In this episode of Your Biz, Your Rules, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview my first client EVER – cashew butter craving, flat white fanatic… Jo Gifford.
*If you’re looking for a more sensible introduction she is also a big-time pioneer of creative thinking in business, a content marketing extraordinaire and a magical mentor to a whole range of international entrepreneurs.
Listen here:
The key takeaways:
💛 Creative thinking is huge for our lives and our businesses in so many ways. When we apply creative thinking techniques, we allow our brains to see things from a different perspective, to see things in a whole new way. And why is that useful? Well, if you are operating in a crowded marketplace you might want to be able to think about some products or services that are different. You might want to think about how to use language and visuals, and your brand to position you in a different way and help you stand out. Also, if you apply creative thinking to everything in your life, you’re going to have a much more fun experience. You’re going to see things in a new way.
💛 Start with something simple like making a habit out of doing something new every day and then layer on outputting something every day. Whether you’re creating a really short video, or you’re journaling, or you’re creating an image. If you start to output, you’re synthesizing information for yourself and for your audience. You’re kind of allowing yourself to absorb what’s going on out there in your industry, what’s going on in the world, what’s going on in culture, and you become a synthesizer for your audience and for your clients. It also helps you understand things a lot better as well. So tiny tweaks. Something new every day, then output something every day. Then you can apply some creative thinking and triggers.
💛 Try using Netflix as a creative thinking trigger. Think about one of your favorite box sets or series or films or programmes, and then jot down everything that’s to do with that show – the characters, the themes, the music, the location, the storylines…
Why the heck is that useful for your business? So, if you use those triggers, and you start spidering down even more, you can apply those concepts and those thoughts to whatever it is you’re creating. You have to kind of go with the freeform thinking at first, and let it sound as nuts as it’s going to sound, and then start to play. This is all about having your own personal playbook.
If you start playing you end up having a lot of fun, for one, which is always a good thing because that really connects your clients to you. But also, if you’re creating stuff and finding points of difference you are going to stand out from people who are all doing the same things. And it will help you uncover some new language and some new words, because the more you delve into different parts of your brain, into unexpected themes, unexpected mixtures of stuff, the more you come out with different outcomes. You’ll find your blog posts are flowing. You’ll find your content ideas are thriving. You’ll find you’re inspired a lot more often.
💛 Once you’ve generated loads of ideas, you need to make a plan. You need to get this thing done. Small chunks are always a really good way to work – focus for short sprints at a time.
Listen to this episode here.
The links + stuff:
- Jogifford.co
- Mind mapping with Tony Buzan
- Six thinking hats by Michael De Bono
- The Language Arsenal
- Trello
- Evernote
- Dealing with burnout on Being Boss
- Are we opt-ing out of the online marketing psy-ops (finally?!)
- Rev.com
- Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
- Oversubscribed by Daniel Priestley
- Jo on Instagram
The quotables:
(Highlight to share!)
“If you don’t do anything different, you’re not going to be different.” – Daire Paddy
“Get rid of the people who don’t want to work with you at all, who think that it’s ridiculous that you go raving in the morning and cover yourself in glitter.” – Jo Gifford
“Working with the wrong people is the most draining, crazy-making thing you can do.” – Daire Paddy
“Sometimes you just need space, and from that space comes clarity. ” – Jo Gifford
“Find your way of breaking through that shiny object overwhelm. ” – Jo Gifford
“There’s no deadline to your destiny. If you’re meant to do something, you can do it when you do it.” – Daire Paddy
Listen here:
Jo Gifford is a recovering overwhelmed entrepreneur with an addiction to making things easier.
Champion of working smarter and creator of the Brilliance Ignition Process, she has a loyal global audience and a stellar client list of biz owners making big sales and a big difference.
A widely read contributor to Huffington Post, Selz, Regus, Prowess, YFS Magazine and many more interwebz rabbit holes, she is a respected UK voice on life as a pocket-sized enterprise owner (main coping strategy= juniper berries. Ok, gin).
Jo’s background – a seasoned blogger, copywriter, podcaster and graphic designer with an MA and research interest in creative thinking for small business – makes for an eclectic and colourful killer content approach.
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