Monthly Archives: March 2011

As part of my training for the 3 Peaks, I swim twice a week (in between the full-on gym workouts), thanks to the lovely people at Topnotch Healthclubs who’s sponsored my challenge.

Today while I was swimming I noticed a curious phenomenon that I’m going to name the “hottie effect”. There were three guys in the pool, including me. One of them was pretty much just sitting there, the other doing some slow, steady, not hugely dedicated breast-stroke lengths and me, somewhat beasting myself churning out my 500m.

In the middle of my 3rd 50m set, a girl came in.

I should immediately qualify this by saying that when I swim I obviously don’t wear my glasses, so I can’t actually see anything beyond the end of my nose in any kind of clear fashion.

This girl came in and, from what I could make out, she was young, slender and wearing a bikini.  Suddenly and remarkably the layabout starting cranking out some lengths, the breast-stroker suddenly upped his speed and improved his technique and I… well, I mostly carried on doing lengths while wondering how hot this girl must be to inspire the other guys to such great feats.

The point of all this isn’t swimming pool-based voyeurism, but to suggest that we all in some way or another adapt our behaviour in the presence a a pretty person1. In the gym especially, it makes be act “up” – trying to show ourselves to be fitter, stronger and faster.

What if we could apply that “hottie effect” to our creative lives? If we created in the shadow of the “hottie” – that single person we’re all desperate to please.

Impressing people – whether it’s an agent, a producer, a client or a partner – is an innate desire in all of us. We want people to love what we do. Creating that voice of approval and encouragement in what we do is a perfect way to motivate yourself and keep focused on creating the very best that you can, whatever it may be.

1. girl or boy, depending on your personal preference [↩]

Struggle with getting down to work some days? Most days? Every day?

If you’re trying to think creatively and get yourself into the right mood, but can’t seem to settle your brain to the task in hand, you need to create yourself an inspiration pathway.

IP’s (as I like to call them1 ) are a form of hypnotic process that allows you to reach the right state of flow to achieve your creative goals.

We all recognise the feeling: when you’re reading the blog of an inspirational online mentor (Tim Ferriss, for me); listening to that track that gives you goosebumps; sitting in that perfect spot that fills you with feelings of limitless ability and peacefulness. The trick is to find a way to tap into that feeling and apply it to your work routine.

By recreating that feeling of invincibility – of total creative power and freedom – you can access the flow state that will see you glide through the challenges that face you over the next couple of hours, or the ten pages, or that sales call to your dream client.

If you’re trigger is musical, so much the better – just hit ‘Play’ and take yourself there. For other triggers, find a way to access them each and every day when you sit at your desk to get cracking.  Bookmark a favourite post or posts, stimulate your sense and psych yourself into inspiring yourself to make the most of your day.

Inspire yourself and you’ll reach new heights you never imagined.

What lights your inspiration candle? How do you help yourself reach a state of flow when you sit down to work in the morning (or afternoon, or whenever you do your best work)?

1. since it takes too long to type inspiration pathway every time [↩]

In the pub bathrooms where I lunched with my Godson today, I was struck by the “novelty” condoms machine, which offered prophylactics in an epic range of colours and shapes, with character’s faces drawn on them and designs that were supposedly “ticklers” and, therefore, more pleasurable. Not my thing, but I do see that there may be a market for them.

Until I saw the qualifying statement:

Not suitable for barrier use.

That’s right: novelty condoms at £1 a pop (roughly $1.60) that don’t actually work as condoms.

In business (or filmmaking, for that matter), there’s nothing wrong with novelty for novelty’s sake. After all, how many sea-side resorts keep their economy rolling on frankly useless novelty tat that tourists of all ilks like to pick up?

But if you’re offering a novelty item that serves a purpose, it’s vital that the novelty shouldn’t get in the way of that given purpose.  The proverbial chocolate teapot excepted1, anything you ship, sell or offer needs to do what they say on the tin (in this case, be a condom) over and above the comedy, novelty value that they offer.

1. it’s not really a teapot, it’s just a foodstuff, and you’d never consider using it as a teapot [↩]

In today’s world, it’s harder and harder to find anywhere that doesn’t have Wi-Fi access. Much to my surprise1, one of those places is the campus coffee shop of City University2, which has a connection so slow as to be pretty much useless.

Unfortunately for the new website I’m planning and prepping, it just wasn’t as viable a work option as I’d hoped. Instead, with no real ‘net access to speak of, I managed to write a rough draft of the first two thirds of my new eBook3.

I’ve been planning and meaning to write the book for the last couple of months, but something always gets in the way, whether it’s my own procrastination, a feeling of too little time or a simple perception of “writer’s block”.

Today, by getting away from my usual distractions and by having almost literally nothing else to do, I settled down, I focused and I ploughed through way more, way faster than I ever thought I would.

The next time you have something you really want to do but can’t seem to find the time, see what happens when you move yourself away from your usual workspace and take yourself to a place where you can’t be distracted by the usual things. Be it a park, a library or anywhere that doesn’t offer fast-as-lighting internet access, find the place that fits and see just how much you plough through.

I see many more days of internet-off writing ahead of me. Let me know what you think if you’ve tried it, or if you have your own tricks for getting super-productive.

1. and, it turns out, my luck [↩]
2. where I accompanied my fiancée to calm her nerves before her exam today [↩]
3. which I have also now announced to the world, giving myself accountability and therefore less ability to avoid it, but more on that in a future post [↩]

It’s a very badly hidden secret that I’m a loyal supporter and devotee of Seth Godin, the man I can most single-handedly credit with re-energising me in my low moments and helping me believe that anything is possible.

Never more so than with the latest free eBook from his Domino Project publishing company. Not only is it a great example of using something you give away for free (the ‘SXSW Pokes‘ eBook) to promote something you’re selling (the full-length ‘Poke the Box‘ book and eBook), it’s also full of stories that help you realise that anything really is possible.

The single most important element of SXSW Pokes is that it’s not just a few people telling stories that make you think, “Well, I could have done that if I’d thought of it first,” but instead contains 50 stories from people who make you think, “If they can do that with their lives, just think what I could do with mine.”

I cannot stress just how important I think this book is for anyone to read. Go get it.

If you are the only one getting in your own way of going after your dreams, stop and realize that you are the last person who should be doing that!

C. C. Chapman, SXSW Pokes

What’s your lifelong dream? As you step out to make it real, reach out to someone you’d like to know and emulate. That one phone call may change your life forever!

Sandy Harper, SXSW Pokes

The initiative I took for myself will always remind me that I’m teh one driving this train, and that I’m accountable to ther person in the mirror most of all.

Amber Naslund, SXSW Pokes

You’re right, you can’t actually make ‘The Hobbit’ as your next film, but you can learn a huge amount about creating and nurturing your audience from the get-go from Peter Jackson‘s latest adventure in Middle Earth.

Yesterday, production began on the two-film adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkein book and no sooner had the press release hit the wires than Peter Jackson himself had launched his new Facebook Page. Yes, it’s a personal one, but you can be sure that it’s going to be used almost solely to promote his current flick up until its release in 2012.

This early-bird establishing of connection and communication with the audience (which is something PJ excelled at with both ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and his 2005 ‘King Kong’ remake) is crucial for filmmakers across the budget range.

While Jackson and the Hobbit team may be walking into an audience of millions of eager fans across the world and you may be staring at an audience of less-than-eager family members at the start of your journey, focusing on and starting your social media and marketing efforts from Day 1 is a key principle in audience building for independent filmmakers.

Just ask your friendly local PMD, a post title created by Jon Reiss and being exemplified by the sterling work of Adam Daniel Mezei over at pmdforhire.com – creating your film with your audience in mind is crucial to your success and the more (and earlier) you can connect with them, the more successful you will be.

I’ve long been a loud advocate of the power of social media and digital marketing if used in the right way. The biggest issue that I try to drive home to all of my clients, however, is the simple truth that social media is – and must be seen as – an investment for your business.

It costs money in terms of resources, but it also costs far more in terms of time – the time it takes to develop a social media strategy, to build an audience of friends, fans and followers and to maintain that tribe of people in a way that makes them feel valued by both the brand and the people behind the brand.

Which is why I was so disheartened to see this article on Mashable.com this week on time-saving tips for Twitter.  While I agree that there are ways to increase your productivity by developing processes and systems to optimise you and your company’s time on social media sites, I was taken aback to read this (under Number 3):

Another way to fit tweeting into your schedule is to develop tweets in bulk and schedule them to go out later.

Leyl Master Black, mashable.com

This is possibly the single most misleading piece of advice that is bandied around about Twitter. Scheduling Tweets isn’t conversation, it’s broadcasting.  Social media is specifically that: social. It’s about interaction, conversation and community, not about broadcasting your “message”1 – that’s what traditional media and paid-for advertising is for.

If you only take one thing away from this blog over however many weeks, months and years it exists and you subscribe, let it be this: don’t schedule your Tweets. If you’re not prepared to invest the time to be part of the conversation with your tribe around your brand, then this form of online marketing isn’t for you.

Most importantly, remember that not being on Twitter, or Facebook, or LinkedIn, or Tumblr, or Blogger, or WordPress or any other social media, blogging or online marketing site doesn’t automatically make you “un-hip” or “out-of-the-loop”. If it’s not right for you, your audience or your budget, then not being on them makes you a far savvier marketer than anyone who’s simply using them as just another broadcasting platform.

I’m getting down off my soapbox now.

1. whatever that may be: sales, social good, charitable [↩]

I don’t want to pour more scorn on the much-derided Spider-man: The Musical, enough of that has been done by commentators and citizen reviewers across New York, the US and, increasingly, the world. I make no comment on its artistic merit; I’ve not seen it and therefore am in no position to judge.

I did, however, see a lesson for all artists and creatives in the development and re-development of the show following this piece in the New York Post this week. The key phrase for me:

[Phil] McKinley’s going to turn the show into a shorter, special-effects-driven family spectacle more suited to the world of Steve Wynn than Steve Sondheim.

Michael Riedel, nypost.com

For me, if you’re creating a musical from a comic book, the tone and the feel of the show needs to reflect that of the book itself. The same holds true for making movies and TV shows of comic books, too.  What I don’t understand about Spidey is why have a short, special-effects-driven family show is a change of direction – that’s exactly the sort of show it should have been in the first place.

As any social media and marketing expert will tell you, knowing your audience is key. And the audience for Spider-man: The Musical surely wants to see something breath-takingly spectacular with a simple, familiar storyline that they don’t have to concentrate on too much.  From the reports abounding on the ‘net, that’s not what they’ve got.

Knowing your audience and knowing exactly what it is you’re making is crucial to the artistic and commercial success of any artistic project. Even for little indies who don’t want to think about “commerce” and “business”1, it’s vital to understand who is going to consume your eventual product, even if they’re not paying for it.

What else would you want from a Broadway/West End show based on a comic book? I can’t think of anything other than good fun and spectacle. It’s the old K.I.S.S. message: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

1. as misguided as that is [↩]

This week’s Lowdown focuses on communication tools for filmmakers:

Communication, as we all know, is key to establishing, maintaining and getting the most from our connections and relationships. And it’s important to remember that “getting the most” doesn’t just mean “getting what you want” – all relationships in life should be a two-way street. As soon as we forget that, we’re in trouble.

SKYPE

The biggest and most obvious communication tool for filmmakers is Skype. It’s free, it’s easy-to-use and it offers three main methods of connecting with someone: text-based instant messaging, voice-only internet phone calls and, more famously, video calls.

There is nothing better than meeting with someone face-to-face; relationships will always be stronger and more cemented simply by being or having been in someone’s company. Failing that, however, video calls are by far the best way. You can not only hear the person’s voice, but you get to see their facial expressions, too. When you’re part of a global community of filmmakers, being able to connect with people on the other side of the world and work with them in close-quarters, Skype video calling is simply the best solution.

Voice calls are second best, but Skype still allows you to have a conversation, to hear the other person and to enjoy proper two-way communication. And, of course, it’s still free, which means you’re saving significant amounts on your phone bill.

Lastly comes instant messaging. IM can be a great tool for chatting things through quickly with someone or floating ideas while you’re doing other things, too. It’s a productive communication tool for conversations that don’t require 100% attention the whole way through – you can dip in and out with pauses between responses. The main issue with IM is that it’s far too easy to be lazy and use it when you should really pick up the phone and talk to someone.

WHATSAPP

Alongside Skype, which is often seen as the catch-all free communication tool, is the fantastic WhatsApp Messenger. WhatsApp is both brilliant and significant because it’s one of the first cross-platforms communications apps that lets you connect with friends and contacts using instant messaging from your mobile device.

It works on iPhone, Blackberry and Android smartphones and uses the same internet connections and technology that gives you your email to keep you in touch without any charge beyond your usual monthly phone service.

The biggest barrier to this right now is the fact that both sides have to have the app installed on their device, so the more we can encourage each other and our friends and connections to download the app and sign up, the more free communication we’re going to get from it.

WRAP UP

Communication tools are like all the other tools I talk about on here: they’re great if you use them correctly and for the right purpose. While all manner of free communication tools are a huge boon to us as filmmakers and content producers, they can only be as good – and as productive – as we allow them to be.

So next time you find yourself typing out an email, stop and think if you’d be better connect with the recipient in a chat. Next time you try to connect with someone in a chat, think about whether you’d be better off calling them on Skype. And the next time you connect on Skype, think about whether what you have to say would be better done using video so they can see you’re not angry, pissed off or disappointed.

Good communication is the cornerstone of good business and at the end of the day, good business is what we’re all trying to achieve.

Our lives are a rush of different stimuli, from our multiple social media accounts to emails to phone calls and text messages.  In order to boost your own productivity, take a break from it all for a set period of time each and every day.

Since I started training for the 3 Peaks, which currently involves 5 trips to the gym a week and a lot of pain, I’ve discovered the enormous benefits of being in an environment with none of the usual distractions.

My creativity has come on in leaps and bounds in the last few weeks as I give myself 45-60 minute periods every day of the week to be completely cut off from my communications, to enjoy some much needed thinking time and to focus my brain on the things that really matter in my life and work, rather than the things that too easily consume my attention when I’m in the thrall of social media maintenance and ever-flowing emails.

You may not be a gym-bunny, but if you can find the space in your day to force yourself to silence your phone, shut your laptop and spend even half-an-hour away from everything and alone in your head1, you’ll notice the benefits creeping into your headspace rapidly.

1. or with friends and loved ones [↩]