Guess who’s a Pozible Ambassador- yep, me!
Pozible Ambassador Network It is with great pride that I announce I am part of the Pozible Ambassador Network. Those crazy crowdfunding cats, Alan and Rick, have asked me to help out future crowdfunders. While I haven’t done my own crowdfunding project (yet), you may recall I helped the transition from Fundbreak to Pozible back in 2009, and gave them their early start in social media and blogging. Since then, I have helped the guys on the odd occasion,... Read More
Climb out of my ear please- I’m doing stuff!
“It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic, is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things.” Theodore Roosevelt Everyone’s a critic Apart from a terribly delicious word such as ‘behooves’ getting airplay, good old Teddie is bang on the money. It never ceases to amaze me how many people feel it necessary to hack at the shins of the people who are just... Read More
Guest Post: Five Profitable Green Business Start Up Ideas
Carlo Pandian is guest blogging on a subject I just love- green businesses! take it away Carlo! Read More Like my style? Enjoy the content? Contact me if you need custom content created or marketing help! Read More
What we could all learn from Radiohead
Last night with tens of thousands of other people I was brutally assaulted, seduced and made to feel like I was privy to something huge yet private all at once. The circumstances of this bizarre yet thought provoking situation was seeing Radiohead at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Here’s the disclaimer: I am a card carrying Radiohead fan. I’ve often joked I could say my life is complete once I finally get to kiss Thom Yorke’s bung eyelid.... Read More
Pozible Crowdfunding for Startup
Last night I crashed an intimate evening of people discussing how to use crowdfunding for startup with Pozible Co-founder Alan Crabbe. Why crowdfunding and startup? Crowdfunding is a great way to measure early adoption of your product and/or to financially support your goals in a way that can also be used to demonstrate popularity with Angels, funding bodies and more. But how do you use it to its best advantage? The platform is a tool: The... Read More
Screw Blogging Rules
There is something slightly obnoxious about blogging rules. They get this little creative Sydney copywriter in a tizzy. Usually because some poor client I’ve inherited has been frightened off blogging because of some nincompoop and their mystical set of rules. Balderdash! The reality is SEO, guest blogging, frequency of posting, post timing and so on are all trumped by one thing- the quality. Join me in screwing blogging rules and be prepared the... Read More
Discordia is Live!
I truly love marketing. Being a creative copywriter and freelance strategic marketer is something I love doing. I live helping people. Putting truth and creativity back into marketing isn’t just a tagline for me, it’s the reality. And I really enjoy working with my clients. Yet sometimes I have felt recently that I’ve been letting the writer in me down a little. Writing to me is a deeply personal thing. I don’t expect everyone to agree with... Read More
Call Out: Discordia Zine
Discordia Zine is on the hunt for women bloggers, writers, artists and illustrators who can be a part of new online content portal. We’re tired of feeling like outsiders in the female web world and women’s media. We feel that labels like ‘crafty mummy’, ‘lipstick lesbian’ or ‘suited up business woman’ just don’t apply. For us, the slew of women’s magazines and ‘believe in yourself’ online communities are irrelevant. And the... Read More
Woody Allen on Doing it Your Way
The next half of the Woody Allen documentary I saw in a hotel room in Orange. It was just the shot in the arm needed to remind me that doing things the way feel right for you is better than subservience to the ideals of others. Here is what I gained on Woody Allen and doing it the way that feels right for you: First of all, he bypasses the agents and goes straight to the actors. He personalises the reasons he wants to work with particular actors... Read More
Woody Allen on Creativity
Inspiration comes from the craziest of places. Saturday night saw me chilling out with a sick partner on the couch, watching a Woody Allen documentary. I knew the guy was clever, I just didn’t realise how clever. This is what I gleaned from Woody Allen and his approach on effective creativity: • Maintain a rhythm. Rhythm and timing are key to storytelling. Without it, you have nothing. • If the system works, keep doing it. Woody has been using... Read More
Why Change Aussie TV?
Think about Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Dexter, Skins, Arrested Development, Six Feet Under, Extras, Weeds, Scrubs, Black Books, The Wire, Treme, Sopranos, The Good Wife, Louie and Californication. Now ask yourself- have we had anything remotely close come out of Australia recently? You may have seen the campaign “Save Places for Aussie Faces.” Now ask yourself what future our fledgling writers, directors, actors and producers have in this... Read More
CASE STUDY: POZIBLE “LET’S TALK CROWDFUNDING SYDNEY” EVENT
Background: Australia’s leading crowdfunding platform, Pozible, required assistance with their first major Sydney event entitled “Let’s Talk Crowdfunding!” The first event in Melbourne, whilst still positive, had less than 50% turnout. Pozible engaged Unashamedly Creative to assist with the event’s management and communications for the event in Sydney to test whether the series was a viable national road show. Objective: • Lift conversion... Read More
Stop breaking your children!
You know what really boils my potato? Hearing from friends and people I come across that in this day and age, there are still parents out there who treat creative endeavours, start-ups and small business adventures and/or major changes to career and way of life by their adult children as “things to grow out of”. That parents are vocally objecting to their adult kids chasing dreams or at the very minimum quietly stressing enough in the corner for... Read More
How do Australians feel about home-grown TV?
Is the current Australian TV market a positive or negative in terms of creativity? Are we suffering from reality TV and lifestyle programme fatigue or do we love them and want to see them stay? Are we risk-adverse or innovative? Do we create export quality TV? What do Australians actually want to see on the box? Having had countless coffee and wine debates about the state of Australian TV with everyone from unemployed actors to happily employed producers,... Read More
Revised: Further Ways to Market Arts
Fortune does favour the brave! Here are some things to try. Sending press release out with photo to whatever works- there are places such as FasterLouder, Music Feeds, Side Street Sydney and also sites such as StreetCorner, Throw Shapes, TwoThousand a myriad of other places. Anyone you are paying to advertise with, totally send that content. Drum, Fbi etc will publish it, especially if you are paying. With FBi and 2SER, offer a free double pass to... Read More
Revised for 2012: Music Marketing 101
These are the tips and tricks you should really employ to get your band coverage… start here and the foundation will grow! Record a demo, even if it’s in your garage or bathroom or your Nanna’s house. We are not talking sending this puppy to record companies- we are talking having something to put on your MySpace Reverbnation or Band Camp. You are selling an auditory product and no matter how schmick your photos may be or your bio, funny, ultimately... Read More
2 Million Reasons to Smile
A mere five months on from achieving $1million in pledges, Pozible has hit 2012 running by reaching the $2million pledge mark in March. And the goal kicking for the original home-grown crowdfunding platform for Australian creative and socially innovative projects looks set to continue. Fast becoming one of the most popular and effective funding options available Pozible has seen tremendous growth in exposure and audience participation since... Read More
Sydney, now it’s your turn…. Let’s Talk Crowdfunding!
After a successful Melbourne event in late 2011, Pozible now brings “Let’s Talk Crowdfunding!” to Sydney. This free event is for anyone who wants to learn more on crowdfunding for creative projects or simply for people interested in self funding through platforms like Pozible. Join us for a helpful, informative and passionate discussion on crowdfunding your dreams and ideas with like minded individuals. The evening is aimed at giving anyone... Read More
So simple it has to work…
I recently finished reading The Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing by George Silverman (have put up some pieces from it previously and still have another 5 pages of notes I may share, depending). Each time I pick up a book of this kind, it’s great to find some kernel of wisdom that really rings the bell. Here is that bell ringer for me. I wrote down a heading (like the studious little freak I am) of “Six Steps to Harnessing Word of Mouth” with... Read More
Jaws: Taking a Bite Out of the Competition
Holidays mean sitting back and relaxing, so here I am, late at night watching Jaws. Yes, great viewing for a seaside holiday right? Anyway, that, combined with currently reading 3 books at once, one single message seems to becoming clearer and clearer… people enjoy a slow reveal and anticipation much more than being beaten over the head with a message over and over again. Am I stating the blindingly obvious? You would think so. I know my writing... Read More
Your Project on the Operating Table
Make no bones about it, it really sucks when an idea or project doesn’t work out the way you want it to. But how do you tell the difference between natural causes and misadventure? And what should you do to avoid another untimely demise of a beloved project? Consider this your autopsy and next steps guide to the projects that go belly up! Nurse, I need 10cc’s of Ego, stat! First and foremost, when a project fails to achieve a benchmark, please... Read More
Why a freelancer community?
Some people have been asking me lately what the whole freelance survey is about (for your reference, here is the original post http://unashamedlycreative.com.au/2011/10/calling-all-freelancers/) or where it might lead. Here it is in nuts and bolts… Hello- is anybody out there? I started doing a full time freelance gig in 2009 whilst still employed because I wanted to see if it worked. I had some mates who had varying degrees of success across... Read More
No Sparkly Vamps Here
Oh how everyone loves the idea of a vampire right now. But how funny is each take on how the vampires are indentified, what is unique about them and the kinds of creatures they are. Of course we too have taken our own version of vampire and weaved it within the Varity Vampire story. We have made a more “turn of the screw” approach to our vampires in our writing because we really dig the idea of how undetectable actual true predators are to their... Read More
Simple Tips to Help Your Writing
Writing driving you up the spout? Finding you get needlessly tangled? Years of doing this for people in all kinds of industries have taught me a few simple things anyone can look at to improve your writing. Everyone has a buzz word Each of us has a word we love over using in our writing. For many Australians, it is “that” or “then” – but it can vary from person to person. You can make your writing tighter by looking for a common word... Read More
Calling all freelancers!
Are you tired of auction sites trying to get you to work for $2 a 500 word article or deploy a whole website for $200? Have you had to mop up after countless el cheapie projects for your clients after things have gone drastically south? Do you sometimes wonder why employment agencies or digital/ad agencies pay you 30% of what they bill you out for? Are you working at places that don’t allow you to stretch yourself as much as you would like? Do you... Read More
Pozible hits the Million Dollar Mark
Australia’s first crowd funding platform, Pozible, has hit an amazing $1million in pledges. Since humble beginnings in May 2010, Pozible has become a viable option for creative and innovative projects around the country as a source of funding through peers pledging their support through crowd funding. Reaching the million dollar mark is yet another milestone for a platform dedicated to helping more ideas become reality in the Australian creative... Read More
Sisters are doin’ it for themselves!
You have to love the sexy, sassy and super cool way a heroine lights up the film screen. The same applies (we hope!) to the Varity Vampire story. Like most female vampires, both Ruth and Varity are reluctant heroes- thrown into circumstances not of their choosing, that they have to not only make do with, but also conquer for what they believe in to be maintained. So in honour of the sexy, sassy, super cool reluctant heroines everywhere that have... Read More
What is WOM [Word-of-Mouth] worth?
Crowdfunding is a pretty amazing thing. Watching one dollar add to another dollar and another until a target is reached just shows how much every little bit counts. But what most people may not realise is that even when you don’t have any money to spare, you can still manage to support a project and create a positive outcome. And there is a group of these people already that have made a huge in-direct impact to projects. Pozible has always been... Read More
Varity has Arrived!
Varity Vampire went live last night, just after midnight! She is, she always was and now she says it in cyberspace- Varity Vampire. Bit different to my usual stuff eh? We have set up a main site http://www.varity-vampire.com/ where you can catch all things related to the production, vampires, why we did this and all that jazz. If you have topics for me, let me know. Each week we will be releasing an episode to youtube until Halloween, when we release... Read More
Varity Vampire is Coming!
It’s taken over ten years and tens of thousands of dollars, too many hours to count of meetings, directing, recording and drawing and more rewrites than you could possibly imagine- but Varity Vampire is mere hours from being released! Varity Vampire is the brainchild of Jack Black who thought of an original piece about what it would be like to be trying to be an ordinary teenager when you are both human and vampire. Varity is about what happens... Read More
Green film making? By accident, maybe
Making a film is hard work; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. But with the Crackheads, the way the story is designed, there is a little bit of “wriggle” room re: getting things absolutely perfect. In essence, I have actually designed around having no to low budget. Admittedly, it is hip to be a recycling, reusing greenie scrounging up materials to a certain extent I am using this to my advantage. But it is also about meeting budget, making... Read More
The Crackhead’s Get Rocked
As you know, Richard Berndt has donated his time and talent to creation of the musical score for the Crackheads. I can now share with you a sample of that hard work. With the Crackheads film, we toyed with the idea of taking off two well known songs- namely the “Home and Away” theme (changing it to “Homo and Away”) and “Fishheads” (changing that to “Crackheads”) ala Weird Al Yankovic. But unfortunately,... Read More
From the Puppeteers Pencil
Fear not, the puppet project is still alive and kicking, well as much as their stumpy little footsies will allow anyway! It’s just been a little hectic of late on both the commercial and creative levels. The potted history of puppet events are as such: Paul has pretty much finished building our stage, with the exception of a hinge or two. Next comes the backgrounds and how to deal with them Rich has been composing for the background ads and music,... Read More
Artist in Profile: Shy Magsalin
Shy Magsalin is a passionate theatre maker who has studied and worked with some of the best companies in the world. Is Australian theatre culture strong enough to keep a talent such as hers from leaving our shores permanently? Shy Magsalin- To keep you really hungry keeps you inspired to keep learning Madam Fling Flong’s is a favourite little haunt of mine. Over the top of Sonis on King Street in Newtown, it’s tucked away enough not to... Read More
Why crowd funding?
Any creative or socially innovative person will tell you that there is often a tremendous support for their idea from friends, family and like minded people within their networks. That same person may talk of the struggle they have faced to raise the funds needed to make their dreams a reality and how hard it is to market and continually run fundraising initiatives to fund their projects. Through crowd funding, we aim to bring those passionate people... Read More
Artist Profile: Rich Berndt
Over ten years ago, Richard Berndt left the country to pursue his dreams of becoming a rock star in the big city. The goal posts may have shifted, but the journey is no less fulfilling. Read More Like my style? Enjoy the content? Contact me if you need custom content created or marketing help! Read More
Artist in Profile: Ryan Linnegar
The beauty and darkness of Ryan Linnegar is explored time and again through his photography and lyrics. But who is this poet, musician and artist really? The Courthouse Newtown is not your usual choice for conducting interviews if a journalist and I soon start to understand why. Here I am sitting in front of a rather nervous Ryan Linnegar with the cursory jug of Coopers Pale at the ready whilst I sit there trying to test levels on my Sansa music... Read More
The Thylacines- Taking a Bite Out of the Sydney Music Scene
Imagine if you knocked on a door and there before you was a sweet little old lady with a quietly elfin smile above a lace collar and cable knit cardigan. Imagine she asked what you wanted in a smoked encrusted Scottish brogue but didn’t wait for the answer. Instead, as your lips part she is grabbing at your collar, pulling your face to her knee and just at the moment you think you will wet your best undies in fear of the blood nose you surely know... Read More
Sydney Music Scene Study
In response to the purchase of the Excelsior by Merivale and the perceived decline of viable music venues in Sydney, myself (Rebekah Lambert) and veteran indie rocker about town Rich Berndt devised and conducted a survey about the state of live music in Sydney. The responses were collected via Survey Monkey through publicity on online channels- notably this website and interested social media groups- February 2011 until July 2011. We collected 137... Read More
Puppet on a Shoestring: The Story of Birthing a Puppet Film
From moving to script to actually getting things done is a pretty hard process. It is rewarding though. Time consuming, at times very overwhelming, and punishing because you finish on task and several more sprout up like snakeheads on Cerberus. I am learning as I go along. Music and Sound Anyone who has ever done anything remotely linked to sound will tell you if you screw up the volume or the mix, it just won’t work in your favour. Thankfully,... Read More
Musicians are doing it for themselves
Sydney has certainly moved to a brighter future in the music scene since the 2000’s when poker machines ruled, entertainment licences cost venues a kidney and bookers chose bums on seats over quality, but the scars still linger. Audiences are still not brave enough to trust venues to walk in and take pot luck, some bookers persist in fragmenting bills and not knowing the style of music that gets played and venues and bands collectively barely break... Read More
Australian TV: When will you grow up?
Offspring is getting rave reviews, Twitter is alight with Hayden’s eviction from Masterchef and I almost choked on a mouthful of Friday night beer when I saw the ads for the new reality show “Dinner Date” which looks like it should be named “The Bogan BBQ Master Wants a Wife (and a spot on a talent show)”. I just wonder when we will see some really brave, challenging TV come out of Australia. And why, when someone is able to introduce... Read More
The Crackheads: Profiles!
Maybe I spent way too much time in the dating industry to truly shake it off, but when it comes to getting to know my characters, there is nothing I like to do better than prop them up on the singles couch and ask them what they think their answer would be to common dating profile questions. Original Crackhead Age: What’s it to ya? Location: Sunny fuckin’ Redfern Height: Does it matter when ya on ya knees?! Body Type:... Read More
Socialising with Crackheads? Ewww!
Social media makes life so much bloody easier for creative people. It really does because you can share your ideas, have a platform to publish, and have a way of reaching a much wider audience than what you would usually do. For The Crackheads, I have spent a lot of time wrestling with the idea of character driven versus marketing driven content and what is best for the promotion, and also what is best for me as a creative person. I could be all “marketing... Read More
My inner child is actually a dirty, filthy bunch of puppets
As a kid, I was the one with the bowl haircuts of fine brown hair, gauche decorated strings hanging from my glasses, pencil in hand writing stories as Miss Piggy or Kermit was tucked under the free arm. I made ball-gowns for my felt tips out of tissue and cello tape and had them dance all night with eye toting socks whilst Barbie stayed dusty on the toy shelf. I preferred wood and wool to plastic and metal. I spent a lot of time willingly inside cardboard... Read More
Kinds Of Blue Interview
Successful Project Kinds of BluePozible was recently honoured with supporting a unique artistic and writing project, Kinds of Blue, which deals with what it is like for people living with depression. This amazing book is a must read for anyone who wishes to understand, who loves someone with depression, or struggles with depression themselves. We would like to thank Karen (the creator) for taking time out of her schedule to talk to Pozible about... Read More
We’re making things Pozible!
You may have noticed some changes in the wonderful world of crowd funding recently, the most notable being FundBreak’s name change to Pozible. Rest assured loyal fans, followers and friends, your favourite crowd funding platform is still at heart the one you know and love. It’s just that we have decided to up the ante a little at our HQ and made a decision to make things Pozible! Confused? Let’s take some time out to demystify our new identity. We... Read More
Band Photos: How not to bore people to death
Having recently flicked through the TripleJ Unearthed site in search of some new indie bands to follow, I have realised that musicians probably operate a secret society, complete with five point starter kits for their bio photos. Why do I say this? Well, why else would almost every photo feature the same five key points? The dreaded five key points Choose exotic location such as graffiti wall, brick wall, wooden wall or something which features wall... Read More
Path to new Australian TV: Closed Until Further Notice
Australia, to me at least, has a fairly non-existent television market. Even with the introduction of brand new digital channels, we live on a staple diet of imported television and the grisly fat of TV executives and producers who have grown plump and lazy on a diet of reality TV, serial cop and hospital shows. In terms of longevity in the international market, our most successful export is Neighbours. We lay claim to the ratings success of the Masterchef... Read More
How to…get experience when you don’t have credentials
Not everyone fits into the university world. For whatever reason, there are some of us out there that really cannot gel with the whole idea of education at the higher level, yet have boundless enthusiasm, talent and continuous self learning to offer the right creative place. But often, without a degree you won’t be given the opportunity to even sit for an interview, let alone gain much needed tangible experience. So what do you do if this applies... Read More
No excuses, no, none
It’s really easy to make things overly complicated so you don’t have the chance to succeed. In my time, I have heard from band members who wouldn’t set up a MySpace because the lead singer wanted to “consult with a MySpace employee first”, worked with a film maker who spend so much time on researching a project and carrying on with self indulgent fantasies they only have journals of plans and no films to show for it and gotten in my own... Read More
How to…Reward your supporters
Issuing rewards for support of your project is part and parcel of having a successful project on Pozible. But it can also be one of the hardest things to work out for you and your project group prior to launch. In this “How to…” the Pozible team share a few tips and tricks that will make setting your rewards a hassle free process! Every little bit counts One of the most common mistakes made on Pozible is setting the rewards limits beyond... Read More
How to… Inspire Contributors in Crowdfunding
How to…inspire contributors on Pozible So you have your wonderful idea bubbling away in the back of your mind, and now you need the funds for it to reach the next stage of its development. You stumble across Pozible and know this is the right place to gain your funding. So, how do you make the most of your time on Pozible? By inspiring contributors! Here are a couple of tips and tricks on how to help make that inspiration flow! FIRST and FOREMOST:... Read More
Street Dreams: A documentary of hope
This is not a usual working day, even for Pozible. I am staring into the abyss of a computer screen, with Skype pouring out the story of Mike and Jason, two Adelaide based film makers, and their latest project, Street Dreams. Mike has been kind enough to offer Pozible an interview before he and Jason leave for Asia, where their journey of truly capturing the stories of young Asian sex workers begins. Is there a little bit of admiration and awe... Read More
All you can ever be is yourself
I recently had an incredibly delightful client of mine during a persona discussion lay something on me that a lot of us here in marketing land forget- all you can ever be is yourself and if you are trying to be something else, people can spot it. So what do we risk when we are caught up in our own concepts and perceptions? A lot… and here’s why. My firm belief is every single product ever created has a market, an audience. The reason it exists... Read More
Will Sydney lose another venue?
It all began with a fairly innocuous occurrence- the SMH writing a paragraph on Justin Hemmes’ recent purchase of the Excelsior Hotel and his big plans for the venue, and others in Surry Hills like it. Soon Facebook started popping up links to the article everywhere as musicians and punters alike started to feel the first cold dreadful feelings about what this could mean for a scene that can still feel the loss of its beloved Hopetoun. Would Surry... Read More
We’re making things Pozible!
You may have noticed some changes in the wonderful world of crowd funding recently, the most notable being FundBreak’s name change to Pozible. Rest assured loyal fans, followers and friends, your favourite crowd funding platform is still at heart the one you know and love. It’s just that we have decided to up the ante a little at our HQ and made a decision to make things Pozible! Confused? Let’s take some time out to demystify our new identity. We... Read More
Anything is Pozible
We all have burning desires, those ideas and projects that intrude on our day with annoying regularity or keep us awake as we mentally run through what we would like to do. We all have those unique concepts, the longing to share a little piece of our mind with the rest of the world, our little mark we would like to make on society. But the main impediment to success is often a lack of cash. However a new online initiative is about changing the Australian... Read More
The rise and rise of Swap Creative
Now that the holidays are out of the way, the Unashamedly Creative office has come back with a lot of bang and buzz for 2011- with the majority of interest being generated from Swap Creative. Swap Creative came about through wanting to satiate the desire to assist small businesses, most of whom usually lack budget to do major marketing activity, as well as regain some of the “niceties” lost after moving away from a steady salary towards working... Read More
Introducing the new Unashamedly Creative Logo!
Always enthralled with the artwork of Ciaran Frost (or ichinen), I am proud to say the Unashamedly Creative logo is an original, one of a kind design by the same! I cannot reccomend working with Ciaran highly enough. He is very easy to work with, he listens to concepts, takes great care and is a great communicator. I think the logo speaks for itself just how good his work is. Now all she needs is a name… so if anyone has any suggestions, feel... Read More
Building the Darlinghurst Theatre
It is with great pride Unashamedly Creative begins a new relationship with an old Sydney favourite, the Darlinghurst Theatre Company! The home of sustainable, independent theatre for over a decade, The Darlinghurst Theatre Company are about to embark on their biggest journey as they transition from their current home to a beautiful new home in the Tabernacle Building and with it, onwards and upwards in the Australian arts scene. The same hungry love... Read More
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre
Sydney cries out for culture. Her inhabitants get a strange set jaw and bristly look about them whenever someone suggests Melbourne may be more cultured. We join Facebook groups in the tens of thousands bemoaning the demise of iconic places such as the Hopetoun. We are eager to stand in front of the Petersham Roller-rink, Glebe’s Valhalla or Luna Park with cardboard signs and talk vehemently and with passion about the evil sell outs who bow... Read More
