Tangled in terminology
I just read a great article by digital marketing guru Mitch Joel about the goals of marketing in the wild world of social media. He talked about the difference between huge social media numbers compared to smaller numbers of the right people, and the difference between loud and thoughtful messages to that audience (I’m oversimplifying for the sake of brevity – check out the full article here).

The heading “Built to touch” jumped out at me, for what I hope are obvious reasons: the layers of meaning can become a seamless transition from the work you make to the way you reach your audience.

I left a comment about how so many creatives don’t trust the simplicity of engaging their audiences and used the word “marketing” instead of “promotion.”

I forgot where I was and went into blurt mode. Open keyboard, insert foot.

Mitch diplomatically reminded me that marketing is a combination of things, and promotion is just one part of the marketing picture. (The standard list, if you’re interested, is product, price, place and promotion.)

“Great,” I thought, as I hastily typed a follow-up, “he thinks I’m an idiot.”

Words to inspire, not intimidate

If I were to play by the rules, I’d talk about those four Ps and how they all fit together in a marketing strategy. I could really go overboard and talk about supply chain management, but if I did that you wouldn’t be here (and neither would I).

There are a couple of reasons I don’t do that: one is many people use marketing and promotion interchangeably. But mostly I don’t do it because the technicalities of terminology can really bog you down.

Granted, none of those words are very long, or remotely difficult to understand, but calling art, or craft, or design a product isn’t particularly inspiring. For many creatives, the mere thought of promotion can tighten your throat and make your hands clammy.

I talk a lot about promotion (without calling it that) because it’s the big scary part for most creatives, and the place where the wheels usually come off.

When you’re trying to wrap your head around things that unnerve you, how you learn is just as important as what you learn. So I don’t sweat the labels too much.

When the rules are mostly guidelines
If you like structure, you can use the textbook marketing Ps (and add a few more for good measure), or you can make up your own list.

How about this: there’s a what, who, where, how much, and “you had me at hello.”

Or this: put your work in the hands of the right people at the right price (for them and for you). Find them, bring a little wow, and make it easy for them to buy.

Or if you prefer to go visual, imagine the whole thing like a scene in a movie. Your work, your customer, the place where you sell it, and the money in her hand.

Whatever way you approach it, the big umbrella of marketing will get you where you’re going. As long as all the elements are in place and properly aligned, it doesn’t much matter what you call them.

What matters most
 in “marketing”
What matters is you don’t convince yourself you can’t do it, or that you need a commerce degree, or that you have to do things the “right” way, or in the “right” order.

What matters is you pay attention to what works, and what doesn’t.

What matters most is to remember that marketing, like your creative practice, evolves. You learn new things, you explore, you observe and execute.

What do you think? Do you prefer to play by the rules, or do you work better when you make your own? Or do any of those labels matter to you—is getting the work done the only thing you care about?

About the author: Stacey Cornelius is a writer and professional butt-kicker. She helps empower artists, designers, writers and craftspeople to do their best work and show it to the world. Sign up for her free, jargon-busting foundation marketing email class right here. Want to chat? Follow Stacey on Facebook.

A Christmas gift gone way wrong
Once upon a time there was a couple named Dick and Jane (not their real names).

Dick wasn’t the greatest gift buyer in the world.

One Christmas Dick was especially stumped. He had to get Jane stocking stuffers and buy her a proper gift, and that particular year he ran out of ideas.

He’s wasn’t sure what to do, so he froze up. He didn’t think much about Jane’s reaction, he just wanted to get the whole painful thing over with.

Then Dick made a mistake. He bought a Very Bad Gift.

Fortunately, Dick enlisted the help of a family member to wrap his gifts. When Betty (not her real name) saw the item in question, she knew Jane would not respond well to her Christmas celebration being turned into that meaningless ritual of I-have-to-buy-you-something-so-what-the-hell.

Betty realized Dick was in serious danger of being bludgeoned with a gravy-soaked turkey leg. She concealed Dick’s Very Bad Gift in a closet.

Crisis averted.

This is not a new story
Dick’s dilemma may sound painfully familiar.

And you probably figured out we’re not really talking about buying Christmas gifts here.

Fear leads to marketing mistakes
That forced fictional gift, and the reaction, is a classic marketing scenario. The seller is at a loss about how to connect with her customers, so she falls back on what seems easiest, or most practical in that uncomfortable moment.

Trust me on this: it’s not the way to go.

The solution to Dick’s dilemma is simple.

Great marketing starts with attention
He could pay attention when Jane says things like, “This is great! This is so much fun! I love that colour/musician/store/restaurant/spa/author…”

Or he could do a little stealth research. He could ask Jane leading questions. In July, maybe. Or October.

He could look at the books on her bedside table. Or check the titles of her online book club. Or see what shops or music she has listed as favourites on her Facebook page.

Or he could just ask outright: “What’s the best gift you ever got?” Or “I think this is pretty cool. What do you think?” If Jane hates that thing Dick mentioned, she might tell him why, and maybe get enough of a rant going to reveal excellent information about what she does think is cool.

Don’t let fear trip you up
Dick shouldn’t tell himself he can’t figure it out. In spite of his near-tragic holiday purchase, Dick is a pretty smart guy.

He just convinced himself his task was impossible, that this whole gift-buying thing was mysterious and had rules he didn’t know.

He convinced himself it was better to do something lame than to take a risk: to try something remarkable, even in a small way.

It’s the thought that counts
The thing is, the thought really does count. And the effort—to pay attention, to work on the details, to present something that delights the recipient—is worth it.

When marketing deteriorates into a meaningless ritual, it looks like you don’t care. People don’t like being around someone with that mindset.

Going through the motions is a bore.

You don’t want to do it, and your customers have seen enough of that kind of marketing. They want something a little more sincere. They want to know you’re interested.

Great marketing is personal
That thing they buy from you is like a gift. It doesn’t matter if it’s something personal or a creative service to make their own business more successful. It means something. There is always emotion attached.

That little spark of Christmas morning is what turns marketing into something great.

About the author: Stacey Cornelius is a writer and artist who believes successful creative ventures run far deeper than snazzy sales pitches. She helps empower artists, designers, writers and craftspeople to do their best work and show it to the world. Sign up for her free, jargon-busting foundation marketing email class right here. Stacey also wants you to know a toilet brush makes a really lousy stocking stuffer, and wishes you a very happy holiday season filled with your favourite things.

Classy social media marketing
Lots of people talk about social media, but many don’t quite know what to do with it. Organizations and artists get a twitter account and it sits idle, or it’s used as a very bland billboard, with occasional announcements and little sense that they’re interested in talking to their customers.

Jennifer Barnable is someone who knows how to promote her organization and its talented membership through social media. She’s the Communications Director at the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador, and she generously took time out of her hectic pre-Christmas event schedule to share her considerable expertise.

This might seem like an odd question to you, but I get lots of blank stares when I talk to creative people about social media. Where did the idea for your Twitter and Facebook promotion originate? 

The Craft Council had been dipping its toes into social media little by little in recent years, but really began having a stronger Facebook and Twitter presence in the last six months. As far as the Craft Fair social media promo plan went, it was an idea for a new way to promote the Craft Fair event as well as its individual exhibitors—and to identify ways of engaging people online to drive them to the Fair.

Social media is an incredibly powerful tool. I always say its benefits are three-fold, and it has 3Fs: it’s Fast, Free and Far-reaching. We wanted to harness that and generate excitement about the fair, spread the word around the city and province, and help promote our members and exhibitors in new and different ways.

We did a one-week lead up to the fair with “Tweet Cards” (mobile phone friendly-sized ad teasers) that showcased items from 30+ exhibitors leading up to the Fair, which we also posted online on our Facebook page. We also circulated a series of 20 Tweet Cards to promote the online shop, featuring those items that were available at a click of a button from anywhere in the world.

Showcase your organization and your membership

Both sets of “mini ads” built up a lot of excitement and dialogue online the week before and the week of the Fair—people loved them (both craftspeople and the public).

We saw a major spike in our online activity, both on our website and our Facebook Page. We went from having 60 weekly viewers on average, to 805—and an average of 163 hits to our website per day to 1,106 per day during Craft Fair lead-up week and event week.

Throughout the five-day Fair, we posted a constant stream of live Twitter and Facebook updates with plenty of personality and photos from on-location at the Fair, capturing and creating the buzz and atmosphere. Our social media channels were lit up with activity, both incoming and outgoing, which was exactly what we wanted to see happen.

The social media promo campaign for the Craft Fair was quite a large undertaking and commitment, but it paid off for us. We’ve been hearing feedback that this was the most talked-about and most visible Craft Fair we’ve ever put off. So that’s a wonderful thing to hear!

People get hung up on the idea of building community. They’re intimidated because they see it as a structured activity, with rules they don’t quite understand. Do you approach social media as a community-building and promotional effort, or is it more natural, like sending friends a postcard from your fantastic holiday?

It’s both. We build the community and promote craft by being natural, authentic, and looking for creative, fun ways to connect with people.

The reception to our social media promotions for Craft Fair (and all of our other events and projects) has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s generated so many conversations online, connected the public to our members, and brought creatives together with other creatives.

The Craft Council is like a “mutual friend” in this online world of networking and community building—and it does seem to happen organically with a natural feel to it.

There’s often a clash between sales and marketing. Sales is all about grabbing customers right now, and marketing takes a longer view. Tell us a little about the importance of getting people to your events as well as building your reputation to an audience that is potentially anywhere in the world.

If we can get people in the door, we’ve achieved that first step to building a relationship face to face.

With online efforts, our goal of connecting with people worldwide helps connect the community of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, offers them a link to home, and creates the opportunity to send or acquire a piece of home through the Craft Council online shop.

We launched the online shop officially at the Craft Fair in November and were pleasantly surprised by the attention it received worldwide, from New Zealand to New Hampshire. During Craft Fair lead-up week and event week, we saw 16,643 views to our new online Shop section of our website and made our first sale within hours of the launch. It was very exciting!

Great promo pic. Who wouldn’t want to meet this guy?

I followed your Twitter feed during your five-day Christmas Craft Fair in St. John’s. As the show progressed, there was a real sense of narrative as you took us though the venue, introducing us to exhibitors and their work. Was telling a complete story part of your plan from the start?

Yes. You always have to complete the promise of invitation, anticipation, satisfaction and resolution that a story offers.

The story unfolded rather naturally, in an almost photojournalistic way, with our Facebook and Twitter posts.We told the “pre-story” with the lead-up teasers as a promise of things to come, and on opening day at the Craft Fair, the story went from there.

We wanted to show the setting, the people, the products, the ambiance, the faces and reactions. It was definitely time-intensive but, we feel, very fluid and complete as well.

We wrapped up the story with great pictures of the Craft Fair Raffle winners and the “Buy Me, Tweet Me” contest winners and posted media coverage on our Facebook Page and Twitter feed to bring everything full circle. We’re looking forward to doing the same thing next year to keep the momentum going.

What’s the core demographic of your customers? Were you confident you’d reach them through Twitter as well as Facebook, or were you looking to find some new people?

We were looking for new people, especially a younger demographic. We need to grow the future market of the Craft Council.

The current market is much older, and while extremely important, we also need to meet needs of other buyers/customers as well. Both our older and younger demographics have discerning tastes and we found that through social media promotion, the younger audience has just as much appreciation for fine craft and supporting local makers as the older audience.

The younger seem to also appreciate the novel, quirky and non-mainstream products that can be found as well. Our followers and supporters (on social media and off) are our best ambassadors. When they’re engaged and have had a great experience at the Craft Fair or another event we put off, they carry our message with them. Whenever they post a comment, review or photo on Facebook or Twitter, about the Craft Council, it brings us to their network of friends and colleagues, and so on and so on.

The reach is impressive. We really enjoy generating discussion and having fun with our social media activities, which in turn engages our core and targeted demographics.

Were exhibitors skeptical, or are many already using social media?

And how did you get people looking so comfortable in front of the camera?

I’m a photographer by trade and also relied on my good ol’ Newfoundland charm to put people at ease and capture them just really enjoying the event.

Social media is just that. Social. It’s not just a set of thumbs typing furiously on a mobile phone, or stooped over a computer monitor sending messages out into outer space. It’s a very human experience and allows for a lot of expression and humour and sharing and helpfulness.

It was easy to engage with the exhibitors, the fair-goers and the social media shoppers who were popping by all week and spreading the word with their own enthusiasm.

The morning of the Fair I came up with an idea, out of the blue, for a way to get shoppers on social media to engage in the promotions and get involved while having fun. It was called the “Buy Me, Tweet Me” contest, where fair-goers tweeted a picture of their favourite Fair finds that they bought for an entry to win a special prize. It went over really well.

If you had one piece of advice for arts organizations and creatives to best promote their work, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid.

Even if social media sounds like Swahili to you at first, give it a chance. It really is a powerful tool that can help you get a great deal of exposure for your work, and connect you with others in your field, too.

Take your time, learn about Facebook, Twitter and blogging. Ask questions, read up online and then give it a good shake.

If you invest a little time into learning how, you’ll see results pretty quickly. Social media is a bus you do not want to miss.

Brilliant, is she not? To see how Jennifer promoted her organization’s events and its talented members, and to enjoy more images, check out the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador on Twitter and Facebook. 

A view from the creative front line
I just spent four days in an athletic facility with air so dry you could load in on Thursday with a bunch of grapes, and load out on Sunday with raisins.

It was a Christmas craft retail show, and I was there with my other business (the one I don’t talk about, but that’s a story for another day).

Both Friday and Saturday traffic looked like a Sunday, which is to say customer numbers were down substantially.

There was the inevitable knee-jerk reaction from some exhibitors.

“I’m not doing this show next year.”

“The venue should be advertising.”

The venue did advertise. That wasn’t the problem.

Shopping patterns have changed. But that’s not enough to kill a show.

From where I stand, as a designer, maker and marketing specialist, the extinction of the retail show is by no means inevitable.

The buying environment has changed
The decrease in customer traffic wasn’t sudden. I watched it happen over several years, worsened by the recession of 2008. The middle class is shrinking, and the slow economic recovery has left its mark.

A few exhibitors told me sales were down across the board, for all their shows. That’s not surprising, given the current economic climate. The number I heard more than once was 25%—ironically, the same amount as the increase Amazon.com boasted for the same weekend as the show I attended.

Consumers haven’t stopped buying.

A couple of customers told me the malls were packed on the weekend. Canadian retailers have jumped on the Black Friday sale bandwagon, minus the holiday—here in Canada, Thanksgiving is in early October.

Eyeing the obvious villains 
We’d like to tell ourselves the big retailers, with their ability to slash prices and sway consumers with big advertising budgets are to blame. It would be easy to attribute the craft show decline to online shopping.

When you’re bone weary and stressed because sales are down, the temptation to point the finger at show organizers for not doing enough to get customers into the building is nearly irresistible.

To some extent, it’s all of these things.

And it’s none of them.

There are elements in the buying environment you can’t control (so stop tearing your hair out)
You can’t control the economy.

You can’t control the carnival side show otherwise known as the stock market, and the effect it has on consumer confidence.

You can’t tone down hysterical media headlines about the state of our money, or share a little common sense with the people who don’t look past them.

What you can control is your marketing.

It’s time for artists and craftspeople to raise the bar on marketing
If you did a poll of the 100-plus exhibitors, you’d see a pattern emerge.

Many of them put a notice on their website with their show dates and hoped customers would notice.

Some don’t have a website at all. Or a blog, or an email newsletter, or paper newsletter.

They weren’t thinking about how important those things have become.

Up until very recently, show organizers could make their announcements, buy newspaper space, book television spots, put up posters, and the customers would come.

It’s not enough anymore.

You can’t rely on the venue to reach your people for you. You never should have, but now that expectation has become completely unrealistic.

The marketing wake-up call
There has never been more competition for customer attention. People are overscheduled and distracted.

If you want to keep their eyes on you, to remind them the mall isn’t the only place to shop, you have to draw them in. You have to stay connected, and there have never been more opportunities for you to do it.

Social media, blogs, email newsletters, powered by free or low-cost technology all allow you to meet your people, face to virtual face, without depending on shows, special events or seasons.

It’s a necessary evolution in the profession of creativity, for those people who want to put the things they make directly into the hands of the people who buy them.

The change will be painful for a lot of artists and craftspeople.

We assume Millenials are digital natives, hard-wired into social media, but many of them are as reluctant to do their marketing as Gen Xers or the Baby Boomers. Anyone who’s been in the business for more than half a dozen years would have enjoyed the days when shows still had good traffic without a whole lot of effort.

The playing field is more level than you think
You can’t force customers to stay away from the mall. But the mall can’t force customers to stay away from you.

Talk to your people. Not just random people who might be willing to pay the fee at the gate, talk to your people.

Talk to them, not waving sale signs and shouting sales pitches, but as one real person to another. Yes you’re selling, but you’re still you.

Do your best work. Show it off.

They won’t forget about you when it counts.

(Next time I’ll talk about another big reason customers stop going to shows. It’s a crucial element in marketing, and another big piece of your business you can control.)

About the author: Stacey Cornelius is a writer and artist who believes successful creative ventures run far deeper than snazzy sales pitches. She helps empower artists, designers, writers and craftspeople to do their best work and show it to the world. Sign up for her free, jargon-busting foundation marketing email class right here. For high-speed inspiration, follow Stacey on Twitter. 

Market like you mean it
I was recently interviewed by Dave Charest for one of his Wicked Smaht podcasts. The recording went live today.

Dave has a background in acting and music, and when he’s not coaching indie artists, he also works as Marketing Director / Producer with Astoria Performing Arts Center in New York.

In the podcast, we talked about how to ditch cookie cutter marketing and think like a gourmet instead of just a recipe follower. I explain why the cookie cutter approach doesn’t work, and how creativity and exploring web sites, video and audio as artistic media can help you make great marketing.

Head on over to Dave’s to tune in. Enjoy!

“It’s just a product. Get over it.”

I can’t recall where I read those words, but they were intended as advice to artists. I shook my head, snorted, and left the website. I can’t even remember what got me there, what link I might have clicked, who may have pointed me in that direction, or what search term I could have possibly used to land in the midst of that particular flavour of cynicism.

Not exactly a great way to describe the work that matters most to you, is it.

Sure, you can call an object, or even a service, a product, but the term is most often used to describe things that are mass produced.

A squishy definition isn’t the real problem with the above statement.

The problem is its inaccuracy.

Great marketing is in the details
The core concepts of marketing are sound. They can be applied across industries and media, from the largest multinational corporation to the most modest solo artist.

The difference is in how you apply them. The difference is in the details.

It’s always about the details.

The big companies get it
Mercedes doesn’t market the same way as Hyundai. They’re both car companies, they use the same media for advertising, but their core customer is different. The price point is different. The sales pitch is different.

Each company tailors their message to connect with those customers. If either saw their vehicles as “just products,” the focused attention required to develop a marketing campaign in a highly competitive industry would be lost.

The irony is delicious—even mass-produced products can’t be treated as just products. Not if you’re doing it right.

Great marketing needs the right approach
There are plenty of people who will advise you to sell your work the same way as something that rolled off an assembly line. That you should use pushy sales pitches like a late-night infomercial talking head, or tools and techniques that would make the most, um, “enthusiastic” Internet marketer squirm with delight.

Did I just hear your lip curl? Excellent. Glad it’s not just me.

What you do need to get over
Taking the business side of your creative practice too personally is never a good idea. Not everyone will like your work. That’s a given. You can’t internalize someone else’s personal taste.

Taking things too personally can stop you cold when it comes to selling, too. That might be slightly not good for business, if you’ll pardon the grammar.

Freaking out about marketing? I could tell you not to, but you’ll freak out anyway. So let your eyes bug out and your pulse race, but don’t let it stop you. That paralytic marketing reluctance is the thing you do need to get over.

Business meets personal in a good way
I’ll hazard a guess that no one can shame you into marketing. Snapping at you to “get over it” might wake you up, but insulting your work in the same breath makes me wonder if the speaker really understands how intimate the creative process can be.

The act of buying is personal.

Think of how you feel when you find that perfect gift (even if the recipient of the gift is also you). It feels personal. And I’ll bet you a really good dinner it doesn’t feel like you’re just buying a product, especially if it comes from the hands of an artist.

So by all means, stand up and proclaim, “My work is not just a product!”

It means you respect your work.

Take that respect to your marketing.

Now get busy
If your work isn’t just a product, then show the world what it is.

Present it beautifully.

Don’t underprice it.

Pay attention to the details.

Hang out with the people who get what you do.

Talk about your work. In your own words, in your own voice.

That’s marketing.

Have your say: if a well-intentioned marketing type got your hackles up, feel free to rant about it, or share your opinions about marketing, whatever they are.

When work comes first
You’re in the thick of it. Working like mad, wading through the creative swamp, wrestling demons, or exploring unknown territory, awash in the thrill of discovery. You need to keep your head down, to see the thing through to the end, wherever it takes you.

Marketing? Who the hell has time for that?

Re-show your favourite work
Depending on who you listen to, the demand to produce new work, updates on your blog or newsletter, is considerable. But we’re not all content machines. (For the record, let it be known that I loathe the word “blog” only a little less than “blogger.” But I digress.)

That kind of schedule just doesn’t work for everyone. And for those of us who try to maintain a regular schedule of showing up, there are times when that just ain’t going to happen, no matter how hard we try.

You’re a creative human, not a content machine
Give yourself a break. The sky won’t fall, the world won’t end. Your site traffic might take a dip, but there are worse things in the universe (and the world of creative work).

If you find yourself deep into your real work, with little time and less interest in getting yourself out there to keep up your marketing efforts, don’t be afraid to dig into your archives and show some of your favourite pieces. New people may be seeing it for the first time, and your regulars will no doubt enjoy renewing their acquaintance.

A few of my faves (in which she attempts to keep her hand in)
While I figure out which hat will best cover the spots where I’ve been pulling my hair out in writer’s frustration, here are a few of my top picks from the Studio Source archives:

The best piece of advice nobody ever wants to hear
This is a true story about an artisan who was outraged by a jury’s rejection. It’s a valuable lesson with an interesting ending.

How to turn a free meal into an extraordinary brand
Some people don’t think details are important. Some people think “brand” is just for corporations. I disagree on both counts. Join me for dinner and I’ll show you what I mean.

The excruciating $100 question
Pricing is a tricky thing for many creatives. So is perceived value, for both us and (sometimes uneducated) customers. What’s worth $100 to you? How do you value your own time and your own work? It’s an important question to make peace with.

Lessons learned in art school
Three simple lessons from three different profs that have served me well to this day.

And now, I put my creative head down and go back to work. Happy Monday.

Have your say: how do you keep up your marketing when you’re fully occupied in the studio? Share your tips and ideas by leaving a comment, or you can find me on Twitter.

Where do your ideas begin?
I always look forward to Eric Noguchi’s “You know you’re a designer when…” tweets.  They’re quirky, imaginative, and bang on. Not that I’m a designer, but I definitely identify with the sentiments.

Yesterday’s gem sparked a flurry of Twitter conversation. Why napkins? Eric suggested, tongue in cheek, it’s because napkins are non-threatening and have no expectations.

Designer Gary Holmes then gave us a link to a napkin sketchbook. Nick Hammond wanted sticky notes instead, because you can’t lose them and they don’t tear as easily.

When the stakes are low you can stretch parameters
I decided linen napkins with matching push pins for the cork board would be the ideal thing. I was teasing a little, because Italian food expert Carmelita Caruana was part of the chat. Unsurprisingly, she wouldn’t be inclined to let us use hers, but she liked the idea of framed linen sketches.

Laura Merritt joined in with suggestions of alternative drawing media. Laura does tea stain sketches, among other wonderful things.

As the ideas sped past, I got to thinking: what happens when you switch from paper to linen? How does that affect your creative process? What happens when you need the good napkins, but lose your nerve and grab the paper ones instead?

Indulge the urge to play
As Gary pointed out, big ideas are more important than big budgets. If you’re focused on how much something costs, you can really jam up your creativity. You focus on the wrong thing. You get precious with it.

New ideas need room to flounder, to wander through the clover and play in mud puddles. You need to give yourself permission to go through as many paper napkins as necessary. The beauty of low stakes materials is you can be spontaneous and unselfconscious, like the way you are when you’re kicking around ideas and laughing with your friends, just for the hell of it.

Doodling isn’t just for making art
The same process holds true for your marketing. Don’t get hung up on the price of delivery, or what the final result has to look like, too soon. The ideas come first and your priority is simple: to delight your customer. If you do that, you’re well on your way to creating a memorable experience.

You can choose your tools later.

Or if you’re the type who thinks best with toys in hand, take your favourite one and let your imagination run before you decide to get down to real business.

And while you’re making the transition from play to serious business, remember: great marketing does not have to cost a fortune.

Show your work at its best—make your presentation
Once you’re past the brainstorm stage, have firmed up your ideas and are ready to dig in, you get to fancy it up. You’ve discarded what’s not working (and likely have a nice little stack of new ideas to pursue later from the best of that bunch).

This is the time to get the linen napkins, polish the silver and light the candles. Paper napkins aren’t needed here. You’re not doodling in your favourite coffee shop anymore, you’re ready to present your finished work for real.

Your customer deserves the good linen. So do you.

Image by Man Alive!

The Grammy Awards recognizes indie music in a big way
On February 12, indie music got a big boost when Montreal band Arcade Fire won the Grammy award for Album of the Year. The win was for their their third record, called Suburbs. More than 26 million people tuned into the broadcast, the largest audience in just over a decade.

The other upset of the night was jazz singer Esperanza Spalding’s win for Best New Artist.

Was it an aberration, or a very public sign of the lasting results of the massive change in the recording industry?

I’m hoping it’s the latter.

The Internet erupted, as it often does, when something unexpected happens in popular culture. A chorus of, “Who is Arcade Fire?” and, “Who is Esperanza Spalding?” was heard across the Web, and outraged Justin Bieber fans went so far as to vandalize Spalding’s Wikipedia page.

The surprise of Arcade Fire
I hadn’t heard of Esperanza Spalding, either, but I’m no stranger to Arcade Fire. As a CBC radio junkie, I became aware of the band shortly after the 2004 release of their first record, Funeral. But I have to admit I was among those surprised at their Grammy win.

Surprised, and very happy. Not just because they’re Canadian, but because their Grammy signals a recognition of indie artists and the superb quality of their work.

Extraordinary art with ordinary beginnings
Arcade Fire started as most bands do, playing small community venues, slugging it out, until they began to get attention. They didn’t forget their fans along the way, playing a free outdoor concert before the release of Suburbs.

They also know how to use the Internet to spread the word, most notably teaming up with Google to produce an experimental video for their song “We Used to Wait.”

The mainstream matters less now
The shocked response from celebrities like Rosie O’Donnell also shows how a fragmented audience can work in favour of artists. We can listen to whatever we choose to—iTunes provides access to radio across the globe, in any language and genre. We don’t need to follow commercial radio anymore. We get to create our own playlists.

What some people consider underground artists can have a strong and very loyal following. They simply haven’t hit mainstream media.

At least, not until their momentum crashes like a wave on one of the biggest stages in the world.

Independent is beautiful
You have our own trajectory. Like any artist building a career, even those who appear to be an overnight success, you spend years honing your skills and building an audience. The good news about living in a world with social media and worldwide digital access is the resulting fragmented audience—you have a truly amazing opportunity.

The message here is simple: dedicate yourself to producing your best work and go find your people. Use the smartest tools you can get your hands on to get your message out. And be generous with your fans. They’re waiting for you.

 
A bit of news: the updated Studio Source Creative Services page is up and running, with editing & proofreading services, website reviews, and brainstorming sessions. Details are here.

Image by Reinante El Pintor de Fuego

Let me just say that of all the run-of-the-mill human afflictions, the monstrosity that goes under the unassuming name of “stomach virus” is the worst by far. After spending untold agonizing hours (okay, maybe 10) shuddering and cursing into a bucket, wishing someone would deliver me from my suffering with a single silver bullet, I spent the next week eyeing food with extreme suspicion and wondering why it took so much effort to blink.

I was too tired to read, so I spent a great deal of time sitting slack-jawed in front of DVDs (playing them, not just staring at the discs). That reminded me of a disappointing encounter with what was supposed to be an epic motion picture that holds a cautionary tale about both filming on location and marketing.

The opportunity for an unforgettable experience
In 1985, the film Out of Africa won seven Academy Awards. I didn’t see it on the big screen, so I was glad to stumble across it on television several years later. It didn’t matter that the movie had already started, I just wanted to finally see this famous film.

The scene was a conversation between Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. He was peeling an orange while they talked, the camera switching between their closeups.

In one shot, Redford had the orange half peeled. Cut to Streep, back to Redford.

The orange was intact.

I changed the channel.

Small things can turn into big things
The problem wasn’t a small piece of orange rind. The problem wasn’t that the offending fruit was smack in the middle of my tiny hand-me-down television screen, making it impossible to miss the mistake.

My expectations—heavy duty talent and seven Oscars out of a dozen nominations—were part of it.

What ruined the experience was getting kicked out of the story almost the instant I tuned in. I wasn’t invested in the film, so clicking away was easy.

Welcome to the mindset of the World Wide Web.

It’s not just the work—details matter
A few weeks ago I tweeted about how disappointing it is to see a piece of gorgeous work, only to encounter a disappointing website when I hunt down the maker’s home base. What 140 characters didn’t allow me to say was I often don’t tell people about the work because of that website. If I do, I preface it with something like, “Try to ignore the unfortunate presentation…”

Some people don’t think presentation matters. Some believe content is all that’s important, and the details don’t count.

Context matters. Details matter.

Ask for attention by paying attention
Would I have hung in if I saw the film from the beginning? Possibly. If the story was compelling enough, I might have been willing to overlook that small detail. I might have watched through to the end. But that unfortunate piece of business, that couldn’t be altered with CGI back in 1985, would still be part of my takeaway.

I freely admit I’m tuned in to presentation details, some would say obsessively so. Some people accuse me of perfectionism. But it’s not about perfection, it’s about paying attention to the whole story. The fewer things you ask your potential customer to overlook, the easier it is for her to stay with you.

That story—that complete story—brings out the Wow. It’s what makes her say, “Yes, I have to have that.” It makes her want to tell her friends, with no caveats.

There’s magic in those details.

Have your say: have you watched a movie or encountered a website that had details that ruined the experience? Have you had great expectations dashed in the online world or in person by a poor presentation?