Hugh, the same smart (and yes, deparaved) brain who offered up wise words on how to be creative, has updated his “Hughtrain Manifesto.”

Pithy wisdom and plenty of funny, interesting (and sometimes shocking) illustrations. But here’s the thing that matters, and it’s right in the subtitle: “The market for something to believe in is infinite.”

Not marketing as ROI. Not marketing as strategicparadigmcustomerrelationship. Marketing as an interface to transformational — and ultimately spiritual — experience.

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I sometimes think the only truly original insight I’ve ever had is what I call Brooks’ Law:

Brooks’ Law: Everything is small time. Some of the largest and most strategic decisions in business get made — and made badly — because someone got up on the wrong side of the bed, someone is cranky about office politics or someone gave it no more thought than “because that’s the way I want to.”

I want to believe there are Great Minds out there thinking of Big, Important Things broader than my field of comprehension… I really do. And then a story like this comes along.

The International Herald Tribune is reporting that Hewlett-Packard’s new iPod clone will hit the streets in September. Same price point. Same functionality. Hell, they licensed the “iPodness” from Apple.

If I was an HP stockholder (I ditched my stake before the merger, thanks very much), I’d be furious; if I was their marketing team, I’d be worried. Let’s review:

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The twisted genius behind Gaping Void has a brilliant post on “How to be Creative.” Lots of insight there whether your business is PR, advertising or just figuring out how to sell the next guy who walks on the car lot. My favorite:

Sing in your own voice: Piccasso was a terrible colorist. Turner couldn’t paint human beings worth a damn. Saul Steinberg’s formal drafting skills were appalling. TS Eliot had a full-time day job. Henry Miller was a wildly uneven writer. Bob Dylan can’t sing or play guitar.

(A note for the easily shocked: Most Gaping Void posts come with brilliant little pen-and-ink drawings. Not all of them are work-safe…)

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A news story at Britian’s Observer points out something I’ve suspected for a while: Google is underselling its story to the press and the public.

Hard to believe when seemingly every news outlet — and certainly every business news outlet — is breathlessly awaiting word or rumor about the search behemoth’s potential IPO.

But by piecing together statements from various Google presentations, the Observer notes that Google is inconsistent — wildly inconsistent — when it talks about numbers related to its hardware horsepower. Why? Well, the Observer has a hunch, and it’s a damned smart one.

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Constantin Basturea points out an interesting interview with David Weinberger (of cluetrain manifesto fame) on why companies should use weblogs, why it’s hard for them to do that, who should blog in a company, the role of the corporate blogger, and more.

Also there: A great overview of Fast Company’s big, smart blogging article from the April edition.

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To the chagrin of some of my more high-minded colleagues, I maintain that we’re all in the sales business, and the sooner we embrace that, the more successful we’ll be.

• Work in PR? You already know you’re in the business of selling ideas.
• Work in public involvement? Well, if your project has a predetermined outcome (“we’re building a freeway, but need to talk to homeowners in the way”), then you already know you’re selling ideas with a little bit of process on the side. But if you’re lucky enough to be doing genuine public involvement rather than the get-out-of-the-way-you-pesky-citizen kind, then what you’re really selling is a context, a process and trust in that process.
• In the planning or A/E fields? I’ve already talked about what you’re selling (hint: It’s not always what you think), but it’s worth repeating.
• Work in the public sector? You’re selling projects, processes, or both.

Having laid out my thesis, here’s a round-up of sales-related links useful no matter which of those categories you fall into.

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