Author Archive
Idea Discovery: Website – Spheres Graphics
Make your IMPACT(c) … one idea at a time!
Here’s my Idea Discovery for today to help you do just that.
Want to add sizzle to your visuals so you present your ideas more professionally? Check out this terrific website I found with TONS of individual – free – icons, web art, buttons, and more! Mouserunner.com offers Spheres Graphics, providing MAC & Windows downloads of icons in various sizes. You can spend literally hours here!
Click HERE for access.
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 at 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”
Setting Priorities…Like Filling a Jar With Rocks, Stones, Pebbles, & Sand (VIDEO)
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| When I do workshops on setting goals for your ideas, breaking goals down into actionable steps, and then determining the priorities of those actions, I frequently use an analogy – and a handout – referencing filling a jar with rocks (the big items / top priorities), stones (of medium importance), pebbles (the items that you tag for “getting to at some point”), and sand (the small and many “to dos” in life). A friend shared this video with me that highlights these analogies. It’s a powerful visual that compliments my handout / worksheet. |
Idea Discovery: Article – Why your best ideas rarely make it past your desk
Make your IMPACT(c) … one idea at a time!
Here’s my Idea Discovery for today to help you do just that.
In my opinion, LinkedIn is one of the best resources online for making professional connections and finding great content. I recently read this LinkedIn article, ‘Why Your Best Ideas Rarely Make it Past Your Desk’, written by James G. Bohn, Ph.D., a management consultant at ProAxios. In his article, James unveils his findings after researching why some ideas, even great ones, never get off the ground. He asked participants three questions based on their experiences regarding ideas. What he found were five critical actions that need to happen for your ideas to flourish. James’ article aligns perfectly with my IMPACT(c) process. I hope you enjoy it and find a few ‘a-ha’ moments that will help to elevate your idea to the next level!
Read James’ article HERE and share it with friends, family members and associates who will find it helpful in implementing their ideas!
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”
Not Too Late – Five 4Q Actions to Save Your Business & Get to “Done” This Year
I had a conversation with a colleague the other day and she lamented that she had not gotten as far this year with accomplishing her goals as she would have liked. What alarmed me was that she wrote off this year – and it was only October – saying that it was too late to handle anything more this year, and that she would “get to planning to take care of things at the beginning of next year”. “Whoa!”, I said. First, there’s a few weeks left in 4Q (the fourth quarter of a year), and productivity in those few weeks can mean a make-or-break difference for completing a goal by December 31. And second, why wait until year-end to make plans for the next year? Actively sitting down, looking back on the first three quarters of the year, assessing what can still be salvaged of the year, and determining how to make the last quarter as productive as possible IS taking action…immediate action.
My clients invest in my holding them accountable through the very last day of the year. And I run popular programs such as my “Create Your One-Page Plan for the New Year” that are full-day sessions taking people through the process of creating their own one-page plans during the workshop so that they leave with their action strategies and steps in their hands, potentially able to begin taking action on Monday after the workshops. But for you – in this article – I give you five fourth-quarter actions that they invest in me to give them because I want to serve as many people as I can, keeping you in intentional movement right up to the special day I created for the last business day of a year…”No Interruptions Day” (usually December 31). Here, “on the house”, are five 4Q actions to save your business and get to “done” this year.
Pick one project / goal for the remainder of the year. Pick the most-important one you have that will move you forward within the fourth quarter. Set aside the rest of the projects / goals / ideas / intentions you may not have gotten to. They’ll be there for you to get to, or change, after 4Q this year. Then calculate the number of productive weeks from now until the end of the year. I figure on three “good” weeks each for October, November, and December where people – especially people who have full-time jobs – will be at work and answering their phones. Identify one milestone for each of those productive weeks that you can set towards reaching that one goal and set that milestone to “due by” the end of each productive week. Hold yourself to each week’s milestone.
Get an accountability partner to hold you to each of your milestones to the end of the year. It’s so easy to find excuses for yourself and not reach “done” for that milestone by the end of the week. I know! I teach and counsel and consult on this and I still have accountability partners – paid and friends – whom I need to hold me to my own commitments.
Schedule 1:1 time with at least three people with whom you’ve been intending to connect and just have not gotten to doing so yet. Those partial weeks that are less-productive as the holidays set in…schedule a breakfast, lunch, or coffee meeting with those three people to establish or build upon vital relationships. Make these three people who, over time, can help you through direct business, referrals, or you don’t know yet until you meet with them. Remember the adage that you just never know who knows, or is connected to, whom until you spend time getting to know them. It’s not always about getting direct business from someone!
Do a business & personal performance review report card for the year that is ending. Spend a half- or full-day being honest with yourself, and being proud of yourself, assessing how you performed with key areas of your business as well as tending to your relationships, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. I have an actual program I take my clients through – and offer it as a stand-alone program via a day-long telephone conference, workbook, and assignments process – based on years of investing in coaches and consultants myself and a look at the success factors of my own years in business. I also have a free Idea Lab video where I give you a short, complimentary version of this session. I can’t include active links in these articles so just go to my website – IdeaSuccessNetwork-dot-com – and click on the “Contact” menu selection to send me a note requesting the link to that program. (Forewarning: when you do, I will ask you to connect with me more permanently by getting my Idea Success Notes tips & best practices for ideation and implementation.)
Pull together your business and personal paperwork so you can access what you need for year-end and planning purposes. Instead of giving other people your money on the Friday after Thanksgiving, or standing in returns lines the day after your celebrated holiday, dedicate a few hours when you can’t reach anyone else because they’re spending their money to searching for, gathering together, and organizing your paperwork so you won’t waste time doing it when you can be in fast action as the new year begins.
If you take just a couple of these 4Q actions – let alone all of them – in the last weeks of the year while others lament that they have no more time, you’ll be far ahead of the game and you’ll have momentum you build from being in action right up until the last day of the year. I can help you stay in action when you connect with me and participate in my “One-Page Plan for the New Year” and “Business & Personal Performance Review / Report Card” programs. Use the “contact” link at my website to get details and register for them. These 4Q actions truly can save your business and get you to “done” with at least one goal, project, idea, or intention – still – this year!
Idea Discovery: Website – Infographic Journal
Make your IMPACT(c) … one idea at a time!
Here’s my Idea Discovery for today to help you do just that.
If you love using visuals on social media or as part of an email campaign, I came across this terrific resource for infographics. Infographic Journal is a website that focuses on the best infographics on the internet. An infographic is a visual representation of information. Infographic Journal publishes anywhere between 35-50 new high quality infographics every week, bringing you the best of the best in infographics.
If you happen to be a creator of Infographics, you can also submit your own masterpieces to the site. One of the great features on this site is the ‘Embed Code Generator’. The Embed Code Generator is a plugin for your WordPress website, capable of adding an “Embed This” code to posts that contain infographics you wish to allow people to share. I hope you enjoy checking out the infographics as much as I did. Share my blog with others that will find value in it! Click HERE to access Infographic Journal.
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”
Idea Discovery: Tagxedo
Make your IMPACT(c) … one idea at a time!
Here’s my Idea Discovery for today to help you do just that.
Check out this amazing tool I found for creating word clouds! Tagxedo analyzes an entire website from just entering the url and creates a customizable word cloud for you to use on your website, social media, blogging or anywhere you can think of! You can take an article or any other document and submit it for analysis and voila! you have a word cloud. Choose colors, shapes, layout, etc. Save it to your computer to use at any time. Very cool! Try it HERE
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”
Idea Discovery: Article – Are These 10 Excuses Stopping You From Achieving Your Goals?
Make your IMPACT(c) … one idea at a time!
Here’s my Idea Discovery for today to help you do just that.
What excuses are stopping you from reaching your goals? With determination, consistency and commitment, you can change the way you think and stop making excuses for what you aren’t doing. Read this article by Vishal Ingole, contributor to LifeHacker India, who lists ten common excuses of those who aren’t achieving the success they would like in life.
Read it here – Are These 10 Excuses Stopping You From Achieving Your Goals?
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”
Idea Discovery: 52 Article Templates from Ezine Articles
Make your IMPACT(c) … one idea at a time!
Here’s my Idea Discovery for today to help you do just that.
For those of you who belong to Ezine Articles, a free website for article publishing, or those of you who want become a member, publish your articles and have access to a variety of article templates, Ezine Articles is offering 52 article templates for only $19.97. Here is a sample Product Review Article Template. Unfortunately, if you are not a current member of Ezine Articles, you will not have access to this offer, but membership is free for those who want to purchase the templates.
Here are more details from the site:
The 52 interactive Article Templates include the following outstanding article template favorites:
- How-To Article Template
- Pros and Cons Article Template
- Pain Avoidance Article Template
- Top 7 Tips Article Template
- I Love Article Template
- Things to Do Article Template
- Things to Avoid Article Template
- Traps and How to Escape Article Template
- Golden Rules of X Article Template
- Product Review Article Template
What can the Article Templates do for you?
- Help you easily organize your thoughts and ideas
- Build a huge quality, original article portfolio
- Structure your future articles in a clear, easy-to-understand way
- Obtain more free time to spend on other tasks
- Increase traffic to your website or blog
- Amplify your exposure as an expert in your niche
- Take the guesswork out of writing articles
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”
Help Your Ideas Take Shape…Love PowerPoint™!
It seems that “everyone” hates PowerPoint™! At one time there was even a website dedicated to how poorly presenters use the tool. I’m bucking the trend to tell you that I LOVE PowerPoint™. It’s the tool I most use to share my visual messages, organize my thoughts, and convey what I’m thinking.
I’m often asked how I do what I do with the tool. I thought I would share 7 ways to use PowerPoint to visualize your thoughts and convey what’s in your head so that you, too, might learn to love the tool.
And no – I do not have any financial interest in Microsoft or the MS Office Suite. I simply grew up on Wintel (Windows & Intel) computers using MS Office products and have learned how to make them indispensable tools in my business.
So here are seven ways to visualize your ideas – your thoughts; what’s in your head – with PowerPoint (or similar) presentation software.
(Note: I use and reference PowerPoint™ 2010 in this article.)
1. Idea concept sketch
Use PowerPoint shapes to sketch your idea. You can draw all kinds of figures and shapes, and add text, directional flow, highlights, and more with arrows and other shapes available in the “Insert Shapes” area. Circles, squares, lines, arrows, and the like can be combined to create drawings that, when grouped together, copied, and pasted as graphics, you can insert into documents, presentations, email and texts or post to social media.
2. Idea concept build
Sketch a concept, insert clip art or pictures, and use SmartArt to create a foundational visual…the base visual that you will build upon. Then add additional graphic components directly over the foundational visual. Alternatively you can create consecutive slides where you build increased complexity from the foundational slide so that you show how an idea concept develops and progresses layer-by-layer.
3. Infographic
Search your favorite web browser for “infographic templates PowerPoint”. A couple of free template sites I found for PowerPoint infographics (as of this writing) are Visual.ly and Infogr.am. My favorite templates resource is PresenterMedia.com which is all-PowerPoint-based. It also has a plethora of clipart, animations, and customizable clipart. There’s an annual fee for PresenterMedia but it’s well worth it if you do a lot of visualizations and create a lot of presentations.
The alternative to using templates to create infographics is to create a PowerPoint “slide” however long you want your infographic to be. Do this by using the “Design” and “Page Setup” selections to set the length and width of the page size. Then use shapes, graphics, and colors to create your infographic.
4. Video
Video is a great way to take people on a tour with photos, show the development progression of an idea, inspire, teach, announce something new, or otherwise show sequencing and motion. And video is SEO-friendly for websites.
Create your slides with pictures, text, and whatever other graphic components you want to use to show your idea concept. Add narration and transitions to your slides, setting transition timing to work with your narration as appropriate. Then use the “Save and Send” option at the “File” menu tab and “Create a Video”. You can add music as “narration” prior to this stage of the process, or queue music to the video with a video editor after you create the visual video. I’ve created many videos using PowerPoint without expensive video production software and equipment!
5. Vision board
Instead of cutting pictures out of magazines and gluing them to poster board – which is a great activity in itself when you want to do this – find royalty-free photos online, buy pictures through websites that sell them, or do some cutting-and-pasting from online magazines (which you can do by using the “PrtScrn” key on your keyboard, “Paste”ing into PowerPoint, and then cropping only what you want for your vision board). Stack the pictures into one slide. “Bring to Front” and “Send to Back” individual photos to layer them; tilt them different ways for the appearance of pictures askew on poster board. When you have the “vision board” looking the way you want, “Group” everything together and “Save As Picture” onto your hard drive.
If you want your digital vision board to be portable so you can carry your vision board with you at all times, upload the graphic you created to your mobile device.
6. Composite photos
These are photos with text or other graphics superimposed on the photo. I do this a lot with the quotations I post on social media and put into my newsletters.
Import a photo into PowerPoint and expand it as large as you can on a slide. “Insert Shapes” and insert a text box onto the slide over the photo. Type the text you want to superimpose onto the photo and set the text color so that it contrasts nicely with the photo as background. Group the components and you have a composite photo.
7. Index / note cards
I organize my thoughts by creating slides in “thumbnail view”. I select a slide, type my thoughts, and add any visualizations I want. With PowerPoint in “thumbnail view”, I move slides around as if they are index cards as I organize my thoughts. Add / delete slides as appropriate. Then print all slides as 6 or 9 slides/per page to have a printout of the “note cards”.
I demonstrate how to do all seven of these visualizations in my “Idea Lab: How to LOVE PowerPoint for Idea Visualization” program. Register so that you can receive a complimentary recording of the session.
Give PowerPoint a second look and see if you can use it as an idea visualization tool. Love it rather than leave it and you just might convey your thoughts and organize your messages more effectively.
Author: Sylvia Henderson
Contact: www.IdeaSuccessNetwork.com/contact/
Idea Discovery: Article – Chasing Your Big Idea Won’t Lead to Success
Make your IMPACT(c) … one idea at a time!
Here’s my Idea Discovery for today to help you do just that.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article this week, so I wanted to share it as my Idea Discovery to remind you that some of the greatest successes come from improving upon an already developed product or service.
Written by Neal Samudre, contributor to The Huffington Post, this article explains that the “big idea” is actually a culmination of many simple ideas. Enjoy and share!
Read ‘Chasing Your Big Idea Won’t Lead to Success’
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”