Posts tagged freelance
The Future Of Advertising: Temporary Help On A Continuous Basis
The Future Of Advertising: Temporary Help On A Continuous Basis

The advertising world is in flux, and so is the way we think about utilizing creative talent. Good talent is expensive and hard to find, the talent an agency has is maxed out, and to top it off client budgets aren’t getting any bigger. In fact, brands are rejecting traditional "agency of record" relationships. Instead, brands are dipping in and out of agencies as they build up their in-house teams. What is an advertising agency to do in this environment? I’ll tell you. Agencies need temporary help on a continuous basis.

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CommentaryWill Burnsfreelance, advertising, talent
What If Creative Freelancers Were As Integrated Into Your Creative Process As 'Siri' Is Into An iPhone?
What If Creative Freelancers Were As Integrated Into Your Creative Process As 'Siri' Is Into An iPhone?

When agencies need freelancers they need them yesterday, not three days later after they’ve been called, negotiated with, W9s received, an office found for them to work, hotels to put them up, etc. What if freelance talent could be intimately integrated into an agency’s existing creative process, where teams who know your client’s business are but keystrokes away at any given moment and could be coming up with ideas within hours not days? Well, we have the meats.

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Use Cases, Tips & TricksWill Burnsfreelance, advertising, creative department, agency
Sometimes You Just Gotta Go Outside For Creative Ideas
Sometimes You Just Gotta Go Outside For Creative Ideas

In my three decade career in the advertising business, I’ve worked at eight agencies in five cities. There wasn’t a single agency who didn’t, at times, go outside to get creative ideas. It’s not ideal, of course. Agencies want to use their own people whenever possible. It’s more profitable. But here are three cases where going outside is the right business decision.

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CreativityWill Burnsfreelance, outside perspective, ideas
In-house Agencies Can Get Outside Perspective And Creative Ideas Without The Threat
In-house Agencies Can Get Outside Perspective And Creative Ideas Without The Threat

In-house agencies live their brand every day, they’re immersed in its culture, they get it first hand. However, the in-house agency is at a disadvantage to external agencies in one respect: the thinking can get insular. While external agencies are working on different brands all the time, in-house agencies work on one brand. All. Day. Long. In-housers know they need to bring in outside perspective from time to time, but many don’t want the risks involved in bringing in outside help. Is there an answer? Short answer, yes. Longer answer below.

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Creativity, Tips & TricksWill BurnsIHAF, in-house agencies, freelance, ideas
Study Suggests Multitasking Creative Projects Increases Creativity
Study Suggests Multitasking Creative Projects Increases Creativity

Have you ever found yourself stuck in a creative rut when you're jamming like hell on a particular idea project, unable to generate new ideas? According to a recent study by Jackson G. Lu, Modupe Akinola, and Malia Mason at Columbia Business School, switching back and forth from one creative task to another can actually increase creativity by reducing a thing called “cognitive fixation.”

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CreativityWill BurnsColumbia Business School, cognitive fixation, creativity, freelance
IX Use Case: 3 Business Moments When Outsourcing Creative Ideas Is Just Good Business
IX Use Case: 3 Business Moments When Outsourcing Creative Ideas Is Just Good Business

Whether you’re a traditional ad agency, in-house agency, or a marketer running a marketing department, you’re always looking to use your own people for as much as possible. You want to avoid the expense of hiring freelance help, there’s no learning curve with your existing staff, and it just plain feels more “pure” to use your own people. But there are times when outsourcing ideas makes good business sense. Here are three.

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Use CasesWill Burnsfreelance, outsourcing
A Technology Platform Whose Algorithm Is Human
A Technology Platform Whose Algorithm Is Human

We call ourselves a “SaaS,” or a software as a service, because it’s technically true. But what’s lost in that categorization is the role human beings play in our company’s purpose. It’s not an “idea machine,” which would suggest an artificial intelligence pumping out ideas. No, Ideasicle X is a machine whose purpose is to increase the odds of human intelligence happening. And that intelligence is anything but artificial. What follows are the ways our software platform is designed to be in continuous service to the real (and very human) heroes.

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News & UpdatesWill Burnstechnology, ceativity, ideas, advertising, freelance, remote work
How To Be Great At Ideasicle X With David Baldwin
How To Be Great At Ideasicle X With David Baldwin

Ideasicle X is all about ideas, but it’s not the “normal” way to generate them. It’s all virtual, it’s in teams of four, there are no meetings, etc. Well, David Baldwin has been an Ideasicle Expert since 2010 and has been a customer of Ideasicle X with his agency, Baldwin&. Here are David’s tips for other freelancers invited to idea projects on the platform. Wise.

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Tips & TricksWill Burnsdavid baldwin, freelance, ideas
Creatives: How To Be Great At Ideasicle X
Creatives: How To Be Great At Ideasicle X

Ideasicle X is a new way for freelancers to work, virtually. It’s not your typical freelance gig where you get briefed, go away for a few days maybe with a partner, and come back with comps. Ideasicle X is a platform that allows teams of four freelancers to work together as a team over a few days posting, building, and riffing on each other’s ideas. One freelancer said, “It’s like an idea video game.” But working in this way requires a shift in how you do things. Below are just a few things to think about if you want to be great at Ideasicle X.

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Tips & TricksWill Burnsfreelance, tips, SaaS, ideas
Ideasicle X, The First Analog SaaS Platform?
Ideasicle X, The First Analog SaaS Platform?

I was listening to Mitch Joel’s podcast, “Six Pixels Of Separation,” this morning (it’s great, check it out). He was interviewing George Dyson, the writer of the book Analogia – The Entangled Destinies of Nature, Human Beings and Machines. During the interview Dyson and Joel talk about the differences between “digital” and “analog” and somewhere in the middle of that it hit me. Ideasicle X is a digital platform, no doubt about that. But the value in it comes from purely analog processes. Let me explain.

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CreativityWill Burnscreativity, ideas, advertising, freelance, digital, analog, mitch joel
Imagine Starting Your Creative Process With Ideas
Imagine Starting Your Creative Process With Ideas

I was interviewed by Rob Schwartz this week for his (fantastic) “Disruptor Series Podcast” (my episode comes out in June sometime) and something I said without much thought struck a chord with him. It was something I’ve said or written hundreds of times, to the point where its significance had probably waned for me. But not for Rob. For him, a light bulb went off. The notion, to paraphrase, was that the ideas an agency gets from Ideasicle X tend to inspire more ideas with an agency’s internal teams. And it’s true. Let me explain.

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Tips & TricksWill Burnscreativity, ideas, advertising, freelance
IX Use Case: : ‘Think Different’ Within An Advertising Agency
IX Use Case: : ‘Think Different’ Within An Advertising Agency

Many larger “full service” advertising agencies, through no fault of their own other than growing, can end up as a collection of siloed P&Ls. This wing is for the advertising team, that wing is for PR, and that wing over there is for digital. Oh, and media? You’re on a different floor completely. While this built-in insularity is good for the health of the respective disciplines, it’s not always good for coming up with the best ideas for an agency’s clients. And that’s because ideas are generated within those disciplines and not across them.

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Use CasesWill Burnscreativity, ideas, advertising, freelance
IX Use Case: Outside Perspective For An In-house Agency
IX Use Case: Outside Perspective For An In-house Agency

An in-house agency at a major retailer is extremely talented but their creative people are incredibly busy with the day-to-day retail output and even if they weren’t their teams admit they can get pretty close to their business. Too close, sometimes. Like they’re inside a wave and can barely see beyond the plunging breaker. So they want some outside thinking to help break out of past creative paradigms. Specifically, they really want this fall’s TV campaign to be different from anything they’ve done before.

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Use CasesWill Burnscreativity, ideas, advertising, freelance
The Creative Ego Is Kryptonite Within The Ideasicle X Model
The Creative Ego Is Kryptonite Within The Ideasicle X Model

I need to set an expectation with all the new Ideasicle X freelancers who will soon be populating our virtual hallways. The original Ideasicle Experts all know this, so this is for the newbies. To succeed within the Ideasicle X model as a freelancer, you will need to leave your ego at the digital door. This platform is not about award shows, it’s not about individual glory, it’s not about competition, it’s not even about who has the best ideas. Ideasicle X is what happens when four brilliant people work together as a unit, posting, building, riffing, and inspiring each other.

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Tips & TricksWill Burnscreativity, ideas, advertising, freelance
IX Use Case: Amy’s Retail Pitch
IX Use Case: Amy’s Retail Pitch

What this use case illustrates is that Ideasicle X can be a powerful weapon in a time-constrained pitch to jump start an agency’s creative process. Within days Amy had forty ideas she wouldn’t have otherwise had. And her favorite ten ideas inspired her own teams to come up with new ideas. Amy could have started the creative process organically with nothing or she could have started with ten ideas on the wall. She chose the latter and within a week had four tight, fantastic ideas ready for presentation. And enough time to flesh those ideas out further than the client required.

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Use CasesWill Burnscreativity, ideas, advertising, freelance
With Ideasicle X Creative Directors Can Become Agencies
With Ideasicle X Creative Directors Can Become Agencies

Ideasicle X is the first SaaS platform designed specifically for virtual idea generation. That means a customer can recruit any four people on Earth to work together on an assignment. For enterprising Freelancer Creative Directors, subscribing to this tool could change the way they look at their business. Specifically, it could turn Creative Directors into idea “agencies.” Let me explain.

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Tips & TricksWill Burnscreativity, ideas, advertising, freelance