One way to get inspired is to do some brain storming. Get a white-board or flip chart or a bunch of pieces of blank white paper, preferably large pieces of paper. Jot down ideas about what you are trying to do. Getting another person or two involved that know you and/or know the area that you are trying to brainstorm in can be very helpful. Don't get too many people, however, or it will just slow things down.
One approach is to start by writing what you want in the middle of the page, then draw lines out around it, like a star, with different ideas branching out of it. From these, you can then branch out ideas out of this. For example, you could write, in the middle, "Story." Then draw lines from there pointing to "Mystery," "Romance," "Sci-Fi," etc. Then, from "Mystery," you could put "Murder," "Hidden Treasure," "Robbery," etc. This can also be done online with tools such as bubbl.us
Another, similar approach is to make a list, or lists of lists of ideas. This can be a bulleted list or lists of ideas. Don't worry about order for now, just write them down as they come. By not worrying about the order, etc., you can make sure you get all the ideas. If you worry too much about priorities, you may inadvertently miss out on ideas that don't come because you are taking too much time worrying about format and priorities. You can priorities ideas later.
Either way, make sure that no idea is shot down. Just write it. Even if it makes no sense, it may spark an idea from someone else which may lead to the big break-through that you were looking for. Eventually you should wind down the brainstorming session and come to an agreement on what idea or ideas should be pursued. If this doesn't come right away, you may need to "table" this--leave it, and come back to it in a day or so. Sometimes inspiration comes while sleeping, or showering, or doing something else.
Keep all the ideas. You may want to keep a notebook of ideas. Ideas that don't seem interesting today may seem interesting in the future. Look back on these notes later on to help bring ideas back to your mind. You may continue brainstorming at a later date where you left off.
What inspires you? What brainstorming techniques have you used and found productive?
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Friday, December 27, 2013
Ideas for making money
Want to make a little money, but just don't know how? Here are some ideas to help get you thinking. There are a lot of ways to make money, and here is an article that shows eight ways that people made money--lots of money--and how they did it. Use these history lessons to spark ideas on how you can make it into the next article about people who have struck it rich... Here is the article: 8 Ridiculous Ideas That Made People Ridiculously Rich
Here are the eight items listed, along with some of my thoughts:
The pet rock was an example of big mark-up. You grab a rock from off a dirt road, paint a face on it, and sell it! Why didn't I think of that one?
The yellow smiley is a crazy story. The inventor made $45 out of it, sold the rights, and two brothers made over $50 Million in sales! Lesson to be learned--a simple idea can be overlooked as worth $45, or, with the right spin on it, and with the right vision, could be a $50 million plus idea... Vision, hard work, and putting the right spin on a simple idea can make it happen. But if you don't see the vision, you could be leaving a lot of money on the table...
The story of the wacky wall walker is an interesting story. It shows the need to take risk. Risk is, well.... risky! The idea originated from China, and the rights were purchased not for $45, but for $100,000. That's a big chunk of change for most of us, especially knowing that it could be a dud, and you could end up with $100,000 less than you had before, and a bunch of slimy toys that nobody wants. There are many risks that people make, that do not pan out. This one actually started out just limping along, not making much money, but eventually became a fad, making about $80 million. So, a few lessons here. First, sometimes it takes a big risk. Risks, however, don't always pay off. Second, even after the risk, they had to endure. Things didn't take off right away. They had to keep at it. If they gave up too soon, they wouldn't be where they are at now...
The story of Icanhascheezburger.com is an interesting one. A funny photo starts a web page. Others contribute to it, and eventually the site is sold for $2 million. It continues making money, with book sales, etc.
The slinky is one of many examples of accidents that are witnessed, that turn out into very profitable ideas. Another similar example is the Post-It notes. With the slinky, a Naval engineer accidentally dropped a tension spring and watched what it did, copied it, and created the slinky. With the Post-It notes, the glue didn't stick enough, but they found that it worked well as post-it notes, and they took off like crazy. With the slinky, it's also interesting to note that he was worried that it wouldn't sell, so he staged the first sale. I'm sure they would have sold without this, but it's interesting to wonder if sometimes a fake sale, or something similar, is needed to prime-the-pump. This blog is about ideas, and inspiration. This may not fit exactly with what you are looking into, but it may be just the inspiration you need. It's also interesting to note that the inventor and his wife had difficult times, and were separated, and he joined a cult, but that she held it together and eventually sold it. It points out that even after the idea takes off, you still need good business sense and a level head to keep things going. This reminds me of the movie "The Social Network," about the creation of Facebook. It's very intense, even with ClearPlay, but very interesting. It reminds me of the strained relationships involved in the movie, and in getting Facebook where it is today. I thought it was interesting that the movie was named after a book about the same thing, called "Accidental Billionaires" (with a B, not an M...), because they "accidentally" became billionaires.
The story of the snuggie hows the importance of advertising. $10 million in infomercials lead to about $200 million in sales. Once again, it's hard to say with that one. What if they didn't take off? They'd be out $10 million, and have a bunch of worthless Snuggies. But they risked it, and it paid off. Not only did they pay the money for the advertising, but the advertising was silly stuff. These things may be sold often as gag-gifts--but hey, if it makes money, that's what matters in the end.
The million-dollar home page is an interesting one. Some kid did some brainstorming, and boy did it pay off! He figured that to get $1 million, all he needed to do was have a web page with 1,000,000 pixels, and get advertisers to pay $1 per pixel. All 1 million pixels were purchased in under a year. Besides the great idea and timing, he also used the charity card. He said that this was to help him get money for college. Well, it worked! So maybe you need to see if there is some angle where you could have a charity cause for your idea?
The story of how Beanie Babies made it big is interesting as well. No advertising, and these bean-bag babies make billions. With a B. How did they do it with no advertising? Well, not only did they not do advertising, but they made them with different personalities, and limited the supply. Supply and demand--that's the equation. With only a limited supply of different personalities, the demand for those went up, and thus the price.
This is what Honda does as well. It only makes so many cars, keeping the demand, and the price, high. Nintendo does the same thing. Apples does it as well. Lots of companies do it. Ty did this, and had different personalities.
Here are some other ideas that probably made some people well-off, and make me think--why didn't I think of that?
OK, so I'm dating myself here, but Cabbage Patch Kids sold like crazy. They were similar to the beanie babies, except they went one step further. Instead of limiting supply, they made each one unique--and the rest is history.
The Elf of the Shelf is really a big thing. It's one of those things that I thought--why didn't I think of that? Sell a little toy elf that "watches the kids" during the day, then each night goes to the north pole to report to Santa how everyone is doing, then the next morning shows up in a different spot--plus a book to go along with it.
RedBox really gave Blockbuster a run-for-their money, and just about put them under, in my opinion. RedBox was an idea where they took an existing use model and removed lots of overhead. No store-front needed. This is also what Dell did--no stores, just direct purchases directly to Dell. Amazon did the same thing. No store-fronts. Everything is direct. With RedBox, they replaced the store with a vending machine, basically. They also placed them strategically at grocery stores and McDonalds. This is a great example of Win-Win (see Steve Covey's 7 Habits book--great book).
NetFlix did something similar to RedBox, but instead of replacing store-fronts with vending machines, they used the postal service. Eventually they went to the streaming model as well, removing even this layer--so they just have the internet to distribute the movies with.
As we mentioned, Amazon got rid of the store-front, to make the overhead very small. When the creator of Amazon heard about the huge growth in internet sales, he moved from the east coast to the west, started Amazon, and the rest is history...
Facebook is an amazing story of making lots of money as well. See the movie "The Social Network" (I watch it on ClearPlay). It is an intense movie, about the relationships--good and bad--and the people who made it to the top. Just when it seemed like there was nothing else that could be invented, and all the ways to make money had been tried, Facebook made it to the top. The movie is based on the true story in the book "Accidental Billionaires."
What are some ways that you have been inspired to make money? What ideas have you seen where you think--why didn't I think of that?
Here are the eight items listed, along with some of my thoughts:
The pet rock was an example of big mark-up. You grab a rock from off a dirt road, paint a face on it, and sell it! Why didn't I think of that one?
The yellow smiley is a crazy story. The inventor made $45 out of it, sold the rights, and two brothers made over $50 Million in sales! Lesson to be learned--a simple idea can be overlooked as worth $45, or, with the right spin on it, and with the right vision, could be a $50 million plus idea... Vision, hard work, and putting the right spin on a simple idea can make it happen. But if you don't see the vision, you could be leaving a lot of money on the table...
The story of the wacky wall walker is an interesting story. It shows the need to take risk. Risk is, well.... risky! The idea originated from China, and the rights were purchased not for $45, but for $100,000. That's a big chunk of change for most of us, especially knowing that it could be a dud, and you could end up with $100,000 less than you had before, and a bunch of slimy toys that nobody wants. There are many risks that people make, that do not pan out. This one actually started out just limping along, not making much money, but eventually became a fad, making about $80 million. So, a few lessons here. First, sometimes it takes a big risk. Risks, however, don't always pay off. Second, even after the risk, they had to endure. Things didn't take off right away. They had to keep at it. If they gave up too soon, they wouldn't be where they are at now...
The story of Icanhascheezburger.com is an interesting one. A funny photo starts a web page. Others contribute to it, and eventually the site is sold for $2 million. It continues making money, with book sales, etc.
The slinky is one of many examples of accidents that are witnessed, that turn out into very profitable ideas. Another similar example is the Post-It notes. With the slinky, a Naval engineer accidentally dropped a tension spring and watched what it did, copied it, and created the slinky. With the Post-It notes, the glue didn't stick enough, but they found that it worked well as post-it notes, and they took off like crazy. With the slinky, it's also interesting to note that he was worried that it wouldn't sell, so he staged the first sale. I'm sure they would have sold without this, but it's interesting to wonder if sometimes a fake sale, or something similar, is needed to prime-the-pump. This blog is about ideas, and inspiration. This may not fit exactly with what you are looking into, but it may be just the inspiration you need. It's also interesting to note that the inventor and his wife had difficult times, and were separated, and he joined a cult, but that she held it together and eventually sold it. It points out that even after the idea takes off, you still need good business sense and a level head to keep things going. This reminds me of the movie "The Social Network," about the creation of Facebook. It's very intense, even with ClearPlay, but very interesting. It reminds me of the strained relationships involved in the movie, and in getting Facebook where it is today. I thought it was interesting that the movie was named after a book about the same thing, called "Accidental Billionaires" (with a B, not an M...), because they "accidentally" became billionaires.
The story of the snuggie hows the importance of advertising. $10 million in infomercials lead to about $200 million in sales. Once again, it's hard to say with that one. What if they didn't take off? They'd be out $10 million, and have a bunch of worthless Snuggies. But they risked it, and it paid off. Not only did they pay the money for the advertising, but the advertising was silly stuff. These things may be sold often as gag-gifts--but hey, if it makes money, that's what matters in the end.
The million-dollar home page is an interesting one. Some kid did some brainstorming, and boy did it pay off! He figured that to get $1 million, all he needed to do was have a web page with 1,000,000 pixels, and get advertisers to pay $1 per pixel. All 1 million pixels were purchased in under a year. Besides the great idea and timing, he also used the charity card. He said that this was to help him get money for college. Well, it worked! So maybe you need to see if there is some angle where you could have a charity cause for your idea?
The story of how Beanie Babies made it big is interesting as well. No advertising, and these bean-bag babies make billions. With a B. How did they do it with no advertising? Well, not only did they not do advertising, but they made them with different personalities, and limited the supply. Supply and demand--that's the equation. With only a limited supply of different personalities, the demand for those went up, and thus the price.
This is what Honda does as well. It only makes so many cars, keeping the demand, and the price, high. Nintendo does the same thing. Apples does it as well. Lots of companies do it. Ty did this, and had different personalities.
Here are some other ideas that probably made some people well-off, and make me think--why didn't I think of that?
OK, so I'm dating myself here, but Cabbage Patch Kids sold like crazy. They were similar to the beanie babies, except they went one step further. Instead of limiting supply, they made each one unique--and the rest is history.
The Elf of the Shelf is really a big thing. It's one of those things that I thought--why didn't I think of that? Sell a little toy elf that "watches the kids" during the day, then each night goes to the north pole to report to Santa how everyone is doing, then the next morning shows up in a different spot--plus a book to go along with it.
RedBox really gave Blockbuster a run-for-their money, and just about put them under, in my opinion. RedBox was an idea where they took an existing use model and removed lots of overhead. No store-front needed. This is also what Dell did--no stores, just direct purchases directly to Dell. Amazon did the same thing. No store-fronts. Everything is direct. With RedBox, they replaced the store with a vending machine, basically. They also placed them strategically at grocery stores and McDonalds. This is a great example of Win-Win (see Steve Covey's 7 Habits book--great book).
NetFlix did something similar to RedBox, but instead of replacing store-fronts with vending machines, they used the postal service. Eventually they went to the streaming model as well, removing even this layer--so they just have the internet to distribute the movies with.
As we mentioned, Amazon got rid of the store-front, to make the overhead very small. When the creator of Amazon heard about the huge growth in internet sales, he moved from the east coast to the west, started Amazon, and the rest is history...
Facebook is an amazing story of making lots of money as well. See the movie "The Social Network" (I watch it on ClearPlay). It is an intense movie, about the relationships--good and bad--and the people who made it to the top. Just when it seemed like there was nothing else that could be invented, and all the ways to make money had been tried, Facebook made it to the top. The movie is based on the true story in the book "Accidental Billionaires."
What are some ways that you have been inspired to make money? What ideas have you seen where you think--why didn't I think of that?
Ideas for getting inspired to write
Do you want to write a book, or maybe need some help getting the juices flow for a letter? Maybe you need to write your Christmas letter, or send an important email? Here are some ideas to help you get the juices flowing.
I like to read similar works, observe people, and search the internet. The library and Google/the internet are great resources. It is amazing what you can find on the internet, and it can bring a lot of inspiration.
Sometimes you just have to start writing things. Keeping a journal or a diary can help. What's the difference between the two? A diary is daily, while a journal is not necessarily daily. You can write about what happened each day, or you can pick a different topic to write about each day. One way to keep a journal, if you are more public about what you do, is to send a weekly email to your family and/or friends, or use your Facebook posts. If you do either of these, you should at least consider what should happen if, worst case, the media you use has issues of whatever type. Make a back-up of your writings.
You can write short stories, or poetry. You can try different things. You may tell your kids bed-time stories, then write them down and possibly make stories out of them. You could self publish them.
You can write pure fiction, or pure non-fiction, or do a mixture of the two. You could write historical fiction, where you study a period of time, or a person, and write about what they did, but add additional characters and/or events into their life. There are a lot of stories like these. The National Treasure movie series has a lot of facts interwoven with a fictional story. I really enjoy these, because I learn interesting facts about history, and it is woven into a puzzle that my mind tries to solve.
To get started, I often start with an outline of what I want to write. For example, if I have a talk or speech to give, and it is 15 minutes, for example, then I will make an outline, and give each section of the outline a set number of minutes. For example, if I needed to talk about ways to get inspired, I might break it into 5 minutes for an introduction, including why one might need to get inspired, followed by 5 minutes of different ways to get inspired, and then end with the last 5 minutes of a conclusion, possibly including examples. These 3 items could be broken down further--something like this:
I like to read similar works, observe people, and search the internet. The library and Google/the internet are great resources. It is amazing what you can find on the internet, and it can bring a lot of inspiration.
Sometimes you just have to start writing things. Keeping a journal or a diary can help. What's the difference between the two? A diary is daily, while a journal is not necessarily daily. You can write about what happened each day, or you can pick a different topic to write about each day. One way to keep a journal, if you are more public about what you do, is to send a weekly email to your family and/or friends, or use your Facebook posts. If you do either of these, you should at least consider what should happen if, worst case, the media you use has issues of whatever type. Make a back-up of your writings.
You can write short stories, or poetry. You can try different things. You may tell your kids bed-time stories, then write them down and possibly make stories out of them. You could self publish them.
You can write pure fiction, or pure non-fiction, or do a mixture of the two. You could write historical fiction, where you study a period of time, or a person, and write about what they did, but add additional characters and/or events into their life. There are a lot of stories like these. The National Treasure movie series has a lot of facts interwoven with a fictional story. I really enjoy these, because I learn interesting facts about history, and it is woven into a puzzle that my mind tries to solve.
To get started, I often start with an outline of what I want to write. For example, if I have a talk or speech to give, and it is 15 minutes, for example, then I will make an outline, and give each section of the outline a set number of minutes. For example, if I needed to talk about ways to get inspired, I might break it into 5 minutes for an introduction, including why one might need to get inspired, followed by 5 minutes of different ways to get inspired, and then end with the last 5 minutes of a conclusion, possibly including examples. These 3 items could be broken down further--something like this:
- Intro, including why one would want to get inspired
- Productivity
- Health
- Work
- School
- Hobby
- Ways to get inspired
- Meditation
- Brain storming
- Reading
- Internet
- Conclusion
- Example
Ideas for Interior decorating
How do you get inspired when you are working on interior decorating? What if you are remodeling, or need ideas for new construction? What if you are looking for some interior decorating ideas--or exterior decorating ideas, for that matter?
Houzz has ideas for interior decorating. It is a site that shows lots of different pictures with different interior decorating ideas. You can find something you love and copy it as best you can, applying it to your home, bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, etc., or you can mix and match. You can find wall colors you like, or wallpaper, or themes, or styles. There are lots of very different styles, from rustic to very modern. It's a great way to get ideas for remodeling, or even for new construction.
Once you find the picture or pictures that inspire you, you can print them out and take them to hardware and paint stores to get the pains and supplies you need, or show them to your handy man or contractor if you go that route. You can also get ideas from Lowes or Home Depot.
Google Images can have ideas as well. Go to http://images.google.com. From there you can search for "Interior design ideas," for example. You can also get ideas from friends and family. There is also the parade of homes, where you can go to get ideas. You can also go to open houses to get ideas.
Another thing to consider with new construction, or remodeling, when you are going to be moving walls, is traffic flow. If you are designing your dream home, or moving walls around, you will want to think about traffic flow. Get a drawing of your floor plan now, and a new proposal floor plan. Draw lines from room to room, and draw lines where major traffic will go, like from the front door to the kitchen, out the back door, in from the garage, etc., and see where the traffic will flow. This may help you decide to move a wall, remove a wall, or add a wall. This same principle can be applied to moving furniture around. You can draw out what it would look like with the furniture arranged one way, then draw the traffic lines, then try it another way. Keep trying different things, until you find a plan that flows nicely.
For drawing up floor plans, you can use grid paper and pencil, or you can use the computer to help. If you use the computer, you can keep a copy as a back up. If you lose your pencil drawing, you are out of luck, but with the computer, if you lose a print-out, you can just make another print-out. You should save different versions with different numbers. You can even branch off. For example, you could make a copy where the kitchen is smaller, and one with it bigger, then from each of these, make other changes, then go with the one you like the most.
If you go with the computer approach, Visio or Google Sketch-Up can be used. Google Sketch-Up can be used for 2D or 3D designs. It can be used for internal or external designs. One nice thing about it is that you can download images, such as 3D bushes, flowers, trees, etc., and import them from the web into your file. You can make a 3D model of your home, including landscaping. That can be very helpful when trying to see what changes to your yard would look like.
How do you get ideas for interior decorating?
Houzz has ideas for interior decorating. It is a site that shows lots of different pictures with different interior decorating ideas. You can find something you love and copy it as best you can, applying it to your home, bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, etc., or you can mix and match. You can find wall colors you like, or wallpaper, or themes, or styles. There are lots of very different styles, from rustic to very modern. It's a great way to get ideas for remodeling, or even for new construction.
Once you find the picture or pictures that inspire you, you can print them out and take them to hardware and paint stores to get the pains and supplies you need, or show them to your handy man or contractor if you go that route. You can also get ideas from Lowes or Home Depot.
Google Images can have ideas as well. Go to http://images.google.com. From there you can search for "Interior design ideas," for example. You can also get ideas from friends and family. There is also the parade of homes, where you can go to get ideas. You can also go to open houses to get ideas.
Another thing to consider with new construction, or remodeling, when you are going to be moving walls, is traffic flow. If you are designing your dream home, or moving walls around, you will want to think about traffic flow. Get a drawing of your floor plan now, and a new proposal floor plan. Draw lines from room to room, and draw lines where major traffic will go, like from the front door to the kitchen, out the back door, in from the garage, etc., and see where the traffic will flow. This may help you decide to move a wall, remove a wall, or add a wall. This same principle can be applied to moving furniture around. You can draw out what it would look like with the furniture arranged one way, then draw the traffic lines, then try it another way. Keep trying different things, until you find a plan that flows nicely.
For drawing up floor plans, you can use grid paper and pencil, or you can use the computer to help. If you use the computer, you can keep a copy as a back up. If you lose your pencil drawing, you are out of luck, but with the computer, if you lose a print-out, you can just make another print-out. You should save different versions with different numbers. You can even branch off. For example, you could make a copy where the kitchen is smaller, and one with it bigger, then from each of these, make other changes, then go with the one you like the most.
If you go with the computer approach, Visio or Google Sketch-Up can be used. Google Sketch-Up can be used for 2D or 3D designs. It can be used for internal or external designs. One nice thing about it is that you can download images, such as 3D bushes, flowers, trees, etc., and import them from the web into your file. You can make a 3D model of your home, including landscaping. That can be very helpful when trying to see what changes to your yard would look like.
How do you get ideas for interior decorating?
How do you get your Inspiration?
There are lots of reasons to get inspired. Maybe you're writing a book--or want to start writing a book. Maybe you're writing a computer program. Maybe you want to start--or fix--a business. Maybe you want to work on a craft. Maybe you need to send out invitations to a birthday or other party. Maybe you need to send someone a letter, and need to know how to word it. Or maybe you want to draw or work on some other type of art. I get inspired to feel better, and to try to become a better person. I get inspired for writing books, etc.
There are also lots of great ways to get inspired. I get inspired by reading good books. I get inspired by listening to good talks, or speeches. I get inspired by seeing good movies. I get inspired by seeing good art. I get inspired by seeing good photos.
Brainstorming is a great way to get inspired. This can be on a white board, or no a piece of paper. It can be by yourself or with others. I suggest with others when possible. See my other post on brainstorming for more specifics. Brainstorming can be a great way to kick-start your inspiration process.
Think outside the box. Try to think about how things are done today, then think of all the different things that could be changed. What if something was done with different material? Think of all the things that could be done differently, and how it could be improved.
Use a model. Sam Walton, for example, created Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. How did he do it? He didn't just sit in a bubble and dream them up. He went to K-Mart, saw what they did, and saw where they could improve. He started with a model, and improved upon it. Sam Walton was also very outgoing. One of the things that he did in school was to try to say "Hi" and great people, by name, before they said hi to him. This, and other things, helped him to be very popular and successful with people.
You can also be inspired by people, using them as models, or at least inspiration. There are many bibliographies and autobiographies that you can use to get inspired. There are war heroes, presidents, religious leaders, technology leaders, and sports heroes. Find your passion and find the leader in this field. Read about them. Find out what they did right, and what they wish they could change. Then go and do it.
I'd like to hear some of the ways you get inspired...
Brainstorming is a great way to get inspired. This can be on a white board, or no a piece of paper. It can be by yourself or with others. I suggest with others when possible. See my other post on brainstorming for more specifics. Brainstorming can be a great way to kick-start your inspiration process.
Think outside the box. Try to think about how things are done today, then think of all the different things that could be changed. What if something was done with different material? Think of all the things that could be done differently, and how it could be improved.
Use a model. Sam Walton, for example, created Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. How did he do it? He didn't just sit in a bubble and dream them up. He went to K-Mart, saw what they did, and saw where they could improve. He started with a model, and improved upon it. Sam Walton was also very outgoing. One of the things that he did in school was to try to say "Hi" and great people, by name, before they said hi to him. This, and other things, helped him to be very popular and successful with people.
You can also be inspired by people, using them as models, or at least inspiration. There are many bibliographies and autobiographies that you can use to get inspired. There are war heroes, presidents, religious leaders, technology leaders, and sports heroes. Find your passion and find the leader in this field. Read about them. Find out what they did right, and what they wish they could change. Then go and do it.
I'd like to hear some of the ways you get inspired...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)