How Do You Know Your Creative Doesn't Suck?

There is a thread on the Pictage Forums where someone was asking for critique of a print ad.  I see questions like this all the time and this one got me thinking that it’s time for me to do another practical, ‘how to,’ marketing related blog post.

I had a job in college with a well known producer named Ralph Winter.  Ralph has become a good friend over the years but I learned a very important lesson from him (well, actually I learned a bunch) but one applies to creative analysis; Content, Structure, Style.  Ralph didn’t originally apply this to advertising, but when I got into advertising school at Pepperdine, this method saved me more than once.

For most creatives this is exactly backwards.  Most creatives start with style and then work backwards to structure and content, trying to figure out how to shoehorn the words they need into the cool graphic they created. That is a recipe for a bad movie and it is also a recipe for a bad advertisement, website, blog design, logo, etc.  Here's a better method.

Content, Structure, Style works this way.

Content

What do you want to say.  By this I mean, what is the single most important point you wish to convey?  Take some time to think about that.  In an ad of this size you get to convey one, maybe two messages.  What is the single most important message for your target?  What is most likely to drive the outcome you desire?  Before you start on your creative, write this down.  Pin it somewhere.  You’re going to need it later.

Structure

What are the principle elements you will need to tell the story in a complete way?  Do you need an image?  A logo?  A graphic design?  Do you need words?  Take some time to really think about this.  I know you like your fancy pink scroll logo underscore thingy, but does it need to take a lot of real estate in this piece?

Style

The actual creative process of developing your piece.  Obviously your style should fit your brand and be consistent with your site, blog, etc.  (so the consumer knows they’ve gotten to the right place when they go there from the ad).  The images you show should show the people you are targeting, or at least their archetypes.  The piece should be different (differentiated) in the context of the environment in which it will be placed.  If it’s a magazine and there are lots of businesses like yours how will your target market know you’re different?

Critiquing your ad.

If you started out understanding your most important message then your critique is pretty easy.  When you show your ad to someone else and ask them what it communicates to them is the first thing they say on target?  (Making sure the ‘critiquers’ are as close to your target market as possible helps.  I often wonder why photographers ask photographers what they think.  If you want to shoot photographers this is a good idea.  Why not ask past clients?)

When you first look at a graphic where does your eye go?  This is called ‘read order.’ Your eye will naturally go somewhere first.  Where does it go?  Does it go where you want it to go?  Read order applies to both text and graphics.  For a multi-element piece there remains only one read order.  Your eye goes to the graphic first and then the main text and then to the phone number and then to the secondary graphic and so on.  Does the first place your eye goes begin to convey your message in a clear way?  That's good.  What's great?  When the first place your eye goes conveys the whole message.

Obviously there is a lot more to this science then this.  I’ve found through the years though that if I just go back to content, structure, style, and develop a very clear idea of what I want to say ahead of time and then evaluate the creative with that in mind it’s pretty hard to go wrong.

I think you will to!

Onward.

The 10 Second Rule is in Effect.

It’s funny but most people have no idea that underneath this calm, sedate exterior is a guy who can be temperamental.  Folks close to me know that I rarely lose my temper.  That doesn’t mean I don’t get frustrated.  When I do my sense of humor can get very acidic.  I can easily say pretty hurtful things.  I’ve learned over time though that doing so only causes more frustration.  Most of the time it’s better to not say anything at all.  Here’s how I do that.

Emotions are flighty.  They come and they go.  I meet some people who seem to live on a high, emotional plane.  They are either super happy, super mad, or super sad.  I think that would be exhausting.  They probably think living my way is exhausting.  Perhaps it’s just how you’re wired.

A few years ago I got mad about something and sent off a short, to the point, very direct email to a group of people.  Quite literally no sooner had I pressed ‘send’ then my inbox chimed and it was one of the people emailing me to say they were sorry and that they would make the wrong right.  Then they got my email.  Those folks and I never really got over it.  It damaged our relationship for the rest of the time we were working together.  While I felt my temporal emotion was justified, expressing it wasn’t worth the cost.  But how to keep from doing it again?

Here’s how.

1. If you write an email in frustration don’t put anything in the “To” box until you’ve had sufficient time to review.  That will keep you from sending it before you’re ready.  The harsher the email the longer you want to wait before you send it.  This can be anywhere from 10 seconds (and after a very thorough proof read) to 4 days for me.  I just leave them sitting in my ‘drafts’ folder.
   
   
2. If I want to vent about something publicly I take a long time to think about it first.  I’ve found my public rants rarely accomplish much.  They make me look unstable.  They make my customers nervous.  When I’ve done this in the past I get the most random notes from people trying to help me.  Then I have to reply to all of them.  I worry more about the people who didn’t send a note.
   
   
3. For bigger frustrations and even big decisions I invoke the 24 hour rule.  I actually learned this from my good friend, John Zdanowski, easily one of the smartest guys I’ve ever known (though if you know him you have to get him to tell you the stop, drop and roll story).  When we came up with a great idea or when we were greatly frustrated he would say, “OK, mandatory 24 hour cooling off period is in effect.”  I still say that now.  It works.  In the end it saves me so much time.
   
   
4. The 10 second rule works for me in conversations.  When I’m starting to get frustrated I make a decision to slow down the cadence of the conversation.  I hate saying things I don’t mean.  I hate apologizing for things I’ve said.  There is nothing more frustrating then being wronged and then having to apologize to the person who wronged you because you said something stupid.  So now, I actually sort of lump all of this into one basic rule that we all heard growing up.  Count to 10.  I can count to 10 really fast.  If I stop myself and actually have to think, 1 1000, 2 1000, 3 1000, 4 1000, etc. then that makes me think of something besides my budding anger.  It’s amazing when I do this how often the anger subsides.

Luckily most people aren’t wired like me and so this is really idle advice.  Some are though and if it helps in any way that’s great.  Writing it this morning has helped me. Now I’m ready to get on to the next thing.  After all, what’s next is what’s important.

Proud of My Team Today

I rarely use my blog to talk about company stuff.  Lord knows we have plenty of outlets for that.  But today is different.  We’re launching Aspen today and Aspen is the culmination of a lot of work and ‘what if’s.’  I’m very proud of my team because they’ve worked very hard.  More importantly they’re proud of themselves.  In a very real way, Aspen is their dream, their vision, their sweat and it is, 100%, their creativity.

First off, since this is outside of the walls of Pictage let me kill a bunch of rumors.

1. Pictage does not charge photographers per image.  We charge per page just like everyone else.
2. New Sequoia and Aspen Albums do not warp.  They can’t.  In reinventing this line we searched high and low for the highest quality materials.  We’ve tested them in ways you couldn’t imagine.  They come with a 100% no-warp guarantee.
3. New Sequoia and Aspen Albums are not expensive.  In fact, Sequoia 2s are among the lowest priced, highest quality albums you can buy.  (this leaves room for you to make money).
4. You do not have to use Pictage Album Design.  Obviously you can if you like but we built the easiest album ordering tools available for folks who want to make their own designs their own ways.  (Seriously - like 3 clicks).
5. Pictage does not take commission on wholesale albums. We don’t take commission on any wholesale sale.  
6. Once you add in the subscription, etc it’s the same price as everyone else.  Not likely.  You have to see the prices of these books to believe that.

Ok.  Enough of that.  I sat down with my team last year and asked them what they would do if they could go ahead and do anything.  They scratched their heads and thought about it (for the uninitiated, head scratching is a metaphor) and they came back and said they wanted to build exceptional products and sell them for low prices.  It would seem like you couldn’t do that.  We can.  The reason that we can is because we don’t spend lots of money marketing.  We already serve 10,000 photographers.  Their subscription subsidizes our product development efforts.  We can (and do) pass that savings right back to our clients.

Since then we’ve been on the product development express.  The Gallery Series was launched last August, featuring innovative print treatments like Acrylic and Bamboo prints, framed fine art prints, etc. Earlier this year we released Sequoia 2.  A simple, well made album for price conscious customers and today we’re releasing Aspen, an entirely new line of handcrafted books made with the best materials available but priced in a category that allows our photographers to make real money reselling these products.

Aspen albums are made right here in Los Angeles.  We’re excited about the product line we’re releasing, with new Leather, Acrylic and Silk cover options and lots of fun new colors and combinations.  We’re more excited that this is just a beginning.  We have plans for many new options including photographer-branded packaging, mat/flush hybrids, high relief cover leathers, all ‘green’ books, fine art books, etc.  All of these options are being put together to allow our photographers to create a book that is unique to their studio and their preferences and 100% branded to them.  None of our books carry any Pictage branding at all.  (Frankly, I can’t understand why anyone would ever sell an album by its brand.  Very few consumers will ever have heard of them and something that is branded to your studio can only be acquired from you.) 

When I say “we,” I really mean “they.”  For our team here this is probably the most exciting new product release in years.  This team is justifiably proud of the work they’ve done and they are excited about creating these books.  (I think they’re also excited about ordering them with their employee discounts - but I love that too!) Aspen is a real example of what happens when management gets out of the way and lets the smart people do what they think is right.  Congrat’s y’all.  Great job!

(and remember... what’s next is what’s important).

Grumbling is Good. (Even when we don't want to think so!)

Grumbling is Good.

“If you are grumbling then you aren’t a part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”  “Don’t listen to people who grumble, they just tear you down.”  “All that guy ever does is grumble, I’ve gotten so I don’t even listen to him anymore.”  “She used to be really involved and now all she does is grumble.”

The hardest thing for any organization to do is listen to criticism.  In this day and age criticism is rarely offered in a straight forward, “you need to improve this,” statement.  Most often it is in the form of an email complaint, a social media comment (or conversation) or a third hand conversation.  However, successful organizations know that listening to the “grumbling” undercurrent is one of the most important elements of driving positive change.

Leaders often make the mistake of telling their constituents not to grumble.  After all, grumbling often focuses on the leaders.  It questions their skills, talents, motivations and efforts.  It’s insulting!  I’ve always found this kind of funny.  It doesn’t stop the folks from grumbling, they just stop grumbling in a way that you can hear.  (and when this happens you lose the positive input you might actually be getting from those who grumble).

There are two forms of grumbling.  Grumbling from people who just generally grumble and grumbling from people who genuinely care.  Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.  I don’t try.  Here’s my recipe for handling grumbling.  I’ve had a lot of practice so if you’re in a position where you are “hearing it” this might help.

1. Listen to the message, not the tone.  It takes a mature soul to be able to see or hear a perceived insult and not take it personally.  I try to determine the origin of the complaint and decide if it is worthy, if it is something I’m already doing something about and if it merits a response.
   
   
2. People are going to complain.  Make sure they complain to you.  You’d be amazed how often a ‘grumbler’ can become a stalwart defender of your character, most often because you took the time to listen to what they have to say and respond in a way that honors their opinion.
   
   
3. Don’t respond when you’re mad.  I’ve probably written a thousand emails that I never sent.  I have a simple rule.  If I’m mad I don’t press send.  I make sure that I don’t by leaving the “to” field blank.  I save it as a draft and come back to it the next day.  Sometimes I send them and sometimes I don’t.
   
   
4. Teach your people to listen, too.  The single most destructive thing a leader can do is tell the leaders in an organization that they should not listen to criticism, whatever its form.  No one person will ever be smarter than the collective view.  Good ideas nearly always come from criticism.  This doesn’t mean you always have to do what a critic says.  In fact, the opposite is almost always true, but the problem with not listening is that you turn off the information inputs and that will ultimately kill an organization because the people who contribute will stop caring.

Ultimately, someone who grumbles compliments you.  It can be hard to see this when you’re in the line of fire.  (Again, trust me on this, I know this well).  Here’s the thing.  If they care enough to grumble it means they care.  If they stop grumbling it means they’ve written you off.  You may not care when things are good, but if you maintain that perspective for long enough you will regret the things you didn’t change.

How Do You Refill Your Tanks?

Will Jacks corrected me every time I called it a conference. He corrected me again when I called it a workshop. Rebirth is neither. What is it? I actually don't know that I can really define it even after having been there. It's sort of a retreat, but with projects.

Rebirth is a different experience for everyone who attends. There were folks who were there this year who were there last year. I can see why. I, too, want to go back.

I made it clear that I wasn't coming either as a photographer participant or as Jim Collins, CEO of Pictage. I was just coming as Will Jacks and Chris Williams and Sarah Hodzic and Jess DelVecchio and Chris Pike's friend. I also had to admit to myself that I needed a break. We've been going 10,000 miles an hour around Pictage for about the last 7 months and my creative energy was getting really low.

There was nothing convenient about going to Rebirth. I'd been in Massachusetts for 10 days, flew home on a Monday, spent the night on Monday and flew to Memphis first thing Tuesday morning to drive 1.5 hours to Clarksdale. On Hwy 61 between Memphis and Clarksdale I drove through near biblical rain. I loved it. It was like a curtain that separated the baggage I'd brought from the experience I was there to absorb. What came next was what was important.

For me visiting Mississippi is always somewhat mystical. My Dad grew up on the coast just outside of Biloxi, 'dirt poor' (his term), and the son of an english teacher and a writer. I visited Mississippi when I was in high school and got my first real introduction to the deep south in a little town called Mendenhall. It is somehow appropriate for me that this is the place to go back to.

Will, Chris, Sarah, Jess, Chris Pike, Thom Bennet, Euphus (Butch) Ruth were this year's teachers. But in real ways everyone there learns from everyone else (present company perhaps accepted). While I was there I was reminded that it is in the doing of new and different things and sometimes in the act of being quiet that our mind has a chance to soar.

The Best Photo Conference... The One YOU create.

Every presentation isn’t perfect. The presenters aren’t always cute or funny (at least not intentionally). Sometimes their delivery is downright boring. And these are all of the best reasons to be at conferences like Inspire Photo in Boston. I know what you’re thinking ... Huh? Here’s what I mean...

The speakers at Inspire_Photo weren’t there because this was another stop on the tour. Few of them ever do workshops and almost none have ever traveled to teach. Every single one is a working, professional photographer with a successful studio. They may not have been polished, but every presentation was chalk full of very practical advice. Note pages were filled. The time went too fast.

As great as the teaching was it wasn’t the only reason to attend the conference. The reason to attend was the breakfasts and lunches and dinners and after dinners. The karaoke and the dancing (mostly very bad!) and the laughter and most importantly, the connection. These are the reasons to attend Inspire. (well - maybe not the Karaoke ...)

Inspire is different. It is a conference put on by photographers for photographers. While Pictage is a financial sponsor, along with Adorama, Shoot dot Edit, and a number of others, we have little voice in the organization and no voice in who speaks and on what subjects, let alone what they say. Frankly, I think that’s how it should be. It’s one of the reasons I love this conference.

I wish there were more Inspires. To me, this is the conference format that works. Regional conferences put on by photographers in that region to teach and discuss topics that are important within that region. Thanks so much to all of the great folks who did the hard work to make it happen.

No More Anonymous

On my last blog post there was an anonymous comment. It was the only comment that mentioned a workshop by name. I find that interesting. I'm not going to allow anonymous comments anymore because I think the unwillingness to tell someone you think their workshop didn't work is a big part of the problem. There is the distinct possibility, however farfetched you might think, that they don't know. Hearing it might help them get better.

There is also this. The same experience may work great for one person and not work at all for another. I think it's interesting that the first person may become a dedicated evangelist for that experience and the second a vitriolic rock thrower. Frankly I don't think either extreme is all that healthy. It's a little like the Canon vs. Nikon discussion. One works for one and one works for another. Live and let live.

There is a respectfulness and conviviality in truthful discourse that makes us all better. In the end I guess that's what I'd love to see. If something works say so. If it doesn't work say so. Say it like this -"Yes, that experience didn't work for me because I didn't think the examples were applicable to my business." Don't say it like this, "So and so and so and so suck."

You'd think I wouldn't have to write this... Right? I probably don't. Now you can say I suck! Ha! But it's something to think about on a rainy Saturday morning with my dog on my feet.