HOW TO BE CREATIVE

I visit a fair number of advertising and marketing sites each week, studying the sometimes clever ways businesses promote themselves...and learning from the mistakes of those who aren't quite so clever in their promotions, which is most of 'em.

Recently I stumbled upon a wonderfully eclectic and erudite site by Hugh Macleod--who apparently also attended my alma mater, The University of Texas at Austin, but who now seems to reside in Scotland...or maybe New York City...or possibly London.

Hell, I can't figure out where the hell he lives, but what difference does it make, really?!

(Okay, it DOES make a difference, if only to me. I like to know where people are located in the space-time continuum. When I call up Tech Support for whatever I'm needing help with and actually get a human on the line, the first thing I ask is where they're located, because it's interesting to find that out.)

(By the way, I live in Austin, TX, in case you care. Or maybe I live in Chicago. I spend so much time on the Internet that I hardly ever go outside anymore, so it's hard to be sure one way or the other.)

Anyway, where was I?!

Oh, yeah, sorry...so this dude--wherever the hell he lives--has a cool site called Gaping Void that's chock full of nuggets about marketing, creativity and his concept of the "MicroBrand".

And if there's anything that fits the bill as a MicroBrand, it's definitely an individual artist.

Of special interest is his wonderful treatise, How To Be Creative, which I heartily encourage you sit down with over a cup of coffee and a six-pack of donuts and read in its entirety.

There's gold in them there hills!