10 inspirational prompts for writers: #entrepreneurshiop

Here are 10 writing tasks that might help budding entrepreneurs come up with an idea for a new project or a new piece of content for their blog or social media accounts. Let me know if any of these were useful.

1. Startup: You know that idea you’ve had in the back of your mind for a startup? Well, it’s time to put it into action. Sketch out a simple business plan. Include the name of your startup; describe the service/product it will provide; explain what differentiates it from the competition; describe the revenue model it would operate on; outline the major overheads and costs involved and any other barriers to entry.

2. Elevator pitch: First complete challenge #1, then write an elevator pitch in 100 words or less describing your startup. Send your pitch to 50 key entrepreneurs, investors or mentors in the field and ask for their expert feedback on your pitch. Don’t forget to link to your start-up post too.

3. Take stock!: Stop what you’re doing! Put your tools down! Ok, it’s time to take stock and assess the current status of whatever enterprise you’re involved in. Take a piece of paper, split it in two. On the left side write a list of all the positive aspects of your current work/project/enterprise. On the right side, write a list of the negative aspects. For each negative aspect, what can you do to change it? Share this insight with your audience.

4. Finger on the pulse: Go to AppAnnie’s iTunes top 100 paid and free apps chart and browse the different apps. Pay close attention to the top 30 and single out any apps that a) you’ve never heard of and b) are connected (even loosely) to your business. Reduce the selection to 2 or 3 apps. Take some time out to research each one. What does the app do? How do people use it? Can it be used to engage with your customer base? If so how? Write the findings of your research in a blog post. That post will be part 1 in a series of posts tracking your use of the apps (see #35).

5: (App)date: Idea #4 encouraged you to explore some new apps that might help boost engagement between your company/brand and your users. The next step is to devote time to 1 app in particular and track results of your usage. To do this, you are going to set up a campaign. You will need to set a time frame, campaign goals (e.g. achieve x number of conversions, get x number of followers, record x number of engagements with some content etc.) and mobilize the necessary tools to track and analyse your data (google analytics is usually a good go-to service in that regard). You will also need to outline the strategies you will use to reach your campaign goals. Draft this action plan and post it on your blog. Monitor your progress over your allocated time period and write further update posts detailing your results.

6: New niches: Humans are creatures of habit. Habits and routines tend to limit our vision and time constraints tend to limit our capacity to implement new ideas. So let’s try a quick experiment. Think about one new niche you would like to be involved in if you had more time. It has to be something that really gets you excited! Next, brainstorm the different tasks / functions involved in getting into that new territory. What would you need in order to do it? Edit that brainstorm into a paragraph, a proposal for a new venture. Now, think about your schedule, what time can you free up to work on that new project? Finally, set the project in motion and use this thought experiment as the basis for the first blog post on your new venture.

7: Twitterati: Write a post of the top 10 people you admire (doesn’t have to be the most famous or influential) in your field. Explain why you admire them. Link to their sites. Send an email, tweet, facebook message or tiktok to each person and let them know why you admire their work.

8: Book reviews: Go to the Amazon.com website and search for “entrepreneurs” in the Books section. Determine which books you would like to review and then check the author’s website. Many authors will be willing to send you a review copy free of charge provided you have a credible blog that you are writing for.

9. Creative response: If you’re looking to engage with industry leaders, but don’t feel you have the standing to approach them personally, why not try catching their attention (and the attention of their followers) with a creative response to one of their works? You could for example, write a response to one of their blog posts; make a video response

10. Conference Coverage: Thousand of conferences take place everyday around the world. Why not write about a conference related to your niche. Even if you cannot afford to attend the conference in person (although often times you can find grants if you look closely), most conferences stream their keynote and panel talks online. Live blogging or reblogging a conference is a) a great way to learn from industry peers b) bring value to your readership by breaking down the conference proceedings into bite-size chunks and c) a potential way into conference attendance the following year. It can also open doors to online connections with conference speakers. To find out when and where the next conference is, check out the excellent 10times.com website.