The answer is: Creativity

     Creativity is simply the expanding on one theme to create another. It is the making of the new or the rearranging of the old in a new way. While most people can see the obvious creativity in the Picasso story, you and I must dig deeper to understand its importance. No matter how you define it, creativity is the starting point in your development of new and exciting product ideas. It is the propellant powering the early stages of a company's launch. It is the infusion that brings fading companies back to life.

     Even if your present product line is going great guns, you need to know that most products have a life cycle. Some cycles last a long time. For example Shaklee’s "Vitalee" multi-vitamin and Amway's "SA 8" laundry soap have been around for nearly forty years. Because of their quality and perfect positioning, these products have earned brand name loyalty from distributors and customers alike. Other product durations are fairly short. That is why ongoing research and development are such an integral part of the Active 8 business.

     And like the products, we also know that companies can have a life cycle too. Of course the Amways and Shaklees have endured the tests of time. But most MLM companies are not so fortunate. The fields of free enterprise are scattered with the remains of many MLM ventures that boomed — and bombed. We are determined that this need not happen to your dream.

     Your products and your business can enjoy a long, healthy, happy life. But to achieve this success, certain key components must be in place and operating effectively. When it comes to creativity, the mind follows a pattern that is just as predictable as a car coming down an auto assembly line in Detroit.

     This process follows three steps. They must be taken in sequence — one without the others or a change in sequence will not work. Likewise, you can not install the wheels before you have bolted on the axle.

STEP I — Ingest Information
Stuff yourself with information about your products or business. Known facts and figures, reports, results, and developments. Include details based on your direct observations. Collecting information can be time consuming, which is why more people do not do it. Everybody is waiting for a bolt out of the blue. You can not sit around waiting for the spirit to move you. The trouble is, when you insist on inspiration, you frustrate the creative method. Inspiration will come, but it will usually happen further into the process.

STEP II — Mentally Munch the Material
Chew on this information that you have learned for a while. In the same way you must chew your food in order to swallow, knowledge must be broken down in order to enter the mental digestive system. You take a byte of this concept and then a byte of that idea: position them together and see how they all fit together in your plan of action.

Your goal here is relationships. How do two seemingly unrelated thoughts look when you fit them together? Sometimes it helps to avoid looking at your ideas too closely. Often it is when you are finally relaxed that the hidden picture or creative ideas come into focus. And, like any other skill or learn action, the more you practice; the quicker and easier it becomes. It is the same with ideas.

When you are in a creative mode, it helps to get a little cross-eyed. Do not worry about how crazy it seems, and do not get frustrated. Just put your ideas down on paper or in your PC. Do not give up! The fresh new concept will come somewhere during the next step in the idea generation process.

STEP II — Metabolize the Material
This is where it gets exciting. You have done all you can do. Stop thinking — turn the idea process over to your subconscious mind. This step is just as important as the first two. Go for a hike. Read a book. Watch a movie. Engage in some kind of diversion. After a while, your third eye will pick up the picture of a new product, and you will be amazed that you could not see it before.

Seize the Inspiration!

When the concept comes, be ready. It may be at a moment when you least expect. Ever have an idea, reached for something to write with and could not find a pen or paper? Then you thought, "This idea is so hot, so strong, I will remember it forever. It is permanently planted in my mind." What happened the next day? That is right, your mind was blank. That is why you must be ready to seize the moment. Enter an "ideas" section in your computer or day planner. Keep a notepad beside your bed, or perhaps a small tape recorder.

Also, you can expect to receive new ideas from your existing network around you. Pay close attention to your independent sales representatives, and if you are in the network marketing business, in both your upline and downline. Your most focused and fervent distributors can provide invaluable insight to the perspectives of their peers. Here is a sales truth: We rarely succeed in selling people what they need. We are always successful in selling people what they want!

A time-tested way of nourishing creative ideas is brainstorming. Not only does it stimulate a lot of new ideas quickly; brainstorming energizes a creative atmosphere. While you can brainstorm by yourself, it is a lot more productive and exciting to involve others. Think of all the input you could get by brainstorming with your own group around you. While each person has their own unique perspective, the pooling of several imaginative thinkers results in a phenomenon called the group — or mastermind. This mastermind is exponentially more creative than any one of the individual thinkers by themselves.

Here are some rules for effective brainstorming:

Write fast. Do not worry about grammar, spelling or punctuation.

Write everything. Put down whatever comes to mind, no matter how far out it seems. Do not second-guess your ideas.

Do not edit your ideas. Leave them uncut.

Doodle. Draw sketches, cartoons and flow charts to illustrate your ideas.

Have fun. Relax and enjoy the process.

After you have brainstormed awhile, arrange your ideas into homogenous groups, and evaluate them with respect to their potential.

Here are some ways to become more creative:

Trust Your Own Ideas.
Remember that everyone is influenced and conditioned by things that have happened since they were born. Because of their background, a lot of people tend to see more of what is wrong with an idea than what is right with it. Funny how those people find their way onto committees. Most committees will neutralize 90% of what is right with an idea with the 10% that may present a problem.

Sometimes It is Okay To Imitate
We have talked so much about being original that it may strike you as strange for me to encourage your imitating someone else's idea.

It All Begins With An Idea
Napoleon Hill observed: "Just as the oak tree develops from the germ that lies in the acorn, and the bird develops from the germ that lies asleep in the egg, so will your material achievements grow out of the organized plans that you create in your imagination. First comes the thought; then the organization of that thought into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination."

It is true that an idea is where success begins. Human imagination is the starting point of all human accomplishment. The creative thought always precedes the creative act. But I would be remiss if I did not remind you of this fact: It is one thing to have a great idea; it is another to bring that idea to life. This takes planning, proper procedures, goals, guts and grace under fire. Most of all, it takes action. I trust that these thoughts will challenge and empower you to make your dreams a reality!