Idea Generation Tools for Freelancers; Setting Yourself Apart
How to Write About Nothing, the Concise Edition
Doshdosh.com has a great summary of How to Say Nothing in Five Hundred Words. My particular favorite was:
Avoid the obvious content.“Say the assignment is college football. Say that you’ve decided to be against it. Begin by putting down the arguments that come to your mind. Now when you write your paper, make sure that you don’ t use any of the material on this list. If these are the points that leap to your mind, they will leap to everyone else’s too. Be against college football for some reason or reasons of your own. If they are keen and perceptive ones, that’s splendid. But even if they are trivial or foolish or indefensible, you are still ahead so long as they are not everybody else’s reasons too.”
Why Being Unpopular Makes an Impact
Remember when I wrote about Why Race and Gender Quotas should be implemented? The comments it generated are easily the most passionate on this blog, and I think that had a lot to do with how I took the less popular side.
I wrote that race and gender quotas would work for businesses because ultimately, it lets them relate better with their customers. But to be clear, I’m not writing this post to re-defend my assertion. I’ve already done that in the discussion over my post, which has been very active and insightful. And that’s the point.
While I was honestly taken aback by the criticism of my statements (it was probably the first time I encountered very critical disagreements), I was genuinely pleased by how much activity my thoughts generated. For a brief moment, my writing became relevant to my readers, at least at a higher level than usual. It was dissected, analyzed, and most importantly, discussed.
Maybe taking the less “popular side” is an approach freelancer from any field should take. After all, the best way to set yourself apart from others is to avoid the obvious content, right?
For instance, designers who stand out may follow the traditional design principles. But they do so in a way that’s not easily familiar with what’s “in” on today’s websites, right? In other words, these are people who don’t rely on the wet floor look.
Can you cite examples for other fields?
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POSTED IN: Creativity Drivers
2 opinions for Idea Generation Tools for Freelancers; Setting Yourself Apart
Bob Turek
Jul 10, 2008 at 7:51 am
Rico- I like the first suggestion to write a list of the obvious and then don’t write about it. I think I’ve been doing this simply because of my tendency to always want to have the next great idea. Once side effect of this approach is to think that nobody cares about what you’re writing about- but it’s not true- I think this is how you find your audience.
Rico
Jul 10, 2008 at 9:31 am
At the very least, I guess, “taking a side” will attract a passionate audience, since it can be very polarizing. How have you polarized the audience Bob? :)
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