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Getting Business ideas that sell
by Angela Booth
As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't
make it drink. You can offer your writing too, but if no one wants
it, you're stuck.
You've got to train yourself to come up with saleable ideas, for specific
audiences. Somehow, someway, you've got to discover what people want,
and give it to them in your writing. The more successfully you do
that, the more you'll sell.
==> To get more ideas, write more .
In an article, the prolific thriller/ horror writer Dean Koontz said
that when he wrote more, spending six to eight hours a day at it,
he got more ideas. He frequently found himself writing one book, while
making notes for another two or three.
It's true. If you're not writing, you won't get ideas. Your subconscious
mind is lazy. You haven't convinced it that finding ideas is important
to you, so you don't get them.
Start a program of writing every day. Write anything, but make sure
that you're doing it for at least an hour, and that you force yourself
to write. Get your fingers on the keyboard, and move them. Let whatever
wants to come out, come out.
Sounds like work, right?
Sure. At first it is. Then it's fun. And easy. The first couple of
days you do this, you may feel that it's pointless. But I promise
you, keep at it, and within a few days you'll start coming up with
more ideas that you know what to do with.
==> If you want to know what people want just ask them.
One way to find out what people are interested in is to read the bestseller
lists. What are people buying? Extrapolate from these lists. Can you
find any new trends?
On the other hand, the best way to discover what people are willing
to buy, is to ask them. Go to the online places where they hang out,
and ask.
For example, let's say that in your day job, you're a nutritionist.
You know that diet is a perennially popular topic. You advise dieters
on how to eat, and you've garnered a lot of experience in how and
why people put on weight, and ways that they can safely dump the lard.
You decide that you need to learn what people really want to know.
So you subscribe to a few discussion groups, and after you've read
the postings for a few weeks, and have posted responses to some questions,
you ask your own questions.
Be straightforward about this. Just admit that you're doing research,
and ask for help. Post a questionnaire for people to fill in. (Assure
them that their privacy will be respected.)
After a month of this, you'll get ideas for products (articles, books)
that will sell.
==> The sure-fire formula for winning instantly saleable
ideas is to combine entertainment and information.
You need to be clear about what you're selling. With non-fiction,
you're selling information. With fiction, you're selling entertainment.
The best way to sell either fiction or non-fiction is to combine both
in your writing.
Mix a dash of entertainment with your information. That is, when you're
writing an information product, an article or a book, even though
it's non-fiction, don't be dull. Check out the wildly popular For
Dummies series of books: good information, delivered with an entertaining
style.
On the other hand, if you're writing fiction, ground it in real life
with good information. I'm a fan of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.
Definitely fiction, but Ms Gabaldon grounds her time-travel historical
novels in their era with fascinating facts that make the unbelievable
plots credible.
