This is Martin, the WRC Webmaster and I’m posting in Robin’s absence. Robin is currently suffering from an extreme case of the creeping crud. This is not a result of too much holiday cheer, as depicted in the New Year’s graphic above.

Well, now we have all that out of the way, I would like to wish everyone a belated Happy Holidays from Robin, John and everyone at Search Engine Workshops. We are all looking forward to an exciting, creative New Year and hope yours will be too.

Robin should be back to blogging next week. Be sure to check back as she continues with her 12-Step Creativity Program.

martin

PS. Thanks to Hilary Rinaldi for the two great Robin holiday graphics. Be sure to check out her Web site http://www.weekendgardener.net.

PSS. I was so afraid to post on Robin’s blog, in case I was too left-brained or made too many grammatical errors!!

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Did you know that . . .

Wedding cake was originally provided as something to throw at the new bride and groom. Unfrosted, thank goodness.

You can get your Christmas cards sent with a decorative postmark from Santa Claus, Indiana, by sending them prestamped in a large envelope to: Postmaster, Santa Claus Station, IN 47579-9998.

The bestselling tie colors are blue, followed by red. (Did I say these facts were fascinating or WHAT?)

The first auto insurance issued was in February of 1898 by Travelers Insurance. It was primarily designed to cover the cost of damage and medical bills in case an auto driver crashed into a horse.

The first song played on MTV was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles.

Edgar Allen Poe married his thirteen-year-old cousin.

All American presidents with facial hair also happened to be Republicans.

Five presidents had beards; four had mustaches but no beard. Of the five who had beards, two were assassinated.

Robin

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Remember in Day #8 when we talked about starting with a single idea and brainstorming from there? That’s what we’re going to do in Day #9 of the 12-Step Program.

Let’s say that we’re all working together to build a playground for some underprivileged kids. We have some 16th section land that’s been given to us for the playground, and a concrete pipe company has donated some huge concrete pipes for our playground.

We have the land, the concrete pipes, our hands and energy for building, our creative minds, and those wonderful kids who need a place to play and who need some sunshine in their lives. We’re just the folks to give it to them.

Look at the brainstorming graphic again. We need ONE idea to start. Here’s my idea:

My idea is to connect the pipes to where the kids can crawl or walk through them in a delightful maze. I’d like to get some paint and let the kids paint pictures on the pipes in bright colors.

I have many other ideas for the playground, but I’m not going to list them. I want YOU to list some of your ideas.

I want the community (YOU) to get involved in this project. What else can we get donated? What else can we build?

Don’t think negatively. No idea is bad. Yes, I know that concrete is hard and can scrape little knees and hurt heads. So rather than think negatively about that, how can we build on to my original idea with another idea that offers a solution?

What else can we do on the playground with those pipes? Think of any twists we could make? What could we do if we cut the concrete pipes in half?

Get creative here. That’s what brainstorming is all about. Once you get used to idea creation, you’ll be able to brainstorm for ideas for your own Web site much easier.

Now, let’s hear YOUR ideas.

I’m going to be out of the office this week. So if I’m not able to post here for a few days, we’ll continue this discussion when I’m back in town.

Robin

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Continuing right along with our 12-Step Creativity Program, today we’re going to learn how to brainstorm for new content and new ideas for your Web site. Once you learn the mechanics, it will become easier for you to come up with new and innovative content that will keep your potential customers on YOUR Web site instead of hitting the dreaded back button.

Brainstorming for content or ideas begins with one simple idea or a concept. Look at the graphic for today’s post. Do you see the red circle in the center of the page with the #1 in the center of it? The word Idea is written under it.

We begin our brainstorming with this one simple idea (or problem, concept, type of Web site, etc.). Working with our idea partner or partners, we expand on that idea. Maybe we add a twist to the original idea, which I did in green to the left of the red circle. From there, you can see how new orange ideas have sprouted out from the new twist.

Looking back at the original idea, we could also create a satellite of brand new ideas, which is designated in red with additional ideas branching off from there to the right.

The blue branch at the bottom of the page indicates ideas built on to the original idea. In some cases, additional ideas can be created based on those ideas.

You can easily see how many ideas you could have with a good energy producing brainstorming session. The beauty of working with a group of people is that everyone comes in to the session from a different path in life, with different experiences and with different strengths. They see the business or problem from a different perspective. Everyone can add something of value.

You can brainstorm by yourself, with one idea partner as we discussed in Day #7, or with a group of people.

Here’s what you can’t have in a creativity or brainstorming session. Naysayers. They will kill your creative energy.

They have their definite place in the business world (grin), but they just aren’t “idea generation” people in the sense of what we need here. They belong in room #2 where they can figure out how to implement the ideas generated by the idea people.

All ideas are good when you brainstorm. Write all of your ideas down . . . every single one of them. Remember that sometimes it just takes a twist of an idea to make it a killer. Or, you may not be able to implement the idea today, but it might work next year or within a 5-year plan. Don’t discount any idea. Be outrageous. If you think it, write it down.

Be CURIOUS. Ask yourself questions about the topic. What does your target audience want to know? What would benefit them? What if . . . ? Why? How to . . . How can . . . ? Are videos or audios appropriate? What would make the audience return over and over again? Ask your customers. If your product was no longer available, what impact would it make on our world? Think about the value your product has to our world. Create content about that value.

In a brainstorming session, tell everyone to uncross their arms. I always laugh when I do so, but body language is important. You want them open for the experience.

Here’s the thing. If you allow yourself to feel this experience, the results can be unbelievably amazing. Tomorrow we’re going to brainstorm together.

Robin

P.S. If you’re just now joining us in our 12-Step Creativity Program, please start at Day #1. It’s very important to start at the beginning.

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I’ll be in Orlando on January 15-19 conducting a 5-day Search Engine Workshop, and I’d love to have you join me there.

We’ll be going into more detail about many of the topics we cover here on this blog: how to write Web site content; different types of content; creativity; building link popularity; as well as topics such as LSI; keyword forensics; CSS; working with databases; and the list goes on.

Visit our Search Engine Workshops Web site for more information.

If you attend the workshop by going through the above URL, I’ll give you a free copy of my upcoming e-book on 100+ ways of building Web site content and link popularity when it’s finished.

Join me, John Alexander, and Dave Barry in one of the most special places on earth: Disney World!

I hope to see you there!

Robin

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