Could Use Some Advice With Idea Generation

[jseymour84]

As I type this post I keep thinking to myself that this is going to be a very dumb question. Wow... what a great way to open a post up.

My question, more really a need of mine, is to find some advice to stop pre-judging ideas. I sat down over the course of this week and came up with my list of ten ideas, which was very hard.

Then before I could stop myself I ran them through last's years market research paces (checking out GTrends, trying to spot any phrases that pay) and decided that half the list was dumb and the other half of the list wouldn't work.

I keep a small 4" x 6" book kind of as my diary for this project and I want to share my idea generation entry (because I am sure I am not unique in this position)

June 24th - Need to come up with ten niche ideas, w/o using home brewing as a niche (Ed: I am already using home brewing to start and run a blog using advice from ProBlogger.net which is why I don't want to 30DC it and plus I want to start from scratch here).

Possible niche ideas:

1. Coffee
2. Classic shaving techniques
3. Tea
4. Laptop Bag
5. Grill cooking
6. Mobile computing
7. Office organization
8. House keeping
9. Home organization
10. Recycling

My first instinct is to kill half of these ideas... How can there be enough interest in classic shaving techniques to create/market a product???

After checking most of my markets I have not found any good phrases using last year's methods...

I know that trying to jump ahead is a sin and that is how you get into situations like this but what I am really looking for is a way to change my perspective. Perhaps it's a self esteem thing but I always feel that any content I produce or product I create will be read by no one because it is worthless...

Any advice for a struggling newbie?

[SherylLoch]

As far as having a hard time gathering ideas - I feel ya!

I am so annal retentive about things like this. I do not do anything without processing & ripping it apart every which way.

If I have no attachment to something then how can I feel it is worthy?

I also am NOT a shopper. In fact I hate shopping for anything that is not a necessity (then I just make Brad do that).

I do not leave my house for weeks at a time. I do not even grocery shop.

I have decided that we are having a family meeting on the Idea thing. It will be Brad, Cait & I so, they can stimulate my brain Or just write things down for me before I can cancel them out.

My other idea is to crank up music, sing loud, dance like a crazy person & see if anything pops into my brain. At least I will be having fun if nothing else. LOL!

Let me know how you do with taking the analytical part out of your thinking.
Sheryl Loch

[Ed]

and that's why I want you to do this excercise- as far as your concerned your done!!! At this stage all I want is ten ideas - judging comes later. Much Later

[Journeyer]

hello. Fellow anal retentive here. I often have the same prejudging problems. A technique that I find helps me is to not write things in a list down the page. I think the structure of the list forces more formal thinking.

Did you see Ed's notebook on the latest video? It was full of little drawings and circles and things.

When I have a brain block I do something similar. Get out the kids coloured pencils and start drawing and writing and squiggling. Ideas tend to flow more easily when I'm not taking a structured approach. It's hard at first to let go of the structure, but once you get going it's quite amazing.

I'm not saying that the ideas are all brilliant, but at least I'm getting things down. Whereas in a list I would struggle to reach 5 ideas, let alone 10.

Cheers

[Viragora]

Hm, I like the squiggleing idea! I think I'm going to go get the crayons and try this some, might even dust off the scanner I never use and show everyone just how bad an artist I am

Great idea!

[Caro]

OK here's a tip on how to approach the 10 ideas.

a) Wake up in the morning, yawn, stretch, go through your morning routine - AND make sure you consciously put a smile on your face and say to yourself:

"I'm going to to be open to ideas"

(so not 'how will it happen?' - just say the line simply, even if it feels stupid to you! )

b) Keep your eyes and ears open all day. Listen to conversations, observe actions - if you are 'not a shopper' - be what you are, and have your eyes & ears open in the world you DO like to inhabit.

What are you seeing?

(don't you dare say nothing - unless you are visually impaired! grrr)

What are you hearing?

(don't you dare say nothing - unless you are hearing impaired! another grrr)

What are you doing?

(don't you dare say nothing - as doing nothing is still something)

THEN

c) Grab some pen and paper and write down some thoughts (this step can happen at ANY stage) - be silly - as 'silly' as you can be when you're being silly - and write down whatever comes to you.

Gosh if nothing comes to you - there's an idea in itself 'how to enhance creativity'!

'how to make your brain do what you want' - another idea

NOW

The MOST Important Step:

D) STEP AWAY FROM THE PEN & PAPER!

Yes I am shouting at you - you right there, yes YOU!

STEP AWAY FROM THE PEN & PAPER...NOW!!!

So every time you feel like going into to self edit - as you want to validate yourself as the anal retentive person you say you are...

STEP AWAY FROM THE PEN & PAPER!

And imagine that you hear the sound of a siren, as a white truck comes to collect the very bad, naughty little 30 DCers who will be taken to a dark, ugly mean place and made to have time out...just because they didn't

STEP AWAY FROM THE PEN & PAPER!

e) Now after having stepped away from the pen & paper, giggling to yourself how close you came to 'relapsing' with your 'self editing' addiction...go about your day, being the wonderful, glorious anally retentive, non shopper, analytical whatever person you see yourself as...

And stay tuned for Ed's next installment

Best to you

Caro

[nextday]

Originally Posted by Ed

and that's why I want you to do this excercise- as far as your concerned your done!!! At this stage all I want is ten ideas - judging comes later. Much Later

As cheeky as it is to add to one of Ed's comments --

When you accomplish something -- celebrate!

Reward yourself!

Get some positive re-enforcement going!

ummmm....and, uh, yes, you can give it to yourself, and no, you won't go blind (I wasn't talking about that, anyway, LOL.)

It can be as simple as taking some time to play a game; or pick up the phone and talk to a friend, or take a walk, or go shopping (buy an ice cream ?)...

Make it fun!

[IMStrong]

Let me see if I understand the exercise. I am simply going around a bit more attentive to the realization that I need ten ideas. Not obsessing, just being open to ten ideas from which may be derived some market niches.
I am not actually seeking the niches, but rather, ideas of what it is that people want or need or could use from which I would then develop niches?

[mindykoch]

How is this for a mindset to not pre-judge and eliminate ideas...

Why not say to yourself... "Someone is going to make money from this idea.. it might just be me!"

or

"I will be so torqued if I scratch this idea off the list and then another 30dc'er makes a ton with it."

Whatever it takes to NOT scratch an idea off of your list.

That is what I am telling myself whenever I feel tempted to eliminate an idea.

Of course I may scratch it off later during the challenge as I go through whatever steps Ed outlines for us this year. But not today.

[micronet]

If I may, this is what helped me and maybe It might help you.

It always seemed to be such a struggle to "think" of a niche, and the harder I tried the further away from an idea I got. It was only when I stopped thinking and just started noticing did my idea book take on a new life. It started filling up. A method that helped me was noticing when I'll call it a trigger word/phrase popped in my thoughts.

Its On The Tip Of My Tongue

Ok so what is a trigger word? Before I go into that lets back up to the stop thinking part first and what I mean.

Have you ever been talking to someone and then you can't think of the word you wanted to say

That place down on the corner called...ah...damn...its called...man its right on the tip of my tongue

Do you find the harder you try to think of it, the more you can't?

Fast forward a few hours later

Your sitting at your computer (I was going to write "out noticing ideas" but we're all geek heads lol )

So your sitting at the computer and BAM the word you needed earlier just pops in your head, When your were not thinking about it.

I bet if that person you was talking to earlier is still around, you run and tell them too. Of course that could just be me!

Let me throw another example of noticing

There is a thread here that alot of you may have looked at and even posted on. It was the Mike Filsaim Report

I won't go into the details of the pros and cons blah...blah...blah
What i will say is the person that has trained them self to notice (in this case Mike's complete marketing process) instead of thinking "What he trying to sneak in on me know?" Gets it!! Swipe file anyone?

The point I'm trying to make is, its easy to Over Think Our brains into a knot. You have to Train yourself to just be open and notice your surroundings. Like a ninja in the night, trained not to think about how to act, but to act on what he notices without thought. (In our case write it down).


So Whats These Trigger Words?

For me its those enlightening moments that just show up. Like when one of those "Thats Cool" thought hits me or "How the heck did they do that"

Maybe a question you ahmm...over hear. How about a new product on the store shelf just sitting there starring at you or maybe a product you are using and you say to yourself "I wish this thing would" did you notice what you just asked yourself?

Heres one of my not to often best (shhh...lets keep it to ourselves)

When one of my teens ask me how to do something on the net or how to do something with the computer I'm all over that baby, cause if your teens can't find it or have a friend that knows about it, what can I say?

Ok one last thing

Did you see Ed's notebook on the latest video? It was full of little drawings and circles and things.

Check this out Back of the Napkin Its a look a getting your thoughts out with pictures.The book is also a good read.

P.S. This is not something that you should focus on alot right now, but may what to for sure bookmark and come back to.
Take a look at part C at why an apple is more than just an apple
Come to think of it , I think I heard of this site from Ed.

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