Author: idiadmin

Vanity metrics. They make us look good to others without providing a clear understanding of our own performances.

However, principles are proven through performance, not popularity. So why is there such an emphasis on likes, retweets and shares?

Another way to look at it is:

You max out your credit card to buy the newest iPhone, just to impress your peers. You get a moment of fame, but your bank account gets tied into a 24 month contract of pain.

Now let’s think about it with business in mind:

Today’s culture provides us with an unlimited supply of useful online tools and platforms at our finger tips.

They are extremely valuable as forms of simplified publication / exposure, but the value these platforms provide to the work itself is equivocal.

Projects produced with status seeking in mind are always created with the wrong intentions.

As a business or a freelancer, when you share your work, it’s very easy to see dopamine fuelled notifications as successful feedback. However, they don’t offer anything more than an achievement of social status.

There should be no confusion between vanity metrics with the value of work you carry out:

When you start a project, if your intention is to seek status from it, you’re instantly diluting the value of what you do.

If a project is started with the intention of providing a solution to the problem faced – your interest is in the work. That’s where the value is built.

3 useful points to remember the next time you share your work:

Nothing in life is free.
Online tools and platforms are popular and useful. But, if the product is free, you are the product. Use them wisely.

Likes don’t make money.
1 like doesn’t = £1. If it did, we’d all be millionaires. Thinking about it this way serves as a good reminder to how valueless the online notifications we receive are.

Advertisement matters, good work matters more.
Good advertisement and promotion matters. It will transform your business. But as James Cash Penney once said: Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement. What better way to provide your customers with courteous treatment than to respect them.

Try your absolute best to give them everything they need form you. They will share the work for you.

Amplify the effort of your input to maximise the value of your outputs. Working like this isn’t easy, but what comes easy doesn’t last.

I write this while borrowing an Acer laptop to capture these thoughts.

Growing up I have always used a Mac, so there is an obvious bias here, however one of the main component in Apple’s success is their brand experience and their products ease of use.

Let’s break it down:

Apple’s brand experience:

When you purchase an apple product, as a consumer you are provided with a particular brand experience.

There has been extremely careful consideration that balances the following:

• The reveal of the packaging design
• The enjoyment and experience of the unboxing
• The subtle but noticeable product design features
• The fulfilment of product use

These are a small selection of minor details that when combined make a big impact. This is what provides brand value – justifying the price of their products.

Apple’s ease of use:

Although the brand experience plays a large role in generating customer loyalty, when creating something that is built for use, a design element that should never be overlooked is ease of use.

Good design is simple, timeless and efficient.

To paraphrase a scene from the biopic portrayal of Steve Jobs, while comparing the Mac and the PC computer functionality:

“If I want to tell someone there is a spot on their shirt, I’ll point at the spot. I do not say there is a spot 14cm down from the collar and 4cm to the right of the second button. That is not how the mind works.”

The above is very true.

Although different minds are capable of handling different levels of complexity, when provided with ease of use, there is rarely a complaint.

There is never a need for unnecessarily complicated usability when simplicity is available. When this is done we provide ourselves with the definition of bad design.

To conclude:

When building a brand or approaching a project avoid the clunky way of thinking and prioritise simplicity.

Unnecessary complexity does not work seamlessly under the banner of a well-designed product or brand experience.

“99% of businesses fail for one reason – they didn’t start.” — David Hieatt

When it comes to building a brand, it’s very easy to get in the way of yourself and end up not starting.

The easiest thing for an individual to do when venturing into a new business, is to create roadblocks for themselves.

These roadblocks are merely justifications for a lack of productivity in the areas that actually matter.

There will be an endless list of excuses for why it’s not the right time to start, but the uncomfortable truth is, there will never be a right time.

Starting the building process provides you with the valuable opportunity of monitoring progression (or lack of), which in return, gives you a chance to refine.

“Not being ready” provides you with nothing.

To refine what you start is the driving force in achieving improvement in what you do, which surges the quality and value of your business.

A brand that seeks to better the quality and value of its own product is a brand that is committed to its purpose and pays respect to its customers.

A brand that fails because it didn’t start didn’t ever have a real purpose.

What is your brands purpose?

As a company, when putting your work out into the world, it comes with a premium.

This premium is your audience gaining the ability to form perspectives on what they believe to be true about you and the value of your brand. Read more…

In a culture of technology and a nano-second attention span, the work we put out into the world holds a high risk of disappearing amongst the noise of the internet.

Social media platforms have opened up opportunities for both individuals and businesses to create networks of communities with like-minded individuals.

They have also generated a concerning addiction to attention, through likes, follow counts, retweets and story views.

Read more…