A couple years ago, I attended a meeting where a department head said every project has someone who feels the need to "piss on it." It struck me as a funny thing to say out loud at a meeting, yet sadly, it also struck me as true, at least some of the time.
That memory popped back into my head today. Not because of anything bad that happened to me, but rather as a result of something good I'm undertaking.
I signed up for the Problogger Summer Challenge with the SITS Girls. It is a 31 day challenge to help you improve your blog. For today, the first day, I had to come up with an elevator pitch. It's what you would tell someone your blog is about about in the minute you spend together on an elevator.
"I blog about creative stuff" wasn't going to cut it. Talk about hard. How do you sum up everything in that short time and still say something meaningful. Without pictures nonetheless.
Fortunately I have been giving it some thought for a couple of months. "What is this blog, and how do I keep from boring your pants off?"
I already had a tagline: "Opening your creative faucet." I decided to explore that. "Do we all have a faucet?" "What shuts it off in the first place?" For me, the answer was people pissing on my projects.
I figure if I have that problem other people do to. And if I can find ways to get myself past it, I can find ways to help you do it too. So without further ado, here is my elevator pitch:
"I write a blog called 'Creative Sprinkle' about opening your creative faucet. Everyone has a creative spark, but sometimes life pees on it. The goal of my blog is to help people reignite it."
Okay, I've put it out there, hoping you won't pee on it. Now, I will begin stressing about the comments, or lack of comments, this post will generate.
LOL!!! I like it. The spark can become a creative fire, living and breathing and thriving, sometimes beyond our control. Or it can get peed on and fizzle out to nothing but a sad wisp of smoke. Well done!
ReplyDeleteTOO FUNNY!! I'm sitting on the couch with my 10 year old son, he saw the title of your post and started laughing out loud. I LOVE IT!! Don't worry about the comments or lack there of. I would previously find myself doing that until I realized that our posts were impacting MANY lives without comments and hear from friends of friends that people I didn't know were talking about our blog, stories, etc. SO - keep on going.......if you're passionate about what you're doing YOU will impact the lives of others. :-) You've encouraged me in just this one simple post........the name of it for starters and I've NEVER considered myself creative, BUT since I started writing a few months ago - others have used that word to describe me, UNREAL!! Looking forward to reading your posts.......have a GREAT night!
ReplyDeleteKeeping it Personal,
Teri
love the elevator pitch! It would definitely capture someone's attention. :)
ReplyDeleteHello - Thanks for stopping by Peek at My Paper today and linking up!
ReplyDeleteWoW - your elevator pitch really is catchy and memorable for sure. I guess I personally, wouldn't be comfortable talking to someone I didn't know, using the words "pees on it". but hey, if it fits your personality... go for it! like I said - It will definitely grab some attention for sure. Beyond that.. I like the meaning behind your text. It is very creative and that's what you are.
:)
Good luck with the challenges and peek back again sometime.
Brenda
Awesome post. Love it. I will be linking to as soon as I contemplate what my elevator pitch should be! People who pee on stuff should watch out for electric fences.
ReplyDeleteOh I love it! And depending on your audience, you can adjust the shock value of the core verb to "spits" "pisses" "pukes" or "shits" :-)
ReplyDeleteYour group sounds wonderful and made me aware that I haven't played with an online group in ages. Too much work, too little play, takes one's crea-tivity away. Or pisses on it.
Your pitch is great! Ans so accurate. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone! I'm off to do some blog hopping now to see what all of you are up to.
ReplyDeleteBravo,
ReplyDeleteI love it! I like that you started with "I write a blog.." more personal than some of us-including me-have come up with a more 3rd person mission type statement. I love the dog photo, that will keep popping into my head now when people rain on my parade...!
Liz...I love you :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm right with you Marie. Sometimes when life pees on your creativity, set it in the sun to dry out and keep going ;-)
I *adore* this, Marie! Now that is a mission statement I can get behind.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your lovely comment on my blog. I can totally relate to your feelings in this post, as it was my experience of a lot of different people "pissing on it" that stopped me being brave enough to explore my creativity. I was very frightened when I started my creative challenge but have stretched into the challenge as I've faced up to the fears and done it anyway, and met lovely people like yourself who have related to my fears and supported me through them. Sending big smiles, Em. x
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