As I mentioned yesterday, creativity is our most valuable resource.   I’ve used these 10 Steps for Creative Thinking for a while now… and since a lot of my fellow producers are coming up new projects, I decided to share what works for me.

6.    Group Brainstorming – this deserves its own mention, because it’s so different from solo brainstorming.  When a group starts throwing around ideas, the different perspectives will always bring up ideas that no one would’ve thought of on their own.

7.    Connect the Dots – because creativity usually means borrowing from others, the great talent is connecting unrelated ideas to make new associations and powerful new answers to problems.  Having your problem clearly stated helps you connect the dots.

8.    Sleep on it – when I write a piece, I try to allow time away from the project.    Sleeping on it allows a fresh perspective on ideas.   Of course, sleeping also produces ideas that come from dreams.  Here’s how I access the power of dreams: state your creative challenge just before you go to sleep (see Step 1) and repeat it several times, and drop off to sleep.   Be sure to have a notepad next to the bed, so you can jot down the ideas quickly.  Dreams tend to vanish quickly unless we write them down.  Voice recorders work too, but I tend to fumble around with them and start to lose the dream memory.

9.    Course Correction – ideas don’t come fully formed.  Be prepared to tweak and change the ideas.

10.    Embrace Failure – overcoming failure is a key to success in life.  This is a lesson I’ve had to re-learn countless times.  The bottom line is: failure isn’t a problem, only your reaction to it is.  The difference between average people and Achievers is their response to failure.

No matter what you currently do, creative thinking can add value to it.  Interestingly, as your generate more creative thinking, you draw people to you, who are inspired by your ideas and (naturally) your enthusiasm.

Beware of the Negativity!  Like many people, you might find yourself doubting the effectiveness or value of creative thinking.  Perhaps a family member or friend might roll their eyes when they learn what you’re doing.  Don’t let people kill the creativity.  You can’t make a powerful change by doing the same old thing; you must “think different”.

There’s a dynamic tension in creative thinking.  One the one hand, the process of creative thinking means you learn more; but on the other hand, the act of creative thinking means you sometimes approach a problem with “beginner’s mind”, by emptying your yourself of preconceived notions.

Just think of the possibilities.

Creativity is our most valuable resource.   I’ve used these 10 Steps for Creative Thinking for a while now… and since a lot of my fellow producers are coming up new projects, I decided to share what works for me.

I use these steps when I hit the wall creatively.  Either the problem is particularly challenging, or I’ve already tried several approach that have been rejected (welcome to the world of TV advertising), or I’m feeling fatigued and uninspired.

When creative death happens, I call it “facing the blank page”.   It’s the proverbial writer facing the blank paper and wondering where to start.

By the way, creativity is useful to everyone, no matter their job or age.  Don’t fall into the trap of thinking since you’re not an artist or writer, you have no use for creative thinking.   People use creativity every day to solve problems and it’s not for “artists” only.

These 10 Steps are in roughly sequential order, but that’s only because of my personal creative instincts.  Feel free to mix them up; with the exception of the first step – clarity always come first.

1.      Clarify the Problem – Before you begin the creative process, the first step is to clearly and succinctly state the problem or creative challenge.  Actually write it down several times, to distill it into as few words as possible.

2.      Walking & Exercise – Pumping blood into the brain gets the synapses firing  Walking and relaxing puts us into the mode not thinking consciously about the problem, which allows the subconscious to start working.  Einstein walking anecdote.

3.      Seek Broad Input – Creativity is about ideas.  Read magazines, blogs and books for new ideas; not just in your own area of interest, but across a broad cross-section of subjects.  Who knows?  Maybe your next great idea will come from a profile of a football coach or an explanation of genetic engineering.  RSS feeds populated into your homepage are a great way to graze across a variety of subjects without the cost of magazine subscriptions.

4.      Borrow – borrow other ideas and adapt them for your own.

5.      Brainstorm – When you approach a problem, come up with a variety of approaches.  This is essentially brainstorming.  Take out a clean sheet of paper and without worrying about how crazy your thoughts are, write down at least 5 different approaches to your problem.  Since brainstorms come to me at the strangest times, I always carry a pen and paper with me.

Part Two of “10 Steps to Creative Thinking”

This lifestyle isn’t necessarily defined as green.  One reason is that word “green” has been co-opted by corporate marketing campaigns.  Another reason is that this new lifestyle involves a systems view of one’s life. 

1. Self-reliant
2. Energy efficient & renewable
3. Local (buy & invest locally)
4. Sustainable
5. Design & technology oriented
6. Mobile
7. Networked

So I’m looking for someone who wants to share an RV with me.  I’d prefer to join up with folks who already have an RV and can fit 1 person.  But I would also be interested in talking to 1 or 2 people and make plans to rent an RV.

Contact me at chooze (at) gmail.com if you’re interested.

Homies know their ice and bling make the man, but maybe it’s time to update your items with the latest in techno-bling.

From a turntable ring to a boom box chain, this Geekalert story features some of the most unique and tech-oriented accoutrements.  Mingle with more than just jingle!

]]> http://www.markpritchard.net/2009/03/boom-box-bling-for-musicians/feed/ 0 http://www.markpritchard.net/2009/03/boom-box-bling-for-musicians/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/markpritchard/net/~3/9fk9LB8HoO8/ http://www.markpritchard.net/2009/03/facebook-announcement-impacts-musicians/#comments Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:14:15 +0000 Mark http://www.markpritchard.net/?p=79 Musicians have been slow to adopt Facebook as a way to interact with fans.   MySpace and Twitter have dominated the music world.  A recent announcement may signify a major shift for Facebook to become THE tool for artists to talk to their fans and build community.

Over the past couple days, the Facebook has alerted users that changes are coming to the Facebook home page.

Basically Facebook is trying to emulate the real-time interface of Twitter.   To date, Facebook updates have been refreshed every 10 to 15-min.  Now the friend feed will be done in real time.  That’s a big improvement and it mimics Twitter’s functionality.

Also, the 5,000-friend limit will be dropped from the public pages.  Up until now, Facebook Pages haven’t really been the place fans go to connect with their favorite celebrities or brands. For that, they’ve started going to Twitter, where they can get updates in real time.

Musicians: if you haven’t set up a fan page at Facebook yet, this is a great time to start.  Facebook may soon be your primary fan tool!

Actually, iMeem is a social-networking site built around the legal sharing of music and video, Imeem streams free music to users’ PCs. Founded in 2004, the company was considered a high-flier among the Web 2.0 music services. The site sees 25 million monthly visitors.

Last week, the company announced that their mobile app, the top music app in the Google Android marketplace, added a powerful new feature that lets users stream all of the MP3s they’ve uploaded to the service directly to their phone, for free.

But as CNET reports in their story about Web 2.0 music sites, Imeem is up for sale, has burnt through loads of cash and has struggled to generate income, say sources close to the company. Things were serious enough to prompt Imeem managers last year to ask the major recording companies for price breaks, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.

So where does all this leave iMeem?  Supposedly they have enough cash to get through the economic downturn, but they’re not turning a profit, their music download sales have been below projections, and the labels are getting antsy.

The next 6 months will be key for the company.   I hope they make it.  They are one of the few sites I see that could eventually be competition for iTunes.

Are apps a new way to distribute music?  I think definitely yes, because it gives artists a way to provide their fans with extras & customization tools that give added value to their music.

Honestly, I don’t think I can improve upon the DeadMau5 mix, but it’s been a lot of fun re-mixing their music using the basic and easy-to-use mix tools.

This $3 iTunes app is really just the beginning.  Sure, the multimedia potential is impressive; but honestly the community-building possibilities are even more exciting. When iPhone and Android phone users start linking and sharing media with one another in direct ways, these kinds of apps will create dynamic, music-based communities .

Interestingly, it looks like electronic music is leading the way with this technology.  Hip Hop is such a natural for this technology, so I’ll be very interested to see which hip hop artist is the first to release a remixable iphone app.

But with all the chaos, I sense opportunities.

First, who am I? I’m Mark Pritchard, a LA-based TV producer, active in both traditional and new media. In the mid-1990s, I produced 2 indie features: “Psycho Sushi” and “Riding With James Dean“. Currently I produce on-air promos for Fox shows like American Idol and Bones. I’m also active in new media; having produced the comedy news webshow 1TrackMind from June 2006 to August 2007.

Now I’m developing a new music-based project.  I’m combining my love of hip hop, funk, and electronic music with my experience as a TV producer.  Not sure what form the project will take just yet, but stay tuned.

Part of my project research is a long-term (6 to 8 months) study of the music business.  I intend to blog about my research, along with interviewing decision-makers and players in the industry. I hope to give some perspective for those who are trying to make a living in this new era of music.  I’ll be focusing on these 4 subjects:

1. Revenue (income streams every artist should focus on)
2. Marketing (Social marketing is key, everything else is secondary)
3. Management (artists and bands need a management structure, or else fail)
4. Business plans (plan your career like a business, because it is!)

With the music business changing almost daily, it’s a big challenge, but I’m excited about it.  Hope you join me on the journey!<–>