Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Valerija Prevolšek
Sheridan Shed Simove is a British entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker, known for his fun and unusual ideas like his own currency Ego, the international bestseller What Every Man Thinks About Apart From Sex, which contains two hundred blank pages, and his attempt to change his name to God. He is constantly searching for new, innovative products such as novelty greeting cards and fun toys for others and different.
At the 18th conference of media trends SEMPL, which was held eight days ago in Portorož, he spoke about methods for greater creativity and shared with the participants his marketing insights. He was one of the best speakers, and was awarded by a huge applause of the packed hall.
After the SEMPL, i talked with him exclusively for Media Marketing.
You’re known as the ‘IDEAS MAN’ – and you shared quite a few of your business ideas with Sempl audience. Which of those, would you say, was the most and the least successful and why?
Hmm! Successful? Least? Most? These terms bother me already (ha ha!).
I define the ‘success’ of anything I create, in terms of whether it brings me and others excitement, laughs, fulfillment or something new that’s not been seen before. This may not be the usual definition of ‘success’ that society tends to link to ‘money’ at the moment (I believe this association will change in the future), but then cash is not my main motivator. If you want to live a ‘life less ordinary’, full of excitement and fulfillment, then you should spend your time on activities that nourish your soul. For me, part of being ‘rich’ is being able to choose what I do each day and being able to bring my ideas to life, whether they be silly, naughty or useful. I ‘fail’ all the time. That’s why I succeed a lot too.
But the word ‘fail’ is misleading too, whenever you attempt something new, you never really fail, you simply learn, grow and experiment. In terms of sales, one of my most successful ideas was a range of novelty remote controls. They sold over three hundred thousand units. And in terms of fulfillment, I’m thrilled to have created ’tilt swap’ an app that replaces business cards (I think they’re outdated now) – have a look and see what you think: iPhone: http://bit.ly/tiltappios or Android: http://bit.ly/tiltswapandroid
How many bad ideas does it take to get a good one?
Again, sorry (!), but bad ideas’ and ‘good ideas’ are in the eye of the beholder – and you can’t control the opinion of a beholder! So, the best course of action is to try not to worry about how other people will react to one of your ideas, and realize that people are complex, so you must simply keep pushing until you find someone who loves what you do. As long as you don’t cause anyone mental or physical hurt with anything you try, then everything is fair game, so choose projects that excite, delight or amuse you.
How many years of hard work lies behind the brand of Sheridan Shed Simove?
It’s taken me twenty-five years to become an overnight success… ‘Hard work’ is another subjective term. I always say to people that ‘I’m not coal mining’ – coal miners have such a difficult, strenuous, dangerous job. I’m fortunate to be chasing many of my dreams, making novelty gifts, putting on shows and presenting to incredible audiences around the world! What a privilege! That said, it’s taken a lot of time, focus and stress to overcome many challenges along the way – and they still occur! I nearly quit public speaking many times when a speech went badly or I was crippled with nerves. And for many years, I worked for companies or in industries that stifled creativity. So, now, I’ve got myself to a stage in life where pretty much I can start something I want and push it out into the world to see what people think, a position which I hugely appreciate every day.
We often tend to use the term ‘out of the box thinking’ in order to promote creativity. It seems like you impersonate this. What does ‘out of the box’ mean to you?
I find the term ‘out of the box’ amusing and a bit misleading. We must be wary of using terms like this and also of labeling people ‘creative’ or not. The fact is, your human brain has evolved to solve problems and see connections. These are the basic traits needed for creativity. So, anyone can be ‘creative’ – well, they are already, they just may need to be shown what’s possible or how to use triggers to unlock even more of that creativity, which is the aim of my speeches to companies and organizations. Now, I believe that one of the ways to gain ‘success’ is to make sure you create something different to others – or something similar in a different way, that has a twist. So, for me, the idea of doing something similar to what’s gone before isn’t even in my mindset. In my presentations, like the one I gave at Sempl, I deliver fast techniques that remind people how incredible their brains are – and I show them the amazing results and adventures that occur when you aim to be different. The term ‘out of the box’ is not a fixed reference. Some people will think that one particular idea is wildly crazy; another will think it’s dull – and another that it’s utter genius. I get all three reactions! To the same ideas! So, the important point when you try something new is simply to always try to improve on what’s gone before and do something that’s different in some way, whether that’s better, cheaper or more amusing. In order to be ‘remarkable’, you have to do things that are ‘remarked upon’ and doing things differently can accomplish this.
Following you on social media reveals that you liked Portoroz and SEMPL conference – what was the best thing about it?
So many touches! It was amazingly well organized…with a high attention to detail… The VIP attendees and Sempl Team were super bright and gorgeous… You had a food market!… You provided an amazing forum for people to network and gain insights and inspiration to make their lives and businesses better… Your after party rocked… You gave everyone a goodie bag which contained a feminine hygiene item – a lady’s panty liner!!! I’ve never seen one of those in a goodie bag before, and so I talked about it in my presentation at Sempl. Now that’s remarkable!