all care no responsibility

Advertising Standards - funny already, right?

Reading the paper on the plane, which let’s face it, is what newspapers are now - the media of choice for people underground or up in the air away from a mobile or wi-fi signal - anyway, there was an ad for the Advertising Standards Association. I noticed it because, ironically, it wasn’t very good, but it did explain rather earnestly that the ASA is all about “keeping standards high”. Twenty one years in the business and these guys pop up on my radar for the first time. So what’s that about?

Is it that media space is now so cheap that the ASA were able to slip an ad in at mates rates? Is it to reassure everyone that advertising has an honour code around self-regulated standards - trust us, we’re doctors? It seems like the tail is trying strenuously to wag the dog. There are standards in advertising and they’re set and sanctioned by consumers, err… audiences, err.. users. Real people are out there giving the thumbs up or down to advertising all day, every day. Much of it doesn’t get the thumb off its butt (?) at all. But when it does, voila, it goes viral one way or the other with wicked efficiency.

I believe that advertising peeps continue to underestimate their audience. I was ridiculed a couple of years ago for suggesting that punters get a shot at judging award shows like D&AD and Cannes. Now that judgement, exercised via hits and clicks, is the first line of justification for good digital advertising. Popularity and contagion are upstaging critical acclaim. Bravo.

Consumers (although I hate that word, but you know what I mean) have high standards already and are often well in front of marketers who, in turn, are often well in front of agencies. I wonder if I can get some punters in to judge Young Guns.

My hot water bill is rising.

I’ve been thinking a lot over the past few months about the big, “what next?”  You know, the next challenge, the thing you’ve always wanted to have a crack at but were usually too busy or too afraid to try.  So I’ve had to create the time and the mental space to actually do it.  It’s pioneering, it’s innovation, it’s doing the new. Or to borrow from something else I wrote recently, “it’s the courage to imagine new ideas and the passion to make them happen”.

So, now I need to walk the talk and fall on my face a few times.

The first step has been the decision to leave my big agency job and move back to Australia.   Australians have always been pretty good at punching above their weight and I’m sure I can find ways to do that from Australia too.  We’ll see.  At least the part about having the time and mental space is on the horizon.

For me thinking and showering go together like coffee and cigarettes, or marathon running and bad knees, so my hot water bill has been rising steadily of late.  I know it’s indulgent and wasteful, but now that I’ve read Jeff Pulver’s piece this morning I feel like I’m not alone in the shower - read it, you’ll know what I mean.

When asked what are the five steps he would recommend for to turn a idea into a business, Jeff replied as follows:

“First, I don’t believe in business plans. I just feel a need to say this.

My steps - and these can’t be taken lightly and there are more than 5 to follow:

1. Discover your passion.

2. Take a shower and think about how to apply your passion.

3. If Step 2 leaves you feeling inspired go to step 5.

4. go back to step 1 and look for another passion. this can be an iteration that can take a lifetime for some people.)

5. Believe in yourself. Envision where you need to be and want to be. (You need to discover your unbound passion - this is the energy you will need to make the rest of the steps happen.)

6. Now think about the business and apply your social media knowledge to become a subject matter expert in your space. Along the way you will: build your brand. Build your reputation. Earn Respect from peers.

7. Express yourself in your writing and work on the launch of your product/service. As you feel comfortable with your direction reach out to the people who you met in step 6. 

8. Time for a gut check and make sure you are still passionate and inspired by your idea. If not, time for a rethink. And a personal reboot. Consider going back to step 1.

9. Now work on your pitch. Think about where the money might be - sometimes business models corrupt the vision so be careful. The opportunity to make money from a new space may not appear until months into the project. If you have discovered a great new space and have been able to get people to sign up for your service / application and can show your numbers building, and they are growing quickly, then it is time to talk to investors. Otherwise you need to wait until it is ready.

10. If you got this far, this means your idea worked, you still believe in your dream and your vision and that others are using your product/service and your traction is growing. Time to reach out to the buzz makers of the net. Depending upon your space and your offering, you should identify the top 25 people who matter in your space. Spend the next 30 days reading their blogs, commenting on their stories and getting to know as many of them as possible on a personal basis. Only after you have created a working relationship - now tell them about your work and ask them for help in getting the word out about it. You can also ask for their advise. Not everyone will respond but if you choose the people wisely, enough will.

11. Once you have the buzz and the support of your community, now do the research and find out who invests in your space. (You might have wanted to do this research at an earlier step so you are better prepared.) If you are lucky, people are reaching out to you because they heard about your work and like your vision. Once you know who invests in this space look into your own personal social network and see who you know who knows these people and for the people who you actually know, go to them and ask them for an introduction. Going in cold doesn’t work well - but going in with an introduction usually works.

12. At some point go back to step 6 and remember to continue to grow your network and invest in your brand. Retrace all of your steps. As you look for investors do whatever you can to increase your buzz, perfect your offerings and build your reputation.

13. Sometimes you will discover a new revenue source and this becomes self-funded business. Sometimes you will discover you had a great idea but could not get the support you needed and you need to stop and do something else. Sometimes you will get funded. And sometimes you get so caught up in the business that you will lose your perspective and you don’t realize what is happening and this is a sign that you need to get out or get funded. (This has happened to me a number of times.)”

Jeff Pulver