That light bulb moment

Well, here we are; blog post number 1. The C Word has been years in the making. Not that it’s taken me years to set it up or create this website, but simply that I’ve wanted to set up my own business since…forever.

I’ve just not been brave enough to take that leap out of a regular salaried role into the unknown. But since moving back to Somerset after a seven-year stint in London, and having settling down with my other half at The Lion in West Pennard, now seemed like the ideal time to make that dream a reality.

And if it has taught me one thing, that is to do the things in life you’ve always wanted to. And that approach is something you need to take when it comes to communicating.

Yes, do the tried and tested methods, but every so often challenge yourself, do something different and think outside the box. Providing you’ve weighed up the risks, and thought about how you’d solve it if it all goes wrong, then what harm is there in trying?

Clearly, this works better for some, and depends how much you have riding on doing things differently. There is now so much noise out there that you need to find new ways to cut-through, and get your voice heard above everyone else’s.

I won’t lie; it’s no mean feat, but every now and then an idea will pop up that will capture the imagination of the public. We all dream of producing that viral social media post (for the right reason!) that gets millions of hits or snapping a picture that’s printed across all the national papers’ front pages. They do happen, and on occasions they do happen for small businesses and organisations, you just need to come up with that idea and develop it.

I remember a few years ago attending a brilliant training session with Tim Reid - the co-writer of Peter Kay’s comedy Car Share - about how to come up with ideas. One of the inspirational hints that has stuck with me is that when discussing ideas with a group, the ones that get a giggle or embarrassed laugh - because initially they sound ridiculous - are probably the ones that turn into some of your best ideas.

And that’s what I’m about. I love working with people to understand what they want to get out of their communications, but also teasing out those fascinating stories, exploring how we can do things and come up with the ‘ridiculous’ ideas that we can turn into something that really stands out in the crowd.

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt it’s that no idea is ridiculous, and no question is stupid…in fact asking those types of questions shows how much you really want to understand communications and get the best out of them. That’s why I pride myself on cutting out the bull, speaking to you and the public in plain English, and telling it like it is.