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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Michael Kane" data-source="post: 1130882" data-attributes="member: 7342">I think that is largely true for a majority of people. Most people are more comfortable being told what to do, rather than sitting down with a blank slate and completely using their own logic and creativity to devise something that previously was never in existence. Engineers, programmers, artists, product designers, writers, etc. all have to use different methods to will nothing into something. Question: Was there any particular step(s) you took to discover and apply your creativity? A book? A course? Some observation(s) you made about the world? I'm always curious as to how people find their creative muse.When it comes to businesses, there are four general flavors in my experience as an entrepreneur, listed from hardest to least hard:1. Original concept. That is when a whole new product space is developed. The Telegraph for communication would be an example. This brings to mind your example of Shark Tank people creating a whole new product/market space where one did not previously exist.2. Iterative concept. That is when existing technology or a business concept is updated. For instance, landline telephones to cell phones. Dumb cell phones to smartphones. 3. Efficiency concept. That is where existing technology is taken but modified to be much cheaper or more efficient, even if the underlying tech didn't change that much. Uber is the prime example of taking existing infrastructure that was being under-utilized and put those cars/drivers to work.4. Copycat concept. This is where you launch a coffee shop because you know people like drinking coffee. There's no total creativity because you know people will want comfy chairs, fast wifi and good coffee. You can pattern your store off successful coffee shops. Taking this concept even further, if you don't want any creativity, you open a franchise, as you discard all notions of creativity instead of having guaranteed corporate mandates on what you should and shouldn't do. You've outsourced your creativity.Interesting observations. I don't have any experience in your space, but might I wager a guess that those people who often create language textbooks are often masters/PHD's degrees in language, but have little experience acting as a language teacher for beginner and intermediate students in an actual classroom environment? Learning is a concept that fascinates me. You can have a textbook that is factually correct, but if the lessons are dry, boring and do not engage the students, then retention of the topic will go way down. Student engagement is very important if you want them to internalize your teaching, otherwise they will simply recite what is necessary to pass an exam, but they haven't genuinely mastered the lessons. That is where creativity looks to apply original concepts, modify them as they are field tested (or in this case, classroom-tested) and adjust the program accordingly based upon real-world feedback.Being creative is hard. Being creative for an extended period of time is even much harder. Most people overestimate their ability to sustain creativity, even if it is something as "easy" as writing a daily blog. Creativity burnout is real for many people, which is why most people can't and won't be location independent through creative means. There are people who can do drop-shipping and consulting services over Skype, etc., but to be long-term creative takes some SERIOUS discipline and a desire to find new muses for your creativity. Part of the challenge of exchanging time for money, instead of time for the creation of new products that are eventually sold for much more money, is that the non-creative route (working for others in trained skill) will always have some cheaper worker who can compete on price, especially in the 3rd world. Being in a field isn't good enough. If you want to make money, you need to be at least in the top 25% of workers in your industry. Be MUCH BETTER than your cheaper competition, that way you don't have to compete on price. Charge a premium value, but learn mastery-level skills. This a long game. You have to be willing to invest in teaching yourself the skills to command a premium price.I'll strongly second that suggestion. CS has been very helpful in bouncing ideas off of for a new consulting business I'm starting up. Talk to him and get a list of questions together.A lot of creativity is not necessarily having original thoughts (though that is important) it is that you must have a SYSTEM of self-discipline that encourages creativity. Can you wake up early in the morning? Can you turn off your cell phone and put it on Airplane mode when you need to write at least 10 pages of content today? Can you decline the invite from friends to go hang out? Being creative is often about self-sacrifice long enough to focus the mind, putting aside the distractions and attaining the mental space necessary to discover new ideas.Most e-book sectors are already played out at this point. There's too much noise to break through the crowd for most people. It might provide you a small stream of income, but for most, it can't be considered primary income to life off of. Online courses, if they are for a very valuable market sector that you have unique insight to, might have room for growth. A class on investing, for instance, if you have experience working as a financial trader is an example of a high-priced, low-volume product that can sell. People are always willing to pay money to make more money. This is best done when you already have experience in an industry where you can prove you know how to make money. The best marketing strategy is results if you're going after an online course. Can you show your prospective students that you can deliver?</blockquote>

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