How to Turn Big Ideas Into Big Gains For Your Brand

Back to work tomorrow. Anyone else having #somet13us implementation anxiety?? So much inspiration, where do I begin?

— Danielle Sparavalo (@Dani417) November 10, 2013

How many times have you attended a conference or a webinar or read an article that included that ‘big idea’ that you felt could really impact your business?  The idea that immediately sparked that ‘a-ha!’ moment and you felt that rush of excitement at the thought of implementing it.

Then you got back to the office the next day and realized that you had no idea how to implement that amazing idea!

It’s a Short Walk From Feeling Inspired to Feeling Overwhelmed 

The problem is we attend these events and connect with our peers and discuss these big ideas.  We convince each other that the big idea will have a big impact on our brand and get more excited about the prospect of acting on this big idea.  Then we go back to our office and have to implement these big ideas by ourselves.  This is when inspiration turns to feeling overwhelmed.  It’s also when many of these big ideas die before they’ve had a chance to help us.

Think Big But Start Small

The problem is that the big idea can seem like a big hassle to implement.  The key is to start small and to focus on the key element of the idea and start there.  For example, one of the big ideas that came from the Social Media Tourism Symposium was the power of embracing your fans.  Leveraging your fans to help grow your business or drive visitors to your destination is a great idea, but you shouldn’t let that great idea overwhelm you.

For example, if your company has never proactively connected with its fans, its can seem overwhelming to suddenly decide to launch a full-scale brand ambassador program.  That’s like trying to run before you’ve learned to walk.  Start small and give yourself time to grow into a place where you can fully tap into that big idea.

What’s the Core Idea of Your Big Idea?

Think about what makes that big idea a ‘big idea’.  If you want to embrace your fans, why is that important?  The main point is you want to start connecting with your most passionate and loyal customers.  If you aren’t ready to launch a dedicated program to connect with your advocates, then pick a smaller starting point.  For example, start by simply replying via social media tools like Twitter and Facebook when your fans reach out to you.  Saying ‘thank you’ when a customer says something positive about your brand might not seem like a big step, but if you start thanking all the customers that praise your brand via social media, it leads to more customers praising your brand! Starting small can grow into something big!

Starting Small is Better Than Never Starting at All

It’s far too easy to talk yourself out of getting started on that big idea.  You think about how difficult it is to get started (or to figure out how to get started!).  You think about how much work it is, how long it will take to see results, and how much work it would be.

Then three months later you read another article talking about that big idea that you forgot about because it was too difficult to implement.  You realize that if you had started working on that big idea three months ago when you discovered it, that by now it would be paying off for your brand.

What big idea are you passing on today, that three months from now you’ll wish you had acted on?