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It never fails. The fastest and most effective way to move marketing projects forward is to prototype early and frequently, then continue to iterate until the project reaches its full potential. In other words. The quicker you turn your idea into a functional prototype, the quicker you will be able to develop it into your full and powerful vision. If you have an idea for a product, marketing campaign, or business model, the best thing you can do to turn that idea into reality is to find a way to turn it into a functional prototype. Then, the best thing you can do is to make the idea profitable right from the start. Even though I know these things, I have to constantly re-learn this concept and refocus my efforts. My tendency is to have an idea (say, for a new product) and then get excited about that idea and then continue to expand that idea until it becomes a vision -- a BIG vision. It's easy for me to come up with great ideas for products and business models. My entrepreneurial mind is always scanning for the opportunity to solve someone's problem. Plus creativity is like a drug. It's so much fun to dream up new concepts and play with the ideas, what I'm really up against is a self-rewarding behavior. And like any drug, creative thinking can become an addiction. You can easily fool yourself into thinking that you are actually doing something to move your business forward. You feel great! The ideas are incredible! You are going to make so much money! And meanwhile, like a junkie squatting in an abandoned apartment, everything is going to hell around you. OK. Maybe that is a little gloomy, but really, the outlook for any business that just comes up with ideas without actually implementing those ideas is not to bright. That's why I kick myself when I 'forget' and find myself coming up with big ideas but taking a long time to implement them. The "Big Idea" is the Entrepreneur's enemy when it comes to taking action. You see, Entrepreneurs are so good at creating "Big Ideas" we haven't exercised our "small action" muscle. The only way to move forward is to break your big idea down into small pieces that can be implemented quickly. Case in point... I have had a project on my plate for (I kid you not) over three years. This is my BIG project. The one that the entire vision of my company is built upon. Only a few people know about it, and they have been blow away by the idea. It's simple, useful, and something that virtually every person in my target audience needs. I'm really excited by the idea. And I've done a fair bit of work to move it forward. But I've really been hampered by the "Big Idea" bug. I have such a strong vision for my idea that I tend to get overwhelmed by the scope of it. And the net result is... the project moves along at a snail's pace. The project is a software development project. Ultimately, it will be a very useful online application and I expect it to be nicely profitable for my company as well. So part of the "problem" is that in order to move the project forward, I need a good development team. And good development teams are not easy to find, nor do they work cheap. But a few weeks ago, I took a step back and said "what will it take to get the smallest, most useful working prototype to market. Even if I just use it myself, I want to move forward with development of a prototype as soon as possible. Like right now. Like no more waiting, this thing need to happen now. It's funny. One of my main motivations to complete the software is purely for personal use. Now that I can clearly envision what my life will be like with this tool to help me, I don't want to continue using the "old" way anymore. Less than two days after making the firm decision to create a prototype now, I a full "law of attraction" moment. I got an email from a friend of mine, Jason Anderson. In his email he announced that he will soon launch a new software development service. Of course, I was looking for software development services, so I clicked through immediately and got myself signed up on his launch announcement list. But I also planned to contact him to see what this was all about. Well, about an hour later, Jason sent me an instant message over Skype. He saved me the trouble of following up. :-) Here is our un-altered Skype conversation (or at least the part that I can share with you without pissing Jason off!): [7/9/2008 8:07:46 AM] Jason Anderson says: morning!! 
[7/9/2008 8:07:59 AM] Doug Hudiburg says: Morning Jason!
[7/9/2008 8:08:23 AM] Jason Anderson says: I see you joined the notification list for prosoftwaredeveloper.com
[7/9/2008 8:08:41 AM] Jason Anderson says: sent you an email this morning
[7/9/2008 8:09:34 AM] Doug Hudiburg says: Yeah. Just saw your email.
[7/9/2008 8:09:43 AM] Doug Hudiburg says: Sounds like you've found a great team.
[7/9/2008 8:11:28 AM] Jason Anderson says: well...I've found a team willing to work and establish their cred first
[7/9/2008 8:11:41 AM] Jason Anderson says: These guys are used to 4000 hour projects
[7/9/2008 8:11:45 AM] Jason Anderson says: from corps
[7/9/2008 8:11:59 AM] Jason Anderson says: but they suck at marketing
[7/9/2008 8:12:07 AM] Jason Anderson says: luckily for me
[7/9/2008 8:12:23 AM] Doug Hudiburg says: LOL. Not unusual to have the skill but no ability to bring in business.
[7/9/2008 8:12:39 AM] Doug Hudiburg says: It's a great idea to do an offer like this.
[7/9/2008 8:12:51 AM] Jason Anderson says: you're gonna flip when you see the pricing
[7/9/2008 8:12:57 AM] Jason Anderson says: just STUPID
[7/9/2008 8:13:15 AM] Doug Hudiburg says: I'll be working on my scope and concept documents.
[7/9/2008 8:13:33 AM] Doug Hudiburg says: LOL. That's what I need! Very affordable programming. I just copied and pasted that conversation verbatim. Is that crazy or what? Here I was with a big challenge two days after making the firm decision to create a prototype, and a seasoned development team drops into my lap! So my decision to prototype now will absolutely move this project forward faster than just thinking and planning. My challenge now, is to narrow my scope enough to make the prototype useful (I will charge for it, even if it is a nominal fee) and also small enough to be built in about a week. Big challenge, yes. Remember, this is my big idea. I have to find a way to whittle it down to it's core value and make it simple enough to build that even a brand new team can create it easily. I want just the bare bones, the core "must have" functions, the simplest user interface. I want my tool to do one or two of it's most important tasks and to do them well. See. If you force yourself to create a working prototype at the very earliest possible point in your project time line, you will force your mind out of creative mode and into action mode. Then you can let your users tell you how to improve on your next iteration. If you have a big idea for a course in your niche, look for a way to write it and sell it in pieces. Write a series of short reports (chapters) and sell them for $1.00 each. Why the low price? You can sell them for more, but sometimes a low price takes the pressure off of having to be perfect, so it depends on how stuck you are. If you want to start selling online but don't know how, first define your target audience narrowly and clearly, then start a blog. Connect with your audience first, then start looking for ways to provide value and monetize the relationship. The blog might not be a true prototype for your business, but at least you will be participating in the market, if even in a small way, and you will have a place to share your prototype when you figure it out. If you want to make enough money online to quit your job, make a small prototype of an online business, develop a small income stream (even if it's $10 a month), then either expand your prototype or create a different one, depending on how your first test went. Expanding $10 to $10,000 is a heck of a lot easier than expanding $0 to $10,000. So don't get hung up on making the big bucks, instead start ridiculously low -- but START. It's all about this: prototype early, and iterate frequently. BTW. If YOU have been considering a software project, get on Jason's list now , he wasn't kidding when he said the prices are STUPID (lol), I'm blown away that I'll get access to a seasoned team of programmers, graphic artists, and HTML designers for the pricing Jason hinted at. He didn't tell me exactly how much it will cost to hire his team, but I know Jason, and the hints he was giving convinced me to be at the front of the line when he opens the offer.
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