Picture used with permission
of David Singer

What motivates you to think outside of your bubble? How do you get outside of your left brain into your outrageously exciting, creatively appealing, right brain thinking patterns?

I’ll give you some tips that help me.

Think of something funny, or find humor in something that’s not necessarily funny (like politics–ha!). Talk to someone about it.

Go outside and enjoy the outdoors. Look at the clouds. Enjoy the fresh air. Get away from your desk/computer. Take a quick power walk.

In other words . . . relax . . . enjoy life. Try not to take it so seriously.

Start with an idea and begin to build upon that one idea. Don’t be afraid to come up with outrageous concepts to add to that idea. Let the world be your playground as you flesh out your idea. Another way to look at it is to think like a child. Children don’t know how to reign themselves in. You need to feel that way too.

As adults, we feel like we have to act like adults. Okay, I’ll buy that. But what’s wrong with walking in the rain once in a while, just for the fun of it? What’s wrong with playing with puzzles? What’s wrong with drawing a picture on a whiteboard? Absolutely nothing, and it helps to get those creative juices flowing.

Another idea is to take our 12-Step Creativity Program. This will help you as you “learn” how to become more creative.

Why do we want those creative juices to flow? It takes creativity to write content, to do keyword research, to come up with new ideas for our sites, and so much more.

If you haven’t read my posts on two creative pioneers, be sure to give them a quick read:

http://www.sew-wrc.com/idea-motivator/2006/10/10/creativity-pioneer-2-google/

http://www.sew-wrc.com/idea-motivator/2006/10/10/creativity-pioneer-1-walt-disney/

Hope this helps to motivate YOU to be more creative.

Robin

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Look and think beyond the obvious . . .

Look at your Web site as a whole. Don’t look at just the four fingers. Everything is important. View your Web site as if from the sky looking down:

1. Navigation (very important: straight from Matt Cutts). Don’t play a game of Clue with me on your Web site. I don’t want to guess whether the polka dot watch can be found under “Fashion Watches,” “Stylish Watches,” or “New Age Watches.” I just want the polka dot watch! Remember that navigation is for your users AND the search engines.

2. Writing, graphics, theme, and everything else must match. If you have a hobby store but the atmosphere of the store doesn’t make me want to play, am I going to be in the buying mood?

3. New valuable content added on a regular basis (very important: straight from Matt Cutts). Don’t bore me with the same content. Give me fresh new content all the time. Keep me interested. The site should be about ME ME ME, your visitor.

4. Hook (very important: straight from Matt Cutts). Hook me into coming back, and hook me into telling all my friends about you. Hook me into linking to your site. Grab me kicking and screaming to your site by the captivating title and description you’ve put in the search engine results. Sell me on coming to your site in the first place, and then keep me there. Don’t make me want to hit the back button. The back button is very tempting to hit, so you’d better captivate me . . . and FAST.

(more…)

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Have you ever seen the movie Patch Adams starring Robin Williams? If you haven’t seen it at all or if it’s been a while, I highly suggest that you watch it again. What lessons you can learn!

At the beginning of the movie, Patch commits himself to a psychiatric hospital as a suicidal patient. While in the hospital, one patient kept going up to other patients holding up four fingers. He would ask how many fingers he was holdling up, and everyone responded “four.” The man would yell, “Idiots!” and storm away.

Patch found this fascinating, so he learned more about the gentleman. The patient was a high profile, wealthy businessman who had checked himself into the hospital. He found it difficult to deal with other people who didn’t understand him.

One night, Patch stopped by the gentleman’s room. He first fixed the man’s cup, which the man watched intently. Patch then asked him the meaning of the fingers.

The patient held up four fingers and asked Patch how many he was holding up. Patch shrugged and said four. The man patiently told Patch to look at him, the man, instead of his fingers. Patch studied the man for a long moment, and he finally said, “Eight.”

The man smiled and said, “That’s a good answer.” Someone actually understood him.

Notice that he didn’t say, “That’s the answer.” He said it was a good answer, as if there could be other answers as well.

Try it yourself. When you look at the man and not the fingers, you’ll see twice as many fingers. You’re seeing beyond the obvious.

What on earth does this have to do with you and your Web site? (more…)

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Photo courtesy of Google, Inc.

I went out to eat last night at Outback Steakhouse, and one side of my coaster read:

“I searched for myself on Google and found nothing.”

Think about that for a minute.

Google has become so powerful in our lives that a coaster at Outback talks about the search engine. Plus, the ultimate slam would be to search for ourselves on the Big G and find nothing. Wow.

“Google” is now used as a noun, a verb, and an adjective. You’ll often hear TV and news shows refer to “Googling” for something when they’re searching on the Web.  (verb)

We often refer to Google-friendly Web sites (adjective). Google itself is a proper noun.

Yet, I can remember when Google was a minor engine and Yahoo! was the big game in town. Yahoo! was a directory only, and AltaVista was the Big Boy search engine. We didn’t particularly care about Google. We wanted to hear what Yahoo! and AV had to say. And believe it or not, this wasn’t very many years ago–maybe six or so.

Things change at lightning speed in the SEO industry (which used to be called the Web positioning industry).

When you watch TV, listen to how many times you hear newscasters or actors talk about Googling something. This is particularly true if you watch crime shows.

Also, watch commercials. You’ll see a lot of Google mentions there too.

By the way, I told you what one side of the coaster said. Want to know what the other side said?

“No Worries.”

:)

No worries, because if you take the advice from this blog and begin creating quality content that your visitors want to see on your Web site, your name or your Web site’s name will appear in Google. AND, your link popularity will be built naturally.

That, my friends, is the moral of this story. Google may be loaded with power, but use that power by giving Google what it wants to see: quality content and naturally built links. It will, in turn, give you what you want: a highly visible site.

Robin

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It’s not often that I’m truly bored. But when I am, my mind tends to wander off in unusual directions. This past weekend during my hellish return trip home, I was tremendously bored.

I learned a lot, which I want to share with you.

Before you discount this as something you don’t need to know, bear with me.

For example, when you’re standing in the security line in the Denver International Airport, you’ll see the typical poles with straps between the poles to direct traffic. You’ll see an example of the poles in today’s graphic. On the circle at the bottom of the pole, it says, “Property of DIA Security Department.”

Think about this for a minute. It was someone’s job to put stickers on the hundreds of poles through this huge security area. If the stickers begin to fade, someone will be needed to put new stickers on the poles.

My mind began to whirl. Why would the security department feel it’s necessary to put stickers on the bottom of these poles? Do they have a problem with someone stealing the poles? What could they be used for? (Hold your thoughts–more on this in a minute.)

(more…)

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