Visual ambassador, Scott Hull, is finishing the year strong and he’s using the Simplest Marketing Plan – outreach, networking and content marketing – to do it.
In today’s episode of the Marketing Mentor Podcast, he generously shares what’s working and which markets are thriving in face of AI.
Because, as I like to say, "Marketing works when you do it."
And September and October is prime marketing time. Before everything slows down for the holidays, this is when people are spending budgets they don’t want to lose and pulling the trigger on projects that need to get done.
I love watching the members of my Simplest Marketing Program get their marketing done – and we are seeing the fruits of their labor. One in particular is Scott Hull who matches big brands with illustrators and illustrative designers. (You can also find him and the work on IG at @scottbhull)
Also, I asked Scott to share one lesson he’d learned over the years and he said something I’ve been saying a lot on this podcast lately – be human!
Easier said than done, I know, but super important these days, right?
So listen here and below.
If you like what you hear, we’d love it if you write a review, subscribe here and sign up for Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor.
And If you want my help figuring all of this out, take advantage of my free mentoring session. You can find that and lots more resources, including my Simplest Marketing Plan at marketing-mentor.com. So enjoy and I’ll see you next time.
Complete transcript
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Alright, Scott, welcome to the podcast.
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Scott Hull: Thank you!
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And as I always do, please, begin by introducing yourself.
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Scott Hull: Well…
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Scott Hull: I think I'll start out by giving kind of a description of, yeah, of what I do, as you've said. You know, because you know when the marketing and creative leaders are under a lot of pressure, you know, trying to deliver ideas, you know, and products, and understanding fast, and
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Scott Hull: They're trying to find that right illustrative designer.
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Scott Hull: you know, that's… it's like looking through a needle in a haystack, is what it comes down to, because there's too many options looking for that type of person, there's not enough time, and the risk
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Scott Hull: of picking the right person, who doesn't get it is pretty scary. Well, that's where I come in. You know, I connect decision makers, mainly the creative and the,
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Scott Hull: marketing people, you know, with insanely talented and experienced, collaborative, illustrative designers who understand how to turn a visual, you know, into results. And I've been doing it for over 40 years, and we've been very fortunate in such. But we're seeing a lot of twists and turns that are taking in the business, which are
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Scott Hull: Pretty common, and…
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Scott Hull: And we'll get into that here in a few minutes. So, I'll let you start firing questions, though.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Alright, and you and I have known each other for many years, I don't know, 20, 30.
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Scott Hull: Well, when did you first start, the HAL Design Conference? Because that's the first time I met you.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: I first spoke at Howe in 1993, so…
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Scott Hull: That's when I met you. Was it in San Francisco?
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: I can't remember, actually, where it was.
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Scott Hull: No. Or no, no.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: I was in Chicago. My first one was in Chicago.
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Scott Hull: Okay, yeah, because I spoke a couple times there, but yeah, I know that was the first time I met you, and it was intriguing with what you were doing, and now to see you how many years later, and we're both still around, that's unheard of.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And, if I remember correctly, I mean, in a way, you haven't… you didn't explicitly say this, but you are an agent of.
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Scott Hull: Oh, I'm sorry.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Yeah. And designers, right? And at the time, I was still kind of figuring out what I was doing, and so there was a quality of agenting or potential.
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Scott Hull: Indeed.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: that was what people needed. I decided not to go in that direction. I decided instead to teach people, but I don't know, maybe just start by speaking to that idea of being a representative of an artist in a commercial context.
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Scott Hull: Yeah, yeah. That's interesting, because I started out as a graphic designer, And,
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Scott Hull: it was the days of the art studios, which were, looking back, it's pretty fascinating. And so we had, I think it was, like.
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Scott Hull: 9 illustrators and 7 designers on staff, and did a lot of work for Procter & Gamble, and
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Scott Hull: other large companies. And so, that was pretty phenomenal, at that point. And, like, young, naive, maverick people, after about 3 years or 4 years of it, it was like.
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Scott Hull: you know, freelance was becoming very popular, the fax machine, or at that time, the quip machine, was starting in, so communications were broadening out.
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Scott Hull: And so, I got to thinking about it, and there was a group that wanted to start a new studio, you know, typical jump ship.
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Scott Hull: And it was like, I know, I want no part of it. Dealing and herding cats, and trying to deal with these egotistical folks. So we came up with the concept of becoming an agent. And so each worked individually, and then I became just like a sports agent or a,
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Scott Hull: an actor's agent, and so I handled the talent, and then I would go out, secure work, help develop portfolios, and basically built relationships, is what it all came down to. And I think that's why we've lasted as long as we have, is being fair, being honest, having tremendous talent, being very blessed to be associated with talent.
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Scott Hull: And being able to curate,
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Scott Hull: their careers and such. And so we've seen a lot of, you know, obviously in 40 years, a lot of ups and downs, and like I say, there's a train wreck every 7 years.
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Scott Hull: And so far, it's holding well true.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And I want to get into a little bit the evolution of your business, but I also want to tee it up by saying that
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: one of the reasons I invited you to be a guest on the podcast is because you're a member of the S&P Plus program, and we're near the end of the year, and we're focused on finishing the year strong, and you, I happen to know, are finishing the year super strong, and you sent me a note that basically outlined, at the time, 8 active projects from
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: you know, big companies, and… and so I just wanted you to somehow kind of start by talking about how are you ending the year strong, and what exactly are you doing, and
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And I know that it's cumulative, right? You talked about really…
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Scott Hull: Oh, yeah.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: and the value of relationships, and I imagine that
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: because you have all those super strong relationships, that is one of the main reasons that you're ending the year strong. But just respond to that in whatever way may.
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Scott Hull: Sure, sure. Well, like I said, I'm based in Dayton, Ohio, and so I'm not in, you know, a big area, but in Dayton, Ohio, one time we had the,
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Scott Hull: the largest 90-minute market, which means you basically can drive 90 minutes away and really hit the majority of the marketplace in the country. I did a fair amount of travel to, obviously, New York and other
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Scott Hull: places and did a lot of one-on-one. I enjoyed it. It was fun to get out and hobnob. And I always tried to use the philosophy, I'm not here to sell you. I'm here to give you 15 minutes of recess. So, you know, you carry your
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Scott Hull: portfolio and show your wares, and I always try to use it in terms of learning more about what their needs and such were, so that was… that was a big blessing.
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Scott Hull: And so, over this past year, obviously the last few years, as so many of you are facing, business is just, you know, it's tanked. It's not the 90s anymore. You know, in the 90s, at least the world of design and illustration were coming on strong.
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Scott Hull: And even design, to a point, I think, in the…
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Scott Hull: Probably… the teens, design was doing fairly well, but there was a… seemed to be a shift in the terms of the leadership, or the design thinking was becoming stronger and such.
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Scott Hull: And so we have, kind of started to embrace that, but really what has made our, you know, close the year out strong, because I'll tell you, the last 18 months have been real stinkers, and we have,
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Scott Hull: Yeah, in the last 18 months, normally we'll see maybe 2 or 3 companies either downsize or even close their doors, but in the last 18 months, I figured that 10 clients that we had worked with have either closed their doors, they have downsized.
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Scott Hull: And… or… It just shifts their whole philosophy and such.
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Scott Hull: And I'm not talking about little, one- and two-man people. I'm talking about AT&T. I'll probably get shot for saying this stuff. AT&T. Dan & Yogurt, you know, went from a staff of 42 down to 6.
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Scott Hull: And so we're seeing more of that happening, and on that. So, by taking… that was one reason why I set up for your
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Scott Hull: SMP course, was I just needed, I don't know, rejuvenation, and just to hear what other people were doing.
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Scott Hull: Because, you know, after doing this for 40 years, you think you've got the sales process down, you think that everybody knows you, and there is really nothing different. But yeah, with all these changes taking place, yeah, everything is different, but yet everything is the same.
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Scott Hull: And so, by being associated with it, I realized that, especially talking to Andy,
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Randy Brennitz.
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Scott Hull: Yes. Just listening to him, and on outreach, and that type of thing, which gave a lot of encouragement, and made me realize that it needed to go back to what we were doing. Like, for instance.
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Scott Hull: 10 years ago, our mailing list was 18,000 people.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Ridiculous!
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Scott Hull: And then we started getting in, doing more CRM processes and so on, and then we reduced it down to about 4,000 to 5, is where we're kind of at right now. And even now, I'm looking at things differently, because listening to Andy and the group talk.
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Scott Hull: It is. In today's market, it is geared more towards relationships, more one-on-one, and dealing more with solving problems and being… making beautiful paintings and such. And so, with that, I think what has helped us was, you know, Andy was
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Scott Hull: Andy and the team, Lisa and Bonnie and so on.
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Scott Hull: really were promoting, you know, outreach and writing, emails, and being more aggressive in what you're doing. And so, you know, I went back to doing that again, and trying to do it more on a regular basis. And I think it's just…
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Scott Hull: as you say, Elise, it's momentum. Yeah. And with that momentum, I think, you know, I'll tell you, I'll be honest with you, man, the first 6, 7 months, they were stinkers. Yeah. And I didn't know if I wanted to continue doing this. But then, there at the end, like, all of a sudden, 2 weeks into September.
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Scott Hull: The floodgates started opening, and one of the largest jobs that we ever,
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Scott Hull: You know, ever worked on was through,
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Scott Hull: Olipop, which is a soft drink, and they're getting ready to develop, or we're helping them develop a new character, and it's all focused around, content marketing, but there were 55, illustrations that needed to be done in a short amount of time.
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Scott Hull: So that was like, you know, hallelujah for that. And then, that same week, we ended up getting, Spindrift.
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Scott Hull: the agencies for Spindrift calling us to do some, flavor illustrations for that, and then we ended up,
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Scott Hull: getting, Harvard Marketing, or I'm sorry, Harvard Medical was doing a, website focused on mental health, and so we ended up doing the illustrations for their, you know, branding of their look and such. And then there's been others come in, too, so…
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Scott Hull: Why did it come in all of a sudden? Could have been economics, people realizing that, oh, we're getting ready to go into the fourth quarter, and we gotta spend the money? Yeah. I don't have a rhyme to reason, so I'm…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Looking at you, at least, to give me those answers.
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Scott Hull: But I would say that it was because of the relationships, because that's one thing I've been doing, is looking at it and saying, why? Why did I get a call from these companies now? And, you know, companies I really don't even know. But what I found out, it was all referring back to referrals.
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Scott Hull: And that was what Andy talked on, I think it was last Monday, was referrals. And that's what I've decided this coming year is, as you said, finish strong, but go into 2026 strong. Well, my whole philosophy is going to be referrals.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Okay, let me just try to respond to some of what you.
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Scott Hull: I'm sorry, I'm just…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: No, no, there's a lot there.
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Scott Hull: You've got me wound up here. Sorry, guys.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Alright.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: That's alright. I guess I first want to say thank you for telling the truth, number one, about how the last 6 to 18 months has been, because I really don't think there are a lot of people out there telling the truth, and I am a big proponent of the truth, and I don't like sugarcoating things, and making it seem like things are better than they are, so…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: I think for a lot of people.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: I won't say everyone, because some people do well when things are not going well. But for a lot of people, it has been very, very difficult, especially the first half of 2025.
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Scott Hull: I'm…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: So I appreciate your honesty. And… and I… I think I also appreciate your consistency, and the fact that you have just kept showing up, and kept
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: doing the marketing, because when things aren't going well, and the marketing doesn't seem to be working, often that's when people give up. Yeah. And I think that's a huge mistake, and the people in my circle know that, and hopefully they
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: give up less than other people would. I know it's hard to keep it going, but that's why we're here.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And so, I think that, one of the things you're talking about that I thought was really interesting, so…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Maybe we can focus on this mix of what's old is new again, and how, as you said, you had a mailing list, you used to mail to them on a regular basis, there were 18,000 people on that list.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And then it sounded like you intentionally whittled it down to $4,000 or $5,000.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And then started to get more aggressive and proactive. I would think I would use the word proactive and assertive, perhaps, because a lot of people don't like the idea of being aggressive, even though that may be.
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Scott Hull: I would call it focused, is what I would call it.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Focused, interesting, right? And doubling down on outreach and relationships, and then the idea of referrals. I want to come back to that, because often referrals gets confused with word of mouth, where people think you don't have to do anything, but I know you're talking about something very proactive as it relates to referrals as well.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: So, Start, if you would, with how you…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: What you did with your list.
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Scott Hull: Well, with the 5,000, matter of fact, we're going through a,
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Scott Hull: episode right now because I'm moving my CRM platform to another service because of expense, and as I learned through SMP, it was like, you know, why do I have this
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Scott Hull: this big car with all these bells and whistles, when I… all I'm trying to do is get from point A to point B.
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Scott Hull: And so, that's what I realized with the mailing list. How many people am I really working with? How many does it take for an illustrator, a designer, to have a good year? And so, that's when I started really trying to fine-tune and reach out, and try to reach out to those key people on a regular basis. Now, when I say regular basis, I'm not saying every week. I'm saying
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Scott Hull: Every quarter tops.
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Scott Hull: At least twice a year, just to let them know that, hey, I'm there. And also to let them know that, bringing up, you know, pain points that they might be dealing with, and because of doing this for so many years.
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Scott Hull: also trying to get them to, to see that we might, or I might have the solution to them. Because one of the biggest issues I've had, in my business has been… I've always been behind the scenes. The artists have always taken front and center.
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Scott Hull: And, you know, I've had…
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Scott Hull: people say, well, you know, with all the knowledge that you have and such, you know, people will be interested, and you're basically… you know, artists are going to come and go, but your service has been going on for 45 years, for heaven's sakes. And so, that's when I started putting two and two together and saying, well, then I better quit focusing on
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Scott Hull: helping
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Scott Hull: young people who really don't understand how to commission work, and I better focus, because our artists and talent are, you know, they've been at it for
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Scott Hull: you know, 15 plus years. And so they are expertise, or have expertise in that field. And so that's why we ended up kind of, not downsizing, and that's what I'm looking at now, is having a good, strong list.
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Scott Hull: But then, doing it in such a way, and this is where I'm getting into referrals, doing it in such a way, and that's what Bonnie and Lisa
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Scott Hull: and even George talked about a bit, was, how do you go about, doing that? And Andy's done a really nice job putting together some prompts on, writing it, but what I'm trying to do now with my CRM system
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Scott Hull: is, how can I,
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Scott Hull: start to build curiosity, and start to make them feel like, you know, we're the go-to people, like I said in my opening, that we're the go-to people. If you have this problem, then we own it, and we're who you need to be talking to.
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Scott Hull: So…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Yeah.
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Scott Hull: Sorry, I'm getting to ramble here, so…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: That's alright, no, no, it's good.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: So, maybe we can focus a little bit, then, on your approach with referrals that you've been doing and are planning to do into 2026, because you referenced your CRM, which is a Customer Relationship Management System.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And I imagine that's a combination of outreach and content marketing, which are two of the three tools in the SMP.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Talk a little bit about the details there. What exactly are you doing? Are you planning to do? How do those tools work together?
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Scott Hull: What I'm finding is, obviously, Instagram and LinkedIn are very important. Facebook, you know, not so much anymore for us. X, forget that one. But really, also working with you, I'm realizing that,
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Scott Hull: LinkedIn really is pretty robust. The biggest issue that I see we have is the fact that for about 35-plus years, we've been using, been licensing lists, and it was a company that deals with creatives, agencies, in-house brands, and so on, but what I'm finding…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: the list.
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Scott Hull: Yeah. So, what I'm finding is, their list isn't that strong anymore. And I get it, because when we used to put our list together, you know, I had a couple people that would make phone calls and talk to the creative secretary, and then the creative secretary would fax, not
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Scott Hull: email, because we didn't have email today, would fax that list to us. And so we had the people, what brands they were working for, and so it's
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Scott Hull: It was pretty good. Well, now, it's so fracted, because after the pandemic, it's like I'm working on a client with a client right now. Well.
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Scott Hull: I have the account person in New York, and it's all the same agency. I have, the design person in,
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Scott Hull: San Francisco, and then I have another person that we deal with in Cincinnati.
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Scott Hull: Now, how can I get their mailing list? Or I can give them
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Scott Hull: You know, so it's becoming more difficult. So, the process that we're doing in building our list is basically trying to use LinkedIn more.
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Scott Hull: And then, when we send out an email, or I have a conversation, maybe somebody in the group, or… I pick up the,
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Scott Hull: tone, and what I usually try to do, let's say if I am on the phone, and it's somebody I've worked with for some time, and I feel like we have a good rapport with, well, I'll ask them there towards the end of the conversation. I said, you know, you've been great to work with, and I'm trying to find people just like you.
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Scott Hull: Is there somebody that you could recommend that would be looking for opportunities to use illustration in their processes and such? And because by saying, I want somebody just like you, what that does is makes them feel confident that I respect them, which I do.
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Scott Hull: And that they're more willing to think and give you that on-the-spot opportunity. So that's one trick of the trade that I use.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And that works.
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Scott Hull: It's… so far, it has.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And then what do you do with that information or that person?
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Scott Hull: Usually what I'll do then is, if I think it's a hot lead, I'll send it, you know, that so-and-so recommended I reach out to you, or I'll ask that individual if they mind doing an introduction.
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Scott Hull: you know, I try to make it as easy as possible, and so then, you know, that's what we'll do. We'll do an introduction, and that's what we're doing right now, is trying to finish up a,
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Scott Hull: Just a very simple introduction pitch.
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Scott Hull: and let them look at it on their own time. It'll be maybe 3-minute long. It'll kind of explain what we do, and here's how we go about doing it. But what we'll try to do is to find out, first before we do it, is what problems are they facing?
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Scott Hull: And so that's… that's the big part.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Okay, and when you say a 3-minute pitch, is that a video?
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Scott Hull: Or is that a…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: call.
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Scott Hull: It… I like to try to do a call, but in some cases, you know you can't, so I might attach a,
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Scott Hull: a video, we have a video made up, or just basically a little slide presentation that they can… almost like a carousel that you would get in Instagram or something of that nature. Those seem to be pretty effective. Probably the best effective tool that we're using, that I'm seeing working well, are testimonies.
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Scott Hull: That's what people are intrigued by. When I post a testimony on Instagram, it seems like it gets some of the higher hits and such, and, you know, we haven't been doing enough of it.
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Scott Hull: First of all, because the first part of the year was so slow that we didn't have anything to testify about, or get testimony.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: money's about.
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Scott Hull: Just joking. But that's one thing that I think is a real plus, because, I mean, if you go to Amazon to buy something, what do you do? You start looking at the reviews, and that's where I think reviews are becoming more and more popular, as sales tools.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: I agree with that, for sure.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: they seem to be super effective, and so then there's the question of how do you… even if someone who wants to give you a testimonial, or an endorsement, or a review, like, it takes their time to do it. Do you have tricks for making it easy for people? Do you just…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: you know, harass them until they give it to you? What's your story?
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Scott Hull: Yeah, of course.
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Scott Hull: what I usually do is, I send them samples, hey, here's 3 samples of what other people have written, and all I'm looking for are basically 2 or 3 sentences. That's all. You know, some people say then,
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Scott Hull: You know, they'll write it themselves, and then send it to the person, saying, would it be okay to share it like this?
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Scott Hull: I try not to do that, but I have, because if I've had a conversation, I'm taking notes, and they… there are little snippets of that conversation, I think, where they're giving us praise.
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Scott Hull: I will take it and have it massaged and maybe share it with them and say, you know, something like this. And if you like it, well, we'll just go ahead and apply it, and if you're okay, we'll put your name to it.
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Scott Hull: But yeah, you can't… you can't press them, because, like, the people I'm trying to work with, more of the C-level, they're… they're slammed.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: So… I wanna, shift a little bit and talk about the future.
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Scott Hull: And AI.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: In whatever way makes the most sense, but I guess I'll just start with a question, a very general question. Like, what do you see as the future for illustration and design, and where does AI fit in, and
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Where do you think or see that, you know, real images from real illustrators and designers are going to continue?
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Scott Hull: Oh, that… yeah, that's the big… the big open, question these days, is the trends, you know.
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Scott Hull: We all know that AI is coming, and it'll end up basically wiping out the mediocre talent. I mean, that's a given. But it means you gotta step up.
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Scott Hull: and work on your thinking, your thinking and your thinking skills, because, like I said earlier, that, you as an illustrator designing just making pretty pictures isn't going to cut it anymore. You've got to provide strategy and thinking, more to, you know, strategy thinking behind it, because that's what we're seeing is, you know, why we call ourselves illustrator designers is because the
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Scott Hull: At one time or another, that person was probably an art director or a designer themselves.
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Scott Hull: And all we're doing is almost like the old pushpin studio days. Instead of using photography and such, you know, we are providing basically an illustrative solution to that problem, and we're collaborating, you know, with the company and such.
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Scott Hull: So, you know, that's kind of a big part of it. Now, from the dark side, because technology and AI, what you're going to see is mounds and mounds of carbon copies and clones, you know, everywhere.
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Scott Hull: And the issue with that is that marketing is going to basically flock to AI because, you know, they're thinking they're going to be saving money and such, and so you're going to start seeing more
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Scott Hull: of the same tools in social media and all. But if you can differentiate yourself, and really, you know.
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Scott Hull: Move forward with it,
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Scott Hull: you're going to position yourself as being knowledgeable and being able to provide advice, and that's what I think companies are going to be looking for, you know, with AI. Because, like I said before, AI is just basically… you're going to see clones, people swiping from the same, same sources and such, and things are going to be, looking like that, because the other thing that I'm seeing, too, as I said earlier.
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Scott Hull: With all the downsizing, It's taking away the design thinking that
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Scott Hull: really, I think IBM, really started promoting design thinking.
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Scott Hull: And, so what that's doing is disrupting, let's just call it, trying to think of the right word…
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Scott Hull: Your innovation muscle. There we go.
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Scott Hull: You're ruining… the companies are ruining their innovation muscle. They're doing away with the creatives, only thinking that they're saving money on the bottom line, but in reality, two to three years later.
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Scott Hull: everything is shrinking, and they're gonna start to saying, well, you know, why isn't our brand doing better? And I mean, we're seeing that already. Matter of fact, I just had a refrigerator repairman. We had the refrigerator for 6 weeks.
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Scott Hull: And he was really… I was getting excited. Matter of fact, I should have been preparing for this better. But I was fascinated by what he was saying, because he was talking about the chain of command.
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Scott Hull: And how, Samsung and GE and LG are basically trying to cut corners to make more money. And,
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Scott Hull: It's really turning into,
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Scott Hull: lack of innovation, because they're trying to cookie-cutter and template everything together, and that's the same thing that I'm seeing with companies today. So if you can differentiate yourself, you know, and use AI, don't get me wrong, that's why I said, everything is changing. Our tools and so on, AI, but we still remain the same, and what the… the same is basically, we still have to have clients, we still
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Scott Hull: have to have those relationships, those referrals. You know, and as they say, relationships are rocket ships.
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Scott Hull: And so that's why I'm saying everything's the same, and that's why I've enjoyed working with you, at least, is the fact that,
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Scott Hull: I've noticed that it hasn't changed in 40-some years. We still are… are trying to serve the people. It's just that the tools have changed a bit, but it still comes down of relationship building.
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Scott Hull: And, you know…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Are you saying, then, in terms of the downsizing, that there's an opportunity for designers and illustrators and writers to come in.
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Scott Hull: Oh, yeah.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: The thinking that is being lost.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: In the attempt to save money.
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Scott Hull: Oh, exactly, because I think, within the group, there seems to be quite a few riders. And, you know, I know that a few have lost
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Scott Hull: clients because of AI, because companies thinking, well, I don't need
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Scott Hull: a writer to do this, I can just run it through AI, and I can have one people instead of outsourcing all these, different creatives, but what they're finding is that that's not true. Now, you as a writer, the advantage that you're going to have is you can work a lot faster with AI. You can end up finding more information quicker, and so on, and just like content providers, who would have, you know, these huge,
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Scott Hull: huge staffs and deep pockets to do it. Well, now they can use it, basically 3 people to do that.
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Scott Hull: But the whole situation is, you gotta humanize it, and that's what AI cannot do, and that's why I think writers just have to shift their thinking and start selling curiosity instead of, you know, a hard product and such.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And, you know, one of the other things you said was that you find out… you've been… you've positioned your firm as problem solvers, and so you speak to the problems.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And my question is, because it sounds like you're saying you can differentiate yourself from the same old, same old, and from the mediocre, and from the AI by addressing the problems.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: and providing solutions to the problems, but I think one of the places people get stuck is, well, what… how do I know what problems they have? So, how do you think about that, and what do you do about that?
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Scott Hull: That's a… that's a great question, because, you know, you're so used, or you're in the day-to-day type of operations, and you think that everything is the same, but, you know, it's like.
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Scott Hull: You put in all these years, and you start to see the pivots. You start to see things, you know, starting to shift, just like I said earlier.
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Scott Hull: you know, it used to be you showed your portfolio, you had beautiful pictures in it, and they go, - isn't that great? And and then they would hire you because they were looking for that particular style or something of that nature. But in today's market.
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Scott Hull: they could care less about beauty. What they're looking at is, are you solving the solution? Are you getting that attention from our audience? And that type of thing. So, that's where I see, you know, really trying to differentiate, you know, what is that one thing that you, your company, is all about?
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Scott Hull: And what are you going after, and what's making you different than your competition?
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And when you say you there, you're talking about the client?
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Or are you talking about the creative service provider?
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Scott Hull: I'm talking about the creative service provider.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Okay.
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Scott Hull: the client has to realize that for themselves, and, you know, it first has to start with us, or with the… with the one person, and that's why I'm seeing even,
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Scott Hull: Personal branding has become so popular.
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Scott Hull: you're no longer a company, you're basically your own company, whether you are working for a huge company or, you know, a solo performer. So, that personal brand is important, and what you do is important. That's your resume.
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Scott Hull: It's what makes you, or what has been your successes, and not a list of, here's my education, but here is the successes that I've had, and here's how I helped this company go from this to that.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And so, just back… circling back to the question of how do you find out what the problems are, or the main problem.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: That they need solved, that you could propose the thinking
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: How do you find that out with your market?
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Scott Hull: Well, that's where AI comes in. I'm finding that being very intriguing, and that's why, you know, at least AI,
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Artificial.
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Scott Hull: Yeah, there we go.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Eye collar, artificially.
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Scott Hull: Well, you're… you hit it, I just… I forgot the brand name of that. You know, using programs like that have been very interesting, because I can ask, you know, what are…
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Scott Hull: from character development, you know, what did, Cracker Barrel…
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Scott Hull: you know, have to deal with, and what were some of the issues. So, writing a good prompt is extremely important, and then I can come back and kind of analyze it. So, I mean, how long would that have taken me to do all those interviews and such, where AI can help you streamline it a lot quicker?
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Scott Hull: And so that's one of the big tools and how I'm using AI, is just, you know, how to write the right prompts.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Okay, two more questions.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: I want to just circle back also to this question, big picture question about the future of design and illustration. I guess I would say…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Is there a future for design and illustration? What do you.
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Scott Hull: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Design, most definitely. You know, but as I said earlier, you've got to watch it because,
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Scott Hull: Yeah, you know, just keeping focused on the human, human environment, you know, and staying close to the customer.
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Scott Hull: and getting insight, and then, you know, how to use AI to work with the customer faster. That's where I see it going. In terms of illustration, yeah, there's going to be a big change, because it used to be, with editorial and such, there was a big market in that. It didn't pay as great, but you had a lot of it.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And now with AI, you're seeing.
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Scott Hull: You're going to be seeing more content being developed,
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Scott Hull: visuals being developed by AI and all. But what you're going to have happen is the thinking isn't going to be there. Everything's going to look cookie cutter.
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Scott Hull: And, you know, pretty much the same. So, if you can, you know, kind of ride that wave and move forward, but you've also got to look at where is your audience shifting to?
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Scott Hull: Because it's like what we're dealing with… let's take magazines, for instance. They're pretty well gone.
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Scott Hull: And, but what we have found is there's still alumni magazines out there, and they pay pretty decent. And they're looking for, you know, good writing, they're looking for good visuals, and so on. So, you know, that's a market that you've just got to twist and focus a little bit more on.
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Scott Hull: The fact that, Printing is basically… you know.
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Scott Hull: shrunk a big time. And what we have found is packaging, there's still, and there always will be, need for packaging, which is still print. And so we're doing a lot of work with packaging design firms and in-house design firms. So, you know, that's a big one.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And what about environmental graphics?
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: What do you see?
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Scott Hull: Well, obviously, we're seeing a lot of murals.
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Scott Hull: And communications, we're seeing, a lot of companies, doing murals in-house. We just, Thursday, I was just… last Thursday, I was just down, we did, artwork for,
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Scott Hull: the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. And the whole premise that they were trying to do with their environmental graphics was when the
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Scott Hull: patient, the child, walks into the hospital, they're relaxed, they're calm, and they're using, you know, beautiful colors and great organic designs, animals. We did artwork, murals that was almost like, Where's Waldo? where you would see animals and that type of thing.
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Scott Hull: And you know, you can't get that through AI.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Right?
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Scott Hull: And so, there are opportunities like that. It's just, you know, thinking ahead of the game, and where's, you know, where's the next move going to be?
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Alright, last question.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: I want to know what the most important lesson is that you have learned over your 40-ish years.
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Scott Hull: Oh, hang with the right people.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Mmm.
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Scott Hull: Let's see…
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Scott Hull: Well, I'd have to say, like I said earlier,
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Scott Hull: Focus on the human environment. Stay close to your customer with insight.
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Scott Hull: And,
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Scott Hull: you know, by letting them know, you know, what you do, and what problems you solve in that, and then you can use AI to continue that insight. So, you know, really, it's just…
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Scott Hull: staying face-to-face, making sure that they know that you're there, and you know, it's like, we've been dealing with, I'll tell, I'll name names, Lowe's. And that's been a frickin' disaster, because they have forgot what customer service is all about.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Hmm.
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Scott Hull: And even, you know, fast food restaurants, customer service, and yeah, just be human. I would say that's the biggest lesson I've learned. And hence, that's why I…
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: And learning more, you know, through your S&P classes, too.
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Scott Hull: I guess that's it. Be human.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: I love that. Beautiful.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: All right, thank you so much, Scott.
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Scott Hull: Thank you.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Where they can find you online.
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Scott Hull: Online, I'm at Scott Hall, that's H-U-L-L dot com, that's my website, and then, Instagram, it's Scott, B as in boy, Hall, and I think my LinkedIn is also Scott Hall.
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Scott Hull: But there are… there is the, bass player for the Pig Destroyers that, also has the name Scott Hall, so…
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Scott Hull: But he seems like a nice guy.
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Scott Hull: So, that's it.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Alright, beautiful. So please reach out and say hey.
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ilise benun, marketing-mentor.com: Beautiful, thank you so much.
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Scott Hull: Thanks, Elise, appreciate the time.