My fellow marketing communications consultants choose clients according to various criteria. Are the projects challenging and engaging? Will it be possible to deliver excellent work? Do they pay invoices on time? I, too, am concerned about these concerns.But I also want to know if the hiring authority and client contact(s) are good-humored. Almost nothing is worse than trying to do-be-do creative thinking and deliver creative work around grim people; just isn't possible. Although it was not initially intended to serve as such, turns out using the title, Supreme Word Goddess of the Universe (SWGOTU), is an excellent screening device.
Despite my claims about having strategy smarts, coming up with the SWGOTU designation was not a strategic marketing decision. I created it decades ago while registering MS Office software. The screen prompt had requested a title.
At the time, I was freelancing for health and wellness magazines as a writer. I also had a plum gig editing (i.e., rewriting) all the crap other freelancers submitted to a national slick. I also needed a break from being the "Dr. Gould" of academia and state government. So, in a fit of whimsical grandiosity and for my own entertainment, I typed in: Supreme Word Goddess of the Universe.
I loved the way it looked on the screen. I loved being welcomed by that title whenever I rebooted my computer. I eventually put it on my business card -- that's when I discovered its true value. Some people became highly and huffily offended; others laughed out loud. The ones who laughed usually became valued clients.
Last year, a friend told me how someone positioned to engage my talents had been put-off by seeing SWGOTU on my biz card. In that moment, I realized I'd created a way to screen out grim reapers of creativity. I added this text to my website: If you're not incredibly amused by my use of the immodest title Supreme Word Goddess of the Universe, we probably won't be working together.
Since adding that note, I've been taken to task by at least one person from the world of church and faith who was earnestly concerned that I might be trying to compete with the BVM. I assured him that I wasn't and not because I look awful in powder blue.
Most colleagues in the healthcare industry tend to laugh, which is a good thing, because that's where I do most of my work these days. Contrary to popular opinion they -- and I include Big Pharma folk -- tend to be good-natured, big-hearted, and committed to excellence in healthcare. I like that about them. Recently, I've been wondering what would happen to all that bon vivance if I added, "Dr. Gould" back into the mix. Care to conjecture?
