Jul 15

Written by:
7/15/2009 

I'm an "idea guy".  It always sounds funny when I say that, because doesn't everybody fancy themselves as a person with the great idea to solve any problem?  The issue is execution.  I've had these ideas for a long time but most never see the light of day because I'm either too busy with other things or I didn't have a way to get the ball rolling.

Enter social networking.

After 15 or so years in the workforce (and most of that in the media business), I've managed to build enough of a network that I can at least go to somebody for guidance as to whether or not my idea is made of gold or coal.  With the advent of facebook, LinkedIn, and (to some extent) Twitter, I can drop a quick message and either get a meeting or a "don't waste your time". 

I get plenty of ideas for web sites to publish just from looking at available domain names, but the beauty of it is that I'm not just restricted to media ideas.  After years in media sales and promotions, I have contacts in the restaurant business, retail, home services, banking the medical field, law, etc.  And I don't have to be close personal friends with these people in order to solicit advice.  If and when an idea moves forward, we can then move beyond digital communication and perhaps even <gasp!> meet face to face to start building on the idea and laying down a foundation of trust.

While driving yesterday, I was simply mulling over the brand positioning of somebody I do some work for from time to time when I was struck with an idea for a new business that is so simple, so pure, so dead on that I have to make the call.  The issue here is that I'm a fairly trusting guy.  As such, my idea could appear somewhere else very quickly if I'm too loose with my concepts.  So my first call is to an attorney to find what sort of documentation I need in place to protect my intellectual property.  Then I call the people I know who work in the industry where my idea resides to flush out viability and (perhaps) find a potential partner.

So my friends become trusted advisors, not just someone who updates their status once or twice per day.

I've yet to make that connection.  Going to let the idea gel and do a little research with my ultimate online friend...Google...into what this might entail and whether or not I'll be in over my head.