Thank You Seth Godin

"Upstream or Downstream"

A great blog post today from Seth Godin


http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/07/upstream-and-downstream.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29

Its a short read regarding the "upstream" and "downstream" of you, the artist whose primary devotion is to create ... yet the power of the recommendation to review the upstream of your "nature" and your "art" is a great way to better define the "downstream" of its delivery into the marketplace, in a more natural, organic and niche "identified" manner...

and yes...art, too, has a niche ....

The upstream that we define at Sian Design is the "why" of the artist.

It is often a "given" that you are creator, that you literally came to earth to become of our visionary voices. To listen to that voice and give it form takes remarkable strength of will and character, and even
more remarkable courage to then display it before an unsuspecting public...giving rise to new thought and ideas....that can and do often make our public somewhat uncomfortable.

It is either our passion, our quirkiness or the art itself that lends itself to the viewer's need to stop and ponder. This is a good thing....getting people to think, and better yet "stop" and think is the very subtle yet profound power we have as creatives.

The most important question regarding the upstream requires the answer to 5 simple questions

Why do you do what you do ?

What motivates you to do what you do ?

What is your personal mission ? ( What do you want the world to know about you personally )

What is your professional mission ? (What is the purpose of your company, brand, voice, global mission )

What is the business model that best represents your aspirations ? ( Who do you most wish to be like, who is already in the marketplace and who is succeesful ? )

If you answer these five questions...the market will reveal itself and will be clear as to where to place one's attention and focus for the "downstream" of your original works, as well as your production lines.

For Sian Design ~ Our core ideology is "Truth = Beauty" ~ Why do we do what we do ?

Where ever there is truth, and truth on our terms.....the end result is beauty ~ whether in art, marketing strategies, projects, implementation and outcome......where Sian Design's voice of truth is expressed, the end result always provides a market and without constraint, discomfort, and struggle.

And it is not always the original work of company Founder Sian Lindemann, although for years it was essential to share only my voice with the world.....As we are now, we have multiple projects, clients and sub - divisions "if you will" that speak to a variety of topics.....although ultimately they all speak to the truth of the company ideology of "truth" ~

Remember it is only the "truth" on our terms to which we must adhere and remain consistent.

For Sian Design ~ Our Core Values ~ What motivates us to do what we do ?

Our primary objective is to learn new things, discover new options for our company, its clients, their products and ultimately our direction, in a pro - active manner ~ "Self realization through action" are the literal words with which we describe our motivation in the market place" ~ We discover what we can do, and we have the courage to adopt new options, forge new paths......and a willingness, on occasion ......"to fail" if required to push the envelope of possibility

This kind of activity is what is required right now....and in these bizarre and unusual times. For our motivation in sincerely different from our motivation of 20 years ago. I believe in these times, beauty IS the voice of reason....and we certainly do advocate, promote and post the works of our artists in the knowing that our public looks forward to the visual stimulation and often its impact to have given, at least one moment of respite.

In Part Two of this series ~ I will discuss the Personal Mission, Professional Mission and the Biz Model we aspire to emulate.

For now...think on these two questions

Why do you do what you do ?
What motivates you to do what you do?

We would love to know ~ and can perhaps assist you to find a direction that
brings you greater peace in your "business" life.
That has been my intent of the last 20 years, when at last I opted OUT
of corporate, in the summer of 1988 ~

Sian Design
http://www.siandesign.com/
July 2010