inOrbit - Going Down the Rabbit Hole

@hannah_bo_banna
going
down
the
rabbit hole…
chaos,
curiosity,
& creativity
@hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna
my team’s job is to make things
that journalists want to write about
& people want to share

@hannah_bo_banna
to gain links, coverage
& social shares

@hannah_bo_banna
links from highly authoritative sites,
increase the authority of our clients’ sites

@hannah_bo_banna
over time this translates into
stronger organic rankings

stronger organic rankings = more money
(for the vast majority of websites)

@hannah_bo_banna
what sort of things do we make?

this was created for Expedia,
it’s a series of vintage travel posters commemorating the wildlife we’ve lost

this was created for Sage,
it explores what these $1bn start-ups & the people who founded them have in common

this was created for GoCompare,
it reveals the movies with the highest on-screen death counts over the past 80 years

@hannah_bo_banna
In 2017 we created 54 thingers
(launching just over one per week)

@hannah_bo_banna
this year we’re doing 120
(or maybe more…)

@hannah_bo_banna
here’s the thing I don’t normally admit

@hannah_bo_banna
for every twenty ideas I come up with,
only one is likely to be worth making

@hannah_bo_banna
on this basis I’ll need to come up with
around 2,400 ideas this year

{insert your own expletive here}

@hannah_bo_banna
nevertheless, on this basis
we’ll need to come up with
around 2,400 ideas this year

@hannah_bo_banna
so creativity is something I think about a lot

@hannah_bo_banna
or, more accurately,
what it means to be creative

@hannah_bo_banna
creative
having a good imagination or original ideas

@hannah_bo_banna
raise your hand if you think you’re creative

@hannah_bo_banna
so the rest of you
do not consider yourselves creative

@hannah_bo_banna
raise your hand if you used to
make up games as a child

as an adult you see a cardboard box

but as a child you saw a treasure chest

@hannah_bo_banna
we were all creative

@hannah_bo_banna
raise your hand if you used to
make up stories as a child

after I saw jaws for the first time, aged 7,
I wrote my own version

@hannah_bo_banna
I felt that the sea was too limiting in terms of
potential terror

@hannah_bo_banna
so in my version jaws could
swim through the earth’s mantle
& pop up through the crust to terrorise people

@hannah_bo_banna
as stories go I thought it was pretty great

@hannah_bo_banna
I gave it to my dad to read

@hannah_bo_banna
my dad said that the earth’s mantle
was mainly solid so jaws
couldn’t swim through it

@hannah_bo_banna
he also said that the mantle was too hot
(between 500-900 degrees)

@hannah_bo_banna
he said jaws would not be able to breathe
in the mantle

@hannah_bo_banna
he mentioned something about it being
pretty tough to break through the earth’s crust

@hannah_bo_banna
[tough review]

@hannah_bo_banna
I responded that jaws had been stung by a
radioactive jellyfish & had special powers now

@hannah_bo_banna
I said it was a bit like what happened
to Peter Parker

@hannah_bo_banna
I took two things I liked & mashed them
together to make something new

@hannah_bo_banna
jaws + spiderman = a better story
(according to me, aged 7)

@hannah_bo_banna
we all used to do this,
it’s how we came up with games & stories

@hannah_bo_banna
somewhere along the way
most of us stopped

@hannah_bo_banna
& now we say we’re not creative

@hannah_bo_banna
I just think that how we define creative
is a bit broken

@hannah_bo_banna
children are creative

@hannah_bo_banna
they imagine all sorts of things

@hannah_bo_banna
but they don’t sweat the originality bit

@hannah_bo_banna
or rather, they arrive at originality
via a roundabout route

@hannah_bo_banna
two ideas smooshed together = an original idea

@hannah_bo_banna
right now you’re probably thinking

@hannah_bo_banna
what has this:
jaws + spiderman = a better story

@hannah_bo_banna
got to do with stuff like this…

@hannah_bo_banna
I think that if you need to come up
with 2,400 ideas

@hannah_bo_banna
you stand a better chance of succeeding if you
ditch your obsession with originality

@hannah_bo_banna
(trying to be original is crippling in any case)

@hannah_bo_banna
instead,
find things you love
& build upon them to make something new

@hannah_bo_banna
were inspired by these…

@hannah_bo_banna
Mythical Beasts - a series of vintage travel
posters by graphic designer Fro Reza
(who was likely inspired by someone like David Klein)

@hannah_bo_banna
was inspired by this…

@hannah_bo_banna
find things you love
& build upon them to make something new

@hannah_bo_banna
I feel like I sort of knew this already

@hannah_bo_banna
but it wasn’t until I read this
that it clicked for me

@hannah_bo_banna
but wait, stealing is bad, right?

@hannah_bo_banna
don’t *just* steal

@hannah_bo_banna
know the difference between
‘good’ and ‘bad’ theft

bad theft = just make some more vintage travel posters of mythical beasts

bad theft = steal the data, redesign it, maybe change the name

bad theft = just make this beautiful

@hannah_bo_banna
sometimes the line between
good and bad theft is blurry

@hannah_bo_banna
I can’t tell you where the line is

@hannah_bo_banna
but just because you *can* get away with it
doesn’t mean that you should

@hannah_bo_banna
steal responsibly
in order to come up with ideas

@hannah_bo_banna
but how do you actually come up with ideas?

@hannah_bo_banna
in the past, when people asked me
how I came up with ideas
this was my answer

@hannah_bo_banna
I do hours and hours and hours of research,
I drink a lot of coffee,
I lose my mind because all my ideas are terrible,
I decide f*ck it,
I get drunk…

@hannah_bo_banna
the next day…
I regret getting drunk,
I do more research,
I try harder to come up with ideas,
I typically lose my mind again...

@hannah_bo_banna
I keep on doing this
until I come up with some stuff I think might work…

@hannah_bo_banna
it’s not an especially helpful answer, huh?

@hannah_bo_banna
today I want to try to give you
a slightly better answer

@hannah_bo_banna
this stealing like an artist thing helps

@hannah_bo_banna
do this constantly

@hannah_bo_banna
there’s likely to be something in
every book you read,

@hannah_bo_banna
every film you see,

@hannah_bo_banna
every song you listen to,

@hannah_bo_banna
art in all its forms,

@hannah_bo_banna
the stuff you see online,

@hannah_bo_banna
on street signs, in slogans,

@hannah_bo_banna
in overheard conversations…

@hannah_bo_banna
here are a few examples…

@hannah_bo_banna
“it’s often a person’s mouth
that broke their nose”
~ overheard on the last train home

great ape-spectations
(http://windoodles.tumblr.com/)

@hannah_bo_banna
“making a killing on Wall Street
might be a harmless turn of phrase,
but it only enjoys traction because
of the culture it takes place in”
~ Irvine Welsh’s intro to American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

@hannah_bo_banna
make it your mission to constantly
capture this stuff

@hannah_bo_banna
when it comes to concepts for clients
finding things *I* love can be tough

@hannah_bo_banna
but actually,
*I* might not need to love them

‘find things which provoke an emotional
response in your target audience’

@hannah_bo_banna
we only share things if they make us
feel something

@hannah_bo_banna
which makes social shares a reasonable proxy
for strength of emotional response

@hannah_bo_banna
to begin, figure out where you want coverage
(start with 5-10 sites)

@hannah_bo_banna
find out which content is most shared
on those sites

@hannah_bo_banna
actually, while we’re here…

@hannah_bo_banna
don’t just find out *what* people share,
try to figure out
*why* people are sharing this stuff

@hannah_bo_banna
especially if you it’s not something
you care about it

nearly 14k people shared this on facebook?!

@hannah_bo_banna
talk to a human being who cares about this stuff

@hannah_bo_banna
if you don’t get your target audience,
it’s likely they won’t get your content

@hannah_bo_banna
figure out where you want coverage
(start with 5-10 sites)

@hannah_bo_banna
find out which content is most shared
on those sites & why

money,
life hacks,
mindfulness,
happiness

leadership,
intuition,
intelligence,
instinct

money,
cost of living,
happiness
leadership,
power,
influence

@hannah_bo_banna
read the articles,
make notes,
& create a separate list of topics
to explore further

@hannah_bo_banna
now research
[site + each topic]
(leadership, life hacks, money, happiness, intuition, intelligence, instinct,
power, influence, cost of living)

@hannah_bo_banna
start with 5-10 sites
[search site]
make a note of topics
[search site + topics]
note down more topics
[now you’ve explored a subset of topics across 5-10 sites]

@hannah_bo_banna
now research
[each topic]
(leadership, life hacks, money, happiness, intuition, intelligence, instinct,
power, influence, cost of living)

@hannah_bo_banna
create a separate list of sites
to explore further

@hannah_bo_banna
now research
[new sites + each topic]

@hannah_bo_banna
[search site]
[search topics]
make a note of sites you’ve not explored yet
[search new sites + topics]
[now you’ve explored a subset of topics across many more sites]

@hannah_bo_banna
now take your list of topics
& come up with a bunch more related topics

@hannah_bo_banna
now research
[each new topic]
(efficiency, productivity, creativity, work life balance, problem solving, prioritising,
all of the above + apps and tools)

@hannah_bo_banna
create another list of sites
to explore further

@hannah_bo_banna
now research
[new sites + each of your previous topics]

@hannah_bo_banna
[search site]
[search topics]
[search new sites + topics]
[now you’ve explored a subset of topics across many sites]
come up with more topics
[search new topics]
[search new sites + all the topics]
[now you’ve explored a bunch of topics across many sites]

@hannah_bo_banna
are your heads spinning?

@hannah_bo_banna
you’re not done yet

@hannah_bo_banna
now google your topics

@hannah_bo_banna
try google image search

@hannah_bo_banna
search reddit

@hannah_bo_banna
go to the library

@hannah_bo_banna
(these are just examples, there’s loads
more you can explore)

@hannah_bo_banna
by the end of this, you should have
tonnes of stuff worth stealing

@hannah_bo_banna
you’ll have a much clearer idea
of the content landscape

@hannah_bo_banna
& you’ll have a better understanding of what
your target audience share & why

@hannah_bo_banna
take the stuff you love

@hannah_bo_banna
& try to mash it up with the stuff
your target audience care about

@hannah_bo_banna
use both as building blocks
to make something new

@hannah_bo_banna
I’ll try to explain with an example

@hannah_bo_banna
back in 2014
I had a client that sold books

@hannah_bo_banna
research suggested that
the most voracious readers
are often would-be writers

@hannah_bo_banna
they say everyone has a novel in them
& I wanted to prove that it’s never too late

I’d seen how successful this was…

& this is (very loosely) based on that -
it shows how many books the best loved authors published, & when they published
their breakthrough: from Jack Kerouac aged 26, to Rosamunde Pilcher aged 65

@hannah_bo_banna
the message was,
there’s still time to write that first novel

@hannah_bo_banna
I made a bunch of connections or leaps here…

@hannah_bo_banna
people who read a lot,
often harbour dreams of writing…

@hannah_bo_banna
just like people who read tech/business press
dream of creating their own companies

@hannah_bo_banna
“have I left it too late?”
is a pretty universal concern

@hannah_bo_banna
[I remembered the startup piece]

@hannah_bo_banna
could we do something similar for
would-be writers?

@hannah_bo_banna
I then did more research to figure out what…

@hannah_bo_banna
but actually even that’s
a pretty sanitised version

@hannah_bo_banna
I eventually arrived at that piece
with a coherent message

but, I disappeared down a bunch of rabbit holes first

@hannah_bo_banna
I trawled the book sections of news sites and
book specific sites to try to get a handle on
what content was most shared

@hannah_bo_banna
at the time the most shared piece of content on Book Riot was:
16 things Calvin & Hobbes
said better than anyone else

possibly the most true statement ever

@hannah_bo_banna
I spent a bunch of time on this
Calvin & Hobbes idea

@hannah_bo_banna
but no matter what I did I couldn’t get it to a
point where it was anything other than
a listicle of comic strips

@hannah_bo_banna
comic strips that we weren’t likely
to be allowed to use

@hannah_bo_banna
& of course the client wasn’t likely to go for it

@hannah_bo_banna
rabbit hole L

there was also tonnes of stuff about amazing bookshelves

@hannah_bo_banna
but what do you do with that?

@hannah_bo_banna
could we design our own bookshelves?

@hannah_bo_banna
could we imagine how famous authors
would design bookshelves?

@hannah_bo_banna
that’s crazily tenuous

@hannah_bo_banna
what would that even look like?

@hannah_bo_banna
wait… what about libraries?

@hannah_bo_banna
libraries are cool

@hannah_bo_banna
what about libraries in movies?

the breakfast club is set in a library

in ghostbusters, the 1st ghostly encounter occurs in the NYC public library

what about superman’s fortress of solitude?
that’s kind of a library right?

@hannah_bo_banna
oh god what am I doing?

@hannah_bo_banna
yet another rabbit hole L

@hannah_bo_banna
but I think you have to go with it
& allow yourself to get a little bit lost

@hannah_bo_banna
sometimes those ridiculous rabbit holes
will lead you to an idea that will work

@hannah_bo_banna
ok, let’s wrap this thing up

@hannah_bo_banna
rubbish in = rubbish out

@hannah_bo_banna
every day you’re exposed to stimuli –
there’s the damned internet,
but there’s also books, music,
conversation, art…

@hannah_bo_banna
be mindful about what you’re
exposing yourself to

@hannah_bo_banna
seek out the things that your
target audience care about
& try to understand why

@hannah_bo_banna
especially if they’re things you don’t care about

@hannah_bo_banna
know the difference between
‘good’ & ‘bad’ theft

@hannah_bo_banna
do this first and foremost because
it’s the right thing to do

@hannah_bo_banna
‘bad’ theft
could lead you to create ‘bad’ content

@hannah_bo_banna
honor vs degrade
is this just a dumbed down version?
is it worse than the original?

@hannah_bo_banna
skim vs study
do you have a deep understanding, or are you
creating something shallow or patronising?

@hannah_bo_banna
steal from one vs steal from many
what are you adding here?
what’s new or different?

@hannah_bo_banna
collect things

@hannah_bo_banna
“ideas are born out of the
stuff populating our memories…
creativity is simply the capacity to put those
together in incredible new ways”
~ Maria Popova, brainpickings.org

@hannah_bo_banna
embrace the chaos

@hannah_bo_banna
disappear down rabbit holes

@hannah_bo_banna
trust that one of them
will lead you somewhere

@hannah_bo_banna
“you can’t connect the dots looking forward;
you can only connect them
looking backward…”
~ Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement, 2005

@hannah_bo_banna
spending time on
something you’re passionate about
is not time wasted

@hannah_bo_banna
don’t lose heart

@hannah_bo_banna
plunging headlong into a sea of self-doubt
because you think all your ideas are ‘bad’
is counter-productive

@hannah_bo_banna
we are all creative

@hannah_bo_banna
it’s just that no one really talks about
how much hard work is involved

@hannah_bo_banna
you will find it hard,
because it is hard

@hannah_bo_banna
work *really* hard

@hannah_bo_banna
it *might* get easier over time

Paula Scher designed the Citibank logo, in seconds, on the back of a napkin,
in an early client meeting

@hannah_bo_banna
“it’s done in a second, and 34 years…
it’s done in a second,
and every experience,
and every movie,
and everything in my life that’s in my head”
~ Paula Scher

@hannah_bo_banna
when we’ve been doing this for 34 years,
maybe we’ll get there faster J

@hannah_bo_banna
Hannah Smith
Head of Creative
Verve Search
send questions and/or pictures of cats to: hannah@vervesearch.com
tweet things @hannah_bo_banna

@hannah_bo_banna
Big love to the team at Verve who helped me put this together J
Images:
down the rabbit hole: http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2016/09/salvador-dali-alice-in-wonderland-illustrations/
money: http://fortune.com/2017/01/19/scent-of-money/
unknown tourism: http://www.expedia.co.uk/vc/unknowntourism/
unicorn league: http://www.sage.co.uk/c/v/unicorn-league/
director’s cut: http://www.gocompare.com/life-insurance/directors-cut/
jesus titty christ: http://www.sickchirpse.com/illusions-that-will-blow-your-mind/
cardboard box: http://blog.creativebug.com/halloween-cardboard-costumes-for-kids/
jaws: http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2014/07/jaws-ridiculous-say-kids-who-owe-everything-jaws
mythical beasts: http://www.frodesignco.com/mythical-beasts
david klein: https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/david-klein%E2%80%99s-twa-travel-posters
billionaires league: http://www.gocompare.com/money/billionaire-league/
deadliest films: http://www.randalolson.com/2013/12/31/deadliest-films-of-all-time-by-on-screen-death-counts/
steal like an artist: http://austinkleon.com/steal/
beer: http://lifehacker.com/why-you-should-drink-beer-for-big-ideas-coffee-to-get-513262326
great ape-spectations: http://windoodles.tumblr.com/post/11324031727/great-ape-spectations
buzzsumo: http://buzzsumo.com/
too late to start: http://fundersandfounders.com/too-late-to-start-life-crisis/
calvin & hobbes: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/
read: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/32-awesome-bookshelves-every-book-lover-needs-have.html
the breakfast club: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/
ghostbusters: http://untappedcities.com/2013/09/05/film-locations-ghostbusters-at-nypl-columbia-hook-ladder-fire-station-tavern-on-the-green/
fortress of solitude: https://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/04/this-superman-poster-encompasses-everything-great-about-the-1978-movie/
danbo - https://www.flickr.com/photos/nomadic_lass/6889892777/in/set-72157629144987013
unicorn - http://queenofheartsonthesleeve.tumblr.com/post/58736423727/ok-not-much-but-here-it-is-3
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inOrbit - Going Down the Rabbit Hole