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"THE PROFITABLE BUSINESS OWNER"
~ your guide to service business success ~ british airways contact number uk . Professional acting studios in los angeles California.

February 4, 2003

But That Way *My* Idea!
by Kimberly Stevens kim@askthebizcoach.com

Tuesday, 2/4/2003
a weekly ezine published by Ask the Biz Coach
http://www.AskTheBizCoach.com

* PUBLISHER NOTE  ~.~  Kimberly Stevens
* FREE DOWNLOAD  ~.~  Sample Chapter Selections
* FEATURE COLUMN  ~.~  But That Was MY Idea!
* RESOURCES  ~.~  The Profitable Business Owner e-book
* AFFILIATE PROGRAM  ~.~  Earn money by sharing resources
* CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY
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~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  PUBLISHER NOTE ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Dear Readers,

Did you ever have a great idea, then watch someone steal it
right out from under you?

Somehow, in the middle of the night perhaps, they snuck into
your house, opened up your brain, and stole your brilliant
plan.  You were destined for riches before your brain
invasion.  Now, you’re left to sludge through the rest of
your mediocre life.

“It’s not fair!” you might whine to your friends or spouse. 
“That was MY idea, and now he went off and did it!  I came
up with that idea five years ago!  It should be *me* on Good
Morning America!  It should be *me* pulling in the big
money!  I should be smiling from ear-to-ear as the reporter
interviews me!”

Sound familiar?  If so, it’s time to get up and do something
about it!

Best Wishes for Continued Success!

Kimberly Stevens
Ask The Biz Coach, LLC
PH:  410.721.8522
kim@askthebizcoach.com

http://www.askthebizcoach.com

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  FREE DOWNLOAD  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

        *The Profitable Business Owner*
Book One: Starting & Managing Your Business

In response to requests for sample chapters, I’ve created a
sample chapter selection including the entire Table of
Contents, Introduction, and Chapters 4 & 6.  I think you’ll
see what I mean when I say - “you don’t *read* this ebook,
you *work* it.”  I’m going for results, not theory!

To download sample chapters, visit
http://www.askthebizcoach.com/ebooks.htm

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  FEATURE COLUMN  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

But That Was *MY* Idea!
by Kimberly Stevens

When I walked into Gold’s Gym last Tuesday, I was greeted
with a small refrigerator full of apples.  The sticker on
the front said “3-Apple-a-Day Plan.”  After reading through
the flyer on the table, I learned that this innovative
nutritionist had created a special diet plan – eat one apple
before every meal to lose weight and get more lean.  “Hey,
wait a minute,” I thought.  “That was MY idea!”

I came up with that idea 17 years ago, not that I ever
actually tried it, mind you, but it was still *my* idea. 
And, now, here’s this “nutritionist” claiming to be
“innovative”.  I never really planned to do anything with my
apple-eating plan, but this incident predicted events of the
week to come.

The following night, I hosted the monthly Mentors Meet where
a group of my friends, and fellow business owners, have
dinner and talk about what’s happening in our businesses -
the good, the bad, and the “I could really use your advice”
kind of things.

After listening to a couple of us gush about how we’ve
finally started to hit our post-baby stride, it was
Jessica’s turn.

“You’ll have to excuse me if I start getting emotional,” she
began.  “You all know about my idea to -(sorry, I can’t
disclose it because I’m still hoping she’ll do it).  “Well,
I was watching Good Morning America the other morning, and
this guy was on there promoting this new book about the
exact same thing I was going to do!”  “I had this idea three
years ago and didn’t move on it, and now I’ve lost it.  He
did it first.”

By this point, she was getting emotional.  “If I had only
jumped on it when I first came up with it, but I was too
busy trying to keep my business going, so I just focused all
of my energy on that.  But there’s nothing I can do now. 
It’s gone.”

For a moment, we just shook our heads in understanding.  We
all knew what it felt like to have our brilliance shine
through only to discover that one, if not several, people
before us had already experienced that same brilliance and
done something about it.  It can be very disheartening and,
in most cases, can cause you to give up on your idea
altogether.

But, here’s the thing.  There is truly very little original
thought.  Innovation isn’t necessarily creating something
brand new.  It’s taking what already exists and putting it
together in a new way.

I’m currently wrapping up “The Profitable Business Owner –
Book Two: Marketing Your Services” (to be released on
February 17).  How many marketing books do you think are
already out there – hundreds? thousands?  So why am I
investing so much time and effort to do what’s already been
done?

Because I’m taking what’s already out there and presenting
it in a new way.  I’m adding in my experiences and those of
my clients.  I’m creating a systematic process that is a lot
easier and a lot more practical to implement than a big
bunch of theories.  You won’t just read my ebooks – you’ll
work them.

But, the biggest reason I’m doing it, even when faced with
many others who have walked before me, is that I’ve seen
what’s out there, and I think my way works better.  And,
what’s more – it’s where my passion lies.

That last part is key.  Like my 3 apples/day idea, if you
don’t feel any passion behind it, the loss of it doesn’t
really hurt – who cares that someone came up with same idea
and did something with it?  Not me.  After reading the
flyer, I went on with my day.

But when your passion gets involved, you care.  Jessica felt
“scooped,” and her first instinct was to assume she had
missed her only opportunity for greatness.  At 36, she felt
washed up.

Of course, that’s not where we left it.  Even though this
guy had written a book about a similar topic, Jessica’s idea
was different.  She planned to do a television show and
having worked in the industry, she has the connections to
get it done.

After some period of consoling, we landed back on passion. 
If she didn’t feel great passion for this idea, or if the
excitement she had initially felt for it had worn off, she
should just let it go.  But, if she believed that this was
what she was meant to do for this portion of her life, she
should go for it.

After all, if anything, this guy’s book just helped create
the market for her television show.  Sometimes what seems to
be competition really isn’t.  Even during the recent reign
of Starbucks, with one seemingly opening on every corner,
the number of independent coffee houses throughout the U.S.
has continued to increase.  Starbucks created more coffee
drinkers – that positively impacted the whole industry.

So, do you have an idea you’ve been sitting on?  Or, do you
feel like you’ve been “scooped” – that someone has “stolen”
your great idea?  Ask yourself – is this really the “one”? 
Is it really what you want to spend the next decade doing? 
If you don’t give it a shot, will you regret it for the rest
of your life?

If so, get going!  Run with it before someone else does! 
Start this week!  No regrets!


Best of Luck!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  RESOURCES  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

*The Profitable Business Owner* Book One: Starting &
Managing Your Business' ebook gives you a step-by-step
system for building a profitable service business.  For a
full Table of Contents & sample chapter downloads, visit: 
http://www.askthebizcoach.com/ebooks.htm

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  AFFILIATE PROGRAM  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Add a new profit center to your business by joining the Ask
The Biz Coach Affiliate Program.  Offer your clients,
subscribers, members, and site visitors the opportunity to
download my free MiniCourse or Sample Ebook Chapters, and
you could earn a sales commission every time they buy one of
the many ebooks or web tools I’m launching over the next
several months. Learn more at:
http://www.askthebizcoach.com/affiliates.htm

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

The client names in the Feature Column have been changed to
preserve the Client Confidentiality Agreement.  In some
cases, the scenario is not that of one client but is
representative of the experiences of the many business
owners with whom I have worked.


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