Field Notes

Show your work If you consider yourself a marketer or creative professional, what does your resume really get you in a world where you can film your work life with a phone? Does your bullet list of buzzwords and seemingly random facts really illustrate what you do? Stop and think about what a resume really is supposed to do. It’s usually reviewed in advance of an interview where a prospective employer or client can figure out where you think you excel. They can brainstorm their questions and determine which risks might need more discussion before they make their hiring decision. However, as attention spans get more narrow and selective, the chances of a hiring manager or client sifting through your vague sentences is pretty slim. ...

Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem The concept of branding is becoming increasingly important, especially for my clients that work inside of a large corporation. Teams that have enjoyed the steady protection from “statements of direction” and similar corporate propaganda are finding those methods less effective as more teams can step in as direct or indirect competition. To stand out and earn the attention you need, you might think you need to learn about things like identity development, typography, color theory and iconography. You do, but not as much as you think. Take a page out of the songbook of my favorite rock band I mentioned above. ...

What’s the big idea? I love this ad from Googlers Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg for so many reasons. It’s simple, tells a great story, tells it with pictures and makes you root for the authors. I want to talk to you about one of the most powerful insights I pulled from their book, How Google Works, when I first read it years ago. Just in case you don’t know their story, these two gentlemen were brought to Google after their early success to help the company “grow up.” They went into Google with years of experience leading large companies and loads of case studies from their MBA programs under their belt. They also brought with them countless assumptions that would eventually be disproven. Thanks to their open minds and willingness to change what they “knew”, they were able to lead Google to what all of us know it to be today. To sum it all up, their willingness to explicitly define their assumptions and test them openly is what makes the difference at Google. ...

What if they don’t like it? Why are we here? I think it’s to create “stuff” with other people. We create businesses, families, art, cities, homes, and lots of great things by working together. Therefore, it makes sense to assume the thing we want most is connecting with another person. We want it so bad. Even worse is the fear we feel when we risk losing it. ...

Content Strategy Workshop: Building Personas If you are running your own business or corporate team, chances are you will not be producing all of your marketing material. You will more than likely work with any of the 62,000 advertising agencies and countless freelancers to produce good content. You may even ask your team to start producing more themselves. While it’s always a pleasure to work with talented designers, storytellers and content creators, there’s usually one big challenge you’ll likely face no matter what. ...

The one skill needed for the 21st Century team A client of mine has kept me extremely busy over the past few months. A large corporation has asked me to help educate engineering leaders (and their employees) about how to sell the work their teams do. Of course, they don’t use the words “sell stuff.” It’s usually, “can you help my team explain our value proposition?” Whatever the reason behind the request, it typically has a flavor of “my boss doesn’t think we’re as valuable as I think we are.” Fearing the inevitable “re-org”, I think this organizational uncertainty is a fascinating trend that will continue to grow in corporate America. Whether you work for yourself or someone else, selling is a timeless skill, and modern technology has just put every team on an equal playing field. That means that if built the right way, your team can not only survive but thrive in almost any organization. ...

The one characteristic that defines a great salesperson Urgency. No sense in wasting any time here. Why are you staring at that phone when you could be calling someone who needs you? Why are you practicing your pitch for the 5th time this morning when you could be sharing it with someone who needs you? Why are you pushing off your blog when you have a reader who needs you? ...

Creative Confidence “Oh, you must be a creative.” What does that mean, to be a creative? When did we decide to make that a noun? Everyone is a creative. Some of us are just a little more okay with being in uncomfortable situations. If you find yourself in a situation where you aren’t being as creative as you’d like, go do something that makes you uncomfortable. Break a routine you always follow. Learn about a subject that intimidates you. ...

Why the Hardest Part of Juggling is Throwing the Third Ball Marketing work can be difficult. You obviously need the technical chops to design and build digital media in today’s world. You still have to do or say something that warrants someone’s attention. Not to mention, you still have to be able to tell a good story. But, perhaps the hardest part of marketing is you have to be willing to be wrong - to share a message that doesn’t yield the impact you expected. Crickets. We don’t like to be wrong. We hate looking stupid. In this post, I share some methods I use and advice I’ve been given to combat writer’s (marketer’s) block. ...

Stop creating ads. Start revealing stories. Recently, I’ve been approached by a few business owners, both at small business operations and at big corporations that all want videos. They usually want to “get the word out” on a new project or product and think producing a promotional video will do the trick. I wasn’t in the freelance marketing game 15 years ago, but I have to assume this is what it felt like when business owners were asking marketers to build them new websites. ...