Do your overflowing ideas ever smother your creativity?
Sifting through topic ideas for my weekly videos can easily result in a battle in my brain. I’m overwhelmed, because I want to cover everything.
It’s kinda like when I’m trying to decide what to add to my Netflix queue—Burn Notice or Lie to Me? P.S. I Love You or Julie and Julia? Or, when I’m trying to commit to what the heck I’m gonna wear to RHH Live or date night with my man.
I know I’m not alone.
Sometimes, you agonize over what to work on next, right? You throw away time sweating over what product or service to create. Should I design more knitting patterns or a new autumn scarf?
You wish you could see into the future, so you’d know that sparkling necklace that took three hours to brainstorm and two hours to create is just gonna sit on the virtual shelves for the next six months. Screw it. If you can see into the future, just look for the next winning lotto numbers—and send some of those winnings my way. {I also accept Anthropologie gift cards.}
As creative entrepreneurs, we possess a gift and a curse: the too-many-ideas-syndrome. This curse can affect your business failure or success, but it can also elicit rainbow sprinkle awesomeness.
I’ve got a hankering to help you sort through this mess in your head. That’s why I got a little carried away with this week’s Wednesday Wisdom. It’s more like a mini-class. {Ahem! This is the time to wiggle your skinny jeans-clad butt—not roll your eyes. I’m watching you. I see you perusing your personal email while pretending to work.}
Watch this week’s video to determine whether right now is the appropriate time to offer new products or services AND how to pick from all those ideas doggie-paddling around in that ginormous brain of yours.
You might want to sip a glass of Chardonnay for this one…
I’m sure there’s more than these 10 questions that can help you determine what product or service to offer next. I’d love to know more about how you make these tough choices in the comments below.
Your tips are invaluable for others who read your comments. Thank you so much for taking the time to share!
I had to rewind today! OMG girl… these videos are getting awesomer by the nanosecond. You crack me up HAHAHAHA.
And this was such a juicy topic too. You nailed it with the Top 10 Questions. Super practical.
I totally agree it’s indispensable to have friends who you trust + admire to bounce ideas off + double check things. We can sometimes be so submerged in the creation process that we fail to look at things from a customers perfective. I’m so lucky to have you, seriously.
Another thing I recommend is to not go too crazy on “traditional research”. I hate running surveys. What I like to do instead is listen. And the best place I’ve found to listen is my inbox + the comment section of my blog. That’s were most of your engaging community is hanging out at + you really can learn so much there.
YOU ROCK. And your hair + background is soooooo PRETTY!
YES! Such a good point–the best stuff is usually in the comments/emails that we receive!
Thanks, love! YOU ROCK!
I love your videos! Thank you for the questions! I want to do so many things and my mind gets totally carried away sometimes. I’ll refer to these questions often! 🙂
Thanks Kristin! And, I love seeing your beautiful face in the comments. I’m loving all the new stuff you’ve been up to recently.
Awesome video – perfect timing too. I just recently wrote a list of about 10 things that I could potentially do in order to grow my handknitted accessories business, and I’m having a hard time picking out what to do next. This list is super helpful! April, you’re amazing.
Thanks Clare! Your site is fantastic…love the branding, love the pictures!
P.S. I love your background this week!
Yay! I just made one really large art journal page on kraft paper 🙂
April, you were right, this really looks like a mini-class. And thank you for that!
I’m bookmarking this one to review later because I’m creating some new product and service too.
Great questions!
PS: everyone talks about your backgrounds but what about your skin??? Perfect!
Thanks Marta! Sooooo glad you enjoyed it.
P.S. My secret is Boscia products…no preservatives or added fragrances…I use it every day!
April,
This week’s video is probably one of my favorites! I really like how you approached a pretty common topic (having too many ideas) in a new and practical way.
I frequently feel like I’m drowning in ideas but lack the focus to see one through. Keying in on the idea of patience really resonated with me. Plus, having a ten point list to consider makes the whole focusing process that much more navigable.
Thank you for your great advice, I look forward to seeing more videos like this in the future!
P.s.- I love that your husband is always involved and so supportive, you’re a lucky girl!
Yay! I have to admit that I wondered whether I should try to condense this one, because it was so long. Now, I’m glad that I didn’t.
P.S. I got really lucky with him–he’s the best!
Kagan,
Thanks for the kind words… I’ve decided to directly respond to any mentions of me in the comments – Not only do I support April, but I am vein and like to be mentioned 🙂
KO
Totally diggin’ the cute little houses in the background:) Thanks for the insightful tips…I have pages of ideas in my business journal, and I am slowly narrowing it down to what to do for my first launch…it is definitely overwhelming, but this list helps to put things in perspective and makes it more manageable! Thank youuu April!!
P.S. Not going to make it RHH Live after all, but I hope you have a wonderful time!!
Thanks Desiree! I’m so glad it’s helpful.
P.S. Sad! But, I’m sure we’ll meet in person one of these days…
My favorite Wednesday Wisdom EVER. Terrific advice for ideas addicts.
xoxo,
Kim
PS I’m crushing on the houses in the background too!
Yay!!!!!!!
I totally agree with Mayi, your videos are getting better–not that they were ever bad! But I got a lot of value out of this one. I’m in the process of developing an information product. I know there’s a market for it, but I’m still figuring out the pricing. You’ve got a lot of good ideas, and I like how you make us get clear about our goals/clients/time commitment first before blinding charging ahead.
Good job! And I love your wacky dancing. 🙂
Thanks Sage! I’ve been really inspired to up my game ever since working with a professional video crew on the project with Mayi. I’ll be talking about pricing information products really soon…so stay tuned for that one! 🙂
I am finding I have to prioritize things into some sort of logical order. I need to finish setting up my newsletter before I write an ebook. Even though they are both calling to me. And sometimes you’ve got to do the un-fun stuff (like setting up my second blog – tech stuff), before you can do fun stuff like finishing off an art project.
I have to make rules and deals with myself – you can’t finish your altered paint brush until you do at least 3 hours of tech stuff on your blog. Kind of like “you can’t have any ice cream until you eat your vegetables”.
Doing this helps me get things done, or at least make significant progress each time I sit down. No running off to play outside before I’ve done my homework. (having a childhood analogy day for some reason?!)
YES! I so know what you mean. I have to make deals like that with myself, too. It helps keep me on track while giving myself lots of fun rewards. I usually start the morning with, “Once x is finished, it’ll be time to walk the dogs…” And, I love walking my dogs, so that’s a fun reward to start the day every morning.
Wow, I agree with Marta . this IS serious classroom material ! Love it . Thank you for sharing such important considerations that go into launching a new product / service. You know, pretty much everything you said, applies to anyone who is thinking about starting a business, as well.
2 key things are definitely the excitement and the commitment for the long haul .
Thanks , April 🙂 Love the houses + necklace 🙂
Thanks Lakshmi! I agree that excitement and commitment are two of the biggies!
Thank you April!
I’ll keep listening to you an Mayi, until I achieve my goal!
=)))))
just LOVE your background!
😉
why can’t I play this video? Is there something different about it?
First. I love that you share other stuff like recipes and stories about your husband, friends, dog etc whatever comes to mind for. It makes you human to me! I will have to watch the rest of the video once I get back on the computer, cell phone is having an issue with it. So! I sold a kitchen product in peoples homes doing parties and it was tons of fun a little extra cash, but i got some really good advice. Try a recipe at min. 3 shows before you call it a failure. Ive taken that advice and applied it to other areas of my life. New job, new realationship, school, gym you name it. Some times we become disenchanted by something thats not an instant hit os sucess and want to try something new. Give it some time, work out the bugs. Also, allow yourself time to try new things, something new may be time consuming or have costly supplies — and watch the profit margin!!
April doesn’t share all of her stories about me… she leaves some of the bad ones out (thankfully)! Even though I experience most of her stories, its something I like best about her presentation of the material 🙂
KO
Love the ideas. I do a couple of things – do something I don’t like doing but need to do before something fun (like sort invoices before making something). I priorize the making of stuff into – I promised someone (custom order), I promised me (a certain type of piece for my consignment display), an ongoing piece (like more kids safety necklaces) and then new stuff that I want to try. I still sometimes, ok often, have way more ideas than time – which beats the heck out of creative block that some people have 🙂
thank you so much for this! idea overwhelm is my number one problem and this is just what I needed to help look at my ideas objectively. I have to admit, I’m pretty sure I need to work on step one for a bit longer–work on what I already have going!
Thank you for this! This is my biggest challenge in my business. I feel like I have to implement all my ideas at once, and it paralyzes me. And then there are some that I realize I’m not excited about or aren’t making me money, but once they are implemented, it’s difficult to go backwards. Your 10 questions will help me take a step back and think a little harder about adding new products and services! (And your hair, skin, background… best EVER this week.) 🙂
It’s been forever since I’ve been hanging out in your comments section ( internet out at my house+ writing on my iphone sucks).
Anyways love, love, love all this juicy info you put out in this video. I actually had this conversation w/myself a couple of months back when I closed my clothing line. I’m you’re stereorypical creative person in some senses: I was so excited about producing things that I ended up with so many pieces and only crickets responding to my efforts. Didn’t help that I was overstretched ( and still am) at my current job.
Fast forward: quietly, slowly, and strategically I’m planning a relaunch w/ all the lessons I’ve learned, juicy info from you, Mayi, Marie Forleo, and Ramit Sethi. Taking a step back to reassess wasn’t giving up, it was a way for me to reset my compass in regards to my vision and purpose.
Can’t wait until the next vid + your program w/ Mayi!
PS. You+ your husband are too cute for words!
Thanks for the kind P.S.! Thankfully, April makes me look good 🙂
KO