The Invisible Mentor Weekly Newsletter: Brain Food Wednesdays Number 101: How Do You Gather Information to Solve a Problem?

Dear Reader,

Whenever I’m faced with a problem, one of the first places I start is to gather information that will help me to solve it. I gather information from many places, such as courses, YouTube videos, books, commercial online databases and more. Right now, a big problem I face is how to increase the number of subscribers to my membership site, the Art of Learning. One day, I’d like this to be one of my primary sources of income.

To solve this problem, I decided to read a number of books on subscription and membership sites. In the Ask Avil section, I’ll present a problem-solving model and write about some things I’m learning. But for now, think about your starting point for solving a problem. Do you gather information? Or is there something else that you do first to get the process started?

I want you to reflect on this question because each of us faces problems every day. And we need to develop a process to solve our own problems.

Join my Facebook group Reading Rocks: Read a Book, Discover Solutions, Change the World.

In the News

Here are some podcasts I appeared on. They’re packed with a lot of information.

Ellevate Network: http://ow.ly/s8pR50GCBTy

Envision2BWell: https://blog.envision2bwell.io/post/1157/envisionwell-podcast-invisible-mentors

313 Challenge with Ryan Foland: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/avil-beckford-read-and-get-new-ideas/id1484382840?i=1000523572323

Ask Avil

How Do You Gather the Information You Need to Solve a Problem?

The model below is from A Technique for Producing Ideas by James Webb Young. It’s to help you to creatively solve your problems.

Five Steps to Producing Ideas – The Method

Step 1: Gather New Materials – Preparation

You have a problem or issue that you are grappling with. Or you have questions you need answered. Start to gather materials. There are two types of information that you have to gather – specific and general.

Specific Information:

This is information that is relevant to the specific problem or issue that you are trying to resolve.

General Information:

This is information from all fields. This is a lifelong activity that you do.

Keep in mind that a new idea is the result of combining general and specific information. Therefore, the more specific and general knowledge you have, the more opportunities to combine ideas. Think about a problem that you have at work that you want to invest time in solving. Using Step 1 of the creative process outlined above, get the process started.

Write down the problem or issue that you are having. Or the questions you want answered.
What specific or other information do you already have that will help you to resolve it? Collect the information and put it in one place.
Which experts can you interview to get information? Make a list, then conduct the interviews.
Is there someone who has resolved the issue before, even someone in another industry? Conduct some research, and if you find anyone, interview them to learn what they did.
Use other source material such as books, articles, podcasts, and videos to gather information to solve the problem and answer the questions.
You now have a useful source of ideas to work with.

Step 2: Look at the Information in Different Ways

Read through all the information that you collected in Step 1 to solve your problem. Or answer your questions.
Note important pieces of information and facts.
Look at the information from many angles.
Start playing with the information. Bring two or more pieces of fact together to see if they fit.
Try to get at least some partial ideas.
When partial ideas come to you, no matter how crazy or incomplete, write them down.
When you get to the point where you are feeling that enough is enough, like it is pointless to do any additional work, it is time to stop and move on to the next step.

Step 3: Put the Problem Completely Out of Your Mind – Incubate

This is a necessary step in the creative process. Now, it is time to take a break, turn over the problem to your subconscious mind. Work on an unrelated task. Or do something that stimulates the imagination and emotions. The activities include the following.

Listen to music.
Go to the theater.
Go to a movie.
Read poetry.
Read a detective story.
Do word puzzles.

Step 4: The Idea Appears Out of Nowhere – Illumination

When you least expect it, the idea comes to you. This may sound magical, but the idea comes to you because you have followed the previous steps. You have done the work.

Step 5: Take Your Idea to the World/Shaping and Developing the Idea – Verification

Ideas are seldom fully formed. Therefore, the idea is unlikely to be in a form that you can implement.
Work with the idea to improve it.
Subject it to criticism, test it, then refine it.

Avil Beckford Case Study

I mentioned previously that the problem I have is how to increase the number of subscribers to my membership site, the Art of Learning. I’m building out the content right now, so subscribers can join at an introductory price. I’m just at the information gathering stage and my primary source is reading books. One of the things I was intentional about was reading books on the topic across disciplines. This includes books on gym memberships and subscription boxes.

My end goal is to create a strategy based on what I discover. I’m not surprised by the amount of information I can transfer from one niche to another. I believe in what I’m offering to subscribers, and that it’s valuable. However, the information that I’m gathering from the books I’m reading is forcing me to ask myself, “What additional value can I provide to subscribers?” I also have to invest more time developing my unique value proposition.

In fact, I was delighted that one of the books had a formula to use. The formula came from a book on how to start a subscription box business. I have no interest in starting this kind of business. But I suspected that I might discover information to solve my problem.

For [target audience], [my company] is the only [type of company] that [the thing that makes you different].

On top of that, the book also provided examples of unique value propositions that work. Perhaps you’ll find this information useful.

“Panty By Post: A premium panty subscription mailed right to your doorstep.

Mantry: Mantry is the food gift that brings months of surprise and excitement to any food lover. Each Mantry includes 6 full-size artisan food products delivered to your door. Packed in a handmade wooden crate and a custom manual detailing product stories and recipes.”

I haven’t sat down to write my unique value proposition yet. I’m mulling things over right now. I’ve also learned that even if you do not have a subscription business, there are aspects of your business that can include recurring payments. If you own a business, think about how you can do this.

After I’ve gathered all the information, I’ll work my way through the other stages in the model. At some point, I’ll create a one-page document on how to increase the number of your subscribers. Right now, I’m reading a book on gym membership sales.

Reading List

The Forever Transaction: How to Build a Subscription Model So Compelling, Your Customers Will Never Want to Leave by Robbie Kellman Baxter
The Subscription Boom: Why an Old Business Model is the Future of Commerce by Adam Levinter
Gym Membership Sales: Triple your growth, develop your team, change your life by Ryan Moore
Retention Point: The Single Biggest Secret to Membership and Subscription Growth for Associations, SAAS, Publishers, Digital Access, Subscription Boxes and all Membership and Subscription Businesses by Robert Skrob
Never Lose a Customer Again: Turn Any Sale into Lifelong Loyalty in 100 Days by Joey Coleman
Membership Recruitment: How to Grow Recurring Revenue, Reach New Markets, and Advance Your Mission by Tony Rossell
Subscription Marketing: Strategies for Nurturing Customers in a World of Churn by Anne Janzer.
The Leadership Gap by Lolly Daskal
Brave Leadership, Kimberly Davis
How Women Rise, Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith
Business Model Shifts by Patrick van der Pijl, Justin Lokitz
The Invincible Company by Alexander Osterwalder , Yves Pigneur
Love-Based Business Models by Shawn Driscoll
Why Leadership Sucks by Miles Anthony Smith, Book 1
Why Leadership Sucks by Miles Anthony Smith, Book 2
Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo
The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions . . . and Created Plenty of Controversy by Leigh Gallagher
Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal by Nick Bilton
Levers: The Framework for Building Repeatability into Your Business by Amos Schwartzfarb
Five Stars: The Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great by Carmine Gallo
I Got There: How a Mixed-Race Kid Overcame Racism, Poverty, and Abuse to Arrive at the American Dream by JT McCormick
One Big Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do by Phil Howard Cooke

The Invisible Mentor Blog

Blog Posts

How to Build a Daily Creative Habit (anyone can do this)

The Sell: The Secrets of Selling Anything to Anyone by Fredrik Eklund, Summary

Things Nobody Tells You About Reading Books

The One Problem

I’ve published 40 podcast episodes already. How time flies.

Product Alert

7 Day Reading Makeover Challenge

This is an affordable program to get started on leadership reading. Leaders read to learn what they need to know. You’ll also learn how to synthesize information.

Art of Learning Membership Site

How would you like to access the best, most useful information I have, that’s better than book summaries? Buy monthly access to the Bookish Note that’s behind my paywall. I group Bookish Notes together by a common theme, turning them into a course. Imagine reading themed Bookish Notes and starting to lay the foundation for a new skill.

Until Next Week,

Avil Beckford, Founder, The Invisible Mentor!

theinvisiblementor.com

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