Evan Carmichael argues strategy and creativity both matter less than finding your one-word, a single core value that runs through everything you do. He uses examples like "believe," "family," and "inspire" to show how this word aligns decisions and messaging so your audience feels consistent emotional pull.
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Is strategy or creativity more important? So I got a great question from one of my newsletter readers, Paul. Love you guys. Paul basically has— I'm not gonna go through this whole email, but he has a personality test that helps people understand deeply who they are. And he asked me a question: in presenting his, his idea online, both strong creativity and strategy are important, but if you want a stronger signature in one or the other, would you choose strategy or creativity. Would love to hear what you think as I'm struggling for a strong branding. Toss me one of those yellow paper airplanes if you have time and I will take your direction seriously to heart. Thanks, Evan. Paul. Okay, Paul, first of all, the airplanes are orange, they're not yellow. I should have worn the shirt today just for you. This comes down to thinking about your one word. I believe there's one word that for every individual is a steady stream through their life. If you think about your friends and your books and, and what you love out of people and the values you look in others is one consistent theme, one word that flows through everything. Okay, for me it's believe. That's why you see it on all my videos. That's why I have t-shirts of it. I'm not wearing it today. You see it in everything because that's my one word. And I believe that everybody should find their one word. It helps them make better decisions because they know who they are, and so they can bring that to their life and to their business. You're talking about strategy, you're talking about creativity. They're both important. How do you find the one word that's right for you and right for your company? It's whatever you feel more connected to. So, you know, my one word is believe. Toronto Dance Salsa, the company that I work with in the salsa business, their one word is family. So I got the shirt on. A buddy of mine, Rich, is a photographer. His one word is inspire. A buddy of mine, Mark, who is a videographer, his one word is extraordinary. You know, Jenny, who's my media coach, her one word is connect. So what's a better word, right? Believe, family, inspire, extraordinary, connect. What's, what's, what's better? They're all great, but they have to be yours, right? It's what are you bringing to the table behind that word? Because I could try to go with connect, but if that's not my word, then I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna sell it well, right? It's not gonna take off. It has to be to whoever has created the word. So creativity and strategy, either one could work, but what are you more connected to? And I feel, you know, when I get asked these questions, I kind of feel like a cop-out. You know, like you're asking me a question, you want an answer, you want me to give you the answer to say, hey, it's creativity, dummy, that's more important. No, it's strategy. Come on, man, of course it's strategy, right? And people ask me these questions, or they ask me about what business should I start? Here's a business idea. Do you think it's a good idea or not? My opinion on that? That doesn't matter, because you can have the greatest business idea in the world, but if you're not passionate about it, it's never going to take off. It will never take off. You can make money in any industry, but you've got to have the passion for it. You can make any word work. You're trying to promote this thing online, and by the way, I want to check out this test. You should have given me I want access, man. I want to see what this thing looks like so I can give you a testimonial for it. But, you know, strategy or creativity, both can work. What do you feel more passionate about? If you had to pick one word that defines you, is it strategy, is it creativity, or is it something totally different? And when you figure that out, let that seep through all of your branding and all of your marketing, because your goal is to make people feel something on every interaction with your business. So when you come and watch my stuff, you should feel believe, you should feel optimistic, you should feel confident. You get that from everything that I create. That's what I'm trying to push out through my branding. So what is it for you? Do you want people to feel strategy? Do you want people to feel creativity? Pick the stream, or is it something else? Because you found your one word is actually totally different. When you figure that out, pop that through your branding, pop that through every message that you put out there, and people will connect to it better because it's more authentic, because it's you. That's how you're going to take off. Belief. For those of you watching, what's your one word? I want to know what it is. Leave it in the comments below. I want to check it out. I want to hear from you. Uh, you have a question, leave it below too. I'll make a video response. Like this video, give it a thumbs up. You want to see more like this, click on my face, subscribe to the channel. Thank you so much. I'll see you soon.
