I don’t know about you, but I get dozens of emails a day containing links to one thing or another.

I received this link last week from a friend. In his email, he said he thought Sony created this for use at a Sony executive meeting. But he wasn’t able to verify the source.

As I dug deeper, I was able to ascertain that Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Brenman researched it, but I couldn’t find a direct connection to Sony.

Regardless of the source, the reason I wanted to share it with you is that I believe it is absolutely profound. In fact, the first time I viewed it, I sat quietly afterward for 10 minutes or so just pondering the implications to my business and the way we all do business.

I mention this because I think you’ll want to watch it at a time when you can sit quietly, too, and think about what it means for your business and your future.

By the way, the reason I include it here is that a 10-Day Marketing Makeover – or any marketing planning by anyone – must take into consideration the challenges of changing technology and the opportunities it presents.

It also reconfirms to me that continuing to do the same thing (from a marketing and sales process perspective) and expecting a different result does not hold any promise for future success and prosperity.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and revelations with me. Remember, I didn’t create it. I’m just the messenger.

With computer graphics so readily available, everyone has become a designer — or so it seems. Fancy borders, a variety of typefaces, styles, clip art, borders, and drop shadows come right out of the computer into your marketing materials.

The ease of accessibility of these design elements often brings with it the temptation to use everything available.

Yielding to this temptation is fine — as long as you don’t try to use it all on one marketing piece or message. Follow this very simple, effective design strategy called “Choose one!”

• Choose one typeface style for your headlines.
• Choose one typeface style (the same or an alternate style) for your body copy.
• Choose one style of border.
• Choose one thickness of line for boxes or rules.
• Choose one style of clip art, photographs, or graphics.

Then, stick with what you choose!

If you decide to use Garamond for your headline, stick with Garamond for all your headlines and subheads. You may use Garamond Extra Bold for the main headline, Garamond Bold italic for callouts, and Garamond Medium in all caps for headlines, and so forth.

Then, keep all of your main headlines in the same type size. Do the same for your bold italic callouts. Avoid bouncing around with many different design elements — be consistent.

Many of the best designers are the best simply because they show restraint and discipline by applying this principle.

The beauty of this approach is that it’s so simple. Try it the next time you design something on your own and see how it gives you a more professional look.

The creative process is important. Without it, the world of marketing and advertising would be lost, because creative ideas inspire people to take action.

Unfortunately, the creative process is also a black hole where the unwary enter, never to return.

The creative process requires lots of time, and it is complex. This lengthy process includes many time-consuming activities, from concept, strategy, and planning, to dozens of specific details pertaining to production, printing, data selection and management, and more.

When businesses are planning and deliberating over what to do, they often lose valuable selling time.

If it takes them two months to launch a lead generating campaign, that is two months of lost responses… and lost sales. Once lost, there’s no earning it back: not a month, not six, not a year.

Businesses often procrastinate when it comes to deploying a lead generation campaign because they are afraid of doing the wrong thing, and with good reason. Doing the wrong thing can be expensive. But if doing the wrong thing is expensive, consider how expensive it is to do nothing.

One way to eliminate the creative abyss is to start small. A simple yet well-conceived lead generation activity such as a fold-over postcard, traditional sales letter with a business-reply card, or a simple flyer is better than a grand plan of nothing. There’s still a creative process, just more manageable.

Another is to hire a professional team – one fully experienced in the process of generating leads.

While relying on and investing in a professional team increases your out-of-pocket costs, it more often than not increases your response. The investment justifies itself time and time again.