Jun 24 2010

WRITING for business results.

Ask Any Writer . . .

THE BEST WORDS

                           

DON’T FALL

                           

FROM THE SKY!

                                                             

     Making a sale and marketing a business requires having and using great words. Results-driven words. And just in case someone may have led you to believe otherwise, great “results-driven” words don’t fall from the sky, or march single-file out of some closet an hour or two (or even overnight, as some misguided car dealers believe) after brewing, steeping, or incubation.

     Great results-driven words are only born of great word craftsmanship.

     Do you think someone at General Electric locked her or him self in a sealed room with a jug of Red Bull and couple of pastrami sandwiches, only to fling open the door after half a day and burst forth into the waiting throngs of anxiously pacing top executives, and proclaim: “Aha! I’ve got it! Listen to this:

GE…Progress Is Our Most Important Product!”

     Well, do you? Right.

     And so next, the CEO no doubt stepped forward and said:

“Yeah, terrific! Now get back in your little dungeon. And while you’re there, why don’t you work up a follow-up line like “GE…We Bring Good Things To Life” — okay? And, by the way, hustle it up will you; we need this stuff for a commercial we’re filming in another hour. Uh, how’s your Bull and pastrami holding out? Got enough mustard?”

     Sure. It’s that simple. Of course, you will need the concentrated caffeine drink and concentrated salt-processed meat just in case you get stuck on a word. Hmmm. Maybe the slogan should be more like, “Innovative New Technology Is The Best Thing We Produce.”? Nah! That doesn’t really cut the pastrami mustard, does it? Or maybe, “GE…We Give Your Things A Charge!“? You get the idea.

     Though many of us would like to believe that the wordsmithing process is quick, simple, and so pain free that our good-for-nothing, 40-something brother-in-law could do the task with his hands tied behind his back because he watches 12 hours of TV a day and — by now — must be able to crank out great winning slogan and jingles faster than the Energizer Bunny on Viagra.

     Unfortunately for tightwad impatient bosses, none of this happens like squirting lighter fluid on burning charcoal. Neither is it something that’s methodically built on reams (flashdrives) full of research. But be-cause all of us watch TV, read ads and surf the Web, we think it’s no big deal to write magic marketing words.

     That, however, is like hanging around a gym for 20 years, watching, and then deciding you can use what you’ve observed to bench press 200 pounds. Good luck! You may want to have a cardiologist and chiropractor on your speed dial.

     Writing (and the magic ingredient: RE-writing) takes skill, and is best left to those who do it for a living. If you’re looking for some writing insurance, find a writer with in-depth business experience. 

 www.TWWsells.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  
Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless:  You, America, and Our Troops. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day!

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Mar 07 2009

BEAT THE RECESSION WITH IMAGINATION!

Entrepreneurs Are

                                       

Imagination Junkies!

 

Okay, friends and enemies, enough bitching about the economy. Get out your “imagination sticks.” We’re going to group-beat the recession!

  • “You’re a whack-job, Hal!”
  • “Y’think?”
  • “Yeah.”
  • “Well, you may be right, but I also have some news for you. Are you ready?”

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Knowledge is limited.

Imagination encircles the world!”

 

Who was the dumb idealist who said that, Hal? Hey, none other than our dumb old idealist friend Albert Einstein. And I know it for sure because it’s in a frame on the wall at the Delaware Creative Writing Center in the Cape Gazette Building in Lewes, Delaware, and Delaware Creative Writing Center people are very careful about the words they choose to surround themselves with!

So what? Who cares? What does that have to do with me? We’re in a recession in case you haven’t heard. And we don’t have any time to run around imagining things; there’s enough real stuff right here to deal with, besides you’re always preaching to be realistic and stay focused on the here and now, and now you’re saying we should all go off to never-never land with Tinkerbell and Michael Jackson?

Whoa! First of all, I’m not a big fan of either pixie dust or sequined gloves, but let’s look at the realism issue a minute, shall we? Realistically, none (zero, nada) of the world’s great businesses could have survived and thrived in economic problem times without imagination.

Only by fostering, nurturing and practicing the application of imagination to the products, services, ideas, R&D, and processes that launched them or put them on the map to start with, have they been able to make a difference.

Only when you plug imagination into your business’s status quo outlets will you experience the level of electricity that will thrust you into exciting new directions, markets, and revenue streams. Do you think Microsoft and Apple and HARO and TWITTER and revitalized old companies like GE just (pardon the expression) stumbled upon greatness?

Greatness doesn’t just fall from the sky and happen to happen! Greatness is created with imagination. You can build more of that commodity into your daily business activities. Start with some highly structured, tightly-timed brainstorming sessions as the road to expanding imagination!

Remembering that the solutions to any group problem are within the group, start with a group of 3-7 people (sometimes all managers, sometimes no managers, sometimes a mix works best . . . you may need some trial and error efforts to decide; sometimes three different groups tackling the same topics will produce the best results; don’t be afraid to experiment).

Conduct a disciplined 5-minute time period session with the goal of posting as many ideas as possible (on newsprint pages or whiteboard) that address the subject you spotlight. Encourage absolutely stupid and bizarre ideas (because they will trigger better ones!).

NO criticism is allowed during these 5 minutes! NONE!

When that list is done, take 3 minutes to refine it. This is the time to be critical, eliminate the nonsense, consolidate and combine points that seem to fit together, and take a good hard look at what’s left. Odds are you’ll surprise yourself with what you’ve orchestrated.

Many companies hold sessions like this weekly, and in some cases, even daily. The result is that people’s brains get stimulated. Productivity and sales increase. Imagination fuels the fire that heats up the economy. Entrepreneurs are imagination junkies.

Imagination is what made America great to start with. Imagination will do it again. Will you be a catalyst or an observer?

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US    or  931.854.0474

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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