Businesses are fairytales. They’re really unbelievably optimistic when you think about it. People bound to a logo, moving in unison, and held together because of small stack of legal filings? It doesn’t sound possible in the real world.

Yet these people move mountains. These giants shape our future and give context to our present. They make magic. So whatever story they they tell themselves to work together, they believe it so much they’re willing to give the majority of their lives at this greater goal.

What is your business’ story? One where you save the world from itself. One where without your hard work we’re all doomed. It should leave me wanting more, hoping I’d have a chance to brush up against you in the elevator filled with questions. Make me a believer.

Because when I understand why you really matter, I’ll make your goal my own. And when you head home for the day your doors will still be open, lovingly tended after in the hearts of those that were inspired by a simple tale.

Microsoft announced a new application today called Songsmith. Designed to work the upcoming version of Windows, it is a music program encouraging users to sing as a matching background track is generated. And while novel in concept, the press they’re getting is a little less positive.

Why? Well their official advertisement shows it running on an Apple computer.

Lesson: Sometimes it is better not to do an ad then to do one so poorly it can only be used as evidence of your incompetence.

I adore Seth Godin. He has the brevity a haiku poet and the mind of a marketing-focused George Carlin. With a few words he can reveal wonder within the most mundane.

Earlier today he tackled the topic of advertising, or more specifically how your advertising is free when marketing does its job:

If the local bank were offering a sale on dollar bills, ninety cents each, how many would you buy?

Most rational people would say, “I’ll take them all please.” Especially if you had thirty days to pay for them.

So, why, precisely, do you have an ad budget?

If your ads work, if you can measure them and they return more profit than they cost, why not keep buying them until they stop working?

And if they don’t work, why are you running them?

The time-tested response is that you’re not sure, that ads are risky, that you can’t tell. And for some sorts of products and some sorts of ads, you’ll get no argument from me.

Digital ads are different (or they should be). You should know cost per click and revenue per click and be able to make a smart guess about lifetime value of a click. And if that’s positive, buy, buy, buy.

Makes sense! For more Seth Godin goodness take at look at our favorites The Big Red Fez, Purple Cow: Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable, Free Prize Inside!: The Next Big Marketing Idea, and his latest Tribes. Each book is filled with page after page of delicious mind candy.

When a client asks us the question, “What options are there to host my website?” we usually lie. We say, “You should pay to host all of your own work. That is the only option. We’d be happy to set you up with a wonderful web host.”.  And then we quickly leave the room.

This is not the truth, and we are shame-filled ninjas. But we lie because we care.

Last week Journalspace was in the top 100,000 websites on each with over 14,000 visitors per month. With six years of experience under its belt there was no need to believe that would change…

Yesterday Journalspace announced they had lost all user data. Every single article, image, and user was gone. After trying to restore a corrupted server the owners officially threw in the towel, citing the end of the website.

And here is why we lie. I’m not concerned with the future of the owners of Journalspace. They’re talented programmers who made a big mistake in not backing up the website more securely, but they’ll move on. I am concerned about the thousands of people who built a writing audience that will never get these readers back. Honestly, how do you console an author that lost six years of writing? How can they connect with their readers again?

This is why digital ownership is important. When you trust others too much you can lose everything. Don’t take that chance with your business.

Leather Creations Furniture has a dozen locations across the US, though you’ve probably never heard of them before. I hadn’t. Sure, they’d received the Customer’s Choice Award for five years in a row, and even named one of the fastest growing privately-held companies by Entrepreneur Magazine, but they were still just another leather furniture store.

That was until a small ad in an Illinois newspaper changed everything. Last week this ad made its way onto the internet, where it has been mentioned over in over 350,000 blogs and websites. Take a look…

When businesses say promotion is hard, I can’t help but laugh. Promotion is easy. Mimicking your competitors is easy. Parroting business cliches is easy. But saying something humorous or unique when every aspect of your marketing is drained through a committee…now that is hard.

When people come to a creative company they don’t look for the latest editions of Photoshop or Illustrator. In spite of what schools may tell you, there is a surplus of talented software wizards. People pay creatives to think for them. We solve their problems by knowing how to implement ideas. We iterate potential directions until they find the one they can proudly stand behind. We exist to mediate bad decisions. In effect – we’re their outsourced brain.

If creating were as easy as using software proficiently, everyone who knew Word would have created novels in their spare time. Those who knew Excel would have balanced their budgets with aplomb, and skilled Outlook users could send Html emails to their family without batting an eye.

And so more important than learning the tools, a young designer must accept that their first job is rooted in psychology: How do you lead a team through a series of open-ended decisions?

We’ve found that the greatest obstacle to decision-making is fear. It crops up in emails, or in conference calls, veiled through feedback, or tucked away in a hurried voicemail. Giving up control even for a moment is hard. It takes trust and respect and asks you to forget the potential failures that could lie ahead. Most people invite fear in for dinner. And once inside your heart, fear doesn’t leave easily. It makes itself home and infects choices and undermines your ability to act. How can a project possibly move forward when filled with so much doubt?

“I’m afraid for my job.” “I’m afraid my board won’t like this.” “I’m afraid the president will hate that.” “I’m afraid customers will dislike it.” “I’m afraid we went too far.” “I’m afraid we didn’t go far enough.”

We’ve worked with hundreds of start-ups. Every single start-up that had a problem deciding on a design for a logo or business card has failed. Not one, not five, every single one.

And the reason is that small decisions are reflections of larger decisions. If you are filled with fear and doubt when it comes to pointing at a brand you admire, you’ll see this same fault amplified 100x when the important business decisions arrive. After all, the color of your logo won’t matter if you don’t satisfy your clients in time.

So a note to the young designers: When looking for good clients, find the fearless. They don’t have time to mull over doubt. You’ll see them by the trail of success they’ve left behind and the strength to trust over worry.

And a note to entrepreneurs: Your job is to stare fear in the face and keep moving forward.

I was promoting my first novel at a book show a few years back when I received the greatest compliment…

When my novel launched I created a series of colorful masks showcasing the characters. Each mask was cut-out by hand and glued to a popsicle stick for easy use. By the end of a show I’d given out hundreds of these. The aisles were filled with adults and little kids running about as my fictional characters.

I’d been to this convention once before as a customer, but it felt so wonderfully different to be on the other side of the table. People judged you and your work as they walked by. When you smiled it gave them a chance to see if they liked either. And when they bought a book it was a sign of approval. It can be addicting to hear praise. Eventually the doors closed I packed up my bags, loaded up the boxes, and made my way to the exit.

On the doorway were my masks, taped to the door and defaced. My first reaction was pride.

The people that love what you do will always be filled with praise. But the people that don’t care for your work are filled with something even worse: indifference. Writing, design, branding – the goal is to build a piece that someone can’t feel indifferent about.

In the past month visitors have written scathing comments on our website. They’ve stolen articles and used them as their own. They’ve “borrowed” our designs and passed the work off as theirs.

The truth is these are the greatest compliments that your work has a voice. No one would take our designs if they didn’t feel they were quality. No one would steal our articles if they didn’t wish they were their own. And no one would take the time to make angry comments if they weren’t emotionally impacted by what we have to say.

1. SPEAK CLEARLY
Just as an actor is valued by how they deliver their lines, your logo speaks too. When potential customers see your new brand they should get a glimpse at your worldview. Logos are more then a name: they establish the flavor of the company. Does your company speak like a Brad Pitt or a Steve Buscemi?

2. ENGAGE EMOTION
People are addicted to stories. Frame your logo in a way that shares a bit of who and what you are. Walk them through the parts that make this business unique. Excite new customers before you’ve even said a word.

3. CHALLENGE YOUR COMPETITION
If your competition uses black, you should use white. If they position themselves as a global leader, then you should be the neighborhood helper. If they preach, you should listen. When the contrast between companies is clear then they have to really think to make a decision.

4. THINK IN SILHOUETTES
Would your logo be recognizable in silhouette? The best logos are. The more we depend on make-up instead of relying on form, the more lipstick we put on our pig.

5. THINK TEN YEARS OUT
Change happens quickly. Owning an outdated brand can be a big burden for a small business. Accept that building a brand is a long journey made better by ignoring current business design trends.

BONUS RULE: FEAR KILLS GOOD IDEAS
The shortest path to a safe logo is caving into fear. Safe doesn’t inspire or lead. It lets others know immediately you didn’t have the guts to be yourself.

“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.”
- Ray Bradbury

Let’s be honest – you wonder about the true value of design, right? And as long as we’re speaking confidentially, every designer heavily wonders this exact question too.

The benefit of working with so many talented companies is that we’ve had a chance to watch brilliant minds at play. And over the years one can see a downright unsettling pattern among the experts of brand. It isn’t confined to giant budgets, or worldwide teams, but it does span the globe to reach every company with hopes to differentiate itself from the masses.

The secret is: People don’t consciously process design.

Marketing’s job is to cultivate trust and design breaks through barriers to speak to an individual on a personal and emotional level before they are even aware they are having a conversation. It works because in order to see how effective it is you have to really pay attention. Most people don’t take that time.

But what don’t believe us…we’re designers!

• Have you ever judged a business from their website?
• Does a mangled PowerPoint presentation reflect on the presenter?
• Is there a product you won’t buy at the Grocery Store because of the way it’s packaged?

Design works because we don’t believe it does. Simple as that.

While you may have been the world’s greatest Mom last summer or someone’s ideal role-model for a whole day, the problem with perfection is that it doesn’t stick around.

Let’s try a thought experiment: Look across your life and estimate how many minutes you’ve touched greatness in the eyes of others. Even if you’ve reached perfection for a few minutes a day, you’d see that all people are sub-perfect 99% of the time. Say I believe your company is above average. Instead of spending 99% of time being imperfect we only find 90% in your esteemed ranks. Even with this best case scenario, isn’t building trust an impossible goal with so much imperfection?

Cubicle Ninjas defines the goal of exceptional marketing as cultivating trust. This means every opportunity to build and strengthen trust is marketing’s responsibility.

Miraculously, you can build trust even faster when you make a mistake and correct it with dignity. Have a smile ready, some honest answers, and a clear plan of actions for when reality hits. A few years back this idea was shunned in global companies. Mistakes were made, hidden, and grew exponentially damaging. Today, transparency is the new marketing term for good ol’ honesty.

If your company obsesses over becoming perfect, you immediately plan to fail at this goal 99% of the time. What if you planned for both success and “less then perfection”? That sounds like a 100% improvement to me.