Creative Marketing – Thinking outside of the box

As a student of marketing, one of the experts that I follow had a photo with him in his kayak and a caption saying “You

can’t think outside of the box, when you are working in one!”.  This got me thinking about this.

Many of us have our places at work where we do our daily jobs.  That might be out on the sales floor or in an office.  Some of you might have a home office where you play catch up on the things you can’t get finished at your business.  But where do you go when you want to be creative?

Recently, I have found myself sitting at my desk, staring at the computer screen, drawing a complete blank as to the project I am trying to work on and then being distracted either by email, a phone ringing, or someone showing up to ask a question.  By being in boring or distracting surroundings, I never really get the creative bug that marketing calls for.

Numerous times, I have decided to head out to a local park, hike around, and just spend the day or even a couple of hours, just thinking.  Over the course of a few hours, I am usually flooded with ideas.  Just be sure to bring some sort of method to document your ideas.  If it isn’t written down, there is a good chance that it won’t be remembered.  And like any brainstorming session, don’t self critique your ideas.  Just document them.  Let the creative juices flow.

Taking a break like this will leave you re-energized about the future and where things can go.
If you haven’t gotten away from the day to day distractions to really spend time coming up with ideas on how to improve your business, your marketing,  or your life, I would highly suggest it, even if it is only to get away for a couple of hours.  It might make all the difference.

Jim