Our top tips for creatives from 2016

Quick! Get those juices flowing!
 
In our last post, we described how our business serves both consultants and creative types (such as ad agencies and direct clients needing creative services), and how our posts, over the year, alternate between the two audiences.
 
Here, then, neatly arranged and hyper-linked for your convenience, is a quick rundown of the creative-themed posts from 2016. If you missed any, here’s your quick chance to catch up with your peers:

• How to build an editorial calendar for your blog posts. This one isn’t so much about jump-starting your creativity as it is about channeling it and helping it build business.

• How to get copywriting on the cheap. Boy, did this one drive traffic. It tells you how to get high-quality text for next to nothing—and sometimes for nothing at all.

• Common marketing communication errors—and how to avoid them. As we’d teased in the opener of this one: “Are you letting old-tech errors mar your high-tech messaging?” This article goes way beyond spell-checking, into issues such as maintaining proper voice, choice of medium, and website navigation.

• How to overcome writer’s block. Solving this problem is so much easier than you’d expect. That’s because, we argue, the “problem” never exists in the first place. Intrigued? Read the article!

• Disaster recovery: Flubs, goofs, and outtakes. Learn from our mistakes! Sure, we’ve made ‘em, and you can laugh your way clear of repeating them by joining us on this painful—yet instructive—trip down memory lane.

• On self-hypnosis and finding “the voice.” This is one of our most intensive self-help articles, and it garnered good response and feedback. It can really help you with challenges like developing brand voice, writing concept descriptions of products or services, or developing video scripts. Check it out. (And check out the bizarre artwork we found to illustrate it, too.)

• Tips for tackling large-scale writing projects. Now we move from the cerebral to the logistical. Everyone needs help with this topic from time to time. Use our tips to guide you.

• The chicken and the egg: Art or copy first? Which order will yield better results? And what do you do if you don’t have any control over that order? Check out the pros, the cons, and the verdict.

• Brainstorming in the shower. Here’s the old joke: “Don’t you know what good clean fun is?” “No, what good is it?” Seriously, in this article, we explore—and argue—why this technique (which we detail for you) yields better results than a formal creative meeting or brainstorming session.

• How to get the best work from creatives. How do you get the biggest bang for your buck from these notoriously high-strung, thin-skinned individuals? Here’s a hint: Think of them more like performers or athletes, and you’ll be well on your way. This is a good article, with lots of firsthand experience behind it.

• Squint to see clearer. This counterintuitive creative technique—borrowed from the world of quick-sketch portraiture—has broad applications for strategy and execution. Plus it might help your drawing: check out the illustration to this one and see for yourself.

 
Have feedback from any of these articles you’d like to share? Or do you have a topic you’d like us to cover next year? Contact us and let us know. We’d love to hear from you. 

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