Ten Myths About Creativity

There’s an old myth floating around, which suggests that creativity is inherent. You’re either born with it or you’re born without it.

But creativity can be learned and developed over time. Some people may have a more natural inclination toward creative thinking, but anyone can foster and nurture creativity.

Artists throughout the ages have gone to great lengths and sunk to fathomless lows in pursuit of inspiration. The ancient Greeks personified inspiration in the muses. When they needed inspiration, they invoked these supernatural entities, calling on them for artistic help. Artists have set out on journeys, pursued spiritual and religious activities, and engaged in painful or unhealthy experiences in order to feed their imaginations.

Indeed, there are famous examples of authors drinking themselves to death or committing suicide, and of course, there is the well-known tale of Vincent Van Gogh cutting off part of his own ear. And finally, there’s the ever-present stereotype of the starving artist.

Despite these tales of suffering and tragedy among authors and artists, the most successful creative people tend toward more practical measures, choosing lifestyles and habits that are healthy and conducive to creativity.

Unfortunately, these destructive myths about creativity persist.

Ten Myths about Creativity

1. Drugs and alcohol: One of the worst myths about artistry is that drugs and alcohol promote creativity. That’s a lie. What drugs and alcohol do is promote dependence. It is ineffective and inefficient to rely on these substances in order to make art. It’s also unhealthy, and in fact, it can be deadly.
2. Misery: Another common myth is that pain, sorrow, and anger are the best conduits for creativity. Sure, when we are unhappy, writing can provide a healthy, therapeutic outlet. But this has nothing to do with creativity and everything to do with the need to express oneself. While misery may indeed inspire us, we can be just as inspired by happy or emotionally neutral experiences. Relying on a depressive state of mind for inspiration is just as dangerous as relying on drugs and alcohol. And like drugs and alcohol, such thinking is unhealthy and can be deadly.
3. Suffering: This myth is based on the idea that artistry is won through suffering. Some people actually believe that artists should suffer, and suffer hard, before they get to succeed. What you have to do to succeed is work hard. You shouldn’t have to suffer.
4. Divinity: There are less dangerous myths about creativity and inspiration. Some people believe that creativity makes a divine appearance only when they are supposed to create, and the rest of the time, they shouldn’t bother. We all have moments of great inspiration. They come and go and are rare for most of us. The most successful writers don’t wait for inspiration, they work for it. Regardless of our religious or spiritual beliefs, we can learn to control our own creativity just as we control other aspects of our lives. It’s called free will.
5. Talent: Lots of people believe that creativity is inherently tied to talent. Talent just means you have a knack for something. Lots of creative people may not be especially talented, and there are plenty of talented individuals with no interest in pursuing the arts.
6. Two kinds of people: Some people are artistic; everyone else is not. That’s definitely not true. Everyone is creative, and the more we nurture and foster creativity, the more creative we become. Creativity is closely associated with the arts, but artists aren’t the only people who are creative.
7. Life of poverty: Many people believe that it’s practically impossible to succeed or make a living as any kind of artist. They mistakenly believe that an artist’s life is one of poverty and struggle. All kinds of people experience poverty—not just artists—and artists who do experience poverty don’t do so just because they are artists, as is proven by the many artists who never struggled with poverty.
8. Fame and fortune: Conversely, some people believe that artists will enjoy great fame and fortune. While it’s possible that you could write a wildly best-selling novel and become rich and famous, it’s not likely, although the odds are better for you than for someone working in a cubicle eight hours a day who doesn’t make any art at all. At least you have a shot at fame and fortune.
9. Creative people are weird: everybody’s weird.
10. Creative people are creative all the time or whenever they want to create: Once you’ve shown yourself to be creative, some people will think you’re capable of doing anything that requires creativity or that you’re a constant fountain of ideas. While many creative people have more ideas than they know what to do with, some have to work hard at finding inspiration.

The truth is that creativity is different for everyone and possible for anyone. You just have to want it, and you might have to work for it.

Source: Writing Forward

• CREATIVITY
• MYTH
• WRITERS

5 Things For Authors To Tweet About (That Aren’t “Buy My Book!”)

A major trap that authors fall into on Twitter is trying to get too many people to buy their book.

Of course, as a self-published author your goal is to get people to buy your book, but constantly repeating “BUY MY BOOK!” (or some variation) on Twitter will get old very quickly and cause your readers to stop following you.

You worked hard to get a reader to follow you, you don’t want to lose them!

To keep yourself from falling into that same trap, you need to find something else to tweet about it. Here are 5 ideas of stuff that you could tweet about that aren’t just the same ol’ “BUY MY BOOK!”.

Tweet about relevant, popular hashtags

Find hashtags that are popular and relevant to your book, and write something to contribute to the discussion. Don’t forget to include the #hashtag. Other people following that hashtag will see your tweet and possibly even start to follow you.

Need help finding popular and relevant hashtags? One great place to search is at Twitag. If you want to find hashtags sorted into groups, then you should use Twubs. Another great option is Hashtags.org. For strictly popular and trending hashtags, you can use What The Trend.

Using these resources, you can find relevant hashtags to allow you to join in the conversation where your future readers are and get them to start following you!

Tweet your milestones

Have you sold 100 copies of a book? Tweet about it! What about 1000 copies? Definitely tweet these major milestones, because if your readers see that 1000 other people have purchased the book, they will feel left out, and want to join in (by buying your book). Simply tweet the milestone and include a link to the book, and you will be promoting the book without annoying your readers.

You could tweet monetary milestones too, but that becomes a little murky, especially for those who don’t want to share their earnings. Stick to number of copies sold (or borrowed, or downloaded), and it will cause readers who have purchased to be excited they have helped you reach a milestone, and as I mentioned, it will make those who have not purchased the book want to feel included.

Promote interesting quotes from your book

No doubt, you put some thought into what you wrote in your books. Whether your book is nonfiction or fiction, there are some quotes that you had main characters say, or that you included to emphasize a point, that you are probably quite fond of. Use this gold that is already in the books to promote the book!

Most readers won’t know about these quotes unless they have actually read the book. Pick out some of your favorites, put them into a tweet, and write “from [BOOK NAME HERE]” with a link to Amazon after that.

Not sure which quotes to use? Amazon will tell you! Go to your book’s page on Amazon.com, scroll all the way down to where it says “Popular Highlights” (under the reviews). This will list the most popular passages that were highlighted in your book using the Kindle software. Pick out some of the most popular and tweet those!

Using interesting and intriguing quotes from your book is a great way to promote your book, and the best part is, the work is already done, you just have to copy and paste it!

Tweet quotes from reviews

While the last tip had you tweeting quotes from your book, this tip will have you quoting about your book. Use lines from the top reviews of your book in your tweets. Of course you should link to your book, but people want to know about others think about your book.

If you know the reviewer is on Twitter, you can thank them directly for the great review, giving them a little shout out. This will make them feel appreciated, and it can cause others to want to leave positive reviews so that they too are thanked by you!

Promote Discounts (and network with other authors)

While this option is the closest to “buy my book!”, it approaches it a little differently.

First, when you have a book that is discounted or free, just let your readers know! This is a great time for you to tell them to buy your book, because those who may be following you who haven’t purchased that book may finally pull the trigger because of the discount.

You can also network with other authors to promote books for each other. This allows each of you access to a new pool of readers that you didn’t have access to before, and those readers and followers will learn about books that they hadn’t heard about before. It’s a win-win for everyone involved. So, while you’re still saying “Buy my book” or “Buy someone else’s book”, you are giving them a reason to want to buy when promoting a discount or another author’s book.

Final Thoughts

Twitter is a wonderful resource for being able to have direct access to fans that authors just a few years ago didn’t have access to. Don’t take this for granted by telling them to buy your book all day long. Use the different ideas on this list, and you can still promote your book on Twitter, just in a new and creative way.

Culled from Book Marketing Tools

The Dark Side Of Marketing: How Adverts Destroy Businesses

Companies focus on the pros of marketing. With the right amount of investment and the correct target audience, you can increase traffic one hundred percent. This will lead to better lead generation and a boost in sales and profits. Usually, this is how bosses think when they consider advertising, but the cons go under the radar.

Yes, being witty and creative and unique can raise brand awareness; however, there is a dark side to the industry which turns off customers. Slip into this category and the firm’s reputation may take a hit from which it can’t come back.

Here’s how adverts destroy businesses and the solutions.

Too Annoying

In the past, shoppers used to have to walk past billboards and fliers before they saw a company’s message. Even if they were everywhere, they were unobtrusive because the advertising was passive. You saw it, but you never had to engage. Today is different thanks to the internet. Now, one click can result in endless pop-up ads which relate to nothing whatsoever. The result is an annoyed and frustrated shopper that would rather leave than continue with the experience.

The solution is simple: think before you accept advertisements. If it’s vital for monetary reasons, then keep it to space on the pages. Avoid pop-ups at all costs.

Not Trustworthy

There are millions of adverts on the Worldwide Web, and all of them look the same. So, it’s difficult to tell which are real and which ones are fakes. As a result, online consumers avoid them like the plague because the risk isn’t worth the reward. Sure, they may get 10% off their next order, but they may give a hacker access to their bank account.

One way to attract attention while being trustworthy is through SEO. www.vistacomm.com shows that shoppers are more likely to click-through on a search engine rather than an ad. So, pleasing Google can lead to a better conversion rate.

They’re Plain Bad

Ads are annoying, but only if they’re bad. It turns out customers don’t have them equally; just the ones which waste their time. www.vieodesign.com puts this into perspective by saying 91% of people are bothered by intrusive ads, 87% by too many of them, and 79% by trackers. However, none of the samples were bothered if the quality was high because it added value.

The obvious thing to do is make sure the marketing effort correlates with the audience beforehand. To do this, set up a focus group and ask for feedback.

Misleading

Also known as click-bait, it’s when a title refers to a search term but redirects them to a different page. As soon as they land and read a few sentences, people tend to bounce. Okay, the traffic rate is high but the conversion rate is way down, and that’s what counts. 15% of all ads trick people into clicking so you can imagine a person’s frustration.

As tempting as it is, you have to avoid clickbait. Be real and genuine because that’s what counts.

Wouldn’t that get you to click on something if the shoe was on the other foot?

 

Do you and your business need help marketing the right way? Contact TRW Consult here.

 

Culled from Open Business Council

Post Tags:#adverts#business#Marketing

5 Social Media Mistakes that Could Kill your Business

Social media is vital for big business, but an online blunder can make or break your company. Here are five practices to avoid.

Social media is a necessity for businesses. Whether it be for marketing, customer service, or public relations, social media is often how companies stay relevant in their customers’ lives and aware of any issues that arise. However, a wrong step on one of these platforms can work against companies, digitally tarnishing their reputations.

In 2017, the world watched the social media failures of big names like Dove, Pepsi, and Adidas. Whether it be misspellings, misconstrued images, ill-timed humor, and offensive remarks, social media mistakes are easy to commit. While many social media problems start out small or happen quickly, the mark is still made, and the company still gets hurt.

“Social media is now the avenue for escalating and for overall turning the event into a much louder discussion,” said Nick Hayes, a senior analyst at Forrester. “A lot of what you have to do is start to think about how an organization has typically thought of and managed crises in the past, and start to apply that lens of social media.”

A social media faux pas doesn’t only cause problems externally, but even more so internally. Hayes highlighted the interpersonal and financial impact companies can face after such an incident. If your reputation is bruised, partners may not be as eager to work with you. The costs in and out of the business are significant as well.

Take the example of United Airlines, which faced strong criticism on social media after a video of a man being forcibly dragged off a plane by security went viral. The company tweeted a statement from its CEO, which many criticized as too cold and corporate.

This social media disaster hit United’s stock prices hard, and led to many internal issues regarding customer experience, Hayes said. With a newfound negative public perception, United found its popularity decreasing.

Protecting your company is easy, however, you just need to be aware of common social media mistakes. Here are five habits to stay away from.

1. Forgetting your brand

When constructing a social media persona, you have to know your brand. With every post, social media managers must keep in mind the company’s core values. It’s important to ask yourself before posting, “Does this post align with my company’s beliefs?”

Social media mistakes are often made when companies are trying to stand out. In an effort to gain publicity, companies may try to post something funny or eye-catching, but these types of posts also leave the most room for error. With the subjectivity of humor, companies need to be very careful that they aren’t crossing the line. If a company is considering entering a social media discussion about politics or making a joke online, they need to ask if that post would really support their company’s overall brand.

“It’s always important to, whether you’re a social media director or somebody responsible for the social voice of a brand, make sure that [a post] is aligned with the core values or mission statement of the brand, and that the tone of voice comes across in every online interaction,” said Gartner research director Jay Wilson.

2. Disregarding your audience

Going hand-in-hand with knowing your brand, you must know your audience. Businesses need to remember the personality of their customers and what social media would play well. We currently live in a very polarized country, politically and socially, Wilson said. This polarization is accompanied by an increase in vocal public opinion, which is amplified through social media platforms.

After asking yourself if a prospective post aligns with your brand, then ask if it aligns with your consumer. Both questions act as quick filters when deciding to post something out of the ordinary.

“Strategize, and really talk about and brainstorm what are the potential issues that could arise,” Wilson said. “Whether you’re taking a stand on a specific issue or you’re simply putting a campaign out there, what are the potential reactions that you might expect from this increasingly polarized audience?”

3. Plagiarism

Probably the easiest online slip-up is not giving credit where it’s due. With the amount of data and ideas floating around the internet, originality can be difficult to achieve. If a company posts a statistic or fact without attributing the information, then they can not only find themselves in a lawsuit, but also branded as a plagiarizer.

“Brands need to create playbooks and have internal processes so that their teams understand what’s fair use, what constitutes express consent, what constitutes implied consent,” said Wilson. “If you are leveraging third-party content, which is something that we often recommend that brands do—finding relevant news stories or content created by partners or thought leaders on social—that’s a great source of content for brands, but you need to make sure that you’re using it in a way that’s not overly promotional, and that you have consent to use that content.”

4. Failing to prepare

Sometimes the biggest social media problem isn’t an incident itself, but the aftermath. These platforms spread information at such a fast pace that companies are given less time to respond in the event of a crisis. Hayes emphasizes creating a template for response, rather than just waiting for something bad to happen, when you won’t have time to do so thoughtfully.

“I think brands don’t drill enough,” said Wilson. “They need to be doing drills and running simulations and scenarios to make sure that their human processes, their technology, is able to quickly identify and respond to social crises.”

5. Inauthenticity

Always say sorry, and when you do, mean it. If a company is accused of major wrongdoing, they need to apologize, and they need to do so genuinely. Referencing back to United, Hayes noted their half-hearted apologetic nature to their blunder, circumnavigating the actual consumer concerns around the event. Companies should keep an authentic voice in every message they send, but especially when it comes to apologies.

Wilson suggested creating employee advocacy programs to carry out messages to consumers. “People tend to trust front-line employees more than they do C-level executives,” Wilson said.”They want the apology from the C-level executive, but they want to listen to front-line employees and their experiences with a brand, so if you have an employee advocacy program in place, that’s a great go-to resource if you find yourself in a crisis.”

Culled from Tech Republic

Post Tags:#big business#Branding#plagiarism#Social media

7 Easy Ways to be a Kick-Ass Novel Finisher

Sometimes it seems like everyone I know either is a published writer (traditional or indie) or wants to be one. There is, essentially, only one difference between the two:

One group finished their books and one didn’t.

Not finishing is part of the writer’s condition, though. It happens to everyone. Even those who finished their books and were published guaranteed they have a metaphorical trunk full of half-finished good starts that just never got finished.

I promise. You are not alone. But, it is important to actually get to the end of a story if you want to be published. There are a lot of moving parts in publishing, but that’s the foundation of it all.

Finishing your draft is the most important thing you can do for your writing career, basic as that sounds.

Here’s how you can help yourself get there:

1. Muzzle your inner editor. I call mine Blythe. She has her purpose, you know, when I am editing. But when I’m writing? I put her in a bird cage, cover it with velvet, and refuse to let myself get caught up in perfectionism. Perfectionism is the death of creativity. That’s especially true when you’re writing your first draft.
2. Write consistently. In my opinion, the best way to do this is to make a ridiculously small goal. My go-to is ten minutes. Write fiction for ten minutes a day, every day. Eventually, you’ll notice that once you’re going, you write for 20 or 30 minutes, or an hour. Or all day when things are really rolling. Small goals get you over the hump between writing and not writing. Make your goal so small that it’s harder to skip it than it is to just do it.
3. Try gold stars. Get a calendar and a pack of old-school star stickers. Give yourself one for every day that you meet your teeny, tiny goal. A visual representation of your string of successes is powerful.
4. Have a road map. I know. Some writers are pantsers and some are plotters. Can I suggest that if you’ve been a pantser (meaning you write without a formal plot or plan) and you’re having trouble finishing your drafts, you probably need to change something up? Here’s the system I use for making a very basic road map for my novels.
5. Find your people. Connect with other writers in your community or online. You can start with Ninja Writers. Reaching out when things get hard can make all the difference.
6. Don’t edit while you’re writing. I know that I said something like this with #1, but it bears repeating. When you’re writing your first draft, just write forward. Keep a notebook with you while you work and make notes on any changes you need to make during revision.
7. Don’t let shiny new ideas derail you. Maybe the biggest problem I see for writers who struggle to finish is that just when they get to the sloggy, difficult middle act of their current work-in-progress, the Universe sends them a miracle. A new idea so bright that of course they have to drop everything and start writing this thing that’s going to make them famous. Don’t fall for it. That’s your writer brain giving you an out for the hard stuff. Take some notes, then keep writing. Finish your draft.

See? No need to send your firstborn to Rumpelstiltskin. No bleeding on the page. Just take it ten minutes at a time and keep going.

**

Credit: The Writing Cooperative

• NOVEL
• STORY
• WRITER

Digital Publishing Formats: Advantages and Disadvantages

 

Before creating a publication it’s essential to research and understand the various output formats and tools available. There are many options out there and you should take time to consider which publishing format best fits your needs. Prior to creating a publication, there are many things to consider such as what platform your publication will be viewed on, what will be the focus of the content, the design and advertising strategies. Once you have come to a decision, you can then determine which tools are best for your publication.

Today’s generation of readers are more comfortable with digital formats and publishers are continuously searching for the right electronic content delivery to address these needs. Choosing the correct format is key. Each digital publishing format has its own characteristics and distinguishing features aimed at enhancing the reader’s experience.

In this blog, we’ll focus on two key publishing formats, Digital Magazines, and EPUBs, concentrating on the advantages and disadvantages of each. We’ll also look briefly at other available publishing formats that are popular amongst today’s audience.

Digital Magazine

Digital magazine publications are renowned for their interactivity and display of rich media. When building an online magazine, you are likely to use features that enrich the user’s experience such as video, audio, web links and social plugins. Such features mixed with attractive design options, multiple layouts and easy-to-use software make this digital publishing format extremely popular.

Let’s look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of choosing this publishing format.

Advantages:

• Interactive: You have a range of interactive features to choose from to create a truly engaging experience for your readers.
• Low Cost: The costs are relatively low compared to printed magazines, one of these being transportation costs.
• Reach: With an online magazine, you can reach readers all over the world. Your readers will remain loyal as they can change location and still receive your content via your digital edition.
• Dynamic: Digital magazines are extremely dynamic. They can be read on tablets and mobile devices anywhere and anytime. Readers can access the information without delays.
• Unsold Stock: There are no fears of having an unsold stock like that of printed newspapers and magazines.
• Environmentally Friendly: With digital magazines, there’s no need for paper or ink.
• Revenue: They open new sustainable revenue channels through advertising and e-commerce.

Disadvantages:

Digital magazines can sometimes be harder to read than printed magazines as the reader must be able to zoom in and out. Again, this would depend on the chosen digital magazine software. Other issues some people may face is outdated software, poor internet connection, and download speeds. With a physical magazine or newspaper, you needn’t worry about it running out of power.

EPub

The electronic publication format (EPUB) is one of the most widely known file formats for e-books on the market. You could view an EPUB as being similar to a website as it is largely based on HTML. It’s seen as the industry standard and can be used by anyone, including global giants such as Apple, Kobo, and Google. EPUB is the XML format for reflowable books developed for digital publishing.

EPUB format gives the user reflowable text. Reflowable text automatically changes to the size of the screen and the size of the text, similar to that of a website. With this, EPUB offers a great reading experience on both mobile and on ebook devices.

With an EPUB publication will you not find the same level of interactivity as in a digital magazine. EPUB publications can be viewed offline and the file format is used by many apps including the iBooks App on the iPad and iPhone.

Advantages:

• Industry Standard: With the growth of ebooks came the charge by many companies to introduce their own eBook readers. However, the majority of these don’t reach industry standard which stands to EPUB being seen as the uniform standard in the industry, with the format used in a range of devices.
• Open Format: As mentioned previously, EPUB can be used by anyone. The open format of EPUB was one of the reasons for its initial growth.
• Independent: EPUB is not controlled by a large corporation.
• Reflowable text: This fantastic feature allows the books to reflow the size of the screen.
• Compatible: EPUB has two languages XHTML and XML; this allows it to be used with a range of software. It is also delivered as one zipped file.

Disadvantages:

One of the disadvantages of using EPUB is that it demands some publishing knowledge. Users will need to be quite familiar with the syntax of XML and XHTML. There are also some rather precise requirements for creating the zip archive for EPUB. With EPUB, it’s also necessary for you to know how to create a style sheet. Generally, with EPUB you will at least need the basics of these languages if you wish to build valid files. Creating the zip archive for publishing is also difficult.

Content hub:

Enable your audience to access all your content in one place through a content hub. You can gather news from blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and more. By publishing your content to a hub, it can be easy dispersed to a wide audience featuring your social activity, flipbooks, RSS feeds. There is no need to maintain your Hub, the Hub updates automatically as content is added to your online sources. Hubs optimize your content to suit whatever device your reader chooses, ensuring maximum exposure.

APPS

Another option could be to publish your digital editions to an App and add all your existing online content sources also. Your auto-updating app can truly be an easy-to-use revolutionary publishing platform with no coding required. 3D Issue Apps is an online platform that enables anyone to create and publish their own native Apps for any iPad, iPhone or Android device.

The right digital format for your publication is the one that satisfies your objectives. Be careful not to rush on with your valuable time and resources. Instead, take the necessary time to research the options available.

Culled from 3D Issue

#digital

Steps to Making a Great Billboard Ad

Consumers are no longer looking at billboards in the same way they did 20 or 30 years ago. While billboards may still be considered premium advertising space, consumers are engrossed in their smartphones, tablets, and gaming systems. Eyes are down, not up, for much of our lives. 

 

However, that doesn’t mean billboard advertising is to be discounted or ignored. Billboards are everywhere, and even though we remember just a handful, they can still have a powerful branding impact.

 

With outdoor advertising upping the stakes and becoming increasingly more competitive, plus digital advertising becoming the medium of choice, it’s important to know how to make your advertising count.

 

Six Words or Fewer

Considering we’re on the move when we read billboards, we don’t have a lot of time to take them in. Six seconds has been touted as the industry average for reading a billboard. So, around six words should get the message across.

 

You can push this to a few more words depending on their length and ease of reading, but as a rule of thumb, less is more here. Concision is tough, but headlines that are small paragraphs will not get read. And that means if you have a complex brand, product or service, you probably should stay away from billboards.

 

Get Noticed, But Don’t Be a Huge Distraction

Most of the time, billboards are aimed at drivers, bikers, cyclists, or pedestrians (which is why you have just a few seconds to get a message across). It causes an interesting dilemma for the advertiser. You want to get noticed, but you don’t want to be responsible for major, or even minor, accidents. So, while being distracting is paramount in many media, it’s a fine balance with the billboard.

 

Not the Place for Direct Response

There are some truly awful billboards covered in phone numbers and website addresses. And without a doubt, 99.9 percent of the people who read the billboard will not call or visit the website. A billboard is a secondary advertising medium, which means that it’s ideal for brand-building and supporting a campaign, but it just cannot do the heavy lifting.

 

If you want a more intimate conversation with your target audience, use print advertising, television, radio, flyers, websites, and direct mail. Billboards are the wrong medium for anything other than a quick message. However, if your website or phone number is the headline, and makes sense, then you have an exception to the rule.

 

Be Smart, But Not Too Clever

A boring billboard will be ignored. A smart billboard will grab the attention and leave a lasting impression. A billboard that’s trying to be too clever, well, it will get lost on the audience.

 

As a rule, you don’t want billboards to make people scratch their heads and wonder what is going on. Complex visual metaphors are no good here. They say advertising should be like a puzzle to solve and should give the audience a sense of fulfillment to know they figured it out. But billboards should be much simpler than that. You’re in the business of advertising, not showing off how clever you are.

 

More Is Better

One billboard is not cheap. But it’s also not very effective either. Billboards are a mass market medium, but they need support.

 

Every billboard has a rating, called Gross Ratings Points (GRP), based on traffic, visibility, location, size, and so on. This rating gives you a showing score between 1 and 100. If it’s 50, it means that at least 50 percent of the population in the area would see one of your boards at least once a day. If you have only one board, your impact chances are less than if you have four or five.

 

You want to get close to a 100 showing, but that’s not going to be cheap (and may end up being more annoying than impactful).

 

Don’t Say It, Show It

Get creative with your billboard ideas. A flat billboard is standard, but it doesn’t have to be the norm. You can go 3D, have moving parts, have people interacting with it, and even have your billboard animate. There is no reason that it just has to be a large, simple print ad.

 

It is your opportunity to do something eye-catching and memorable, so go for it. The upside to this is it can create additional press, for free.

 

Be Wary of Logo Size

One of the most parroted pieces of client feedback ever given in advertising is “make the logo bigger.” The reason for that is easy to understand. The client is paying a lot of money to advertise his or her brand and wants the consumers to walk away with that brand planted firmly in their heads.

 

However, there is a balancing act that has to be played. Too big, it’s horsey and distracts from the message. Too small, it’s a clever ad for a brand no one connects with.

 

Do The Arm’s Length Test

So, you have followed all of the rules above. You’ve designed yourself one fantastic billboard. It’s clean, it’s concise, it’s got contrasting colors, it’s interesting, and it will work. But will it be seen? Will it be read, and understood?

 

Here’s a quick test to ensure you are not wasting everyone’s time and money. Print out your billboard to the size of a business card. Now, hold it out at arm’s length. Are you still getting everything you were when it was displayed on your 27-inch monitor? If not, go in and refine it. It needs to pop. And remember, you have roughly 10 seconds to get your message across.

Culled from The Balance Careers

Post Tags:#advertising#billboard ad#billboards#Branding#Marketing