what's an example of thinking outside the box?

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ubaidabcd

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I know this is a retarded question, I know what the phrase means but I'm looking for specific examples if anybody wants to share. I have problems with thinking creatively so maybe I can find a good example and try to get my wheels turning.
 


Thinking outside of the normal ways of doing things. Instead of asking "how can I promote this?" and thinking link directories, blog exchanges, PPC, all the traditional stuff....you think, "downloadable watermarked backgrounds" or something.
 
Pretty much doing what no one else is doing, or doing somethhing that everybody else is doing differently.

Crocs. Everyone has sandels and slippers. But these fools made single piece slippers that sell like hot jew cakes.
 
It's like when everyone is fucking girls and you think it would be a good idea to fuck a sheep.
 
A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech is a pretty decent book on the topic.
 
Okay. Here's an example. Say for instance you sell online and you sell the same thing as 10,000 people. Let's pretend it's diamonds. And everyone who sells the diamonds calls them diamonds. But you want to set yourself apart from the pack and so you think to advertise your diamonds as the SUPER DUPER ULTRA HIGH GLOSS EXTRA SHINEY INDESTRUCTIBLE MYSTICAL MAGICAL STONES. You just thought of a way to make your diamonds seem more special, when in reality they are the same exact diamonds as everyone else is selling. And to convey the perception of increased value in your customers' mind, you sell them at a higher price. This is an example of thinking outside the box.
 
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Okay. Here's an example. Say for instance you sell online and you sell the same thing as 10,000 people. Let's pretend it's diamonds. And everyone who sells the diamonds calls them diamonds. But you want to set yourself apart from the pack and so you think to advertise your diamonds as the SUPER DUPER ULTRA HIGH GLOSS EXTRA SHINEY INDESTRUCTIBLE MYSTICAL MAGICAL STONES. You just thought of a way to make your diamonds seem more special, when in reality they are the same exact diamonds as everyone else is selling. And to convey the perception of increased value in your customers' mind, you sell them at a higher price. This is an example of thinking outside the box.

Except don't do that with diamonds because you'll drop their value by 10x ;)

Great tip though, you're adding value just by changing your product pitch.
 
Here's an example. Say you're promoting a hosting company. Instead of bidding on highly competitive hosting keywords via PPC, or trying to rank for them, you approach it a different way.

You decide to target people just getting into web design. Or people who want a simple website and don't want to spend much money. So you build a website about easy web design. You could do joomla or wordpress tutorials, or a brief introduction to Nvu with some free templates for people to download. You show them what they want to know. These people would be a lot cheaper and easier to attract than going directly to the hosting market, yet they'd have the same need for hosting. And you're there to fill it.

It's really about innovation, or approaching a market in a more cost effective manner than everyone else is doing to gain a competitive edge.

My 2 cents.
 
You're joking right? If you have to ask that question then you'll never be able to think outside the space between your ears.

Here's what I do. I distance myself from everyone else and I try and find solutions to problems I see. Recognize your thoughts and validate them. One idea may be that great idea.

Think a fucken lot about problems and how you can make money solving them.
 
Here's an example. Say you're promoting a hosting company. Instead of bidding on highly competitive hosting keywords via PPC, or trying to rank for them, you approach it a different way.

You decide to target people just getting into web design. Or people who want a simple website and don't want to spend much money. So you build a website about easy web design. You could do joomla or wordpress tutorials, or a brief introduction to Nvu with some free templates for people to download. You show them what they want to know. These people would be a lot cheaper and easier to attract than going directly to the hosting market, yet they'd have the same need for hosting. And you're there to fill it.

It's really about innovation, or approaching a market in a more cost effective manner than everyone else is doing to gain a competitive edge.

My 2 cents.

Right on! LIke to add my two cents on this idea:
what about you set up a new blog for them for free if they buy the hosting via your affiliate link. it shouldn't be hard, all you need is FTP to upload the wordpress theme/plug in to their server. Be creative, make the wordpress template adsense-ready, Mybloglog ready...:D
 
Yeah, that's good too. There's a guy on ebay who does joomla installs. He charges $5 and makes them sign up through his hosting affiliate. He doesn't do much volume, but that's practically free money right there.
 
Yeah, that's good too. There's a guy on ebay who does joomla installs. He charges $5 and makes them sign up through his hosting affiliate. He doesn't do much volume, but that's practically free money right there.

I've seen people selling OpenOffice on eBay too...
 
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