heartharmony.com.au

Last night I attended a black tie awards dinner for the Qld Sustainable Business Awards with my client Spick & Span Commercial cleaning. Although Nuwan didn’t win – the winner in that category was  a truly remarkable industrial estate that was 100 self-sustaining and carbon neutral (Mitchell Enviro Industrial Estate), it was  a brilliant evening.

What made the night spectacular was looking at all of the visionary businesses who wanted to make a difference to the environment. Each business owner was sparked by an idea – one that filled them with passion and excitement and which they turned into thriving, profitable businesses.

There was the Qld Complete Printing Service that only uses biodegradable soy ink and enviro sensitive paper. There was the innovative Cooee DustBloc company that reduces water needed on mine site roads by 90% through a special blend of road coating (given sites generally use 4 million litres of water a year that’s a huge saving), and a brilliant sustainable building at Bond University.

There were many other fascinating businesses on show last night – all founded with a spark of creativity.

What was also interesting was the under-the-sea theme of the event. Guests walked under a giant 20 octopus to get to their tables with lighting and table decorations to give the impression of being underwater.

The entertainment (other than the band) was a group of 5 men with stuffed nemo like fish on poles that waggled when they walked. This caused much discussion at our table – trying to work out how the guys came up with the idea – and how they would pitch their entertainment to business owners “let’s get five very serious guys in black and get them to waggle fish at people”.

Fish on Sticks

These guys took their job very very seriously. Only one smiled the whole night of waggling – the rest just quietly walked around with their fish in a school. The fish school periodically would stop at a table and swarm the guests or the table centre piece and then quietly move on their way. Not a word was spoken by the fish wagglers.

We tried to work out what hourly rate you would pay fish wagglers, and how you could possibly find them on Google. But then we decided that sometimes creativity just has to be enjoyed – there is no other purpose. They had the ultimate small business niche.

The fish wagglers were no different to the industrial estate creator – they had the same spark of creativity and the same passion – they just applied their creativity differently. Where does your spark of creativity do you have in your business?

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance writer

People regularly comment about my creativity in crafting words – but is creativity something that is unique to only a few people? Is creativity something that is inherited or is it a skill that can be enhanced?

There have been many scientific studies in recent years looking at the concept of creativity, and the good news according to New Scientist is that there are many simple techniques people can use to enhance their personal creativity.

You probably have had the experience of being in the shower and a finding that a great idea comes to you. Or you  take a walk in the countryside and you discover a Eureka moment. Well science now backs you up. Scientists studied the brain waves of people given a problem to solve.  The more you let your mind wander and stop focusing on a problem, the more likely it will be that you find unusual connections between issues which in turn trigger an “aha” moment.

If you can get into the mental state of someone who is relaxing with their eyes closed rather than consciously analyzing the problem, then the faster and easier the solution will come to you.  If you are stuck – the old advice of relax, take a deep breath or go for a walk is now scientifically endorsed.

Science has also found that play is effective in triggering creativity. Paintball games, board games and general horseplay frees your mind and encourages the taking of reasonable risks. It allows people to try out new things without penalty and boosts fresh ideas.

That’s why I have put a pile of stuffy accountants and economists through their paces on the skid pans of a race track – teaching them about the concept of controlled risk; and built a mini-golf course through an office using paper cups taped to the floor and umbrella golf clubs for another work team.

Play is often the first thing to go in a business under stress – whereas it needs to be the first thing that is ramped up as creative solutions are the only way to succeed in a down economy.

If you want an instant creativity boost – then just add the colour blue.  Scientists have looked at the impact of colour on creativity. Adding the colour red sharpens memories (perhaps it should be used in police interview rooms) while blue helps unlock the imagination. Add blue in-trays, desk accessories, blue paperclips and blue stress toys to offices for a cheap way to help people come in contact with their creativity (which also helps explain why blue is the main colour for Heart Harmony copywriters).

Finally – many many scientists fought for the tough job of researching if drinking makes you creative. Well there’s some bad news on this front. Drinking doesn’t make you more creative – it just makes you feel as though you are. So perhaps you may want to rethink your next “traditional 80′s style team bonding session” and go for a group walk instead.

What do you do to get creative?

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance writers

Something really really bad has been happening to Australian TV ads. They are gradually being taken over by inane jingles sung by fiercely jolly people rather than providing actual content.

Case in point – the ever so annoying “Happy EOFYS” flogging Foxtel pay TV. The last thing anyone wants or needs is another celebratory holiday throughout the year. And to make it worse Foxtel seems to have an unlimited advertising budget which means it is played once per ad break for each of the major channels. I would prefer to sit through endless primary school musical performances rather than listen to this ad.

Then you have all of the products targeting men. Back in the 60′s all products aimed at women were accompanied by song – remember Mr Sheen anyone? Someone somewhere realised that singing to women about cleaning products was less than effective. But the descendants of these advertising imbeciles have grown up and have decided that men only buy products if there is music attached.

In Australia it was a mandatory advertising code for decades (well it seemed like it) that all beer ads must be accompanied by deeply inspiring music and preferably a good roughly sung jingle appropriate for a bunch of drunken blokes to sing along to.

This has trickled over into all men’s products in the last 6 months so everything from chainsaws to tinned food now has an accompanying jingle attached.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the jingles were actually interesting and told you something but with jingles like “the fully loaded man has balls of meat” (thanks Campbells for that literary gem), you begin to wonder what planet a lot of the big advertising types are on.

I know in a recession it has been shown that people look for greater entertainment – but whacking a jingle onto an ad and calling it entertainment is as about as effective as whacking a bikini clad female onto the bonnet of a car and calling it highlighting the features of the car.

Those advertisers who work on convincing their clients that a jingle would be great for them should be forced to go back and rewrite 1000 times

“Advertisers who believe in the selling power of jingles have never had to sell anything” David Ogilvy.

David Ogilvy was the father of modern advertising and his words still ring true today. Jingles don’t work because:

• people have trouble hearing the words in jingles and
• selling is a serious business. How would you react if you went into a Sears store to buy a frying pan adn the salesman started singing jingles at you.

If you want to sell your product – focus on the basics. Highlight what makes it unique and interesting, and what difference it makes to people’s lives.  Do that and you will be half way to writing a decent ad that gets results and doesn’t irritate the heck out of potential customers.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance copywriters

Yesterday I was given access to a preview copy of the latest Choice Magazine article on debt relief – and while the content is very useful in terms of what to do if you are deep in debt and disaster happens, what really struck me from the article was the how the debt relief industry had adopted a very narrow view of the world.  For me it was a feeling of if all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.

To give you some context, the article created two fictional people and then mystery shopped 11 debt relief companies to see what sort of advice they would be given. The advice they received was basically to go into a formal debt agreement (an expensive choice), with lesser options mentioned in passing such as call the lender, refinance and going bankrupt.

What was interesting is that no-where was seeking financial advice from an accountant or financial planner mentioned by the debt relief companies.These companies only recommended solutions from within their mental frameworks and product base – even if this meant the customer would be significantly worse off over the years.

Unfortunately this is the trend in many businesses where people are so hungry for customers that they focus on only selling the services or products they offer, rather than thinking through what the customer really needs, even if this means referring the customer to someone else. It is this sort of approach that gave used car salesmen a bad reputation and is a very old fashioned form of sales and marketing.

Modern businesses that will be around for the long term take the bigger picture. By being honest and caring for the customer’s needs, then you are more likely to gain a long term loyal customer rather than a short-term sale.

So do I practice what I preach? At Heart Harmony we believe in placing the customer’s needs front and centre – and providing advice and recommendations from that space. Just this afternoon I spoke with a lovely lady who is creating a new website and needed SEO copywriting – except that the industry she is targeting is a highly competitive one in terms of search engines.

For her to achieve the page one ranking she wanted, she needed very high level SEO and so I referred her directly to a great SEO firm that deals with complex SEO rather than try and sell her on our services. She was quite surprised and kept trying to get me to sell her something – but in the bigger scheme of things she will get the best results from going with an SEO firm that tackles her particular niche. I lost a sale, but know that this particular customer will get great results.

But back to the Choice article. The debt reduction firms by their actions will create a long term backlash against their industry unless they take a wider view.

In the meantime – if you start to see a mountain of debt appearing and are starting to lose sleep over it, check out the Choice article and then speak with a qualified accountant or financial planner to help you plan your strategy.

If you want help creating a budget – Choice has a useful on-line budget planner that makes things simple.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance writer

Freelance copywriters are by nature creative – it is part of the job description. Some people believe creativity is like turning on a tap – you get ready and then all of a sudden it just flows out of you.

But all creative types such as artists, writers, musicians – true creatives know that creativity flows in a similar way to a small creek trickling through the forest.

At times there is a massive flood of ideas and the torrent of creativity simply poors through the creative mind. At other times the creek goes into drought and all that is left are small tepid pools that no longer trickle. If the drought persists, the pools dry up and all that is left is a barren desert.

Annette is a highly talented artist in gems – who makes stunning wearable art/jewelry pieces. For a long time she was stuck in a creative drought. Piles of half completed pieces next to her – nothing grabbing her attention for longer than a few moments.

Then the dreadful bushfires came through near her community. In Australia many of the wonderful native trees we have require fire to open the seed pods – to enable new seedlings to bud. Out of tragedy comes new growth.

Annette discovered that she needed to pull apart all of her half done pieces – to de-contruct and start again with fresh eyes. She then discovered her creativity had returned in a flood – and Annette discovered she was feverishly creating new pieces, barely stopping for sleep.

It is funny that the new piece Annette chose to showcase this week was one made from silver and lava. Lava is rock that has been tested under both pressure and fire – and the combination was striking and beautiful.

It is the same with all creatives. In our creative drought times it can take a life changing event to restore our creativity and to create new growth. It is as if we need to be challenged to emotionally reconnect with life and joy.

This is the same for every business. There will be times when you are full of enthusiasm and times when you go through the motions. What will it take for you to rediscover your passion and purpose? What needs to happen for you to once again find your inner spark?

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance copywriters

Today I was feeling very flat … then a great colleague Dean Bleasdale sent me this brilliant movie.

Take some time to watch it – everyone needs a little validation at times!

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance Writers

Every successful business has a clear vision of what it is, the people it serves and where it is headed.  This vision is shared and understood by all of the team who work there, and explained to new employees and potential employees before they join the company.

Over the years I have seen many companies struggle with this concept. Some companies take teams of core people away on retreat and spend a few days working through what is their big vision. Others just wake up one day and “know” where they are to head.

Some just copy someone elses and still others think “we need a vision” so ring a copywriter and ask us to write one for them. (Just as an aside, I never do that without running a workshop with them first and helping them through the process of discovering their vision).

For a vision to be successful people need to feel it in every fibre of their being. They need to be able to close their eyes and explain what it will feel like when they “get there”. The act of getting the vision to a visceral level creates an energetic tension that helps propel you towards it.

Once your vision has been created, you need to have ways of reminding yourself what it is (or life will get in the way and you will forget why you are doing all of this activity).

Some people re-read their notes daily or weekly, some put the words into a poster on the wall and some like Jenny at Assential Scrapbooking create a scrapbooked version of their vision – complete with images that reflect the feeling their vision creates in them and their customers. They then laminate the scrapbooked vision and pin it up in their office for all to see.

Mark Silver from Heart of Business also has a great process to help you discover your vision. I recommend his “Unveiling the Heart of Your Business” if you are still finding it challenging to find your vision.

To summarise – in my experience if  you want to succeed in business

1. First discover your vision
2. Feel your vision in every fibre of your being
3. Document it in a way that is right for you
4. Share it with everyone
5. Remind yourself of your vision daily.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance writer

In Australia we were following the rest of the world into the slide into recession. Yesterday our Prime Minister announced a major $42billion goverment led recession buster package.

So what are some of the goodies in the package for small business?

According to the Courier Mail

Small business gets a $2.7 billion package of tax breaks that includes an extra $600 tax deduction for any small business that buys and installs a $2000 computer before the end of June.

Those small firms that buy and take possession of a $60,000 backhoe by the end of June can claim an extra $18,000 tax deduction.

Small businesses with a turnover of less than $2 million a year, can also claim an extra 30 per cent tax deduction for assets costing more than $1000 or more that they buy and between December 13, 2008 and June 30, 2009 and install by June 30, 2010.

And if we run a home based business, we can take advantage of the home insulation incentive. From 1 July we will be able to ring a central hotline and get free home insulation up to $1600.  You can get in early and then be reimbursed after 1 July if you would prefer.

I must admit that a Bradford Batt and Laptop led recovery wasn’t in my dreams when I woke yesterday morning!

That said, computer shops and technicians as well as home insulation businesses are also big winners from these incentives.

If you provide services to these businesses you may want to touch base to see how you can help them maximise the new business that will be coming their way.

You may also want to put a call into your accountant to work out what is the best way you can capitalise on these incentives for your business.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance Copywriters

As I sit here at 4am in Brisbane Australia, moved by the inauguration of someone who is bringing hope to the world, I can’t help but think … Obama has to be running the most powerful home based business in the world!

As you work out of your converted garage today, dreaming of moving to a bigger office – why not dream bigger? Dream about running the most powerful nation in the world from your garage instead.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance copwriter

This is not going to be one of those maudilin posts raving about how great friends are (that’s a given). What this post is about is the results of a whole pile of scientific research just released that looks at the influence of people around you on your success.

The 3 January 2009 New Scientist reports on some fascinating studies that your behaviour is influenced by your friends (and the friends of those friends) more powerfully than you think. Nicolas Christakis from Harvard Medical School in Boston is one of the pioneers of the research.

Everything from happiness, depression, obesity, drinking, smoking, ill-health, food preferences, whether or not you vote, privacy and even suicide have all been studied. And what has been found is mind-blowing. All of these things pass through our social networks in much the same way that a virus does. Yes, happiness is contagious – but so is depression!

Christakis work has found that a person’s happiness is dependant not only the happiness of an immediate friend, but to a lesser degree on the happiness of the friends friends and even their friends friends friends. A person’s chance of being happy increase the better connected they are to happy people.

This is also true of obesity – the researchers found that an individual’s chances of becoming obese increased by 57% if one of their friends became obese, 40% if a sibling did and 37% if their spouse did.

Depression has similar viral transmission – with the spread of depression amongst office workers and nurses showing close links between increased depression in friends and colleagues.

The largest influencers on your overall success on all of the areas tested are your close same gender friends, followed by your friends, siblings and then finally your spouse.

So what does this mean for you and your business?

Well, if your New Years resolutions include anything health or happiness related you may need to audition some new friends who are aligned with how you want to become and spend less time with those who have traits you don’t wish to share.

With employees it is now even more vital to ensure your hires are positive, enthusiastic people and to deal quickly with negativity and backbiting before it spreads through your organisation.

There is a truism often touted in personal development programs that you will only be as successful as the average success of your seven closest friends. Now this truism has a growing weight of scientific evidence backing it up.

Test it yourself – take an average of your closest seven friends in terms of weight, income, happiness and so on.  Interesting isn’t it!

What do you think about this research?

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance Copywriters