Some say I’m too serious about nothing while others still look at my wandering artistic visions as being a well kept childhood secret. Which is what makes being a writer fun because any day, everyday, you can be everything to all or nothing to everyone—I do what’s required…I write because we have the right.
Messages and their makers come in packs of 360,000 for a single cent making what’s being shared nothing more than a four pack of Red Bull filled with motivation to move but the opposite end is like bronzed cups of coffee salted by buzzes that lift but are instantly killed by endless winter days when the sun wastes no time to call it quits.
There are two different types of messengers: Just the facts and conversational.
I was supposed to learn something when Dr. Ronald Mack thrust the book Writing Well into my arms but I chose instead to take the Poets Prayer serious by being the one who doesn’t just show up with facts and no feelings.
In his book Say Something Real, author Lou Solomon takes a stab at Sgt Joe Friday from the 60’s television show Dragnet. He calls the line, “Just the facts,” the greatest sentence written in the 20th Century. By wanting just the facts, that inspired marketing leaders, CEO’s, general managers, department heads as well as husbands and wives to seek out nothing more than…the facts.
We live in an age when information is the Bible. Businesses build their success on delivering just the facts. Jobs are lost hourly because the facts state changes need to be made or stockholders can’t enjoy a six day boating excursion off the shores of Hawaii. Doing great business is based on sticking to the facts—having no emotion for your product follows in a close second.
Lost is relationship.
I tend to use the word passion in nearly every sentence I create. I have a passion to be on the air sharing short 7 second breaks that could make your day better. I have the passion to create radio commercials that invite new clients to your business that in return will make their life better. I have the passion to help brides and grooms write their vows. I have the passion to perform music at their weddings to guarantee an incredible celebration that future generations will still be bragging about. Passion! Passion! Passion!
In today’s business world I’m so far off the map the United States Coast Guard has listed my dedication to society as MIA. If I had just stuck to the facts I’d be sitting in a radio station studio doing what I love most…having a deep interest in bringing success to clients requiring people to walk through their doors.
The facts are…having a deep interest in a project carries more value than having passion for it.
But...Lou Solomon says, “It takes more than facts for people to connect.”
How then do you introduce a disconnected branch of the human race to an old idea of communicating rather than wasting billions annually on research taken six months ago? In television they know by morning if wearing a blue sweater swayed viewers from their screens. Within six months radio will play the same game—a single thought, musical note or lack thereof in the interest in the public could send the masses into an area the facts never spoke of until a new journey was born.
We spend too much time worried about the government watching us…when the facts clearly state its large and small companies blessed with questions that are typed into computers and suddenly your email address and phone number are sold to higher ups more interested in your progress than they should be. They demand the facts knowing when they get them…there’ll never be true emotion but they know a 25 to 30 year old shops at their store between 5 and 7pm and all things connected to your email address point to a deep interest in fashion but you’re still driven by Hollywood updates.
When was the last time you signed up for discount card at a grocery or clothing store chain—that 10% you get off for every purchase won’t break the companies bank because the information you just gave them has introduced the decision makers to some pretty incredible facts about you and the lifestyle you keep.
They only want the facts…they couldn’t care less if you have the flu, gained weight or the kids won’t stop screaming in the back of the car. Buy our shoes! We'll spray perfume into the mall air that will lure you in. Mmmm don't our employees look cool wearing what you need to sport around the office?
"Dude...can I use the restroom?" I ask quietly
"No...its for employees only."
What message do you project: The facts or communicator? The answer will explain why people treat you the way they do at work, home, church and other places of play.
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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