We’ve always oriented our business’s true north toward creativity. Given the uncertainty we’re all faced with today, that guiding principle seems more important than ever. Hanscom Park Studio is a two-person creative agency. Our background is in storytelling, and our goal is to do it in the most visually engaging way possible.
We both have degrees in journalism and worked for years at newspapers to visually and verbally communicate stories efficiently, accurately, and with a voice and point of view. In addition to designing this magazine and its sister publication, Dine Magazine, we design Hail Varsity, Nebraska Quarterly, build websites, produce logos, and draw illustrations. More than anything else, we work with small businesses to help them tell their story.
We try to bring a sense of creativity toward all the projects we take on and how we run our business. And we try to avoid taking on projects that lack a creative outlet. Here are three ways we’re trying to think outside the box quarantine has us all in and how we’re helping our clients do the same.
Use time outside of the office to develop a social media plan: The best creative thinking is done outside of the places we spend the most time. Breaking free from an office setting for a while can help put things in a new perspective. Using this time away from a lot of the daily grind to come up with a social media plan will help in the long term. Keep it simple and consistent. Social media, like all marketing, is storytelling with a plan. Identify the story you want to tell, make a plan of how to do it, and don’t fret over statistics. The number of posts, followers, and engagement don’t matter nearly as much as the message you’re trying to deliver.
Use any downtime for strategic planning: We’re doing our best to make the most of lock-down by investing more time into the future. We’re taking this opportunity to rebuild our website. We’re improving our workflow systems and organization. We’re doing everything we can to make sure we can spend as much time being creative for and with our clients in the future and as little time doing paperwork as possible.
Take this time to reconnect with clients and help them connect to their customers: Right now the whole world is seeking social connection and interaction. It makes for a perfect chance to reach out to your network and ask them how they’re doing, how you can help, and seek some help yourself if you need it. Clients and customers alike will appreciate the effort, and in the long run, it’s these interactions that keep small businesses running.
Be safe. Stay healthy. And keep a creative outlook.
