Source: gatherlove.tumblr.com via Trish on Pinterest
I think one of the main reasons that entrepreneurial pursuits are so VITAL to this country is that it allows a bit of vision; people are always thinking about new business ideas or new craft ideas or, my favorite one, vacation ideas.
What do I mean by that?
I look at Pinterest often (yes, I use it as a vision board for my own life) and I see a lot of people using it as a way to take the plethora of business ideas (or craft ideas or vacation ideas) that are out there on the interwebz and attempt to organize them into some sort of semblance, some sort of order.
Let’s face it. We’re swamped, day in and day out. We look at a lot of “schtuff” online and don’t really process it. We bookmark pages and blogs and business ideas and craft ideas and vacation ideas and then we look with disdain at our crowded bookmarks tab and our messy Internet browsers.
We’re busy people.
And for me, clutter reduces my usability. And too many business ideas, craft ideas, and yes, vacation ideas make me more likely to drop ideas (much like a juggler would) or to not treat my ideas as the fragile items that they are. A good business idea needs time to grow, time to mature, time to get poked and prodded a bit. The Internet moves entirely too fast for this to happen, so my aim is to learn to harness the Internet tools to work for my business ideas, craft ideas, etc., not against them. I want to have a lot of ideas and I want to use the best of them, if possible.
I think idea organization, vision boards, and idea cultivation help us to take those fledgling business ideas, for instance, and let them exist for a while, to hang there, while we try not to stamp them out because we doubt that particular business idea will work or we think someone will tell us that certain business idea is stupid. Or we have not yet given ourselves permission to make the business idea better. I’ll be talking more about business ideas in particular in weeks to come (my new e-course covers this extensively; sign up to you’d like to receive it).
I started to pay better attention to my business ideas, craft ideas, and vacation ideas (yes, I did!) this past year. And lately, I’ve noted a trend in the images I’ve been pinning to Pinterest that seems to help me cultivate my ideas in a way that doesn’t overwhelm.
Source: simplykellyblog.com via Trish on Pinterest
I like a lot of empty space, a lot of cleared off surfaces, a lot of room in which to think.
Source: husohem.se via Trish on Pinterest
I like bookshelves organized according to color.
Source: shannondarrough.com via Trish on Pinterest
I like a real sense of color purpose (which then shows me the colors I’m most likely to love to have around me, which does make me have better business ideas; try it!).
And I notice that I’m not the only one using Pinterest in this way.
Check out these great blog posts by others:
- The Happy Housewife includes this tutorial on how she uses it to store craft ideas.
- A Squidoo lens on using Pinterest visually to find things you love.
- Copyblogger on using Pinterest to market your business ideas.
- And the Wall Street Journal on how to use Pinterest without breaking the law.
- How five artists use Pinterest.
- The Pinterest guide to selling art online.
- How artists can harness the power of Pinterest.
- Why artists love Pinterest.
- How to use Pinterest for your art business.
- Babble weighs in on Pinterest copyright violation and laws.
- Pinterest for artists.
- Pinterest best practices.
- Use Pinterest to get your brand started.
- Five signs you’re pinning it wrong.
- 69 best practices for Pinterest.
- A YouTube tutorial on using Pinterest (until I get mine edited!)
Bonus blog post link: Take your Pinterest addiction to the next level!
Find anything good in that list that helps you organize your business ideas or craft ideas (or vacation ideas!)? Does that list, perhaps, take an fledgling business idea or craft idea and allow it to become something more real to you?
Let me know in the comments below, or let me know on Twitter or Facebook.
