Money Brainstorming
If you are like myself, you enjoy seeing and reading about
all the different business ideas people have successfully used.
But what if you want to dream up your own ideas? That is what
this issue covers. It's time for a bit of money brainstorming.
There are dozens of specific techniques that can be used for
brainstorming, problem solving and generating ideas in general.
All of them can be applied to business, investment, employment
and anything else having to do with money. For now we are going
to look at just two of these techniques.
Concept Combination
This is one of the best, or at least most entertaining, techniques
for solving problems and creating new money ideas. Just start
combining ideas and things, and voila, you're having fun - and
maybe creating something new. Let's look at a real life example.
"Rock" + "pet" = The pet rock. My younger
subscribers may not remember, but there were actually millions
of "pet rocks" sold in the late 1970s. My brothers
"pet sock" idea didn't do nearly so well, but then
at 14 he wasn't the best marketer. In any case, you can see what
the essence of this technique is.
But let's be realistic here for a moment. You can combine
all sorts of different things to come up with new products and
new ways to make money, yet many of the resulting ideas just
won't be suited to your skills and experience. For example, "tree"
and "billboard" might lead to a great idea for creating
cheap billboards using existing trees,but you might know nothing
about the billboard advertising business. It's fun to dream up
these ideas, but how do you increase the odds of having some
that work for you?
Start with things that you know something about, and combine
these with other concepts. For example, if a man had a job driving
an ice cream truck (the kind that stops on each street), he might
combine this concept of "mobile sales vehicle" with
a hundred other things to see what results. He could end up selling
pizza from a truck, or even comic books and magazines. He already
knows something about the running a route and selling out of
a truck, so these ideas are more practical for him.
Let's look at the whole process. First, you list your skills,
areas of knowledge, and jobs you've had. we'll assume your list
includes "comedy" as one of your skills or interests.
You start looking around the room at things and thinking of anything
that comes to mind to combine with this concept. Get wild in
your ideas. The time to judge them is later. For now, you simply
ask questions like, "How would that work?" or "How
can these two concept go together to make money?"
"Comedy" and a "restaurant?" It may seem
like there is nothing there, but we eat at a pizza place that
has a magician on Friday nights. He may not be paid much, but
he gets to hand out cards, and gets booked for a lot of parties
this way. A comedian could do the same perhaps.
"Comedy" plus "computer" may generate
some more useful ideas. For an investment of just a few hundred
dollars you could be creating and selling your own comedy audios
(downloadable onto MP3s) online. There is currently at least
one "how to be funny" ebook being sold online right
now as well.
Another example: If you have a struggling taxi business, "taxi"
and "pets" might lead to a successful arrangement with
a kennel, to pick up and deliver their client's cats and dogs.
Combining "taxi" with "famous people" might
lead to some sort of tour of the town, like they do in Hollywood.
Don't worry about where the ideas come from or how "creative"
they are. "Job" plus "phone" could lead to
an idea about how to make money on the phone, or may just remind
you to call around to see what other jobs are available. That
alone could be worth thousands more per year to you, and you
want results, not just clever ideas, right?
Here are a few random combinations of things to play with,
just for money brainstorming practice: Book + Your Job ... Justice
+ Advertising ... Car + Bank ... Investment + Your Knowledge
... Singing + Food ... Food + Loan ... Computer + Car ... House
+ People ... Tired + Light ... Writing + Gambling ... Vacation
+ Delivery ... Hat + Billboard ... Opinion + Store.
Problems As Money Opportunities
Start looking at problems differently. Every one is an opportunity
for someone to make some money, so why not you? If you or anyone
you know runs into the same frustration several times, there
is almost certainly a money-making solution.
For example, if you hear your parents and others complaining
about stairs in their home, it's probably time for someone to
make money with a single-floor housing development.
Is everyone where you work complaining about the lunch they
get at the sandwich shop next door? Maybe it's time to create
some great sandwiches to bring to work to sell.
Having a hard time with your boss? Are the other employees
too? Perhaps it is time for a few of you to start your own business,
and run it the way you think it should be run.
Problems with your children? If you set up a seminar and hired
a well-known child rearing expert for it, you might solve your
problem and make some money too.
Real Life Example
A common problem: How to remove various carpet stains. What
money making ideas does this suggest? Invent a new stain remover?
Write a booklet on removing stains, to and sell in quantity to
carpet stores, for them to give away as a bonus? Here's what
I did:
I bought lunch for a carpet cleaner and asked him how to remove
every type of stain, while taking notes. Later I took out my
notes and spent a week setting up a website based on this interview
(http://www.HowToRemoveCarpetStains.com).
It makes hundreds of dollars per month and until recently I sepnt
just an hour per year on it (I have been upgrading it lately
to boost it to the next level). That's an example of finding
money ideas in common problems, and of money brainstorming.
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