Have you ever come across something and said to yourself, why didn’t someone think of that before?

That was my reaction when I saw iYule (www.iYule.tv).

As described on the website, iYule is a “30-minute Yule Log video for iPods, iPhone, Zunes and more!”.  Basically, it’s a video of a fireplace complete with soothing background music and the snap, crackle and pop of a real fireplace.

Here’s why I like this idea…

It’s a great example of how stimuli can “spark” a new idea.

If you read the story of how iYule came to be, it just shows that ideas can come from a variety of different places.  In this example, it all started with a request from the viewers of Cali Lewis who enjoyed the background fireplace that was playing on her monitor in some of her videos.

The problem was, she didn’t own the rights to sell that video.  Unfortunately, that’s when the thought went on the backburner. 

Then, several months later after a random brainstorming session with Paul Colligan, the idea finally came to be.  Now, if you go to the iYule blog, you’ll see a whack of comments from people who are lovin’ their “virtual fireplace”.

The cool part is you can play this fire on ipods, iphones, zunes or even just your regular computer screen.  The only thing to be careful of, is that you don’t get mesmorized by the fire and end up staring at it for hours (it happens to me all the time around a campfire!).

It’s very relaxing and it’s becoming a huge hit (I guess that’s what you get when you combine the popularity of the iPod with the peaceful nature of a fireplace). 

Check it out:

http://www.virb.com/cali/videos/31736

The point is this…

Stimuli is everywhere and you never know when it could spark a great product idea.  In this case it was an old video that Cali was playing in the background of her show combined with some suggestion from Paul.

But stimuli is everywhere.

It can be anything you touch, taste, hear, smell, or see.

That’s why seminars are such a great place for small business owners.  It acts like an “idea incubator” where you’re surrounded by all kinds of related stimuli.  It’s inevitable that you come away with many more ideas.

The key to creativity and generating new product ideas is to surround yourself with lots of stimuli - both related to your business as well as unrelated.

It’s the mixture of stimuli that will ignite the far regions of your brain to produce that eureka moment.

It did for Cali, Paul and the iYule team.  Now their new product is on fire… literally!

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About The Author
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Stu McLaren is an trainer, consultant and affiliate manager for some of the world's top internet marketers. Access his free training sessions by entering your name and email in the form provided below in the "Get Updated" section.

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Other Websites of Interest:
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IdeaSeminar.com
MarketingWebGraphics.com
GetStartedWithInternetMarketing.com
GetStartedWithInfoMarketing.com
BasicListBuilding.com

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