Author Archive

Idea Discovery: Website – Business Opportunities Weblog

Make your IMPACT(c) … one idea at a time!
Here's my Idea Discovery for today to help you do just that.

Are you interested in starting your own business and not exactly sure what kind of business or where to start? I recently came across this website – Business Opportunities Weblog – started by Dane Carlson, which lists literally hundreds of business opportunities, tips on how to start various types of businesses & more. To learn more about it, click the link below.

http://www.business-opportunities.biz/

My goal is to serve you with resources and strategies that help you clarify, organize, and implement your ideas.
Stay connected with me for more Idea Discoveries.
IdeaSuccessNetwork.com

Sylvia Henderson, Your Idea Coach
Author: "Hey, That's MY Idea! How to Communicate and Get Recognized for What You Know and Think"

M-A-Y

Maybe I will, and maybe I won't.
Maybe I do, and maybe I don't.
If I'm to take action, I'll have to decide;
Commit to a choice to which I must abide.
~ Sylvia Henderson

So I shouldn't quit my day job and become a poet laureate?

I introduce to you, "may". It's an interesting word in the context of ideas.

I did some research and found out the following trivia about the word may.

may [mey]
auxiliary verb, present singular 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person; present plural

1. (used to express possibility): It may rain.
2. (used to express opportunity or permission): You may enter.
3. (used to express contingency, especially in clauses indicating condition, concession, purpose, result, etc.): I may be wrong but I think you would be wise to go. Times may change but human nature stays the same.
4. (used to express wish or prayer): May you live long, and prosper.
5. Archaic. (used to express ability or power.)
6. Sylvia's interpretation #1 (used to express lack of commitment) I may do what you suggest. I may show up at that networking event.

As a noun, it is…
7. the fifth month of the year, containing 31 days.
8. the early part of one's life, especially the prime: a young woman in her May.
9. a day of celebration: the festivities of May Day.
10. ( lowercase ) British . the hawthorn.
11. a female given name.
12. a cape at the SE tip of New Jersey, on Delaware Bay.
13. Sylvia's interpretation #2 (a good scrabble word assist) maybe; mayhem
As a verb used without an object…
14. ( lowercase ) to gather flowers in the spring: when we were maying.

Bet you didn't know there were so many ways to use the word "may"! I certainly didn't. So, what's the point? And how does this interesting, but seemingly irrelevant information relate to our idea universe?
To answer this I will use M-A-Y as an acronym where each letter represents a thought within the theme.

M = Make research a part of your discovery process. Allow yourself to branch off to seemingly innocuous trails. You never know where they may take you. Sometimes you'll get another idea or gain more information about the idea you already have. You'll get a different perspective on your idea with the additional detail you dig up.

A = Ask probing questions. This is difficult to do with yourself because you can't ask yourself questions you haven't thought of. (Read THAT three times!) Find a partner you trust will not post your new idea onto the social media net or bathroom wall. Tell her or him your idea and what you've thought through so far. Then ask her / him to ask you questions about what you've revealed. You are sure to get questions you had not thought to ask yourself. Happens all the time!

Y = Yardstick. (Hey…there aren't too many "y" words, and yew, yap, and yolk just don't make sense in this context!) A yardstick is a measurement tool, and my metaphor for taking stock of the details you've gathered. Organize the details you've gathered from research and probing questions, and take measure of the pros, cons, probabilities, and deterrants for each. This helps you determine whether your idea is viable to implement now, hold off until later, or drop completely.

If you're an "idea person" and all this seems to be too much effort to deal with, that's what I'm here for! I guide you through these procedures so that they aren't so daunting. Through my workshops, retreats, webinars, and coaching programs you work through each step with a trust partner and "personal sounding board" to get your idea details out of your head and get into action. Give me a call to schedule a complementary strategy session to see how we can work together to get your ideas to income!

Book Signing for “Wisdom” Release

Hello Family and Friends:

I am pleased to let you know that I am one of the contributing authors to the Wisdom (Words To Inspire You To Create Your Own Legacy) Book. This book is geared towards those entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs who need encouragement and advice on how to leave their living legacy for others.

I am excited to be in this book compilation project and send a big thank you to Charles and Theresa Brown for this opportunity. This book is the first in a series of books that will be comprised of EPNET Legacy awardees only. Again, I am excited to be part of this exclusive group of awardees who have poured their hearts out and are giving real life tips and strategies on how to leave your mark on the world. The book release event is April 30, 2013 from 7 – 8:30 pm at Smartly Spaced – 1302 Concourse Drive Suite 204, Linthicum, MD. This is a free event. Your support will be greatly appreciated by attending.

The Wisdom Book Authors are:

– Theresa & Charles Brown (Book Introduction/Presenters)

– Patricia Lee – 2006 Legacy Awardee

– Tavares Taylor – 2009 Legacy Awardee

– Emmy Vickers – 2009 Legacy Awardee

– Peg Duchesne – 2010 Legacy Awardee

– Stanley Plotkin – 2010 Legacy Awardee

– Sylvia Henderson – 2011 Legacy Awardee

– Maynard Manzano – 2011 Legacy Awardee

– Rob & Nicole Howze – 2011 Legacy Awardees

– Gabrielle Williams – 2011 Legacy Awardee

– Ken Rochon- 2011 Legacy Awardee

If you are going to attend you can purchase your book on location. Please be sure to see me for your purchase. If you can not attend please contact me to order your book. It will make a great gift and will be a wonderful read for any one who needs encouragement and inspiration. I'm so excited that our project has come to reality with book in hand!

Idea Discovery: Article – Ten easy ways to get your creative juices flowing

Stuck in an idea rut? Love the tips given in this article by Lola Rasminsky of theglobeandmail.com to get your creative juices flowing. These tips will help expand the ideas in your head. Read and enjoy!

Ten easy ways to get your creative juices flowing

Idea Discovery: Article – The 18 Most Ridiculous Startup Ideas That Eventually Became Successful

No matter how ridiculous you (or your friends/family) think your idea might be, read this article and see what “ridiculous” ideas eventually became SUPER successful. Don't discount your ideas. Get them out of your head and into the world!

The 18 Most Ridiculous Startup Ideas That Eventually Became Successful

Idea Discovery: Website – “TED Conversations”

Many of you are familiar with “TED, Ideas Worth Spreading” , but how many of you are familiar with “TED Conversations”?

TED Conversations offers an online venue to connect with others around the globe to discuss ideas, issues & thoughts as well as ask questions regarding ANY subject. In order to be a part of TED Conversations, you have to be a member, but sign-up is free! There are featured conversations as well as live, scheduled conversations. You can also start your own conversation. You can sort through the many conversations by category or view a list of all topics.

Check out TED Conversations today. It may inspire great ideas within you!

How’s It Going With YOUR Idea? Re-Focus and Revise for Real Results, Real Soon

You have great ideas and good intentions. You've been busy being busy, yet are you seeing progress with bringing your ideas to reality? Do you have a PROCESS you can apply to your ideas that ensures you take focused action for profitable implementation? Apply a collaborative discovery and accountability process to your ideas to get clear about, create (or renew) your strategy for, implement, and be accountable to your ideas whether they are business-related, organization-influenced, or personal.

I presented this 60-minute program last week for Small Business CEO members at the Smartly Spaced offices near Baltimore, MD to help them re-focus and revise their January intentions not yet achieved by now. It was part of a half-day, collaborative professional development program with Sharon Green ("Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life") and Mary Cate Claudias ("How to Get Your To-Do List, DONE") being the other presenters. Our overall program was called "Revitalize, Stay Energized, & Get Organized" and the feedback we received was that the timing was perfect for resetting goals, ideas, and plans as we enter the second quarter of the year.

Grab a cup, pull out your ideas from the beginning of the year, and watch my program recording HERE. Re-focus and revise your intentions for real results, real soon to stay in action.

Also…join me on April 16, 10am-1:30pm, at Norbeck Country Club for my hands-on intensive where you can actually work on your renewed idea or plans, in real time, and collaborate with others in a live event setting. There are three webinars that are part of this program, also, called "Over-Thinking & Under-Doing: I've Got to Finally Get Things Done!". Click the link for details and registration.

Sylvia

Idea Discovery: Article – The 12 Things That Successfully Convert a Great Idea Into a Reality

Make your IMPACT(c) … one idea at a time!
Here's my Idea Discovery for today to help you do just that.

I really enjoyed this article pertaining to ideas and entrepreneurship – “The 12 Things That Successfully Convert a Great Idea Into a Reality” by Glenn Llopis, contributor at Forbes.com. When it comes to turning your ideas into reality, so much of it is attitude as you’ll read here. I hope you all enjoy it and share it as well.

My goal is to serve you with resources and strategies that help you clarify, organize, and implement your ideas.

Stay connected with me for more Idea Discoveries.
IdeaSuccessNetwork.com
Sylvia Henderson, Your Idea Coach
Author: "Hey, That's MY Idea! How to Communicate and Get Recognized for What You Know and Think"

Decisions, Decisions: It’s Idea Madness!

“March Madness” is the period of the annual NCAA college basketball tournament, with the majority of the competition set in March. Fans and followers use a visual chart as a decision tool to track team plays and statistics throughout the tournament. The tool identifies team pairings as brackets that show who plays whom at each stage of tournament progress. Such an organized chart is effective as a visual tool for keeping track of the details involved in deciding on which teams to focus as the winners of each round of play winnow down to the final championship team.

We can use a similar tool for deciding on which of our ideas to focus our energy! This tool is most effective for making decisions between dis-similar ideas for short-term implementation.

Here’s how it works. DOWNLOAD “DECISION TOOL: ‘Idea Madness’ Bracket Chart” HERE. Identify multiple ideas you have on which you’re contemplating taking action, yet only have time or other resources for acting on one in the immediate future.

a. Place your first idea in the first box in the farthest left-hand column of the chart. Place a “+” sign after your idea. Write your same idea in the second box below the first and place a “-” sign after your idea. You should now have your first idea in the first two boxes in the left column with the only difference being the plus and minus signs in the boxes. Continue with this pattern for each of your dis-similar ideas in the boxes in the far-left, then the far-right columns.

b. Now return to the first idea and look only at that idea for now. In the “+” box for that idea, list the details you consider to be positives about the idea. List the negatives in the “-” box. Do the same for each of the ideas you’ve listed, considering only each idea within itself for now.

c. Next, return to the first idea and examine your positives and negatives. Decide which “wins” in terms of whether or not this idea is viable to continue considering for your short-term focus. Place your decision – the positives or the negatives “winning” – in the box to the right of the +/- pairing. Do the same for each of your idea pairings. For the ones listed in the far-right column of boxes, move towards the left.

d. With your +/- decisions made about each of your ideas, now compare the pairings of dis-similar ideas in the second columns and decide which “wins” in terms of on which of the two deserves your focus for near-term results. Remember that this process is best for short-term implementation rather than long-term considerations.

e. Continue this decision process as you move towards the center of the chart. Your final decision as you compare each pairing of dis-similar ideas will be in the center of the chart. That will be the idea on which you’ve decided to focus your energy and resources in the short term.

See the example I’ve included on the second page of the worksheet. This is an example of someone deciding on which product to focus her network marketing team for the next 30 days for a sales contest. Share this tool and process with your team and with others whose success you care about, and invite them to get their own Idea Success Notes so they don’t miss a single issue. Who knows which nugget will make the difference in getting their ideas out of their heads and into action, changing their lives!

Idea Discovery: Website – We Rock Your Web

One of the most difficult aspects of putting our ideas into action is the time it takes to research tools available to us, and the overwhelming access to tools we can use. If we're technology immigrants rather than technology natives, then implementing our ideas using technology is overwhelming in and of itself.

I found this resource that seems to offer unbiased (by the researcher/reviewers anyway!) and thorough reviews of a variety of web-based and digital tools. It looks to be a Consumer Report(TM)-type resource for web and digital tools. The dates of their research publications are clearly displayed so that you know how current is their information.

We Rock Your Web