Using Social Media: The Ideation-to-Transaction Process

Social media is part of the getting ideas into the marketplace.

Ideas are cheap. Ideas are everywhere. You just had another idea.  In fact, as you are reading this you will get a few new ones.

You can be inspired by anything. The key is what you do with the ideas that you or others have.  Innovation is the buzzword these days… but to truly innovate, someone has to build it and make it work.

In short, an idea that is not executed is nothing but a fleeting flash of brilliance.

However, doing something with an idea is the work of giants. This is what creates wealth and moves economies.

• Getting an idea to market.
• Following through with an idea.
• Executing an idea.
• Moving an idea into the physical universe.
• Making an idea tangible.

I was in a brainstorming session a few days ago that gave me a headache.

Why?  Because all of the ideas had inherent structural problems. In layman’s terms, the ideas that were being generated lacked the clarity of execution.

My background is in manufacturing. I build stuff.  Big earth moving machines.  Boilers.  Spinning machines.  Cars.  Huge metal presses. Robots.  Mile-long plants.  Warehousing.  Trucks.  Forklifts.  Hard hats.  Ear plugs. Steel-toed shoes.

This is the world I come from. Now I find myself in the digital world, which I consider to be close to the perfect machine.

Perfect Machine:

• No weight
• No space requirement
• No power consumption.
• Runs automatically
• Self-regulating
• Self-servicing

This morning I am awake to the fact that the world that I come from is still extremely valuable.

Why?

I am seeing a lot of people talk about what should be done and what should work.  After the fact, they tell you why it works.  But only a few people can really build things from the ground up, meaning:

• See the idea.
• Build the structure.
• Pull the resources together.
• Design the systems.
• Create something.
• Keep working with it until it is producing something meaningful.

What are you not only willing to think, but willing to do to really make something happen and show up in the real world?