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Creativity Management – Measurement, benchmarking and Improvement
Contrary to common perception, creativity can be made tangible, measurable and useable. In terms of measurement, benchmarking and improvement, the first step is to decide on definitions, the second is to decide on methods of measurement and finally,...
Minisite or a Theme Based Content Site - How to get Started ?
It is really difficult to decide as to how to get started.
Whether to create a minisite and focus upon selling a single
product or create a killer content site and sell multiple
products.
There are many gurus who recommend a minisite...
The Magic Button That Earns $3,546 or more
Ever wonder how a "guru" earns $3,546 or more just by pressing a button?
The first thing a newbie learns when landing on the Internet is that it is full of hype. Hype this. Hype that. But when you cut through the hype, there is one simple...
What Does Your Staff REALLY Want? Part 2
The 2005 "Best Places to Work" program study showed that,
contrary to popular opinion, employee satisfaction didn't depend
on salary. The most given answer as to what makes a company a
great place to work is employee empowerment.
And what...
Why Would a Manager Want to Learn Emotional Intelligence?
Because the best managers are emotionally intelligent!
1. Managers are called upon to make decisions. Primitive emotions, unmonitored, automatic, powerful and not always conscious can “hijack” us making us react thoughtlessly to people and...
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Setting Goals -- Your Ticket To Success
You know that old saying -- if you don't know where you're going, any path will get you there. That's what happens if you don't take the time to figure out what your goals are and WRITE them down. There's power in writing things down. Trust me, I'm a writer. I KNOW.
Figuring out your goals is probably one of the most important and one of the most overlooked steps for creative professionals starting their business. Ideally you should put together a business plan. However, I have yet to meet a creative professional (including myself) who has one. (In fact, if you do have a business plan, please contact me. I'd love to chat with you about it.) Second best is getting your goals down on paper. Here are some things to include.
* Your personal mission statement. What do you want to accomplish in your life? Not just as a creative professional, artist or writer, but as a person. Knowing your mission will make organizing your time much easier.
* Your creative or artistic goals -- both long-term and short-term. What do you want to accomplish in three months? Six months? This year? Five years from now?
* Your financial goals -- both long-term and short-term. Don't forget to write down how much money you want to make.
* Your plans for your business -- both long-term and short-term. Break it down the same as your creative or artistic goals -- three months, six months, one year and five years. Include a marketing plan as well. It doesn't have to be elaborate, just figure out who your target market is, where your target market is (i.e., local, regional, specific cities or national), and how you're going to reach your target market.
* Action steps for each goal, including the marketing plan. Break each goal into manageable steps, number each step and add a completion date. Make a separate copy of this and put it where you can incorporate these action steps into your daily activities.
Don't rush this process. In fact, you should make it a treat for yourself. Go on a retreat. Try and get away for at least a day if at all possible (a couple of days would be better yet). Go somewhere where you won't be interrupted (and that includes the cell phone). Allow yourself some quiet time to really think. If it helps, do some meditating or journaling during this time.
Don't worry about it being perfect either. This is a working document. Ideally you should review it every six months or a year and see where you are and what's changed.
Now, when I first started my business five years ago, I hadn't planned anything or written anything down.
This was a mistake.
Sure I had some vague notions in my head of where I wanted my business and my writing to go, but by not committing anything to paper, I didn't end up there. My first three years of my business I was busy and making money, but I wasn't getting anywhere near the vague notions dancing around in my head. Even more amazing, I couldn't figure out why.
So two years ago, I started a regular practice
of writing down my goals and plan (much like the above). I do it twice a year, and you wouldn't believe the difference. Sure, my plans are far bigger than what I actually accomplish, and I've also found myself modifying and changing my action steps (the goals remain pretty constant, but how I attain those goals does change).
Best yet, I'm now seeing results. I'm accomplishing my goals.
Take the time to go through this process. The rewards are worth it.
Creativity Exercise -- Goal setting and creativity
If every year you find yourself setting goals and never making ANY strides toward reaching them, perhaps it's time to ask yourself why. Could it be they aren't YOUR goals but someone else's goals for you?
I don't care what the goal is -- stopping smoking, losing weight, starting an online business, writing that novel -- there's a reason it keeps climbing up, then falling off the goal list. And until you figure out WHY that goal is stuck in the never-never land of goal setting, you'll never actually pull it into reality.
Is it because you don't know where to start? Or is the project so big you're afraid to start? Or you're stuck somewhere in the middle and don�t know what to do next?
Or is it because you really don't want to do it?
Okay, I'm probably dredging up all sorts of demons now, but truly, those demons need to be exorcised or they're constantly going to be standing between you and your goal.
What I suggest is to take some quiet time and do a little soul searching. Journaling and meditation are both excellent ways of opening up a dialogue between you and your muse. Your muse is an excellent resource for you. If you ask, it will tell you which goals really matter and really don't matter to you.
And, if it turns out that goal is something you don't want to do? Then stop putting it on your goal list. I mean it. Quit making yourself feel like a failure by constantly sticking it on that list.
What if the goal is something like quitting smoking? Something you know you have to do because it's hurting your health? Try this instead. Rather than making it your goal to quit smoking, make it your goal to figure out why you don't want to quit. And what you can do to help yourself become committed to quitting.
Whatever you do, don't make turn this exercise into a license to beat yourself up. Be nice to yourself. You're doing this to help, not hurt, yourself.
About the author:
Michele Pariza Wacek is the author of "Got Ideas? Unleash Your Creativity and Make More Money." She offers two free e-zines that help subscribers combine their creativity with hard-hitting marketing and copywriting principles to become more successful at attracting new clients, selling products and services and boosting business. She can be reached at http://www.TheArtistSoul.comCopyright 2005 Michele Pariza Wacek
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| Creativity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Creativity (or creativeness) is a mental process involving the generation of ... Wallas considered creativity to be a legacy of the evolutionary process, ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Creativity For Life |
| An exploration of creativity in everyday life, with articles, quotes, reviews and other creative resources to awaken creativity in daily life. |
| www.creativityforlife.com |
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| AdCritic.com: Commercial Ads |
| FROM CREATIVITY: Emerging Directors, Unite In the time it took to write this, three new directors popped up. Here are twenty to get acquainted with. ... |
| www.adcritic.com |
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| National Curriculum in Action - Creativity - |
| Ordering Creativity packs: print and video materials. This website gives practical ideas on how to promote pupils' creative thinking and behaviour. ... |
| www.ncaction.org.uk |
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| Ten Steps for Boosting Your Creativity |
| Experiments performed by the JPB Creative Laboratory show that watching TV causes your ... a weekly report on creativity, ideas, innovation and invention ... |
| www.jpb.com |
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| Category:Creativity Techniques - Mycoted |
| This is a general category of Creativity and Innovation Techniques, ... I like to think of these creativity techniques as tools in a toolbox in much the ... |
| www.mycoted.com |
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| Creativity at Work: The interplay of business, art and science |
| A resource for training and development in creativity and innovation in organizations. Has a newsletter, and some articles and essays by 'Corporate ... |
| www.creativityatwork.com |
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| Crayola Creativity Central |
| Crayola Creativity Central offers kids arts and crafts ideas for rainy day fun. We also have coloring books and pages, art and craft projects, games, ... |
| www.crayola.com |
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| Pages tagged with "creativity" on del.icio.us |
| All items tagged creativity ??? view popular ... Perspective for Creative Leaders · save this. by aromay to creativity business management ... 1 hour ago ... |
| del.icio.us |
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| Creativity Web - Resources for Creativity and Innovation |
| Creativity Web Home Page Resources for Creativity and Innovation ... The Creative Process · Multiple Intelligences · Idea Recording · Your Creative Space ... |
| members.optusnet.com.au |
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| gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards": how to ... |
| So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. ... Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion ... |
| www.gapingvoid.com |
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| Creativity Quotes | Creativity Quotations | Creativity Sayings ... |
| Quotes on Creativity - part of a larger collection of Wisdom Quotes to challenge and inspire. Find Creativity quotations and links to quotes on other ... |
| www.wisdomquotes.com |
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| Ideas by Creativity Pool |
| A free database with new ideas and possible inventions. Add your own, or bring an existing idea to life. |
| www.creativitypool.com |
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| CREATIVITY |
| Creative problem solving depends on using the right tools, tricks, ... Search for the latest books on Creativity (or anything else) in the Quantum Books ... |
| www.quantumbooks.com |
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| Creativity Tools, Creative Solutions & Creative Problem Solving ... |
| This page explains a wide range of techniques which can help you generate creative solutions to your problems. |
| www.mindtools.com |
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| The 6 Myths Of Creativity |
| A new study will change how you generate ideas and decide who's really creative in your company. |
| www.fastcompany.com |
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| CreativeClass.org |
| Richard Florida's "The Rise of the Creative Class" examines creativity and its effects on economic development. |
| www.creativeclass.org |
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| TIP: Concepts |
| The relationship between creativity and intelligence has been always been a central concern of psychology ( Guilford , 1950). Much effort has been devoted ... |
| tip.psychology.org |
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| American Creativity Association (ACA) |
| An incorporated non-profit organization promoting personal and professional creativity. Association membership is represented by four multidisciplinary ... |
| www.amcreativityassoc.org |
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| CREAX - Portal for creativity and innovation |
| A resource for links on creativity and innovation on the web. A selection of 690 links is divided into 67 categories for the visitors convenience. |
| www.creax.net |
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