Creativity – Page 17 – The Business of Creativity

May Scene Magazine Article based on Kissing Toads Ebook

Kissing Toads
© 2007 Kevin E. Houchin, Esq.

It happened to me again the other day. I was at a presentation and this wonderful little start-up company was a featured presenter. They had cool technology and a great business plan. The team is obviously a brilliant group of engineers. They have sound financial advisors.

They were however, visual toads–princes of innovation wrapped in a very ugly package. I’ve kissed many toads. Unlike the fairy-tale princes, it’s not hard to spot the prince-in-disguise when it comes to technology firms. I love and respect engineers and scientist. I often make fun of engineers the way most people make fun of lawyers – with respect and at least a nugget of truth.

Engineers are SMART people. Their brains just didn’t notice some things, as with the presenter I talked about above. For example:

•   Their slides sucked; they were completely unreadable,
•   The screen shot of their Web site sucked–again, completely unreadable,
•   Horrible use of space and color, and most importantly
•   They made no emotional connection with the audience.

Honestly, it was embarrassing–at least to me.

The interesting thing about this group, as opposed to most technology groups I’ve worked with, is that they had a good company name, and had obviously thought of a good metaphor to bring their different brands and projects together. They had simply delivered it poorly. Engineers usually do not make good artists – with a few notable exceptions like Buckminster Fuller.

Love that name… “Buckminster.”

They needed help, but they didn’t know it because they had not entered the consumer market space yet. They had only been selling to people just like themselves–folks who focused only on engineering, and didn’t care about the packaging. There’s nothing wrong with that, until you want to move into the consumer market. The consumer market is a place where non-engineers go about their lives and even buy technology.

I’ve designed dozens of logos and branding systems and supervised the design and implementation of dozens more. I work with smart people, and most entrepreneurs are very smart people.

My Approach to “selling” anything starts with an EMOTIONAL THEME. The foundation of any communication strategy is the emotional state of the person to whom you’re trying to make your case.

•   How do they feel?
•   How SHOULD they feel?
•   How do you WANT them to feel?

To create the emotional theme, you have to understand what motivates your buyers.

•   Are they buying because they have to, or because they want to?
•   Are they buying from you because you have the best product?
•   Are they buying from you because you have the lowest price?
•   Are they buying from you because you give the best value?
•   Are they buying from you because your sales executive had them on a chartered sailboat in Vancouver Bay last month?
•   Are they buying from you because your product will make them feel sexy, powerful, masculine, feminine, free, secure, or innovative?

Everyone can give value and put out a good product. Everyone can hire great salespeople. Not everyone can evoke the emotions of power, freedom, security, style, or intelligence. That’s your challenge.

Identify the emotions you want to project onto your product, and then deliver those emotional experiences. Odds are if you communicate the right feelings in your communications, those feelings will manifest in your customer experiences.

This column is based on an ebook of the same title by Kevin E. Houchin, Principal of Houchin & Associates, PLLC–a copyright, trademark, arts & entertainment, business development, and branding firm located in Fort Collins, Colorado. To contact Kevin, visit www.guidingvalue.com, call 970-493-1070, or email kevin@houchinassociates.com.

April Scene Magazine Article

Burning Desire
© 2007 Kevin E. Houchin, Esq.

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you were willing to do whatever it took to get it? Have you ever known, worked with, or worked for someone “on a mission?” These people can be intimidating, but usually, they’re simply inspiring. They are filled with fire. They have a burning desire.

The term “burning desire” creates an image in my mind of the ships of the Greeks burning behind them on the shores outside Troy–removing their escape route and fully committing the Greek forces to victory in The Iliad. In a little more modern context, it’s the feeling Eminem sings about in the line “Success is my only M—– F—— option, failure’s not.”

My law practice focuses on helping creative people launch new businesses or companies launch new products or services. I can tell immediately which people or companies are likely to succeed because a burning desire is impossible to miss. These people will succeed, no matter what I tell them, because no obstacle will stand between them and their goal. My job in that case is just to help remove as many of those obstacles as possible or put the systems in place to maximize the success coming around the corner.

Unfortunately, I also talk with many people who are not 100% committed to their own success. It’s sad. They may have a great idea, but they are scared to do what it takes. They’re not “all in,” because they have no burning desire. The signs that tell me these ventures aren’t going to make it come down to two traits: fear and laziness.

Fear manifests in several aspects. First, there is a fear to take out a line of credit to fund the venture if they don’t have the capital themselves. Sometimes there’s even a fear to invest the money the DO have. Ask yourself, “if I’m not willing to take on any risk in my own venture, why should anyone else?” Banks are in the business of loaning money to people and businesses with bigger ideas than bank accounts. People with a burning desire are recognizable to investors too. People without burning desire are afraid to ask for investment capital when the banks have stopped lending or wouldn’t take the risk. Finally, I see fear in people to leave a “secure” job and devote themselves to their dream full-time. Again, if you are not all-in, why would someone want to invest in your venture?

People with burning desire are never labeled “lazy.” These people consider a refusal to loan, invest, or purchase as a learning opportunity. These refusals are insights into ways to improve the value proposition, creative product, or business plan. “No” is a momentary set-back for people with burning desire.

Perhaps the biggest difference between people with a burning desire (those who will succeed) and those destined to fail is that people with a burning desire have a plan. Honestly, it doesn’t matter if the plan is on paper or just in their head. People with burning desire can recite a great business plan from memory. I watch them simply describing the mental image of their success – sometimes it looks like they are literally reading the plan from the inside of their eyelids. In contrast, the people without a burning desire may have a written plan, but it’s usually lame, and might even be one of those download-and-fill-in-the-blank business plans. Ugh! No document can replace passion. No document can outsell burning desire.

The best way to develop a plan is to clearly communicate what your success will look like, feel like, taste like, sound like, and maybe even smell like. Once you’ve described the successful result, give it a deadline. Then start breaking it down into component parts – baby steps, each with its own deadline and budget. If you do these things, the burning desire for the result you seek (if indeed you have such a desire in the first place) will manifest, you won’t be able to stop it if you try.

Sure, this takes EFFORT, but if you have a burning desire it won’t feel like WORK. If you can articulate your vision, you can achieve your vision. The fuel of that achievement is your burning desire to make it happen. I believe that humans have a spark of divinity within them and that spark is fueled when we are creating. It’s what we’re here to do. It’s what makes us alive. Burning desire is a sign of someone who is truly alive. It shows. Find yours.

Kevin E. Houchin principal of Houchin & Associates, PLLC – a copyright, trademark, arts & entertainment, business development, and branding firm located in Fort Collins, Colorado. To contact Kevin, call 970-493-1070 or email kevin@houchinassociates.com.