If you have read more than a couple of my blogs or followed me in social media you are probably aware that I am a huge fan of looking at outside areas for inspiration. One of the biggest challenges for marketers (or anyone for that matter) is coming up with fresh ideas. And not only fresh, but interesting ideas.
Another thing you have likely noticed is that I am a huge fan of Charles Bukowski. Raw, angry, and usually inebriated, old Chuck said what he felt and didn’t really seem to care about silly things like social norms. He also pulled inspiration from anyplace he could find without thinking of whether or not it was “acceptable”
If you spend your entire career following only marketers I can almost guarantee you are going to suck.
I think old Chuck Bukowski would agree with that.
Seriously though, what could Charles Bukowski really have to say about marketing?
Come to find out; quite a bit.
“To do a dull thing with style-now that’s what I call art.”
If you do marketing long enough someone is going to come with you and say “I have to tell you up front; our product is a bit boring.”
This may be the honest truth, but that does not mean you are.
Ever heard of the brand Dropbox?
How about Survey Monkey?
Both of these brands have taken rather boring industries and found that point that resonates with their audience? Remember, it has much less to do with your product, and more to do with how your brand can relate to people.
“An intellectual is a man who says a simple thing in a difficult way; an artist is a man who says a difficult thing in a simple way.”
One of the main things people forget when they are writing for the web is who there audience is. It would be great if the entire world had advanced degrees and ran around solving string theory. The truth is, very few people are PHD’s. Unless you are specifically writing content for an audience that can understand string theory, write for a wider audience. There is a reason newspapers are written to the eighth-grade level.
The world has enough wannabe intellectuals.
Be the artist.
“You have to die a few times before you can really live.”
Marketing can be frustrating.
You put your heart and soul into a project. You stay up nights, and weekends. You skip meals. Finally, the project is complete, you meet with your clients or boss, and they turn you down.
You stand there in utter disbelief. It is an awful, awful feeling. It is a feeling we are all well aware of.
Understanding that setbacks, or defeat, is not the end of the world is one of the most important lessons a marketer can learn. Figure out what you did wrong. Maybe it wasn’t wrong, maybe it was just the wrong audience. Whatever the reasons. Whatever the outcome. Learn from your failures. Pick yourself up. Dust yourself off. Keep moving forward.
My ambition is handicapped by my laziness.
If you take anything away from this blog post let it be this.
The world is chock-full of intelligent and ambitious people who lack the drive to do anything about it. Imagine if every great idea came to fruition. How awesome would the world be?
The chances of that happening are pretty slim.
You, however, do not have to be a statistic.
Don’t let the television, or a mid-afternoon nap, or staring at the wall, be the downfall of your great ambition. Get up. Get off your ass. Go do something.
Do something big.
Do it now.