February 13, 2012
182 Comments
[ http://player.vimeo.com/video/36728625?title=0
Daily Email Promo from
GapingÂvoid on
Vimeo.
Hola, Jason here (CEO of gapingÂvoid etc etc)… For all you gapingÂvoid newÂbies, you may not know that we publish a daily email every TuesÂday – SaturÂday. It always conÂtains one of Hugh’s carÂtoons with a little narraÂtive and someÂtiÂmes an excÂluÂsive deal on gapingÂvoid goodies.
We’ve been plaÂying around with aniÂmaÂtion and the one above is a little eight-second promo that we want to use to call attenÂtion to the daily email. Although it works great as is, we’d like to add some copy to it, and so, FearÂless ReaÂders, we are going to have a little comÂpeÂtiÂtion for the best copy as judÂged by us.
Here is how we are going to do it:
Simply sugÂgest the copy to go with it, in twelve words or less.Â
In other words, we need 12 words to go with the video, to explain what the story is.
The winÂner will get a free fraÂmed cube greÂnade of her chooÂsing, sigÂned and inscÂriÂbed by Hugh (a $200 value) and if you have a blog or site, we’ll link back to it AND give you a menÂtion on the actual video, etc.
NorÂmally, this is the kind of things we’d do ourÂselÂves, but what the heck, someÂtiÂmes “open source†is more fun for everybody.
Thanks, and looÂking forward!
       Jason Korman
Posted in Uncategorized | 182 Comments »February 13th, 2012
February 13, 2012
2 Comments
[A screenshot from the video: a RacksÂpace banÂner, in my handwÂriÂting etc.]
I love this RacksÂpace video. No thesÂpian voiÂceoÂver. No pomÂpous top-down mesÂsage yak yak yak about how great they are.
In this video, they’re not saying it, they’re SHOWING it.
What are they shoÂwing? Well, that’s for us to figure out, all by ourselves.
Isn’t marÂkeÂting much nicer, when peoÂple treat each other like grownups?
[DiscÂloÂsure: RacksÂpace is a gapingÂvoid client. And a damn good one, I might add. Check out our work here etc.]
Â
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »February 13th, 2012
February 13, 2012
3 Comments
Good corÂpoÂrate social media is REALLY, REALLY hard… WAY harÂder than it looks. A few peoÂple like my good friend, Brian Solis, make it look easy, but they’re the excepÂtion, BY FAR.
My preÂdicÂtion for social media in 2012, is that A LOT of peoÂple will finally figure that out, the hard way.
So be careÂful what you wish for etc.
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »February 13th, 2012
February 10, 2012
1 Comment
[OriÂgiÂnally sent out in today’s newsÂletÂter etc. Buy the print here etc etc.]
Like I said on TwitÂter earÂlier today, the peoÂple who REALLY taught me “How To†do anything worthwhile, didn’t write a big ol’ list of insÂtrucÂtions, didn’t hold my hand, they just led by example.
The great BriÂtish adverÂtiÂsing man, Dave Trott once did that for me, back in the day…
THIS is what REAL leaÂdership means. THIS is what REAL insÂpiÂraÂtion means.
And you’d betÂter get used to it. Because in the world we now live in, there are no more jobs. There are no more bosÂses. There are only clients and cusÂtoÂmers from now on.
The emploÂyees who don’t get that, are dead in the water. And so are the “bosÂses†who still like to be treaÂted as “bosÂsesâ€. Good ridÂdance to them all.
So… go read Dave Trott’s stuff. Find out who he is. Go learn from a MASTER. Do it. Rock on.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »February 10th, 2012
February 9, 2012
4 Comments
Thanks to Chris for senÂding me this photo, via TwitÂter.
The gapingÂvoid ValenÂtine print he ordeÂred, just as he was opeÂning the box. A delighÂted cusÂtoÂmer, so it seems. Hurrah!
I love getÂting stuff like this from peoÂple, and not just because “Social Proof is the new marÂkeÂting†yada, yada, yada.
As artists and/or marÂkeÂters and/or busiÂness peoÂple, it’s not enough to just think about the money and the ROI. We need to know that we “conÂnecÂtedâ€, somehow. Deeply so, sometimes.
Or else we just become very dull, making very dull stuff for very dull peoÂple, living very dull lives.
Which except for the occaÂsioÂnal faceÂless corÂpoÂraÂtion, is not much of a susÂtaiÂnaÂble busiÂness model.
E.M. Forster’s very famous advice to aspiÂring authors had a mere two words: “Only connect.â€
Exactly. In both art and business.
Only conÂnect.
Think about it.
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »February 9th, 2012
February 9, 2012
3 Comments
I love this. A gapingÂvoid greeÂting card, newly prinÂted, the finest inks on on the finest card stock yada, yada, yada.
No, we’re not selling them anyÂtime soon. We sent them out to everyÂbody who ordeÂred one of our “Love Prints†in time for Valentine’s Day etc etc.
How do you make something ubiÂquiÂtous seem valuaÂble to peoÂple? A nice greeÂting card, for examÂple? Something that you norÂmally can find in any shopÂping mall for the price of a cup of coffee?
By making it scarce. Exactly. SpeÂcial. Exactly. By making it NOT avaiÂlaÂble in any shopÂping mall, by making it NOT for sale, at any price (within reaÂson). Exactly.
Early on, Jason (my busiÂness partÂner these last eight years) and I figuÂred out that gapingÂvoid would proÂbably NEVER BE big and mainsÂtream, a-la DilÂbert or Doonesbury.
So there was NO POINT doing the same marÂkeÂting as DilÂbert or DooÂnesÂbury. Or anyÂbody else, for that matter.
Like ol’ Steve said, think different.
You?
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »February 9th, 2012
February 8, 2012
9 Comments
[The paperÂback galley copies. It’ll actually be coming out in hardÂback and Kindle only etc.]
I already broke the news on TwitÂter a while back, but yeah, gapingÂvoid Book NumÂber Three comes out in April [AmaÂzon pre-order link here].
Like I said earlier:
Think of it a wee love letÂter to the blog. As everything and everyÂbody gets swaÂlloÂwed up by FaceÂbook, GooÂgle+ and other “Death Starsâ€, rememÂber the imporÂtance of having one’s own piece of real estate to call one’s own…
It’s also very, very short. I was in BreÂvity Mode at the time. And I made sure to put lots of new carÂtoons in there, just like last time.
I also didn’t write it for the “social media punÂdit†yakÂkin’ crowd. I wrote it for your CouÂsin Al, something just to plant a seed in his head. HopeÂfully one day it’ll sprout something.
What’s really inteÂresÂting to me about the book is the timing. In a year where you can’t turn on the news without some punÂdit asking, “Where are all the new jobs are going to come fromâ€, this might hint at a good ansÂwer, of sorts.
Because the way the ecoÂnomy is evolÂving, the new jobs are going to come from peoÂple who are preÂdisÂpoÂsed to blogÂging in their underÂwear, anyÂway. The peoÂple who quit their dead-end, pen-pushing jobs, got a second mortÂgage, turÂned their spare bedroom into an office and basiÂcally risÂked everything to purÂsue their dream. And starÂted a blog to help get the word out.
The peoÂple who don’t have to wear an tie and go to endÂless boring meeÂtings seven hours a day for a living.
The peoÂple who actually MAKE stuff. The peoÂple who actually create real, thriÂving busiÂnesÂses from scratch. Up and at ‘em by six a.m. Before they’ve had their first cup of cofÂfee. In their underÂwear. Exactly.
And thanks to blogÂging social media, beginÂning that advenÂture is far less lonely and daunÂting a proÂcess than it used to be, THANKÂ GOD.
CloÂsely relaÂted, my reguÂlar TwitÂter buddy, Umair has a WONDERFUL little post over on the HarÂvard BusiÂness Review, “Create A MeaÂnigÂful Life Through MeaÂningÂful Work†where he laments about how most “sucÂcessÂful†peoÂple he meets seem to make a living these days. As usual, he pulls no punches– he sugÂgests that maybe, just maybe our current depresÂsion is not an ecoÂnoÂmic one, but a spiÂriÂtual and psychoÂloÂgiÂcal one.
I’ve been in ManhatÂtan for the last few weeks. HanÂging out in all the wrong plaÂces (read: painÂfully hip power hotels), I’ve had the quesÂtioÂnaÂble priÂviÂlege of overheaÂring more than my fair share of Very Serious ConÂverÂsaÂtions from the movers and shaÂkers of the world.
And boy, have they been tedious: mostly, about eking out slightly sharÂper terms for deals for more yawn-inducing stuff (whether flicks, finanÂcial insÂtruÂments, or kicks) that’s desÂtiÂned not to matÂter. So here’s a tiny hypotheÂsis: maybe the real depresÂsion we’ve got to conÂtend with isn’t merely one of how much ecoÂnoÂmic outÂput we’re geneÂraÂting — but what we’re putÂting out there, and why. Call it a depresÂsion of human potenÂtial, a tale of human sigÂniÂfiÂcance being willÂfully squanÂdeÂred (on, for examÂple, stuff like this).
Bravo, Umair! My thoughts exactly. Like the briÂlliant Guy KawaÂsaki once famously said, “Make MeaÂningâ€. That is where the action is, that is where the ecoÂnomy AND the future is going. For all of us, rich and poor.
Make of that what you will…
Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »February 8th, 2012
February 7, 2012
1 Comment
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »February 7th, 2012
February 7, 2012
1 Comment
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »February 7th, 2012
February 6, 2012
1 Comment
[Sent out recently in the gapingÂvoid newsÂletÂter. Sign up here etc..]
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »February 6th, 2012
