Keep a swipe file

“Most artists take years to develop their style, Thierry seemed to miss out on all those bits.”

• Banksy, Exit Through the Gift Shop

I’ve worked in a number of advertising agencies.

They’re busy, buzzing, and challenging places to work where you learn heaps.

One of the mantras in the engine room was “steal with pride” this is just as it sounds like.

If a colleague does something that you like the look of, take it, and repeat it.

The work will be used on another client, so they’ll never know, and this constant developing of an eye for what is good helps everyone.

You can do the same with your business.

Keep an eye out for offers, visuals, and wording you like.

Taking a little from one site, another from a group you’re in, and another turn of phrase from a video you enjoyed is going to help you get better at creative messaging.

One of the exercises I employ with new clients I’m working with is to ask them to name 3 brands they like. Against the context of what they’re about it helps create a picture of what they like, and what they strive for.

A flip of this question is to name a brand they can’t stand this often tells me just as much about what they’re striving for as the brands they like.

You can do the same for your business.

If you see something you like, save it.

This practice is sometimes known as a “look book”.

In the advertising and marketing world its more often a “swipe file”.

All you need to do is copy, screen capture, or copy a link with a note.

There’s a lot of software tools that can help with this include notes apps, screen recorders, and knowledge management tools.

It’s a deep rabbit hole (that I’m a fan of ) but outside the scope of this book find a way to save things and be able to reference them in the future.

Fun fact: if and when you’re big enough to pay an agency to build creative things for you, referencing things from your swipe file is elite-level. Being able to describe and ask for things with visual prompts is a life-long skill that like everything you’re learning in this book will compound over time.

Think of it like Pinterest for your marketing efforts.

But don’t actually use Pinterest (I tried in the past and it was just weird).