Sometimes a side project is exactly what you need to feel creative again.
Because, let’s face it, inside of our everyday roles (both professionally and personally), things get stale.
I read an interesting article on firstround.com recently, where Spotify’s Tobias van Schneider was quoted as saying, “Side projects are great because you don’t need to know anything. You get to be a beginner because no one is watching you and there are no expectations. If you don’t have an idea, don’t stress about it, just go do something else. It’s this attitude that it doesn’t matter that allows us to be inspired and to work on only the things we truly want to work on.”
He’s spot-on (pardon the pun), because there’s nothing more liberating than finding time to work on something that you’re into, but doesn’t REALLY matter.
To this day, my interest in and borderline obsession with certain types of music and performers has always been enhanced by the unique, arresting, and irresistible works of art that graced the covers of their LPs. I wanted to find a way to feed this passion, and challenge myself to do it with some constraints (so that I’d actually do it).
Since my personal time is generally limited to what I can get done on my mobile device (I have three kids under the age of 5 who boss all other in-house tech already), I figured that was best tool for doing something interesting and creative – and for myself first.
My other outlet – the most scalable thing most mere mortals can get their hands on – was of course social media. Thus, my mobile-social challenge was born. I created a simple persona called Album Art Daily on Instagram and Twitter – each day (at least once, but generally more) – I jog my musical memory and curate a piece of album art that impresses me and share it with anyone interested in checking it out. All on my iPhone. Some insight about the band or the artist. A few simple hash tags. A few themes here and there. That’s all.
This little side project has already energized me to embrace simplicity in my role as a Consultant at Trellist Marketing and Technology. And it’s inspired me to think of the next small, insignificant and totally enjoyable thing I’d like to tackle.
What side projects are you working on?
Neil Dougherty 
Dear Brands, Please Don’t Tell Me to Hurry Up
12 JunPhoto by Frans Van Heerden on Pexels.com
Not a week goes by that I don’t get at least five emails (from retail brands I generally respect) landing in my inbox with the phrase “Hurry Up!” in the subject line.
Now, I could do a little better at managing unsubscribes to avoid this annoyance altogether.
But as a digital and social marketer across a number of industries, I realize that email marketing is a critical component of any brand’s media mix. It still reigns supreme as the preferred channel for permission-based promotional messages. Which is why I keep an eye on promotional emails for trends in both form and function.
Still, while subject line scientists will point to urgency as one of the keys to a successful email, I don’t need to be told to “Hurry Up!” so bluntly in my inbox. It’s okay to say, “There’s still time,” or some similar and predictable construction. That I can live with. (Or just tell me what percentage off I can get this week.) But there’s always been something grating and inconsiderate about the phrase “Hurry Up!”
As many professionals struggle to slow life down and stay in the present, the last thing anyone needs is a brand demanding we go faster, faster, faster. Sure, we may have conceded the personal nature of the inbox years ago, but we don’t need to get bullied by a brand in it.
So sorry. You won’t be upping your open rate if I have anything to do with it.
Consider a piece on Inc. I recently stumbled across, penned by Minda Zetlin. She lists and recalls a number of TED Talks about taking time off or slowing down your pace, and one in particular where journalist Carl Honore admits he was reading way too fast to his son at bedtime in order to get to something else on his list.
It was a wake-up call for him. And when I read it I thought to myself, “Crap! I’ve been doing the same exact thing. Curious George might not be very good at exercising patience, but he’s never had to move along quite this fast either.”
As the influence of technology and choice compels us to go faster at nearly everything we do, slowing down becomes a battle – and most of the time we’re losing the battle.
Undoubtedly retail brands are facing stiff competition and disruption in every category, making the immediate sale very important. They’re not always in a position to tell their story over time and nurture the customer relationship, for fear they’ll lose the relationship as quickly as they gained it. In a way, their own first-time shopper discounting and free shipping strategies may become their double-edged sword. So they deliver messages relentlessly. And they demand of us.
Here’s hoping the smart ones will ditch the “Hurry Up!” reference in their subject lines and elsewhere.
Note: This blog entry previously appeared on my LinkedIn profile. But I thought I’d share it here on neildougherty.com too!
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