Re: They're just not that into you....

John,

Looks like some people disagree with you and that was probably to be expected, huh? ;o)

But I agree with you, in principle, and I also think the key to what you were saying was in the words "If your best idea is to dig out that LA411 book and start cold calling, you need better ideas."

We are CREATIVES, are we not?

There's little creative in picking up the phone and running A-to-Z in desperation.

People can smell desperation, (it is sort of like perspiration with some added despondency, and spelled a bit differently).

While I would agree with you that for those with a financial cushion to rest on, going to school is nice, learning new tricks, or donating time for a project for a favorite charity, is a great way to kill time -- me, I'd like to zero in on your point, John.

These are times to sharpen your ability to pitch.

I once knew an old salesman who told me that only one-in-ten sales calls benefit from knowing everything there is about the product or service you are selling. The other nine? Well, he said that "...they are about as pretty as a salesman waiting in his car in a parking lot outside a department store outside a mall and then jumping out when he sees a woman leaving the store, walking up to them and asking, 'You wouldn't want to buy something from me, would you?'"

His point?

Eventually, with even a pitch as pathetic as that, someone is going to say yes. It's a numbers game.

BUT...

Number games will wear you out if there is too much distance between the first pitch and the first yes.

Creative people need to get creative -- which is, I believe, your real point, John -- and I couldn't agree more.

I can remember when Kathlyn and I were so broke and so desperate that we couldn't land a job for the life of us, because we were in one of the past recessionary cycles and money was not to be had -- at least not easily.

What did we do?

We thought up an idea for the local zoo in the next town over. We would create a zoo guide, built entirely around the animals in that particular zoo. It would be filled with pictures, stories, crossword puzzles for kids, and other word and quizzes built around the guide's animals.

We would sell ads to the local merchants and financial institutions in our area who would support it, and we would donate all the guides to the local zoo and the local schools, etc.

Our zoo guide would stimulate interest in the local zoo and would give teachers a way to plan field-trips to it, and discuss the animals in advance, give the kids a guidebook they could take with them on their trip, and local residents and tourists that visited the zoo would receive one during their visit.

There among all the pages would be the ads showcasing the businesses that helped make this free service available to everyone.

I went in and pitched the idea to the City Manager under whose ultimate authority the zoo operated. I got him to write me an official letter stating that the City of Atascadero was behind the project -- which he only did because we had already created the mock-up of the zoo guide and he could see it with his own eyes -- and so when I went out pitching businesses to participate, the first thing I showed them in my flip-book, was his letter.

This is just one example of using your mind to be creative instead of being like the old salesman waiting in the parking lot.

Sure, it eventually works -- sometimes.

But who would you rather be seen as?

"I hate the smell of desperation in the morning"
-- Robert Dooval, in the film Apocalypse Business.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
- Antoine de Saint Exupéry