December 15, 2017 by whyididntwritetoday

‘The Way’

On my lunch break today I wandered over to a nearby market for some street grub.

Predictably enough, as it was a Friday lunchtime, it was packed.

Just as I was working out which stall to go to, I saw a whirl of motion somewhere in the crowd and watched as a guy drove his way through, burrito clasped firmly in his hand.

“Get out of the way, out of the way, out of the way” was all he kept saying to himself.

He annoyed everyone.

As he eventually disappeared I thought about that term. ‘The way’.

How often do we say it? That person got in the way, there was a car in the way, etc.

But, what we never think is that, quite often, our way isn’t the same as everyone else’s.

When writing to selling a product, for example, there’s a certain way we want the customer to go…a way that benefits us eventually.

But, to be successful, we need to make it the right way for the customer.

And, to do that, we need to keep in mind that ‘the way’ for us isn’t always ‘the way’ for everyone else.

Ashley Brown 2017

December 14, 2017December 14, 2017 by whyididntwritetoday

Pointless app idea 1: PluggedIn

Do you have loads of money that you don’t want?

Or, perhaps you’re an app developer who just loves working for free?

If so, boy do I have an idea for you!

So, it’s targeted at freelancers and remote workers.

We’ll call it….PLUGGEDIN.

Let’s take a city…say, London, for example.

We list all of the cafes and coffee houses in London and put them on a map.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking…‘that’s already been done by Google, man’.

But…wait for it…wait for it…here’s the twist.

We create an interior map of each one of those places and detail how many plug sockets they’ve got, and where they’re located.

Just think… no freelancer or remote worker will ever have to sit there, furiously typing away, with one eye trained on their ever draining battery – because they’ll know exactly where to sit.

Perhaps if we’re feeling really flashy we can even get some data for the peak times, so our users know exactly when to get there.

So, you see, your excuse for working can never be that your laptop has run out of juice.

Perhaps we could trundle it out for students too.

…who’s up for it?

Ashley Brown 2017

December 11, 2017December 11, 2017 by whyididntwritetoday

Wayne’s World

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”

– Wayne Gretzky

December 5, 2017 by whyididntwritetoday

Don’t fit in

“In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.” – Seth Godin

By the way, if you’re looking to read one book before the end of the year make it Seth’s “Purple Cow”.

It’s super short, super concise and super informative.

November 29, 2017 by whyididntwritetoday

Art.

I’ve never been one for art.

In fact, I could probably count the amount of art galleries I’ve visited on one hand.

Am I uncultured? Probably.

Am I a heathen? Possibly.

I feel that, as a creative, I should probably rectify this – I’ve always had an eye for design, but have never let it flourish – preferring to spend my creative time around words.

So, as I’ve completely changed my surroundings recently, I’ve decided to surround my new room with some art.

Not too much.

But just enough.

A couple of images that will make me think. Because, that’s what good art should do.

The first one is Picasso’s ‘3 musicians’ (which you can see above) – and not just because it was cheap in a Cyber Monday sale…

Ahem.

Just because the things I create centre around paragraphs, full stops and hyphens – it doesn’t mean I can’t be inspired by something else.

Perhaps I should visit a few art galleries when I have some free time. I can see a new series of blog posts beginning – ‘Understanding Art: An Idiot’s Guide’.

Watch this space.

(image credit: wikipedia)

November 25, 2017November 26, 2017 by whyididntwritetoday

Sleep with people from around the world…

Yesterday I spoke about injecting a bit of humour into the drier parts of business.

But one part of business that can easily be fun and witty is advertising.

I often see this advert on my walk home and every time it’s caught my attention…not just because it’s huge:

(excuse my terrible photography, the post with the camera is covering a wink emoji)

November 24, 2017December 5, 2017 by whyididntwritetoday

Netflix and Chill

In a business world of bottom lines, fees, fines, negotiations and contracts it’s easy to be…well…for lack of a better word, boring.

If it’s a serious matter that you’re dealing with, there’s no room for humour – right?

Well, actually I think that’s wrong.

Why do we have to sound like clerks and solicitors all the time?

Why no de-formalise things from time to time and have a bit of fun?

Now, I’m not saying that you should go to your next board meeting in a clown suit, but in a busy and noisy world…perhaps sounding a bit ‘fun’ and a bit ‘humorous’ might actually be a good way to stand out?

Take Netflix for example.

A big brand who are in the middle of battling a very competitive market. They were one of the forerunners when it came to ‘on demand’ programming and as other competitors rise they’re doing all they can to stand head and shoulders above them.

One of their big pushes at the moment is their own shows. One of them being ‘Stranger Things’ – a show that I’ve never watched, but hear a lot about thanks to social media.

Anyway, without asking Netflix’s permission, a pop-up bar in Chicago opened up and named themselves after one of the fictional worlds in Stranger Things.

Which is copyright infringement.

Netflix’s lawyers were informed and, instead of sending a threatening letter, they sent out this genius response: