Have you ever read a great classified ad or seen a
spectacular web site and wished you had the
creative ability to produce work like that? Chances
are you do have a lot more creative ability than
you are currently making use of, it just needs to
be unleashed. This then leads to the question, how
can I unleash my creativity?
I have always had a difficult time getting the
creative juices flowing. But over the past few
years I have discovered a couple of techniques
that work wonders for me. I didn't invent these
techniques, they're not new, but they work.
The first technique is a two step process. I start
with a word-association exercise. When I
need to write a new ad or design a web page, I
take a legal pad or use my word processing
program and start by writing down a keyword
that relates to the product or service I am working
with. Then I write down whatever word that the
key word brings to mind. I write down ANY word
that pops into my head. I don't reject anything at
this point, the object is to keep the process flowing.
After I have a page or two of words, I go to the
second step. Now I eliminate the garbage words,
words that I know won't work in my ad. I use the
remaining "nuggets" to start a sentence-association
exercise and continue until all my words are
exhausted.
This technique may seem like a lot of work, and it
is, but I have produced some great ads with it. Plus,
most of the time an idea for the complete ad will
pop into my head before I have spent too much
time with the process. Sometimes the idea will
come after only writing a few words in step one.
The second technique you may find easier. This
is a free-association with other peoples ads or
web sites. Don't misunderstand, I am not looking
at other people's work to steal their ideas, I use
them to trigger ideas of my own.
Another way to use this process is to look at
some your own past work. See if you can
determine why a particular ad worked or didn't
work. Sometimes this can lead to some amazing
new ideas.
Remember, you have a great deal of pent up
creative ability. All you need is the right devise
to unleash it. Try the techniques I have given
you and let me know how they worked. My
email address is listed below.
About the Author
Bill Daugherty is the editor and publisher of the
marketing and advertising ezine "E-Power
Marketing." You can subscribe free at:
http://www.freeadsgalore.com
To see Bill's latest project goto:
http://www.PowerSearchExpress.com
To contact Bill mailto:bill@epower.zzn.com