Ideas map

I recently heard a leader in the marketing game talk about a map they had on their wall, where they pinned all the locations that the staff came up with great ideas for their clients.

They had 100's of pins in the map - but only 13 were in the office.

Some might think that they should spend more time in the office!  But seriously we all know some of our best ideas occur when we are not trying to come up with them.

Whether it's:

- in the shower

- going for a run

- waking in the middle of the night to jot down some notes

- over a great meal & a bottle of plonk

- in the car

To allow the creative juices  flow we need to get out & explore!

I got wowed!

Today I received a package that I had ordered from Kirsty Dunphey.

It cost nothing to address it to me with the title as "The Awesome..." but it made me feel like a million dollars (is that how she got her first million by the time she was 23?).

They also included a mobile phone sock & a CD, but it was the title that made this package memorable.

It made me think how I can make my clients feel extra special ...

Need ideas?

Open your eyes.

They're around you - everywhere.

I joined Toastmasters a number of years ago and one of the challenges I faced was being given a "Table topic". This is a random subject that I had to talk about for a given length of time.

I struggled to come up with stories until I started noticing things around me. Funny situations, newspaper clippings, things the kids did, my last game of golf, etc...

I would find ways of building these stories into my table topics & it worked well.

Now I think of Table Topics as my gym for the brain - keeping me on my game!

Mind mapping or brain storming

Using these tools are a great way to develop ideas.

I came across an online system that is easy to use (and no I don't get any money to endorse it - but if someone wants to pay me I'll do it!).

Click here to get started: http://www.bubbl.us

If you don't want to do it on-line that's fine - paper or a whiteboard works well too.

You can do it by yourself or use others to create synergy - and better ideas!

Happy mapping!

Sponsor and grow

An effective way to get your product in front of new potential customers is to support a charitable cause.

By co-branding your product with a charity, you can ask for a donation that will cover your manufacture cost and also allow the charity to make money.

An example might be a golf ball. Your charity might be the Prostate Awareness Society (target audience = golfers). You sell the ball for $5, with $2 from every sale going to the charity & $3 covering the cost of the ball.

Daughters & wives buy the ball (to encourage their Dad or husband to check their bits), the target audience tries it, likes it & buys more!

It feels good not just making money, but supporting a worthwhile cause!

Whats up here?

Hi,

I'm Tony and I come up with more orginal ideas than I know what to do with.

Often they're marketing or product ideas and they'll usually make money in the right hands.

Unfortunately I don't have the time or resources to make money out of them myself, so I thought I would put them on the net so they will get used and make someone rich. Who knows, they might even mention me in their "now I'm rich and famous speech".

Each week I'll come up with at least one new tip for TIP (Tony's Ideas Page).