It seems I am seeing a lot about creativity lately. Perhaps it is because of the economic mess. We have all been encouraged to be “creative” about how we can do business for less, get our message out and meet market needs. Some have asked what it takes to be truly creative and have gone in search of enlightenment through books, internet and lectures. I think it takes very few “things” to be creative: curiosity and questions.
Curiosity opens our minds to new ideas and people. Just because I own a web-based business for women over 55 doesn’t mean that is what I read about exclusively. I read about fashion, decorating, architecture, travel, technology, cars, inventions, business, fiction AND almost all the books my grandchildren read so I will know what they are thinking about. From this love affair with the written word I have “met” many of the fascinating women on my site, many of the fascinating women I have written about in my After 55 column or in these blog entries and have had more darn fun connecting with people at gatherings and being able to keep up my end of the conversation. You know that these conversations lead to . . . who knows where?
Questions expand horizons. Take a look at every part of your business and ask, “Why do I do it this way? Is there a different/better way? What would be best for my client?” If you take this step seriously, you may find some surprising answers. You may not want to continue a product or process. You may find a much better way of being useful to your client. You may discover a new profit center.
Being creative doesn’t require anything more than a curious mind, good questions, and pencil and paper. Oh, the places you will go! — Thank you, Dr. Seuss!
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 5:48 am and is filed under General Business, Marketing, Personal Growth, Productivity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Leave a Reply
