Giving your brain a boost with social media December 13, 2009

Just catching up on my podcasts and listened to a great episode, #258 of the Engaging Brand from Anna Farmery.

You can download it here engagingbrand.com show 258 guide to brain fitness

Anna talks with Alvaro Fernandez of SharpBrains, all about his Guide to Brain Fitness.

Anna asks:

• What is brain fitness?
• Why learning is physical
• The importance of learning how to learn.
• How experiences aid learning
• The importance of regulating your emotion
• How social interaction is needed for a healthy brain.
• Do some people have higher natural brain fitness than others?
• The key facets to a maintaining healthy brain

It is worth a listen as Anna, in her usual perceptive style, points out that blogging and podcasting is a very good form of brain boosting behaviour.  One of the discussion points that Alvaro makes is that talking about what you have read and learned and reinforcing the neural pathways is what cements learning – hence gossiping around the water cooler the next morning at work about a tv show is not conducive to brain boosting activity!

However reading a book or attending a seminar and then repeating that knowledge, discussing it, asking yourself questions about it – that is what will help keep the neurons active.  As Anna points out, by blogging and podcasting she is exploring new ideas every day and then imparting that knowledge to others via her blog and podcasts.

Brilliant stuff! So people, not only is blogging a great way to boost your brand or expertise, it is a great way to boost your brain and keep your neurons active and firing.  If ever we needed another reason to keep on blogging!

So I have renewed energy!  I did feel that what I had to say was surely nowhere near as interesting or important as what other more intelligent marketing and creative minds had to say -but you know what?  I’m blogging for me, and if you find it interesting from time to time then welcome aboard!

The Existentialism of Branding November 25, 2009

Søren Kirkegaard statue in Copenhagen, credited to be the father of existentialism

I tweet therefore I am…does anybody else out there think that modern marketing, in particular social media seem almost to perfectly fit into the existentialist philosophy (and I totally paraphrase here) to be true to one’s self?

According to the site all about Philosophy “existentialism is a philosophy concerned with finding self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. The belief is that people are searching to find out who and what they are throughout life as they make choices based on their experiences, beliefs, and outlook.”

The word “existence,” comes from the Latin “existere,” meaning “to stand out.” Is it not a marketers role to make the brand or product stand out?  And with the advent of social media channels the message we hear over and over again is that marketing today requires transparency and authenticity.

So as a marketer, it is my job to help the brand find itself, its authentic message and fulfill its responsibility to society.  So much easier as a corporate than as an individual don’t you think!

Yes, a very simplistic view and the exsistentialist movement is much deeper than that…but given my current phase of exploration this just seemed to resonate…plus it is a cool word don’t you think!

 

Books I love…#1 Hot Button Marketing October 25, 2009

Hot Button Marketing: Push the Emotional Buttons That Get People to Buy by Barry Feig

My rating: 4 of 5 stars A really interesting and succinct look at some of the emotional drivers to purchase and how to tailor your offer or service to meet the needs of your market for greater success.

Great chapter summaries and clearly set out making it a useful reference tool.

Possibly a tool for evil in the wrong hands! A great force for good to help you reach the right people in the right way for their (& your) greater good.

A great companion to Buy-ology (Martin Lindstrom). View all my reviews >>

Diligent Creativity Day 4 September 4, 2009

Go take a long walk off a short pier…

Well the weekend approaches and I am reminded by this picture of 2 things.

1.  “Go take a long walk off a short pier”, was the taunt I used to say to people who annoyed me when I was in primary school,  I thought I was so smart that the people I was insulting in most cases just didn’t get it! Hee hee hee…I was a bit of a know it all kind of kid, hard to imagine but true!

2.  I am also reminded of an idyllic paradise where long walks and short piers only end in delightful plunges into warm clear waters…ahhhh.  I’m there already.  I can feel myself drifting into a relaxed bliss as my husband and I wade through the warm water, feeling the soft sand shifting under our toes.  Suddenly the silence is broken by the sounds of splashing and laughter as our kids tumble around enjoying the splashing and waves…ahhh happy times…

Then I wake up, hear the kids screaming at each other (not in happy bliss I might add) and realise it was all a peaceful meditation….

Here let me see that photo again…I’m going back in…

Diligent Creativity Day 3 September 3, 2009

I’m here for you baby…

I wanna hold your hand

What on earth was going on?  All these funny fuzzy shapes whizzed past my eyes and people I don’t know are all up in my grill talking in some stupid language that I really don’t comprehend…

Whoa…I yell back…I don’t know what you are saying…Slow down and speak clearly…Do you know where my mother is?

Well obviously they don’t speak my language either cos all they could manage was “oooohhhhh, oops” but at least they backed off.

The one thing I can always rely on came to my aid.  I grabbed hold of her and pleaded with my eyes…don’t go and leave me ever again!

Isn’t being with new customers alot like that experience! They don’t speak your language and you’ve been speaking it for so long you no longer speak theirs.  All funny things are going on they have never seen before that need explaining.

How many customers have you lost because you exposed them too quickly to an unfamiliar and confusing experience forcing them to crave the familiarity and ‘cry’ away from you?

Maybe a pause to remember that as far as dealing with your company goes, they are like babies and you need to reassure them first…I’m here for you baby…

TED talk Elizabeth Gilbert on Genius June 11, 2009

Another amazing TED talk from author Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote the very popular “Eat Pray Love”.

Aside from the fact that I love the book, one of my all time favorite phrases…diligent joy…if I was to have a tattoo I think that is what it would say.  I love all that it represents, not that life is a bowl of sweets, but that you be happy you have to remember to be happy!  Every day…diligently!

But that is not what her talk is about. It is about the creative muse that resides in us all and an historical look at how creativity shaped the creator.

My takeouts from this wonderful talk (that you MUST watch – see below for video)

• Elizabeth describes herself brilliantly “I am a writer, writing is my passion”.  (Question, how many of us creative types describe ourselves so definitely like that?  I know I am wracked with insecurity to define myself in a more conventional way, “I am a marketing graduate who does design too”…gotta re-think that!)
• Is it right that anybody should feel afraid of the work they were put on this earth to do? (in context of artists being afraid their next work will not be as good as their last)
• Why should there be a link between creativity and suffering?
• In ancient Rome & Greece they believed creativity came from the divine not the human. Greeks called it a ‘damon’, the Romans a ‘genius’.
• Then with the renaissance the human became the ‘genius’ and the burden of performance and judgment that came with that marked the beginning of the battle between creativity and mental health.
• At about 10 minutes in she talks about a discussion with Ruth Stone, an American poet who describes her muse…wow!
• We’ve all had creative ideas ‘pop’ into our heads haven’t we, that AHA moment? Maybe that is our brush with the divine genius?
• Elizabeth’s advice is to take the genius out of you and put it back into the universe where it belongs.
• What if the most creative parts of your being are on loan to you? They do not define you and you can enjoy them.

Ole to you Elizabeth, and ole to you dear reader!

Gotta go, my genius is calling me…

be Brain-zing-ingly Creative! May 29, 2009

Seth Goden TED Talk on Tribes May 12, 2009

Anybody not familiar with Seth Goden must go check out his blog, he is a real thinker.  Not everybody agrees with him all the time but that does not matter.

What matters is that he is out there creating a movement challenging the staus quo and committing to challenging marketers, thinkers, advertisers, employers, all of us to do likewise.

You need to watch his TED talkit is amazing, it is 17:23 minutes long but worth every second to get your own juices flowing and asking better questions.

So, my takeout? It’s about being a leader about 15 minutes in:

Leaders:

Challenge the staus quo

Build culture

They have a curiosity

They connect people

They commit to the cause and the tribe

Seth finishes by imploring us to go out and create a movement…something that matters!

I’m inspired…back soon, I’m off to think about my tribe…I’ll keep you posted!

Making the invisible visible… May 9, 2009

I picked up a book on creating art and randomly flicked through the pages and a phrase jumped out at me and set my cogs in motion!

“Art is…making the invisible visible…”

I love that analogy not just as it applies to uleashing your creativity, but to life, to feelings, to talking and communicating.

That is what communicating with your partner, your lover, your children, your boss, your co-workers – making what is in you, in your head – the invisible – visible to them…sharing your vision.

That shall be my new motto, I tend to bottle things up a bit too much…my new motto is making the invisible visible!  I will share my visions beyond just the creative work related ones, this is a motto for loving life!

But what do I say? May 5, 2009

Now that I have finally implemented a strategy for reading the blogs that I love to subscribe to, and the tweeps that I follow ~ I am realising that there is so much content being constantly created on the web.
I ask myself do I have anything to say that is going to add to the global good or am I just another person adding to the white noise? That put me off blogging for the longest time I must say, the more active I was in reading and contributing to other blogs the less I felt inclined to write here.
I felt like I had nothing to add. What is my niche? What is my passion? Why would people be interested in what I had to say and if they weren’t interested then why write into a void?

But at the same time, the more I participated and read the more I felt inspired to contribute to my own blog.

Something I have noticed about content is that the good stuff goes around and around and pops up regularly but the bad stuff just sits there and sinks to the bottom.  Doesn’t mean it is bad per se, but perhaps just doesn’t add much to the global intelligence.

I decided that I am happy to create as I feel inspired, on whatever inspires me – be it art, education, marketing, silly ideas, all are my areas of interest…and it will sink to the bottom for now.  But one day, as I hone and refine my skills maybe I will have something to offer that will rise to the top and go around and around.

Until then, glub glub glub…I’ll take a deep breath and sit down here for a while!