The Art of Creative Flow: What you Need to Know

“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.” – Leo Burnett

 

As a young girl, my mind was always active. I had an innate curiosity for anything and everything, loving something completely new every day. I grew up in a creative environment surrounded by poets, artists and musicians. I always found myself at peace when I was able to pluck ideas from my brain and deliver them in a unique way. Utilizing creativity was not a hobby, but rather, a way of being.

As I emerge into adulthood, my perspective on creativity has changed. Initially, creativity was something I looked at as a gift, not a skillset. I looked at the likes of Bob Dylan, Steve Jobs and Marie Curie and assumed they were simply born innovative. However, it has become more and more obvious to me that the gift of a creative mind can only be used to its utmost potential if it is skillfully welded, groomed and utilizes the process of “creative flow.”

Possessing a creative mindset simply won’t cut it. Ideas must have the means to stream and circulate healthily, hence, the birth of the term “creative flow.” The sweet sap from a tree exists naturally but can only be in our possession if we tap into the spruce itself. The same goes for a creative flow. It must be released and guided in order to be properly utilized.

Flow – the mental state of being completely present and fully immersed in a task – is a crucial contributor to creativity. All outside distractions must retreat from our consciousness while our mind remains fully open. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, psychologist and author of the book Flow, determined that flow is not only essential to a productive employee, but imperative for a happy one as well. He found that people in this state find genuine satisfaction because they’re completely immersed in an activity that allows their creative soul to blossom.

Here are 5 tips that can help jumpstart your creative flow:

1. Be open

Many of the most successful, creative people are open to new experiences. Steve Jobs once said that “the bigger your bag of experiences, the more varied the connections you can make between things-like say, technology and liberal arts.” The more you put yourself out there and push the confinements of your comfort zones to their limits, the more eclectic your experience “bag” will be. You never know, you may find new passions and hobbies by doing this as well!

2. Capitalize on what brings you relaxation and bliss

This may be through meditation, listening to music, watching a TED Talk or taking up boxing classes. Finding healthy ways to keep your mind satisfied and grounded will lead to the outpour of free-flowing, creative thoughts. More specifically, exercise has been known to increase mental clarity and creativity. According to neuroscientist, Wendy Suzuki, there has been some evidence which supports the idea that exercise could help make us more creative due to the fact that aerobic workouts encourage the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus. All-in-all, participating in the things that make you happy, whether you can do them while you work or in your free time outside of work, will curate the perfect environment for you to tap into the creative burrows of your mind.

3. Have a concrete goal

While letting your mind run wild with a steady stream of thoughts and ideas is the desired outcome of a creative flow, it is important to keep a target achievement in mind, before you start your flow. It’s vital to reflect on what you’re hoping to achieve in the end. The path towards this goal may not be so straightforward initially, but it will help to have an end goal in mind before you reach that objective and add more creativity to it.

4. Concentrate on a single task

In relation to point two above, complete concentration on the present moment is crucial. Any concern for failing and looking bad, or succeeding and looking good, will break this concentration. Great musicians or athletes often become totally lost in the heart of a performance or game. Their focus is completely set on hitting that three-pointer or nailing the piano solo they’ve rehearsed for months on end. Your focus needs to remain honed-in on the moment, void of thinking far ahead – there will be sufficient time to reflect and edit.

5. Embrace the opportunity for failure

In the words of Joseph Chilton Pearce, “to live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” If the anxiety of worrying about what others will think of you plagues your mind, there will be a constant barrier keeping you from maximum creativity. Be confident in yourself and push internal and external negativities out of view. Embrace any and all unique thoughts, jot them down and see where they can take you. You’ll never know what ideas will turn into successes if you don’t take a leap!

While you may read the above and think creative flow is only useful for those in an artistic profession, we could all benefit by viewing the communications industry as an art form as well. It takes true skill and creativity to sculpt the correct “voice” with the right language in order to deliver compelling ideas that will actually resonate with people, or to illustrate a brand with words that will ignite a specific feeling. In order to conquer our clients’ goals, we need to start living like sponges; absorbing everything in and around our industry. If we begin to tap into the creative burrows of our minds and think in color, we’ll begin to see in color, therefore bringing more satisfaction and success not only to our clients, but ourselves as well.

The post The Art of Creative Flow: What you Need to Know appeared first on Lou Hammond Group.

from Lou Hammond Group https://louhammond.com/2018/12/12/the-art-of-creative-flow-what-you-need-to-know/
via https://louhammond.com

6 Tips for a Successful Group Press Trip

One of the most exciting and rewarding parts of working in travel PR is organizing and attending media trips. To familiarize journalists with their destination, hotel or cruise line, clients will embrace the opportunity to bring a group of writers on a press trip to expose them to their product. It will save clients time and resources to host a group trip over a pre-determined weekend instead of filling up their calendar with individual media visits and going through the same pitch over and over again. And while there are many benefits of hosting a press trip, there are many moving parts—it can seem like you’re spinning plates! Keeping in mind the following tips before you organize your next press trip will ensure that your clients are happy, the journalists are taken care of, and you, the PR representative, will ensure the trip runs smoothly from start to finish.

1. Find the Right Mix of Journalists or Influencers

When you schedule a press trip one of the first questions will be: who should we invite? Often the most desirable journalists for press trips are the ones who have the most experience. They are familiar with going on media trips at least once a month and are the most prepared for the unexpected bumps in the road that you may encounter. It’s important to consult your agency’s records and see who has experienced press trips for your company in the past and been a pleasure to work with. You will feel better knowing that a writer has been trusted by your agency before and has produced good work on a past trip.

If your client is open to working with social media influencers, it is best not to mix them with traditional journalists. Influencers focus on capturing images while journalists focus on capturing a story, hence they are seeking different end goals. It’s best to stick to one group or the other and present the client with the deliverables expected from each attendee in advance.

2. Stay Extremely Organized with Travel Plans

A lot of people don’t realize that when you organize a press trip you are acting as a de facto travel agent. You will often have to be in charge of buying plane tickets, reserving rental cars or booking hotel rooms for the journalists on your press trip. It can be stressful to organize travel plans for a group of people coming from all different directions to see your client.  It is not an exaggeration to say that for some PR people, one of our worst nightmares is getting a frantic call from a journalist at an airport whose flight was booked for the wrong day. This is why you can never be too organized for your next press trip.

Make a document with everybody’s flight numbers, arrival and departure times and cell phone numbers and give them to the appropriate people on your account team. Have them double check all information, as it can never hurt to have a second or third look at travel plans in case something looks askew. Double check online the day before a trip to see if flights have been booked properly and encourage each person on the trip to check in to their flight with ample time to spare. If there’s a problem, you will want to know about it in advance with time to fix it.

3. Adequately Prepare Your Client

Over the course of a press trip, your client will be spending a lot of time with the journalists you have brought on the trip. Before the trip, prepare a media brief that gives your clients detailed information on everybody attending the trip, including pictures so they are easily recognizable, recent articles by the journalists that are relevant to their interest in the trip, cell phone numbers, social media handles (if they have them) and more information about the outlets they write for. The media on the trip will greatly appreciate your client’s preparation and it will go a long way towards establishing a good relationship between the two.

By providing clients with the social media handles of both journalists and influencers, they can ensure their organization is following their accounts before their arrival. This will also give them a good window into their personality, tone of voice and content.

4. Make a Very Detailed Itinerary

It should go without saying that an itinerary is extremely important on any press trip. Your itinerary is your Bible for the duration of your trip and all trip attendees will carry it along with them at all times. Writing from past experiences, even if you have sketched out what looks like the perfect itinerary, things often do find a funny way of getting off track. A good itinerary will always look over-detailed at first and may look like you have over-prepared. But the last thing you want is your group standing around and staring at each other and saying, “Now what?”

Make back up plans and alternative routes if your itinerary includes making many different stops and traveling from place to place. Plan in advance what you will feel OK cutting from your trip if you get behind schedule. A good itinerary will also have lots of notes and descriptions included of various places the group will be experiencing. Remember, when a journalist is writing an article about their trip, they will be referencing the itinerary. It will save them a lot of time if there are addresses, phone numbers and details on the document that can help them out so they don’t have to call or email you to ask.

5. Be Prepared for Anything

Everybody has a story from a press trip they hosted where things got a little off track. Each journalist who has been on a trip has stories of his or her own as well. This is merely the nature of the beast. As stated earlier, hosting a press trip is a precise juggling act and you can’t expect everything to run smoothly all the time—there are just too many moving parts and too many people involved.  Accepting that there are sometimes going to be things that happen beyond your control will make it a lot easier to handle a situation if and when it arises. Take a deep breath. It will be OK and you’ll do your best to make sure everybody is happy. But be prepared first. Expect that things can go wrong and make a plan for what you need to do in that situation.

6. Enjoy Yourself

Going on a press trip is one of the best job perks of working in travel PR. You get to travel to some of the most amazing places in the world, often before anybody else can have the experience. Soak it in. Yes, it’s hard work and you’re on the clock, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the trip too. You’re going to be counted on to come up with pitches based on what you’ve experienced when you get back, so approach these experiences with a sense of inquisitiveness like you’re a journalist too. Get to know the attendees on your trip as best as you can and work to form connections. Many might be a fit for another client down the road and may be someone you end up traveling with again.

The post 6 Tips for a Successful Group Press Trip appeared first on Lou Hammond Group.

from Lou Hammond Group https://louhammond.com/2018/12/03/6-tips-for-a-successful-group-press-trip/
via https://louhammond.com

Key Qualities For Successful Influencer Partnership

It’s no secret that in the world of public relations, social media influencers are becoming more and more powerful to amplify your brand’s message – far beyond what traditional media alone can do. Securing the right influencer for your client is much like dating- it’s important to know what you’re looking for and not to leap into the wrong relationship. To be sure that you’re on the right path for the right partnership, LHG has compiled a list of five key qualities to seek out in an influencer. Here’s to finding the perfect match!


1. ENGAGING

“Engagement” is a buzz word used in the public relations and social media world quite a bit, but what does it mean? In assessing an influencer’s engagement rate it is important to look at the number of average likes and comments that person is receiving in relation to his/her overall following. With the number of different apps and platforms now available that allow influencers to pay for followers and engagement, it is crucial that you take a look at these numbers and see if they add up. A general formula that LHG Lou Hammond Group likes to use to measure an influencer’s engagement is Total Likes + Total Comments / Total Followers. If the percentage is below 1% stay away, as that person’s followers and comments are more than likely “bots” and paid for. AKA- If you see an influencer with 1,000,000 followers only receiving a few hundred likes on their posts, they are no doubt paying for followers. An engagement rate between 1%-3.5% is considered average while an engagement rate above 3.5% is considered great, and an influencer worth seeking out for a partnership.

When looking at an influencer’s engagement it’s also a good idea to search their comments on their own posts. Is he/she responding to followers with genuine, non-scripted answers and how often? Are the majority of comments left on an influencer’s feed left without a like or response? These are all great questions to ask oneself when on the hunt for an engaging influencer partner. Everyone who has been on a bad date knows a disengaged person leads to ditching dessert and dashing for the door. Be sure and be on the lookout for engaging influencers in your search for Mr. or Mrs. Right.

2. AUTHENTIC

Everyone knows that being your true, authentic self when dating leads you to find a lasting partner, while pretending to be someone you’re not only results in the wrong match. It’s important to select influencers who are authentic on their social media platforms and form positive relationships with their audiences. How does one determine the authenticity of an influencer? Pay close attention to the tone and verbiage the influencer is using – not only in their posts, but in their Instagram stories and comments as well. Does the influencer maintain the same voice throughout her feed or are they all over the map in terms of what they are promoting or passionate about? If seeking an influencer in the culinary industry, do his/her posts center around food and drink or is there a mix of paid product and fashion posts sprinkled in the mix? Do they have cultural credibility and align with brands they believe in? It’s important to ask these sorts of questions in the process of finding an authentic influencer partner.


3. GOOD TRACK RECORD

It’s never a bad idea to do your homework to get a feel for a person’s past before committing to a date. Raise your hand if you are guilty of social media stalking via Facebook or Instagram prior to a first date? Much the same, it’s important to research an influencer’s past work with brands to see if they are a fit for your particular client. Has this influencer held successful partnerships with brands with the same mission, demographic and creative energy as your client or are you hoping to be the first? Spend some time browsing through an influencer’s Instagram feed and confirm he/she has a collection of examples of mutually beneficial partnerships with high post likes and comments. And what do we call these likes and comments? You guessed it- engagement! Look how far we’ve come together!



4. SUCCESSFUL

Who doesn’t want to date someone accomplished, with a history of achievements and past successes? Do some research to see if the influencer you are considering partnering with has garnered media attention or been awarded with any noteworthy accolades. Don’t be afraid to request case studies, sample coverage or media kits if unable to find much information online. Some of the best influencers we have found at LHG were first spotted in online roundups and lists indicating the Best Influencers in a specific region or industry. Some lists we are currently loving at LHG are Forbes “30 Power Players making a Fortune on Social Media” along with Conde Nast Traveler’s “42 Travel Instagram Accounts You Need to Follow Now.”

Using a specific influencer search platform such as Cision, Klear or GroupHigh also enables you to search for influencers in a specific industry (such as travel, culinary, home décor) and filter results based on criteria such as followers, engagement, home city, etc. You can then create and save lists using your platform of choice to reference on an ongoing basis, making notes as you go regarding your experience working with the influencers and if you would recommend hosting again or not.


5. COMMITTED

When vetting influencers, it’s important to collect a signed contract prior to hosting with clear expectations spelled out regarding commitments on both their end and yours. Written agreements help to set expectations and avoid complications. Your contract should outline what the influencer will be hosted for (accommodations, meals, activities?), along with details for compensation (if required), confirmed content (how many posts and on what platforms) and timeline for postings (pre-trip, real time and/or post-trip). Don’t be afraid to ask influencers if they would be willing to share a collection of images from their trip or hosted experience with you after hosting to forward to the client for their own marketing and social media purposes. Photography is expensive and many times influencers are happy to pass along their favorite high-quality images as long as they receive photo credit. Confirming commitment is key in seeking both an influencer partner and life partner. A written contract helps ensure that expectations are met on both sides and that the partnership is mutually beneficial.