Crowdsource Slogan Contest Champion Mark Payne
Slogan Slingers is back to feature the elite writers. This month the elite writer bio goes to Mark Payne.
Many of Slogan Slingers freelance writers have careers during the day and create slogans at night. But a slogan slinger by day, and a police dispatcher at night, Mark works the overnight shift as a police dispatcher in Texas. The pressure and panic can’t get to Mark, as people’s lives depend on his ability to stay calm and perform his job. He must monitor, receive, and relay emergency calls in the most productive and calm manner. Similar to dispatching, slogans must be communicative and offer the key information needed.
Working a high-level intensity job Mark doesn’t let the stress get to him. He finds himself writing and sketching in his free time, something he wasn’t able to do in his early life. As we all know, life gets in the way sometimes of what we enjoy doing. Whether it is time, money, or the will to do it, sometimes leaves a hole in where you feel whole. In his younger years, Mark was often writing poetry and short stories. As he transitioned from a teen to adulthood, the obstacles of writing as a career became difficult to make a living off of. Many writers understand the obstacle Mark encountered.
The sweet sensation of bringing your ideas to life. Fortunately, as his life started to settle down Mark found himself writing and sketching once again. In his mid-fifties, he’s at a point in life where his passion and obligations are not mutually exclusive.
Mark stumbled upon Slogan Slingers from an online digest. From there, he would enter many contests and gain success as a writer for slogans. Inspiration is different in all of us. Some of us say inspiration comes from our past experiences. Some of us say inspiration comes from our new experiences. For Mark? His inspiration comes from the emotional processing of his experiences and dreams. Mark does mention sometimes slogans just spill out, and other times he has to claw them out of the hardened earth of his mind.
Mark believes for a slogan to be catchy they should have an effective emotional impact. Slogans that slip off the tongue easily are what he believes makes the slogan successful. As a consumer, Mark says he enjoys slogans that are punny but not too cheesy. We all want a cheesy pizza, not a cheesy slogan.
Mark is a true Texan. But when it comes to speaking a second language, Mark knows just enough Spanish to ask where the bathroom is. His Spanish is a work in progress.
Besides writing and sketching, Mark does enjoy computer and video games. And, of course, getting on his wife’s nerves. He enjoys spending time in the kitchen and letting his creative sense take hold. Often doing a “pantry surprise” he’ll wander into the pantry and see what foods he can combine for a tasteful and delicious meal. Mark’s weird food combination left us hungry for more. Mark enjoys putting salad ingredients on his spaghetti. He combines roasted chicken, salad dressing, peas, corn, mushroom, black olives, cheese and bacon bits with his spaghetti. What makes Mark’s dish so tasteful? Well for starters his dish is one of a kind, but it’s name he gave it that stands out. He calls it “Dang” because “Dang, it’s pretty good”.
Well, dang Mark, Slogan Slingers is pretty happy to have you.