My friend Gil has a problem that appears to be typical for these economic hard times. No he didn’t get laid off, but he had to let go several of his creative staff. Gil is a marketing guy – a group marketing director at a consumer products company, to be exact. And while he has talent and experience and understands what he needs creatively, he has relied on his team to develop presentations, proposals, speeches, marketing materials and even targeted email messages. With cutbacks, the work can’t be delegated anymore.
In years past, Gil might have been able to hire me or another creative source to handle the assignments, but for the time being there’s a freeze on outsourcing… and he’s in a panic. You see, Gil’s never been much of a writer – it’s a slow and painful process for him – and time is a’wastin’.
What to do? Well, I devised a plan for my pal Gil. I figured with a minimal amount of concentrated, in-person sessions, I could develop his writing skills – and his confidence. I prepared a practical and personalized course of action that would give him some solid writerly tips and techniques based on my years of experience, a few key insights into the creative process, and a little target practice to get his juices flowing and keep him in the game. With this kind of help, I figured he might even come to like the work.
And so far, he’s doing just fine…
