One of my favorite mottos is “Do something different,” and I’m always looking for examples of how people have been creative about calling attention to their products or services. This time the person in question is Scottish illustrator Joanna Basford, and she’s so creative it’s going to take me several posts to tell you about the variety of initiatives she’s undertaken.
One great strategy: she made up a list of five dream clients for whom she’d love to work. Starbucks was at the top of the list. She told Creative Review: “Initially, I began saving up my latte cups, taking them back to the studio and drawing on them. Once I had a sizable collection of hand-penned cups, I started mailing them to…the managing director of Starbucks UK and…the creative director of Starbucks in Seattle.” The UK manager eventually met with her and while she hasn’t had a commission yet, it sounds promising. At the left you see one of the cups (as pictured in Creative Review). And I wonder how much more work will come her way as a result of being interviewed in CR?
If you are trying to get the attention of publishers, what could you do that's relevant, fresh, interesting without being scary or silly?
(Want more than 100 ideas for how to do something different to market your work? Get a copy of my book, "Do Something Different," published by Virgin Books with a foreword by Sir Richard Branson.)
