If you haven’t been to one before – SpokeFriday is our monthly happy hour to gather friends of the agency and to make new ones. As a virtual agency, the majority of our creatives work off-site so we use these happy hours as an opportunity to gather our creative teams, clients, friends of the agency and anyone else who is in St. Louis who would like to attend. Come for networking, drinks, appetizers or just to meet some friendly people in St. Louis.

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The inventiveness and ingenuity of entrepreneurs never ceases to amaze me. Their ability to see a problem where others don’t, and to create solutions that others can’t is why I’m involved with the Missouri Venture Forum. Our work to support these trailblazers is what excites me most about the work we do.

Last month, I attended the ‘Start-Up Connection’ where local entrepreneurs presented their business ideas to anyone who would listen; potential investors, possible partners, future employees, and service providers.

What struck me most as I walked through the exhibit hall wasn’t the inventiveness and determination of the presenting companies, it was their inability to tell their story simply.

Don’t get me wrong…I’m no genius (and there is plenty of documented proof to support this), but there were several times when I tried intently to understand a presenters idea, and came away completely empty.

• were they too technical with me?
• were they too vague with their product?
• did they not demonstrate the need in the marketplace for their new ‘mousetrap’?

These were talented, enthusiastic entrepreneurs with great ideas and many of them will be wildly successful. They were skilled at employing or creating new technology and capitalizing on trends in the marketplace…but most would have benefited from some good old fashioned storytelling.

Often times when somebody tries to teach me something, I have to repeat it back to them, to make sure I understand. It often starts with…”let me see if I get this right…” and I try to repeat what I’ve just heard. This way, there’s little chance of miscommunication. If I’m wrong, they simply correct me, and we repeat the process until I understand what they’re trying to tell me.

This process works great when both parties have the time to talk on-one-one. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case during trade shows in exhibit halls. Passersby need to understand your message quickly…or they simply move on.

Many presenters fell into common traps:

Processezzzzzz. There’s a time and place to get into the detailed minutia of your company’s processes. There are definitely times when this is appropriate…a trade show banner is not the place.
Feature Focus. Nobody has ever bought a feature. Not once. Ever. People engage emotionally with value, utility and satisfaction.
Many companies used too many words (and jargon) and too few visuals (or the wrong visuals).

Remember, people can only tell your story if they understand it.

The secret formula: Hooray for Hollywood

There’s no reason to re-invent the wheel. Think of yourself as a movie producer. What will be interesting to the audience? What do they care about (market potential, return on investment, social good)? Can they identify with the characters (your business)? Do they see the potential? Can you make it heart warming, visually stimulating, funny?

Will they pay to see it?

OK, there is no secret formula, its common sense really:
Start your story with the landscape or current situation. Give them some background on the ‘big picture’.
Consider the audience, and tailor the message appropriately.
Use foreshadowing to show them the solution. Determine what the perfect world looks like for them, then reverse-engineer the ideal future. Demonstrate how they get from where they are to where they can be. Literally draw a map for them.
Tell related stories, hand-picked for your audience. Not boring case studies, but stories.
Go ahead and end the story with how they get started. Make it easy for them with a simple call to action.

Remember to keep it simple, and once you find out who you’re talking to, have key messages that resonate with them.

Tell your story simply and well…and it will spread like wildfire.

If you haven’t been to one before – SpokeFriday is our monthly happy hour to gather friends of the agency and to make new ones. As a virtual agency, the majority of our creatives work off-site so we use these happy hours as an opportunity to gather our creative teams, clients, friends of the agency and anyone else who is in St. Louis who would like to attend. Come for networking, drinks, appetizers or just to meet some friendly people in St. Louis.

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As someone that has worked multiple internships over the years I am no stranger to “paying my dues” and “working my way up”, both practices that in my opinion are far too similar to the hazing that occurs every spring in your local fraternity/sorority house. I have washed dishes, taken out the trash, walked dogs and cleaned the office, all things that had nothing to do what so ever with my degree in graphic design, but I was told that this was what had to be done so I played along and in the end learned how to make a damn fine cup of coffee instead of how to be a better designer.

This all changed last summer when I became a Sprocket at Spoke. Sure I made coffee and took out the trash but I was also given multiple client projects (real clients, not making t-shirts for my bosses) to work on, and by work on I don’t mean shoved in a corner and never given any direction, I was given help every step of the way. The guys here at Spoke even let me talk one on one with clients and actually micro-manage some of the projects we Sprockets were working on, something that is virtually unheard of in my experience. Not only were the graphic design interns given real world experience but the marketing intern was able to experience what working in a real agency was like, both the good (working with clients) and the bad (doing research).

By the time my summer internship came to an end I had not only learned valuable skills in dealing with clients as well as some shiny new things to put in my portfolio from some big names in the community, but I had also built a relationship with my bosses that I had never had before. In the end I managed to hang around long enough that they offered me a job, which I promptly took, and I have never looked back. I hate to use the phrase “I love my job” or “I jump out of bed every morning” but I actually do like my job, what’s better than working all day with friends and always being in close proximity to a fully stocked bar, which you are encouraged to take advantage of, to a certain point.

If you want a real world experience in which you will spend most of the summer doing actual work and only making the occasional cup of coffee then the Sprockets program is for you.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that they actually pay you?

Some of the work done by past Sprockets:

The Mission Continues: Creation of complete new visual identity including a new logo, brochure and newsletters.

Cancer Support Community: Created a marketing plan, re-design of their newsletter and creation of posters to increase awareness of their programs.

Blessing Basket: Refreshed the logo, and designed point-of-sale elements that helped increase same-store-sales by more than 300%.

The Mission Center: Created their logo and brand collateral, and provided ‘visual storytelling graphics’ that enabled them to explain their unique business offering, and innovative corporate structure to prospective clients and investors.

As a marketing agency with three socially-networked, community-minded partners, we are regularly approached by non-profits looking for pro bono work. While we’d like to help them (and often do), this work puts a burden on our resources.

As a burgeoning marketing agency that does interesting work, we are regularly approached by interns, looking for experience that will help them to figure out their career path, or to help them land that first job.

Our summer internship program (Sprockets) looks to solve both of those problems.

We are looking for community-minded, talented and driven design and marketing students that want to do great work for clients with great causes. We hope that our interns will leave with a sense of what full-service marketing looks like in 2011, as well as a portfolio of real-world projects and the opportunity to make a difference.

The interns will be part of a team to work on the marketing needs of various non-profit, and entrepreneurial companies in the St. Louis region. This could include branding, collateral material, web design, event signage, annual reports, donor solicitations, or anything else we can do to help these selected organizations.

Interns will work directly with the partners and receive 1:1 direction and support for the duration of the project.

Potential clients will be solicited through a direct mail campaign, and asked to fill out an RFP. Spoke will select clients, prioritize projects, and work with our interns to deliver agency-caliber work to deserving organizations that can positively impact our community.

We are very proud of this program and the terrific work produced from our Sprockets interns.  Now in its third year, we hope that legacy continues.  We are looking to hire two design interns and one marketing intern. The job requirements for the positions are below.

Design intern requirements and details:

• Interns should have strong design and / or illustration skills
• Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite software, especially Illustrator and Photoshop
• Enrolled or a graduate of a graphic design program
• A desire to work in the marketing / advertising field
• Their own computer
• The students will be expected to work full time and the position is paid.

Update: 5/3/2011 – We have received a large amount of intern applications and have stopped accepting new applications. Thanks to everyone who has applied. We are working to be in touch with everyone by the end of this week.

Marketing intern requirements and details:

• This internship will focus on primarily on coordinating projects and client meetings, and will be responsible for assisting in concepting and writing copy.
• The intern needs to be a strong writer, have excellent verbal communication skills and be deadline driven and highly organized.
• The intern will be expected to conduct market research, develop creative briefs, document meetings, coordinate all next steps, keep the design team on target strategically, and deliver projects on time.
• The students should have their own computer and expect to work full time. The position is paid.

Update: 5/3/2011 – We have received a large amount of intern applications and have stopped accepting new applications. Thanks to everyone who has applied. We are working to be in touch with everyone by the end of this week.

Our agency works with tight deadlines, tight budgets, and can be a fairly stressful environment. We work hard, so that when we play hard, it’s well-deserved.