Have you added the free gapingvoid cartoon widget to your blog or website yet? Just askin’….

Back in the mid-90s, when the Internet was still the size of a tadpole and TV was still the Big Kahuna, I was working in a large advertising agency that had many big, blue-chip clients.

We were given a brief to work on, a well-known laundry detergent.

All the other teams went away and came back with ideas for big-production TV commercials. Except me.

I had this idea about using GoCards, those free advertising postcards I started seeing around in all the trendy bars at the time.

It wasn’t rocket science. For pennies on the dollar, I reckoned you could try out a lot of different ideas- dozens of them, literally- and from tallying which cards were being picked up by people and which ones weren’t, you could could easily measure which ideas were working or not. Not unlike today’s Internet, the same way you can tell which blog posts of yours are working from the number of retweets they get. Stuff we all take for granted now.

Secondly, because the client was a laundry detergent, you’d really have to push the envelope to get people’s attention inside these trendy bars. It would force you to work your ideas faster, cheaper, better and harder. It would push you, it would push the client and the brand.

If any the ideas took off, I mean, REALLY took off, then you’d have enough info to go on to scale up the campaign into bigger media- TV, large magazines and whatnot.

Unlike most ad campaigns out there at the time, you’d would already have enough information to know that the campaign- the idea- was WAS ALREADY WORKING BEFORE your dear client had spent any real money.

It was cheap, it was disruptive, and… it was accountable.

The suits didn’t like the idea. My boss didn’t like it, either. Even my art director was a bit grumbly and doubtful. The idea never left the building. The client never saw it. The idea was killed in the first round.

The agency’s perspective was, they didn’t earn its money from “little” ideas. The agency earned its money for “BIG” ideas…. ones that cost lots of money and needed “a cast of thousands” etc. Superbowl ads and whatnot.

They had forgotten that all big ideas start life out as small ideas.

Make of this what you will.

I just wrote the [very long] blog headline above just to give y’all something to chew on…

I’m guessing most of us here are familiar with Techcrunch, yes?

Like I said earlier, we’re incredible beings. So frickin’ go do something about it. Frickin’ go do something that matters. Exactly.

God Bless…

["Awake", the print I featured in this Monday's newsletter etc.]

We’re incredible beings. And I want to make and sell art that maybe, just maybe, makes people think, even for a short while, that I’m not wrong, either.

[I can think of worse ways to make a living. Lord knows, we've all tried a few of those...]

So yeah, we’re incredible beings. But it’s not enough to believe it; you actually have to live it. Even if you’re going to fail. most of the time. That’s where the REAL work lies.

But hey, at least you tried.

Life is short, People. You’re going to be dead soon. So frickin’ go do something about it. Frickin’ go do something that matters. Seriously.

Thanks for hearing my rant. God Bless…

I don’t know if it was Brian Clark over at Copyblogger who first popularized the term, “Content Marketing”, but it’s he I most associate it with.

Content Marketing is exactly what is sounds like- creating content in order to more effectively market whatever it is you’re selling.

Copyblogger itself is a really good example of content marketing. It’s basically a daily advice column for anyone trying to do content marketing professionally. You get to read it for free, but hey, Brian and his team have other products they sell which are all designed to be interesting, useful and valuable to their core audience.

And Copyblogger rakes it in as a result; it’s now a seven-figure business.

Back in 2003, eons ago in Internet time, I remember talking to Henry Copeland, the founder of Blogads.com. This was well before the huge advertising market emerged for large sites like Techcrunch, Gawker, Mashable and BoingBoing, back when even the largest blogs were far smaller and far more personal than they are today.

We were chatting about potential business models for blogs, short and long-term. This was still very early days, remember…

“As far as I can tell,” said Henry, “the most viable business model for blogging these days is for under-employed consultants to show off how smart they are.”

Consultants showing off how smart they are? Under-employed or over-employed, that is content marketing. Exactly.

You write a blog. You build a dedicated following. You leave a discreet, non-pushy trail of breadcrumbs to what your business actually does for money. If X percent of your readers take the bait and become paying customers, hey, you win.

Like the headline of this post says, it’s much easier to get paid work out of people if they’re already your fanboy.

What I like about this model is that it’s simple. It isn’t rocket science. And perhaps more importantly, it’s free from the tyranny of wanting or needing huge traffic.

[Warning- VERY rough math to follow:] English Cut can only make and sell about 100 hand-tailored Savile Row suits a year. I can only handle a small handful of Cube Grenade clients at one time. Same with James Governor at Redmonk or Piers Fawkes at PSFK. And if say, our blogs can convert one or two percent of our hardcore readers into customers, in theory, the total readership per blog only needs to be fifty or a hundred times that in order to make the business viable. A few hundred people, maybe a couple of thousand- very attainable (and sustainable) numbers.

So if you get it right, you can just do your thing, delighting, thrilling (and selling to) the audience that you already have, without obsessing over which “A-Lister” is linking to you (or not),  or how many new Twittter followers you’ve gotten (or haven’t) since last month. Nor do you have sleepless nights fretting over the fact that your blog doesn’t have the same number of readers as The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Economist, Wired etc. Or whatever silly, energy-draining neuroses that so many other social media mavens seem to fall prey to.

That’s the good news. The bad news is, effective content marketing requires two things: world-class content and a world-class product. Harder than it looks. Life is unfair.

[Originally posted October, 2006.]

One of the main reasons I never really pursued corporate blog consulting as a career, even though I’ve had some definite opportunities in this department, is because of what I call “The Cleopatra Effect”.

I remember when I was a kid watching this old black & white movie about Cleopatra.

I can’t remember the name of the movie, but one scene always stuck with me:

Cleopatra is walking through the palace, when she’s suddenly stopped by the sound of pretty music, being played off in the distance.

She follows the sound of the music through the palace, till eventually she finds one of her courtiers in the garden, playing the harp.

“What pretty music,” she says to the courtier. “You play beautifully.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” says the courtier, obviously flattered.

“I would love to play music like that,” says Cleopatra. “Do you think you could teach me?”

The courtier, now that he’s feeling flattered, tries to win even more of her favor.

“Well, yes,” he gushes. “I’m sure a Queen as talented as you in so many things, would be talented at this as well.”

“Oh, good,” says Cleopatra, obviously delighted. “Here’s the deal. You teach me to play the harp. If I cannot play as well as you within one month, I will have you flogged. If I cannot play as well as you within three months, I will have you executed.”

The courtier’s face turns white. Cleopatra gives the courtier an evil smirk and then turns and walks off.

Make of this what you will.

I believe that both our economic and spiritual future, good or bad, is directly related to our ability to unlock the latent creativity within us.

There. I’ve said it.

It’s been six years since I first started blogging what would eventually end up being my first book, Ignore Everybody.

The book didn’t really start off with a plan. Like I said at the very beginning,

“So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. Here are some tips that have worked for me over the years.”

That was it. One person’s ramblings. No big, authoritative volume with lots of practical how-to’s, case studies and academic citations.

Some people didn’t care for that. “I paid $23.00 for a hardback edition and I expect RESULTS, dammit!”

Results!

Ah. But I never said anything about results. There was no plan, you see. That’s because there is no plan. There never is.

Writing about creativity is a messy business because creativity is a messy business.

Even using the word “creativity” in conversation is going to get you in trouble from some quarters. Stick your head above the parapet for just a few seconds and watch the arrows start flying at you.

Yet somewhere in the back of our minds, we all know it’s too important a subject to ignore, too important a reality not to confront.

Why? Because when I first started writing Ignore Everybody, I was coming at it from a very personal angle. Confronting one’s existential need to be “creative”, to express oneself etc. Which is why the book did so well with teenagers, college students and young adults just starting out in the working world. That’s the time of life to be thinking about all that.

But now, six years later I’m a bit older and bit more experienced. Maybe a lot more.

And time and experience has led me to conclude that even if we hate the word “creativity”, even if it’s a nasty, annoying, sophomoric, hipster-dipster, New Age gagfest that really should have no place among the serious, results-orientated world of equally serious, result-orientated grownups…

It’s where all meaningful growth is going to come from, both internal and external, whether we like it or not.

I don’t believe creativity can be taught, not really, but I do believe:

• That with a bit of prodding in the right places, individuals can train themselves to be more creative.
• That with a bit of prodding in the right places, individuals working as a team can train themselves to be more creative.
• That with a bit of prodding in the right places, companies and organizations can train themselves to be more creative.
• That with a bit of prodding in the right places, societies can train themselves to be more creative.

And that if they can do this, the value they create will be off the scale.

I’ll say it again: I believe that both our economic and spiritual future, good or bad, is directly related to our ability to unlock the latent creativity within us.

Let the journey begin…

[Welcome, PSFK visitors! I hope you'll check out my "Daily Cartoon" newsletter, Thanks.]

From PSFK:

Every week, cartoonist Hugh MacLeod will draw an original cartoon about an idea from a popular or noteworthy PSFK post.

This week’s cartoon inspired by this PSFK article.

Yep, doing a small weekly gig over there. No reason, other than I like the blog (It’s one of my top three favorites) and I’ve known its founder, Piers Fawkes for a while now.

Just seemed like a fun idea. Note how I’ve used trademark “PSFK Purple” as my main background color etc.

Thanks Piers & Co for making it happen!

One evening Father Steven, the elderly priest who baptized more than one of my nephews and nieces, came over to my mother’s house for dinner. I was there, too.

Father Steven is a lovely guy. Deeply spiritual and very smart. Very learned in theology and the history of the Roman Catholic Church, though not Catholic myself I always looked forward to discussing “The Big Stuff” with Father Steven for hours on end.

That evening over wine and cheese, I was telling Father Steven how during a particularly rough patch in my twenties, somehow I got into the habit of carrying a small Bible around with me everywhere in my day pack. Not quite sure why. Being the good former choirboy, I’ve always read the Bible in bits and bobs, here and there, all my life. I told Father Steven I thought it was rather odd, even though at the time the Bible accompanied me everywhere, I didn’t read it any more than I did in my non-day-pack days. I just liked having it around, as it were.

“Ah, that’s quite common,” said Father Steven. “People have always carried The Bible around as a talisman.”

From Wikipedia: A talisman (from Arabic طلاسم tilasm, ultimately from Greek telesma or from the Greek word “telein” which means “to initiate into the mysteries”) is an amulet or other object considered to possess supernatural or magical powers.

Basically, a talisman is an object that has been given meaning that far exceeds any actual function. A good luck charm. Or a crucifix. A St. Christopher’s medal. A Star of David. Or that friendship bracelet your girlfriend gave you when you took off to France without her for six months “in order to find yourself” or whatever. A reminder of an idea or an identity.

As is that $150 pair of sneakers that you think are going make your exercise more often, that too is a talisman; that too has totemic power. Or that $400 smartphone that’s going to get you more organized and focused about your career. Or the author’s signature inside the jacket of your favorite book. Or yes, that gapingvoid print that’s going to hang in your office and help you to stay upbeat and motivated when you’re having a blah day. Or getting “Linchpin” tattooed on your arm.

And this is no different than watching some well known tech blogger like Scoble walking out of an iStore, waving his latest Apple gizmo to the video phones and cheering crowd, after he spent three night waiting in line, in order to be fist in the store to buy one. Right then and there, the Apple gizmo has tremendous talismanic power.

And of course, so does your “Object-Idea”, if you’re fortunate enough to have one. Huge power.

Why do we seem to have this insatiable and irrational desire to surround ourselves with talismans, totems and Object-Ideas? Because they represent meaning to us. And like the the cartoon above says, we have an infinite need for that.

[The Object-Idea archive is here.]

I’ve been working on a problem lately…

“Purpose Idea” plus “Social Object” equals…????

The Social Object, in a nutshell, is the reason two people are talking to each other, as opposed to talking to somebody else. Human beings are social animals. We like to socialize. But if think about it, there needs to be a reason for it to happen in the first place. That reason, that “node” in the social network, is what we call the Social Object.

[Quoting Mark Earls:] Put really simply, the Purpose-Idea is the “What For?” of a business, or any kind of community. What exists to change (or protect) in the world, why employees get out of bed in the morning, what difference the business seeks to make on behalf of customers and employees and everyone else? BTW this is not “mission, vision, values” territory – it’s about real drives, passions and beliefs. The stuff that men in suits tend to get embarrassed about because it’s personal. But it’s the stuff that makes the difference between success and failure, because this kind of stuff brings folk together in all aspects of human life.

In his brilliant book, “Welcome to The Creative Age,” Mark Earls, then one of the top advertising planners in London, coined to term “Purpose-Idea”, as a more interesting, engaging and human term to replace the word, “Brand”. The latter he viewed as an outdated, overused and mostly meaningless concept.

Though I loved the book ["Purpose-Idea" is one of the most explosive "A-Ha!" moments I've had in my entire career], it soon became apparent to me that a Purpose-Idea doesn’t live in a vacuum. It needs to be articulated via a Social Object, so the idea can spread. Ideas spread not on their own steam, but as social objects. “Hey Gang, what do y’all think of this idea” etc etc. The Microsoft Blue Monster was a good example.

After the success of The Blue Monster, I wanted to create more of these…

i.e. “Social Objects that Articulate a Purpose-Idea” etc.

So I started drawing Cube Grenades with EXACTLY THAT in mind.

But in order to explain what I was talking about, it needed a name. Something more descriptive than say, “Blue Monster” or “Cube Grenade”, terms which are both utterly meaningless without a lot of backstory and context.

So recently I’ve been using the term, “Object-Idea”. A bit of a mouthful, maybe, but it works for now.

So what does this have to do with anything?

Well basically, I’ve been telling the ad agency world for while now, “Guys, you’re no longer in the Message business, you’re in the Social Object business.”

Yes, TV commercials can be social objects ["Dude, did you see that crazy new Progressive Insurance commercial? WTF??!!!"].

In fact, they must be, if the ad is to work. The “Whassuup” campaign for Budweiser [which was actually written by my old advertising buddy, Vinny Warren] didn’t work because the ad was THAT great artistically or convinced you of the beer’s quality.

It worked because suddenly millions of young adults the world over started saying “”Whassssuuuup” to each other. The advertising message, “Whassuup” had become a social object. An utterly massive one.

In the advertising & marketing world, successful social objects [Often called "virals", especially when talking online] are a good thing. Every brand manger and his uncle dreams of one day creating the next Cadbury’s Gorilla.

But a social object on steroids i.e. an Object-Idea, is far more powerful.

Because it’s actually talking about stuff that actually matters to people. It’s not enough for people to like your product. For them to really LOVE it, somehow they’ve got to connect and empathize with the basic, primal human drives that compelled you create your product in the first place. The Purpose. The Idea. Otherwise you’re just one more piece of clutter to them.

The Object-Idea might catch on within the advertising & marketing world, it might not. It might need refining on my part- maybe a lot, maybe a little- we’ll see. But I sincerely believe that the people who really get it will have a considerable advantage over their peers who don’t.

The Object-Idea. You heard it here first, Folks. Rock on.

[N.B. "Social Objects" is a term I did not coin myself, but was turned onto by the anthropolgist and Jaiku founder, Jyri Engestrom.]

["Wings", which I sent out in the newsletter recently. You can get the print here etc.]

[Originally published November, 2005:]

I was having a long conversation with a friend last night about “Business Porn”:

Business Porn is just like Ordinary Porn or Real Estate Porn, except instead of it being about the women we wished we could sleep with, or the houses we wish we owned, it’s about all those cool, lucrative, exciting jobs and businesses that we wish we had, instead of the normal, tedious, schleppy crap most of us end up doing to pay the bills.

Does your blog suffer from low traffic? It’s probably because there’s not enough porn on it. Sex Porn, Real Estate Porn, Wine Porn, Biz Porn, Emotional Porn, it doesn’t matter.

Porn = Traffic.
Porn = Marketing.
Porn = Sales.

With Porn, all things are possible.

So now you know.

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