Imagination in Business

As I continue to break down the benefits to therapists of the 12 Personality Traits of Wealthy Guerrilla Marketers shared by Jay Conrad Levinson, the inventor of Guerilla Marketing, he placed imagination at number two spot on his list.

I was SO pleased to see it even hit the list let alone rank so high because I believe healthy doses of imagination are vital to a successful marketing campaign. 

At Disney the people who imagine up all those wonderful theme parks are called "Imagineers" and I think every business owner should study Imagineering before they set out in business.

"Disneyland will never be completed as long as there’s imagination left in the world”
Walt Disney

Walt Disney was well aware that anytime someone's imagaination was switched on, there was something that could be improved on or done better.  In business if we have this focus, then every day will be an adventure.

The very first time I visited Disneyland I was blown away by the details and by how much thought had gone into this magical kingdom. I can still remember floating through the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and seeing a tiny little dog in one of the scenes and his tail was wagging.   Even though he was made of bits of fabric glued together and he was a small and an insignificant part of a very big production, he was still given personality and movement.  Thirty years on I can still imagine him in my mind, eyes sparkling and tail wagging and all because someone was given permission to imagine him into life and then animate him.

Bringing the ordinary to life for people has to be one of the greatest gifts we can share.

It's the same in small business.  Sure we have to do certain things in a regimented or even some times boring way but because we are our own bosses, we have permission to apply imagination to everything we do.  We can bring ordinary things to life in the way we teach, in the way we share or in the way we run our business.  Every day is a new opportunity to be innovative or to improve on some aspect of our business, or our marketing or our message to the world.

I've always put my message out in a quirky non standard way and I've found the more off the wall I get the more responses I get.   My How to make Your Duck Boogie anti-Christmas newsletter got the best response and sign up rates of all time.  You can never be sure why this sort of thing happens but I'd like to guess that it stood out from all the plastic christmas wishes people were sending at the time.

When you let your imaginination out to play regularly I find it makes the day go faster and it helps you stand out from the crowd AND it allows the fun in.  I can't tell you how much fun I had creating that duckie newsletter - matching the pictures to the duckies circumstances made me laugh till my sides hurt.  Quirky stands out but it also brings joy and helps you be remembered.

On his teleseminar Jay was talking about how it used to easy - we could put an add in the Yellow Pages and off we'd go, instant business success.  But today in the fast and wild world of social media you have to be different to get noticed.  People notice positively when you have the guts to turn up as yourself and show you are imaginative, creative and unique.  They also notice negatively if you take the easy option and just copy something.  They won't say a lot but it gets noticed.   

These days its all about how you stand out and how you show up as yourself.  So have the guts to get the glory by using your own imagination.

Most certainly keep an eye on what is happening in the marketplace and see what your competitors are up to.  But don't just copy them, add your slant to it, show your own opinions, come up with your own ideas and set free the ideas and thoughts that are currently locked in your imagination.  You might like what you find when you do.

Jay Conrad Levinson is coming to Australia for a short teaching tour in September 2010 – you can find out more here