I am a very arty crafty kind of girl. I love creating, building and making things and I am in a creative business. So creativity is important to me – both in my work and outside of work.
But I can get very caught up in the day-to-day activities of my business. Meeting deadlines, writing plans and articles, speaking with clients…the list goes on. If I get too caught up in this it can negatively affect my creativity.
So I spent a day weaving a basket.
As I was weaving iris leaves through palm leaves and seeing the basket take shape it made me realise that creativity is about letting go. If it turned out to be something I would have brought home from primary school to proudly show my parents, then so be it. At one point I thought – “geez I’m not showing anyone this”. But I let go and slowly what I had in my mind came to life.
So I can recommend putting creative days into your year, or even hours into your week. It will certainly help in all aspects of your work (and life).
PS. I am in a kayaking team for the Lifestart Kayak for Kids which is an inspirational paddling challenge on Sydney Harbour. It raises funds for kids who have an intellectual disability or developmental delay. It’s a 17.5km course running from Blues Point to Clontarf and takes place on 28 March. We would love your support through a donation.
PPS. Love going to the movies? The best movie theatre at the moment is outdoors at Starlight Cinema! To thank you, our loyal readers and your wonderful feedback, we are giving away 5 double passes to any session at Starlight Cinema. Email me with your details and the first 5 people will receive the tickets.
Brainstorm your way to creativity
In PR, or any business for that matter, we are constantly looking for new ideas, new angles, new products and new ways to service clients, because creativity gives businesses an edge. It keeps things innovative, interesting and drives business forward. Without creativity we’d be seeing and hearing the same old thing.
So what can we do to expand our creative thinking? There are a number of different techniques and the most common approach is brainstorming. Our clients find our brainstorming sessions for PR and social media strategy very enlightening.
The purpose of brainstorming is to write down ideas and solutions in a structured or unstructured way to find out some possible options. It’s a way for people to stimulate each other’s creativity and produce an array of ideas. If a brainstorming session is with a group make sure you have a leader and a scribe.
Here are some rules to guide you through a brainstorming session:
Do not criticise
This is important if you want your team to speak up. A team member may not share any more ideas if their first idea is ridiculed in front of others. Take on each idea and discuss the more practical ones later. Encourage a positive and uncritical attitude among the group members.
Quantity is key
The more ideas you have, the more you can work from and the broader your imagination can span.
Build on ideas presented
The ideas being shared in the brainstorming session can arouse more ideas. Modifying, combining or elaborating ideas will lead to more specific solutions. This can take the idea into a new direction or simply make the original idea better.
Want to know more techniques to drive creativity in your organisation? Read the full story in Public Relations Sydney.
Taking the first step into social media
More and more businesses are using social media because it gives them another avenue to connect with customers. There are so many social media applications to choose from, but with all the options, how do you determine which ones best suits your business? Here are a few questions to answer and points to think about while creating your social media strategy.Why social media? What do you want to accomplish using social media?
You need to define your objectives on why you want to use social media. Are you joining to make more contacts within your industry? Do you want to build on your relationships using an online medium?
Which social media application is best for you?
Take a look at the characteristics of each social media outlet and see which of those support what you want to accomplish. Some options include social networking sites (i.e. Facebook), real-time updates or micro-blogs (i.e. Twitter), blogs, social news websites, just to name a few.
Do you have something to share?
Social media is about sharing content and information, as well as making connections with others. This connectivity is a way to build your relationships and meet new contacts. What is it you want to share?
Who will maintain your social media presence? Do you have resources to keep it up?
Do you have the resources to keep updating your social media profiles? Will you or someone at your company update content, so your ideas and what you have to share is fresh?
Read the full article on our CP Communications blog
Upcoming events
Here are some events coming up that we thought you might be interested in:
This event will take place around the famous ‘Bay Run’ spanning the foreshore of Drummoyne, Five Dock, Leichhardt and Rozelle. It raises funds and much needed awareness for Cystic Fibrosis NSW.
6 March 2010
ad:tech Sydney
ad:tech Sydney is the leading digital marketing and advertising event in Australia and New Zealand. This year the event has the most impressive line-up of speakers including our client Josh Frith from @www who is speaking on Branded Content: What It Means And How It Will Affect The Future Of Your Brand
16-17 March 2010
Focusing Your Social Media Efforts – the ‘Hub and Spoke’ Approach
Hear a range of speakers discussing their views on different approaches to social media including Leading analyst organisation, Forrester’s- “hub and spoke” approach: a strategy that focuses on maximizing leverage from the corporate Web site and integrates with public community Web sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for greater reach, impact and efficiency.
24 March 2010
Search Marketing Conference & Expo Sydney
Learn all about search engine marketing and social media. Speakers at this event include the founders of 3 Dog Media & Rank Mobile, as well as the VP of Search-Position Technologies, just to name a few.
22-23 April 2010
Business and Public Relations Writing
Run by the Australian Marketing Institute, this two-day intensive workshop aims to equip participants with a variety of writing techniques and skills for business and public relations purposes. In particular the areas of media release writing, corporate profiles, and producing copy for websites and newsletters.
5 - 6 May 2010
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