1. Whoever is organizing the session should briefly summarize the topic and goal of the brainstorm and then get it to the team members far enough in advance for them to think about it before the meeting.
2. The meeting should be held in a neutral location that is away from distractions. For example, the boss’s office would generally not be a good brainstorming location.  
3. Once everyone is in attendance, start the meeting with some general chit-chat to loosen everyone up.

  Once the session is under way, follow these rules.

1. Focus on quantity of ideas: Let go of going for the silver bullet. Just pile on as many ideas as you can. Lots of ideas will reveal surprising results.
2. Everybody gets a turn: Let everyone speak. Resist the urge to interrupt. When the presenter is done, then let the group discussion carry it forward.
3. Withhold criticism: This is the most important rule of all. No negative feed-back whatsoever. No matter how silly the idea may seem, negative comments, frowns, or groans will kill the entire session.
4. Record all ideas presented: You can write them down or voice-record them. But, save them for analysis and discussion later.

That’s it. These four simple rules will vastly improve your chances of pulling a great idea out of your brainstorming session.

If you have an interesting brainstorming story, please share it with us here. Or, if you have further insights into the brainstorming process, please share that as well.

Rob Charlton

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I’m talking about being transparently honest with your audience with regard to who you are and how you relate to your public. Companies are so obsessed with putting a positive spin on information, whether its about the company itself or its products, that the public has become numb to it. You, I and everyone else out there can spot a whitewashed PR statement or an exaggerated product claim in an instant. But, too many corporate executives and business owners continue to believe they are somehow camouflaged from their lack of authenticity.

One of the best examples of a radio commercial that embraced truth was for a telephone company some thirty years ago. It had a reputation for providing poor service. So they made a number of internal adjustments to improve their service and then ran a radio campaign to promote themselves. The commercial began with the predictable statement about how good their service was. But, then, the announcer was interrupted with gales of laughter. By poking fun at themselves they immediately identified with the listeners beliefs, which laid the groundwork for presenting their message. The campaign was a huge success.

There are other examples of unexpected truths being used to provide powerful advertising messages, such as:

• Orville Redenbacher:  The world’s most expensive popping corn
• Avis:   We’re number two, so we try harder
• Listerine: The taste you hate twice a day

There is something about being flat-out honest about something that not only catches people’s attention, but leaps out at them from the crowd. It’s not what we, as consumers, are used to. And, that’s only one of the benefits.

When you say something that might be considered potentially uncomplimentary, you create credibility. If you’re willing to say something negative about your product, then you are obviously truthful, so can be trusted when you say positive things.

I’m not suggesting that companies should go out and start advertising negative things about themselves. But, you should not hide behind canned language that contradicts commonly held perceptions. It actually hurts you more than it helps.

The truth is powerful. The funniest jokes are the ones that are based in truth, the most memorable quotes are the ones that strike our deepest sense of truth, and the most powerful advertisements are the ones that are truthful.

And, that’s the truth.

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One of the most common mistakes made by advertisers is coming up with some clever headline that leaves the reader clueless as to what is being advertised. With business owners and copywriters alike, there is this nagging need, born of some unwritten expectation, to create something clever and glib when writing a headline. Sometimes it works, but unless you’re an experienced copywriter who understands the difference between clever and clear communication, just state your message. Sure, it might be boring. But at least the readers will know what you’re about and you’ll have a chance to engage them if your product solves a problem they have.

Most business owners are uniquely unqualified to write their own copy. This is because they know themselves too well. Information that is of interest to their prospective customers is so much a part of their lives that they assume everyone already knows it. So, a headline that makes some obscure reference to their product or service makes perfect sense to them. I’ve seen this time and time again. And, when the ad doesn’t work, it’s always blamed on the medium.

While writing this blog, I randomly picked up a couple industry magazines and looked at some headlines. Here are some that I found.

“We do the Impossible. Immediately.”
I had to read half way into the body copy before I learned that it was for a company that makes molds.

“Experience and Knowledge”
Even after reading the body copy I’m not sure what they do. At the very bottom it reads: Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB. So, maybe they make rock drills. I’m not sure.

“We love commercial breaks.”
Never did figure out what this company does.

On the other hand, here are some headlines that were perfectly clear.

“Abrasion-Resistant Pipe Systems for reduced downtime and lifecycle savings.”
PLain, but crystal clear.

“Cost Efficient Solutions for Air Filtration.”
Not hard to figure this one out.

“Simple, Economical Torque Wrench Testing.”
Straight to the point and quickly understood.

Lack of clarity costs companies untold dollars every year. If you must write your own headline, give it this test before you publish it. Cover your logo and body copy, leaving just the illustration and headline. Then put it in front of three or four people outside your company and ask if they know what the message is. If they stumble around with guesses, go back to the drawing board and start over.

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It’s about them, not you.

In my 30+ years of helping people advertise their businesses; one of the most recurring issues is the owner providing reasons for customers to buy based upon the owner’s perspective. This is both completely understandable, and completely wrong.

When an entrepreneur throws his or her life into an effort to create a product or service to sell, it’s all-consuming. Not only is your investment and income on the line, but you tend to live your business every waking hour of the day. So, when you explain what you sell to potential customers, it’s only fitting that you describe all the things you do to make your product valuable.

What you should be doing is describing the benefits of your product from your customer’s point of view. Will it make your customer feel better, look better, richer or happier? How hard you work, your experience, how much you’ve sold, your education: none of that matters in an ad. It might matter later in the sales process, but not at the point of first contact, which is your ad.

It’s about them, not you is a great phrase to measure your ad copy against. It’s easy to be distracted by clever double meanings and playful ideas. But, if they don’t pass this test, don’t use them. Be fanatic about connecting more directly with your customers’ real needs and you’ll be rewarded with more effective advertising.

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Good business people are highly disciplined at measuring value. And, every step of the campaign development process has some basis in being able to measure something except the creative step. That’s where almost every entrepreneur falls down. Even the good ones.

Time and time again, I have seen the manager/owner write his own copy or try to direct a writer to create copy that is full of ad clichés that neither stand out nor convince. The result is predictable. All that time, effort and money is neutralized by ad copy that is only efficient at blending into the great background hum of “white noise”.

With that in mind, I have created a list of phrases and words to avoid. If you find any of these in your ad copy, re-write it. You can find words to get the same ideas across with more personality and originality.

1. Once in a lifetime
2. Friendliest store in town
3. Why pay more
4. Lowest prices of the year
5. Dare to compare
6. Lowest prices in town
7. Save like never before
8. Make an offer
9. Highest quality, lowest price
10. Best service in town
11. The perfect gift
12. For any budget
13. Public notice
14. Buy with confidence
15. Check out our great selection
16. Nobody beats our prices
17. We’ll save you money
18. Store-wide clearance
19. We sell more (item) than anyone
20. Hurry in
21. Everything must go
22. Never lower
23. Follow the crowds
24. Now is the time to buy
25. Don’t miss this sale
26. Save today
27. You won’t find deals like this…
28. Unbelievable prices (bargains, deals, etc.)
29. Boss is away
30. Gigantic sale

If you find yourself using any of the above phrases, go back and think of a more unique way to say the same thing. These phrases have been used so many times for so many products that there is simply no credibility to them any longer.

In fact, there are probably more that I have overlooked here.

Please feel free to add any others that you would like to never hear again.

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Filter Technology is a company that designs, engineers and builds industrial air pollution control systems. You can visit the site at http://www.filtertechnologyltd.com/ . After having written much, and edited all of the copy for the site, I am now more knowledgeable about industrial air filtration that I ever thought I would be. Not that I know all that much about it. But, this is a shining example of what can be accomplished when the client supplies the knowledge and the agency puts it into words.

Bob is personally, one of the most authoritative experts in the country when it comes to high temperature filtration, using air to air head exchangers. You can see the page at www.filtertechnologyltd.com/products/high-temp-filtration/ . There are only two…maybe three others in the entire country who are as accomplished as Bob in the area of high temperature filtration.

Moreover, his business isn’t restricted to the United State. He recently completed six process dust filters in Qatar. See www.filtertechnologyltd.com/products/process-dust-filters/ . More information is listed on the “Projects” page.

Consulting is an important part of Filter Technology’s service, with a large portion of the business in bringing existing systems up to date. These days, many companies don’t want to spend the money to completely replace their old systems, so the look to Bob to help them up-grade what they have. You can read more about it at www.filtertechnology.com/services-industrial-filtration/ .

We’re pretty pleased with this new site, and so is Bob. He has already experienced an increase in visits and business activity as a direct result of launching his new web site.

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