Your Great Idea, Whose Time Has Come

“It is astonishing what an effort it seems to be for many people to put their brains definitely and systematically to work.”
— Thomas A. Edison, inventor

In Issue #147

Your Great Idea, Whose Time Has Come
by Krista Jones

In his classic audio program Lead the Field, the late Earl Nightingale recommends that listeners spend one hour a day thinking of ways to do their jobs better. Then he provides examples of how people’s careers changed after following through on their best ideas.

I’ve always thought that was a fabulous idea. Yet I’ve never made myself do it.

This past weekend I wondered why.

I’m too busy. I wouldn’t come up with any good ideas. I wouldn’t know how to act on the ideas. All those reasons shot through my mind, but here’s the only one that was true…

There’s never been enough at stake.

This is no fun to admit, but maybe I’d invest the time if someone forced my hand. The following example will give you an idea of what I mean:

In 2000, Jeffrey Immelt became Chairman and CEO of General Electric. Shortly after he took over, he asked his predecessor, Jack Welch, for advice on how to run the company.

Jack replied, “I’ll simply give you the same advice that my predecessor gave me.”

Then Jack paused, and took a breath, and merely said: “Blow it up!”

Jeffrey took his advice and now has many astonishing accomplishments since taking over GE. Here’s the one that stood out the most for me…

Jeffrey required that every single employee come up with an idea that could generate $100 million dollars a year.

And you know what?

Thirty-five of the final 50 ideas were “green-lighted” for development. These ideas are estimated to be worth over $5 billion to GE.

Gosh, that sort of makes me wish I had been working for GE back in 2000! At least Jeffrey’s challenge would have provided the impetus for me to imagine. For me to take the time to wonder, “What if?”

What about you—do you need an external force to get you to think up something radical?

Just think of what it would mean to your career to spend time each day coming up with ways to do things better.

As self-employed people, how would even a $1 million idea change the way you and I do business?

I don’t know the answer to that one just yet, but I sure would like to find out.

Resource Referral: Blow It Up!

My account of Jeffrey Immelt’s leadership came from Finding the World’s Best Ideas: How to Access More Than $100,000 Worth of Intelligence for as Little as 55 Cents a Day!

Monica and I just released Finding the World’s Best Ideas last week. It’s about conducting effective and efficient research. But it isn’t just for copywriting projects and marketing promotions…

It’s about coming up with Big Ideas or “Blowing It Up” for every business concept, book or product you want to create.

It’s about shaking your ideas up. Breaking out of complacency and daring to be radical.

Written by a professional researcher, Finding the World’s Best Ideas will teach you to…

Click here to download Finding the World’s Best Ideas: How to Access More Than $100,000 Worth of Intelligence for as Little as 55 Cents a Day!

Right now, the cost is only $99 while we’re still offering it to only Copy Protégé readers. There’s a good chance the price will go when it goes out to other lists. You also get two bonus reports:

If you’re not thrilled with the knowledge you gain from this report, let us know within the next 30 days and we’ll give you your money back. Not to worry, we’ll still be friends.

This program will help you come up with your $1 million idea. Happy breakthroughs!

Scroll Call # 7: From Chalkboards to Chopsticks
by Laurie Cauthen

Just recently, I was remembering the day my life started to change when I received the basic AWAI copywriting program six months ago. In recalling that exciting moment, it made me remember from where I first started.

I’ve had some pretty tough jobs, such as corrections officer, police officer and firefighter. As far back as I can remember I’ve defended people…

Growing up in Miami, I developed that trait early, as I protected my younger brothers and sisters from neighborhood bullies.

Consequently my past life influenced the career choices I made back then, but now…

My life has changed so drastically that it’s hard to believe it’s only been six months since I have been a member of AWAI. Those other public service careers seem like a whole different lifetime ago. However, I am very grateful to have had those career experiences, because they instilled leadership and decision -making skills that are valuable in any career.

Lately I have been writing for the local newspaper in my community and…

In preparing for my first article for the newspaper, I had to take some pictures of the park that I wrote about in my story. That’s when it hit me; I was my own boss and completely in control of my own schedule. I was enjoying this beautiful park and I could stay there as long as I wanted! That was an important thunder-bolt moment. The moment I realized that I am actually living the writers’ life!

Writing freelance articles showed me the joy and the freedom that we are all striving to achieve. I wake up every morning with excitement, passion and purpose. Every day is a new opportunity to do great things and touch people’s lives in a way that I was never able to do lastingly before in my other careers.

My second newspaper article introduced me to Phil Morris, an inventor who developed the newest technology in athletic resistance training. He has invested 2.5 million in his device. The House of Speed in Chicago used his machine to train pro athletes. The results were amazing increases in speed without the use of steroids or performance enhancing drugs. You can check out his website at www.powerpull.com

My third and recent article is about a middle school teacher who is leaving the states to do cultural and educational research in Shenzhen, China for the completion of her Educational Doctorate Degree. The title of my article is “From Chalkboards to Chopsticks.”

I am honing my copywriting skills as I write these articles, as well as gaining wonderful experience, and gathering new prospects and networking contacts.

I may be enjoying a sweet writer’s life at this moment, but I must diligently continue my studies because I have a very important date to keep in April. I responded to an email that Bob Bly sent out asking for comments about his newsletter. In addition to making suggestions and comments, I asked if I could work with him on an assignment. He said yes and to call him in April. You can bet I’ll be contacting “The King of Credentials”
Bob Bly on April 1st!

Until next time….