Know When Not To

I'm definitely not breaking any new ground here...but this is something that needs to be said every so often.

Everything you're taught when you are learning ANYTHING, not just marketing or advertising, is to help you figure out what and when things need to be done.

What you aren't taught is NOT doing. These days too much emphasis is placed on putting out as much as possible as often as possible, no matter what.

Sometimes its better to not do something. I've been living that idea with this blog lately, because I've been trying to post something for weeks now, and I hate almost everything I come up with - therefore I don't post it, because I know not to - I have standards and a quality level in mind in regards to this blog, and I haven't been meeting it lately.

If you don't hear from me as often as you should - its because I know when NOT to talk. I do know when TO talk, but knowing NOT to talk is just as important.

No.

You're not good enough.

There, I said it. I'm not saying it to myself, I'm saying it to YOU. Hearing the word "no" sucks, because that's exactly what it means, in just about any situation in our marketing and advertising world...heck, in most of the world in general.

Does it make you mad that I just told you you aren't good enough? Yes? Good, now calm down and prove me wrong. No? Both good and bad; Good, because you don't take things that may be out of your control personally. Bad, because you may just not care. I'm going to assume you care for the rest of this post. You're welcome to stop reading if you don't care about hearing no, because chances are that you don't particularly want to hear what I have to say to begin with. Lets take a moment and let those people take off.

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Okay, everybody that wants to be here, are you still reading? Good.

Let me start by taking what I said earlier back. You are good enough. You wouldn't be doing what you are doing if you weren't. Hearing "no" from a client you're trying to sell to, or from a client that asked you to design something, or from your boss who asked you to do a task for them is not the end of the world. Hearing "no" basically means "try again, do it better" for the most part. If you learn to not take "no" personally or learn how to harness your anger into productivity when you hear "no", you will be much better off than most.

The biggest effect that "no" can have on a person will actually extend OUT of the current project. If you only ever learn one thing from reading my blog, this is what you need to learn. A "no" on project 1 CANNOT affect project 2. You cannot let yourself be gun shy, or be hesitant to step out of the box on a separate project or idea because you were told "no" on something else. Separate projects may as well be in separate worlds, even if they are both to be presented to the same person! Someone who would hold something from one project over you during a completely separate project doesn't deserve to be in the place they are in, in the first place.

I'll admit it...sometimes a "no" can really hurt. There is not a universal cure or workaround for a "no". I wish there was, and I honestly wish someone was making a crapload of money selling that cure, because never having to even consider fearing rejection would be amazing.

Please don't attempt to avoid "no", because that will be even worse for you. Do what you have to do to be able to UNDERSTAND "no" and you're on your way to greatness, I promise.

Anyone have a good story about overcoming a "no"??

Thanks for reading...

Keep EVERYTHING...I mean it

Its pretty sad when not having anything to write about actually reminds me of something to write about.

That said...if you've designed it, written it, drew it, thought of it, whatever...KEEP IT...especially if you couldn't do it. You never know when stuff may come in handy. You may need inspiration, for a blog post...or a design layout, or a new kind of muffin. Whatever. When I was younger and used to write poetry, I kept it all. Even the horrible crap. I had folders and notebooks full of all kinds of stuff, gems and garbage alike...because I never knew when a good idea might strike. I wasn't one of those guys who kept a notebook by the bed and would wake up in the middle of the night to write something down, but after several things were lost because of missing earlier material, I resolved to keep everything from then on.

I still have outlines of stuff I did in Marketing 101 in college. I still have completed assignments from Audio Production on tape. Why? Because you never know. Something I said on air once back in 2001 may be the perfect slogan for something next year...but I won't know if I didn't still have that tape so I knew exactly what I said.

Will I ever need any of it? I have no idea. But it's there...and I'm happy it is.

What's some random stuff you've kept over the years that's helped you do whatever it is you do?

Thanks for reading...

What Do You Want?

That's what it's all about.

What do you want? It's that simple. There's too much emphasis these days on the opposite. I don't need to be told what I want, I know what it is. More marketing firms or individual advertisers would be doing a lot better if they took even a moment and asked their customers what they wanted.

Thanks for reading...

I've Got Nothing

Sometimes it's okay to not have anything you can do. Sometimes you just need to recharge. As much as you want to try, you cannot go at top speed forever. Sometimes you need to slow down, sometimes you need to take it easy. Other than sleeping, sometimes you need time to do nothing, to have nothing.

Even the most creative, innovative, dynamic people have times when they've got nothing. It may be because they're stumped, it may be because they don't have a current project, or maybe they CHOSE to take the time to do nothing, to have nothing.

I'm not proposing something out of the ordinary here, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person to ever say "hey, maybe taking a little bit of time for yourself is a good idea." But as many people talk it up or mention it...very few of them actually practice it.

Thanks for reading...