One thing I learned at The World Internet Summit UK 2007 was that anyone can have ideas; they’re kind of ten-a-penny.

What makes the difference is actually acting on your ideas and making them a reality.

But, it’s important not to get overwhelmed and drown in the “idea Tsunami”

Unfortunately, far too many hopeful Internet Marketers find their hopes dashed upon the rocks because they try and pursue too many ideas before they complete their first one.

Stick to your first idea until you’ve completed it, until it’s made a dollar or two. Then move on to the next.

And as Tracy Repchuck would say, the skill is in identifying those niche ideas that actually make sense, that will actually make a difference to your bottom line. How do you identify a profitable niche? I’ll talk in detail on that in a later post, I promise.

So how do you prevent idea overload?

Here’s a few simple tips:

1. Keep a notebook with you at all times — if you carry a notebook or notepad with you then simply scribble down the idea. Sounds too easy, doesn’t it?! Well, maybe some of the best ideas are the easiest ones to implement
2. Lean how to use Mind Maps — possibly the best thing that I’ve ever learned is the effective use of Mind Mapping techniques. It gives you a truly wonderful way of recording your ideas on paper in such a way that makes it easier to remember when you refer back to it later on.
3. Don’t worry about all the details of an idea when you first get it — think big picture level first. Write that down, but describe it in full or use the Mind Mapping technique.
4. Refer to your idea journal whenever you have a spare hour — if you’re like me, you’ll never get that spare hour, but you might be able to more effectively use your, erm, bathroom time — re-visit your ideas every so often just to keep them in mind. When you come back to something, you usually have a fresh pair of eyes for the subject, so you might just find that it’s not such a good idea after all!
5. Make it a habit to keep your ideas in the journal — you’ll always have something to refer to, and you’ll always be ready for your next project because you’d have assessed all the ideas you’ve ever had. Sometimes you’ll find that although one idea is no good whatsoever, it may trigger something else in your creative thinking which lead to a far more profitable idea.

Simple steps, but I’ve found they help me.

But what’s this got to do with Internet Marketing …?

… on the surface, not a lot. It seems that I’ve been talking about idea management. However, once you get started in Internet Marketing, you’ll have a flood of good ideas, but just because you have an idea, it doesn’t mean you have to put it into action!

Leave it to mature for a while before you take action on it, because the last thing you want to do is go down the wrong path! Taking action is good; setting out on the trip is great; but make sure you’ve got a suitable map for the journey, eh?

Next time I’ll give a little insight into how to research your niche …

… I’ll even give you a map, ok?

Tags: internet+marketing, ideas, idea+management, creative+thinking