Five innovation methods you can use to stimulate creativity and to generate profitable marketing ideas quickly.

“Do not follow where the path may lead.
Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
- Harold R. McAlindon

Mr. McAlindon, President of the Parthenon Group in Nashville, Tennessee said, “There is a difference between creativity and innovation.  Innovation is a creative collaboration.  Converting creativity to innovation is a team sport.”

Creative people generate marketing ideas by using stimuli to help them think “outside the box.”  But true marketing innovation can only occur when the creative team collaborates, exchanges ideas, refuses to pre-judge and enjoys the process.

Here are five innovation methods you can use to generate profitable marketing ideas quickly.  Each team member brings their own unique view of the world to the table.  Have at least four people sit together and follow these five steps carefully.   Choose one product, service, idea or concept at a time.  Work the formula and reap the rewards of creative innovation.

1. Focus
Before you can develop a successful marketing idea, you must have a plan that identifies the need, the problem and the solution to the problem that exposes the opportunity.  The most efficient way to do this is to survey your present customers to find out what their needs are and how you are presently meeting those needs.  Ask them questions patterned after the questions in this article.  With this information, you’ll know the hot buttons to push to attract new customers and clients.  

2. Reflect
Once you know the problem and the opportunity, how do you translate it into a successful new idea?

Ask Who, What, Where, How, When and Why to define the problem.  Think about how you can make your product or service better.  Consider new markets that you can enter, a more defined, benefit driven unique selling proposition and ways to tweak your product or service. Sometimes a more expensive product or service to a smaller niche market will yield greater profits.

Plan a brainstorming session with your mastermind group.  Throw ideas out on the table, don’t criticize anything, let your ideas flow.  Learn about Mind Mapping and how it can aid you in expanding your creative thinking.

Here are a few ways to jump start your ideas:

Take one idea, concept, USP, niche, service, or marketing strategy you presently have and let each person in your group participate in answering the following questions.
 
1.  What if?
2.  How can we improve…?
3.  How can we streamline…?
4.  What should we modify?
5.  What could we replace?
6.  What could we add?
7.  What should we eliminate?
8.  How can we simplify?
9.  What two things can we combine to make it better?
10. Why?

3. Act
Assemble all ideas into an action plan. Prioritize the plan and detail the action steps to get it accomplished.  Take action, no matter how small it may seem.  Just do something to get your creative juices flowing. Take a walk, listen to music, meditate, exercise, do a crossword puzzle.  Test your creative impulses by listening to your inner voice.  Write out your plan, first in broad terms (yearly, monthly, weekly)  then down to the minute details (daily, hourly).

4. Measure
Measure the action. Test and study possible conclusions.  If your test works with one market, it might work with another market with a little tweaking.  Test new headlines, new offers and guarantees in your direct mail.  Offer bonuses for responding sooner rather than later. Instill a sense of urgency in  your message.

5. Expand
Using your new measurements, expand your horizons into new territories.  Find a hungry niche market, then develop a series of products that you can sell in a packaged system.  Once this niche is successful, sell the method you used to sell to that niche and encourage others to follow your suggestions in “their” niches.

“Innovation is like a road in the country.  Where there was never a road, many people walked together, and the road appeared from their efforts.”  
- Harold McAlindon

(c) Allan J. Katz, 2005.  Reprint rights granted to all venues so long as the article and by-line are reproduced intact and links are made live.

  Five Proven Methods for Internet Marketing Success
There are numerous ways that you can promote your online business or website, some more effective than others. These five proven methods will help you to generate traffic to your site and also to generate income into your wallet. 1. One thing that appeals to everyone is “free.” If it is free people will take it. Think of the samples of cheese given away at grocery stores. Do you really want a small piece of cheese? Of course not! But you take it simply because it is free and someone is nice enough to offer it to you. The same principle....

  Getting Started: Creating a Business Plan
Getting Started: Creating a Business Plan By Jaff Mydin You're excited. You have a great idea for a profitable online business. Maybe it is an original idea that has not been marketed online before. Maybe you have come up with a new spin on the ordinary. Whatever it is that has influenced you to start your online business, be sure that you have a plan before you begin. This is not the time to “pick it up as you go”. These are some basic things that should be included in your business plan. The business summary should give a brief description of the....

  Driving a strong stream of visitors to your web site
It is worth looking at some values and strengths of a few technical and promotional elements of your website that will help you to lay a foundation in building profitable online success. Once you have decided on your market and have chosen a relevant domain name for your online business, you need simple and effective tools and methods to put and keep your business on a profitable track. Ideally you will want to make use of easy-to-use methods that keeps visitors coming to your website. Lets look at a few practical ideas. When a visitor comes to your website you have to get their follow-up information by collecting their email....

  How I Learned To Build Profitable Websites From This Valuable Step-By-Step System
"Secrets Of Passive Profit Streams" is a comprehensive home study course on building websites that generate cash. It is a step-by-step tutorial on building your home business on the internet. All of us have dreamed about building a home business that is profitable and rewarding.  Just think about it, no boss, plenty of time for you and your family and the ability to save money (no gas for that awful commute, no expensive work clothes and fresh hot lunches straight from your kitchen). Now you're thinking, "Okay everybody dreams....

  Tips for Successful Internet Marketing
Successful Internet marketing is not just getting lucky. Instead, successful Internet marketing is about making a plan based on the tools that have already proven successful and working that plan until they prove successful for you as well. The following tips for Internet marketing should help you get started and be successful as well. Internet Marketing Tip #1 Well Designed Site A well designed site from the font to the colours used as well as the layout is critical for success. Once you get people to your website you want them to stay there and in order for this to happen....

Trackback URL for this post:
http://www.problogtips.com/the-five-methods-to-generate-profitable-marketing-ideas-quickly/1118/trackback/

Posted by Jaron in the catagory of... General Interest

No Trackbacks »