Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition

Setting Up an Idea Vault

Are you so busy with your daily responsibilities that you have little time for creative thinking? If so, you're not alone.

Ideas are treasures we want but rarely seek. And when it comes to developing great content, you'll need ideas.

Where do fresh ideas come from?

“Ideas don't need a passport, and often cross borders (of all kinds) with impunity,” explained Seth Godin.⁴

Ideas are out there, right in front of you. As your rocket ship propels through space, you'll find great ideas. You simply need to grab and store them.

There's a time and a place to execute great ideas. Likely, however, it's not when you first discover them. And be forewarned: When ideas come your way they won't stay for long. The worries of your work will repel them—sometimes forever.

That's why you need an idea vault—a place where your ideas can live and be easily fetched when needed.

When I was in college, I often flew home to my family during holiday breaks. While stuck at 40,000 feet above the United States, I'd read those airline magazines tucked in the seatback in front of me.

Whenever I found something interesting or really creative, I simply ripped out the pages. Everything ended up in a manila file folder for possible later use.

Some of those ideas remain in the folder to this very day. Others I referenced years after I discovered them. But one thing's for sure: Those ideas haven't gone anywhere.

You may not read as many magazines as you used to. But ideas are still out there. ...