How To Be Creative

By Dave Cole
Posted Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Network marketing is an art as much as it is an applied science. To take a blank sheet of paper or canvas and draw or paint an interesting picture, you've got to have an imagination and creativity.

The other day, I was watching some video tapes I had made of my son when he was between 2 and 6 years old. One thing that impressed me was the total freedom he had to express his imagination and creativity.

He was always coming off with some unique or interesting new way of looking at things, or saying something. It was actually a refreshing experience for me to watch and remember the fun and zest he had for life at that age.

Life was so very new and interesting at that age. Every day was a new adventure and presented new opportunities to learn new things. Getting up every morning was something he looked forward to.

He hadn't yet learned or developed some basic fears, like the fear of being criticized or of what others might think of him. His actions and words were not hampered by thoughts of "what will others think if I say or do this".

There was no fear that blocked or stifled his imagination and creativity. He was never concerned that mom or dad might think less of him because of his actions or words.

One of the areas we need to be creative in is our ad writing. Ad writing is an applied skill, it is an art, and it is a science. It doesn't happen over night, ad writing takes a lot of practice, and a lot of learning to do before you get good at it.

We'll discuss the science of ad writing in a future article, but for now we are going to focus on just being creative with your writing.

Why do we need to be creative? Consider this: if a lot of people are selling or pushing the same product as you are, and using the same ad as you are, then there are going to be an awful lot of ads out there all looking the same. If a thousand other ads look just like yours, just how many clicks do you reasonably expect to come to you?

Creativity in your ad writing allows you to "break out of the pack" and sparkle your ad with dynamic and imaginative ideas. Something that will capture your reader's attention and get them to want to click on your ad.

Your ad has to stand out and be noticed above all others!

It's said that you have 3 seconds to attract your reader's attention before they click on to greener pastures.

The human mind constantly seeks for new and more exciting ideas and words to stimulate it. A person viewing the same boring headline or ad over and over again, will become numb to it and will simply ignore it's presence.

It's your job as an ad writer to capture that attention and give the reader's mind a new and refreshing experience.

Using your creativity and imagination to accomplish these objectives is a must do. Writing an ad is a challenging, exciting, and stimulating adventure for the ad writer. If you get that "charge" out of writing an ad, then most likely it will stimulate the reader also.

If ad writing is a "chore" for you, and it's something that you just feel you "have to do", then don't expect really good results either.

It's actually fun to think up new ways to say the same old thing. It's a challenge to see what new headline will attract another's attention. It's always exciting to see that a lot of people have been attracted to a headline and clicked through on it.

There are 2 things that will destroy your creativity. Distractions and fear.

A mind that is filled with thoughts telling it all the other things it must or should be doing will be a mind that is not capable of being expressive. That mind is worried, disturbed, and is unproductive. Go do what ever else you have to do first, then when you can be free, write your ads.

The great painters and artists of our world history had the unique ability to totally block out the world and focus only on what they were doing at the time.

The second thing that you must do is get over any fears of criticism.If you are concerned about what others will think when they view your ad, you're in big trouble.

If you are going to be creating a masterpiece of literature in your ad writing, you cannot allow those thoughts to belong in your head!

I'm going to let you in on a little secret I've never told anybody. When I write an ad I pretend. I pretend I'm one of the world's great writers who is creating one of his great works of literature. And I pretend that no one will ever see what I write.

It's easy to write to a computer screen that has no feelings or emotions or words that spit back at me, "This is no good, no one will ever read this garbage". I pretend that as soon as I write this stuff, it will get deleted.

There's no fear when I write! I can be like a little kid again and be free to express my creativity. After all, the only thing that will ever see this is my trash bin, right? I can type whatever I want with no fear of being criticized or condemned by what comes off the keyboard.

I can be 4 years old again and say what I want. I can be free to be creative and let the creative-imaginative juices flow.

About The Author
Dave Cole - Editor/Publisher of the Prosperity: The Choice Is Yours E-zine To read the current issue online and past articles by Dave: (http://choosetoprosper.com)