I Have the Creative Fever… Can You Cure Me?

In General, Off-Topic, Personal Life | 27 comments | permalink

Hi, my name is Dean Hunt, and I have a disease that almost nobody knows about…

I call it the “creative fever” or “ideaitis” and it’s taking a hold of me and gripping me by it’s juicy fingers.

It is likely at this point you will think to yourself:

“Dean, you crazy cat, what on earth are you talking about?”

And thus you may want to click away and stop reading… but I urge you to continue on, as you may be the person to help cure me (seriously).

So here is the thing…

I love coming up with ideas… creativity and ideas are my fuel, they are what keep me awake at night, they are what get my juices flowing…

I am gripped by this obsession, anything that doesn’t involve big ideas, clever hooks, unique angles, crazy concepts etc is a distraction and disappointment to me.

So on my recent 30th birthday, I did what most people do when they have a milestone birthday.. I ate too much cake… then I pondered my past, present and future, and decided that I needed a change… I need to feed my creative greed, plunder my idea hunger (this rhymes, pretty impressive huh?).

Here is where I NEED your help:

I am a big believer in the 6 degrees of separation, and so I want to publicly share my problems, questions and dreams… who knows, maybe one of you lovely, sexy readers has an uncle who has an accountant who has a client who can help cure me?

Here is my ideal future: Working as part of a creative team, brainstorming, coming up with ideas, angles, copy, hooks etc.

Pretty simple… right?

Well unfortunately I have no idea what this role, business, or even job actually is…

Some people tell me I should work my magic at an advertising agency… “copywriter”, “creative director” “creative consultant/strategist” they cry… “sounds awesome” I reply… but truth be told, even though I KNOW I could be one of the most creative people in any of these industries… I have no contacts in these fields…

So if you know of what I should do to be able to think of ideas and be creative day in day out, please let me know via the comments, or, via email at: contact@deanhunt.com

If you know someone that I should speak to, please also let me know or pass on my details.

If you have any ideas, opportunities, suggestions, warnings etc… I would welcome those also.

This could be the first day of the rest of my life, can you help me start it with a bang?

  • Do you know where and how I should apply my creative craft?
  • Hone my idea sword?
  • And tweak my out-the-box brain box?

If you don’t you probably know someone who will, so any shares, tweets, emails etc are VERY much welcome.

I love you, I love your face, I love your soul.

Thanks,

A very passionate Dean.

PS: Contact@deanhunt.com or @deanhunt on Twitter  or Facebook.com/deanhunt

PPS: During my 7 years in the world of sales and marketing on the interwebs, I have build up a strong skillset in sales, presenting, speaking, content creation, consulting and networking… so if I can build these around a core of creativity, then the world will be my tasty little oyster.

PPS: As a thankyou for reading this post in full, I present to you the gift of an actual photo of a sunrise reflected in a bubble (in Norway)

 

 

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27 COMMENTS

  • http://www.facebook.com/deanhunt Dean Hunt

    Post any comments or suggestions here…. or the killer bunnies will tut in your general direction.

    Current score: 0
    • Juan Carlos Adame

      A few years
      ago I met the strangest creative crew, and they work like this:

       

      They call
      it “creative sessions” (they charge by the hour), all they need is a big chair
      and their minds, the “client” sends a brief (previously to the session of
      course) and you get to be at the session but at a viewing room.

       

      The three
      creative gurus star throwing ideas as crazy, and creatively they can, (you as a
      client get to take notes – there is no video allowed), they star literally THINKING
      what your campaign should say, what kind of media you should be using, there is
      a flood of great ideas.

       

      They won’t
      tell you how to manage your budget, or what kind of professional profile your
      PR / Advertising agency should have, they don’t do any graphic design or SEO…

       

      It’s pure
      creativeness, just BIG IDEAS, great ideas – they give you the WHAT.

       

      For
      production, managing a budget, DOING the actual activity is on your own.

       

      They just
      sell what their brains generate.

       

      As I said,
      all they need is a comfortable chair and their minds, there is literally nothing
      else in the room, no laptop, not a single smart phone; is almost like a small
      living room in desperate need for an interior designer to show up – but it is
      actually not needed.

       

      They also
      have Whiskey Tuesdays, a day they invite some of the clients to hang out and
      share more ideas between all the presents, and talk about how they implemented
      the ideas they got for the “creative session” they attended.

       

      So, I bet
      you are imagine your self doing exactly what you love, THINKING, manufacturing
      GREAT IDEAS, just you and your bright mind…

       

      So Dean, I
      know you are smart, I know how creative you are, I’ve being following you for a
      few years now and I can honestly say, you don’t need a job, you don’t need a
      corner office, you don’t need an 8 to 5 daily schedule, all you need is YOU.

       

      Let me know
      what you think about this “creative sessions” and the Whiskey Tuesdays (I have
      my own Tequila day with my clients).

       

      Juan Carlos
      Adame

      jcadame@gmail.com

      Current score: 0
      • http://www.facebook.com/deanhunt Dean Hunt

        Juan, that sounds like heaven… other than the whisky part (I don’t drink Whiskey).

        I will drop you an email.

        Thanks,
        Dean

        Current score: 0
        • Ian

          hey Dean, long time no speak too

          I can very much associate to your frustration! I too can not turn the creative flood gates off enough to complete one project before getting excited about the next BIG idea.

          Only last month i had a big shift, Instead of setting goals for 1 year, 5 years etc (which because of your creativity will change frantically then beat self up cos not followed through!) ask this question…

          “what is my purpose?” if! come the end of your days and your about to become toast! What would the friends / family and those in attendance be saying about you? 

          what sort of friend? parent? person? are you? did you live full out? did you contribute? did you light up those who came in contact with you (person saying these things may get lit up themselves if they stand too close to the box on this occasion!)

          take time out to ask this question, then ask who do i need to become to be remembered in the way that made a difference? what resources do i need? what do i need to learn? who do i need to seek out for mentoring? what do my values and beliefs need to be?

          once you have this set, you will know what you need to do… seems you are trying to fit in to “something” external to to feel something internal???… 

          Stop! reverse the process… what do i need TO BE! internally to “CREATE” the world I want externally? 

          Would this not be better use of your “creativity”???? 

          hope that helps :)

          reach out if want help bottoming this out… it works 

          ian@ianthomasdarley.com

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      • Mike

        Hard to beat that approach. Gotta agree, you don’t want to be in an agency (think Groucho Marx here!)

        You’ll go insane if you have to see your ideas through to the nitty gritty detail of execution.

        Get paid to have the ideas & then move on to the next ones.

        Maybe it’s more project based than one off from home… maybe you go in & brainstorm with their inhouse team
        (I know a guy here that does this every 100 days with businesses… gets paid (very well) to turn up for 1 day every 100, brainstorm & ASK the RIGHT questions… not do the doing, or even have the right answers!)

        I think that’s more you my friend

        & you only need to work about 10 days in a hundred to have a very very profitable business (I know I know, you’ll work 99… just sayin)

        Mike

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        • Ian

          loving that lots mike, where do they find those clients?

          Current score: 0
      • Ian

        sounds perfect to me and reminds me of the section on “mastermind” in the book “think and grow rich”

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  • http://www.meritorious.co.uk/ Michelle Crofts

    Hi Dean, just saw this mentioned on Facebook by you. I think the type of company you want is a PR company. I imagine most positions would be team leader, in-house type positions and unfortunately I don’t know anyone in the US with one of these jobs but a few in media here in London. I reckon you could have a look for a company where you are and see if any of their job openings suit you then just send over some work examples. An example I’ve seen with a quick search locally would be with the job title of ‘PR Account Director’ and it involved catchy press release writing, etc. This is the type of job I saw: punchcomms.com/pr-account-director.html

    Hope that helps a bit!Michelle

    Current score: 0
    • http://www.facebook.com/deanhunt Dean Hunt

      Michelle, I can certainly get attention to things, businesses and people, so PR is definitely an option. Thanks for the suggestion.

      Current score: 0
  • Mark

    Dean, First of all you need to figure out a way to be compensated for the implementation of your ideas. Possibly taking small stakes in companies or percentages of profits generated from the implementation of your ideas. you could create an intellectual property, non-disclosure agreement that would help you feel like your ideas are protected. Or another idea is to develop a way to buy the rights to a certain aspect (sales, marketing, promotion) of a business where you could see your idea working. Both of these ways keeps you from becoming another “cubicle-junky” and keep you independent.

    Current score: 0
    • http://www.facebook.com/deanhunt Dean Hunt

      Thanks Mark. Great advice. What is your stance on implementation/execution of ideas? Other than just hiring my own VAs, is there a role whereby I come up with ideas, flesh them out, and perhaps oversee it, but don’t actually do the full execution myself?
      Dean

      Current score: 0
      • Mark

        The idea here is to leverage the staff in the company for which you want to implement your ideas. In other words, leverage off their assets (infrastructure, sales dept, etc). You don’t do the implementation..you direct the implementation. A good way to start is to approach a company that you feel you can help. Tell them you’d like to purchase  the rights to a side of their business, but you’d like to perform a small test first. If it works, they agree to sell you the rights to continue that profit model. If you use the “small test” approach, they would less hesitant and most likely give you resources in their company to implement the idea on a small scale.

        Current score: 0
  • http://www.facebook.com/rickbutts Rick Butts

    Dean o’ Dean – the constant tension between the vexing liberation of doing our own creative projects as a solo act – and the power of collaborative team contributions…

    I heard guitarist Joe Walsh answering on Adam Carollo’s Podcast why he joined the Eagles, and he said…

    “Well, I was in a band and then I went solo and had a good career as a solo act, but there are so many things that come with that gig that have nothing to do with the music – I just started thinking it would be cool to be back in a band again, so when the Eagles were looking to get out of the country pickin’ image and be more of a rock act – I joined them.”

    I would at first caution all of our creative ilk to avoid working with or for (or even around) “Da Man” but I totally see how it could also take you places and let you be involved in somethings we are just never really going to attempt as a solo act.

    Best wishes to you broseph…

    Current score: 0
    • http://www.facebook.com/deanhunt Dean Hunt

      Rick, I think more than anything it is the boredom of solo projects… especially after 8 years of working from home, on my own.

      Speak soon buddy.
      Dean

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  • Norman

    i think your natural comedian and i think you should go on stage in the UK.
    Or better still start a new kind of cult called the laugh cult
    Ha Ha,,,,,Norman 

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  • http://www.rickitzkowich.com/ Rick I. TheLinkedInGuy

    Deano,

    Rick i. here. Long time no talk. There are people who are just as creative when it comes to implementation as you are about ideas. They design systems and execute marvelously. The key is to partner up/collaborate with those folks. I’m in the process of getting a group like that. We each are experts in our respective fields. We are creating a virtual agency. We are all independent and have our respective businesses. However since our clients WILL also need some of the services of that the other members of the agency offer, we can handle all of their needs “in-house” making it the experience seamless for the client and keeping the costs infinitely lower.

    Currently we have the people in place and we’re putting the back-end systems and compensation agreements to make it work.

    Give me a call if you want to learn more specifics about this concept. 

    Current score: 0
    • http://www.facebook.com/deanhunt Dean Hunt

      Rick,

      Long time no speak my friend. 

      You make some great points.. .let’s catchup on a call ASAP.
      Dean

      Current score: 0
  • http://www.sassywebwords.com Miss Sassy

    Hi Dean

    I thought working on your own to your own schedule, having freedom etc is the way to go. Why would you want to work for someone else? I could not think of anything worse than working for an agency etc. I can understand you wanting a change but do you really want to working in large teams and potentially having all your genius ideas stifled?

    It just seems funny because most people want the reverse  – they want out of their day jobs and work on their own and not have to be constrained by boundaries and rules. I’m just curious :)

    Current score: 0
    • http://www.facebook.com/deanhunt Dean Hunt

      Great point… my main goals are to be a) playing to my strengths b) not working solo.

      If I need to become part of a multi-million dollar team for a year or two to achieve the above, I am open to it… I may hate it, but for now, I am open to all suggestions for the sake of discussion.

      Current score: 0
  • http://www.daverobsoncoaching.co.uk/ Dave Robson

    Hmmm… interesting.
    Seems to me you’re a very creative guy but you’re flitting around all over the place. Where is your heart? If you don’t get your feet on the ground you’ll end up dissipating your energy and dissapearing under a cloud of disillusionment. No fulfillment in that.
     
    I say this because I used to suffer from too many ideas and I ended up achieving or creating nothing.
     
    How about this – you work with other creative individuals one-on-one (not organisations – too many assholes in organisations) who you hand-select because you love (love, not like) their project, and you help them bring it to fruition. Example: an unknown author who’s just produced a great book. You have to love the book too, and believe in it’s message. You help them build a platform so the book starts to sell and the message gets out and starts to help people. Win/ win, satisfaction and fulfilment all round. Then you move on to the next client.
     
    Am I talking about myself as the unknown author? You bet I am. Would I love and value some assistance from someone with your chutzpah and creativity? You bet I would.
     
    Have a nice day,
     
    Dave Robson
    London

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    • http://www.facebook.com/deanhunt Dean Hunt

      Dave,

      I appreciate the great comment, I am always happy to chat further. Speak soon. Dean

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  • David Shillito

    Hi Dean

    Grab a 12″ ruler and hold it horizontally. This is may well be you, lets call you Type X. Perhaps, like me, you are a mile wide, but a few feet deep. A natural entrepreneur who has an idea an hour. You will poke an idea with a stick long enough to see if it flies, by which time you have had 4 more

    Now hold the ruler vertically. This is Type Z. He is an executioner, a technician. He may not have many new ideas but oh boy can he drill down – like a Jack Russell down a rabbit hole he goes to work tweaking, testing and deep-dive mining an idea until its exhausted

    If an X hooks up with a Z you have a company. A room full of X’s however, generate lots of brilliant ideas but nothing gets done, completed or implemented

    Z always works for X, by the way

    I guess my 2 cents worth is this … leaving your bunker to seek out & hooking up with other X Types like your good self is OK, but dont expect anything to get out the door without a goodly supply of Z’s on board also

    Cheers Charva

    Dave Shillito

    Current score: 0
    • http://www.facebook.com/deanhunt Dean Hunt

      Dave, great example. You are right… I should stress that despite not having a type Z up to this point, I have still done very well… that does seem to be the missing piece to get to the next level though.

      I would love to chat further, I was just checking out your site, seems we have a lot of mutual friends.

      Dean

      Current score: 0
  • http://www.facebook.com/srewick Scott Rewick

    Let me put my thinking cap on Dean.  A man of your talents would be well placed in so many areas!

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  • Zach

    Hi Dean,

    I wish you all the best. Yet I think most important, wherever you are, you must deliver what you have committed to. We had to talk for half an hour a month ago when you wanted to help with your advice – and you did not appear for the call writing later kindly offering another time. But despite my 2 follow up emails, I did not get any reply.

    Hope you do not do anything like this to anyone else as it puts your integrity under big question.

    Sorry about this, please accept this as a friendly remark.

    Thanks

    Zach

    Current score: 0
    • http://www.facebook.com/deanhunt Dean Hunt

      Zach, that is definitely a bi-product of trying to do too many ideas, and wanting to say YES to everyone… I have since hired a personal assistant to help. 

      In your specific example I had a personal issue come up, but still, you are right… I need to learn to say no.

      Thanks,

      Dean

      Current score: 0
  • Debbie

    I would think you would be very satisfied to become part of a mastermind group ( or start your own ) who’s major intention is to create great ideas for improving lives. These ideas would then be handed down to a team of implementers that have their own hierarchy separate from the mastermind group. The master minders and implementers can then meet up on a scheduled basis. As long as all members of the team fulfill their fair share of the work, all profits could be divided equally, no one being of more value than another.

    Current score: 0