How to execute ideas with a one-page creative brief

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Monday, May 14, 2012

A lot of us have great ideas. I talk to all sorts of people all the time who have ideas that they want to turn into a product, a service, or a business. I cannot even count the number of times throughout the week that I have an idea and get the temptation to go down the rabbit hole of “figuring it out” so I can start another business or product line.

The key to turning ideas into reality is execution. 99% of the people I talk to (made-up statistic) may have a great idea but they seem to struggle with actually executing it. Much of the time I’m in that group, as well. I can point to all sorts of ideas that sounded reasonable at the time but for one reason or another never turned into a business or a product.

However, the good news for me is that I do end up executing a lot of my ideas and I seem to be getting better at it as time goes on. One technique that I have adopted to help me decide when and how to execute is the one-page creative brief.

The one-page creative brief is sort of a “sniff test” for me so that I can decide if my idea has merit and if I’m ready to start making it happen. So much of the time, I think we (myself included) get bogged down in the minutia of details and “what-ifs” that we end up analyzing an idea to death before we even take any action.

So now I filter my ideas through the one-page creative brief process. It’s pretty simple. I take my idea and I turn it into a single page document with bold headers like “title,” “description,” “problem solved,” “customer,” etc. and fill in all the basic information that would explain it to an investor, a partner, an employee, or my mom. The sections you use will depend on the idea so there is no one-size-fits-all.

I am very strict about keeping it to one page. If it bleeds into two pages then I’m already on the slippery slope of creating a business plan and that’s a great way to get sucked into a lot of analysis with no action. If I can’t distill my idea clearly into a one page document then I figure my idea is either not far enough along to execute or I don’t have enough passion behind it to explain properly.

Generating a one-page creative brief also gives me something to hand to partners that I might want to collaborate with and gives everyone a starting point to quickly digest the idea. It also keeps me on track because I can continue to refer to it if I feel like I’m over-analyzing something.

If you find that you have lot of good ideas but have trouble executing them, try using a one-page creative brief to distill your idea into something more real. I’ve found it to be incredibly helpful and has led to a lot less fluff and a lot more action.

Better usability in conference websites

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Monday, May 7, 2012

I love to travel for both business and fun and I've attended lots of conferences. As an attendee, I register for events online and consume information primarily online via the conference website. As a speaker, I attend and present for a lot of conferences. I also submit proposals for presentations with the intention of presenting at the conference.

As I analyze conference websites, I see a lot of opportunities for improving usability among them. Why is usability important on a conference website? Probably the most important reason is that it can play a huge part in determining how many people actually register for your event, as well as the quality of the speakers.

Here are some things to think about as you plan your conference website or landing pages.

Online registration is a must

I know it seems surprising but I still see conferences that do not have online registration as an option. They require you to call, mail, or fax in your registration. This puts up a huge wall between your event and your prospective attendees. Who has time to mail in a registration these days? Not me. I need quick, easy, secure online registration with credit card or I’m probably not going to bother. The same goes for your exhibitors.

Use online forms for speaker proposals

As a speaker, few things irritate me more than having to print or fill out a Word document to submit presentation proposals. Many speakers like me are submitting proposals to a variety of conferences and the more cumbersome it is to apply, the more likely I am to skip over your conference. I think I have a lot to offer and bring a lot of value to conferences when I present but making it hard for me to submit a proposal often keeps me (and other speakers) away. Make sure speakers can fill out application forms directly on your website.

Create landing pages for each session

I sometimes see conference websites that will give a general outline of the sessions for each day but do not break out sessions into individual landing pages. It’s important to give each session a specific landing page because this allows your speakers to promote their own sessions better, which in turn helps market your conference. It also gives you more specific content to publish on social networks and for search engines.

Make your conference website socially-aware

In addition to session landing pages, each session page should allow easy social media distribution. Two great ways to encourage social sharing of your conference material are with a Re-Tweet button via TweetMeme and a share button via AddThis. Both services are free and allow website visitors to easily market your sessions for you with one click. If you make it easy to announce your sessions, your will find that your speakers will help a great deal with your marketing efforts.

List all relevant time and location information clearly

This seems like a pretty obvious one but I still see conference websites that neglect to list the times and locations of breakout sessions. Not everyone wants to attend every session so make it easy for them to see exactly when and where each session is. Also, make sure your website includes interactive Google maps to your location so that your attendees can easily find it.

Include detailed speaker bios and photos

Few things are more boring than a big chunk of text listing presentation titles with no information on the speakers. Be sure to include speaker photos and bios with the session pages and perhaps even create speaker landing pages to help showcase them. Link out to their own website and social profiles, as well. This helps your attendees feel more connected to the speakers and can sometimes encourage people to register because they have an interest in seeing a particular speaker.

Paying attention to some basic usability details can make a huge difference in the quality of your speakers and the number of people who attend your conference. Do you need to make any adjustments to your conference website?

Augment data collection with LinkedIn Polls

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Monday, April 30, 2012

A lot of organizations are interested in gathering data in order to make better decisions. Whether it’s marketing, sales, recruiting, HR, or other functions, good data can help us make better decisions.

While there are plenty of enterprise solutions for surveying employees and constituents (such as solutions provided by Chris Woolard at Walker in Indianapolis), what if your needs are more modest and you want to do some quick and dirty data collection? For this task, I absolutely love LinkedIn Polls.

With a LinkedIn poll, you can set up a single question, create multiple choice answers, and then collect responses along with detailed demographic information. LinkedIn Polls is dead easy, powerful, and social. Not only can you easily create polls, but you can easily post them to networks, contacts, and groups. LinkedIn also makes it easy to share your poll on other social networks or even embed it on your website.

If you are a presenter, like me, you can use LinkedIn Polls to gather data to use in your presentations. If you are a marketing director, you can use polls to support your decisions and initiatives when reviewing strategies with your team. If you are a non-profit exec, you can use polls to satisfy boards of directors who are looking for data to support decisions.

I created a simple poll for one of my upcoming presentations on personal branding. If you view this social media profile photo poll, you’ll see that it displays all sorts of interesting information on the people who responded, like:

• Age
• Gender
• Seniority

It also allows you to filter by specific responses to see which groups favored which responses.

Is the LinkedIn Polls app an enterprise-level survey tool? No. However, for simple needs it can be a powerful and inexpensive way to gather data.

Additionally, the more groups you join and the more connections you make, the more higher your chances are for getting a critical mass of data to use in your reporting. That’s yet another reason to work on building a strong LinkedIn profile.

The secret to effective time management in social media

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Monday, April 23, 2012

I give regular presentations and training sessions on social media, online marketing, and technology-related topics. My audiences include business owners, professionals, and non-profit teams. 100% of the time I get this question or some variation of it:

“How much time do you spend on this stuff?”

Variations include:

“How do you find the time for all this?”
“How many hours a week do you spend online?”
“How much time do I need to spend on social media?”

My favorite is:

“When do you actually work?”

If I sense that my audience is truly looking for some practical “runway-level” tips on time management with online marketing, I will talk about automation, batched activity, block scheduling, and so on.

However, sometimes I will give a much simpler answer:

“Love what you do.”

That’s it. If you love what you do, you won’t ever have to ask how to find the time to talk about it. Social media is about communication with other people. If you love what you do, I mean truly love what you do with a passion, then talking about it with others will be effortless and natural. It won’t be forced and pushy; it will be honest and passionate and your business will grow naturally as a result.

You won’t have to “find the time” to be active in social media. It will become a natural extension of what you already do. You will be excited to have a new set of tools to expand your network and participate with a learners mind.

The bad news is, if you don’t love what you do this message will be uncomfortable for you. It might prompt you to question why you do what you do. It might make you think about change.

The good news is, what you do with your life is up to you.

So what is the secret to effective time management in social media? You could try block scheduling and other fancy things. Or you could simply love what you do.

Prioritizing social networking with your DISC profile

Posted by: Michael Reynolds, President/CEO in General on Monday, April 16, 2012

With four major social networks now competing for your attention, it can sometimes be overwhelming trying to keep up. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Plus all have shiny appeal and are full of people just dying to network with you. But what if you only have so much time? How do you prioritize while still getting value out of social media, both personally and professionally?

My friend, you need to dust off your DISC profile.

If you are familiar with DISC and have taken it once or twice, you are probably already nodding and seeing a light bulb start to glow above your head. If not, be sure to do some reading on it. DISC is a personality assessment that uses four different classifications to identify how you behave and function. You can find plenty of places to take the DISC online. Or better yet, talk to our friends at Lushin for some professional feedback on DISC. The types are:

• Dominance: relating to control, power and assertiveness
• Influence: relating to social situations and communication
• Steadiness: relating to patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness
• Conscientiousness: relating to structure and organization

Upon taking the assessment, you will be given a report that includes a chart explaining where you fall in the DISC personality types. For example, I am both a very high “D” and a very high “I”. My “C” is third and my “S” is last. This means I am very action-oriented, outgoing, and somewhat process-driven.

So how does this relate to your social media activity? Well, I believe that people are most successful when their activities are aligned with their energy and interests. If this is true, then why not use your DISC profile to help you decide which social network will be the most effective and natural for you? Let’s take a look at each type and which social network is the best match.

D – Your network is Twitter.

Twitter is fast-paced, concise, and to the point. As a “D”, you have a bias toward efficiency, action, and speed. People who ramble and take forever to get to the point exasperate you. You’re in luck because those people don’t survive on Twitter. Since this network is fast-paced, limited to 140 characters per post, and full of rapid exchanges of information, you’ll feel right at home on Twitter.

I – Your network is Facebook.

As an “I”, you are the life of the party, you love to talk to people, and you like to have fun. Facebook is the place for you. Here you’ll find photos of parties, cats, and other people. Additionally, you’ll find lots of photos of you, which appeals to your slightly narcissistic (but well-meaning) desire to be noticed. People tend to be the most casual and “fun” on Facebook. Let’s face it, as an “I” you like people and you like having fun and being a little silly. Facebook encourages all of this.

S – Your network is Google Plus.

As an “S” you crave tight personal relationships and security. Google Plus offers both since it is built on a system of “circles” that allow you to easily group people into sub-networks that are private and exclusive. You can easily keep your conversations within certain circles and avoid broadcasting your messages to everyone at once. Additionally, the clean and simple user interface of Google Plus appeals to your aversion to over-stimulation and clutter. Google Plus will be a peaceful place for you.

C – Your network is LinkedIn.

As a high “C” you crave order, rules, and systems. You’re in luck because LinkedIn is built around all three. First of all, LinkedIn is all business so it appeals to your desire to keep your personal and professional lives separate and your personal life private. It is based on strict rules of conduct and communication that encourages people to only make connections based on a prior meeting or a specific reason outlined in the rules. It is designed to make networking systematic, structured, and safe. As the most process-driven and professional social network, LinkedIn will be a zen-like oasis for your high “C” desire for structure.

My favorite social network is Twitter, and as you can see it lines up very well with my high “D” personality. I like fast-paced, efficient communication so Twitter is the place for me. I like all four major networks and Facebook and LinkedIn both appeal to my “I” and “C”, but I find myself gravitating most often to Twitter when I default to my most comfortable medium.

So if you’re wondering how you might prioritize your time on social media, try comparing your activity to your DISC profile and embrace the network that appeals to your style the most. You might end up enjoying social media even more.

Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go see what I’ve missed on Twitter in the last hour...