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Today, this podcast is tinged with some sadness.
Last week we lost the Superfast Staffy. Regular listeners will know that she has been my constant companion over the years. She probably appeared on 95% of podcasts; she’s been sitting in her little bed behind me. She’s been battling for a couple of years with back problems, but the last couple of months, unfortunately, she’s gone downhill, and we had to make the hardest decision ever. If you are an animal lover or owner, you will understand what I’m talking about. From now on, it’s going to be me, no snoring in the background, but I am sure stoic Staffy that she was, she would want the show to go on.
Let’s talk about today’s podcast, and that is Coming Up with Creative Ideas. We’ve talked about multiple campaigns over the last few podcasts; we’ve given you many different ideas.
Today, we want to talk about developing your own ideas for your particular sector and your market that you can implement. You never know what’s going to work in marketing; you’ve got to try lots of different ideas, and if you can come up with your own consistently, you will dial in more than you ever thought possible.
Let’s talk about seven specific things. What could you do to have a whole plethora of creative ideas that you could use? Let’s start with the most obvious one – to read more.
Make Reading a Daily Habit
Some of you may have heard of a gentleman called Brian Tracy, quite a recognised expert in the sales field. One of his books, Advanced Selling Strategies, is one of the most downloaded books of all time in the sales sphere. One of the things he talked about is that if you were to read every day on a specialist subject, you would be an international expert on your subject by the fifth year of doing this. This is quite true when you think about it; the more you read, the more information you get, the more it stimulates your mind, the more connections you can have.
I think in today’s internet-driven world, though I’m a great lover of physical books, there is no excuse not to have something at your fingertips. I download a couple of books from Amazon every week and read many of them, to be quite honest, because it helps to stimulate my thoughts and give me different ideas. Then one idea leads to another, and then to another, and so on. You will be astounded at the levels of information that you get.
Here is a great tip for you that I often do. I will share a couple of books that I’m reading on LinkedIn; business books, or whatever that might be. Then ask people’s opinions. “What other books might you be reading? Any recommendations?” You will have a plethora of ideas and suggestions outside of your realm of thought, which can then stimulate even more ideas for you.
Another element, of course, is blogs. What blogs do you read regularly? If you follow particular people or mentors in your niche or your sector, they might have great ideas and suggestions. It’s about taking the context of that and thinking, “I wonder if there’s another angle on this that I could explore?”.
Listen to Podcasts
The second suggestion is positive podcasts. There are so many podcasts out there that you could listen to that could stimulate ideas for you. This podcast might be one – I’m talking about marketing and sales all the time. What things do I share with you that could be useful in a campaign that you could implement in your recruitment staffing organisation? There are other recruiters out there that have podcasts; maybe there’s something that they do that could stimulate thought and that you could take a concept or an idea even further.
Search Out and Analyse Competitor Activities
The next thing that I would suggest is looking at what your competitors are doing. Look at what they’re posting; look at what is going viral on LinkedIn that you could have your own angle. Share some ideas or campaigns around that that might work for you. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. You might have a different take on something that would add value to your audience, so think about that one as well.
Use the Power of Your Conscious and Subconscious Mind
The other thing that I would suggest is, use the amazing power of your subconscious mind and ask yourself questions like, “How could I do this better? How could I explain this particular concept more? What is it that my audience wants to know?”. Ask yourself these questions.
What I often do is, if I’ve got a challenge or some creative ideas, I allow my subconscious mind to work on it overnight. I’ll ask myself a question before I go to sleep, and quite often in the morning, surprise, surprise, you have an answer. Have you noticed this happens? You wake up, and you’ve got a whole raft of ideas that you could use. It’s always good to have a notepad and pen with you, or whip out our phone and make some notes on there. It’s amazing how many things happen. You think, “Do you know what? That’s a great idea for some content or a campaign.”
Study the e-Commerce World
The next thing I want to talk about is studying the e-commerce world – I’m probably going to do another video on this.
We have recently moved into a new place and are meeting our family and friends again and having them around. So, I decided to go into Majestic and get some wine. I went in twice in quick succession to get some particular wine at Majestic. Then, through my letterbox, dropped a great direct mail. It was about Blackbook wines. I think I’d posted about this once before, but this was interesting because it was another take on it.
They have sent this to me reminding me that we are in the summer. Yes, in the UK, this is the summer, the sun is out. It was a suggestion on different wines that maybe I might like to purchase. Several different Robert Cialdini’s Principles of Influence were used throughout the copy. So thinking about this, is there a specific campaign that you could run to particular candidates? People that you have worked with in the past – maybe you have a new retainer service – and because they’re a current client, there might be a bonus that you could add for them.
Often, I will go on to the email list of multiple e-commerce sites because they have to generate sales consistently. Look at the sort of things they do and deconstruct them. Maybe you could use them too as you move forward.
Find Like-Minded People in Your Tribe
Finally, join a community of like-minded individuals. We have our Superfast Circle membership, and there are a number of different conversations that go on in that group that help stimulate ideas. I am the coach for a number of people along with Sharon, so we share ideas there.
Also, we have the Facebook group, if you’ve not joined, Recruitment Marketing Mastery. come along there, join that group; it’s free, and we share multiple ideas there. Even if you just look at some of the longer posts that I make in there, they will stimulate ideas for you on what you can do. Then, of course, you can always ask questions, and we can answer them there.
Work With a Coach Or Mentor if You Want Faster Results and More Ideas
I would always recommend that you have a business coach or a business mentor to bounce ideas off. They’re working with so many different people. They will give you some ideas that you can use. That is something else to consider.
You’ve got some things there to go away and think about. Read more, listen to positive podcasts, research your competitors, and do something even better than they’re doing. Ask yourselves questions; always keep that notepad and pen handy. Of course, study the e-commerce world and always be in a community of like-minded individuals because that will make a massive difference for you.
How We Can Help
We have many clients on track for their best year ever because they implement what we teach and utilise the content and campaigns we give them. If you want a quick chat to see if what we do can work for you, book your call and demonstration here.
Thanks,
Denise
