spreading ideas
846 posts
Don’t Just Tell Me What It’s Made Of
Jo is an amazing designer. She creates hand made scarves, from locally woven fabrics which she designs herself. Her website tells part of the story. Jo writes about the materials used, the time it takes to create the design, source just the right fabric dyes and weave the most exquisite scarves you
20 Posts From Seth Godin You Probably Missed
Seth Godin’s writing and work continues to inspire marketers and brand storytellers, after more than a decade. I’ve done a deep search through the archives of his blog and uncovered some gems, that you may have missed (some haven’t even been retweeted). Bookmark and enjoy! Seth Godin on the Internet
Being Successful Isn’t About What You Do
Why is it that we’ve all got heroes that many of us haven’t ever met? If heroes are just ordinary people who do something extraordinary, how can they be so ubiquitous and uncommon all at once? I think this video goes part of the way to answering that question. That was you when you were…
Not Every Heroine Gets To Choose Her Story
Today, more than 600 million girls live in the developing world. Only a handful get to choose their own story. This year 14 million girls aged 15 to 19 will become mothers, not by choice, or by design, but because poverty and lack of education makes it their destiny. Imagine having little or no cont
Artists Don’t Market
Kate is a gifted designer, a true artist. She spends hours foraging through discarded treasures finding just the right fabrics, that others would hardly notice. She lovingly puts them together in her studio, late into the night and creates one beautiful cushion. This cushion is unique, there isn’t a
u2 Don’t Sing To Everyone
Back in the 80’s when U2 were starting out they knew they were singing for me, and the 520 other girls at my school. It didn’t matter that they wrote songs that didn’t resonate with my mother. They knew that we drew their album graphics with a Bic Biro on our canvas school bags and…
5 Of The Best Brand Stories On The Planet
Yes I know, yet another one of those articles that tells you how to win in business by telling a better brand story, *sigh*. When all you really want to know is how to get lots of people to notice your great idea and then how to make shed loads of money from it. I’m…
The Business Plan For The Social Web
The business plan for the social web is….. that you just never know ~ Mark Schaefer I’ve been talking a lot lately about having the courage to bring more of yourself into your work, bio, about pages and your online presence. I’m not talking about the traditional perception that many people have of ‘
The Power of One
When you’re a big ideas person you have lots of things you want to communicate about your business vision and your brand. I know I’ve been there, done it and got the t-shirt. In your rush to get all the juicy, good stuff crammed into your pitch you wind up confusing people. Paring your business…
Seth Godin On Being An Entrepreneur, Telling Stories And Making Ideas Matter
It’s not every day you get to speak with one of your heroes. I had the opportunity to do just that when I talked to Seth Godin recently. Seth and his work need no introduction and I hope you get to take something away from the conversation we had about being an entrepreneur, telling stories…
Increase The Value Of Your Products And Services For Free
I discovered the most beautiful tea last week. A green tea infused with cherry blossom. I experienced it by accident and would have walked past it on the supermarket shelf. The reason I later paid over $10 for a packet of tea has everything to do with my worldview. The tea was a souvenir of…
Joining The Dots Works But It’s Not Art
Or…. why I dislike writing ‘how to’ blog posts. Do you remember as a child, when you realised that your stick men and two dimensional cats weren’t actually a true representation of the real thing? Maybe like me you tried using those join the dots books? The first time you produced a drawing by follo
You Don’t Have A Marketing Problem
There’s something you’ve convinced yourself of that just simply isn’t true. Like many people I work with, you are working incredibly hard to produce beautiful, life changing products and services, that are not getting the attention they deserve and you can’t understand why your message isn’t reachin
There’s Something You’re Forgetting To Tell Us
It’s time for me to get really honest with you and let you know that there’s a reason why people are not crossing the street or the Inter-webs to buy from you, and it has nothing to do with how good your idea is. People might be noticing you left and right, but you’re not…
Take Off Your Little Black Dress
Maybe you look amazing in a little black dress with no help from anyone. Very few people can pull it off without at least a leg wax, high heels and an airbrush tan. Think about why you wear that dress in the first place. Is it to make you feel good about yourself? Possibly…..or is…
The Secret To Building Ideas That Fly
Every single successful idea is born from tapping into just one thing. It’s the secret to the success of entrepreneurs the world over, from Derek Sivers to Richard Branson, Seth Godin to Jack Canfield. You know what it is, but sometimes you get so caught up in creating momentum around your idea, tha
20 Things You Need To Do More Than Google Plus
Any occurrence requiring undivided attention will be accompanied by a compelling distraction ~ Robert Bloch There is a shiny new toy in the social networking sand box and you can’t wait to get stuck into it. It’s only natural to want a piece of the action, to see what the 10 million early adopters o
What’s Stopping You Making Your Idea Matter?
The most brilliant idea, with no execution, is worth $20 ~ Derek Sivers You’ve got lots of great ideas and more than a few stuffed Moleskines to prove it! An idea, even the most fantastic one, only begins to matter when you can take it from scribbles in your notebook to implementation. So what’s sto
People Want What They Never Asked For
Everybody’s obsessed with finding a niche when what they should be doing is expressing a worldview. ~ Amy Hoy Have you ever been to a chocolate cafe? There’s a new one in town and we went to see what all the fuss is about. I’m not talking about a big franchise operation here— I’m talking…
Evolving
“Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?” Marianne Williamson Heather Spriggs is an artist. She’s a gifted designer and visionary stylist, with a fine arts degree. Heather is a one off, an original. When I first started working with Heather she had be
