By Looking at Life With Product Development in Mind, 
You Can Often Find New Ideas in Everyday Situations.

Ideas are everywhere...and a slight change in focus can often help you discover new approaches to everyday problems. Product ideas come to us in a variety of ways.

1. Being Dissatisfied With the Way Something Works--This is perhaps the most common situation. And it can lead to new and creative approaches. Don't like the way something works? How would you change and improve it?

2. Being an "Expert" in an Area and Seeing a Need for Something New to Make Doing a Job Easier--We all have expertise in certain areas. And that gives us a unique eye for how things can be improved. Focus on your strengths and begin looking for ways to improve things in your area of expertise.

3. Listening to Others Describe Their Problems--What are people unhappy about? What changes would they like to see? This may be the key to a popular new product.

4. Starting a Sentence With "Wouldn't it be Great if..."--You'd be surprised how often new ideas can appear in brainstorming exercises like this. Try it daily and see what comes up.

5. Being Aware of Changing Trends in Society--How are societal attitudes and fashions changing? Are there new products that might fit in well with such changes?

6. Ask Your Kid What the Latest Fad is and Try to Capitalize on It--When fads take off, there's always a great opportunity for a new product. Jump in early and you could reap the rewards.

7. Visit a Foreign Country and See if You Can Adapt an Unusual Product You Find There--A foreign market might have products and product ideas that still haven't hit the U.S. If something is popular there, you may be able to adapt it to the American market and sell it here.

8. Remember What You Used to Love to do as a Kid and Think of a Related Product--This can be translated, "Remember the fun times." Was there something that gave you a great thrill when you were younger? Would it still appeal to kids (and adults) today? If so, you may be able to spin off a related product.

9. Go to a Crafts Show...See What People are Buying Most and Design a Consumer Product Around It--Crafts appeal to a person's creativity and sense of accomplishment. See if you can design a product that incorporates the fun and imagination of arts and crafts.

10. Sit Quietly With Your Eyes Closed. Center Yourself and Ask for a New Product Idea to Manifest--Creative people often take the time to go within and call up new ideas. Not only will those ideas come to you, you may also get a bonus in a lowered stress level.

Explore several possibilities from the above list and see which ideas begin to emerge. And more importantly, begin working with these ideas to create new and viable products. Good luck.

The above article was excerpted from Ken Tarlow's MIND TO MONEY, a cassette tape/workbook package that can help you develop a new product from the idea stage to the marketplace. MIND TO MONEY may be ordered from the Dream Merchant at $59.95 plus $4.95 CA sales tax and$5 shipping and handling ($69.90 total). Send orders to the Dream Merchant, 2309 Torrance Blvd., Suite 104, Torrance, CA 90501.