#21: How do you eat an elephant? A 6-part framework to chew on for your next creative project

Answer: One intentional, proactive and well-planned bite at a time. Anything worth doing well is worth doing slowly and intentionally, but this is especially important if you're taking on a big creative project and you need to figure out how to successfully eat your elephant. Here's a fun framework to get you stomping in the right direction.

#17: Discover and be discovered — being followed is nice but finding the others is better

To be interesting, be interested. This is something I’ve shared with my clients over the years when coaching them on building their online presence. But what does this mean exactly? It means it’s not all about you. Or your brand. Or your business. It’s quite a lot about who you’re selling to. Are you making them feel seen, heard and valued?

The beautiful woo of brand architecture

I call this the beautiful woo of brand architecture - building a brand interior from the archetype up! I love this work, because it starts from a wholly holistic and emotionally intelligent place; our innate sense of knowing.

Many brands start talking before they’ve had their first conscious thought! They start socialising their offering before they’ve considered who they are and how they speak. Establishing the foundations of your brand essence and finding your core archetypes gives your brand it’s edge. The place from which all communications should come; a structured and considered frame of reference.

Resistance is probably fertile, actually

For years the tech scene has dogged my creativity. I speak for myself, but many creative types can probably relate - the world of impressions, engagement and reach, or PPC, SEM, UGC and other 3-syllable jargons a few letters short of a good time, do nothing for the creative mind, nor the creative soul, mind you.

Hot copy with a capital aitch

The best #worklife thing that’s happened to me this year - me and the words have melted back together. Like two choc-chips having a reunion inside the folds of a slowly baked chocolate croissant - yes, it’s as hot and cosy as it sounds.

Keep it short, shorty

I tend to be a bit wordy when it comes to writing copy; a teacher once said my copy in an essay was ‘too flowery’. I’m always going to be about those word flowers and the heady fragrance they create when you read them. Swoon! But one thing I’m loving about this year’s client work is that the briefs are calling for short, punchy copy. I’m learning about restraint, tightening copy for specific brand tones and going for impact with clear call-to-actions. There’s no time for messing about with long, decorative story in 2020; but that doesn’t mean it can’t be interesting and atmospheric. It just takes a little extra thought to keep it short. 🥊

Ping when you're winning

I’d like to introduce you to my new friend - and my scrappy handwriting - the new friend is the bell. In a blog wormhole a couple of weeks ago, I came across an anecdote about a writer whose husband bought her a desk bell to ping whenever she had achieved her 1500 word-count for the day. A clever reward - notice, no calories in sight? So I made a mental note to find me a bell of my own, while also wondering, where the hell I would find such a thing?

Wordstrings - a blog-letter about hot copy, conscious creativity and the writer's mind

I’ve been collecting words of all kinds for a long time; quotes, passages, articles, stories, introspective thoughts and insightful gems that I just can’t leave behind. They run the spectrum of the writer’s mind, the human condition and the creative process. They explore novel artefacts, indulge dark humour and linger in philosophical thoughts. They brazenly peek under the skirt of contemporary culture. Just words and things that catch my mind’s-eye each day.

Sometimes you stop to think. And remember to start again.

We're over halfway through the year that wasn't, or was it? Or is it still the year that could be? So many questions. I'm slowly unfurling after taking an opportunity to rest and recover; while some have pivoted, adapted and changed tack, this has been a great time to take a step back and allow what is, or isn't, to be just what I needed. Here are a few things I've been upto over the past few months:

Boldness is genius

This is a little mantra I’ve been carrying around for years - it’s actually a summary of one of my favourite quotes. I write it down in notebooks and put it in places where it can surprise me and remind me to have the courage - bravery - or chutzpah, if you like your red on the sweet-side on Fridays, to be bold in this life. And so, it was curious to uncover a storm in a teacup about this exact quote a bunch of years back.

aitch communication becomes aitch create

It has been a while in the making but the new decade makes it official. aitch communication has undergone a small evolution; one that solidifies it’s creative copywriting and strategic offering, with a name tweak to bring it home… Hello aitch create!

Your dream job does not exist. You must create it.

Five years ago aitch was started with a dream - that partly involved doing a wide step around anything to do with corporate communications - and mostly involved pursuing and creating an independent and sustainable communications business.

One rooted in authenticity. One that encouraged working with a heart-on-sleeve approach and invited voice and imagination without reservation. One that allowed artfulness and thoughtfulness as a guiding principle over mindless mass communication...