Hey we’re glad you’ve decided to stop by our ideas page. Hope you enjoy a look at some of the wierd and wonderful ways we look for inspiration to help us take projects (and our lives) to their full potential. You just never know when a great idea is going to hit you. We try to be ready for it whenever it does. These articles and ideas are all the property of Dezine Source. If you want to use any of them or find out more, let us know. All we ask is that you ask first. We’d love to hear your ideas too.
When the concept gets built
Being able to visualize your ideas really helps develop a project to its full potential. I went through a few 2D and 3D concepts, developed with a program called Sketchup, before this addition to a vacation property was built. The video is actually a few months of still frames patched together while building the screenroom, parts of the roof and adding the covered breezeway.
Enjoy
Music: The Duhks, Migrations, The Fox & The Bee
Put yourself out there – on your terms
Putting yourself ‘out there’ is a necessary, although sometimes painful part of owning, running or working for a business. Sometimes it can involve sharing your “truths” which in itself is a form of marketing. With the rise of social media, being visible, vocal and real is becoming more and more important and necessary.
Many of us, myself included, aren’t really upfront, yell out our brilliance kind of people. We prefer to put our energy into the work we’re doing for others. And I don’t mean charity work (although that’s good too). I mean the stuff we get paid to do. We just prefer to do it for others, not ourselves. I guess that’s charitable?
We all know we need to market ourselves and for some it’s really tough to do. You might think you have nothing of value to give to others and in that case, you’re likely wrong. You might think no one cares to hear your story and you’d be wrong again. Everyone loves a good story and if you can weave your truths into the marketing of your products or services that can be a pretty powerful combination.
Many opportunities will come to you directly, in particular through your own social networks and we urge you to be open to them. This can include requests from people in your networks to engage you in their business/purpose:
- as part of expert panel on a teleseminar or webinar (a free or $ program people register for and is offered either through the telephone or Internet) or live event
- through a joint venture (teaming up to share expertise and contacts)
- through an affiliate program (reciprocal arrangements where you’re paid for passing on business)
- to provide a testimonial
- by purchasing sponsorship advertising
- by providing a quote or interview for print or broadcast media
We can help you sort through determining if an opportunity is a good fit for your marketing objectives but if you do decide to go it alone, here ’s some of our ‘lessons learned’ to help make sure the opportunity plays out on your terms. Truth is, one bad choice can cause irreparable damage to your brand. Every opportunity you choose to maximize or monetize should build on and support your core marketing objectives. Choose carefully.
Make sure the opportunity is right for you. Ask questions. If someone approaches you with an opportunity to get your story out to their audiences, make sure you understand the platform in which it will get delivered as well as who else will be involved. Weigh how much you’ll get from participating as much as how much value you’ll give. Looking at both sides is essential to ensuring the experience is an all around good fit for you and your product, service or company.
Always, make sure your needs are heard. You need to ensure that the moderator, benefactor or salesperson has your needs and interests in view. Sometimes you have to be really clear what those needs are or they will be ignored because the request is coming from a place that’s not “about you”. Don’t be afraid to ask directly, ‘what’s in this for me?’ as well as ‘what are you hoping to get out of my participation?’.
Ask for follow through and measurable results. No one is looking out for your interests like you are. When you participate in live sessions or initiatives that benefit others, make sure you ask to either have access to the participants in the event or the followup/feedback received. You should be maximizing every opportunity to add to your database/list as well as to learn from your participation. If possible and the opportunity seems right, add your own measures such as an offer of your own that’s sent out before, during or after the event. That way you can measure results directly.
Protect your audience. Exercise some caution about broadcasting events you ’ll be participating in before you have all the details. Find out who else is participating, when the actual seminar or product (publications, etc.) will be available to the public, and what the follow-up to the event will be. Make sure there’s no potential conflicts should the opportunity not play out how you’d like. If your comfortable that all the bases are covered and that your audience will benefit, let them know about it, invite them to “show up” or offer to share information about the event after it’s over.
Don’t have any regrets. Once you’ve made the decision to put yourself out there, go for it. As long as you’ve absolutely made sure the opportunity is right for you, that you’ve covered the bases to ensure it meets your needs and that you will both provide and receive value, participate as authentically and transparently as you can. The world is waiting for your story. But make sure it gets told and shared on your terms.
You are welcome to reprint this article, but please include the blurb at the top of the page. My creative soul thanks you.
Are people getting you?
We love to hear what experts have to say. Nothing gets us more excited than being invited into a room filled with people that are passionate about something they know best. This shared passion shows in the work we do, collaborating with clients to develop communications materials to help them get the word out on a variety of topics: workplace mental health, performance management, information security, arts patronization, flooring, school fundraising, financial security and more.
The information products we develop make the noise clients want to hear at workshops, annual meetings, sales drives, performances and training sessions.
While many of our clients have the vision of what needs to be said, too often they become mired in their own details. Our mission is to help clients cut through their own…bull -- to craft communications that hits their message home to the people that need to hear it. We bring value to the “investi-getting” sessions by listening to the experts, challenging what they have to say and how they want to say it, identifying what their audience wants and needs to hear and packaging it up in a dynamic, effective approach that has lasting impact.Letting outsiders like us inside your organization brings exceptional value to your presentations, workshops or any communications that are challenged by too much clutter and a need to hit the mark to cause action or reaction. Here’s some of the top benefits you’ll see:
- You and your people can stay focused on putting your expertise to work in your business. We’ll do the massaging to tell people about the good work you’re doing for them.
- Our writers have experiencing in asking the tough questions to get the full story and will challenge you and your people to get it right for your audience.
- We are experts at writing messages so they’re meaningful to the intended audiences.
- Our designers will bring your message to life in the technology we work with you to define as the best solution for capturing the attention of the intended users: presentations, workshops, video, audio, newsletters, ezines, blogs, contests. We apply the same principles to print work we do with training tools, written presentations, press releases, brochures and more.
- The communications we create will integrate your brand to make sure you are putting your best face forward – and most important, that people are “getting” your message.
- We also provide speaker notes as part of our live presentation and workshop packages to give your presentations maximum impact and portability.
We are experts in adapting presentations to a variety of platforms for live presentations as well as for web posting and distribution.
Are you ready to bring your message home to the people that need it most? It starts with you opening your mind and doors to us. Once we step inside your organization we are fully immersed in your operational and communication goals. Here’s a great example of what one client had to say after we worked with their amazing team to develop a workshop on a tough subject -- performance management for people with mental health issues:
Dear Friends:
I do hope your exhaustion is abated before day's end and that you become energized by the realization of what you accomplished this past week. You are phenomenal and brilliant human beings. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to work so closely with you. We challenged each other, made each other uncomfortable from time to time, allowed our vulnerabilities to show and ultimately accepted and embraced the differences. Our next mission, should you choose to accept it, is to help others in the workplace do the same.
Cheers,
Mary Ann Baynton
(Past) Director of Mental Health Works, Canadian Mental Health Association
Advanced Strategies: Working through the tough stuff
www.mentalhealthworks.ca/training_and_tools/presentations.asp
