How to stop the ideas?

9 replies
Sounds strange, doesn't it? And I'm posting it on this forum because it has so much to do with how my mind works and what makes me, me.

My problem isn't that I flit from one thing to the next and never finish anything...it's that these ideas just pop into my head out of nowhere and I feel like I'm flushing money down the toilet if I don't develop them.

An example: right now, I work full time outside the home, and I have my Etsy shop which is just about ready to hit full-on holiday season level. I flip websites, which I LOVE doing, and I just launched my membership site which is doing okay but not as great as I'd hoped. But hey, live and learn.

So this morning I'm on the train, and this idea pops into my head - I could actually make small, simple websites for other Etsy sellers! It's a total no-brainer! I do some research and find that other people are offering this same service anywhere from $100-$400, but they're not offering hosting or list-building capacities, or web promotion services. Ding, ding, ding...three easy ways for me to out-sell the competition.

Ideas like this are constantly popping into my head. The problem is that I don't have TIME to develop them! But when I don't develop them, I feel awful - like I'm not taking full advantage of my ideas and talents, and leaving money out there that I could be bringing in for my family.

I honestly don't know HOW to deal with this. What's the right way and have you felt like this?
#ideas #stop
  • Profile picture of the author Kenster
    Most millionaires I have met dont do a whole heck of a lot of real work. They are idea people...creative people. perhaps they worked hard when they were younger, but when they started making money they just came up with ideas and had other people implement them.

    What does this have to do with you...I would suggest taking every good idea you have but dont have time to implement and have other people implement them. Form business agreements or slice each part of your idea and outsource (strategically so the people dont just cut you out and monetize on your idea).

    Go with your ideas. People become millionaires all the time from ideas that just pop into their heads...even if they arent doing any of the real nitty gritty action but are just coming up with the ideas.

    Good luck
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    • Profile picture of the author Jack Chua
      I agree with noting down all your ideas on a small notebook so as not to forget it. It is normal though that ideas would sometimes keep flooding and that is a gift that you should be thankful with. Then as all the ideas are listed try to take it one thing at a time. Don't pressure yourself. Make a sort of checklist on what has been accomplished already. It will be a well organized strategy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lisa Gergets
    A very sincere thanks to everyone for their advice and ideas. An ideas notebook is a fabulous idea, I agree, and I think I'll start implementing that immediately!

    Again, thank you so much.
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    I would advise you to work on something to the end, without abandoning one project to go to the other, only because another idea appeared in your mind. Always finish what you are doing, without pursuing new opportunities before seeing the benefits of your initial efforts.

    Otherwise you may jump from idea to idea, and never do anything that will last for long. Keep your ideas in a notebook for when you'll have time for something new, but never abandon a project that will bring you money at the end only because you had a better idea, and you believe that it will be easier to make money this way.
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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    I have a little file of business plans in various stages of development. These are the ideas that I actually bother to write down.

    At last count, there were about 200 in there. About 50 of them might actually work. I'm actively developing about 12 of them. Three of them look like they might actually generate some serious money.

    So I figure it's roughly a factor of four. I find a way to make about one out of four work. I actively pursue one out of four that I found a way to pursue. And about one out of four actually looks like it might work.

    So I figure I need to write down another 64 ideas. Out of those, 16 will look like they might work, I'll actively pursue four of them, and one will show real promise. That will give me four promising ideas, and if the pattern holds... one of them will actually succeed.

    Looking at how long it took me to produce these 200 ideas, that will take about 3-4 years. And with my goal of $250k in hands-off income by 2015, I'm pretty much on schedule.

    If you back up and extrapolate that I probably write down one out of every four ideas in the first place, it comes out to roughly one idea a week producing one written idea each month, and about three workable ideas each year. After a few more months, I'll start actively pursuing one of them, and about every five years I'll see that one of them just might work. So after twenty years, I'll have converged on one that does.

    But you need the experience from all the rest of them before you can make that one work.
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  • Profile picture of the author Audrey Harvey
    I'm just like you, Tinker, I get a headache I get so many ideas. The advice you've already received is spot on. I make a note of my ideas, in a notebook, and while I don't have as many as CDarcklock, I still have a fair few pages. Some of the ideas are unstarted and some are in various stages of development. I've started outsourcing where possible, to keep a little forward momentum.

    The big thing for me was to understand that just because I had an idea, I didn't have to act on it. Giving myself permission to write it down, then forget about it for now to work on current projects, has made a big difference.

    Anyway, isn't it better to have too many ideas than too few? :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author Rick B
    What I find really funny is when people find out that I earn my living online, they say that I'm LUCKY because I got in when it was easy and that all of the good ideas are gone now!

    Then I rattle off one idea after another that I've had but don't have the time to implement. Of course, they simply say that those ideas won't work or will be much harder to make work than what I have done so far.

    The truth is that everyone back in 1997 told me that I'd never earn a living doing what I'm doing now either.

    So don't feel bad about having too many ideas. Just learn to focus on the best ones and don't get side-tracked until you've had time to complete that task.

    It could be worse. You could be one of the majority of people who never try because they have no faith in their ability to make any idea work.
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    • Profile picture of the author HansM
      Originally Posted by Rick B View Post

      What I find really funny is when people find out that I earn my living online, they say that I'm LUCKY because I got in when it was easy and that all of the good ideas are gone now!
      One of my friends told me that Holland (actually: the Dutch speaking part of Europe) is too small to make money with Internet Marketing... When I mentioned the kind of things I do and could do, well... I might as well have told him I have a date with Pamela Anderson. Unrealistic, impossible, etc.

      Back to the original poster: You should definitely jot down the ideas, maybe set up a IM ideas mailing list, or idea bouncing membership site. Or keep them for yourself, and when you have some spare time, use the list, choose an idea that's still good, that might give you some results. When you have plenty of ideas, it's important to prioritize, and pick the ones that are lucrative (or the most fun).
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