Original Plagiarism
The only difference between an original idea and plagiarism is getting caught.
Don’t believe me? Ask Microsoft.
In point of fact all, so-called, “original” ideas are copies of a previous creation.
People thought the experts were pretty clever when they came up with the “original” idea of radar for locating aircraft, forgetting that bats and certain kinds of dolphin have been using echolocation for a considerably longer period of time.
The fly used a three-speed gearshift connected to its wings long before the invention of the car.
The tendon in your forearm is a twisted bunch of cables similar to the cables used in a suspension bridge.
These are just a few examples of new inventions being cribbed from an existing idea or practice, regardless of whether the inventors were aware of it or not.
Inventing from the invented is a common practice and is the easiest way of coming up with a “new” idea.
Microsoft’s MS-DOS was a slightly tweaked version of IBM-DOS which in turn was an adapted version of someone else’s code. Repackaging can often be more productive than producing something truly original.
So if you’re looking to create your own program / product / website that no-one has ever done before. Stop. Very few people, if any, invent something truly unique. Instead take a look at what is already successful and ask yourself how you can adapt it. How can you improve on it? Can you combine it with something else?
Combination is particularly effective in this industry.
Screenblaze combined the auto-surfer with a screensaver to make their program. Mystical Maze
combined a traffic exchange with a game to create their website. And MPAM
combined… well... everything to create their machine.
That could be the key to your invention. Don’t invent. Re-invent.
Not on my wave-length yet? Let me give you an example to get you started.
What do you get if you cross signature advertising, rotators and forum posting?
You get – Dylan Campbell’s, “Email & Forum Signature Rotator”
Here’s how you do it:
1) Everyone knows the value of placing a hyperlink in your signature file. Everyone who receives an email from you or reads your posts in a forum, gets to see your preferred URL and has the potential to click and become a visitor. Hotmail used this technique to good effect by placing their link in the outgoing mail of all their email account users.
You could do something like:
# # # # # # # # # #
Dylan Campbell
dylan@emailaddress
Visit the crazy world of Dylan Campbell
http://www.dylancampbell.com
# # # # # # # # # #
Most email programs and forums have the ability to automate your signature file, placing your preferred text below each message. But what if you want to promote more than one URL? You can’t place them all in one signature file as it would be too large. Remembering to change it regularly can be burdensome and changing the signature file in your forum profile often retrospectively changes every post you’ve ever made.
2) Which brings us to rotators. Rotating banners and websites are old news, but what if you could apply the principle to your signature file. You could use a fancy script to rotate signature files, but what if you are sending a text email or a message system that doesn’t support code?
To rotate signatures you need a tool called Type Pilot . This is a marvellous piece of software that is a great time-saver if you type a lot of similar emails or code websites in HTML. It works by storing pieces of text, of any length, and then linking it to a series of letter or numbers of your choice.
It sits quietly in the background and any time it recognises that you’ve input a code, it replaces that code with the pre-arranged text. For example, if I type in “sgn1” after writing an email, it automatically replaces “sgn1” with:
# # # # # # # # # #
Dylan Campbell
dylan@emailaddress
Visit the crazy world of Dylan Campbell
http://www.dylancampbell.com
# # # # # # # # # #
It works in Microsoft Word, Excel, internet browsers, wordpad, email programs, virtually anywhere that you can type text. This little piece of software saves me hours of work a week and once you’ve been using the codes for a while, they become second nature.
Now here’s the clever bit.
Create an individual signature file for each website you want to promote. For a conservative example, let’s say you have three that look like this:
# # # # # # # # # #
Dylan Campbell
dylan@emailaddress
Visit the Mystical Maze
www.mysticalmaze.com
# # # # # # # # # #
# # # # # # # # # #
Dylan Campbell
dylan@emailaddress
Visit MPAM
MPAM
# # # # # # # # # #
# # # # # # # # # #
Dylan Campbell
dylan@emailaddress
Don’t Visit Screenblaze
http://www.itsux.com
# # # # # # # # # #
Now using Type Pilot take the first signature file and create 11 different shortcuts; sgn1, sgn4, sgn7, sgn10… and so on up to sgn31
For the second signature file create another 10 called: sgn2, sgn5, sgn8, sgn11… and so on up to sgn29
And finally for the third signature file create another 10 called: sgn3, sgn6, sgn9, sgn12… and so on up to sgn30.
Now anytime you write an email, finish off by typing “sgnX”, with X being the day of the month. So if it is the 15th of March, conclude your emails with sgn15 which will display the third signature file. Tomorrow type sgn16 which will display the first signature file. No matter what day of the month it is, you will easily be able to type one of your pre-arranged signature files ensuring they are rotated evenly.
With this method, you can rotate up to 31 signature files for no extra cost!
And don’t stop there. Use the same technique when you are posting on forums. Delete the signature file from your profile to prevent them from being added automatically and start rotating your signature files on the exchanges.
Best idea ever? I’ll leave that to you to decide. But hopefully the point has been made clear.
New ideas do not have to be 100% original. Combine or alter existing products and ideas. As long as they do something a little better or a little differently to everyone else, then you may be able to create something desirable.
Just be careful not to get caught.
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This article first appeared in The Nettle Ezine.
If you enjoyed it, why not try The Nettle Magazine at www.thenettle.com
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