Just what I wanted
My Christmas present in 2024 is that I get to work all day with words, ideas, and idea people. I could retire, but this is much better. Thanks.
30 seconds to prepare
Here’s the scene. Two analysts have been tapped to address the San Francisco chapter of an industry organization. The rules are: you have ten minutes to speak, and you cannot use slides. The organization is for executives and managers of the cable television industry. One of the analysts is me. I analyze the television industry…
Ideas that stand out: from my interview with John Jantsch
This is exactly what you need to know about business book ideas — in 49-seconds. (At least until Twitter — er, I mean X — stops allowing me to embed video.) From the John Jantsch Duct Tape Marketing Podcast.
Is your idea book-worthy?
Nonfiction books are about ideas. If you’re considering writing a book, you must make sure your idea has four key qualities: it must be simple, big, new, and right. Let’s look at a popular recent book, Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results by James Clear, and show how it satisfies all four qualities. Book ideas…
Assembling the ingredients of your business book
Business books are made of ideas and frameworks, stories, proof points, argumentation, and advice. That’s what you need to build one. So what does it take to assemble all of that? Let’s examine a 50,000-word book, which is typical these days (somewhat shorter than in past years). A hardback typically has 250 words per page,…
What is an idea?
We need a new definition of “idea,” one that makes you think about how ideas create change. If you want to conceive and work with ideas, you need to know what an idea is. But most of the definitions available to you are useless. Here’s Merriam-Webster: idea, noun. 1: a formulated thought or opinion2: whatever is known…
“Find Your Red Thread” is the best book you’ll ever read on ideas and impact
If you are seeking to create influence and change with an original idea, you must read Tamsen Webster’s Find Your Red Thread: Make Your Big Ideas Irresistible. It’s short, it’s actionable, and it’s brilliant. Here’s how to know if this book is for you: You have an idea and you want to spread it as…
A really useful guide: “The Content Fuel Framework” by Melanie Deziel
Sometimes you pick up a book and immediately think, “This is so useful, how is it possible that nobody has written it before?” Melanie Deziel’s The Content Fuel Framework: How to Generate Unlimited Story Ideas is such a book. If you have or aspire to have an audience of any kind, this book is for…
How to work on an idea: write a treatment
It’s on the tip of your brain. An idea. You think you’re onto something. You’ve figured something out that nobody else realizes. What should you do next? Write an idea treatment. I’ll explain how. I hear from people who say they have ideas all the time. They say stuff like this: “I think I want to…