Importance of Curiosity

Desire. The desire to know something. This incredible motivator for learning facilitates the pursuit of knowledge and creativity. Children have this inherent trait of curiosity to learn about the new world they are in, childlike wonder if you will. We believe that when you stop being curious about things and become complacent it inhibits learning and thusly, growth will decay, whether it be personal or professional. When we think of the traits of successful people, the first one to come to mind is probably not curiosity. However, research shows that allowing curiosity to be piqued in a way that you don’t know the answer to something can increase the curiosity of a task and primes your brain for learning. All great, successful leaders were deeply curious in their respective fields. As humans, we have this attribute of wanting to seek out new information and experience. The workplace can benefit greatly from an environment that cultivates curiosity. There are some serious benefits as well, such as gaining more respect as a leader from your team, inspiring creative solutions, and enticing deeper, more rational thinking. Your employees won’t feel stressed about coming to you for questions when they’re encouraged to do so; this communication will remove many barriers. Here are some ways to encourage curiosity in the workplace.

1.     Ask employees daily “why” questions, such as:

a.     What is one thing that you are curious about today?

b.     What is one thing that you take for granted that you want to ask about?

2.     Emphasize learning: it’s been proven that focusing on learning instead of the goal is more beneficial to the business. Looks like the old saying, “It’s about the journey, not the destination,” may be on to something here. Emphasize learning goals over performance goals, such as hitting numbers, etc. According to Harvard Business Review, “When people are motivated by learning goals, they acquire more-diverse skills, do better at work, get higher grades in college, do better on problem-solving tasks, and receive higher ratings after training.”

3.     Hire with curiosity in mind: ask potential employees about their interests outside of work. People that read about a wide variety of topics typically are curious about learning things. You can administer curiosity assessments in the hiring process as well as take note of the questions that the potential employee asks.

4.     Lead through an example: leaders can always foster curiosity in the workplace by being inquisitive. Ask questions from your employees when you may not have an answer. This shows them that you are human and will foster trust in the relationship because you trust them enough to ask for their help.

5.     Encourage employees to broaden their horizons: For example, companies such as Facebook give their employees time off to explore their interests outside of work. Some brands even pay for further education for their employees. Whatever your resources may be, encourage your employees to go out and explore their unknown.

Curious people tend to be more open-minded and create relationships with others more easily. Curiosity will increase creative thinking, collaboration, and deep problem-solving that can lead to innovative ideas. If you want your brand to be one of the top brands in the world in your niche, then creating an environment that promotes curiosity in the workplace and outside is a must. Stay curious my friends!  

Skills for Success in Advertising

Advertising is a very creative field and if you have a passion for what you do, everything you create will embody this. It’s a very social driven field as well, especially since we specialize in user-generated content. As in any business there are specific traits that will lead to success. Here are our top 5.

1.     Social media savvy: any brand should be good at social media nowadays. With advertising though it’s very important to keep up with trends, post and track your ad campaigns just to name a few reasons why this will be important to success. For us, it’s important to sourcing our content from people.

2.     Creativity: Duh but we have to put it. Chances are that if you’re in advertising you’re probably already creative. The ad industry will allow you to really hone in on your creative strengths.

3.     Collaboration: brainstorming will be important in creating good ads. You have to be able to work well with others. Listening actively and implementing ideas is key but also taking constructive criticisms.

4.     Computer skill: two words for you… digital media. Photoshop and Illustrator are very important to know how to use. You will definitely spend a lot of time on your computer so having skill in this area will make your day to day much smoother.

5.     Research skill: important for case studies, competitor, etc. If you have these skills then it makes the R&D phase streamlined

Creativity ultimately drives good advertising but there are a number of things that go into making a successful business in advertising. Our niche is UGC, so it requires a lot of research and social media skills. Traditional ad agencies require a lot of backend and include the production side of things too. No matter what part of the ad industry you’re in, one thing is for sure, it is constantly changing and evolving. Being adaptable in this industry will make your brand a huge success!

The Halo Effect

Earth Month 2023

The theme of this year’s Earth month is “Invest in Our Planet.” This directive is targeting everyone from individuals at home to business at the workplace. We’re going to focus on the latter for the purpose of this article. We want to participate in Earth month this year through raising awareness of ways to be greener in business practices. Here is a short list of some tips to help get you get started.

1.     Choose sustainable suppliers: these products use less energy and produce less waste. These types of suppliers are more common than they used to be so it’s not hard to find them. They may cost a little bit more but it’s worth it to do your part!

2.     Use energy efficient office equipment: energy star certified is the way to go. Not only will it save you money using less energy, it will help create less CO2 emissions.

3.     Video meetings over in person: it’s now possible to meet with people over zoom or some other meeting interface. There’s no reason why meetings can’t all be done this way to save the company money and save the planet

4.     Offer hybrid work options: it’s no secret since the pandemic that hybrid work lowers the carbon footprint of businesses around the world. Less commuting means less vehicles on the road, which means less CO2 in the air.

5.     Rethink paper: recycle office waste. Landfills are a huge part of the methane gas production that contributes to CO2 problems. If you recycle paper that means less trees are cut down and in turn, less CO2 production in the process of manufacturing it. Also, rethink if you really need to print something and take notes on a computer.

6.     Give reusable merch to your employees: make brand merch that your employees can reuse, such as grocery bags and water bottles.

7.     Have fun contests: do a Verdura Venerdi (That means veggie Fridays in Italian) or Meatless Mondays. Offer a prize or provide the meal yourself.

There are many benefits to increasing awareness at your business on climate change and ways to help reduce the effects through daily acts. Sustainable business is no longer the option as consumers want to support brands that take hard stances on difficult topics, such as climate change. They will only support those businesses who talk the talk and walk the walk. Will your brand be at the forefront of the green movement?