Are you a spammer?

Posted by Luke Pinneo on

Nothing wrecks a good brand like a stream of unstoppable spam.

So make it easy for your customers to unsubscribe to your email promos. After all, by the time they’re looking for the opt-out button, you’ve already lost them. Let them go peacefully.

They won’t be pleased if to do so, they have to log in, or remember the forgotten password you made them create in the first place, or have to click through and search around your website to find the unsubscribe page.

Just make it easy for them – and let them go.

If they like you, they’ll come back.

If you annoy them in the process, they probably won’t.

Most ironically overlooked tax deduction

Posted by Luke Pinneo on

Many people forget that getting professional help to figure out their taxes is actually a tax deduction itself.

If you paid someone to do your taxes last year, don’t forget to claim those costs this year.

Whether H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, a public accountant or any other certified service, all are deductible.

This includes the cost of any DIY tax software purchased last year.

Happy filing. [insert smirk here]

At the crossroads of greatness

Posted by Luke Pinneo on

Steve Jobs (credit Matt Yohe)

I’m half way through Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. It’s quite remarkable, as Jobs himself was.

In the introduction, there’s a superb excerpt that speaks of men like Jobs who can stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences – great men who according to Isaacson will carve the new economy of the 21st century. This is an incredible point that the author, who also penned Einstein’s and Franklin’s bios, makes about Jobs. And that’s the difference between the average and extraordinary.

For example, what did Steve Jobs, Henry Ford and Walt Disney all have in common?

All of them led. They all managed. They all directed.

But above all, they influenced.

That’s the key.

They each had technical aptitude – but moreover they knew how to influence other human beings.

Hell, Disney couldn’t even draw Mickey Mouse. He had to have one of his animators teach him to draw a quick Mickey sketch that he could produce while on tour. And Jobs didn’t have half (maybe even a quarter) of the electronics engineering of Steve Wozniak or other great engineers at Apple. But neither did Woz nor Disney’s animators have the charisma and savvy that Jobs and Walt did that allowed them to change the world.

At the crossroads of humanities and science, most men choose one path. But great men travel both.

Groundhog’s Day: Not the usual routine

Posted by Luke Pinneo on

Tomorrow is Groundhog’s Day. And as the holiday hangover that is February sets in, do you find yourself caught up in a day-in, day-out routine? I love Groundhog’s Day. Not for all the hoopla and silly weather predictions, but because each year for me, it’s an opportunity to try something different. To do something new. Walk a new route to work. Brush my teeth with my left hand. Listen to an unusual genre of music – anything new. Variety is the spice of life, my friends. Happy Groundhog’s Day. Whatever the weather, may it bring fresh perspective to you all.

Break the norm: Make form follow function

Posted by Luke Pinneo on

When I saw this short video, I was struck by what separates it from the online surplus of mundane videos.

Here in “Signal To Noise,” the form, or technique, is relevant to the subject, or the function. It’s not just technique for the sake of technique. Everything – the music, the overlays – they all work together to convey the sentiment of the subject.

Signal To Noise from Douglas Koke on Vimeo.

We don’t see that too often in the ever-expanding online landscape of independently produced videos. Usually all the elements are present, but they don’t tie together to tell a cohesive story. I like that they do here, and I always hope to see more pieces in which they do.

Technique is used best when it becomes part of the narrative. Form is best when it supports the function. Otherwise, it is just flashy visually tricks that are void of meaning and bereft of a story.

But not here. Here, the message is clear that Douglas Koke, the maker of “Signal To Noise,” gets it.

Don’t be late! Make punctuality your personal brand

Posted by Luke Pinneo on

Anyone doing business in America will eventually encounter the same disappointing truth: More times than not – and increasingly so – we are not a punctual society.

A few minutes late here, running behind there, gridlocked traffic, delayed trains. There’s always an excuse. Whether a meeting, a luncheon, a ceremony or conference call, it’s expected that someone, if not everyone, will be late.

This is generally tolerated here in American business, and many people (I’ve heard this line many times) have simply come to accept that punctuality is pointless.

But it is not.

In fact punctuality can be the edge that sets one top professional apart from the rest. While most people do not have a razor sharp standard of punctuality, they still appreciate and admire it in others.

It conveys the sense that this person is in control. It’s easy to blame the metro or the toll road, but in doing so, we inadvertently admit that we are the victims of circumstance. But, if despite these common setbacks, we still arrive on time as promised, that sends a strong message to others.

Punctuality is a skill. And like any other, it takes commitment and practice. Everyone can learn to adjust their routine to ensure they arrive slightly early or right on time. And what better than to be the professional with the reputation of consistently walking in just before or right on the minute. To others this says, “I value time, both mine and yours – so let’s get’s started.”

At your next meeting, make it a strong point to arrive on time. And bring something important to read, because you may be the only one there. But as the others frantically arrive, shaking off coats and making up excuses, you’ll be relaxed and ready for business.

10 common writing mistakes (and what to do about them)

Posted by Luke Pinneo on

Over the years of editing many drafts, I’ve complied a list of repeat offenders as far as writing goes. In no particular order, here are the top ten mistakes I see writers make, and how to fix them.

1. Technical is not better.
Write conversationally. Where ever possible, use small, simple and common words, not clumsy ones. Examples: use instead of utilize, during instead of in conjunction with, because instead of due to.

2. Adverbs = failure.
An adverb is a sign that you failed to find the right verb. Don’t say, “he quickly ran.” Instead, say, “he darted.” (Read the sports section of the New York Times for great examples of this.)

3. Adjectives = failure.
Same thing with adjectives and nouns. Don’t say, “it was a heavy rain.” Instead say, “it was a torrent.”

4. Find “that” and kill it.
When you edit, take out “that” whenever and wherever you can. Look closely. Nine times out of ten, “that” can go away.

5. Show, don’t tell.
Don’t simply tell the reader that “Mr. Jones is a really caring and nice man.” Instead, show the reader that Mr. Jones is a good man by writing, “Mr. Jones took the elderly lady by the hand and with an ear-to-ear smile, he led her across the street.”

6. Be active!
Use active language, not passive. Instead of saying, “he had been trying,” simply say, “he tried.”

7. Speak up!
When you’re done with your first draft, read it out loud. Does it make sense? Are parts of it wordy? Is it clumsy or does it flow? You’ll be amazed at what you discover by simply reading your draft out loud.

8. Words are like money.
Think economically: Why spend $50 on something that we could get for $25? It’s the same with words. Why use 50 words to say something that after a good edit could be said with 25?

9. The first cut is the deepest.
Edit, edit, and then edit again. Like a sculptor, an accomplished writer knows that his or her piece is made best by what is taken away, not added. Edit and refine your draft. Cut the fat, and get to the “core.”

10. Just write.
Steven Pressfield said there’s a secret to writing, which professionals know but amateurs don’t. The secret is just showing up. Writer’s block is a myth. It’s a psychological excuse for not sitting down and muscling through a first draft. Just sit down, start writing and don’t stop until you have all the thoughts down on paper (or the screen) Then edit it back to a clean draft.

The Photography Industry: Rethink or sink

Posted by Luke Pinneo on

Photographers today are faced with a rising tide that is eroding their businesses. Worse than this force though is their reaction to it.

Several times a week, I read Facebook posts or online articles from fellow photogs ranting about an editor or art director who asked them to use their photo for free, with a mere “credit line” or “exposure” as worthy compensation.

It’s easy to understand why this is frustrating.

In days gone by, it wasn’t uncommon for a photographer to earn tens of thousand of dollars over the life of a single image by licensing it to many buyers with many applications. Apply that to a steady stock of individual images over a career, and you’re talking about a valid income.

But increasingly this cash cow is being slaughtered at the hands of stingy editors, so say many photographers.

Yet the problem is not so much the editors, art directors, etc., as it is the growing number of amateur, albeit talented shooters that give editors copious reasons to expect to pay little or nothing for photography. The thing is, as soon as a photographer (rightly so, I should say) tells the editor, “no – you can’t have my work for free,” the editor will go somewhere else online and find a comparable image that is free. And who loses?  If I’m a editor, also faced with a shrinking magazine industry, it makes perfect economic sense to me to find and use free images.

If you were hungry for beef and one restaurant offered filet mignon for $30 but another joint just down the road offered a nice flank steak for free, where would you go?

Of course, many people do recognize supreme quality and are willing to pay for it. But I would argue that most people, editors and dinners alike, would opt for a good deal.

Certainly, I’m not condoning the rapid erosion of our photography industry and the ensuing extraction of revenue from it, but we have to see it for what it is.

This same thing happened to painters in the 19th century when, of all people, photographers began sweeping their commissions out from under them. No more was painting the desired commercial medium. Much like the demise of typesetters in the dawn of the digital age.

“Type-who?”

The truth is – and we have to come to terms with this – the tide has turned and we are not going to change buyer behavior.

We’re better off – much better off – spending our energy adjusting our business models to fit this new paradigm. Just because the old model is dying on the vine doesn’t mean the artisan must perish with it.

And really, this is happening across all of industry, not just photography.

Because industry continues to change vastly, we too have to think vastly different about our economic models.

We need to create entirely new models to replace the aging ones. Simply put, we need to innovate – and we need to start today.

Rather than being swept away by the changing tide, we can instead learn to read  it – and ride it.

If content is king, ideas are the keys to the kingdom

Posted by Luke Pinneo on

Five days ago on YouTube, the Canadian indie band “Walk off the Earth” posted a video of themselves performing a song in what looks like a small living room. It’s not flashy. It’s not funny. There’s no shock factor. And the set and lighting are lackluster.

But at the time of this writing, just five days later, it had gone wildly viral with a whopping 9,112,637 views.

Why?

Well for one, it happens to be a wonderfully euphonic and catchy tune. For that reason alone I’ve already listened to it five times today.

But this video, unlike the mundane bulk of online content, isn’t just a video of people playing a great song. Instead, it represents an idea.

Not only is each band member blessed with rich talented and a superb voice, but as the video attests, they are brilliant thinkers as well.

Five people, one guitar. Who does that? Someone who wants to go viral, that’s who.

Brilliant marketing.

This will get shared and shared and shared again. Millions of people will know their name. It’s this kind of brilliance – this kind of idea mingled with talent – that transcends average content and is heard above the static.