From Z to A – here’s a map for building your company’s brand. Many of these are connected, but if you work through this list with an open mind, you’re on your way to creating a brand that sticks.

• Z. Zoom. Don’t boil the ocean. Get things to market quickly. Speed, particularly in information products is key. Test quickly and often. More rough tests yield better results than long-term ridiculously expensive studies. We’re talking small business here. Not neuroscience. Zoom. The fastest brand wins. Who’s first is more important than who’s better. The first one there gets the coveted space in the mind. Later brands have to work to dethrone the early bird.
• Y. You have define who your customers are. And who they’re not. Define your buyer personas and talk directly at them, not being afraid to push away other people. YOU will get much farther ahead – never try to be everything to everybody because then you become nothing but noise.
• X. X-ray your brand. Look through all the layers that make up your brand and company. See how they work together or not. Fix the pieces that are not adding value or create friction for your customers or get in the way of attracting new customers. It’s about taking a critical look – ask a customer to help with this – or better yet, a cross selection of good customers who would be willing to give you their unvarnished opinions. Then listen.
• W. Walk your talk. Don’t just put fancy words on the wall. Live them.
• V. Value – If you’re not delivering killer value, think again. There is way too much clutter out there. Deliver value through your products and services and you’ll attract customers. They’re looking for making their time and money go farther. That doesn’t mean you need to be cheap. You just have to make time and money with you well spent. Viral, Vitality
• U. Useful – Make sure that your brand is helping your customers and future customers either get more done, or feel good about who they are. Being useful is about making a difference in someone’s life whether personal or professional.
• T. Trust Build trust with everything you do. WIthout trust you have nothing. It takes time to build but only a moment to destroy it. And in internet time, violations of trust spread like wildfire. Trust is one of your most precious assets. Timeless – While your brand and company needs to keep current with the times, you don’t have to be the speedracer. In the face of rapid change, offering qualities that can endure such change are attractive to many  people grasping for stability.
• S. Strategy – it takes a strategy. You can’t be successful with a shotgun approach. Know where you want to go and follow the course. But don’t be so rigid that you’re unwilling to make adjustments along the way.
• R. Responsibility – Never pass the buck. Take ownership when things go well and when they don’t. When a customer is unhappy with your brand, it’s a huge opportunity to score a win by quickly resolving their issue to the best of your ability. Or at the very least being upfront about the situation and why you can or can’t fix it. Few companies do this well.
• Q. Question everything you do – does it add or take away from the value your customers get?
• P. Profit. If you don’t know how you’re brand will earn you a profit, see S. Profit is not a bad thing – find the right pricing structure that provides killer value while earning you the profit you need to stay in business and thrive. I say thrive because there’s no point being in business just to exist. Consider, too, your positioning, purpose idea, promotions and persist. P is a really useful letter. Spend some time here.
• O. Own your suck. Enough said.
• N. Nurture your brand. It’s the little things you do every day that make the winning difference. Many companies roll out dramatic gestures but don’t invest in the hard work it takes to execute well. It’s a commitment thing. Pay attention to the details after the initial fanfare has faded.
• M. Monitor the conversations people have around your brand and your industry. It provides you the chance to respond quickly to unsatisfied customers as well as spot opportunities for creating value and being useful. Monitoring doesn’t have to be complicated. Start with Twitter and Google alerts. It’ll be eye opening.
• L. Live your brand – It’s not static. Your actions and those of your employees are the things that people base their image of your brand upon. It’s what they think it is – not what your messages say. Live it everyday. Make sure that matches what you’re saying about it.
• K. Kickass. Banish mediocrity and make a difference. That can be as simple as putting service into customer service. Most companies make that so difficult that it’s a huge opportunity to get traction in the market.
• J. Jam. Use emotion and design to connect on a gut level.
• I. Innovate. Be different from everyone else in your niche. A me too brand won’t cut it anymore. You’ve got find your voice, your brand personality and connect. Do it by doing something different than the rest. Connect two very different ideas to make something powerful. Always find ways to innovate in your area, whether through product and service design or customer service.
• H. Humanity. Brands are not meant to live on spreadsheets alone. People buy from humans. They crave human contact. Make sure your brand appeals to humans. An easy way to do that is to have real humans answer the phone and not make your customers push 9 buttons to speak with someone. Make your brand easy to connect with.
• G. Greater good. Make sure your brand has a purpose greater than just making you a tidy profit. How are you giving back to those that buy from you? How do you support the communities in which you work? Is it by providing jobs? Helping the less fortunate? Never forget that givers get. Don’t just take.
• F. Friendly. Make your brand so friendly and approachable so people are drawn to your company.
• E. Evangelize. You want people evangelizing your message. But they won’t do it unless they believe in you. They’ll evangelize if you rock and do what you say you’ll do by when. It’s about taking action. Not talking.
• D. Differentiation – you MUST differentiate yourself. You must have a unique reason for being. Otherwise, why be? Fail to define what differentiates you from your competition relegates you to obscurity. Don’t let that happen. Spend some time here.
• C. Context. Success going forward will go to those who make content useful. Those that provide the context for the content. Those that add meaning and clarity out of the clutter.
• B. Brand Promise. What is your reason for being. Your core. What you stand for. Define it. Then live it and feel it. It becomes the yardstick you measure your actions against.
• A. Accountability. Make sure you and your employees take accountability for your actions – good or bad. Don’t pass the buck, make excuses or blame someone else. Even in that someone else is a company that produced a key part of your product and service. If you’ve integrated into your product and it’s your name on it. You’re accountable. Own that.

Before blogs, I was a voracious consumer of magazines and books. Now I can’t read fast enough to absorb and apply all the great thinking out there. That said, here’s my list, A to Z of 26 people who rock in 2009. It wasn’t easy. As you might expect, some letters were more competitive than others so I had to make some tough decisions. But these are the people who consistently deliver sharp thinking on marketing, branding, design, content, customer experience and general goodness that applies to businesses of all sizes. These are the big rocks that make or break your ability to create a sustainable business.

A. David Armano – I’ve been paying attention to his thoughts for more than a couple of years now. David is at the forefront of connecting design with business and presents innovative ways for creating great customer experiences.

B. Chris Brogan has got to be one of the nicest, most helpful people online. He’s always on my must read list and has taught me more about navigating the world of connecting online – and inspires with his mission to be helpful, his newsletter and concepts around Trust and Cafe Shaped Conversations.

C. Brian Clark -  Copyblogger is so content rich it’s popularity is well deserved. Brian seems the type who’s never content with the status quo and continually builds upon his past successes. Teaching Sells and DIYThemes (which powers this site) are just two. He’s just a super smart guy, strategic thinker and master of the headline. It probably doesn’t hurt he has a background in law.

D. Naomi Dunford – The internet’s smartest marketing potty mouth. Her posts are always entertaining while delivering the 1 – 2 punch. Don’t make excuses to Naomi. She’s built her business out of sheer determination, hard work and commitment. She’s the can-do cheerleader for small (okay Itty) business people.

E. Mark Earls -  Love his concept of the Purpose Idea. Read about it and find yours. Mark is always tracking herd mentality and helping people break away from it.

F. Keith Ferrazzi for his networking advice and throwing dinner parties without breaking the bank. Learn how to create powerful relationships from the master of positive networking.

G. Giovanni Gallucci – From meeting him at the Inbound Marketing Summit and sitting through his social media bootcamp, if anyone can claim to be a social media expert, it’s Giovanni. He claims to have broken all the tools at least once and knows his way around them better than anyone I’ve seen.

H. Ann Handley – Reading Ann’s personal blog is always a treat. Filled with rich prose, she presents an unvarnished look at the ways personal and professional lives intersect. And the occasional messiness that goes along with it.

I. Jonathan Ive for his vision in transforming a gray box into a object of art with the first iMac and continues with the iPod and iPhone. He sets the bar for designing beautiful functional objects.

J. Elizabeth M. Johnson for her thoughts on why relationships are suffering in our superconnected digital age.

K. Christina Kerley is a passionate marketer helping businesses navigate change. From the strategic thinking on her blog to her engaging Twitter stream, CK is always adds value to the conversation.

L. Geoff Livingston – Author of Now is Gone – Geoff is a sage thinker on the practical application of  new media. That he’s also an awesome photographer doesn’t hurt either!

M. Valeria Maltoni - Anyone interested in ways to foster better conversations in business had better pay attention to Valeria. she always inspires deep thinking on how creative agencies can stay relevant and how to have real conversations with your customers and colleagues. She’s one of my must reads each week.

N. Dave Navarro – I just discovered Dave through Ittybiz.com and have connected with his sharp words at Rock Your Day and the Launch Coach. He delivers and incredible amount of actionable value – what every business owner needs. Don’t miss his 2009 Mastermind featuring interviews from the best and brightest online today (several of which are on my list here.)

O. Christine O’Kelly – Self Made Chick sums it up. Her thoughts around I won’t vs. I can’t are a must read for everyone. It transforms how you look at the work you do and calls into question the things people say they can’t do. Or think they can’t do. It’s usually not the case.

P. Christopher Penn is an inspiring thinker on creating community and better ways to market. He talks about tapping your inner strength in a practical way that makes you think about how you approach your job and life.

Q. Iqbal Quadir says mobiles fight poverty on using humanitarian principles in business to fight poverty

R. Dr. Clotaire Rapaille for his manifesto about the unconscious meaning we apply to everyday things and people based on our culture

S. Bob Sutton – From the time I read The No Asshole Rule, I’ve been a fan of Bob Sutton. He offers sound ways to manage with class, grace and kindness. And is not afraid to call out the assholes.

T. Philip Toledano for creating one of the most moving photo essays I’ve ever seen. Ever. His photography is shear emotion.

U. Ed Ulbrich I’m always looking for who’s breaking new ground in design and multimedia. Ed is one of those people consistently applying new techniques to cut through the clutter.

V. Gary Vaynerchuk pretty much corners the market on passion in business. But in his book, Crush It, he makes sure to point out that he’s no overnight success having started out in the wine business at 16.

W. Colleen Wainright – She’s funny, witty and an awesome story teller. I love her writing style and her newsletter never disappoints, but does cause one to spend time perusing the many cool links she shares. She knows how to put a smile on your face – and that’s a pretty cool thing to do.

X. Nathan Xander Not a lot of competition for the letter X. So how about a little music from Chicago’s Nathan Xander?

Y. Kazunori Yamauchi for his incredible detail in game design (Gran Turismo) and innovating work for Nissan.

Z. Peter Zollinger for his work at sustainability encouraging individual decision makers to challenge the status quo. He and his colleagues at Sustainability are at the forefront of helping bigger businesses do less harm – and more good.

After reading about SEO for the past couple of years, I finally picked up SEO School from Naomi Dunford at Ittybiz. Now I know this has been out for awhile and I’m late to the game, but I just had to write about it because it is such an incredible resource. Although I had already taken a great 13 hour online SEO course, and felt I understood the basics, Naomi’s killer sales page convinced me I had to read her book too. And so should you. Here’s why:

• Naomi provides in plain, colorful English everything you need to do to be ahead of pretty much anyone who doesn’t bother with SEO.
• She tells you what you need to worry about and what you don’t
• She doesn’t cause acute paralysis by dumping more information than you need to build a solid foundation.
• It’s an entertaining read – you don’t need a pound of chocolate-covered coffee beans to get through it. She makes you WANT to keep reading because it’s enjoyable.
• Her reputation for being the best marketing potty mouth around lives on in this book. But behind that potty mouth is one of the smartest marketing brains online. Seriously. You get the straight scoop without any hype (and this being a hype-free zone is a requirement before I’ll support something).
• You get actionable steps normal people can understand without re-reading seven times, and can use immediately. Just the term SEO scares many marketers I know. This strips the fear away and makes you want to get to work.
• She provides links to dig deeper and explore other tools as you go – it’s like peeling the onion to reveal only what you NEED at each step.
• It’s soluble brain food you can digest in an afternoon or evening, not a 1,088 page mammoth like The Source by James Michener.
• It simply rocks and is so worth the $39. Think about how long it’d take you to research and develop this step-by-step guide. Your time’s worth far more than that. It’s about focusing on your core competencies rather than trying to do everything yourself. It’s about GTD and working smart.

About the only thing I’d take issue with is when Naomi talks about keyword research being boring. Perhaps I’m just a geek, but I love competitive research and uncovering the details. It’s a bit of a game to me. But perhaps you do find that boring – but it’s essential to SEO success. Hire it out if you can afford to, but someone’s got to do it.

So who shouldn’t buy SEO School? People who prefer dry, complex language to Naomi’s colorful wit. These would be people without a sense of humor or the easily offended. And it’s not geared for major companies with large web teams and extremely complex websites and layers of management. It’s written for small businesses – those that don’t have web teams who can afford to outsource their SEO.

Grab your copy today – you’ll be seoooo smarter tomorrow. And in the spirit of full disclosure, I’m not paid to write this nor do I get anything for you buying it. I just think it’s a must read for any small business with a website or any business that doesn’t want to end up like the school pictured for that matter.

You brand to be profitable. You brand so you don’t have to compete solely on price. It gives you something else to talk about. Unless you’re Wal Mart, it’s tough to lead on price – pretty easy for someone to undercut your position. Wal Mart certainly will. You better to compete on value. Customers will pay more if they believe you offer them a better produce or service. Or using you makes them feel good. Or feel important.

If you charge only low prices, you’re more vulnerable to market forces. You become just a commodity and lose. Think about how a local mom ‘n pop general store would compete with Wal Mart in their town. Certainly not on lowest price. The only way is by delivering an incredible level of service and a sense of community. By making customers feel so welcome and solving their needs better than Wal Mart. Wal Mart forces similar stores to reinvent themselves or face extinction each time they enter a market. Sad but true. Target succeeds because they combine low prices with great design and fashion, but Wal Mart’s closing in on that angle as well.

Strong brands allow you to price higher which increases profitability. Which makes it easier to reinvest in your business. To continue innovating for long term sustainability. And when you deliver a greater return on value, price becomes even more irrelevant. A customer doesn’t care how much better you made your product if it still doesn’t deliver. Or how hard you worked on it. They only care about what’s it does for them. When you think about your brand, envision your customer. Think about what makes them tick. What sparks their emotions. Brand accordingly.

You Brand to become a habit. Gain top of mind awareness to make it easy to choose your product fast. In Blink by Malcolm Gladwell about the power of thinking without thinking he demonstrates the power of split decisions.

When you create a brand that becomes a habit, your customers think less about price as long as you’re delivering an awesome amount of value. They won’t care about price as long as your brand solves their most pressing problems. How much more rewarding is it to create a brand where because you’re helping others with your kickass service and products, they don’t think about price? Isn’t that more fun than brow-beating people to buy your stuff? Or fighting for the scraps at the bottom just to survive?

In Gary Hamel’s The Future of Management, he lays out the case for why we may have done as much as we can with management as we know it – which currently uses principles that have been around for over 100 years. And suggests that we now work on what management of the future looks like.

He promises that it will not be easy. And he never tells us HOW to do it – he admits he doesn’t know the answer to this. But he gives management innovators enough to get started. Below are the five key design rules he feels companies need to follow if they’re to be truly fit for the future:

Life – variety

• Experimentation beats planning
• All mutations are mistakes
• Darwinian selection doesn’t need SVP’s
• The broader the gene pool, the better

Markets – Flexibility

• Markets are more dynamic than hierarchies.
• Build a market and the innovators will come.
• Operational efficiency does not equal strategic efficiency.

Democracy – Activism

• Leaders are accountable to the governed.
• Everyone has a right to dissent.
• Leadership is distributed.

Faith – Meaning

• The mission matters.
• People change for what they care about.

Cities – Serendipity

• Diversity begets creativity.
• You can organize for serendipity.
• Pigeonholes are for pigeons, not people.

Just focusing on the rules above ought to keep you busy for quite some time. This is one of those books I want to keep at my fingertips because there’s so much to refer back to. Gary Hamel is clearly a thinker and one who pushes for managers – leaders – to not accept things as they are and have the patience and fortitude to experiment. He argues convincingly that we need to develop new ways of managing if we’re to build companies that have the ability to handle the future.

A key concept that helps you know whether you’re leaving money on the table, are the concepts of value capture and value creation.

Each of us creates value everyday. The contributions you make – the work you do – helps you either increase sales, grow profits or get things done more efficiently. As an entrepreneur, if you’re not delivering value to your customers, they would not be customers.

The same goes for services and products. When you have your car serviced, you pay for that service. If you feel you paid a fair price for the work, you received a good value. If you feel like you paid too much, then the shop received i.e. captured more of the value.

In any business, we create value – often a lot of value. If we’re not fairly paid for the value we offer, we’re not capturing it – the purchaser is. The amount of value you can capture depends on the following factors:

• The market – how much competition do you have? The more competition, the less of your own value you can capture because the buyer has many options.
• The need and difficulty of what you do; the more specialized and complex, the less able the buyer is to find others that do the same. Therefore, you can charge more and thus capture more of the value.
• Price sensitivity. If the buyer is desperate and cannot live without you, you’re in a better position to name your price. Commodities are things that one can find everywhere, and the goal is simply to find it at the best price. You don’t want to be a commodity as it’s virtually impossible to capture much of the value created.

Take a look at the products and services you provide. Are you fairly compensated? Do people always try to get you to drop your price? How easy is it to raise prices over time? Do you dictate the price or does the buyer?

If it’s the buyer or employer, then take a look at either how you position yourself in your company or in the marketplace. Figure out how to present what you offer in a more compelling manner. Talk about how you solve problems and make positive contributions, then determine the fair price and ask for it. Don’t give away the store – make others appreciate what you offer and help them understand how they benefit from hiring and working with you. They’ll feel better about paying more money and still feel they’re receiving good value (i.e. not feeling they’ve been had). You want customers coming back, and need to find the balance between creating high value and how much of it you can capture through your pricing strategy. A fair price for good work, products and services is the goal.

TAKE AWAY: Thinking about how much of the value you create that you’re capturing will help you set financial goals, earn more money over time and have better success at achieving financial freedom. I did not truly learn about this concept until I was working on my MBA. All businesses needs to think about how they can maximize their value in an increasingly competitive global market.

In the flat world business is hyper competitive. If you’re #1 or #2 you can’t rest on your laurels for long. There’s always someone gunning for you.

So what’s the secret to staying on top? Here’s my recipe for total market domination:

• Create stuff that your customers will love – not like. Love. Stuff they’ll be passionate about. Stuff that makes a difference in the world.
• Have a laser-sharp focus on magical customer service. Anticipate problems before they arise, and fix them. And when a customer complains, turn it into a great experience by going a few steps beyond just taking care of it. Make it effortless for the customer (that means work for you).
• Have a purpose beyond making money. Combine product and service innovation with social good. The money will follow if you execute well.
• Smile and be nice. It will drive your enemies crazy.
• Hire nice people. Do not hire assholes. Be vigilant about this. (although some may question this looking at Steve Jobs. There are few assholes as brilliant as Steve Jobs. If you can find one, hire them, then make sure you have the tools / processes to manage them.)
• Make sure those nice people are passionate high performers. Nice alone obviously isn’t enough.
• Be human. Act like you’re working and talking with other humans. Cut the jargon and know that all humans make mistakes. Just don’t make the same ones twice.
• Aways be innovating. When you release that incredible widgit or service, get to work on the next. Get to work on making it better. Have a solid roadmap for innovation. Know where you want to go but be cognizant of market changes so you can adapt.
• Be a chameleon – build flexibility into your processes so you can adapt to rapid changes in the market. Rapid is the new normal.• Prototype rapidly – test many ideas quickly to find out which are sticky and which are merely ego. Quick and dirty testing is a lot more effective than drawn-out focus groups where people might not give you the unvarnished truth.
• Be open to the unvarnished truth. Never get defensive when your beloved whatchamacallit is criticized or panned. Think of it as a learning opportunity
• Never get too attached to what you produce. It blinds you to hearing and learning from critical feedback.
• Listen. Listen. And listen some more to your customers. Never assume what they’re thinking. You can’t do too much listening.• Have a plan for turning what you learn from listening into action. If you just listen and do nothing, well, what’s the point?
• Be open to ideas that scare the hell out of people – including your customers. They may not always know what they want until they see it. And even if they did, they may not be able to articulate it. The listening mentioned above is for learning what they like / don’t like about your products. And what problems / pain points they face each day.
• Have a no-excuses policy. When anyone complains, make sure they offer a solution.
• If something is broken, fix it. If something is not broken, don’t fix it. This sounds obvious, but how many change initiatives have you seen that are just fancy machinations without real purpose beyond looking like something’s happening?
• Never, ever, get complacent
• Repeat

Kevin Kelly released a manifesto on things that are better than free – eight ‘generatives’ that cannot be copied, one of which is findability. I’m not talking about being found when you’re lost in the wilderness but being found among the millions of other people clamoring for attention from companies, customers, media and even friends.

Kevin’s point on findability is that value comes from being found in the sea of free stuff. I want to talk about why you should be found – what are you doing to make people want to find and connect with you versus someone else. It’s the “Pretty Good Problem” Rob Walker talks about in Buying In – there are a lot of pretty good people out there just like you.

What are you doing everyday to be remarkable? The ideas here are not rocket science, but it seems few people embody them. When I meet someone who does – on a professional or personal level, I remember them.

Here’s what you can do to increase your findability:

• Be authentic in all you do. I’m amazed at how difficult it is for people to truly be authentic. It’s about showing up in conversations, telling it like it is or what you really want from someone rather than making up stories, half truths and hinting about what you want. Just say it – constructively. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not – like my friend. I know of an individual who talks about his ‘pals’ and looks to be everyone’s best friend but only to get information – he consistently backstabs these very same people when it suits him. And there’s a neighbor who consistently says thanks I really owe you but will never reciprocate. In both of these cases, these people are destroying their personal brands. Just be real – it’s easier and you’ll feel better. People will notice.
• Show up – be on time. Many people over schedule and over promise their time commitments because they tell people what they THINK they want to hear. But disappoint through missed deadlines and late arrivals. Being late shows disrespect – be realistic on what you can commit to. If you are going to be late – let people know in advance. You’ll gain much trust and credibility by showing up on time ready to engage.
• Cut the drama. Leave it to Hollywood and Bollywood. Obama was criticized for being aloof and elitist when he remained calm and unflappable throughout his campaign, giving him the name of No Drama Obama. Cut the drama at work and at home.  There are many people who like to stir the pot and create excitement around them via drama – magnifying all of their daily woes and work politics. I work with someone who makes everything much more difficult than it needs to be through drama; long, drawn out explanations and stories, tales of coworkers ‘really not having a clue’ and various indiscretions, and tales of how he can fix it all if they give him a chance. Every company has treated him poorly and is completely messed up. In short, he’s a victim – at work, as a consumer, in life. You know people like this. Don’t be one of them – it’s not endearing. It’s not a way to be remarkable.
• Communicate to offer value. Don’t just talk to hear yourself talk. There’s so much drivel out there – at work, online, in the media. Send emails that matter. Contribute to the discussion at meetings with productive, actionable insights. Run constructive meetings that end early and leave people energized. Use facts, examples and memorable stories in person and in writing. Spell check and write simply with real words.
• Be trustworthy. Demonstrate that people can trust you with private information and that you can be counted on to do what you say you’ll do by when you promise it. Show discretion and avoid gossip.
• Show, don’t tell. This is concept I learned from Bill Winter, a great copywriting professor at the University of Oregon. And it’s one I’ve used ever since. Don’t tell me or anyone else that you can do something or will do something and do it. Show me that you’re capable. Show me that you are smart. I don’t need to be told – I’ll believe it when I see it. How many people do you know who spend more time talking about they’re going to do and how they’re going to do it but never do it? If you complain, make sure you offer solutions. Don’t just say something’s broken. Be the one that says I have a problem with X and here are a couple of possible fixes. So many complain as if they’d do it so much better, but deliver empty promises.
• Don’t be a jerk. Show restraint and be constructive in you interactions. You’ll get farther and gain more respect that way.  If this is a challenge, read Bob Sutton’s great book on the matter.Have a spine. Be a compassionate manager who’s not afraid to make the tough decisions and risk losing ‘friends’. You’re in management to manage a business or part of a business to success. Sometimes that means making people unhappy. The ability to do so based on sound business practices is part of what makes a good manager. There’s a way to do it with compassion and a way not to do it. Long term, you’ll earn the respect of people that matter.
• Focus not on your competition. There’s always someone richer, smarter, more attractive and more successful. There’s also always someone less so. What matters is the difference you make and creating the life that fulfills your needs and those around you. Keeping up with the Jones’ is a very empty pursuit – there is no finish line. But doing what matters – by focusing on what you’re good at and executing well will bring the success and fulfillment. And make keeping up with the Jones’ irrelevant. Pay attention to the competition, just don’t make it your life’s work.
]]> http://contentaction.com/whats-better-than-free/feed/ 0 http://contentaction.com/why-hiring-a-designer-is-like-a-box-of-chocolates/ http://contentaction.com/why-hiring-a-designer-is-like-a-box-of-chocolates/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:48:41 +0000 Patrick http://contentaction.com/?p=93

Unlike products you buy off the shelf, hiring a designer to develop your brand comes with many unknowns. Sure, you can look at their past work to evaluate style, fit and experience, but until you work with them, you’re never certain of what you’re going to get.

That’s part of the fun, but also part of the risk. The end product is intangible. The designer doesn’t know what it’s going to be (unless they recycle an old design) and nor do you. You hope it’ll be a collaborative affair, but again, you just never know. Just like that piece of chocolate you grab as a colleague carries the box through the office.

Having hired and managed many designers over the years, I’ve become quite good at spotting those with possibility, and weeding out those more interested in anything except for your business. There are many designers only interested in designing for the hippest companies around where it’s easy to be creative. But most businesses are not overly sexy like the Nikes and Apples of the world. In most businesses you have to dig deeper to find the creative spark. The unique personality that sets it apart. You have to make something out of nothing. And that’s what the best designers do.

I once hired an agency to help market a reseller program after several interviews. The creative they presented in the pitch was steller, their experience solid and personalities not overly egotistical. They showed a passion for doing great work. But that ended once they won the account. Then it was just another paycheck. And the work lacked passion and deadlines frequently slid.

Good brand design is an important part of making your content stand out. It helps your customers engage and connect with your company. It gives you a memorable personality different from every other thingamajiggerproducerservicer. It’s part of developing a sustainable competitive advantage. That’s why hiring a designer is risky. And most people don’t have an unlimited budget for a do-over.

While tested, but never fool proof, here’s my take on finding designers who are not what Thomas Friedman calls in The World is Flat – JAFA (just another fucking artist.)

The best designers:

• are curious and ask a lot of probing questions about your business. They want to know about your products and services, how they help people – and the type of person who buys your stuff.
• are people who think. They problem solve. And work hard to present innovative creative. Not just stuff regurgitated from the annuals.
• care more about creating design that gets results for your business rather than winning awards. Stay away from designers looking merely for a portfolio piece. This is a case in point.
• pay attention to detail. They take pride in the craft of good design. Type is well presented; letters fit nicely together. And they actually run spell check on their work before showing it.
• design for your business not their whim. They create designs that transcend the latest fads in type and color.
• are technically proficient in design software. They deliver production-ready files with images properly formatted and links and fonts included.
• never get defensive when you critique their work. They’re not prima donnas who don’t get that you’re paying the bill and it’s a collaborative process.
• demonstrate a range in their work. They don’t have just one style (goes back to creating design appropriate for your business).
• understand that this is a business and keep commitments. They’re on time for meetings and work, and meet the deadlines they’ve committed to. And when a deadline cannot be met, they communicate in advance and give you a revised date.
• have a backbone and know how to push back when you’re making unreasonable demands – it does take a good client to get good design, but that’s for another time.
• keep good records and provide detailed estimates. They know what the word budget means and how to work creatively within small and large budgets. Sometimes the smaller budgets force the best work because the design has to work harder.
• are passionate about good design and always learning, developing their craft.
• have broad interests in things outside of design. Noted photographer Jay Maisel always says “interesting people make interesting pictures.” The same goes for designers.
• are people you like to work with. It’s a partnership. It’s like dating or even getting married depending on how much design work you need.

In the never fool proof category, I’ve hired designers that exuded potential but quickly fell flat and those that seemed okay, but soon blew me away with their work. Through experience you get a nose for the good ones. Sometimes you’re just gonna get an icky piece of chocolate.

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I have a confession: Contrary to outward appearances I am really a dork. In fact, I’m bursting with strong inner dorkiness. My dork quotient is greater than Einstein’s IQ. But like most of us, I’ve spent most of my life squashing and stuffing my inner dork inside so that I appear normal, and well, socially acceptable.

Sure, those who know me will see my inner dork burst out in the form of uncontrollable puns. Puns that seem to come out of nowhere. They really do and I cannot stop them. Often, I don’t utter them publicly, but they’re there. A constant stream of them tormenting my inner ID. Until now. You see, I’m beginning to think of my inner dork as a strength and think you should too. We all have one. I’d argue that those who present a stoic, crisp proper presence at all times are compensating for something. We try to counter our insecurities.

Ever notice how those who act self righteous often aren’t? Reality finds it way out.Your inner dork gives you personality. Authenticity. Humility. Face it, being dorky is not exactly your ticket to uber cooldom. It’s not going to get you to the cover of People. Yet. But it could make your life more enjoyable. And you happier.Embrace your inner dork. Let it out. I think you’ll find yourself thinking more clearly. More creatively. More freely. I think you’ll feel less stressed. Go ahead and try it. Have a dork release party where you open the doors and let it flow. It’ll release the grip that’s holding you back from achieving your real potential.

Putting on airs. remaining completely stoic, under control and rigid takes a lot of energy. Energy that can be put to more productive use growing your business or career. Energy that could be spent nurturing relationships with those around you. Relationships that turn into customers that turn into raving fans that turn into more customers. Being. Happy. Not. Normal. What is normal anyway? Who has the right definittion of normal?

When you can let down your guard, something truly amazing happens: people start feeling a connection. Don’t you find it refreshing when people drop the pretense and show they’re human? That they’re interested in more than a quick buck. Aren’t those the people you want to do business with?

Go ahead, be a dork once in awhile. That might be the ticket to standing out from your competition and winning.

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