March 17th, 2010
Learn Selling from a Drag Queen
Last night I watched an episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. A reality show competition of drag queen divas. It has all the things you would expect a show like this to have, the drama, the camp and the predictability. But it had one more unexpected thing, lessons in selling.
If there’s one skill common to all good drag queens, it’s the ability to sell. They know how to sell a whole package, to create a persona, wrap it up in a show and deliver it in a song. They do this so well we suspend dis-belief and are captivated by a performance so ballsy that it commands our attention. Ever wish you could do that? I’m not talking about the drag, I’m talking about the selling. I’m talking about casting aside your fears and creating selling show. One that your prospect can’t ignore.
The thing that sparked this thought for me was something one of the contestants said. She said that by wearing a costume she was able to overcome her fears, transcend herself and be the character who could do all those brash and captivating things on stage. Doing this, she was able to make it through difficult times of self-doubt and create success. Could it be the key to your sales success? I say yes.
Of course I don’t mean you should join the drag show and start looking for a sequined gown. I mean you should create a sales persona, create a costume and put on a fearless show for your prospects. Your persona could be the seasoned vet or the whip-smart MBA. Find the most powerful part of your personality and amplify it. Make a costume. It could be a suit, it could jeans—it doesn’t have to be fancy. Think about Steve Jobs. What’s his costume? It’s no accident he wears the same outfit at every presentation. Just make sure to “own it”, like a drag queen does. When you wear your costume you’ll have the permission and courage to be the most captivating version of yourself. Then put yourself on stage and command the attention of your audience. For at least as long as it takes to sing I Will Survive.
December 2nd, 2009
Seth Godin Has It Right.
Seth Godin’s blog is one of my favorite daily reads. Today he writes about the client’s role in the creative process. It’s a great list of dos, don’ts and straight talk about fostering innovation and leading a creative team to success. At Hero, helping clients become more informed marketers is one of our goals. Seth’s post, How to be a great client, is full of insights every client will find useful.
Read all about it here.
November 24th, 2009
Lessons From A Type Geek: Part I
Before I had my first typography class in college, I was totally oblivious to anything relating to the subject. I remember skeptically thinking, “Really? A whole semester-long class on fonts?” (for the record, I would never refer to them as fonts now, they are typefaces). To my surprise, I found the class fascinating and became intrigued with typography. I was lucky enough to have a professor who was extremely knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and expected us to know an absurd amount of information for our exams. After my initial typography course, I went on to take Typography II, do an independent study, and was the Typography I TA my senior year. Then, during my first few months (and I literally mean, it took me months) at Hero, I was tasked with reorganized the font library into classifications
to make searching through the thousands of typefaces easier for everyone in the studio. Oddly enough,
I actually enjoyed this task. I’m a type geek.
As much as I enjoy typography, every once in a while as I drive by a storefront with awful kerning (the space between two letters) in their signage, I like to daydream about what it would be like to be type-naive again. Along with a knowledge of typography comes the ability to notice the little mistakes that the untrained eye wouldn’t look twice at, like bad kerning or a match-up of two unflattering typefaces or a font that historically doesn’t fit with the design it’s being used in. Typography is a lot more than just letters and words and something that looks pretty. It has history and meaning and when used correctly, can add something wonderful to a business card or direct mail piece or company signage. That’s why, while I like daydreaming about being naive again, I know that there is something much more powerful to knowing. Understanding typography gives you the ability to use it correctly and effectively.
Read the rest of this entry »
November 17th, 2009
SEO – From 10,000 ft.
SEO. What is it?
Search engine optimization is, quite simply, optimizing your website to be more searchable by search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.
Here’s a pretty good definition of SEO:
Search Engine Optimization is the process of building, designing, creating, or updating a website, or its contents, in order to increase visibility within search engines, and improve placement on search engine results pages, for a desired set of keywords terms or market segment.
What does it do?
Search Engine Optimization increases your chance of attracting new visitors to your website by placing it higher in search results. The search results we’re talking about could be “sponsored links”, which are paid advertisements, or “organic links”, which are everything else you see on the results page. Read the rest of this entry »
November 5th, 2009
How clients can get better design.
If you’ve ever hired a plumber, the experience probably went something like this: you called, he showed up, you showed him the leaky sink, had a brief discussion and then left him alone to do the job. Some time later, he came to you, said the job was done, handed you a bill and left. No muss, no fuss — and little required from you except a phone call at the beginning and a check at the end.
It’s not uncommon for clients to think they can approach professional graphic designers as they would a plumber. Meaning, they view the relationship as a purchase of a turn-key solution that, once in place, will take care of itself.
We call this the “Buy-a-Logo-Get-a-Logo” mindset. It’s the shortest path to design that provides little, if any, real value. Read the rest of this entry »
