We’re all in the same boat. We’re all business-minded people who think of ideas and dream that one will be the next million-dollar idea. That’s good…motivation is good key. Like I say, dream big – or don’t dream at all.
If you’re just starting your online venture and you’re in the idea generation phase, here’s what you can do to help yourself find that next big idea:
Building Your Idea List
You may have passed this phase already, but if not, this is definitely for you.
Recording Your Ideas
I’d recommend getting a small notepad to put in your pocket, or something equivalent that you can use to immediately record an idea (on your iphone, perhaps) once it pops into your head. Don’t rely on your memory alone – because you will forget. You don’t want to forget that million-dollar idea! (Although you might not know it’s the million-dollar idea at first).
Record ALL of Your Ideas
The more ideas you come up with, the better the chances are that one of them is a great idea! That’s just a fact. Anything that pops into your head, just go ahead and write it down. Don’t be shy – no one else is going to see your list, and even if you think an idea is terrible at first, who knows – it might be what you choose to spend most of your time and effort on later after some research. It was an idea that you had, so it must mean something.
Don’t Try to Figure Everything Out at First
When you’re first writing down your ideas, write down as much as you can about it, but don’t feel bad if you can’t figure everything out at first – because that’s impossible. There will most likely be things you don’t know how to do, or can’t quite figure out yet – and that’s ok. Don’t let it become a brick wall and ruin your idea.
When I was working on my eBook, I didn’t let the fact that I didn’t know how I was going to charge for my eBook online stop me for pursuing my idea further.
Don’t Let This Happen to You
What’s the first thing we usually do after we come up with an idea? We go directly to Google Search and see if anything like it has been done before. I bet that 99% of us go into that search hoping NOT to find a website or business that is exactly the same. 99% of the time, we do find something similar and then lose the energy behind our idea because someone already “took it”. This, unfortunately, is the death of many good ideas. This is the wrong way to think.
If you perform a search and find similar websites to the one you were thinking of doing – that’s a GOOD thing. Why? Because that means there’s a market out there for it and people are spending money. In one of my first blog posts on SPI titled “5 Reasons Your Next Big Idea Might Fail”, I explain a lot more about this, and other common thoughts that often kill ideas.
In my next post, I’ll go over some details about how you can look at your list and determine which ideas you have are possible gold mines, and which ones are just empty bat caves.
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A large and competitive market can be good to see – at least it’s not dominated by one company! Plus customers will be aware that there’s a lot of competition and might be more open to trying someone new to get better service. Every customer in the market needs to buy from someone – if you stay out of the market it will never be you.
You make a great point. The idea that there are lots of competitors only means that there is a large market — a large market that supports all those competitors. It can support you too if you’re able to distinguish yourself with a quality product or service.
Clair
Now I just need the ideas….
If you have a list of ideas you decided to pass on…want to send them along to me? Just kidding!
Joe´s last blog post..Help Build My Portfolio
@Joe, there are a lot of problems that need to be solved by someone who can look at them the right way. If you try to learn something new about an area you’re not familiar with every day, and think about how other people perceive something that you know well, that can go a long way. Another good source of ideas is the Springwise blog. And here’s a great list of unusual ideas that could make a business: http://www.sixmonthmba.com/2009/02/999ideas.html
Great post! If you don’t write it down, it may be lost forever. I just did a post on always being ready to record your ideas:
Always Carry a Pen and Paper http://divorceddadfrugaldad.com/2009/04/14/always-carry-a-pen-and-paper.aspx
DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com´s last blog post..Words of Wisdom: Bill Cosby on Parenting
It is easy to get discouraged after doing a Google search and finding other people have already used your idea (in fact that just happened to me the other day!!). But you bring up a great point about the fact that competition indicates there’s a market. I will also add that everyone executes an idea in a unique way, so even if your idea is similar, it may not be EXACTLY the same.
Good post. So I have a passive income experiment at the link above…for 6 months I have developed this idea. And the income is flowing in…but I decided to give all profits to Charity.
But I am now thinking of creating my own Smart Passive Income-esque blog to discuss this and other projects I run…the others are FOR profit.
Pat = how did you get the traffic flowing to this site? Any advice?
Jeff´s last blog post..First 2 Week Fund Raising Report
I do like the idea of recording all my ideas. I tend to think of a lot of them, but I tend to discount them for the very same reasons you stated. It’s worth having them in a notebook with no judgement, so that I can always go back to them, research them, and perhaps create my next income stream!
Steve´s last blog post..5 Guaranteed Ways to Change the World This Week
I do have a small notepad where I record all of my ideas. (If I’m on the street I’ll write it in my iPhone and then move it the notepad.)
It’s incredible as a way of having projects to work on. I never run out of them, because I already know the next idea I’ll work on when I’m done on the one I’m working at the moment.
Neil Newmann´s last blog post..neilnewmann: RT You want $10K+ paydays? You gotta have your own digital product. It will take you years to get a site that makes $10K per day from ads.
Pat – Great point on the notepad. I keep one with me at all times now. You never know when you will hear a new idea from something you hear on the radio or out shopping. A reader of PFI once asked me where I get all my topics for my posts? The majority of them come from everyday events that triggered a new topic for my site.
I also am a victim of going out to Google and talking myself out of an idea very quickly. I have always had a bad habit of doing this and am trying to fix it!
Thanks for the great tips!
pfincome´s last blog post..10 Earth Week Activities that will Save you Money
Pat, you really know how to make some people’s day. Really enjoyed reading through this, as I am always on the look out for that ‘one great idea’, but I am usuless at following through. anyways, thanks to you I have my own blog that I am actively updating (I have had about 10 others in the past and have had about 10 posts between all of them – mostly with copywrite free matierial as the basis of them). My new blog has something that I am actively interested in, and it has now got close to 200 hits, which I am extatic about (you probably get that in an hour… but starting small!).
Anyway, this article really made me think about what I need to start doing, and plan to succeed this time!
Thanks for all your help!
Hi Pat,
Like most people here, I am also looking for ways to find passive income so that I could have more time for myself and my loved ones. Currently, I am writing an ebook and I don’t know how it could help me earn some. I would appreciate if you could give me some tips. Thanks in advance.