When we were CHILDREN it was easy to look at a cardboard box and see anything but. It was an AEROPLANE, it was a racing car, it was a castle.
As we get older all we see are cardboard boxes.
To get your product or service to STAND OUT from the crowd, sometimes it takes a child-like IMAGINATION to burst it to life. I recently saw a very EXCITING Sock Company. I couldn’t think of a more MUNDANE product than socks but these guys stand out and BAM hit you in the face with a simple but very effective idea.
Basically they have a range of very colourful, FUNKY socks (not the ones pictured) of which none match and you get three to a pair. Simple, effective and I dare say PROFITABLE.
So what can you do to make your Socks stand out from the crowd?
- Think outside the ‘BOX‘ and look at your product or service from every angle.
- ASK your customers for ideas.
- Workshop with a number of people to get the ideas FLOWING.
- Don’t be scared to be a little WEIRD or out there (they are often the best ideas).
- Be ADVENTUROUS.
- Be BOLD.
- Bring out your PASSION.
Very very true, but very difficult to do. Sometimes it is very difficult to see different angles to the product. The mindset is so used to seeing things one way that to actually think differently is just not possible. Yes, maybe someone else can make you see a different angle to it. Sometimes the creativeness fails to launch.
Any further ideas to conquer this phase – the mind block?
Parminder, you are correct, the ‘mind block’ as you phrase it is probably the area people struggle with the most.
My advise is two-fold:
1. Surround yourself with creative thinkers. People who seem to see the world very differently from your own perspective. Spend quality time with these people and observe and absorb their thought processes and techniques.
2. Practice your creativeness as often as possible. Like anything else, to get good at something you have to train. To be great at it you must be coached and put in the effort like an athlete.
For most people, do it often and openly and it will get easier to see other perspectives.
Keep at it Parminder, regards Jewels.