Director of Results

I've been "The Idea Guy" for quite a long time.
It's been my official (and unofficial) title at any number of jobs I've had through the years. The cool thing about the designation was that it was created and bestowed upon me by my clients. If the Queen of England knighted me tomorrow, I don't think I'd feel quite as honored as the first time a customer of mine called me The Idea Guy (though it would be waaay cool to be "SIR Idea Guy!")

Recently I have embraced a new title that I will wear just as proudly:

Director of Results

This new title (while not replacing my beloved DTIG mantle) certainly sums up my focus over the past four years working in Radio -- to use Radio (traditional media) with the Internet (new media) in order to create integrated marketing campaigns that create (you guessed it!) RESULTS.

With shrinking marketing budgets and emerging technologies that seem to change the game every other day of the week (and twice on Sundays) advertisers are finally focusing on the results they receive from the money they formerly shoveled into advertising that provided promises (if very little proof) of building their business. The cliche says "Half of my advertising works -- the problem is, I don't know which half" is no longer acceptable. Campaigns blithely labeled as "branding" or "awareness" are being abandoned in exchange for campaigns that can show measured increases in consumer action.

Thus, I launch a new DTIG brand -- Don Snyder, Director of Results.

Before the marketers among you scream "brand extension" or proclaim the weakening of The Idea Guy brand with this new upstart name, consider that "ideas" are simply that -- raw concepts that people and companies can either choose to enact or ignore. It's pure creativity without a plan of action. "Results" are what happen on the other side of the equation. Once you begin to evaluate which ideas to activate, you start to understand that different ideas will take you to different destinations. Knowing where you want to end-up (the results you want to achieve) will help you decide which ideas to act upon and which ideas to ignore.

As Stephen Covey wrote in his 7-Habits "Begin with the end in mind." As Lewis Carroll wrote in Alice in Wonderland "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." The Director of Results assists clients in defining a reasonable outcome (desired destination) from their marketing efforts, and plotting a course on how to reach their goal as efficiently (and with as much measured success) as possible.

One of the ways I'll be providing assistance as the DoR is through a new blog at www.DirectorOfResults.com and a companion Twitter account (@resultsdirector.) We've already had our first DoR seminar for Radio station clients on the topic of social media, and we'll be planning more events and the release of additional ideas and information as time goes on. You can check out the slide deck from the social media seminar at the new website.

I am really excited about this new project and I invite you along for the ride!

2010 Reading

One of my goals this year is to read more books.

I mean, don't get me wrong... I read a lot of books (a LOT of books!) but I know I've sort of slacked off in the last year or two and should have polished off twice as many as I actually managed to complete. I developed a bad habit of buying every book that seemed like it might be good, added it to a stack, started reading 2 or 3 of them at a time and then I'd abandon them for the next set of cool books I bought and didn't end up going back to finish most of them.

To better help me keep track of my progress, I created a new Shelfari account (see the bookshelf style widget that appears below each post in the blog) and I will only add books to the shelf if I've read them or am in the process of reading them. As of today's 2010 relaunch of the shelf, I have several books on the list. Lest you think it's impossible that I polished off six books on the very day I started, I wanted to provide an explanation.

1. 100-Whats of Creativity
Hey, it's MY book. I could hardly leave it off the list, right? Plus, it's one of the books intended to be referred to as-needed. It's a constant resource for my own brainstorming and idea generation efforts. I heartily recommend (even if I do say so myself!)

2. Napoleon Hill's Positive Action Plan
This is a book with 365 daily doses of positive attitude and ideas for self-improvement. I've been reading one entry per day and repeating the process for the last four years. It's my positive attitude ritual. I read an entry every morning while brushing my teeth. Refreshing my mind and I freshen my breath.

3. Warrior of the Light
This is another one of those "daily dose" books I've found. While not exactly broken down into 365 entries, I read a random page every evening before going to sleep. It's by Paulo Coelho and reminds me of bit of Sun Tzu's Art of War. Very instrospective passages that make me think strategically about my actions and attitude. This will be the second or third year I've spread out it's reading over 12 months.

4. Think and Grow Rich
I actually started listening to the unabridged audio version during my daily commute at the end of last year. The final CD wasn't completed until January, and I thought it an appropriate bridge into 2010, so I'm counting it as a book read for this year (yes, audio books will qualify as books I've "read" in 2010 -- why wouldn't they?)

5. What Would Google Do
No explanation really required on this one -- it's the first official book to be read in the new year.

6. You, Inc.
Ditto... except it will be the first full audio book in the new year.

When all is said and done, I hope to average about two or three books per month in 2010. If you're intrigued by any of the books I recommend, I hope you'll purchase it through one the blog links or embedded widgets. I'm a member of Amazon and other affiliate programs and they'll toss me a few cents if you buy a copy -- hey, somebody has to help pay for all these damn books!!! ;)

How Do You Come With So Many Ideas?

I buy them in bulk from Sam's Club…

Obviously I'm kidding, but I poke fun because this is THE most common question I get. I figure this must be what it's like for magicians who get asked how they perform a trick. It's been a challenge to try and define just how I do seem to be able to "out ideate" most other folks. Here are a few of the truths I managed to arrive at on this topic.

1. I come up with more good ideas because I come up with more bad ideas
I ran across this quote by Linus Pauling early on in my life and fully believed it: "The best way to come up with a good idea is to come up with a lot of ideas." It's purely a numbers game. If I come up with more ideas (bad ideas, crazy ideas, old ideas, new ideas, outrageous ideas, safe ideas, dangerous ideas, half-baked ideas, out of this world ideas, scary ideas, unreasonable ideas, any and all kinds of ideas) than other people, I will also come up with more good ideas than other people.

2. I make room for more ideas
Most people can come up with one or two ideas that they think are really, really good. I mean, they absolutely feel this is a "gonna make me rich, rich, rich" idea. Or, they have the opposite problem -- they get these ideas that they feel are below average, they don't really stand out, probably already been thought-up by someone else, etc. The problem is, that in both cases the individual expends incredible amounts of mental energy either trying to retain their brilliant idea, or the less-than-brilliant idea swims around in their head as they try and come up with something more clever. The solution to either of these situations is the same -- record the idea on paper (in some sort of permanent idea journal) so the brain knows the idea has been safely tucked away for future reference, and free up your mental matter so it can expend energy on coming up with the NEXT idea.

3. I constantly fuel my brain
If you're going to treat your brain as an engine, you have to make sure it has premium fuel to burn when you step on the gas pedal. I read books, magazines, blogs, comic books, etc. constantly on the widest variety of subjects. I watch tv, movies -- all genres. I listen to music (again… all genres), visit art museums, the ballet, stare at stars, do crossword puzzles, play video games, write business articles, write fictional short stories, keep a journal, sketch and doodle, go to comedy clubs, attend seminars, speak at seminars, drive the long way to work, find short cuts home from work, go to the zoo, visit coffee shops, try new restaurants, ride a motorcycle, play golf, darts, billiards, and passionate conversations (and sometimes arguments!) with friends, and probably fifty other things that I can't even recall right this second.

The really important thing is that while I am feeding my brain all of these experiences, my radar is always "up" to draw a parallel or find a metaphor that matches whatever projects or problems I may be working at the time. The rest of the information simply gets stored into my mental database, so that it can be called upon whenever I have need new ideas.

Today is Whensday!

I thought New Year's Day was the perfect time to share my new "Whensday" philosophy. By now you've probably noted the unique spelling (or at the very least realized the date of this blog post is most certainly NOT the weekday that falls between Tuesday and Thursday.)

I came up with this concept back in April while thinking about just how many of my own projects get delayed because of simple procrastination. I scribbled the concept in my journal, bought the domain name, and put it on my "when-I-get-around-to-it-list."

Well, folks… Today is Whensday.
Whensday is that day you SAY you're going do something:
The day you'll write your book, take that dance class, go back to school, find a new job, clean the garage, fix the toilet, whatever...

• When I have more time
• When I have more money
• When I get a degree
• When I get a new job
• When I get a raise
• When I lose some weight
• When the economy is better
• When they fire that jerk of a boss
• When someone gives me a chance
• When the world isn't conspiring against me
• When I get more experience
• When I have more freedom
• When I meet "the right people"
• When I don't have so much housework
• When somebody gives me some help
• When someone gives me permission
• When my family understands me
• When I get motivated
• When I get famous
• When I get a promotion
• When I get out of debt
• When I save some money
• When I know I can't fail
• When I'm not so busy
• When I marry the right person
• When I move to another city
• When I start my own business
• When my luck is better
• When I hit the lottery

I've got news for you -- that perfect day where the stars are in alignment and all your lottery numbers hit, some Hollywood talent scout runs into you at Starbucks and thinks you'd be perfect in the next George Clooney movie, and Steve Jobs calls to ask you to run Apple for him just ain't gonna happen.

You just need to decide that today is the day you're going to start putting your goals into action. Today is when you're going to write the first chapter of your novel, today is when you're going to call up that dance schedule and sign-up for this weekend's class, today is when you're going to go down to the hardware store and by a new floaty-thing for your toilet tank.

TODAY is Whensday.

TOMORROW is Whensday.

EVERYDAY is Whensday.

2010 is filled with Whensdays -- make everyone of them count.

Absolutely and unabashedly inspired by 57 Famous Alibis By Old Man 'IF' from "Think And Grow Rich."