The Idea Department

Free 'Ace Of Sales' eBook

Don The Idea Guy — 2010-07-13T14:52:08-05:00

I’ve got a brand new ebook available at no cost — just for YOU! Jeffrey Gitomer (www.gitomer.com) recently unveiled a revolutionary sales and customer relationship management tool that makes selling easy (and FUN!) and you can get my new ebook for free, just for taking it for a no-risk/no-cost 30-day test drive.

Ace Of Sales (www.aceofsales.com) hit the market a few months ago and has been blowing the minds of professional salespeople everywhere. Ace oO Sales allows individuals and salesteams to send out stunning personalized and branded emails, email postcards, custom ezines, and “real” greeting cards, gift cards, and post cards sent via USPS.

Ace Of Sales imports addresses from Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo! and CSV files. You can customize the appearance of your messages using the Ace Of Sales Personalizer, and if even allows you to save multiple identities — perfect for sales teams or entrepreneurs with several different corporate brands. You can send as many branded emails and ecards as you want for the low annual membership. Ezines cost a little more ($2 per issue plus 1-cent per recipient) and the physical greeting cards and post cards cost anywhere from 50-cents to $3 each (plus postage.) An annual subscription to Ace Of Sales is only $199 (less than $17/month!)

So, how do you get a copy of my new ebook?
Just take a FREE 30-day test drive of Ace Of Sales to evaluate this extraordinary sales tool for yourself — no strings. Visit www.AceOfSales.com and sign for the trial offer using my promo code IDEAGUY30. Once you have access to your account, send me a custom email or ecard from your new Ace Of Sales account and I’ll reply to your message with the PDF of my new ebook attached. Send your message to my exclusive email address for this limited time offer: ace[AT]dontheideaguy[DOT]com.

If you end up loving Ace Of Sales as much as I do, your credit card will be charged at the end of the trial. If Ace Of Sales doesn’t live up to everything I’ve said and more, just cancel your membership before the end of your free test drive and keep the book with my compliments.

Click the banner below to visit the Ace Of Sales website and sign-up today. Don’t forget to use my promo code IDEAGUY30 to get your first 30-days at no charge!

About the Free eBook…
My new ebook is titled “52 Ways You Can Use Jeffrey Gitomer’s Ace Of Sales to Flush Out New Business and Trump Your Competition.” I’ve had such a blast using this incredible sales tool myself that I was inspired to brainstorm a collection of personal ideas on using the Ace Of Sales applications to get the best results and response for your customers. Here’s how to get your copy of this creative and fun ebook chock full of marketing ideas and advice…

Sign-up for your free trial of Ace Of Sales using the promo code IDEAGUY30
Send a personalized email or ecard using your new Ace Of Sales account to me at: ace[AT]dontheideaguy[DOT]com
Receive my free ebook as an attachment when I respond to your message

I know you’re going to love this sales tool as much as I do — I look forward to trading awesome emails and innovative ideas with you using Ace Of Sales!

PS: Still not convinced? Take the 2-minute tour!

My Two-Cents on Foursquare.com

Don The Idea Guy — 2010-04-11T09:46:56-05:00

I'm a user and fan of Foursquare.com more for the potential I see than for anything specific they appear to be doing right this second.

DTIG Dos

I do like the basic idea of letting a select circle of friends know where I am -- in case they're in the area and would like to meet-up.
I do like to check and see where my friends are, if I am out-and-about and if they are close-by I don't want to miss an opportunity to say "hi."
I do find myself using Foursquare.com as a way to find out about new places my friends find appealing. If I notice that Cheryl has visited Dirty Franks a few times, it serves as a reminder that I keep meaning to try it out. If Tim is at Cup O Joe's, I might be prompted to trade-up from my planned run to Starbucks.

DTIG Don'ts

I don't accept every friend request.
I don't normally accept friend requests from other states or countries that I do not visit, no matter how good of a friend the request may come from. The information about they're location won't enable me to either join them at the location or serve as an idea of a place to visit anytime in the near future.
I don't typically send any of my own check-ins to Facebook or Twitter, unless I am actively seeking to promote the purpose I am visiting the location or publishing a call-out for friends to join me. Most don't really care that I'm having a pint at the Claddagh Pub (and if a few of them do, they can always check on my by using Foursquare's "find your friends" feature.)

Ideas for Foursquare.com
I know the coupons are coming. I smelled it a mile away and expected it from day-one. Rather than waiting for Foursquare to charge them to advertise, I am baffled why more businesses are not encouraging users to promote their stops at their establishment via this popular social media tool/game (show us your check-in status and give us a shout-out to save $5 on your sale) and why aren't they rewarding the people who've become "Mayor" of their location?

Personally, I'd hang the picture of every person who's ever become Mayor of my location at the register and treat them with extra-special care. If I were a restaurant I'd create a "Mayor's table" reserved just for her and her friends, If I were a pub I'd have a bar stool with an engraved brass plate that says "Mayors Only," if I were a dry-cleaner I'd assign a Mayor's discount and give them a fistful of certificates allowing "Friends of the Mayor" to get a free garment cleaned. If the Mayor walks into my business with a few of his friends, they all get a complimentary service (appetizer, coffee, bagel, whatever) simply because they are a big shot fan, user, influencer.

If the Mayor of the city walked in, you'd treat him special right? Why wouldn't the Mayor of your business get even better treatment?

A sort of "devious" idea I'd really love to see a business try, is to steal away customers from a competitor while they are literally in the competition's store getting ready to buy something. For instance... If I am a local coffee shop and I think more people should visit my store than visit the Starbucks down the block, I'd attempt to friend any person on Foursquare who's checked-in at that specific location. Anytime I received an alert that these friends were visiting the Starbucks in my hood, I'd send a Shout-Out saying "I can save you a lot on that latte! If you'll tell Starbucks to "buck-off" stroll down to MY coffee shop instead, I'll take a buck-off your order."

How do YOU use Foursquare.com?
What other ideas can you come up with for marketing businesses via the Foursquare.com utility? Post them in the comments!

Today is Whensday!

Don The Idea Guy — 2010-01-07T15:20:08-06:00

I thought the new year was the perfect time to share my new "Whensday" philosophy. By now you've probably noted the unique spelling (or at the very least realized the date of this blog post is most certainly NOT the weekday that falls between Tuesday and Thursday.)

I came up with this concept back in April of 2009 while thinking about just how many of my own projects get delayed because of simple procrastination. I scribbled the concept in my journal, bought the domain name, and put it on my "when-I-get-around-to-it-list."

Well, folks… Today is Whensday.
Whensday is that day you SAY you're going do something:
The day you'll write your book, take that dance class, go back to school, find a new job, clean the garage, fix the toilet, whatever...

When I have more time
When I have more money
When I get a degree
When I get a new job
When I get a raise
When I lose some weight
When the economy is better
When they fire that jerk of a boss
When someone gives me a chance
When the world isn't conspiring against me
When I get more experience
When I have more freedom
When I meet "the right people"
When I don't have so much housework
When somebody gives me some help
When someone gives me permission
When my family understands me
When I get motivated
When I get famous
When I get a promotion
When I get out of debt
When I save some money
When I know I can't fail
When I'm not so busy
When I marry the right person
When I move to another city
When I start my own business
When my luck is better
When I hit the lottery

I've got news for you -- that perfect day where the stars are in alignment and all your lottery numbers hit, some Hollywood talent scout runs into you at Starbucks and thinks you'd be perfect in the next George Clooney movie, and Steve Jobs calls to ask you to run Apple for him just ain't gonna happen.

You just need to decide that today is the day you're going to start putting your goals into action. Today is when you're going to write the first chapter of your novel, today is when you're going to call up that dance schedule and sign-up for this weekend's class, today is when you're going to go down to the hardware store and by a new floaty-thing for your toilet tank.

TODAY is Whensday.

TOMORROW is Whensday.

EVERYDAY is Whensday.

2010 is filled with Whensdays,
Make everyone of them count.

Absolutely and unabashedly inspired by 57 Famous Alibis By Old Man 'IF' from "Think And Grow Rich."

10 Lightning Rods to Inspire Ideas

Don The Idea Guy — 2009-12-21T09:54:03-06:00

Ever come upon a co-worker sitting at their desk just sort of staring into space (or their computer screen)? You ask what's going on and they answer in a dull and defeated voice that they are waiting for inspiration to strike.

WHAT...???
Do you also sit on your arse waiting for dinner to make itself? …For the lawn to grow shorter? …For the sidewalks to shovel themselves after a snow? …For your clothes to jump out of the closest and force themselves upon your body and thrust you out the door to start your day?

Waiting for inspiration? Puh-leeeze!
You may as well wait for lightning to strike.

As a matter of fact, you've probably heard a flash of brilliance described that way -- as a lightning strike. The worst offenders of this 'wait-and-see' approach to inspiration are the people who've experienced a flash of insight in the past. I'm not saying the occasional lightning strike doesn't happen. I'm just saying the odds are against it.

You know how you increase your chances of a lightning strike?
You erect lightning rods.

What's a lightning rod? I'm glad you asked...
As buildings were constructed to be taller and taller, damage from lightning strikes became more of a threat. The huge electrical currents heat the building materials and moisture to high temperatures that weaken the structure or even cause fire and explosions.

A lightning rod is a metal staff mounted on the highest parts of a building and connected to the ground through a conductive wire. If lightning strikes the building it will be drawn to the metal rod, transfer down the wire, and be harmlessly dissipated into ground.

The lightning rod is also called a "lightning attractor" or the "Franklin rod," as it was invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1749. As an act of philanthropy, Franklin chose not to patent the invention.

Inspirational Lightning Rods
As my own minor act of creative philanthropy, I'd like to share a few "lightning rods" of inspiration. They will help provide an easy path for creativity to find its way to your brain, but you have to be holding them -- using them -- in order for the creative lightning to strike YOU, causing innovative explosions and creative fires in your mind.

1. Read more stuff
Magazines, books, blogs, cereal boxes... it doesn't really matter (at least at the beginning) what you read -- just that you're reading at all. Just 15 to 20 minutes every morning and every evening is enough to feed your brain with enough new ideas to make you more strikeable. To increase the quality of ideas your reading generates, increase the quality of the writers you are reading.

2. If you have to watch TV, watch some good shows
You'd be surprised at the number of lightning strikes that can be had by watching an episode of Mythbusters or Wild West Tech. The Biography, Discovery, and History Channels are worth a watch now and then.

3. Go see great speakers
Go and see presentations of the best public speakers as often as possible. Listen for the message within the message. Find one great idea that you can take home and put into action tomorrow. Become a speaker yourself. Joining Toastmasters and jumping up in front of an audience in an effort to share your own message is much more challenging than simply writing them down and hoping someone reads them. The energy that comes from a really good speaker on stage can generate a roomful of lightning bolts.

4. Collect quotes
You can start by purchasing a collection of quotes from your local bookstore, but I find the quotes that have the most impact on me personally come from the middle of books I'm reading or from speakers on stage. Never be without notepad on which scribble something worth reading again in the future. Record them in a journal (a physical notebook or an online version) and start categorizing them according to the way they words make you feel when you read them. Be them under heading s that mean the most to you: Monday Morning... Kick In The Ass... Need An Idea... Feeling Blue... and review your collection whenever you need some brilliance on-demand.

5. Listening to music
One of the earliest ways I discovered to create a lightning strike of inspiration was through the music I collected. I could actually control the kinds of ideas I came up with by the type of ambient music playing while I was drawing, writing, or brainstorming. Jazz, New Age, Soundtracks, Classical, and even 80's Hair Bands (sometimes you just gotta 'Ratt and Roll!') can bring down the lightning of creativity.

6. Play word games
Get your brain primed for those bolts from the blue by shining up those mental receptors. Solving crossword puzzles or challenging your friends to a game of Boggle or (my favorite) -- Scrabble, is a great way to warm up your mental engine. One of the very cool things about social media is the way it allows you to play these sorts of games online at all hours with people all over the world. You're never at a loss for a competitor. After all, the person on the other side of the virtual game board may also be trying to increase their strikeability.

7. Visit museums
Art museums, history museums, science and technology centers, as well as zoos and aquariums are all fantastic ways to bring the lightning. The artistic images and hidden histories crank your creative generators into overdrive. Personal fav: go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio (is Ratt in there yet?) and check out the display containing the pages from musicians' notebooks. You'll see raw versions of handwritten lyrics to some of the biggest hits of all time -- scribbles in the margin, cross-outs and corrections. The pages seem singed with blasts from their own lightning strikes.

8. Find heroes
Disney, Edison, Franklin, Houdini, Siegel and Shuster -- learn all you can about the lives and creative process of your own heroes. You'll find they were also often in search of lightning strikes. Once you know how some of history's most creative minds made themselves more strikeable, it is a simpler thing to try and do for yourself. Keep in mind that everyone's combustion point for their personal creative fire is different. What worked for Disney will not work for everyone (or else we'd have a lot more Disney-quality creativity in the world.)

9. Express yourself -- journal, sketch, paint
Often times the problem of a creative mind is not the lack of ideas, but an over abundance. There are so many ideas swimming around in your noggin that you don't know which one to act upon first. Work through your brain blockage by getting all those ideas out of your head. Use journaling, blogging, painting, photography, cartooning, or whatever to simply get that log jam of ideas out of your head and onto paper/canvas/etc. It can get congested up there, and if you don't find a release valve your brain can get more clogged than a summer sinus infection. Remember this: to get new ideas into your head, you have to get the old ones out. There is a finite amount of space between your ears, and if you don't write all those ideas down -- even the bad ones (especially the bad ones) you can't make room for new and better ideas.

10. Radar up!
There's a book titled "Personal Brilliance" in which the author lists four catalysts for creativity: Awareness, Creativity, Focus, and Initiative. Before reading the book I would have bet that my primary source for attracting creative ideas was Curiosity (asking What if? Why not? etc.) But, it turns out after learning about these catalysts, I would attribute most of my idea generation to Awareness -- simply being attuned to what's happening around me (remember the books, speakers, and music?) and absorbing these influences and seeds of ideas into my mind. To keep our lightning strike analogy going, think of your brain as a magnet and all those innovative influences as metal shavings -- collect enough metal and you can create one helluva lightning rod!

Tying It All Together

Don The Idea Guy — 2009-11-20T07:38:39-06:00

Sometimes it just takes awhile for it to "click."

I've been reading Jeffrey Gitomer's articles and books for close to 20 years. He was the first guy I ever saw who put together lists of advice and tips that ended in "point-five" -- 9.5 Ways To Do This, 3.5 Reasons For That, etc.

I met Scott "That Name Tag Guy" Ginsberg just a couple years ago. Scott ends his articles and online videos with "Let Me Ask Ya This..."

Although I count myself as a fan of these two writers, I never stopped to really delve into the reasons their writing just seemed to hit home with me. It wasn't until re-reading Gitomer's "Little Green Book of Getting Your Way" for the 3th time (actually I was listening to the audio version for the 5th time -- nothing like having Gitomer with you on your daily commute giving you valuable advice on your way to work) when I realized there was a real strategy behind his "point-five" lists (actually, I didn't realize all by myself, he pretty much spells it out -- I just happened to really "hear" it fr the frst time. See why you're supposed to read/listen to these sorts of books more than once??)

Gitomer creates useful numbered lists of tips and advice, but then adds his unique "point-five" as a way to -- well, let me just use Jeffrey's own words. From page 170 in his The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way...

I end my lists with .5 rather than a whole number, for 2.5 reasons:
1. The .5 statement at the end of each list I make is the glue that binds the rest of the list.

2. Ending this way makes me think deeper about the subjetc. Think of a higher level. Here's where I can add philosophy, humor, challenge, and a final call to action.

2.5 It makes my lists different from all other lists. It brands me and sets me apart from all other list makers (except for the few that copy me).

Pretty good idea, eh?

Although I didn't ask for personal confirmation, my guess is that Scott Ginsberg ends with his "Let Me Ask Ya This..." for similar reasons. His final question is always a call back to the information he's shared in the article and a chance for the reader to think a little more deeply about how the information might apply to them personally. More recently Scott has begun adding a second line: "Let Me Suggest This..." This new line is always accompanied by a simple call to action -- usually an invitation to request a free list from Scott via email that builds on the topic addressed in the article.

It finally "clicks" for me.

If it's good enough for Aesop (that guy who wrote all those ancient parables that our parents used to read to us as kids) to add a moral at the ends of all his stories, why shouldn't I?

From now on, I will endeavor to add my own bit of parting wisdom (such as it is) to the end of my blog posts and articles. Since I am such a big fan of questions that lead to increasing the elevel of creative thought, it seemed only natural that my end-cap should be a question, and my all-time favorite question has always been "What-if?" (you really should have seen this coming, after all -- I did write the book.) So here we go... the legendary moment...!

What If...?

What if you found a better way to do things?

Would you do have the guts to admit you may have been doing it wrong all these years and make the change to improve?

What if you came up with your own unique signature way to end your messages?

Your letters? Your emails? Your Facebook posts?

What if you started today?

The Strong Tail

Don The Idea Guy — 2009-11-08T09:23:40-06:00

You've heard the theory of The Long Tail, here's my twist --
The STRONG Tail.

First, a little background
The Long Tail explained, per Wikipedia:

The Long Tail is a retailing concept describing the niche strategy of selling a large number of unique items in relatively small quantities -- usually in addition to selling fewer popular items in large quantities. The concept was popularised by Chris Anderson in an October 2004 Wired magazine article, in which he mentioned Amazon.com and Netflix as examples of businesses applying this strategy. Anderson elaborated the Long Tail concept in his book The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More.

The Long Tail is thusly named because when charted, these smaller sales of a large number of items trails off into the distance like the long sloping tail of some prehistoric beast.

1,000 True Fans
Keep the Long Tail concept in the back of your mind as I tell you about another Wired writer's thought provoking concept of "1,000 True Fans." Kevin Kelly is the co-founder of Wired, and posits this theory:

A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author -- in other words, anyone producing works of art -- needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living. A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

A solid concept. I loved this idea as soon as I heard it. The theory rings true, because I know that I AM one of those 1,000 fans for a number of performers and writers (Hi Gitomer!) The 1,000 True Fans theory also fits nicely into the Long Tail continuum.

Which brings us my theory of The Strong Tail
The Strong Tail begins to form at the very end of The Long Tail. It's made up of the amazing small quantity of super-fans who are willing to pay a premium for access to your product/service/presence. There are only a few of them, but they are willing to open their wallets wide for access to exclusive items. If The Long Tail was represented by the tail of a Brontosaurus/Apatosaurus, The Strong Tail is represented by the tail of a Stegosaurus. It has the long sloping tail of the former thunder lizard, but the latter's tail culminates in a set of spikes that reach upwards to match most of the overall tail height.

These 'spikes' are investments in rare one-of-a-kind signed editions, original art, limited edition prints, private performances, one-on-one consulting and conversations. These items come at the end of The Long Tail because there are very few of the items available, but the price to own these items (and the passionate people who must possess them) drives the profit on these rare items higher up the chart. Instead of 1,000 True Fans -- you may only need three of them to pay you for individual consulting advice. You may only need two of these people willing to pay you $50,000 each for a private corporate seminar. Or you may only need a single individual to shell out $100,000 for an original painting.

That's The Strong Tail
What do you think of this newest adaptation?

Please leave a comment below!

Press Any Key for Creativity

Don The Idea Guy — 2009-09-29T07:27:36-05:00

Creative commands for your mental keyboard, programmed to increase your effectiveness at innovation.

1. HOME

Do not underestimate the importance of a home base from which to create ideas. A favorite space that fosters your creative spirit and surrounds you with resources to feed your innovative energy. Windows, posters, books on creativity, fun games and toys, etc. can all serve to spark your creativity and give you 'permission' to free your spirit of innovation.

2. ESC

The Escape Key helps you think outside the box. Get out of your cube, office, or boardroom. Escape to a park or coffeeshop or amusement park. Have your brainstorm session at the zoo or a pub or putt-putt course. Your ideas will be bigger, better, and a helluva lot more fun.

3. INSERT

What outside ideas, influences, and opinions can you introduce into your brainstorm session? What does skateboarding have in common with your situation? What similarities can you find between the ballet and opening your new bakery? Can you come up with a metaphor that connects owning a pet with building your sales of propane and propane accessories?

4. SHIFT

Shift gears, change focus, and reframe your problem. Rephrasing your challenge using different words will also change the kinds of ideas you're generating. Shifting your perception of the problem -- coming up with ideas on 'how to earn more money' versus 'how do we spend less money' allows new ideas to emerge.

5. BACKSPACE

Take a step back and review the ideas you've already generated. Perhaps you'll have to hit the Backspace key several times. If you find that you're creating ideas to solve the wrong problem, you may need to go back and start your list of ideas from the very beginning.

6. CAPS LOCK

Get excited... ALL CAPS CAN INDICATE SHOUTING! Amp-up your energy level. Make sure you've got a positive attitude before starting a brainstorm session. If you're mood is positive, anything is possible. If you're feeling down and depressed, you're not going to come up with any ideas that you believe will offer an effective solution. Read some positive affirmations from Paulo Coelho's "Warrior of the Light" or "Napoleon Hill's Positive Action Plan" or Jeffrey Gitomer's "Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude" before you schedule a brainstorming session. If those messages don't press your internal Caps-Lock, it's better to postpone until you're in a better mood.

7. PAUSE

Take time-out during your idea generation session to reflect upon the ideas you've collected. Review your list and find concepts that can be explored further. Build upon one of the ideas and create a new branch on your mindmap, fully exploring every path down which you travel will generate many more ideas from which you can choose your solution.

8. ALT

What can you alter about a few of your ideas in order to multiply that single idea into a dozen? If 'offer free delivery' is one of your ideas, alter and expand upon that single concept to generate a variety of related ideas: free next-day delivery, delivered within 30-minutes or it's free, deliver each order with a special gift, deliver the order within non-traditional packaging, orders are delivered by singing telegram, orders are delivered by a guy in a gorilla costume, orders are delivered by celebrity lookalikes...

9. END

Know when to stop. The purpose of a brainstorm session isn't to suck your brain dry of every possible idea -- it's simply to get a group of stimulated minds together in order to generate as many ideas as possible. Extending a session until you feel like you're literally wringing your brain to squeeze out some last nugget of information isn't very pleasant, and certainly won't make you want to participate in future brainstorm exercises! In order to avoid writer's block, authors have been told to stop a writing session while they still feel like they have something to say. I think it's so they know where to pick-up the next time they pick up a pen. The same principle applies to brainstorming. It's okay to end a session while there are still some ideas flying, just ask the participants to scribble down any new ideas they have after the session and send them to you. It's a sure way to virtually guarantee they come up with another 3 or 4 ideas after the meeting has adjourned, rather than beating every last idea out of them while they're in the room and only releasing them after they feel exhausted and happy to have escaped!

10 Reasons Why People Fear New Ideas

Don The Idea Guy — 2009-09-11T07:18:25-05:00

Though there are many reasons why people fear the adoption of new ideas, here a few of the common ones I've run across...

1. Failure
What we're doing might not be perfect, but it's working? Why risk changing it for something better on the chance the idea fails?

2. Blame
If this new idea doesn't perform as hoped, they'll hold me personally accountable.

3. Status Quo
Whoa, buddy... No rocking the boat!

4. Work
Putting a new idea into effect sounds like it's going to require a lot of extra effort, and my to-do list is already full.

5. Judgment
Some people might not like this idea, and perhaps they won't like me for being associated with it.

6. Change
Sure, change is inevitable -- but you go first. I might not like the way things are, but it's a lot easier to complain about it than to make any improvements.

7. Pessimism
That idea will never get approved. We tried something like that before and it didn't work in the past, and it's not going to work now.

8. Risk
Seems a little 'iffy' to me. It's much safer if we keep doing what we've always done.

9. Alone
I'm not willing to go out on a limb and show support for that idea. Who else is backing your concept?

10. Doubt
If this was truly a good idea, wouldn't someone have thought of it before? Maybe we should wait...

My friend Phil Rist from BigResearch shared this quote with me yesterday and it's right on target. It seemingly merges all of the fears above into this single statement:

"And let it be noted that there is no more delicate matter to take in hand, nor more dangerous to conduct, nor more doubtful in its success, than to set up as the leader in the introduction of changes. For he who innovates will have for his enemies all those who are well off under the existing order of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who might be better off under the new."
~ Niccolo Machiavelli
from The Prince

Embrace new ideas -- don't be a 'fraidy cat.

Turn into the Skid

Don The Idea Guy — 2009-06-16T07:15:19-05:00

When a game changing event or product threatens the well-being your company or industry, sometimes the best thing you can do when you feel like you're losing control is to "turn into the skid."

Early on in your auto driving experience, you were told that if you ever start to lose control of your vehicle on an icy road, you should turn your wheels into the skid in order to correct your direction and reclaim control of the car. I think that creatively, this principle can be used to course-correct for your business innovations, as well.

One example...

There's no arguing that harsh economic realities and advancements in virtual meeting technologies has dramatically impacted the business travel industry. Companies that once had no other option than to physically transport a representative to an event across the country, now have many other options at their disposal. They can choose not to attend the event at all, they can arrange conference calls, video calls, purchase DVDs or CDs of the events, create online meetings, trade emails, create wiki sites, blogs, podcasts, meeting summaries, and even follow along in real time via Twitter or web video sites like uStream... and probably a dozen other ways I haven't thought to list.

What if one travel company turned into this skid in order to correct their course? Instead of offering just another 'promise to match the lowest price' -- what if one of these business travel specialists stepped up to help their clients determine which meetings they really needed to attend, and facilitated virtual meeting options on their behalf for the ones they did not need to physically attend?

What's stopping Uniglobe from embracing the innovative tools of companies like Webex, GoToMeeting, PBwiki, uStream, Skype, and Dabbleboard to construct a simple link collection of all the best virtual meeting tools to benefit the changing needs of their clients?

What if they took it a step further and created a private-label version of these utilities and offered them for free (or fee) to their client base? If their travel clients already think of this company as their means of getting to meetings in the physical world, why not carry over that thinking into the virtual world? Why wouldn't a client use a TravelSolutions, Uniglobe, or Travel Partners branded online meeting tool instead of having to potentially create a new account and incur separate billing from some other company? Especially if the travel company has already established trust and reliability with their client (and made the tools easy and convenient to use.)

Remember, the next time you feel like you're losing control of your business, try turning into the skid to correct your course using innovative ideas -- and regain control of your destiny.

Quirky Way to Sell Your Ideas

Don The Idea Guy — 2009-06-03T22:33:22-05:00

Brand new website I learned about via www.springwise.com this week. It's the latest crowdsourced business incubator. Quirky.com allows anyone to submit product ideas, plans, etc. for $99. The community then decides which submissions to develop, and the top votes result in a new product released WEEKLY.

It's certainly a bit bold to announce you'll be producing a product every single week, but the concept is certainly promising. Obviously spawned from concepts like threadless.com, Quirky stands a chance for survival if the submissions are creative, yet boot rooted in enough reality to justify production and sale to a supportive audience.

I think Quirky will need to quickly grow their consumer base beyond their site subscribers in order to maintain any long term viability. Unlike the crowd at threadless.com, not every member is going to be a prospective customer for every item produced.

Learn more by visiting the Springwise summary page or the company website at Quirky.com. A video produced by quirky to provide a quick overview of their concept is embedded below.