To Be Successful You Need to Own It, Push It and Make It Great - Tim Semple Discovered The Formula That Works.

I’m a mid-level advertising professional with upwards of 12 years experience and when it comes to advertising communication success, well, if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s these three things:

Own It.

Push It.

Make It Great.

But what do these cliche marketing platitudes mean, Tim Semple?

Good question, fellow LinkedIn professional. I will selflessly share the pillars of my patented (patents pending) Formula For Success (FFS) with you, yes you, right here on LinkedIn Publishing. Let's begin.

Own it.

To be a successful advertising professional like myself, Management will require you to take ownership over the work. You must OWN IT.

Usage: Just own it.

This is a big opportunity, you should own it.

But, Tim Semple, how do I take ownership over the work? I report to ACDs, CDs, ECDs, planners, account people, and the client, Tim. Sometimes I feel like I don’t have any ownership over the work - rather I’m merely a cog in some larger money making scheme.

1) That’s a real half-glass full attitude you’ve got there, friend.

2) Let me illustrate using a simple example:

You're a Creative and you’ve been working hard cracking an important brief. When showing your work to the Creative Director, the Creative Director’s creative direction is “You have to own it." This is the Creative Director's rallying cry for you to have pride in yourself - To care deeply, more than all others and to be passionate about the work. This is not a mindless buzz-phrase used to deflect responsibility from your Creative Director to you, no. Nor is it in any way, shape, or form a sign that the brief hasn't been figured out, the project is fake or Management wants nothing to do with said project because of more important issues at hand that might include a boozy lunch or simply browsing /r/PublicFreakouts. Abso - Lutely - Not. This is Management's special permission to prove yourself - To work harder, to work later than most, and to go farther than any other person connected to the probably very important work. Own It is the first pillar of Tim Semple's Formula For Success (FFS). 

Synonyms: Big opportunity.

Push it.

Now that you OWN IT, you must PUSH IT.

Usage: Let’s push it.

You need to push it.

Just keep pushing it.

Push It or Pushing It is taking your idea and seeing where else it can go. Imagine your idea is a boulder. Now imagine your idea is a boulder at the base of a very steep mountain. Ok, now push your idea up that very steep mountain. Yes, it’s hard, but the payoffs might be a better idea, maybe even an award winning idea. Cool, huh?

Tim, are you using Greek King Sisyphus as a metaphor for making ideas better? The same Sisyphus who was so cruel, he was sentenced by Zeus to eternally push a giant rock up a hill only to find it rolling back every time he neared the top? You’ve made this simple marketing term Push It feel like an impossible task, Tim Semple.

Never question me, okay? I’m a mid-level advertising professional with upwards of 12 years experience and have worked at important advertising agencies owned by Omnicom and WPP, okay?

Let’s use an example of Push It to illustrate this very important phrase:

Remember: You're a Creative and it’s the next round of work since your last check-in, but this time you Own It. And when presenting ideas to your Creative Director, the Creative Director’s creative direction is “You need to Push It.” This could mean two equally important things:

A) Push your ideas to be better - Engaging, Insightful, Human, Humorous (smile not a laugh).

B) Push how far your idea can go - What does the cool road-block banner look like? What's the innovative outdoor idea? Where's the scroll-stopping social engagement and eye-catching PR headline?

Push It is a great adage that does not remotely resemble a dubious criticism intended to question or discredit your sometimes wobbly creative abilities or waffling work ethic, no. And it's definitely not an offhanded, meaningless marketing motto dribbled out by an uninterested Manager. It’s a useful tool to make your ideas the best they can be and that's definitely it. Push It is also the second pillar of Tim Semple's Formula For Success (FFS).

Synonyms: Have fun with it / Throw the net wide / Keep going

Make it great.

Now that you Own It and you Push It, let's Make It Great, you guys.

Usage: Make it great, you guys.

I don’t know, just make it great.

This is a big opportunity, you need to make it great.

Make It Great, or Making It Great, is such a vital piece to making great work. Maybe even award winning work.

Tim. With all due respect to your mid-level achievements and your amazing 12 years as a professional advertising person, I have to say: Its a little irritating that you don’t think Creatives are already presenting ideas that we don’t think are great or cool or whatever. I take pride in my work. I take pride in my agency. I work hard day in and day out to craft great ideas.

This attitude I’m getting feels a little entitled right now and I’m not sure I like it, to be very honest. I’m here on LinkedIn Publishing to pass on my personal learnings over a really, really impressively special career. If you don’t like it you can stop reading - I’m sure there’s plenty of smart, talented folks here on LinkedIn who’re learning a lot from my patented (patents pending) FFS (Formula For Success) System . Right, you guys? Right?

Anyway.

Make It Great - Here’s a helpful use case scenario:

You're still a Creative and you’ve had a comfy 12 hours to come up with new, mind-blowing, award winning ideas since your last check-in. You Own It and you Push It just like the Creative Director's deft creative direction dictated. And at the next presentation, as you’re presenting these idea fruits, the Creative Director’s creative direction is “I don’t know, just Make It Great.” This is exclusive permission from your Creative Director to make your ideas both cool and to have fun with it. What it is not is an impossibly impractical, thoughtless mud-phrase meant to belittle your taste or talent. Nor is it some sort of catch-all slogan for a disinterested Manager who's much more invested in Clash of Clans. Heavens no. No, no, no. This is the final battle cry to achieve the best you can be - The final action for the work to achieve greatness. One can not have great work if one does not make it great.

Make It Great is also the last pillar of Tim Semple's Formula For Success (FFS).

Synonyms: Make it cool / Have fun with it.

And there you have it, LinkedIn professionals, the formula for your own professional success: Own It, Push It, Make It Great. Three bite-sized, snackable pillars of success that will change your life forever and ever, just like they did for me - Tim Semple.

Have fun with it.

Love, Tim Semple

Tim Semple is a mid-level advertising professional with upwards of 12 years experience and the creator of the Formula For Success (patent pending).

The Cheatsheet For Being A Great Advertising Creative - Tim Semple's Simple Steps To Successful Advertising Creative Ideation™

If you’re anything like me, Tim Semple: Mid-Level Advertising Professional, then you know keeping your advertising creative chops as fresh as possible is job number one. And in my some 12 years of professional advertising experience I’ve learned a lot about advertising's creative idea generation (Also known as Ideation™). And today, fellow LinkedIn professional, I’m sharing my patented* Cheatsheet For Being A Great Advertising Creative with you right here on LinkedIn Publishing. Here we go!

Find A New Route To Work.

Liven up your creative juices by finding a new route to work. We get so used to seeing the same old thing and thinking the same old way and that’s bad for advertising creative ideation™. Shake it up: Head into work a new way. You might get a fresh take on a new, perhaps even good idea!

Write, Write, Write.

If you can’t immediately generate great creative advertising ideas, that’s okay. Don't worry, sometimes that's normal. But it shouldn’t excuse you from writing. Write and write and write some more - Good, bad, mediocre - it doesn’t matter. Dump your thoughts on the page and, if you keep at it, you may eventually write something that feels like a good insight or creative advertising idea!

Take A Nice Walk.

Sometimes by taking a step back and not thinking of the creative problem the solution will show itself. Periodically, take 10 minutes of Me-Time™ just to go outside and take a nice, brisk walk. Loosen up, unwind, get your mind right. Yeah, that's it. Maybe walking isn't working, maybe skipping is your thing - See if skipping around the parking lot works. Ideas still not coming? Jog them out while jogging along the panhandle. If they’re still not coming, maybe try quick sprints across traffic.

Have A Drink.

When you’re out on your periodic 10 minute me-time™ break from ideation™, either walking, skipping, jogging or sprinting across busy interstates, try going to the nearest watering hole and pony up to the bar - Ask for a good ol’ fashioned drink. Of course it doesn’t have to be an Old Fashioned, no. But if you like Old Fashioned's then by all means get one, they’re delicious. For me, a nice dry double dirty martini with three olives really gets my creativity pumping. Hey, and two’s even better! And with three of those dirty dogs I’m an advertising creative ideating™ machine... Try it for yourself, tell them Tim Semple sent ya**!

Take Off Your Shirt.

Fact: Comfort is the cornerstone of all great creative advertising ideas. Also fact: When clothes feel restrictive, tight or troublesome that's bad news for creative advertising ideation™. Sometimes after taking a 10 minute dart through on-coming traffic and downing upwards of four stiff-yet-delicious dirty dogs, I take off my shirt and just relax. Mmmmmmm...Let those glorious creative thoughts penetrate your pours...That's it. It's true that - on occasion - I’ve been known to take off my pants as well, of course only in the event that some inflexible pant material constricts my bathing suit parts or my super muscular calves. Yes, taking off your shirt can be a great stress reliever and a wonderful comfort that really helps invigorate ideation™ once more!

Pray.

Ask God for a good idea. Any God. All Gods - every single God that can hear your prayer, ask that God. God has to have the answers, right? Only God can look at that totally thoughtless client brief, glean some sort of intelligent human insight and generate interesting (not-too-interesting but just-interesting-enough) creative advertising ideas that will sell, right? I mean, the Strategist can’t. Your partner can’t. Even the Creative Director can’t. But God can. So, get down on your three-sheets-to-the-wind, possibly pants-less knees and pray that the Lord God Jehovah Yahweh Creator-In-The-Big-Sky will inject you with some sort of good idea at-some-point-in-the-near-future-hopefully-before-the-next-check-in Holy Mother of God, please.

Fake Your Own Death.

Holy shit, they’re going to know you’re an imposter. THEY WILL KNOW IT. You've walked and skipped and jogged, almost died dodging cars on the highway, took off your shirt and pants, got drunk on dirty dogs, prayed to the All Mighty for an immaculate idea and yet the fresh, original advertising creative concepts aren't coming. THEY'LL ALL KNOW. They're all going to laugh at you. Now the only thing left for you to do is to get the hell out of Dodge while the getting's good. That’s it, pack it up, buster, there's nothing else for you but to fake your own death. It was all so simple before - the ideas. They bubbled up so quickly and they were interesting and you were proud of them and NOW THIS. You hack, your creativity’s been zapped from your lifeblood like some demon succubus sucking your soul through your asshole leaving you a husk of a human - shriveled and rotten. Oh, and let's not forget those chats with your obviously knowing boss: Why don’t you push it, own it and make it great? WILL YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE FOR A DOGGONE MINUTE HERE AND LET ME THINK. If you think it’s so easy, you do it! Go ahead and you try and see and meanwhile I’ll be starting over - A new life. A fresh start. I'm not an imposter, no. No, no, no. I'm smart and capable and creative... Shhhhhhhhhhhh, it'll all be over soon shhhhhhhhh...

Move To A New City.

Ok you’ve torched your hip, downtown loft and its belongings and you're presumed dead because they've found the hobo's charred remains so now it’s best to hit the road. Remember, you got into advertising because it seemed fun and you could do it anywhere, right? Well, now's the time to make it anywhere - And by anywhere, I mean ANYWHERE BUT HERE, GOT ME? Now, there are so many great cities in the world but how many have you visited (Canada doesn't count)? Never mind, time is of the essence - Get your shit-faced, shirtless, now-presumed-dead ass out on that highway, put out your thumb and hitch a ride to that place you’ve always wanted to go: Your Shangri-La. Try it on for size and if you like it, settling down there. If you don't, you're Caine from Kung Fu off to the next town in search of enlightenment. Moving to a new city, the city you always wanted to live in, might just be the thing that gets your creative advertising juices flowing!

Keep A Sketchbook.

Jot down your journey, write a book and sell the rights to Netflix. They’ll buy anything.

And there you have it, fellow LinkedInners, The Cheatsheet For Being A Great Advertising Creative is guaranteed*** to change your advertising creative ideation™ life. I hope this works as well for you as it did for me: Tim Semple, Mid-Level Advertising Professional.

Yours truly,

Tim Semple

Tim Semple is a mid-level advertising professional with some 12 years experience and the creator of The Cheatsheet For Being A Great Advertising Creative.

*Not patented but probably at some point.

**Unless it’s Lutz's where they’ll most likely kick you out if you mention my name.

***Not guaranteed.

Forced Circumstances Create Opportunities To Learn and Expand: Tim Semple's 5 Tips For Working From Home

This week marks my, Tim Semple: Advertising Professional and LinkedInfluencer™, third week WFH* and WOW what a change. But forced circumstances create opportunities to learn and expand. What an exciting time! Naturally, with my nearly 12 years of advertising experience and indispensable authority on advertising professionalism, I thought it would be beneficial to everyone if I, Tim Semple, could jot down some helpful insights I’ve discovered since WFH. 

First, let me say: It’s not easy! I know how rough it can be - Where should I set up my new home office? Should I break for lunch? How do I feed myself? Do I need pants? Let me assure you, LinkedIn colleagues, I have found 5 easy tips that will make working from home a more enjoyable experience.

Let’s start, shall we?

1. Find A Routine

All of a sudden our daily routines have completely shifted. So first things first: Find a new routine to your day! Here's what I do: Get up at a reasonable hour, shower, get dressed, make the bed and make yourself a nice cup of coffee. If you have children feed them. Take this time to read the paper or check Twitter (if you’re a digital strategist) and connect/inform yourself of the outside world. Now welcome the overwhelming feeling of existential despair and intense anxiety. That's it, soak it in. I call this The New Normal™.

Next, empty last night's leftover bourbon in your coffee.

2. Set Up A Home Office

If you’re like me, Tim Semple Advertising Professional, you’re used to working in a creatively riotous open-plan office. Well, at home you don’t have to adhere to this protocol**. Find yourself a quiet, well-lit nook in your home. If you have find a space with a closing (preferably locking) door, that's great!

Here's what I do: Make the space comfortable. Comfort is of utmost importance for productivity when WFH. Great. Now that we're comfortable, close that door, lock it if possible, and take the smuggled half-finished Early Times Bourbon bottle from our waistband and find a nice hiding place for it. I use the garbage can. Now, once again, let's quickly empty the contents into our morning coffee and drink it down. Come on, hustle - gulp gulp!

Sure, it’s okay - You’re WFH aren’t you? That’s it. Make the pain go away. Shhhhhh...

Go ahead, I’ll wait. Okay, let's start the day!

3. Have Virtual Meetings 

Zoom, GoToMeeting and Google Hangouts are great virtual meeting software for real-time, face-to-face meeting to discuss open-ended, on-going business needs multiple emails won’t solve. So set up, log on and meet with your colleagues online! But now that we've swigged our spiked morning joe and most likely feeling its effects on an empty stomach, don't look directly into the virtual meeting camera. No one can know that we're self medicating because the world is ending. Business must go on!

Here's what I do: Avert our gaze by blindly pecking at the keyboard pretending to urgently reply to the-sky-is-falling-and-we-need-your-unfettered-expertise emails. If executed correctly we appear to be so busy we can’t possibly pay attention to the digital strategist. Our colleagues will appreciate our work ethic and our inflated sense of self-importance will increase because we're half-in-the-bag and its only 9:30am.

When imbibing last night's pleasures to excess its best not to engage the virtual meeting camera at all. Here's what I do: Engage the microphone only. If anyone asks why we're not on video simply say we’re having technical difficulties and we have a note out to IT.

4. Take Breaks

Whew, WFH can be a stress-inducing adjustment to be sure but let's not lose focus: These forced circumstances can also create opportunities to learn and expand! And reflection is an integral part of the learning process. So, throughout the day it's imperative to take a break and reflect on The New Normal™. Here's what I do: Go outside and take a nice walk. Get some fresh air, circulate our blood, and maybe crack a fresh bottle of rotgut. Isn't that refreshing?

But remember, fellow LinkedInners, and this is important: CDC 's recommendation is social distancing of up to 6' to any person or persons outside of your self-quarantined home. This is called Flattening The Curve and it's our only tool in fighting the deadly novel virus COVID-19.

Flatten the curve...

Jesus...COVID-19.

That’s right - The spiced sting of existential doom hasn't bit since we laced our fore-day java with funny juice. WFH? WTF! Why are we working from home again? Oh, that's right - A FUCKING DEATH BUG THAT'S RAVAGING MANKIND. We need to stay indoors at all time and never leave, NEVER. WE WILL DIE. But, wait. Wait a second: We need to leave at some point, right? The sweet, sweet brown bourbony nectar juice isn't going to buy itself and we guzzled the last of the liquor for breakfast and this terribly detached comfort will not last for much longer! THINK, MAN, THINK!

HOLY FUCK. Toilet paper...We're on our last roll...But where is the toilet paper in this fucking town? And why toilet paper, people? Really? TOILET PAPER? Like, if we had to write the series finale of United States of America we never would have come up with TP begat the End Times. 

Wait - End Times. End Times?

Wait, how many people have died? QUADRUPLED IN FUCKING MONTH? Oh my God. OH MY GOD.

Don’t go outside...Can't go outside...Don’t go outside.

But life-affirming, day-starting bourbon and purpose-giving toilet paper...

5. Embrace Nothingness

Well. Here we are - The depths of our existential crisis. The bottom of our all-consuming anxiety. Fuck.

Here's what I do: I accept that I have very little control over The New Normal™ and attempt to move forward day after Groundhog Day. I wash my hands, practice social distancing and stay inside, mostly. I follow my routine, work in my makeshift home office, have my virtual meetings and take breaks to reflect on this day - Today. And if or when I feel defeated, anxious or question whether life has meaning, purpose, or value I pour a little more hooch in my mug and say "Fuck it."

Tim Semple is a mid-level advertising professional with some 12 years experience and the creator of Tim Semple's 5 Tips On Working From Home.

*Abbreviation for Working From Home or Work From Home because God knows we can’t just write Working From Home.

**Bullshit.