I read his book, Uncertainty, Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance. And for those that know me, I NEEDED it. I can’t say it changed my life. I’ve personally understood what he wrote in the book for 20 years, but it revealed a path on which I could take the first step. Read it today, I highly encourage it…
So, this morning, as I traveled on that path with meetings for a new venture, creating an outline for new campaigns, dreaming of the future and my plans for personal growth and “World Domination,” I looked through my email and was shown just another hint of the brilliance that Jonathan Fields was willing to share with us. It was a notification from Slideshare that Jonathan had posted a new slide deck.
Big deal, right? I get that notification as people I follow in SlideShare post new decks and videos daily. But this one stood out. It simply showed Jonathan Field’s portrait and the title “Annual Report 2011: Serve | Aspire | Transcend”
I had to click.
What I saw was inspiring. What I read was engaging. What I felt was motivated to make 2012 the start of MY future to Serve, Aspire and Transcend. I had my start with his book, but Jonathan’s slide deck (a look back for him), which I humbly share here, has become the blueprint for TheBrandChef (Andrew B. Clark) and how I choose to move through my life moving forward.
OOOOOOH are things heating up the TheBrandChef’s kitchen this morning? Thanks Jonathan Fields (@jonathanfields) for the permission to dream and act on my dreams.
I have to give it to the spammers out there. They are starting to get a little more clever. I receive BUCKETS of spam every day. Everything from “Male Enhancement” solutions to “The BEST BUSINESS INVESTMENT SOLUTION IN THE WORLD.” sure… don’t we all
Lately, though, I’ve been receiving an email from someone that has actually done a little homework. Or at least they “seem” to have done their homework… Check out the email below:
Immediately, the subject line, “Are you a chef?” caught my eye. Thinking to myself, “Hey, I call myself ‘The Brand Chef,’ so maybe they have some relevance to me. Maybe I should read on.”
Then, I get into the body of the email and it says they may have “job leads for chefs.” Of course, this is where I start thinking to myself, “But I don’t need a job as a chef; I want marketing communications leads.”
But wait… They said “after checking out {my} website…” Well, that gives me hope that they truly know who I am and what I need… so I read on. Only to be disappointed.
Now, let’s see what they might have done wrong…
First off, they didn’t actually address it to me… I would have accepted “Andrew, Mr. Clark, Chef Clark” or anything that might have signaled that they actually KNEW who they were talking to. That information is easy to find, even for spam bots. OH, and let’s not forget the fact that I’M NOT AN ACTUAL CHEF! I only play one on the interwebs…
So, Why Not Delete The SPAM And Go On With Life?
The real reason I write this is that YES, spammers are getting more sophisticated. Instead of blasting emails to anyone and everyone, they have research and demographic focus and they’re starting (scratching the surface) to use it quite well.
I post this because I actually had a client that received the SAME email (of course addressed to THEIR online brand), and they forwarded it on to me asking if they should respond because, “it sounds like a pretty legit offer…”
Sorry, client. By clicking through and even looking at their site, the spammers won. It may have been a very small victory, but they received a “click-through;” a measurable sign that what they are doing is working.
Sure there is the obvious spam that you just delete before finishing the subject line, but as I mentioned above, they’re getting pretty clever.
So, my warning to my client (and to all of you) : “Please read thoroughly, ALL emails that come across your monitor, phone, whatever, for signs that it’s spam BEFORE you click through to their site – or to some executable virus or worse…”
Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef*
*DISCLAIMER:
Although he LOVES to cook, Andrew B. Clark can in no way legally or otherwise officially consider himself a chef of the culinary arts. This name is for personal branding purposes only and by no means is intended to imply or misdirect people or persons into believing otherwise. Now, Andrew DOES cook and does so quite well (so his family tells him) so if you ARE looking for a “Culinary Chef” he may be able to “Pose” as one. But please do not assume that glazing salmon or tenderizing a chicken breast makes him “Chef-Worthy.”
So this post is a sort of an extension to my last post about “Flipping” your Blog.
From what I can tell, video,as with web development and content management systems, has hit a consumer marketing pace that is going to change the way we (you and I and the whole marketing communications world) will communicate in the VERY near future. While writing and posting blogs and articles will be of continued value for content and SEO, I think the video enterprise of social media is going to make short work of the roadblocks facing the “non-writers” out there.
Also think of the affect video communications has on:
Instant gratification
Personal relationships
Eye contact when speaking
Professional credibility
Brand engagement
On the other hand, production, encoding, storage space and other factors will still come into play when using video over the written word.
So, what do we do? Continue to write post after post about our key subject or flip a camera on and tag the heck out of a few videos for virtually the same results.
What say you?
So on that point, I’d like to offer today’s Get-Going Groove of the Day below. I look forward to hearing (or seeing more) from you all!
Keep Cooking (great, visual engagement)!
The Brand Chef
Andrew B. Clark
As CreateWOW embarked on decorating our new office space, I sent out a tweet asking if someone new of a product or a solution to make an entire wall an erasable white board. I did get some answers, but none that I would have been comfortable with. Some required a VERY EXPENSIVE paint. Others suggested large sheets of melonite that I’d have to secure to the walls (landlord frowned on that idea). So, eventually, I gave up on the idea.
It was hard at first, because I am such a visual person, I use an easel and HUGE note pads just to flesh out illustration ideas. Imagine the space it takes to really flesh out a social media marketing campaign!
Well, yesterday, during a client planning session, I realized what my brain had been telling me for a few months now. The dry erase wall is a good idea.
A Plan Is Worth 1,000 Words:
a plan is worth 1,000 words
In a matter of minutes, the clients and I flew through sheet after sheet of pad paper and pasted them to the wall. The conversation was flowing so quickly that just keeping up with the ideas was a challenge. After we’d “Dumped” our wish list on the papers, we then, rearranged the pages and put the plan in systematic, chronological order.
PERFECT.
The clients left assured that the directives they assigned us were understood and the plan to achieve their goals was in place. Smiles. Handshakes. Pats on the back. It all seemed so simple, but without the plan up on the wall, it was just words.
Try this approach next time you’re in a planning or strategy session with your clients or coworkers. It’s a little overwhelming for the “Non-visual” people in the room, but I guarantee when they see the path ahead of them, they’ll take the next step with you without asking another question.
Well, I found one. In an article I read a few months ago, Kohi Vinh brought to the foreground the alarmingly BAD illustration and exposure artists are getting online. While I could have written a post agreeing with his post… I wanted to do one better.
Below is a narrative of the post – Kohi’s article driven down to its core – an automated, web-static dramatization of what’s wrong with online illustration (or the lack thereof).
Video… Feed readers may need to click through to the post to view the video properly.
I know a lot of my readers are artists, or used to be and now find themselves in “The Digital Wonderland.” What say you? Is this digital age making it harder for Illustrators and artists of all kinds to make a living at their chosen trade, or are we just a bunch of crybabies?
I read his book, Uncertainty, Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance. And for those that know me, I NEEDED it. I can’t say it changed my life. I’ve personally understood what he wrote in the book for 20 years, but it revealed a path on which I could take the first step. Read it today, I highly encourage it… 
