THIS IDEA

I first set up THIS IDEA to differentiate my copywriting and ideas work from other written or visual work that I do. There was also the fact that my other website was the online equivalent of the cobbler’s boots. Full of holes, as I had been too busy working for others.

I have finally updated my comprehensive website and it details my work as an author, journalist, social historian, artist and copywriter. From Margate writer Iain Aitch to London social historian Iain Aitch, with everything in between.

As I say on the website, I am still very much a writer. It permeates all that I am and all that I do. But go and have a look at iainaitch.com and I am sure you will find articles or arts projects that you will enjoy.

Obviously, some of my copywriting work crosses over with my journalism work, so you will find articles on education, technology, the arts, campaign groups, construction and architecture alongside more esoteric topics.

Let me know how you like it.

In lockdown, no one can hear you scream. Especially if you are on mute.

While Zoom/Teams meetings seemed like a joyous liberation back in March 2020, they now seem like a special kind of torture. I avoid them if I can.

BUT, I am now willing to jump back in. So long as you put your deck to one side and quit PowerPoint. Promise? Okay.

The one thing I am hearing from those who work in offices is that creativity is at an all-time low. Ideas are not flowing, due to the lack of chat around the coffee machine or the Friday lunchtime session in the pub. No one is moving, so no one is scribbling down that idea in the back of the cab or inspired by that thing they saw on the Tube. Everything is still.

So, the idea is this. A genuine expert in ideas, talking to or with your team (or just you) to make sure that these ideas happen. To give you a springboard to dive off, inspiration to work with and a shovel to dig yourselves out of that hole. It can be focussed, unfocussed or just plain brainstorming in the wild.

45 minutes, I throw in ideas, you throw them back. We see where you are stuck and what you can do next. 15 minutes of feedback, questions, reflections and we are done. One fee fits all. One-to-one or one-to-fifty. No obligation to work with me further. Simply contact me on iain@thisidea.co.uk until the end of February 2021. It’s probably less than your average Pret bill for a lunch meeting.

Come on now, don’t tell me you’re missing Pret…

I recognise that simply having ideas is a job that some people just do not get. And that includes clients. Not the best record for someone in communications, you may think…

The truth is that having ideas for business, charity or campaign groups for a living comes under the ‘it’s complicated’ category of relationships. It is whatever you want to make it. And by ‘you’ I mean the (potential) client.

To avoid a TL;dr situation, I shall break down the most basic way in which I work with a business. This is often the introductory piece of work. It may be the only piece of work, or it may lead to an ongoing relationship that involves anything from copywriting to re-branding, tone-of-voice to user experience, essays, features, publicity or blogs.

It goes like this. You hire me for two days.

Day one is me finding out everything I can about you, your company/campaign, your ethos, your needs, your lacks, your strengths, your appeal.

Day two is me, sat with a notepad , having ideas. Now, these could be ideas for how to improve copy, how to get publicity for next-to-nothing, how to make a team work more efficiently, how to re-brand or how to get your product or campaign noticed more. You can have it as a brain dump or something tied up with a bow. You can have the unexpurgated, dirty version, or a clean one, with the expletives and dangerous ideas excised.

Obviously, the whole thing is a moveable feast. You can add days to the research of the ideas part. But those are the basics. Get in touch to find out how this could work for you, your business or your campaign.

I can provide you with a long list of those who have done just that and not regretted it. Email me…

It’s hard work making it look this easy. Well, that’s what I tell my clients, anyway. But the truth is that having ideas for money is a joy. People often ask me how they can do this too. My answer is always the same: “If you need to ask, then no you can’t”.

I have ideas for a huge variety of clients across all kinds of industries. From start-ups to blue-chips and from charities to art galleries. Magazines, shoemakers, quangos moisturiser-mixers and PR companies have all felt the benefit of some time with me. They all know it is something of a punt, but none have ever been disappointed.

Time with me and my ideas can be in person – brainstorming for PR campaigns or new markets – or it can involve me (alone) sitting in the bath or walking in the park with my headphones on. Socially-distanced working before it was a thing.

It helps to be a bit outside of everything. Being something of an introvert can actually help here. Having something of a left-field imagination helps even more. Those who know culture beyond the mainstream excel when it comes to out-thinking those who follow more traditional career and cultural paths.

How does having ideas for other people work? Well, mostly it begins with a combination of walking a mile in another’s shoes and being a fresh set of eyes. It involves empathy and, at times, a brutal overview of a business, campaign or need. It could be being handed a blank sheet of paper and being asked to re-imagine an established brand, or it may involve working within the bounds of an existing image, campaign or product. One day you’re thinking outside the box, the next you’re advising clients to close the lid.

I’ve not met anyone who is great at idea creation and brainstorming that is not also good at humour. It is part of the process. For some clients, I start with the most outrageous or outlandish ideas and reign them in until they start being achievable and/or stop being illegal. With others, I start at a dull baseline and see how far we can push things together.

All of that needs funny at some point. What it doesn’t need is wacky, joke-bloke, dress-down Friday funny. Your business, charity or start-up is not going to get far on cracker jokes and sitcom standards. You need someone not afraid to throw a spanner in the works and a smokebomb into the boardroom.

Work from home in the UK has now been extended to March 2021, following a statement in the Commons and an evening address to the nation from Prime Minister Boris Johnson. This came as quite a surprise to all those who had been told to get back to the office or risk losing their jobs.

Of course, Work From Home does not work for all jobs or posts, as you can’t be a WFH nurse, factory worker or building contractor (unless you are doing up your own bathroom). But those who do have now been left to ponder the logistics and the practicalities of the home office, be it a spare room, kitchen table or bed.

Work from home native

As someone who has effectively worked from home for the last 20+ years, I have been helping some employers re-imagine how their teams can work from home effectively, safely and enjoyably. Many bosses were surprised at the lack of fall-off in productivity during the initial UK lockdown. But these numbers did start to wane in month three or four. This is where ideas, new thinking and experience came in.

So, what was the problem? Well, familiarity and lockdown fatigue were two factors. But the increased freedoms and summer weather also had an impact. Those who managed most successfully were able to replicate aspects of office life that are not often thought about, but which tie teams together.

In short, those who tried to manage their business or teams across the web as they had across the floor of an office block failed hard. It was only through re-thinking and re-imagining the working day or working systems that teams managed to re-unite and workplaces managed to become efficient.

Turning around a business with WFH problems

Working from home consultations begin with an examination of how the company works now, and how it worked before Covid-19. How important was team working? Is everyone a team player? And does EVERYONE need to be on that Zoom call? Results have been great so far. So do get in touch to discuss how new ideas and innovation can improve the way you and your teams are working.

CONTACT ME NOW.

iain@thisidea.co.uk