{"id":1224,"date":"2013-05-01T17:51:10","date_gmt":"2013-05-01T17:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/?p=1224"},"modified":"2013-05-01T23:55:19","modified_gmt":"2013-05-01T23:55:19","slug":"6-ways-to-generate-new-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/6-ways-to-generate-new-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Ways to Generate New Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Henry Ford wanted a portable cup holder, he built the automobile. When the Wright brothers longed to see\u00a0a small package of peanuts soar, they invented the airplane.\u00a0And when\u00a0Bill Gates wanted to see his favorite colors, royal blue and off white, splashed across computer screens all over the world,\u00a0he made Windows.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

‘preciate it, Bill.<\/p><\/div>\n

But most of us are not\u00a0genius inventors, capable of conjuring up\u00a0brilliance at the drop of a\u00a0hat. So when it comes time to\u00a0make amazing content,\u00a0where does one begin? How do you stimulate creative thinking?\u00a0Here are some tips on how to generate new ideas and give\u00a0that Gates guy a run for his money.<\/p>\n

1. Go Google Go!<\/span>
\n<\/strong>Google does more than just act as a crutch for forgetting\u00a0years\u00a0of education, it also can help you land an idea.\u00a0Use the Google Keyword Tool<\/a> to put in a phrase or idea and have Google generate more “keyword ideas,” which you can then build off of. Or use Google Alerts<\/a> which sends you\u00a0a notification by email whenever new content comes online with any of your\u00a0chosen\u00a0words. That means you can also feed your ego and get notifications anytime you or your company is mentioned.<\/p>\n

2. Search for Searches<\/span>
\n<\/strong>Wanna know what people are searching\u00a0for? Type\u00a0part of your idea into Google and check out the\u00a0dropdown list\u00a0it generates for you. PROTIP: You can go through the alphabet and generate even more ideas. For example, if you’re writing about floral arrangements,\u00a0type in “floral arrangements a,” “floral arrangements b,” “floral arrangements c,” and so on to get all kinds of ideas.<\/p>\n

\"media<\/a>

No, we weren’t in Moscow recently.<\/p><\/div>\n

3. Consult An Expert<\/strong><\/span>
\nIf you’re struggling on your own for an idea, you should\u00a0absolutely look elsewhere. There are plenty of helpful books<\/a> out there\u00a0to fuel\u00a0your fountain of creativity. We’re fans of Made to Stick<\/em><\/a> by Chip & Dan Heath (book review coming soon!). The Heath brothers do a great job of\u00a0breaking down the anatomy of ideas that resonate or stick, and their fast-paced and compelling stories further illustrate their points.<\/p>\n

\"made_to_stick\"<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Become An Idea Collector<\/span>
\n<\/strong>Made to Stick<\/em> talks about “collecting ideas,” or constantly being on the lookout for new ideas in your daily life. To make sure nothing slips by,\u00a0always have a notebook or smartphone notepad app handy — something you\u00a0can keep\u00a0on you to\u00a0write down\u00a0ideas as they occur.\u00a0Or you can do it the old fashioned way and jot\u00a0down all your ideas on\u00a0those cocktail\u00a0napkins, but that method works best for people who can\u00a0read through margarita condensation stains.<\/p>\n

\"margarita\"<\/a>

Will the ideas generated by this drink be printable?<\/p><\/div>\n

5. Change\u00a0Your Surroundings<\/strong><\/span>
\nSometimes staring at your computer screen just isn’t gonna lead to a brilliant idea. Changing your environment can often lead to a spark that wouldn’t have come otherwise. 107 Ways to Inspire Creativity<\/em><\/a> lists a number of activities that can jumpstart the ol’ cerebellum, like biking, yoga, listening to music, and — our favorite — cloud gazing. There are also a number of words that can get you going, like “color,” “sound,” “smell,” and “perspective.” Not listed: margarita.<\/p>\n

6. Check the Rest<\/span>
\n<\/strong>We’re sticklers for originality, but let’s face it,\u00a0new ideas are more scarce than emotionally enriching episodes of Maury Povich.\u00a0But combinations of old ideas<\/em>, now that’s a market that’s ready for\u00a0tapping\u00a0into. Check out what other people have written about your idea or keyword and let that\u00a0inspire a fresh new take of your own.<\/p>\n

We hope these tips help you generate a ginormous stack of new ideas. I know writing this article has certainly inspired me… to go cloud gazing with a margarita. See? A combinations of old ideas!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Henry Ford wanted a portable cup holder, he built the automobile. When the Wright brothers longed to see\u00a0a small package of peanuts soar, they invented the airplane.\u00a0And when\u00a0Bill Gates wanted to see his favorite colors, royal blue and off white, splashed across computer screens all over the world,\u00a0he made Windows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1224"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1409,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224\/revisions\/1409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}