Posts Tagged ‘creativity’

I have been giving a LOT of thought to the question, “If I had to do it all over again in my business, what would I do the same, and what would I do different?” As I contemplated the ideas, I realized that there might be some benefit to my musings for others…especially those who are just starting out. So over the course of the next several post, we will explore the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of creating your own online business from my own experience and point of view. What I share will not be the “be all end all” type of guidance. Rather, it will be a reflection of the pitfalls and triumphs I experienced through the process of selling online.

Okay…we’re going to start off with a huge lesson…definitely the BIGGEST lesson I’ve learned through the business-building process.

The very FIRST thing I would do differently if I were just starting my business today, would be to learn how to think like a successful entrepreneur as quickly as possible and at whatever cost I could afford! Here’s why: Products, strategies, even relationships are NOT what cause you to be or become successful. While these are certainly pieces of the puzzle, they alone will not make you successful. Only a success-oriented mindset and belief system will truly create the type of business success you want and deserve.

The reason mindset is so vitally important is simple…money is a representation for a value exchange, nothing more. If a product or service “costs” $5,000, the price declares that the product has value in the amount of $5,000. Whether it actually does or not is immaterial, and certainly determined by the end-user. If you do not “see” the value in your own product or service…or, more importantly, in yourself personally, neither will anyone else. One of biggest challenges early on was recognizing that I had value as a person, and that what I had to offer was valuable. It was a process and lesson that cost me a lot of time, honesty and money to learn, but was easily the most influential “strategy” that created the biggest impact on my business.

As I worked through the process of developing my “inner game” as my friend, Pat O’Bryan, refers to it, I had to be brutally honest with myself and face some tough questions, like:

• What is my purpose in life?

• Why do I feel worthless?

• What am I afraid of? Failing? Success?

• Will I look like a fool?

• Do I really have anything to offer that people would spend money for?

• Will my parents approve?

• What if I fail?

• Am I even smart enough to do this?

• What is my reason WHY for wanting my own business?

• Is it even possible for ME to earn a decent living online, much less a phenomenal one?

• Where do I begin?

• Do I deserve to be a success?

Perhaps you have thought many of these same questions! They’re energy and dream stealers and stop most people dead in their tracks. Think of them as a poison that is slowly killing your hopes and dreams. They create a self-talk that’s founded on expectations and beliefs that do not even have substance or proof. One question I asked myself regularly, at times even moment by moment, was, “What evidence do I have that proves that THIS time I will fail?” That THIS time I’ll lose everything!” The truth was (and is) that there is NEVER any evidence. Whether you allow yourself to focus on the past or worry about the future, you MUST realize that neither exists! Only NOW exists and success is simply a choice away.

Einstein said that insanity was doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result. The questions (and others) above are the perpetuators of the SAME THINGS! You must choose better questions and responses! Here are some examples of the types of questions and responses I used to change my mindset and business:

How can I best serve those around me? Serving others gets our eyes off of ourselves and our circumstances.

I am grateful for _____________________ (fill in the blank) in my life. I struggled a lot with depression and realized that as I remained in a place of gratitude, I wasn’t depressed or fearful. The question I asked myself constantly was, “Why are you focused on what you DON’T have when you can give thanks for what you DO have?”

How can I offer $______ in value to my customers? When you begin to look at your business as offering value versus making money, your mindset shifts.

There is ALWAYS a way…always! This is one of my newer responses…it’s written on my marker board above my desk. I’ve found that it shifts you out of a place of fear and into hopeful anticipation for one reason…there is always a way! You may not know it yet…nevertheless…there is always a way!

In the next post, I will continue with some other transformations I’ve experienced in mindset that will certainly benefit you as well. I will also share books and resources I’ve personally found to be useful and helpful in that transformational process. Until then!

Oh and by the way, I am SO grateful to have you as a reader! Please feel free to add your thoughts and comments below.
Also, if you could do me a favor and please share this with friends, family and subscribers who you feel could benefit from it most. You can do so by re-tweeting, sharing it on Facebook and on Digg! Thanks!

There are some killer free tools out there that you really NEED to use in your business if you aren’t already! In this webinar, we will take a look at the FREE tools available for product creation. We look at tools for Text Creation, Image Creation, Video Creation, Audio Creation and more!

One of the things I LOVE about this series is that it removes another hurdle many face when getting started online…the need for quality tools. Just in the past little while, the web has seen an influx of amazing, free or open-source software that enable you to accomplish tasks that, just a few years ago, would have cost you hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Enjoy!

BTW…here is some great feedback for one of the future episodes of this series that I’ll be posting soon. The videos are a part of my Step-by-Step Info Products Membership Site:

I have watched one webinar video, #3 of the series on free tools…Tony, my membership is paid for, for the next three months at least. The value of what you provided – free auto-responders, free shopping carts, free utilities for research, keywords, I can’t even remember everything that was there. Tony, that was just one video in one series that you have…You have been hiding the value of this thing under a basket.

[FLOWPLAYER SRC=http://stepbystepinfoproducts.com/video_files/Free_Tools1/Free_Tools1.mp4, width=480, height=360]

Click HERE for more Step-by-Step How-to videos.

As many of you know, I worked as a graphic designer for 18 years, mostly designing book covers for publishers and authors around the world. During that time, I developed a great understanding and appreciation for the power of color and its effect on the consumer. It’s a topic that I’d like to share about briefly in this post for one simple reason…I see many in the Internet Marketing community creating websites, e-book covers or Powerpoint presentations without any regard to the effect their color choices are having on their visitors or prospects. In other words, “because it looks cool or pretty” is NOT the reason to use a certain color scheme…grin.

Color has a language of its own and that language should be understood by anyone who expects to use it to its best effect. Many good website designs or product covers have been spoiled because the colors used said one thing and the words and illustrations another. Color has three dimensions: hue, intensity, and value.

Each of these has its part in the message of color, but the message of hue is most universally understood. For example, red suggests heat; yellow, light; blue, cold; purple suggests darkness; orange suggests flame; green suggests the blending light and coolness that conveys rest. Of course, these examples are just that…examples…because color can have multiple meanings. For instance, red can also mean “stop” and green “go.”

Intensity of color is measured by its brightness or dullness. The usual danger is that of using colors that are too bright. In general, it may be said that a full intensity color should never be used for backgrounds or for large spaces. Dull or neutralized colors are better for these purposes. The primary reason for this is that having a large area of bright color can be distractive. Your eye doesn’t know where to land because of the huge area of bright color. When, from a selling perspective, we want the reader’s eye to land on our website headline or book title.

The value of color is measured by its lightness or darkness. The lighter values should be used for backgrounds because they look larger; the darker values for the material which is to be emphasized. Of course, there are exceptions to this from a stylized design perspective. But let me ask you a question that drives this point home: “How many of the top 25 websites online have “dark” backgrounds?” (The Top 4 are pictured below). Enough said.

Of course, Colors should normally be used in harmonious combinations. There are of two types of these combinations; the combination of allied colors and the combination of contrasting or complementary colors. Allied colors are those which contain some part of the same primary hue. Two shades of green, or of blue, form an allied combination. Brown and yellow make a good combination. In the same way a pair of complements, as red and green, yellow and purple, blue and orange, may be used. For the best effect and result for your designs, never use complementary combinations in their full intensity. Two complementary colors in full intensity form the crudest of all harmonious color combinations. Red and green is perhaps the worst of all combinations and the most frequently used and abused. A quick glance at the illustration below should be enough explanation for this warning.

My favorite website for choosing the best color schemes for any design I work on, whether it’s a WordPress theme or a book cover, is Color Scheme Designer (http://www.colorschemedesigner.com). It allows you to generate endless combinations of allied and complementary color schemes. And best of all, this amazing tool is free. If you are creating ANY kind of design – website graphics, banners, book covers, logos, etc. – Color Scheme Designer should become your newest best friend. Have fun with it!

An essential tool for any Information Marketer’s toolbox is a high-quality image editor. Of course, the King of the Hill for image editing software is Adobe Photoshop. Having used Photoshop for the past 18 years, I can safely say that, from a design perspective, we’re definitely joined at the hip…grin. I use it every day. The problem that crops up, however, is that Photoshop isn’t cheap and is often out of the budget range for many, especially if they’re just starting out. It doesn’t change the fact that there are still header graphics to create and photos to edit…ebook covers to design and DVD cases to finalize…but sometimes, having the best tools for the job simply isn’t an option.

There are some cheap and free software options out there, like Photoshop Elements or GimpShop. I’ve talked about (and promoted) these options before, but they are not the topic of THIS post. There are some new, amazing web-based tools emerging, that, in my opinion, could actually give Photoshop a run for their money. Adobe DOES offer an online image editor (Photoshop Express http://www.photoshop.com), but I’m not including it in this post. I personally prefer the other programs I DO include here. The point I want to make here as we begin to explore these new, online tools is that you have options…more now than ever before…and the best news is, they’re FREE!

Pixlr (http://www.pixlr.com):

Pixlr is perhaps my favorite online image editing software of all the ones I’ll be sharing today because it’s so well done. The look and feel is nearly identical to Photoshop (as most of them are), and quite honestly, it performs nearly ALL the same tasks Photoshop will. It even opens Photoshop PSD files and maintains the layers, which is a nice touch. None of the other programs offer that. It offers an extensive line of filters and editing tools, as well as everything else you would expect from a high-quality image editing software. The ONLY issue I have with Pixlr (if you even want to call it an issue) is that it doesn’t offer an option to show rulers or draw snap guides. And actually, none of the web-based programs I’m sharing here offer that feature (except for Aviary, which I’ll talk about a little later). It’s not a huge deal but it would be nice to have (Please take note Pixlr…grin). And…BTW…all the screen captures for this post were edited in Pixlr.

SplashUp (http://www.splashup.com):

SplashUp is another great online image editing option. While it doesn’t have all the features that Pixlr does, it’s still a great choice…especially if you don’t need all the extra features. It DOES have the ones that matter: layers and layer effects, some decent basic filters, etc. My favorite option in this program is how it handles type. Unlike Pixlr (where you have to enter the type into a type palette and then click “Okay” to add it to your document), you can type directly into your document…just like you would in Photoshop. The biggest bummer with this program? It doesn’t support Photoshop files. Pixlr does. In my book that’s a big deal, but that aside, SplashUp is still a great option for your image editing needs.

Aviary (http://www.aviary.com):

Aviary is more than just an image editor, it’s an entire suite of free online tools that includes an image editor, a color editor, an effects editor, a vector editor (think Illustrator), an audio editor, screen capture and more! Quite honestly, it’s one of the most amazing suites of online tools I’ve seen anywhere. When using the image editor (called Phoenix), you will notice, again, that the basic look and layout is similar to our standard, Photoshop (it doesn’t support PSD files however). What I love about Aviary is how they handle their layers. You can have regular layers (like images, text, etc) but ALSO access the Effects Editor and Vector Editor and add dedicated layers from those tools as well. This greatly expands the reach of Phoenix’s (the image editor) basic offering of tools. They also offer extensive tutorials, including how to create banners for Etsy (nice touch for one of their target audiences). All in all, this is another amazing suite of tools that is worth your time to investigate!

In addition to the three image editors I mention here, there are others as well, such as Pixinate, Picnik and SumoPaint. They each have merit, but speaking as a veteran graphic designer, the three I mention here should more than address ANY graphics needs you may encounter. What I would to you is to try out all three offerings I mention here and get a feel for what each one offers. You may prefer one over the others. Of course, the GREAT news is that you no longer have to stress about shelling out big sums of cash to address your image editing needs!

I couldn’t resist creating another brief video JUST to hopefully get your creative juices flowing. THIS video features an excerpt from Chapter 1 of “The Science of Getting Rich,” an amazing book in the Public Domain.

It’s no surprise that there are a number of marketing folks who talk about Public Domain content. I don’t have the exclusive on the topic…expert or not. Of course, most give their primary focus to books…and rightly so…but books are just one branch in a massive tree of content possibilities. Other “branches” include images, magazines, patents, movies, audios…the list goes on and on. But in today’s post, I’m going to lead you to another branch that very few marketers, if any, are talking about with regard to the Public Domain. I’ve hinted at a few of the “leaves” of this branch in the past…today I’m going to focus your attention on a few more.

Our discussion for this post and posts to come draws from a curious paragraph found in Copyright Circular 40 on Works of the Visual Arts. It’s no secret that I LOVE the visual arts in all its forms, but today we’ll look at them with a spin…NOT considering content that was once copyrighted but is now in the Public Domain, but rather, content that was NEVER copyrighted (and never will be). It’s content you use everyday and likely never considered it for product creation. And that’s the exact reason why I’m mentioning it now.

The paragraph I referenced earlier from Circular 40 reads as follows:

Copyright protection for an original work of authorship does not extend to the following:

• Ideas, concepts, discoveries, principles
• Formulas, processes, systems, methods, procedures
• Words or short phrases, such as names, titles, and slogans
• Familiar symbols or designs
• Mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring

Now I am not planning to focus on all these “non-copyrightable” options in this post…I just want to spurn you to think about just ONE bit of content differently today. We’ll get to others in future posts. As a matter of fact, I’ve already written a post previously about IDEAS which you really should read HERE.Today, however, I want to take a look at the last option: Mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring.

One of the reasons I wanted to look at this type of Public Domain content is because it’s the exact type of content that I discussed briefly in my previous article on Aeropostale. Defining this content is rather easy because you are “using” it right now…letters, numbers, ornaments and colors! Now, about now, you might be thinking, “Okay Tony…book content I can see for products, even images and magazines…but letters? Like A or T or Z?

Yeah! Letters! Letters and symbols are the basis for all our written (and in some cases visual) communication. They represent specific concepts to us regardless of our language or worldview. And so, while the letters, “Z”, “P”, “A” and “I” may seem to offer no possible relevance to us for product creation, the word, “PIZZA” instantly conjures memories of images, tastes, smells and experiences…at least it does for me. More than that though, you and I have the legal right to use that word, pizza, or the letters that make it up, to create ANY type of product we choose…as evidenced by the yellow-stripped shirt I’m wearing right now with “A87″ embroidered on the pocket (yes, I bought it at Aeropostale)! To you and me, “A87″ means very little if anything, but to Aeropostale, it means a multi-million dollar business and brand!

Here is another question to consider…what does “STOP” mean to you? And in how many ways have you seen those letters in that configuration used in products of all types? What about the color “red” as it’s used with a stop sign? The color “red” carries meaning to it…think about it…you don’t see “green” stop signs! Why? It sends the wrong message…and that message is conveyed with a color and four letters.

Let me offer one more example (I could provide thousands) in the form of another question…when you see the numbers 0, 1 and 9, they don’t mean too much right? But what about 9/11/01? Every American knows what THAT number combination stands for…and those numbers in that combination has generated tens of millions of dollars! How about this set of numbers: 12-25? Merry Christmas! I hope you are beginning to get my drift.

You know what this means, right? A very common symbol online…a smiley face…that has been worth millions in one form or another!

It’s likely that you have not consciously considered what possible products could be created with the combination of letters, numbers, symbols and colors. My hope is that this post will challenge you to consider new possibilities in your quest for best-selling products. Think outside the box and brainstorm how a letter or two might be able to transform your business!

My daughter, Ashlea, works at Aeropostale, so over the past several months, I’ve been in the store many times. I’ve also been paying attention to what they do and how they do it when it comes to how they create and market their products (clothes and accessories). Aeropostale is hugely popular with the younger generation and it’s evident that they understand their demographic (14 to 17 year-olds) very well. Heck, even I like a lot of their clothes and I wouldn’t consider myself a part of their target audience. That said, there are a few lessons we can ALL learn from Aeropostale when it comes to branding and product creation.

For Aeropostale, branding and product creation are synonymous. If you’ve been to one of their stores or to their website, the ONE thing that will stand out immediately is that their brand is on everything…their clothing turns their customers into walking billboards. It’s rather brilliant actually. Of course, they’re not the only company to do this…many do…but I’d have to say they’re one of the best at it for sure.

Aeropostale also provides a LOT of variations with their products. Now stay with me here…their main brand simply involves their name and the year they began their company…1987. Here is where it gets fun…the variations they create on those two elements is nearly limitless, it seems. As a product creator, this is an important lesson to understand. With just the words Aeropostale, Aero, 1987, A87 and other variations, they produce hundreds, if not thousands, of variations on the theme. You can do the same thing with your products and your business…especially if your products are image based!

Here is a challenge for you…go the the Aeropostale website and just look at their t-shirt lines…that’s it. Now, using Aero’s approach as your inspiration, consider a graphic, photograph, logo, or brand related to your business and make a list (or sketches) of every possible variation on the theme you can think of. Ask friends and family to do the same. You will be surprised (and amazed) at the outcome. I guarantee it! Then, share your results and what you learned here in the comments! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

I “wrote” the previous post titled, “Sell Quality and the Price Won’t Matter” to demonstrate a powerful method for using Public Domain content the right way…one of many “right” ways! You see, I didn’t write the article…I re-wrote it. It’s an excerpt from chapter one of a book I downloaded from Google Books that was published in 1922. I copied the text right out of Google using their “Plain text” feature and then pasted it into Microsoft Word. I went through the text and highlighted the “power points” of the chapter and compiled them into a new Word document and then started re-writing the new paragraphs into a cohesive article. You can see the original chapter with the sentences I used (bolded and in red) HERE. The whole process took me about half an hour, if that.

I wanted to present this quick Case Study to make the point that this strategy can be used in many forms and ways to create new, hybrid articles, blog posts and products. And YES, even by YOU! So what are you waiting for?! Get to it!

PS: I want to add that I could just as easily taken those SAME highlighted sentences and created PowerPoint slides with them and then taught a webinar or created a Camtasia video with them. THEN I would have a video, audio, transcription, etc. of fresh content I taught, all based on that original chapter from the book. And, BTW, this was JUST Chapter one…grin!

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I am an idea guy (among other things). My intense curiosity is constantly wondering (and wandering) about the “next” thing. Everywhere I look, I find myself wondering, “I wonder if there is an easy way to create that using Public Domain content?” That’s usually how the curiosity begins…including this time with what I’m sharing in this post.

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of research on new technologies that allow us to create even more custom products from Public Domain content, which previously would have been impossible or cost prohibitive. I admire companies who push the envelope with technology and then bring their successes to the rest of us. The latest companies I’ve discovered are like that…they take impossible or difficult product creation options and make them easy.

As I share my latest discoveries here, you will notice a theme. And the research paid off with new options for me (and you) to create entirely new types of products and businesses from Public Domain content. What was I researching? Wall coverings and signs!

Perhaps it’s because I’m currently remodeling my house, but I’ve been drawn to alternative ways of decorating walls, rather than just the boring paint styles…and apparently, others are curious as well. There is a definite interest out there in specialty wall coverings. The good news is that I found several companies who can help you create those wall coverings from your own images and designs (think Public Domain). You can then sell YOUR wallpaper, decals, signs, etc. to customers, on Ebay, to contractors…you get the picture (pun intended…grin).

Totally Custom Wallpaper: Offers options for custom Murals, Wallpaper, Borders, Canvas and Peel-n-Stick Decals. Their site also offers an interactive designer template that walks you through the design process, step-by-step.

Murals Your Way: Offers custom Murals in a straight-forward “choose your size, upload your image” kind of fashion. Simply upload your custom image and you’re off and running! They also provide hundreds of existing designs as well.

Java Signs: Offers options for custom Vinyl Lettering, Signs (more on this in a minute), Banners and Decals (wall decals among other things). Their site also offers easy-to-use design tools that make the creation process super simple.

Speedy Signs: Also offers options for custom Vinyl Lettering, Signs, Banners, Decals and Displays. They also offer easy-to-use design tools for creating your own custom designs.

One of the things I love about these options is that we now have a lot of flexibility in product design and offering for an entirely new market…home owners and builders. Remodeling is huge right now with the economy the way it is. More and more people are opting to remodel rather than buy or build. The sites above provide options for you, the product creator, to tap into this market in a very real way!

I also wanted to highlight another product offered on the Java Signs site…custom aluminum signs. Now when you think about metal signs, you probably think real estate or some other type of signage. I don’t…I think custom décor. If you’ve been to any store that sells unique gift ideas, you have likely seen reproductions of old Coke signs or John Deere tractor signs. That’s the direction I’m thinking in. Java Signs provides you with the opportunity to create your own line of metal signs…and Public Domain content is PERFECT for it. Use your imagination!

The LAST new product I want to highlight in this post has nothing to do with walls or signs…it has to do with your feet! Zazzle has finally introduced a brand-new line of men’s sneakers, both low-top and high-top, that you can completely customize with your own designs. I’ve been waiting for this for a LONG time and can’t wait to start designing my OWN sneaker line. You should too!!

Stories of shapeshifting exist in every culture and take on many forms of transformation…from Zeus in Greek Mythology to the recent Twilight series where members of the Quileute tribe shapeshift into wolves. Even in our childhood stories we see the Beast transform into a Prince in “Beauty and the Beast”…and let’s not forget the infamous Frog looking for that special kiss. But what do these “myths” of shapeshifting have to do with Public Domain content? Plenty!

Content from the Public Domain…whether it exists in the form of a book, a magazine, a photograph or something else…was already established, proven if you will, in that form. The books were already published and read by thousands or tens of thousands of people…the same with magazines. But because that book or magazine is now in the Public Domain, we can legally use its content for anything we choose without any type of royalty or legal recourse. And there are a LOT of ways that we can adapt, or shapeshift, that content.

As an example, take a look at the text found HERE. It’s an article I scanned from a 1950′s Popular Photography magazine in the Public Domain. It’s a great article, and certainly relevant still today. Now, in its original form, it was a magazine article.  How can we shapeshift that content into new forms? Here are some thoughts…

1. A Blog Post
2. An Article on Article Sites
3. Break-up for an Autoresponder Series
4. A Free Report
5. Record an Audio Version for a Podcast
6. Turn into a Powerpoint Slide Video
7. Read Live on a Video Camera
8. Discuss on BlogTalkRadio
9. Include in an E-Zine
10. Use as a Chapter of an E-Book or Print book
11. Create a Squidoo Lens from It
12. Re-Publish in a New Print Magazine

And so, as you can see from the dozen samples above, it’s pretty easy to shapeshift just about ANY text content from the Public Domain into a new form…whether free or as a money-making product. The same is true for images. Take the image of Sitting Bull shown below, for instance. On the left is the original image from the Public Domain. On the right is a new image I created in Photoshop from the original.

Now, with this new image (or even with the old one quite honestly), I could shapeshift it into…

1. A T-Shirt Design
2. A Poster
3. A Skateboard Design
4. A Blanket or Tapestry
5. A Mousepad
6. A Coffee Mug
7. Any of the Other Products on CafePress or Zazzle
8. A Postage Stamp Design
9. An Illustration for an Article
10. A Fine Art Canvas Framed Print

I think you get the picture (no pun intended). And the best part is that I can create nearly endless variations of new art based on that one original photograph from the Public Domain. Shapeshifting at its best!

So, hopefully, this post has inspired you to consider doing a little shapeshifting of your own. The possibilities are are waiting for your own innovation and creativity. And like it says in my blog header graphic:

Proven Content + Creative Innovation = Successful, NEW Products!

Learn MORE about how to “shapeshift” Public Domain Content HERE:

Public Domain Explained

Easy Money Picture Project