I can’t recall being around as many people with a passion as I was last week at PodCamp NYC. It was delight to be around such positive energy and so many friendly folks sharing ideas and information about podcasting.

In his visionary book, The Pursuit of Wow, Tom Peters describes why the only products with a future are those created by passionate people. A bold statement. And yet, in an equally fascinating book, How They Achieved: Stories of Personal Achievement and Business Success, by Lucinda Watson, it turns out that twenty-one of the country’s most successful CEO’s, entrepreneurs, and visionaries all share one powerful characteristic:

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www.podcampnyc.org

Yeah, I know this has nothing to do with marketing. But, I couldn’t resist.

There is a big difference between creativity and disciplined creativity. Disciplined creativity is not about pretty colors and clever puns. It’s creativity that helps to communicate the right message, to the right audience, the right way. It’s not just clever, it’s also strategically smart. And, it doesn’t just get attention, it persuades once it does. Advertising legend Bill Bernbach put it this way:

“Verbal gymnastics and graphic acrobatics is not
being creative. The creative person has disciplined
his mind so that every word he writes, every line
he draws, every shadow in every photograph he
takes, makes stronger, more vivid, more
compelling, the selling proposition he has decided
he must convey.”

Disciplined creativity makes a smaller budget seem larger because it works smarter and more effectively.

See examples.

In this hype-happy, what-to-believe world, it comes down to a very basic, fundamental thing: credibility. How does one get it? How does one convincingly communicate it? And is there a Good Housekeeping Seal of the 21st century? Yes, there is, and it’s called “G cred.”.

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When you combine the fastest growing market with the fastest growing social media, you have some very exciting business possiblilities.

According to Technorati, 33% of blogs are in English, 37% are in Japanese, and just 8% are in Chinese. In the next two years I believe you’ll see a dramatic increase in that 8%. So, if you’re a Chinese business, or want to be doing business with one, and you don’t currently have a blog, now is the time to start one.

To learn more about blogs, read How a Blog and Podcast can Build Your Business. And, visit Liz Strauss at Successful Blog. Also, check out NACEA (North American Chinese Entrepreneur Association).

Today I loaded up my iPod with 3-hours of podcasts and learned all kinds
of great new things about social media, blogging, and Web 2.0 marketing.
This was my classroom: