Maybe these ideas don’t seem to be getting you anywhere. Perhaps you can’t yet see how they fit into the bigger picture of what you do, or anyone else does. Or perhaps you can make the connections, but no one else can.

Should you take your ideas seriously? Or should you shift your focus to something more mainstream?

Learning by Example

In the last few months, I’ve had the chance to speak with a number of online innovators: people who’ve started their own niche businesses, developed digital products, created entirely new segments or markets, and so on. It struck me that every day, step by step, these people had proceeded into the unknown.

Of course, each day is a step into the unknown for everyone, but most of us spend our days in the safety of an established discipline or field. Few of us ever step beyond the boundaries of what’s known.

The irony is that the web is flexible, with blurry boundaries. It has great possibilities for innovation that take us from the warm shallows into the uncharted depths beyond what we know now. For example, the work of many people has allowed social media to change the web from a “selling” medium to a “sharing” medium, and has created new boundaries: new markets, new concepts, and new ideas.

The individuals I spoke to had ideas, and they’d pursues those ideas independently of the market and their peers. They’d had to define and establish new boundaries outside the existing frameworks. Their passions had led them into a new space, and they’d wanted to make a living in that space. This had necessitated communicating the new boundaries to others, and to sell their idea to the point of becoming a profitable, business-sustaining proposition.

Recognizing Ideas

To say “someone had an idea” is, I think, an enormous simplification of the facts. Innovation isn’t all “light bulb moments” and flashes of inspiration. The process of defining a new space is something like a pregnancy. It starts with a seed of thought, which develops almost imperceptibly at first, but slowly becomes clearer and more formed. But its differentiation from the existing body of knowledge, experience and expertise can take a very long time. Eventually, though, the component parts become evident, the concept takes shape, and a new idea is recognized — perhaps only by its creator at first.

The innovator may not realize that she had “an idea” to begin with; the seed of thought may have been just one of many. But that thought resurfaced in different forms, connected with another thought, and became more clearly defined.

In short, before a social network was a social network, it may have been a way to find out who knows who (as Facebook was), a personal bulletin board made public, or a simulacrum of the water cooler. It was most likely an inclination, interest, whim, or wish before it became a development project.

Your Innovation, 2011

That niche area you’re interested in? Stay interested. Those articles you’ve been bookmarking? Read them. Those thoughts that keep circling around in your head? Keep looking at them.

Before your idea can be born, it needs time to form — and during that time, it may seem like anything but an idea. The only way to bring it to light is to follow the threads that pique your interest.

Indulge your passions or interests, and think about the issues that most appeal to you. It might not happen today or tomorrow, but you might just become one of the web’s great innovators.

How do you bring ideas to fruition?

Image by stock.xchng user Buckey.

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Adobe Ideas is a brand new free iPhone and iPad app, one that’s intended as a general purpose creative notebook, integrating sketches, images and a pretty amazing color scheming tool that can use either photos taken from the iPhone’s camera or any images in your library as its source.

User Interface

I wanted to start off by saying that this app has one of the best UIs I’ve ever come across in an iPhone app. And, surprisingly, it manages to achieve this using an interface that doesn’t feel very “Apple.”

Flat buttons and sliding menus make everything about this app feel smooth as butter and oh-so-responsive. I found myself eager to create new ideas, organize them, and then delete them just for the pleasure of interacting with the app’s various menus and buttons. Other developers should take note; doing something original like Adobe’s done here can pay off hugely in terms of differentiating your application from thousands of copy-cats.

Usefulness

Enough crowing about how great the interface is. Just how usable is the app in actual real-world situations? Well, it’s honestly not really much more than an embellished drawing app, but it’s great at that. It has changeable brush sizes and opacity, a color picker, and the ability to add photo layers underneath your existing drawings, or to draw on top of existing photos. It doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles of some dedicated drawing apps, but you can export your work as PDF files via email, which is really all you should need on a mobile platform.

There’s also that color scheme generator, which graphic designers should go ga-ga for. It’s especially handy with the iPhone, since you can take a photo of literally anything you run across in your travels and the app will break it down to a five-color palette you can then use in print or web design. My only problem with this tool is that you can’t export the image, to be used with a color picker on your desktop, for example.

Bottom line: The Adobe Ideas app is free, it works for both iPhone and the iPad, and it’s a genuine pleasure to use. Grab it now if you do any kind of creative work.

Let us know what you think of Adobe Ideas in the comments.

If you want to direct lightning to strike a certain target, you erect a lightning rod. The lightning rod is frequently struck because of its particular construction, material and positioning. To become a lightning rod for inspiration, you have to pay attention to very similar things.

Record the Context

Writing down your ideas is a great way not to lose them, whether you’re doing so digitally or using more old-fashioned methods. But while many people write down what it is they thought of, few think to record what it was they were doing when they had such a great idea. The ground in which the fruitful plant grows, after all, is just as important as the plant itself.

While you’re writing down your genius idea, also jot down when, where, and, if possible, how the idea came to you. The idea is that over time, a pattern might emerge, one that could help you replicate the circumstances which produced inspiration in the first place. There are a couple of particularly good ways to go about this.

The Double-entry Notebook

A really good way to track not only what you’re thinking about, but how and when you’re thinking about it is using a double-entry notebook. It’s simple enough to create, just take an ordinary notebook and draw a line down the center of the page each time you start a new one. You could also pick up a stenographer’s notebook, which is pre-divided for you.

The idea is that you record your thoughts in the left-hand column, and then, right after that, record any contextual details about the conditions that generated the idea in the column on the right (or vice versa, the side doesn’t really make a difference). Include details like where you are, what you were thinking about before you came up with your idea, what was going on around you, etc.

Database/Spreadsheet

If you’re not so interested in the low-tech method, you could do pretty much the same thing using a database or spreadsheet program on your computer. Plain old Excel or Google Docs could do just fine, or a more advanced (and better organized) personal database app like Bento for the Mac might be more to your liking.

With something like Bento, you can create custom fields and enter all kinds of information, while keeping your format consistent. You could do the same thing with a custom form in Word, Acrobat or whatever other program you prefer to use. The important thing is that you have a way to capture data that you’re comfortable using, which should make you more likely to actually use it.

Processing the Data

Truth be told, a lot of what you learn using the process probably won’t be useful in the strictest sense. It’ll all be interesting, and you’ll probably learn a thing or two about yourself that will surprise you. But what you will gain from the experience is a number of shining points of overlap, things that you see recurring over and over again whenever you have your best ideas.

At least some of those things should be replicable, which means that you’ll be better able to provide a working situation in which motivation and inspiration will come easily and without much prodding. Basically, you’ll have reverse-engineered your inspiration process, and you’ll have an informed and complete view of how and why you work.

How do you get inspirational lighting to strike twice?

Image credit: flickr user KM Photography

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Idea Organizer is an app for the iPhone that I recently discovered that makes logging those ideas incredibly easy. There are other ways to do what it does, some via built-in tools offered by Apple itself, but no other solution brings all the features and functionality together in the same place.

Idea Organizer combines an audio recorder, a text notebook and an image capture tool to help make sure that you can not only keep track of any ideas that pop into your head, but also the ones you get from the world around you. You can create an idea using any type of media mentioned, and then add other types of content later to provide context.

The other reason I prefer this app to any other is that it keeps thing simple and has an intelligently designed user interface. The app opens directly to a screen that presents you with a button that gives you access to your most recent idea, and three big buttons that allow you create a new idea based on text input, photo or audio. Idea Organizer’s developers were clearly thinking about the fleeting nature of good ideas when they designed the app.

Finally, you can email any ideas to yourself at any time, for easier editing on an actual computer. You can also batch email all your ideas at once, which is a terrific convenience feature.

For $1.99, Idea Organizer (iTunes link) is great bargain for a very handy little app. Sure, you can approximate its function for free, but in many more steps and with a lot more hassle.

How do you make sure you don’t lose track of great ideas you have while out of the office?

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The sketchbook is a free space for your ideas to play, unbound by lines and ruled margins. It’s a laboratory, a playground, a testing facility and a sounding board. And perhaps best of all, it requires no batteries and can go pretty much anywhere you do. Here’s why I love mine so much, and why any web worker would do well to have their own on hand.

Idea Log

You know the feeling of getting hit with innovation lightning? The one you get when you come up with something great, something you’re terrified will fly out of your head before you get to a computer. That kind of idea, to my mind, is best captured by the sketchbook, in as close an approximation to the unprocessed original as absolutely possible.

The nature of our brains is such that as we think about an idea, we tend to process and refine it while we keep it in our heads. I much prefer to capture the really good ideas raw, before I’ve had a chance to rationalize and massage them into something more manageable, but possibly much less potent, too.

With a sketchbook, I find that I can capture the idea in its essence, unhindered by editing and page constraints. I’m a very visual person, so it helps that I can use words and images easily thanks to the clean, blank unlined pages. It also makes it easier to add to or scan later on. Plus, even ideas that turn out to be not-so-great could transform into something really useful just through the absent-minded doodling I do on a regular basis on top of existing sketches and concepts.

Collaborative Tool

Describing what you want to do or want to have done can be very hard. Project disappointments, in fact, are often due to confusion regarding expectations, rather than any real failure on the part of anyone involved in the process.

Having a sketchbook on-hand, depending on your comfort level and relationship with the individual you’re working with, can be a great way to spitball ideas using non-traditional means. Even if design has nothing to do with your project, you can use the space to rough out workflows and processes, draw mind maps and illuminate key project concepts in a way that verbal communication simply doesn’t allow for.

Passing a sketchbook back and forth, and taking turns writing, sketching and thinking out loud has produced some of the best collaborative work I’ve ever produced.

Stress Relief

Doodling has always been one of my favorite pastimes. Ever since my early school days, when I used to idly doodle in the margins of my primary workbooks, I’ve enjoyed sketching and drawing as a means to relax. With all that practice, you’d think I’d be better sketcher than I am.

Skill aside, a sketchbook to which I can turn at any moment to work off a little stress through therapeutic doodling is a must-have for my professional health. It’s always close to hand, it doesn’t cost anything, and it isn’t bad for my health. There are few other stress relievers for which all of the above is also true. Best of all, it’s a leisure activity that I can actually do while I’m working, which is invaluable.

Even if you’ve never tried sketching or doodling before, give it a shot and see how it makes you feel. The key is to master being able to draw with a complete absence of self-conscious thought, so that you truly get lost in the activity.

So do yourself a favor and get a sketchbook. It will become a constant companion, and possibly one of your most trusted advisors.

Do you tote a sketchbook?

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There are other things you can do, things that are far more representative of your trade than a lifeless rectangular slip of paper with some contact information printed upon it. That’s not to say that all rectangular slips of paper are without merit, just that most traditional ones just aren’t getting the job done like they used to, following the demise of the Rolodex. Here are some alternatives you may want to consider.

Email/Blog Address Fortune

Maybe I just have a lot of superstitious friends with hoarding tendencies, but I, and people I know, tend to hang on to the fortunes we get from fortune cookies at Chinese restaurants. At least until the next time I wash the pants I’m wearing, at which point I empty out the pockets and re-read said fortune.

Lucky Brand jeans uses this as a marketing tactic, and includes a branded fortune in the pocket of a new pair of its product. You can do the same. Find a memorable quote or write an interesting fortune, print them on slips of paper with your logo if you have one, and put an email or blog address on the back. Handing these out will not only help you network, it should spark conversation, so long as the content you print on them is interesting enough. Try to come up with a variety so that you can hand them out in groups without doubling up.

QR Code

Depending on the crowd you’re mixing with, and whose attention you want to attract, you might want to riff on the traditional business card by handing out cards printed with QR codes. QR codes are a type of barcode that can be used to link to digital content via a scanned, printed symbol. Here’s an example:

QR codes can be scanned by software readers on smart phones with cameras (as long as there’s an app available for the phone, which there often is) and will process the information and launch the appropriate content. For example, the one above should open a link to WebWorkerDaily. You can generate your own QR codes here.

Obviously, you have to be careful who you give this kind of thing to. It works best with tech professionals who’ll either be familiar with QR codes, or with tech enthusiasts who’ll be interested enough to find out more about them.

Contact Info T-Shirt

If you’re going to a trade show or convention, and you aren’t afraid to do a little shameless self-promotion (which you really shouldn’t be if you’re in this line of business), then have a t-shirt printed up with either your email or web address on it.

Now that cell phone cameras are so prevalent it’s unlikely you’ll come across someone who doesn’t have one, all you have to do to share your info with someone is stand very still for a couple seconds while they snap a photo. It’s memorable, it’s environmentally-friendly, and you get to feel like a rock star for a day while getting your picture taken.

Business Rock

This isn’t mine, it’s something I found on Instructables, but it was so off-beat that I had to share. Basically, the idea is just that you find a well-worn lake or river stone, hand-write your details on it, and distribute that in lieu of a business card.

It’s time consuming, sure, but it doesn’t cost a thing, and it will help you stand out from the field, especially if you work in a creative line of business. You can pick up a relatively inexpensive customizable craft stamp if you’d rather simplify and save your hand some cramping, too.

It’s a little out of left field, but maybe in your line of work, that’s seen as a good place to be coming from.

Let’s face it. The business card isn’t useful. It’s a little like wearing a hat in public. An odd tradition left over from a bygone era that evokes some nostalgia, but that’s about it. You don’t have to start carrying around a sack of rocks, necessarily, but try and shake things up a bit, and your business relationships will benefit.

What business card alternatives do you use or have you come across and thought about using? Any tangible benefits to do doing things differently?

Photo credit: bargainmoose

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It’s been a real pleasure to watch Idea Anglers take form right before my very eyes. Founders Neal Rohrbach and Bradford Shimp met in a weekly Twitter chat and began exchanging occasional tweets in the weeks that followed. An off-handed comment by Bradford about being an “Idea Wrangler” led Neal on a domain search, and thus the business was born.

According to Rohrbach, Idea Anglers “is an online collaborative community for small biz or individuals, where we turn ideas into successful businesses.” Using a combination of a library of exclusive content and access to a network of hand-picked guides and fellow members to lead the way, Idea Anglers is a service for anyone who has an idea for a business, but could use some guidance to get things going. It’s a place for collaboration and networking. Other benefits will include access to webinars, e-books, discounted services and other collaboration features.

Even though the site was born and developed on Twitter and using social media tools, the scope of expertise and information available through the service will be much broader. With guides specializing in marketing, copywriting and other forms of communication, the idea is to cover all the areas that might be a barrier to bringing your idea to fruition.

The site is still in pre-launch phase, but an initial group of guides has been published. There’s also a Depth Finder Questionnaire, giving you the chance to help shape what will be available when the site goes live.

No pricing information is available for the subscription-based service, but the intention is to make some of the individual content available on a per-item cost basis as well.

Has social media helped to shape your business?

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Take a moment to think about the blogs you regularly visit, the high-profile professionals that you consider your mentors, and the groups you interact with online. How have they shaped your work? What extraordinary ideas have you learned from them?

As I pondered this myself, I identified the most important ideas that have helped me as a web worker.

Inbox Zero. Email processing is an important skill for us to learn. Most of us deal with dozens, if not hundreds, of incoming email messages each day. This makes email processing a tedious task for most of us. But for me, what made this task simpler was the concept of Inbox Zero from Merlin Mann of 43 Folders.

The main idea is that you need to process your email inbox until there’s nothing in it. There are only five things you can do with each email you receive: Delete, Delegate, Respond, Defer or Do. If you know that each email is actionable, tackling a hyperactive inbox won’t feel as overwhelming.

The E-myth. Just as I was starting my online freelancing career, I was lucky enough to read “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber. Basically, the E-myth refers to the “entrepreneurial myth” that if you’re good at a certain skill, you can automatically run a business around that skill. If you’re a talented and original graphic designer, for example, it doesn’t always follow that you’ll be good at running your own design studio or practice. From budgeting business costs to marketing, entrepreneurs deal with several responsibilities that they have to learn on their own.

Although this might not be relevant to telecommuting employees, it’s essential for freelancers to understand. We may be very skilled in our line of work, but we also need to be smart business people if we want to succeed.

Stop when you’re going good. Two months ago, I came across a post by Nadia-Ballas Ruta for Write to Done. Included in the article was a quote from Ernest Hemingway about how to beat writer’s block:

“The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day…you will never be stuck.”

I still take advantage of bursts of creativity, but I follow Hemingway’s advice and always end a writing session mid-sentence. This means that I can avoid being stuck during the following session.

The Purple Cow. Seth Godin wrote a book called “Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable.” The gist of this book is that whatever it is you’re offering — whether it’s a product or a service — should be remarkable and original. For example, it’s not enough to just be a web designer. There must be a compelling reason why clients want to work with you and not the hundreds of thousands of other designers out there.

At this point in my career, I may not be a remarkable purple cow. But the idea gives me something to aspire to. At the very least, I no longer fear my own attempts at being remarkable. In his book, Seth Godin wrote something that I take comfort in when I’m in doubt:

“Another reason the Purple Cow is so rare is because people are so afraid. If you’re remarkable, then it’s likely that some people won’t like you. That’s part of the definition of remarkable. Nobody gets unanimous praise — ever.”

From my day-to-day habits to the big picture, it’s likely that I’ve overlooked dozens of other borrowed ideas that have helped me become a better online worker. Ten years from now, if I look back and feel proud of my career accomplishments, I know that I’ll have a vast digital village to thank for that.

What borrowed concepts have you followed and applied to your own work? Have you tried any of the ideas listed above?

Image by brokenarts from sxc.hu

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My Web Portfolio is a Facebook application that’s designed to help web designers at least strut their stuff on the popular social network. Just as the name implies, it allows you to build and share a portfolio of your web sites and share them with other Facebook users.

Once you add the My Web Portfolio application to your FB account, you can access the dashboard, where you can see a random featured website, and the most popular, largest, and most recently added designs from users. Currently, My Web Portfolio has 40 users, which is a farily large number considering it’s only recently been launched.

Right away, you probably noticed a significant drawback of the application, namely that it is a Facebook application. That means that, in order to take full advantage of the service, users have to add the application to their own profile. You can still show off by adding the My Websites tab to your profile, though.

For me, the main advantage of the app doesn’t actually reside with its usefulness as a promotional tool. Instead, I like it for its ability to inspire and provide a space where ideas can be shared. As a web designer community with a focus on actual products, it has a lot of potential. Whatever your motivation, it’s free easy to set up, so there’s not much arguing against adding it to your existing toolset.

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Here’s a list of gift suggestions I’ve come up with ranging from $10 to $500 to accommodate any gift-giving budget.

For the Bleary Eyed All-Nighters

Can Haz Espresso? I’m more of a latte drinker myself but any caffeine addict knows that at the heart of any good latte or breve or cappucino is the perfect cup of espresso. For the spendy types, think of giving the web worker you love the Nespresso Concept D290 ($499 USD). But if you are looking for functionality, quality and cost-efficiency, take a look at the Gaggia Carezza Silvertone Espresso Machine ($179.99 USD). The machines are sleek, sexy, and high-octane generating.

For the Forgetful

If you’re like me, losing car keys or mobile devices is becoming epidemic. Rescue those absent-minded web workers with The Loc8tor ($169.99 USD). They can attach mini homing devices to their most frequently lost items. The Loc8tor leads them right to their missing things. The Loc8tor can also double as a personal alarm device.

For Those Who Sit for Hours

Web working can take a toll on the body with all the endless sitting. The HumanScale Foot Machine ($130 USD) can be used as a standard foot rest but it also has a ball-bearing, roller design to allow the stagnant web worker to increase circulation and exercise lower leg muscles with a gentle rocking motion. According to the promotional materials, “Studies have shown that 70% of all women and 40% of all men have health issues such as blood clots, varicose veins and pressure on the Achilles tendon due to pooling of fluids in the lower limbs — the result of prolonged, inactive sitting.” Save a web worker today!

For the Environmentally Conscious

For the web worker who loves to travel or work in the outdoors, keep them connected and powered with a Solar and Wind Charger ($80 USD). Suitable for cell phones, MP3 players, iPods, digital cameras and other handheld devices.

For the Mouse Maniacs

For being such a sedentary occupation, web workers can experience quite a few injuries, including carpal tunnel syndrom. The Switch Mouse from Humanscale ($103.95 USD) has a V-shaped base to position the wrist and forearm into a more natural stance and is size-adjustable for a custom fit. It also has a four-way scrolling dish that reduces repetitive motions and programmable buttons to remember specific functions. Super ergonomic.

For the Geekiest
Moving from the pricier gifts to a very affordable one, satisfy any geek tendency in your favorite web worker with the Ultimate 5-in-1 Geek Pen ($9.99 USD). In fact, it is affordable enough to get one for every web worker you know.

For even more functionality,  try a 2GB Pulse Smartpen from Livescribe ($199.95 USD). The pen can capture over 200 hours of recorded audio, linking the audio with what you’ve written. When you are taking notes while at a meeting, for example, the Smartpen ties the notes and audio together. Actual recording time varies by audio quality setting. (Requires Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista.)
For the Spying Kind

The Rovio Mobile Webcam ($299.95 USD) is a mobile web cam. Now why would someone want a mobile web cam? You can put a Rovio at your office and attend team meetings from anywhere. Or use Rovio to check on your pets at home. You can even test drive a Rovio online before buying. Put a few Rovios in one location, and you can even hold a Battle of the Rovios competition!

What are some of the cool gift items have you found for your favorite web workers?

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