How to create a unique tone of voice for any business

My local supermarket here in France has started selling BrewDog beer.

Why’s that a surprise? Well, major breweries over here control more than 90pc of the beer market. 

That's a huge obstacle for any independent brewer. Yet the Scottish firm has crashed the party and persuaded a French retail giant to stock its flagship brew, Punk IPA.

Success against the odds is always fascinating. So when I got home, I took a look at BrewDog’s website.

On there, the company shares the story of its rags to riches rise from humble beginnings in 2007 to becoming a proper powerhouse in the drinks trade. 

Straight-talking and subversive

It’s a great story. But what makes it even better is the way the company tells it.

The tone of voice (TOV) is clear, consistent, straight-talking and subversive. After less than five minutes of reading - while sampling the tasty IPA - I felt like I'd known the brand forever.

It got me thinking about just how important it is for any business - from the smallest one-man band to the largest tax-avoiding multi-national - to have a representative and consistent tone of voice.

Daft punk

In the case of BrewDog, which is owned by its customers (or ‘Punks’ as it refers to them), its communications across all channels share the same self-confident, tongue-in-cheek, chatting-to-your-mates tone. It’s always engaging and evocative and fits perfectly with the brand. 

Show me some examples, you’re probably thinking. I’m already there…

• BrewDog’s ‘about’ page describes the company’s unbelievable growth as an ‘assault on humanity’
• It refers to its Punk IPA brew as a ‘transatlantic fusion running at the fences of lost empires’
• Just before Christmas on its Twitter feed, it announced to its followers that: ‘We are BrewDog and we’re nailing our colours to the motherf***ing mast’

The company’s unique tone of voice proudly projects an absolute confidence in its products.

If it wins customers like me over in five minutes, then you start to understand how it convinced a major French retailer to stock its beer. It delivers on all the things that a business’s TOV should…

• Conveys a consistent message about its brand
• Helps create familiarity and loyalty with its customers
• Differentiates its business from competitors

Such a punchy, up-and-in-your-face TOV obviously isn’t right for every business. It will bring controversy - as it has for BrewDog, who’ve had plenty of backlash from the tabloid press. But if your business thrives on confronting the biggest brands in your marketplace, then it can be extremely powerful.

How to build the right tone of voice for your business

Whether you’re Joe Pasquale, Elvis Presley or just normal old you, your voice plays a big part in defining your identity. It’s the same for any business.

A company’s original TOV is often created by accident. The founder, when he or she is starting out, projects their values and personality on to the company by the way he talks to staff, responds to customers and carries out his marketing.

Problems often arise when the business expands and the founder no longer responds personally to every customer. Suddenly there are lots of different voices involved and brand values and customer communications become muddied. 

Could do better

I think most companies could do better. Here are The Writing Lab’s simple tips for developing a unique and consistent TOV for your business.

1. Make it personal
   
   Imagine your brand is a person and make a list of the traits and values it embodies. Try to pin down what’s unique and special about you. Thinking about your company culture and even the sort of things you and your employees do outside work is a great way to establish what makes you unique.
    
2. Find the key words that define your business
   
   Generic terms, such as helpful or reliable are the least any customer expects from a company, so try to delve deeper. If I was trying to define BrewDog’s TOV, I’d use words like subversive, straight-talking and fearless. Find the words that express the feelings, emotions and values that drive your success. Then, hack the list back to just three words that define you best. 
    
3.  Create clear guidelines
   
   Next step is to get your words down on paper and explain how they should be applied when colleagues communicate. Your TOV guidelines should include:

• Introduction - explain why you're doing it - ie, to have a common and consistent voice even though we might do different jobs. Also, use the introduction to make people think about how and why they use words (ie, to solve a problem, sell, build trust or cheer someone up) and why TOV is important
   
• The big reveal - have a simple, clear section that reveals the words that will define your chosen TOV, giving a one or two-line explanation of each. So you might say: Subversive: we’re confident about our products and bullish about taking the battle to established brands, and so on
   
• Provide more detail - next, take each word in turn and explain how it should be applied in practice. So, if one of your TOV words is ‘practical’ for example, you might present a bullet list of what exactly practical writing is (write conversationally, short sentences, subheadings to summarise and break up pars, etc)
   
• Show me, show me - include examples of adverts, articles or websites that grab your attention. You’re aiming to give those reading your TOV clear and quick examples of the importance of good communication
   
• The tools for the job - include a simple toolkit that people can use for common communication activities, like letter-writing, emails, etc. It could take the form of a list of questions that everyone should ask themselves before they write, such as: what’s the problem you’re trying to solve? What’s the value for the reader? What action do I want them to take? You should also include examples of customer communication (letters, tweets, articles) written the old way, alongside edited versions in the new TOV, accompanied by easy-to-follow justifications for the new direction.

Brew your own

BrewDog’s rapid growth is a rare phenomenon. They’ve brewed up great words to match a great product. Now it’s time you brewed your own.

16 things you definitely shouldn’t do in 2016

Confessing to our worst professional habits isn’t easy. But we’ve probably all got a fairly lengthy list of things that we did way too much of in 2015 that made us less productive, healthy or happy. 

Here’s my own list of daily infractions that I’m determined to do less of this year. If, like me, you’re a creative professional with a coffee addiction and wandering mind, then it might also help you lay the foundations for a successful new year.

1. Get distracted by the ‘crack bar’ on Daily Mail online

A sub-editor friend who works for the Daily Mirror recently revealed that the trashy entertainment panel on Mail online is known in the industry as the ‘crack bar’, because it’s so nasty and moreish. I hate the DM for so many reasons, yet I’ve been thoroughly Zammo-ed by it. Rita Ora’s on the beach, Kim Kardashian’s bum is walking somewhere, Miranda Kerr’s eating food. Click, click, click. Of all the habits I need to kick, this is the big one.

2. Make three pots of coffee before 11am

Coffee is a writer’s best friend. It’s helped me kickstart countless projects and always gives me a warm kick up the bum when deadlines loom. But you can have too much of a good thing. Where’s the line? Who knows? But it’s safe to say that two pints of coffee before lunch crosses it. 

3. Reward yourself with a treat at 9am

Eating three biscuits before I’ve done anything productive is, well, counter-productive. Instant gratification is out the window for 2016.

4. Be a Twitter addict - but never contribute

I love Twitter, but my contribution has never moved beyond reading interesting content and liking the odd tweet. This year, I’m making it my goal to use the platform more effectively to build stronger connections and expand my client list.

5. Wind down on a Friday afternoon

I’m often guilty of easing off the gas on a Friday afternoon which, as a freelance writer, means I’m throwing away 10pc of my potential income. That really is stupid.

6. Ignore the high bounce rate on your website’s landing page

The Writing Lab succeeds largely from referrals. One client likes what we do and the word spreads. The only drawback has been that I’ve ignored issues with my website - not least the fact that people who land on it don’t click through its content as much as I’d like. This year, I’m going to stretch its value and usability. It’s been a while since I studied physics, but that should make it a lot less bouncy. 

7. Write ‘clickbait’ headlines

I’m slightly guilty of it on this post, but at least I didn’t write ‘16 insanely amazing things that will change your life and make you rich in 2016’. Clickbait is the modern day Wonderbra, where the lure of something exceeds the reality. BuzzFeed does it brilliantly, but others, including Elle UK lower the tone of their brand with titillating titles that simply don't deliver on content.

8. Pretend you fully understand SEO

Every good copywriter needs to understand SEO, but they also need to be flexible enough to accept that the goalposts are constantly moving. My tip for every copywriter is to keep learning and stay ahead of changes to search, so you continue to deliver the crisp, creative, keyword-friendly content that brings more traffic, and more sales, to your clients' businesses. 

9. Spend longer on projects than is really necessary

I'm prone to spending more time than I need to preening and pruning an article, when there's no real added benefit to my client. Vanity exercise? Yes. Good for business? Nope.

10. Listen to music when you’re working

I love music. It's a triumph of human ingenuity. But it's time I was honest with myself and admitted that listening to it when I'm working makes me less productive. If it's a repetitive task that I'm familiar with, then fine. But anything more immersive takes longer if there's a beat in the background. Silence is golden if you want to be a productive writer. 

11. Only work to full capacity when a deadline draws near

It’s amazing what you can do in an hour when the pressure’s on. This year, I’m going to treat my working day like a series of shorter deadlines to improve my efficiency and client satisfaction.

12. Watch This Morning on your lunchbreak  

Gino’s making pasta. Holly’s laughing because Phil said ‘big one’. Alison’s got 500 quid down her bra. Is this really making me a better human being?

13. Listen to podcasts in bed

One of the biggest lies I tell myself is that I’ll switch off the podcast before I fall asleep. I've never once achieved this. Instead, I wake up at 2am half strangled by my headphones, wondering where I am, who I am and what I’m doing. Not a great recipe for a good night’s sleep.

14. Believe that apps can’t improve your life

I like to embrace new things, but have been reluctant to absorb apps into my life. Other freelancers sing the praises of apps which help them organise their time better or block distracting celebrity websites. It's time I tested them for myself. 

15. Eat a cheese sandwich for lunch - every day

Yummy yes. Nutritious and energising no.

16. Check your emails every time your phone vibrates

Oh look. It’s Sports Direct again. Even though I’ve emailed them eight times asking to be removed from their mailing list. Leave your phone alone until lunchtime Ian.

My curious formula for better communication (but don’t read this if you’re a cat)

Hi there. Or meow if you’re a curious, death-defying supercat.

Creating curiosity is a great way of improving the way you communicate. Whether your focus is content marketing, straight-up sales or employee engagement, it’s an amazing - and free - tool that gets results.

Let’s take a look at popular list-based news site BuzzFeed. Their most popular posts can pull in 10,000,000 hits. Posts with the most pulling power have included: 50 people you wish you knew in real life, 12 extremely disappointing facts about music, 45 most powerful images of 2011 and 13 simple steps to get you through your day. 

Every one of these is designed to make readers curious. Why would you pass up the chance of seeing the world’s most powerful images or reading some sure-fire ways of making your day easier? What BuzzFeed does so well is it also backs up these titles with witty and engaging content.

Twix fiasco

Other purveyors of the curiosity formula, however, can over-promise and under-deliver. I really hate those Facebook posts that say: What happens next will leave you amazed/in tears/dead (if you’re a cat). Experience has taught me that more often than not, if I click on the link, I’ll be as underwhelmed as the day I bought a Twix and only found one finger in it. It’s highly unlikely I'll be amazed or in tears. 

While I may shun these repetitive posts, a quick glimpse at their ‘like’ figures shows plenty of people disagree. A curious approach can get a huge number of readers onboard.

Here’s why it’s so important to make your audience curious:

1. By writing a curious title, or posing an intriguing question, you make your readers’ minds active. They immediately have an interest in finding out what you have to say. Your audience is ready to listen, learn and engage - pretty much the Holy Grail of good communication.
2. Once you’ve built this curiosity, it’s important you don’t let your audience down. At the heart of their curiosity will be a desire to learn something that will make their lives easier or help them do their job better. Building a loyal audience requires an authentic approach, so if you make a promise with a curious title, be sure to back it up with some thought-provoking, useful content.
3. It’s a great approach for engaging employees in otherwise complex business issues. If great things came out of a management meeting, strip out the words ‘management meeting’ that are likely to turn off frontline staff and instead create curiosity by presenting the information in a fresh way. Packaged as '10 tips to make your day easier’, employees will want to engage with it.
4. The same goes for communicating with customers or stakeholders. In terms of a business blog, you could focus on an interesting aspect of your product or offer that solves a clear problem for your customers. Present the problem, pique their interest in what you have to offer and leave it there. Make them curious to know more and offer them easy access to the channels which tell the full story.

If you’re curious about how you can communicate better, but not sure where to start, The Writing Lab can help. Drop us an email at info@thewritinglabcreative.com.

No cats were harmed in the writing of this post.

Communication lessons from Cameron and Miliband

It was great to see Jeremy Paxman back and biting like a bulldog last night and his interviews with David Cameron and Ed Miliband made for compulsive viewing. Blows were traded and hands were waved. But who came out of the first leaders’ showdown as the best communicator?

David Cameron, with everything to lose, looked startled and rattled as Paxman laid into him on the rise in food banks and zero-hours contracts. Ed Miliband, meanwhile - if you could ignore his huge, flailing, kung-fu novice’s hands - took the red bull by the horns and made a real effort to show everyone what a genuine, trustworthy and, ‘hell yes’, tough guy he was. 

As far as good communication goes, I think Miliband won. David Cameron looked like a man on the backfoot. Proud of his performance on the economy, yes. But very aware that his political rivals believe they’ve caught him with his trousers down on everything from broken pledges on immigration to the lack of working rights for the low-paid in society. 

Cameron was reluctant to accept fault or concede mistakes. Looking irritable and taking regular sips of water, he came across as a man who was sick of defending himself and his record. Not a good thing to communicate when you’re trying to convince the nation that you’re the man to captain the ship in the face of future challenges.

Before the interview, I thought Miliband was a liability for Labour. I remain unconvinced that he’d make a dynamic PM, but I do think he came across as an effective communicator. By focusing on connecting with the audience, speaking with intent and seeming rather genuine, he did his campaign no harm. 

He clearly knows his weaknesses and has realised it’s better to be yourself than pretend to be something you’re not. He fought back against Paxman, stuck firmly to his message and smiled at the questions that were supposed to make him squirm. 

In simple terms of communicating his message, Miliband gave Cameron a sweet left hook. 

How to hit Top Gear again after making a blunder

Jeremy Clarkson. A tall and hairy jar of Marmite that you either love or hate. He got a bit punchy over a lack of hot food recently - the latest mistake in a long list of high-speed blunders by the big man. 

But let's park Clarkson for a minute and look at the broader issue of making mistakes at work - and the best way of bouncing back from them.

Cyborgs

It’s commonly accepted that unless we’re perfectly programmed cyborgs of the future, we all make mistakes. But that’s not a whole lot of consolation when you realise you’ve made one. It’s like the butterflies from a first date, break-up, food poisoning and hangover all rolled into one. Immense panic grips your gut as you realise you pressed send on an email you really shouldn’t have. Or a client calls to say you missed the mark on a vital project.

The good news is that the way you deal with your mistake is often more important than the error itself. How you react will make the people affected draw conclusions about your ability to cope in a crisis. Do it well and your mistake could be the best thing that ever happened to you.

What not to do

First of all, avoid extreme reactions. You might be tempted to bury your mistake, deny involvement or - at the other end of the scale - repeatedly apologise to the point of annoying the hell out of everyone. Like belts and the equator, the answer lies somewhere in the middle.

How to react with style and bounce back

For me, the key is to acknowledge and accept you’ve made a mistake as quickly as possible. Next, work out two or three solutions for limiting or repairing the damage, along with a couple more that reduce the risk of you making the same mistake again. When you need to have that difficult conversation about your mistake, you’ll get a much better reaction if you can show you have a ready-to-go emergency action plan. It shows you’re positive, intelligent, calm, serious, proactive and lots of other impressive and employable adjectives. 

It’s also important to be objective. When a client criticises your work, it’s instinctive to think of all the reasons why you’re great and they’re wrong. But be honest. I’d say in at least 99pc of cases (let’s leave a small margin for us to be right), there’s no smoke without fire. You probably have missed the brief to some extent or are in some way culpable.

Consider what you could have done better - but also scrutinise whether there were external factors that prevented you from doing so. Perhaps the brief was non-existent and you did your best in difficult circumstances. Or perhaps you took an approach that has served you well in the past, only for it to miss the stumps this time. 

Don’t look back in anger - look forward and think about how you can make sure it won’t happen again. 

Sticks

Perspective is good, too. Thrashing yourself with sticks for days on end over a fairly small error is never a good idea. Far better, if you normally do a good job, is to put your mistake down to experience, learn from it and move on. However professional and experienced you are, sometimes you just get it wrong. If you do a great job most of the time, your colleagues and clients will forgive the occasional blip. None of us are robots and the normal swing and sway of professional life leaves us open to the occasional error.

Let’s take a quick look at a few people in the public eye who’ve made mistakes - and see what they did to recover.

Jeremy Clarkson

We have to start with Mr C. As making gaffes at work goes, he’s the undisputed champion. He’s offended Argentinians, Mexicans and badgers, compared a Ferrari he didn’t like to people with ‘special needs’ and made a number of alleged racial slurs during filming. He’s rarely apologised, apart from in that irritating mock boys’ club way he does on Top Gear. But, until now, it had done little to harm his career. However, his recent attack on a Top Gear producer over lack of access to a hot meal finally brought out his remorseful, contrite side. I think it’ll probably work for him. He clearly feels in the wrong on this one and responded accordingly with an apologetic phone call to his BBC bosses. This one feels like a genuine apology. And I think that’s the key. It doesn’t really matter what’s gone before. Every mistake is different and needs to be treated in its own careful way. In the case of the biggest cock-ups, a genuine apology could save your job.

Gareth Bale

Real Madrid’s Welsh wing wizard had lost his magic. As an outsider, he was an easy scapegoat for Real’s fans as their form fell to pieces. But he brushed off his mistakes - bad performances and missed opportunities - to slap two goals past Levante at the weekend. After the game, he rolled out some familiar football cliches - but actually, they kind of made sense. If you take your professional life ‘one game at a time’ and always aim to perform well, your rare mistakes will be forgiven. And you’ll find it easier to put the blips behind you. 

Grant Shapps

While the mistakes you or I make might feel epic, you can take heart by comparing them to gaffes on a grander scale. Think about the Tesco accountants who allegedly fiddled the books, the bankers who gambled with our money and brought the global economy down - or Grant Shapps, the Conservative Party chairman who swore blind he didn’t have a second job during his ministerial reign. But guess what? He did have a job as a ‘millionaire marketeer’ for a full year after he became an MP. But he forgot.

We’re all programmed to fight our corner when we’re being attacked, but there’s really nothing to be gained from telling a big fat lie to defend your reputation. You’ll be found out and you'll lose your credibility. Without those, you don’t have much of a professional standing. So until the cyborgs take over, we're all liable to make the odd mistake. Hold your hands up, accept you’re human and try to steer clear of doing it again.

We'd love to hear what you think. What gaffes have you made at work and how did you put them behind you? Leave your comments below.

Would you rather - win a Grammy or an England cap?

What would you rather have on your mantelpiece - a Grammy or an England cap? I'll take the tassled headwear to go alongside my ropey DVDs and dust. Whatever your preference, both are symbols of being at the top of your game.

Soulful singer Sam Smith and rising footie star Harry Kane may seem like chalk and cheese, but they're both top talents in their chosen fields. So what makes them tick? And are there things about them that we could all apply to help us tune up our careers and hit our goals?

I had a look through a few interviews with these two and found some useful and inspiring advice. 

Sam Smith

The British soul singer has had a string of big hits apparently, but I only know Money on my Mind and Not the Only One. Anyway, they've certainly propelled him into pop music's premier league. Kylie, Bastille and Leicester City are sadly in the relegation zone. 

One thing that strikes me about Smith is his innocence and vulnerability. I love that. It serves him well and it heartens me to think that while slick salesman certainly succeed, less glossy individuals can also be number one.

Being open about who you are and not trying to fit into a stereotype - just being yourself - is a great thing to take from Smith. 

He also has an unshakeable belief in his talent: “Deep down in me there was never a question (that I’d make it). I don't want to sound big-headed or horrible, but from day one I had a quiet confidence that everything would be OK,” he said in a recent Guardian interview.

Self-belief is the onion of success - the ingredient you really can't do without. The only way to have that, of course, is to work out what you’re best at and then pursue a career in that field. So follow your dream, but make sure it's something you're good at.

The final thing that makes Smith interesting to me is how clearly he visualises the future.

In the same Guardian interview, he said: "Even right now I have the title in my head to my second album. I know what it's going to sound like. I have the idea in my head for the artwork and I also have the idea for the artwork for my third album.”

Visualising the future gives you firm direction, whatever your trade. 

Smith’s focus, hard work, integrity and vision are keys to his success. Applying these principles to just about any job is sure to bring you a hit or two. Although you still may not get to meet Rihanna.

Harry Kane

The young Tottenham Hotspur star looks to have an exciting future ahead. It pains me to say it, but he destroyed Arsenal in his first North London derby and he's on the brink of an England call-up. I'm not saying he's the next Cristiano Ronaldo - which is a good thing - but it would seem he has the world at his feet. 

The first thing you notice is that he's responded well to having a manager who believes in him. Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino is a manager who believes in giving a chance to young players with potential. It doesn't always come off, but it undoubtedly has with Kane.

Kane said: “He (Pochettino) has faith in me, and just tells me to go out there and play the way I can."

That can be transferred to the workplace. If you have a supplier you like and trust, put your faith in them, don't interfere too much and let them get on with what they're good at. 

Most of us thrive best when we know that the people we work for believe in us. I spent several years woking in a national newspaper newsroom, where perfect work was expected and you were rarely thanked or encouraged. It created a tense and toxic atmosphere. I think you build better relationships if you encourage people and say 'well done' now and again. It bolsters confidence and keeps people positive.

Another thing Kane does is model himself on his idol, former Spurs goal legend Teddy Sheringham. “I loved the way Teddy Sheringham played, especially his movement, and I really try to base my game on his,” Kane said.

Having an idol and striving to be more like them may sound a bit stalky, but it's a smart way to keep moving forward, improve your skills and stay motivated.

Kane waited patiently for his chance and when it came he made sure he didn't waste it. So stay grounded, practice your art and take your chances when they come along. 

I'm going to try to apply some of Kane's focus and youthful energy to my work in the coming weeks. I'm afraid it means I won't get out of bed for less than £50,000 a week though. And I'll need a private helicopter for my next client meeting.

If you're not as perfect as Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones...

What separates the best creative minds - those who consistently put a smile on their clients' faces - from those who do a decent job, but never quite hit the mark?

For me, it's all about learning from your mistakes. 

You may be reading this - if you're Eddie Redmayne or Felicity Jones, for example - and thinking, actually I don't really make mistakes. But for us mere mortals with busy schedules, it can be easy to leap from one project to the next without properly analysing how the previous job went and honestly admitting what you could have done better. 

Say you've completed a project and your client gives you some great feedback. However, there were a couple of minor style issues that you missed. It's easy to take the good comments and forget the minor moans. But getting it right next time is the difference between your client thinking you listen to them or you don’t.

If only there was an easy way to make sure your work is on a constant journey of development. Hello, did an apple just fall on my head? The solution is a logbook.

Your dad's greasy old Viva might have just sprung to mind. Sorry if it has. The logbook I'm talking about though is a creative one - where you store the details of your work, your mind and what you can improve on each job.

I’ve kept notes in this way for a long time, without using the term 'logbook'. But I recently listened to a great podcast - www.beingfreelance.com - where a photographer who’d been in the business for a long stretch talked about the benefit of using one. It's the simple path to constant creative improvement.

There’s nothing more frustrating that feeling your skills or motivation have plateaued. If you're in this boat, you may feel you need some external training to ride the crest of a wave again. To a certain extent, you can fire your flames with a logbook. 

So how do you do it?

1. Buy a notepad that you commit to keeping exclusively as your logbook. That means no doodling on it when you’re on the phone. Use of glitter pens is allowed.

2. For each project you take on, write a brief synopsis of the job. Once it's complete, record feedback from your client and any recommendations they've made for next time. Then, being as objective as possible, record two or three things that you feel you could have done better.

3. Before you start any new project, read back over some of the projects that are relevant to the forthcoming one. I guarantee you’ll read something you’d forgotten and it will inspire you to provide a better service this time around. 

4. You’ll notice small improvements with every project you do. And so will your clients. This is pure gold for any working relationship and will almost certainly lead to more work, more praise, and more word-of-mouth recommendations.

As well as the health benefits to your business, keeping a logbook also makes you feel better about the work you’re doing. It’s great for your morale and job satisfaction when you can see that you're progressing with every piece of work - and when you're being so proactive and doing it for yourself.

Happiness is logbooks. Well, they're part of the story anyway. It may not quite be a Theory of Everything, but I’m convinced they’re an amazing way to build self esteem and better businesses.

5 simple ways to speed up the creative process

Photo by Nastco/iStock / Getty Images

When you tackle creative problems every day, you get to know the workings of your brain pretty intimately. You understand - for better or worse - the path you must follow to find the best solutions and switch the creative light on.

My own process goes something like this...

1. Read a client's brief several times and mark out key instructions.
2. Have a rush of positive feeling. I can do this. Today, I will come up with something amazing.
3. Start reading relevant materials and research the subject matter. Bombard my brain with as much information as I can.
4. Brainstorm ideas and start to think of solutions.
5. Keep thinking.
6. Still thinking.
7. All these ideas are rubbish. I’m useless. I hate myself. I’ll never come up with a solution.
8. A lightbulb comes on - finally, a spark of inspiration. Where did that come from?
9. All that thinking I did before starts to feed into the idea. Wow, this is building into something pretty nice.
10. Yes, I’m on a roll.
11. Actually, I’m quite good.
12. Flipping heck, I’m brilliant.
13. Send idea, solution or finished content to client.
14. Doubt myself. Was it really that good? Why haven’t I heard anything? They must hate me. 
15. A call or email from the client. They liked what I did.
16. Relief and joy.
17. New brief. The battle starts again.

When I read through this, it tells me a lot about myself. I’m a creature of habit. Even though this 17-point journey seems long-winded, I know it works, so I stick with it - like a trusty old Fiesta.

I think it also shows I’m focused and dedicated, but about as stable as a see-saw. But those low moments are necessary for me. Self-doubt makes me question everything and means I don’t settle for a sub-standard idea. I’ll polish it until it gleams. Question yourself and your ideas and you’re more likely to strike gold.

Electrify

Solving creative problems is rarely easy. But you can apply certain techniques that will electrify your grey matter, make you more productive and bring in more revenue. 

1. Write down your own creative process and analyse it. Pick apart each step and think of ways you can do them more efficiently. Is the problem that the brief from your client is sometimes unclear? If so, pick up the phone and talk to them about it. Work out where the obstacles are and look at fresh ways of hurdling them.

2. Have heroes. I’m not condoning stalking, but it is to your advantage to have creative people that you're devoted to. Whether you love football and get excited when Sergio Aguero or Alexis Sanchez conjure some inspirational magic from within, or adore a certain band, musician or DJ who lifts your mood and touches your soul, these people can help you be more creative. Watch or listen to your heroes before you create. Feeling their inspiration helps you to be inspired.

3. Don’t sit and brood. If you’ve hit a creative brick wall, you need to get out of your office chair to climb over it. Einstein thought up Special Relativity after glimpsing at a clock tower. I’ve set the bar a bit too high there, but some of my best ideas are born when I’m making a coffee, sitting on the loo (sorry for sharing that) or going for a lunchtime run up the hill next to our house. Changing your environment stimulates your mind. It could save you minutes, if not hours of dead thinking time.

4. Relax. Creative breakthroughs are more likely to come knocking when you're relaxed. Your mind needs to be relatively focused, of course, but also at ease. Spend time on your research and then sit quietly in a chair - or even lie down somewhere - and revisit the problem. Talk it through in your brain and let your thoughts wander. Inspiration could well arrive.

5. Remove distractions. When the creative demons arrive and push you into a hole, it’s tempting to check your emails, Facebook or favourite showbiz-related website. Don’t do it. Without realising it, you could be wasting 10 minutes an hour. That’s at least an hour wasted every day, five hours a week - more than 200 hours over the course of a working year. If you’re a freelancer, that’s at least £4,000 that you could be billing for. There are programmes and apps you can download, including Freedom, which allow you to block the internet for however long you need to focus. Close the net and your Eureka moment will arrive much quicker.

Highs and logos

Being a writer, it’s a given that I love words and the amazing power they harness. But I’m a sucker for graphic design too. Watching a great designer put my vision onto paper is like watching Zlatan Ibrahimovic do all the things I wish I could on a football pitch.

I’ve been thinking a lot about design lately as I’ve been rebranding my business. Thinking of our new name and strapline was fun, but an uphill task. In fact, I ran about 30 miles in the hilly woods around my house before inspiration caught up with me.

When it came to imagining a logo, my brain was a blank space. It’s like when I play Pictionary. I can’t visualise an image of an object and I certainly can’t put it down on paper. If you’re ever in a room with me and someone pulls Pictionary out, leave if I try to make eye contact.

With my achilles’ heel in full view, I decided the most sensible thing to do would be to outsource my logo design. After some initial research I decided to work with an excellent graphic designer, Lesley Mann, who I’d worked with during my years in the Irish daily press.

I told her our name, The Writing Lab. She liked it. Good start. And I explained our business values and the visual style I hoped to achieve with our website and corporate identity. I said words like modern, dynamic, clear, thoughtful, scientific, cool. Yes, I still use the word 'cool' at 37. 

And so the process began. First I received a page of rough ideas. Fat fonts, thin fonts, serif, sans serif, lower case, upper case, pencil icons, words written over a test tube.

Lesley was clear to point out that this was a really early stage where she was trying to understand my preferences for certain design basics, such as typeface, colour and concept. The polish would come later. 

I made my choice. I liked the lighter typeface (right) written in lowercase and loved the simple pencil design. I chatted with Lesley and she said she’d develop the design and also work up a couple of others that she thought had potential. My next conundrum looked like this (below).

Lesley had worked up a very smart concept of typewriter keys (top), which she was keen on, but it didn’t feel right for my brand. I favoured the narrowest typeface (blue) and Lesley was happy to develop it.

During these early development stages I was also working on designing the website you're looking at now. When I had a few spare minutes, I Googled ‘best logos’ to see what else was out there. I sent a couple of my favourites over to Lesley, along with a draft of the website.

She explained that she had big conceptual plans for the logo - which were on the same lines as my thinking - but that she’d wanted to nail the basics before she added the shine and polish.

With that, Lesley sent across a final selection of ideas, which incorporated the simple, but striking pencil icon.

I picked my favourite and left it to Lesley to really dress it up. I was starting to love it. There was one final decision to make, however, as Lesley sent across five subtly different ‘final’ decisions (two are right). Spot the difference.

At this stage, I really couldn’t pick a favourite, so I put my faith in Lesley's hands and asked her to choose.

She polished the chosen one and here it is.

I’m delighted with it. It’s a contemporary design that beautifully tells the story of my brand. I’m really proud to see it fronting the business.

Now I've told you our story, here are my tips on how to get a logo you love.

1. Find a designer who understands your vision and wants to design for you - rather than themselves.
2. Understand that finding the right solution takes time and discussion. Don’t expect to see a brilliant polished concept right away.
3. Invest in a good designer. Don’t be seduced by cheap deals on freelance auction sites. I really think it’s false economy. Excellent logo design requires skill and experience and is worth paying for.
4. Make a clear and simple list of what makes your business unique and what your values are and communicate these clearly to your designer.

I couldn’t recommend Lesley highly enough. You can contact her for a quote at lelnott@googlemail.com