CarusoBlog

Creativity Is Like Giving Birth

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

Creativity is an amazing thing.  Give a speech, build a house or write a song and the thing lives on in ways you can never imagine. 

I've always liked the song The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore).  The verse isn't much, but the hook in the chorus happens fast and just won't let go.  Ya gotta love a song that gets right to the point.  I like people who are that way, too. 

I own the Jules Shear version and had never heard any other act cover the song, so I thought he might have written it.  Turns out that the tune has been recorded by a hundred artists including Cher in 1996.  Actor Alan Rickman even sang it in Truly Madly Deeply.

A California group called The Walker Brothers actually did best with the song way back in 1966.  Nobody in the band was named Walker and they weren't brothers, but that's besides the point.

Here's the best part.  The song was written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, the hit-making team for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (Walk Like a Man, Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You, etc.).  Both Crewe and Gaudio are in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.  They get a royalty every time their song is performed or played.

Valli recorded The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine as a solo artist one year earlier than the Walker Brothers, but didn't do nearly as well with it.  So, this simple song that was originally recorded back in 1965 had a life of its own long afterward.

The story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, by the way, is now being told, er, sang to sold-out audiences as the musical Jersey Boys.  Ideas spawns ideas. 

Creativity is like giving birth.  Whatever you create grows into a life of its own.  Now, go give that speech, build that house or write that song.

Do You Have a Future Income Limiter?

Composed in Phoenix, Arizona--

Someone once introduced me at a conference keynote speech as a "word smith"  It's true, I love the English language.  For years, I've subscribed to a service that sends me a new word every day.  It's available at www.Wordsmith.org.

Comedian Norm Crosby used to make up words as part of his funny routine.  Tony Soprano, Archie Bunker and lots of other television characters had a similar fondness for malapropisms. 

I use words to name Edison House products and programs and I love using words in unique combinations to introduce marketing concepts.  That's how I came up with "predictive dialogue," the art of taking the conversation where you want it to go.

A while back, a friend mentioned a new phrase that immediately captured my imagination.  The phrase was "future income limiter (FIL)."  FIL is featured at a site called Urban Dictionary.com.  My friend was using the phrase to describe the long-term effect of an exposed tattoo.

Al Hatfield, a senior Vice-President at Discount Tire, tells me that an exposed tattoo on a job candidate will keep him from hiring the person to change tires in one of his stores. 

Applicants have been known to get tattoos removed in order to get the job.  Anyway, a tattoo can be a future income limiter. 

Other future income limiters include a lack of confidence and the inability to make a change.  Likewise, a person's inability to think of himself/herself differently can limit future income.

I'm about to announce a unique event for anyone interested in a triple revenue stream.  If you've ever thought about being a speaker, an author or a consultant, this conference will be for you.  And I'm hosting it in Las Vegas! 

Stay tuned . . . as I roll out this "future income expander."

Creative Chipmunks Visit Again This Holiday Season

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

When my brothers and I were young, we would endlessly listen to the singing Chipmunks, a creative venture if there ever was one. 

Alvin and the Chipmunks were the brainchild of Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958.  The group consisted of three cute animal personalities, known worldwide as Alvin, Theodore and Simon.  The Chipmunks were named after their record company executives.  Very clever.

Most cartoons today begin as an animated offering and then branch out into music.  The Chipmunks did the opposite.  After winning two Grammys for engineering and earning the number one song in America, the act was rolled out as a cartoon series and in the movies.

Why the Grammys?  All three of the Chipmunk voices were performed by Bagdasarian, who multi-tracked his voice at a half-speed and then sped up the playback to create the higher-pitched voices.  The technique was not new.  The Wizard of Oz movie, for example, used a similar technique to achieve the voices of the munchkins.

Contemporary recording artists such as David Bowie, Prince and Kanye West still play tricks with recording speeds.   The effect is much easier with today's technology and can be attained in real time, which makes the achievement of Bagdasarian all the more noteworthy.

McCartney Is Consistently Creative

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

Many companies are so busy struggling to be consistent that they never even get to think about being creative.

June marks the 40th-- that's right-- the 40th anniversary of the  Sgt. Pepper album.  The album is considered by many to be the Beatles' finest work and perhaps the best release of all time.

When it was released, Sgt. Pepper was one of the first "concept" albums," meaning all the songs related to each other.  Producer George Martin outdid himself when arranging the songs songs on the LP.

The songs on the album are:

• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
• A Little Help From My Friends
• Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
• Getting Better
• Fixing a Hole
• She's Leaving Home
• Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite
• Within You Without You
• When I'm Sixty Four
• Lovely Rita
• Good Morning Good Morning
• Sgt. Pepper (Reprise)
• A Day in the Life
  

Flash forward to 2007.  Sir Paul McCartney has released his 21st-- that's right-- his 21st solo album, Memory Almost Full.  It's his first digital release and he broke away from his long-time label EMI to do it.  His new label is a coffee label--Starbucks. 

McCartney's work is a perfect example of consistency combined with creativity.  He is sticking to a system (regular and consistent song production) while simultaneously being creative (releasing his album on the Internet).

"Guaranteed to raise a smile," indeed.

Working From Home

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

Working from home is not for everyone, but I sure do enjoy it. 

The key is to avoid distractions.  If you aren't focused, you can always find something else to do besides work.  Most work-at-homers find it helpful to keep distractions out of sight and to have a dedicated work space.

I bought a 5,000 square foot home a couple years ago so I have lots of office space for the Edison House work, including a Jack-and-Jill office suite, two walk-in closets and a full bath.  I have a web cam for teleconferences and a few other toys that allow for maximum creativity, but my favorite work possession is my Herman Miller desk chair.  It was expensive, but well worth it.  I spend lots of butt-time in that chair. 

I also love my Bluetooth wireless headset, which allows me to talk on the phone while doing other things around the house.  Very handy.

One of my secrets for time-management is to cluster activities.  So I try to batch process outgoing phone calls, e-mail activity and errands.  I get out of the house at least once a day. 

Discipline is not an issue for me.  I don't have a boss, but I wake up every day around 5 am and am often sitting at my desk by 5:10.  It helps to love your job!

I have an output station (my desk) where I talk on the phone and do computer work and an input station (easy chair near the upstairs fire place) where I often write after dinner.  In the summer I write on the backyard patio, which overlooks the Red Run golf course.  

Working from home is very nice.

Aliens Never Stay

Posted from St. Simons Island, Georgia--

     I am speaking at a conference here and have just received news of more madness from the terrorists involving--what else?--airlines.  What is it with these people and airplanes?

     More odd news is due from the Middle East.  If history is any indicator, someone will soon broker a cease-fire.  Shortly after that, a deadline for dropping bombs will be announced.  At that point, I suppose everyone drops as many bombs as they can before they have to stop, right?

     And some people wonder why aliens never stay.