?

Unfortunately, a lot!

Writers and creative types tend to be very greedy – and I am not sure why. I just know that anyone who I know who is creative or a writer (sadly, including myself) tends to be a bit greedy by nature.  As a person, I think those who are creative tend to want more out of everything. They want more attention, they want more appreciation and they want more recognition. Creative people do not make their money in basic 9-5, doing what someone tells them to, jobs. At least not those who are really hell bent on being creative. The creative types go out on their own and create their own businesses. Which means in order to do well, they must get noticed. So they talk about themselves, promote their work and show off. They gather a little bit of attention and all of a sudden, boom! They become greedier and greedier for that attention. They don’t want to share it, they don’t want anyone else to get that attention, they want it all to themselves.

I know what you’re thinking, “not all creative people/writers are like this. There are plenty of writers/creative types that show off other peoples work and are happy to share the spotlight”. I have to disagree. There are some, yes, that share the spotlight now that they are super successful, but have you noticed that even when they share the spotlight, they still have at least 51% of the attention? It is a challenge of personality that I think all creative people need to face, and realize, otherwise they risk it overpowering them.

Now, with this all said, I am not saying that creative/writers are the most greedy, or even in the top 10% (hello Bernie Maddoff? Imedla Marcos? George Steinbrenner?). But, I do believe that there is an inherently greedy nature to those involved in creative fields, and definitely in writers.

What do you think? Is there an inherent greediness or am I just assuming based on those whom I know?

Celebrate Today

Just tuning in and not sure what it’s all about? Check out the launch of two-word tuesday.

Remember Rebus Puzzles from elementary school? They were a great way to get your brain going and your mind creative…and still are!

Below are 10 rebus puzzles.

Put your answers to all 10 in the comments. Everyone who gets all them right will be entered for a chance to win a free Twitter Background designed by me (or service credit with Wright Creativity of equal value)!

I will choose the winner on Thursday, July 30th at noon, so make sure to get your answers in before then.

Good Luck!