Category: Career and Business lessons

Career and Business lessons

5 ways of doing things differently with interactive infographics

Posted on by Lisanne

If you have tons of data and you want to tell a good story, the interactive infographic might be a fantastic tool. Those graphics entice people to explore your content, and can also provide far more information than static ones. In this blog I would like to highlight my favorite interactive infographics.

Infographics

In every field of work there is a story to tell. Whether we are talking about the cupcakes industry, art or equal pay, in all of those topics it can occur that you want to reveal data in a quick and easy way. Visual content has the ability to educate and using it for your blog, business or presentation can help you stand out from the crowd.

But not only that, infographics also make complex data very easy to digest and they are fun to share as well. People love that. In this article Infographic: Why Your Brain Loves Infographics (And Your Readers Do Too), you can get to know why people love them so much.

In contrast to these plain infographics, the interactive counterparts are not yet overused and still rare and they’re even far more engaging as well. In fact, you could say that triggering user engagement is their main goal and feature. This is mainly due to the dynamic elements like questions or pop-ups that those interactive infographics can use for telling their stories.

Therefore, the options with interactive infographics are pretty much endless. Almost every interactive infographic has another purpose, another design, and another subject. Due to the many different options of dynamic elements, they all have another way of interactivity too. To give you some inspiration for your own storytelling journey, I’ve listed five interactive infographic examples.

To show you how far we can go with this type of visual storytelling, I can add more visualized and interactive content examples to this website. But for now I collected 5 of my favorites. Here we go!

5 ways of doing things differently

Interactive infographics can be used in a lot of ways.

1.) Limit information with clicks and rollovers

One annoying thing about some websites, is to me an overload of information. A great way to avoid that and at the same time get users to actively participate in the storytelling experience, is to have clicks or rollovers that offer more information.

Interactive infographics can be valuable tools in achieving that. Not only do the clicks and rollovers encourage the user’s sense of curiosity and exploration, it also allows them to skip over minor topics that are not of interest to them, without discouraging them from continuing on with the rest of the interactive infographic.

On the more complex end of examples is the SimpliSafe guide to home security. There’s a lot more than just clickable links in this journey through the different layers of home defence, but their inclusion makes for a richer learning experience.

infographic examples

2.) Connect the dots with

Another way to make complex data visuable and understandable, is by highlighting and filtering certain areas on a map.

3.) Make complex data more accessible with maps

This interactive map from the Guardian answers the question on how women’s rights are changed around the globe. It allows you to scan information by region, time period, or by right (voting, right to run, elected). More info is found by clicking on a country.

These types of interactive infographics make sense of data by showing us how all of those information (region, voting etc) relates with each other. These maps are not only great because they show us patterns, but you can also make sense of the information yourself by clicking, scrolling and filtering the content.

I found this map very meaningful because it promotes a message that needs to be told, and understood by everyone. Women have been fighting for their rights until very recently in many countries. And in some places, they still are. Therefore, this map raises awareness and because it’s so intuitive and interactive by hand, you can learn for yourself too.

International Women’s Day: Political Rights Around the World Mapped, by Lizzie Malcolm, Lustlab, From the Guardian.

Another interactive infographic that offers patterns, is this map called The Geography of Hate: Geotagged Hateful Tweets in the United States. LBS has a power to link the online-content to a certain physical location which creates a whole new dimension and context that allows to change the data and information into valuable knowledge.

Created by a professor and students at Humboldt State, this piece shows an interactive map of all tweets featuring hate speech in America. The data is from all geotagged tweets between June 2012 to April 2013. Even with this map the infographic is very engaging because you can click, scroll and filter. To me it’s such a fascinating map… It got me thinking what it actually says about the places where these comments are coming from.

interactive infographics 18

4.) Make complex data more accessible with trends

Will a Robot Take my Job? Although from 2015, BBC created an awesomely terrifying interactive infographic that shows the likelihood of robots making your job obsolete. Either type in your profession or choose from a comprehensive list to see the percentage. 

infographic examples

The BBC clearly knows what she’s doing by making this information easier for us to digest. By giving us percentages, trends and estimates, and allowing us to fill in what we want to know, the network succeeds in my opinion in making the information more accessible for us. If you like you can click on the picture to go to their website and fill in your job.

5.) Give personalized outcomes with calculations

This visualization called What’s Your Pay Gap? by the Wall Street Journal highlights the issue of pay discrepancy. The interactive lets you plug in your profession and calculate how much you make compared to the opposite gender. In this way, you give people the sense that the content is made for them.

People remember only 20% of what they read. When you ask them to see and do, they will remember 80% of it. By asking questions as the user navigates through interactive infographics like this one, visitors can see how their problems, beliefs, or results directly compare to the larger data set in real-time. They participate actively into the storytelling journey, which makes them more engaging.

Interestingly, it shows that women getting paid less. There are professions where men are making less than their female counterpart; dieticians for example.

I’ve written an e-book and some blogs about negotiating for salary as a woman and what kind of struggles we face in that process. Head over to this section if you’re interested to learn more.

infographics

Conclusion

In short, infographics can help us get our information more quickly because they are more engaging, more accessible, more persuasive, and easier to recall. With interactive infographics, you combine the power of an already compelling content type (infographics) with interactive elements. This type of infographic is even more engaging than their static counterparts and the forms in which they appear are pretty much endless.

Therefore, using interactive infographics in your visual storytelling can be powerful too because they create a visual dialogue that engages and educates your audience. Those graphics not only enable us to minimize information, but also give us insights into more complex patterns and trends. And give personalized information.

If you’re thinking about experimenting with interactive infographics or looking for some serious inspiration for your next project, I’ve rounded up 50 of my favorites, covering everything from the cosmic web to cocktails. Sign up to get that piece!

But although the information or data can be super simple or incredibly complex, the graphic itself does not have to be difficult. Scrolling can also be used in really simple ways, with simple narratives. Take a look at this iPod capacity visualisation for example. The content is incredibly basic, but the scrolling factor does an excellent job of communicating the point. Although it not really is an info graphic, it is a good and interactive way of storytelling.

I’ve written more blog posts about visual content creation. Head over to these articles if you like to learn more:

Career and Business lessons

The difference between an entrepreneur and a freelancer

Posted on by Lisanne

During my studies I started to work as a freelancer. I didn’t study for web-development and webdesign, but somehow I rolled into it. First I worked via an employment agency, later I decided that it was time to determine my own hourly wage. I know freelance life from the inside out, and along the way I came to conclude that being a freelancer is something way different than being an entrepreneur.

Freelance life

Freelancing is an essential step in the entrepreneurial journey. You have to learn how to find clients, talk to them and get them to pay you. You have to learn how to develop skills and ideas and test them in the marketplace.

Because you have to be present in all kinds of areas, you’re literally a jack of all trades.

And freelancing is great, because for all intents and purposes, you can get started immediately.

Once I went to Morocco with my boyfriend and traveled the country for one month while working part-time.

I used some hours out of the morning to work on the project, while I was sitting on the terrace of our Kasbah watching the city to awake.

Freelancing is a great way to leave the 9-5, and to experience a great sense of freedom. It can learn you many things outside traditional work life. If you do that in a creative and smart way, you can earn way more money than what you would get in a traditional job.

But it can also be challenging.

The truth is that almost anything can make money if you want, but you’re mindset is an important factor as well.

Along the way I learned to view my skills and experiences as bankable, valuable resources that deserves to be paid for. 

You can help someone with skills and knowledge that you already have. An easy way to do this is by freelancing.

Differences

What I basically did while working as a freelancer is exchanging my time for money. I got paid when I worked and when I would take myself out of the equation, the business wouldn’t work anymore.

But entrepreneurs do things differently.

They focus on growth, use money (from others) to scale up systems, automation and, eventually, employees that work without their direct involvement.

They create things that are bigger than themselves and let others do the work that’s needed on daily basis.

If one would decide to leave, there is this possibility to sell the business and it’s brand to someone who then would run the business. They’re working on a concept.

So the goal of a freelancer is to have a steady job with no boss, to do great work, to gradually increase demand so that the hourly wage goes up and the quality of gigs goes up too.

The goal of the entrepreneur is to sell out for a lot of money, or to build a long-term profit machine that is steady, stable and not particularly risky to run. In short, the way both set their goals are different from one another.

Generalized mindset versus specialism

Entrepreneurship is about finding a gap into the market, rather than a gap in a project. A freelancer fills up the gap with his skills. The freelancer brings the project to completion and that helps further bring the product to completion.

Therefore, freelancers support entrepreneurs in their attempts to fix the bigger issues of the market. It’s about becoming remarkable in your work, whereas entrepreneurs wear different hats. So entrepreneurship is more like a generalized mindset rather than having a specialism.

Don’t mix them up

Sometimes freelancers get entrepreneur envy and start hiring other freelancers to work for them. This is a trap because this doesn’t scale. Managing freelancers is different from being a freelancer. Managing freelancers and saving the best projects for yourself gets you into trouble. The cash flow gets you into trouble. Investors don’t want to invest in you because you can’t sell out if you’re a freelancer at heart.

If you’re an entrepreneur, it is impossible to succeed by using your own labor to fill the gaps.

That’s because your labor is finite. It doesn’t scale. That’s because if it’s a job only you can do, you’re not building a system, you’re just hiring yourself and making the system depends on you. When you stop working, the business wouldn’t thrive anymore.

The solution for that trap is easy.

If you’re a freelancer, freelance. Figure out how to do the best work in your field and how to do the best work for the right clients.

Don’t fret about turning away work, and don’t fret about occasional down time. You’re a freelance for hire, and you need to focus on honing your craft, your reputation and the flow of business. Find partners if you like, but keep the cash flows separate.

Conclusion

So whatever you decide to do, don’t mix them up.

The difference between an entrepreneur and a freelancer is simple. Freelancers work hard for their money. Entrepreneurs work hard to set up systems that make them money.

Whichever of the two you choose, the job should fit with your goals and mindset and how you want to spend your time. You make the decision on how you want to serve!

Let me know what you do and how you think freelancing, being a employee or being an entrepreneur serves you well. Use the comment section below!

If you’re interested in more blogs about freelance life, head over to these articles:

Career and Business lessons

How the founder of Starbucks made it a success, without even a passion for coffee

Posted on by Lisanne

I’ve been thinking about this title a lot, lately. It sounds so counter intuitive to be the founder of such a big coffee concern in almost half of the world, while at the same time coffee isn’t his biggest passion. I have to say that I came to conclude that it is not counter intuitive by any means, and according to Howard Schultz the man himself he really turned his passion into reality. But what is his passion if it’s not coffee? Let me explain you what’s happening.

Something new

Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks announced in november 2016 that he would step down as Starbucks chief.

By that time he would hand over 25,000 stores in 75 countries. That’s massive when you realize that we only have 195 countries in the world.

It means that Starbucks by that time was present in almost 39% of all the countries around the globe!

Needless to say, Schultz has reinvented the coffee culture in the U.S. by introducing Italian-style cappuccinos and lattes to that market. His mark is clear and loud.

But lately I came to hear something about him that I didn’t know yet.

Hidden passion

I haven’t introduced you yet to writer and public speaker Carmine Gallo. He advices businesses and leaders all around the globe on how to tell engaging stories and grow businesses. He really is an expert on that and that’s why I like to read his blog every once in a while.

For his own blog he interviewed Howard Schultz and the one thing that surprised Gallo a lot was that Schultz rarely mentioned the word coffee during the conversation and that he had to bring that up himself.

On Gallo’s blog you can read Schultz say:

“We’re not in the coffee business. It is what we sell as a product, but it’s not what we stand for”
– Howard Schultz on Carmine Gallo’s Blog.

What Schultz says over there is something that is very important to understand. Gallo explains:

“Starbucks is NOT in the coffee business, which is why it’s successful. You see, Schultz loves coffee, but he’s passionate about the people, the baristas who make the Starbucks experience what it is. Schultz’s vision was much bigger than to make a better cup of coffee. His moonshot was to create an experience; a third place between work and home. He wanted to build a company that treats people with dignity and respect. Those happy employees would, in turn, provide a level of customer service that would be seen as a gold standard in the industry.”
– Carmine Gallo on his blog.

Business lessons

How brand experiences can make a difference

So Schultz’ real passion has been how Starbucks is going to set a golden standard of customer service in the coffee industry.

Bringing better coffee to peoples life can be one mission statement. It’s a statement that’s focused on the need for better coffee.

Drawing a vision around that need will influence the brand. It’s reflected in its culture and helps define of what the business can become.

But creating a unique “Starbucks-experience” where customer service, dignity and respect is central, can be another one.

Because of that Starbucks-experience, you’ll see a certain customer contact, they introduced as one of the first the take-away service and gave customers access to WiFi.

With that, Starbucks has enriched many lives by making the journey from home to work a little bit more enjoyable.

Basically they changed the mindset of coffee customers worldwide: from a coffee shop being a place to buy a cup of coffee to a place to experience a good cup of coffee.

In this way, the company is setting its own culture, that is in line with its core mission and vision.

Take benefits over features

The biggest mistake that some starting business owners or freelancers make is that they focus too much on the features of the product itself.

When you ask them what they sell or why I should buy the product, they come with an extended list of descriptions that cover your product, service or skill.

Business is about value. Not necessarily about descriptions. And that value is created when you offer a person or a company a product, service or skill that will enrich their situation.

Therefore, an important business lesson is to come up with the benefits that your product, service or skill is going to add to enrich certain aspects of someones life.

Sometimes you find things that you can do better on the product or service itself. And sometimes you find things that you can do better in the way people experience a certain product or service.

If that something is a minute out of the day where people can flee out of their busy work life and feel respected and be comfortable, there you go Starbucks!

Or if that something is that people want to drink better coffee than they used to, then you can start to build a brand culture where it’s all about the quality of the coffee.

Both are in the business of creating value by fulfilling the different needs of their audiences. They create products and services where these working coffee-lovers can benefit from.

Join the Tribe

Join the changemakers community to access exclusive content, join the conversation and subscribe to your favorite topics.

Conclusion

So it all depends on what you want to bring to the world, and the value you bring to enrich peoples lives.

When products and services are being brought to them, people like to know what’s in there for them, and how they can benefit from what you are offering.

Therefore, the options of doing that are pretty much endless.

If you’re passionate about coffee and you have a vision on how you want people to meet better coffee, you can start with building that brand culture.

But you’re mission statement can also be similar to that of Howard Schultz. He saw a need of people that had to be met. A need for a place where you can experience a good cup of coffee, while you’re on your way to work. Even that can make a big difference.

So leaders like Howard Schultz are not afraid to share their passion for brand experiences.

Passion is everything.

I believe that leaders, managers and entrepreneurs can not inspire or do their work without it.

Dig deep to identify your core value, the area where you want to make a ‘dent in the universe,’ as Steve Jobs once said.

And ask yourself a question that Howard Schultz says is the key to success: What business am I really in? 

Head over to more career and business lessons:

Career and Business lessons

360 degree video: the future of online content

Posted on by Lisanne

The days when we only used words to fill our blog posts are definitely over. If you’re an artist or an entrepreneur who likes to experiment with different forms of visual storytelling, you might like this post on 360 degree video.

Finding new ways to engage your audience

I like to experiment with new ways to bring my stories to life. From adding videos, to written articles and audio. But there are many more options of bringing online content alive than you might think.

For example, there are many passionate geeks who are spending their time finding new and unconventional ideas to engage audiences. Their ideas respond to the changing dynamics in the world of online content that makes it challenging for storytellers to create engagement.

Nowadays, for example, you see some challenges in the way social media uses her feeds. Instagram and Facebook auto-play on users’ feeds. This means more and more videos are being viewed without sound, which makes it much harder for entrepreneurs or artists to get their own messages across.

We as storytellers have to overcome that boundary. One of the ways of doing that is to come up with videos that actually don’t need sound at all to tell your story and to engage your audience.

Interactive, soundless video content

One trend to aid this tactic is 360 degree video. It’s an interactive way to engage your audience and to let them play with and explore your content.

Look at National Geographic, for example. They don’t limit themselves to just static images – they also provide an array of videos. They integrated soundless video content in their content marketing strategy and holy moly, have you seen anything like this before?

This interactive 360 video is engaging without sound and still provides information with sporadic subtitles. If the viewer wants sounds, then he can turn it on and hear soothing ocean noises. The background noise adds something to the tone of the story and empowers the emotional connection to the content, but doesn’t affect the story that is being told.

Take your viewer on a journey

In the online magazine that I am going to bring out 4 times a year (more on that by the end of this year), I will try to give you an exclusive sneak peak into my world. I also show my journey on my blog, but the magazine is a whole new level of intimacy.

And I’m also pretty excited about it since the magazine is my excuse to have conversations with fascinating people, to talk extensively about my accomplishments and to elevate the voices of others. Along that journey I make choices. Will it uplift the story and its message if I use 360 degree video? There are many ways to tell your story, but the form that you choose has to take your reader on the right journey. That’s something very important and something that I keep asking myself.

360 degree video also works perfectly with artists. Yes, I have lost a few hours discovering the many ways in which 360-degree videos are used. Take these ones for example:

You might know the Waiting For Love song from Avicii. But did you see the clip? 360 video is really adding value to the clip.

Since art galleries have a somewhat static image, 360 degree video can also be a way for art galleries to bring what’s inside to life for people. Pivot Art + Culture did a great job by making their artworks more accessible with this video.

But 360 degree video can also be used to show themeparcs from inside. Step into this twisting steel behemoth for a short ride. This scream machine will push you into the back of your seat over 4,000 feet of track, with a half dozen inversions and speeds topping out over 60 miles an hour. This ride feels more real than ever, save for the part where you have to wait in line.

Conclusion

As you’ve seen, 360 degree video can be used widely. It’s a refreshing way for telling your story.

Therefore, finding new ways for telling compelling stories is necessary if you want to engage audiences on the long run. The world of online storytelling is changing fast and engaging with audiences is difficult. There are many trends and the future of online content is really partnering the trend of virtual reality and AR. I’m happy to hear more of that.

A good example of a storyteller that showed us many times that there are many ways to tell your story, is probably David Bowie. In his lifetime he showed us to not be limited to one medium to engage with the world. For example, he was one of the first to develop an internet service provider bowie.net – now davidbowie.com. In 1997 the website had as one of the first downloadable songs on what he foresaw as the future.

Therefore, as I’ve discussed in this blog post, using 360 degree video can be one way to do things differently.

But using static infographics or interactive infographics are definitely a way too. As long as the visuals fit the purpose of the story, you’re working on engagement. Otherwise you’re causing confusion among your readers, and that’s something you want to avoid at all times.

If, however, you don’t have the means or the content to create an engaging 360 video and would prefer to stay with a standard video, subtitles are a must in order to tell your story and take your viewer on a journey. Let me know if you are planning to incorporate 360 degree video into your storytelling. Use the comment section below.

Also, if you found another 360 degree video that’s worth sharing, please use the comment section and I will add it to the article.

Head over to more blogs about storytelling:

Career and Business lessons

From Blog to Brand – blog advices from Richard Branson

Posted on by Lisanne

If you’re into blogging, you may have your favourite bloggers. I do! Entrepreneur Richard Branson is one of them. In one of his interviews he is asked to give us blog advice on how to make the most of an online audience and turn your blog into a business. I would like to go through his blog advice (s) with you. Hang on with me.

Find the fit

The Washington Post publishes over 500 pieces of content a day. Other big content kings like the New York Times and the Wallstreet Journal publish 230 and 240 stories a day. That is tremendous! So with starting a blog in todays era, you can definitely count on some competition. Richard Branson confirms in an interview from 2016 in TheStar.com: “Drawing a loyal group of followers is not easy, and requires a lot of time, effort and commitment […]”. But despite that competition, there is also hope to make your voice heard.

There is also something else that´s very important if you want to make your mark in today’s blogging era. The cue to building a brand is to find the fit between the desires of your loyal audience on the one hand and the blog posts, services and products that you offer on the other. That fit is important for building some level of uniqueness and consistency, which is needed for the brand to become well-known and trusted.

The Virgin founder says: “[…] The most important step when building a business around your blog is to look at whether the products and services you’re considering fit with the brand that you have built up. For example, if the image that you’re conveying through your site is one of sophistication and luxury, the items you sell should reflect that as well.”

The advantages of a blogger

Richard acknowledges that bloggers have a unique advantage over others trying to launch a business: “You know who your customers are, and your customers already know and trust you.”

Richard adds: “Often people are drawn to blogs because of a feeling of intimacy or community; it may be that they’d be interested in purchasing items that you find interesting, as a way of further taking part in that experience.” “As a blogger, you have a direct line to your customers, and you should use this connection to help make the best decisions for the community you have created.”

Another advantage that Richard identifies bloggers have over other entrepreneurs is that they can communicate with customers in ways that “normal businesses” don’t. They are able to adapt to a dialogue with their readers to figure out what’s really in their minds. He recommends to just ask readers whether they’d be interest in buying some of the products or services that you’re thinking about.

But, Richard also warns for the dark side of blogging. He says: “The relationship between a successful blogger and her readers tends to be a two-way street, and you need to avoid alienating them when you monetise your blog.”

Never loose the dialogue, intimacy or a sense of community

“Take a careful look at what differentiates you from your competition. Often people are drawn to blogs because of a feeling of intimacy or community; it may be that they’d be interested in purchasing items that you find interesting, as a way of further taking part in that experience.”

He adds: “Think about why your readers come to you, and not another blogger. “[…] you need to make sure that what you’re offering is truly unique. Your readers and followers should see those goods or services as different from everyone else’s.”

Make your readers your first priority as you pursue this idea, and you’ll turn your brand into a business.”

Conclusion

I hope Richard Branson’s blog advice (s) help you along your own blog journey. Reach out for me if you want to share your ideas. That’s something I enjoy.

Read these blogs if you’re interested in more information about how to turn your online presence into a personal brand:

Career and Business lessons

Why marketing is an unacknowledged art form

Posted on by Lisanne

Marketing is often simplified by saying that it’s only done without integrity. In an interview that I read with documentary maker Louis Theroux, he claims that marketing is an “unacknowledged art form”. Louis mentions that he sees much in marketing “to enjoy” and is intrigued by the balance of “seduction and sales”. I couldn’t agree more on that I think. Let me explain you why.

The misconception

In the world of bringing ideas into life, there’s one conception that’s reducing marketing as an unacknowledged art form. It’s the conception that it would only be something that’s striving for sales, leads and money. 

Because of that, marketing is often considered as unauthentic, shady and dishonest. Look for example at the campaign that promoted the Duracell Ultra Advanced and the Duracell Ultra Power. To promote these batteries the brand came up with the slogan: “Lasts Even Longer”. Unfortunately in 2012 Duracell, Inc & Gamble Company got sued by customers claiming that the companies were delivering deceptive marketing and misleading facts. Although the batteries were more expensive than regular ones, they did not provide longer life.      

All in all it’s a good example of a brand (un)intentionally bringing false promises. I think if you’re seducing people with a false promise or you’re seducing people to buy something by popping up all the time or using agressive methods to grab attention, then you place the importance of earning money over the importance of creating value.  

Duracell Ultra Advanced and Duracell Ultra Power

Yet there’s also another side to marketing. As Theroux put it: “There’s an aspect of marketing that I do find interesting that hinges on that combination of seduction and sales, which I don’t think is antagonistic in itself. There’s much about marketing to enjoy.” This other side of marketing is what Seth Godin calls Marketing The Right Way. It’s marketing based on understanding human behaviour and putting relationship-building first. This kind of marketing is about meaningfully connect with people who want it. It’s the kind of marketing where seduction and sales partner each other equally. 

Compelling narratives

Although Louis Theroux has never made marketing a priority to his career as a documentary maker, Louis admits that there are similarities between what broadcasters do and what advertisers do.

Their focus may not be as different as it seems. Because if marketing is done the right way, both try to build close relationships with their audience, whether they are viewers or consumers.

What advertisers, broadcasters and I seek for

Advertisers

Look for example what advertisers seek for. If you’re an advertiser longing to promote an artist in music business, you seek for people who listen to a certain type of music and like to experience that with their like-minded friends.

If you’re an advertiser longing to promote a coffee brand through banners online, you seek for people who like to drink coffee and are present in certain areas of the web.

The famous words of Seth Godin about Marketing the Right Way are more than true: “people like this, do things like this.” To get people excited about the stuff that you are making, you have to reach out for people who act in accordance to a certain internal narrative.

Understanding those narratives is needed to make a meaningful connection with people.

Broadcasters

Even broadcasters seek for narratives to make a meaningful connection with people. Even Louis Theroux mentions at the Festival of Marketing last October that creating compelling narratives is required for great marketing.

Those narratives are needed to build a close connection with the audience, he says. Stories are about finding something in common. He says:

“It’s the case of finding something [in common] and a lot of that resides in getting in touch with your own desire. We are, as banal as it may sound, not so very different from each other. And the more we get separated from one another in society, the more refreshing and redemptive it is when we find small connections. […] “I like to try and do that with my programmes. I like to try and find stories that are full of angst and darkness but at the same time find light and connection, and it’s that tension and release.”

What I seek for

View this post on Instagram

Uit een boekje

A post shared by @ swartttt on

For me, blogging is all about that too. I publish my own articles because I would like to get in touch with likeminded people. That’s the reason for me to write.

To me there is no bigger joy than writing about ideas that are worth spreading, sharing personal lessons that may be useful for you or sharing quotes that may broaden your perspective on things.

I want to use my blogging platform as a force for good. I’ve never been interested in using the platform as a way to show my wealthy lifestyle to people, or to showcase who your friends are to gain some sort of a status with it.

But I do am in the business of allowing people to see the best of themselves through the work that I do and the stories that I am able to tell. That’s what I try to do with everything that I do. Everytime I write a blog post. Everytime I am somewhere to show that. With the hope that it is gonna bring some more meaning, joy and wisdom to your life to make the best of it.

If you like to know more about me, head over to my about-page by clicking on my face:

… And so?!

And so what does it take to make marketing an acknowledged art form? 

If marketing is done the right way, there is no big difference between the focus of an advertiser, an artist, a copywriter or whatever kind of job you’re in. In this way your focus lies on serving your audience in the first place. By understanding them, by knowing what’s in their minds and by fully getting what they wish for. 

What would be a step forward is if more brands and people would show by example that marketing is more than just selling stuff. In fact, if marketing becomes synonymous with creating value. If marketing equals creating things and services that enrich one’s life.  

And that is quite an art in itself.