The answer is really simple. We are not as creative as we think. Many in business like to think they are coming up with a brand new idea or concept. If there is anything the internet has taught us, it is that we are dead wrong. There are people all over who have the same or similar ideas.

And further more, ideas do not appear like a sudden bang. Yes epiphanies happen but an epiphany is a revelation of concepts already floating in the subconscious. In reality, ideas are built on the backs of the giants before us. Every concept, innovation, design, dream comes from the last one before it. That is why as a designer inspiration is so, so, so imporant. Because truly, people are not that creative. We need help to build an idea.

This is why thinking outside the box is almost always a moot point. When you are thinking outside the box, there is no foundation or source of inspiration. It is like someone trying to build a moving vehicle before first having the invention of the wheel. When this happens it becomes very difficult (and dare I say even impossible) to really come up with a viable solution or new idea in this abyss known as “outside the box.”

So here is what I pose instead:

As an entrepreneur you are in a very unique spot. You can use The Box to your advantage. Build off of it, feed on it, implode it—but don’t leave it. Instead stand on the edge as far as you can go. Instead of devising a brand new way to do something, feed off that foundation. Use what you already know, what is already established and twist it, shake it, bend it until you have something better.

Yes, there have been brand new ideas in history. Once in a while a Google comes along and changes everything with a brand new concept that has never been thought of before. But as an entrepreneur you don’t have the luxury of working out something from nothing. It is a much more viable solution to improve what is than to completely change it.

Now go back in the box. Put your mind as far to the edge as possible and you might just find much more effective solutions, inspiration, and innovation than by trying to step out.

For more articles on Entrepreneurship and Professional Lifestyle, Subsbribe to Zen Problog today.

photo credit: woodleywonderworks

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Side note: The new look for Zen Problog should be coming later this week. Stay tuned.

It’s been a while since I posted. As I mentioned in my last post, I’d be taking a little time off to focus on some heavy lifting in business and my personal life. Today I am letting you know that next week I’ll be back on track with 2-3 featured post articles a week.

Also, If you want to head over to AnyWired.com you’ll see my guest post on traveling the world while maintaining a local niche.

Oh, and one more thing… soon to come is a new theme for Zen Prosites! Though I love my current theme, I thought a completely custom theme would be more fitting to a my blog since I am a custom web designer. Of course the new theme will be courtesy of my company’s blog design service.

The next few weeks of my life are going to be very hectic with new projects, business expansions, a couple of surprises (hint: has to do with bloggers), and to top it off—midterms. So I want to let everyone know that I will not be posting as frequently for a little while but will make the time to get in 1-2 quality posts per week. I’ll also let you know when everything is back on course.

If you would like to help out by guest posting, drop me a message in the comments or contact form. I would be grateful.

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the less frequent articles.

Here are the creme de la creme of February’s Articles. Check them out if you missed any or read them again if you didn’t.

• 10 Things to Do When Everyone Else is Working
• Book Review: The Art of the Start
• Do Your Really Need An Office?
• 15 Ways to Protect Yourself from Big Bad Clients
• 10 Techniques to Create Passive Income

Also I added the first advertisements to the site in February. I am just testing out a few different methods. If anyone is interested in advertising on Zen Problog, check out the new Advertise page.

If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to future articles here at Zen Problog.

There have been times where I have almost given up and quit all together because of stress. I have found though that stress comes in waves and is normally very (very, very, very) temporary. These are some ways to diminish your stress when operating a business.

1. Use other’s talents to your advantage. One thing that has always stressed me out is selling. I am a designer and do not like telling people it’s gonna cost this much and then convince them to go with us. So I thought of ways to relieve this and eventually got others to do the selling for me for commissions.

2. Do the hardest things first. I used to hold the hard stuff off. This tip is something I have heard a lot of people recommend but I want to repeat it because it is important: You should do the hardest things on your list first. This gives you more time to do them (and do them right so you don’t have to fix errors later).

3. Always double check everything. Fixing errors is a huge money killer. By making sure everything works the first time, you will clear up time, money, and the inevitable stress that comes along with it.

4. Avoid bad customers and clients. There are some people out there that you just won’t click with or who will try to rob you for all your worth (metaphorically and literally). Bad clients can be avoided. You don’t have to take on every client that comes your way regardless of your financial situation.

5. End bad business relationships. Just as you do not have to take on every client and opportunity, you do not have to keep them either. If something isn’t working out, it just isn’t. Stop torturing yourself and end it.

6. Have structure to your days. Keeping a general structure to how the days of your week go can really give you focus and thus ends the stress of the unknown. This is a personal one to consider because some need to have the same schedule every day of the week and some need to have certain days to accomplish certain tasks. Give it good consideration.

7. Take short breaks (or naps). During the workday, between large tasks, take small breaks to meditate, nap, stretch, eat a low calorie snack, or something else that calms you. Giving yourself this room to breath can really impact your productivity for the rest of the day.

8. Take random days off. If you work for yourself, why not take a Tuesday off? It is not as if someone will be yelling at you. When you wrap up that big project, accomplish your sales goal, or just need a day to relax—take it! It is amazing how less stressful the world is when everyone else is at work. You can move about as you please. No traffic, no lines, no crowded walkways.

9. Be prepared for trouble. To really be on ball when problems arise, be mentally prepared for it. In the business world, problems will happen. Often. This is something you have to accept mentally and not fear. It can even be fun to solve problems if you let it be.

10. Solve problems right away. In my experience, problems only get worse over time. To diminish the stress of them, work first to fix them. They are scariest at first but also the easiest to fix.

11. Have reliable business friends. Knowing the right people can really help. Have people who can help you with the work load, mentors and advisers, etc. to help you get solutions to your problems.

12. Have a backup plan for everything. When you go into a project, it is always good to trouble shoot what could go wrong. When you figure out what problems may arise, you can devise preemptive solutions. The Scouts motto is Be Prepared. Why the the Entrepreneurs?

13. Don’t check emails before days off. It is a terrible feeling to read an email about a problem needed to be fixed just before the weekend or whatever days you take off. If it is really that vital, the person will call you so there is no point in checking emails before or on your days off. It will just stress you out during your off time.

14. Simplify your workday. By allowing yourself to cross off the less important stuff, you can really free up time. I use the 80/20 rule which states that 20% of the work you do generates 80% of the outcome. It has really worked for me so far.

15. Organize your work area. Creating a minimalist workspace and having a place for everything can clear up a lot of time of searching and reordering things.

16. Remind yourself of all the benefits. There are so many benefits in business. I made a pretty popular list of business benefits here. As long as you keep in mind what you are getting out of the deal or what the future will hold for you, it is easier to deal with temporary problems.

17. Give yourself release. Everyone needs to release their stress someway. Go bike riding, hit a punching bag, spend time with friends who can listen. The list goes on…

18. Do what you love. This, above all else, is what I want you to keep in mind. No matter how much money you are making or what you are doing, if it is not what you love you are losing out on something great and adding stress to your life. Find what you love to do—and do it. Then the stress will seem much easier to deal with.

For more articles on Professional lifestyle, subscribe to Zen Problog today.

photo credit: dmitriyo

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Side note: As I was editing this article, I found a slight problem in the Context Link ads shown. Can you see what is wrong with this advertisement?

As many of our regular readers know, Clarity Multimedia (my company), does website and print designs in Chicago.

Today we are launching a new site for our global blog design services called Blog Revolution (start your own).

EXPLANATION

We have been planning this new site and service recently and decided to mix up our normal company strategy. Instead of getting your project quoted and prices overestimated, we offer blog designs for a set $399. There are additional features that cost more but they are clearly listed with prices on the site.

This way there is no confusion with prices (something that happens a lot over the internet).

OFFER TO BLOGGERS

We want to get this venture off the ground and we want help from the blogger community. So here is our offer:

If you write a post about “Blog Revolution: Wordpress Theme Design by Clarity” with a link to the site within the next week, we will feature your blog name and a link to it on a post on Zen Problog; a site with a Google Page Rank of 4.

The article should contain the link http://revolution.claritymm.com

It can be one sentence or however long you want it to be but all we ask is that you don’t say anything mean or vulgar (we are not trying to stop you, just asking). Once you write it, email us letting us know you did and we will be sure to add you (with link) to our article.

DISCOUNT FOR ABOVE BLOGGERS

Also if you write about our service on your blog, we will give you a $50 discount on your blog design if you choose to use us. That brings the price to $349 for a full blog design.

So help us spread the word!

Picture this: You’re laying on a beach enjoying a nice drink and contemplating the universe (or checking out the nice-looking, half-naked person walking by) and though you are in paradise, you are still making money.

Unless you were of the world’s wealthy elite, this was virtually impossible until recent years. But now with the openness of the internet, all it takes is a wise entrepreneur, an internet connection, and a little prep work.

Why do I bring this up? Recently I have been experimenting with Passive Income as a means to make money with little effort so I can invest more time and money into what I love to do in my business and to achieve my eventual goal of traveling the world while I work. Passive Income is one of my ways to make this happen. (I will be covering more ways in the future.)

Some people, like Jeromy Shoemaker (a.k.a. ShoeMoney), even make passive income their main revenue stream.When you are a business owner, you do not have the luxury of steady income. Money may come but it may not. There is a lot of uncertainty, especially when you are a small or one person operation.

The benefits of Passive Income then are great for people like us.

1. Provides more steady and increasing cash.
2. Adds stability to your venture.
3. Gives you extra capital to invest back into your venture.
4. Gives you more flexibility to travel and vacation.

Basic Idea: More money, less work.

It is not something that can happen over night though. There is work involved that takes time and in some cases, money. Here are some ideas that are good for generating passive income.

1. Resource Websites - Having a website that displays valuable resources, whether it is informational or creative, can generate a lot of traffic and income.

2. Subscription sites - If you can create an automated service or really valuable content that can be used over time, you can charge for the service monthly without lifting a finger.

3. Application sites - How many people would visit your site if it could check their Google Page Rank for them? Even the most simple functions can be valuable to a niche of people.

4. Directories - By targeting niches and keywords, a directory can generate a lot of visits as it builds up a lot of website links.

5. Blogs - This one requires more work over time than the rest but a blog is a great way to bring in consistent traffic and provide a source of income.

6. eBooks - Unlike traditionally published books, ebooks can have less pages as long as the content is valuable and there is no cost for distribution. You can even have purchasing and receiving the book be automated.

7. Hosting - As long as you find a reliable server to rent or buy, your involvement in your hosting service will be minimal. You can charge basically anything for hosting and as long as you deliver on the quality promised, people will be willing to pay it.

8. Selling Stock Files - Whether it be photos, graphics, flash, video, or any other type of computer file, there is a resource site to sell it on. Get the most value out of your extra design work or file properties you own by selling them as stock.

9. Sell Infinite Products - What are infinite products? They are products that have an unlimited inventory. This includes any type of computer product such as software, web scripts, CMS systems, blog themes, etc.

10. Sell for Someone Else - If you can set up a website that is targeted for someone else’s products, you can sell them on the site (once you make a deal with the business), have the money and order info go straight to the manufacturer and just collect the commission check at the end of each month.

These are of course just ideas. In a post soon to come I will talk about how to optimize and monetize these ideas to give you the best value.

Be sure to subscribe to Zen Problog for more.

Several of these were covered more in depth in a resource website / ebook by Collis Ta’eed of FreelanceSwitch. Check out Not By The Hour if you are interested in more.

photo credit: muha…

If you haven’t yet be sure to check out these:

• The Homepage
• The Look
• A Living Being

Today I want to give you some insight into the construction of a business website by using my newly relaunched company website as example.

For three months now I have been working on creating an ideal site for my company. It is a lofty goal because a website is becoming more and more important for the success of a company (especially a web design company).

VISUALS

1. Simplicity - It is very tempting to load your site with as much as you can. Cool graphics, interesting pictures, seemingly important text; but all that takes away from the fundamentals. Instead with this design we focused on minimalism so users do not feel overwhelmed or feel like they don’t know what to do.

2. Aesthetics - While aiming for simplicity we did want the site to look as visually pleasing as possible. In doing so we used mostly simple techniques like gradients and borders to develop the visual feel of the site.

3. Recognition - While this site has a far different feel than that last, we wanted our current patrons to be able to still recognize us and so we kept our logo and colors pretty much the same. The major difference is it is mainly a dark background instead of white.

4. Greener - The main reason we switched to primarily dark colors is to do our small part to help the environment. The brighter the colors in a website, the more power the screen uses. It seems arbitrary and pointless but the numbers add up, especially on high traffic sites. We may only be saving each user pennies but by being part of this important movement, we are doing what we can to save the planet. (Ironically, green is not a power-saving color on a website.)

TARGETING

5. Information - Much like the look of the site, we kept our information minimal. We only put in what we needed to to reach our target market, which is primarily creative professionals and small business owners. The words we used were picked carefully to reach our market in terms of understanding and call to action.

6. Identity - Every company needs to have an identity. This is how your market will view you as an entity. We used everything from color choices, word usage, and types of information to show the type of company and people we are.

7. SE-Oh - In an effort to diminish our marketing efforts, we have been trying to beef up our Search Engine Optimization on all our sites. Having organic search traffic means people can find you without you lifting a finger. But there is preliminary work to do before this can occur. In our site we used locally targeted keywords and techniques to make our site viable for local searches in and around Chicago.

7. It’s Alive! - A mistake so many sites make is that they do not update. People and search engines don’t like to see the same information all the time. By updating information and adding a blog and news section, we have created a life on our site. This provides a better user experience. People like personality, even in business. This is why identity is so important.

USABILITY

8. Homepage - We spent the most time on the homepage. It is the most important function on a website being that it is where you introduce everything. A bad homepage is like a restaurant entrance with no one to greet you and no signs to guide you. You don’t know if you should seat yourself, where you are supposed to sit, or how you are supposed to order.

9. Non Target Info - Down at the bottom of the site, all the important but not targeted information is present. This includes the site map, the terms of use, and the services policies. Site maps allows search engines and users to easily find any particular part of the site, regardless the depth. The Terms of Use gives information about users permissions on a site. It is a good way to thwart away at least some spam and to ensure there is no dispute over users rights. The Services Policies is a new feature to our site. We added it to give clients insights into our working process and rights as service contractors.

10. Flow - The entire site is designed to provoke people to take steps. First, the home page’s main function guides people to our services and introduces everyone to our company. It also allows people to skip steps easily if they already know our services and work. Then from our services you can go to the portfolio or skip to the quote form and so on. The information and graphics flow in order to give users a call to action.

11. Call to Action - One of the most important aspects of a business website is providing users with a call to action. You want to provoke them to contact you, get prices, set appointments, etc. Eventually your call to action should be meant to create more sales. People sometimes need a gentle shove in the right direction for them to act. By having the right information presented in the right order and having means for them to communicate to you, you will be able to turn your visitors into customers easily.

How does your website look? Could it be updated? Feel free to leave a link to your company site in the comments.

For most articles on Marketing and Professional Lifestyle, subscribe to Zen Problog.

Business is not all rainbows and lollipops. I was humbly reminded of this by several of the commenters who responded to an article I wrote called 22 Benefits of Owning a Business.

My first criticism which led to a nice email conversation was from a commentor, Kilroy_60, who referred to my article as a “peaches ‘n’ cream” view of business. Pithy words in deed, I thought.

(By the way, inspite of the way it sounds—pithy simply means a brief, forceful, and meaningful expression—not a mean spirited comment.)

In response to a challenge posted by ProBlogReviews, one commenter even wrote a great article countering mine called 22 Reasons Why Owning Your Own Business can Stink.

Now I don’t know if I could really classify my business views as peaces ‘n’ cream but what I am an advocate of is Realistic Optimism.

To be successful in business you must be optimistic. But optimism can lead you down a dark road without understanding the actions that are important to make your hopes and dreams come true.

Thank you to those readers who keep me in check.

Now onto the point of this article…

I do believe these readers in my community have a point. Business is not easy. It is certainly not peaches and cream. But if you are Realalistically Optimistic and are willing to overcome all the obstacles, the things in my article will hold true.

But how do you overcome obstacles in business? What can you do to get to a place of problem solving zen?

There is a method I use to tackle problems and move on. It is a really simple five part process.

1. Objectify.

When a problem arises the first human impulse is to panic. When the problem could effect other people outside of yourself, as will be the case in business often, it is even worse. To really solve a problem you must take yourself out of the center of it and look at things objectively. This means drown your emotions for the moment and think.

2. Handle it now.

The best way to solve problems is to get them out of the way—right away. Don’t hold off on it. Just as if your car is making a rattling noise, the problem will most likely get worse over time. Deal with the rattle before your engine drops.

3. Think critically.

Your options will not always be black and white. Sometimes you need to dive at it head first and really devise solutions. This is where experience comes in handy but everyone has a first time for making particular mistakes.

In this instance, get help with it. I know, you are managing your business and we all have egos. Unfortunately humility is part of the game. There is no shame in asking for help.

4. Weigh.

Once you have your options worked out, weigh them to determine the consequences of each. Then decide by simply picking the best laid plan of action. What will do the least damage? What will be the most effective? The best long term solution?

It is so easy to be drawn into the ideology of quick fixes. I have seen many companies fall into this and it is terrible. It is very much like the Charles Schwab commercial where the Dam worker puts chewed gum on a leak to try to fix it. It will only cause a bigger problem tomorrow.

5. Execute.

The hardest thing you will have to do is flip the switch. All the planning in the world bars only partial impact on outcome. When you think objectively and come up with the most viable plan, there is less chances of more problems. But they do happen so be prepared for it.

Sometime we want to just hold off fixing problems or give the responsibility to others but it is part of the business life and to some (like me) it is an advantage. The feeling you get when you fix a problem and thus move one step closer to your goal is extraordinary.

photo credit: *Rob:doЯ*

5 Habits of Highly Ineffective Networkers. A guest post over at AnyWired takes a different approach and lists marketing faux pas’ (as opposed to “what to do” marketing tips) in a very interesting article.

Tribal Management. Anyone who is serious about marketing should know Seth Godin. I would love to put many of his articles here but I chose this one because it really focuses on the core of new marketing strategy.

25 Things you Must Learn to Ask For. Over at FreelanceSwitch the question is posed: What about me? So much tips are focused on how to treat the customer. This is about how you should get your customers to treat you.