I meet thousands of entrepreneurs every year and most of them share a common desire; they want to ACCELERATE.
They want to know how to make the process of finding clients, winning business and making a profit faster.
It’s a reasonable goal.
After all, life is short so there’s no time to waste!
One of the most effective ways to accelerate the progress of your business is with what we call Sideways Thinking.
One of the reasons many businesses grow at a glacial pace is because the business owner is isolated and as a result, they don’t get exposed to any Sideways Thinking.
Speed in business requires the Constant Innovation of your Marketing.
As a business owner, you need to be testing and implementing all the time. If you’re not, then there’s a good chance that what you’re offering will quickly become outdated.
The reality is, it’s hard to do sideways thinking alone. It’s through the process of being exposed to other people’s ideas that your creativity gets sparked.
Google is one of the world’s most innovative companies and have the advantage of having a massive workforce spread across the world to help fuel ideas. But Google recognised that in order to ensure they didn’t lose the spirit of innovation that spawned their success, they needed to implement a process that would promote sideways thinking – so they created their pillars of innovation.
Here are Seven of those pillars.
- Have a mission that matters
Work can be more than a job when it stands for something you care about. If you are driven to achieve more than a sale, if you want to make a difference, then you will continue to innovate to find a better way.
- Think big but start small
No matter how ambitious the plan, you have to roll up your sleeves and start somewhere. Never be overwhelmed by the size of a task – just pick a start point and begin.
- Strive for continual innovation, not instant perfection
Understand that where you start is seldom ever where you’ll finish, so be ready to adjust course, change direction and constantly evolve as you learn more.
- Look for ideas everywhere
Some of the best ideas are found in the most unusual of places, so keep your antenna up at all times for cool ideas. Expose yourself to new books, experiences and opportunities because that’s where you’ll find the good stuff.
- Share everything
The more you are willing to share what you know, the more likely people become to share what they know with you. If you want to go faster – share more. It’s that simple.
- Spark with imagination, fuel with data
Marketing is ultimately a test and measure activity. Once you implement an idea, you need to measure its impact and adjust, improve or abandon it accordingly. Don’t fall in love with an idea; fall in love with constantly implementing ideas until you find the one that works.
- Never fail to fail
It’s okay to fail as long as you learn from your mistakes and correct them fast. Trust me, we’ve failed plenty of times. Knowing that it’s okay to fail can free you up to take risks. Fear of failure is the biggest roadblock to success there is.
Google’s approach is underpinned by a fundamental belief in the power of sideways thinking. Google leverages the power of it’s people to continuously share ideas to fuel innovation and create new products, processes and possibilities.
As a small business owner it’s likely you don’t have a vast network of staff to tap into for ideas, and that’s why entrepreneurs need other entrepreneurs.
Isolation is the enemy of innovation.
It’s difficult to create when there is no one to bounce ideas around with. It also means you have to test every idea alone. But when you’re connected to a network of like-minded entrepreneurs, you can ask questions and get answers without having to fall down every pothole.
If you want access to a place that can help you accelerate your knowledge and help you get answers and ideas, then I’d encourage you to join the Marketers Club Insiders Facebook Group.
It’s FREE to join and it will help you connect, innovate and accelerate your progress.
Join now and let’s start helping each other to go faster.