New Product Genesis – Part 2

In New Product Genesis, I introduced you to more information about my new product idea and indicated two motivating forces that are going into this product: my love of writing and my love for my children (as well as the love I have in working with children in general). I also indicated that I would be sharing a third critical component to this product, which I believe will make this trifecta complete. This third component is none other than READING itself. What a perfect triad for creative discovery — reading, writing, and children.

Why reading, you might ask?

Well, I have a child in elementary school who is really taking on reading with his full gusto. He’s developing a love for reading, you might say. Of course, I should preface this by saying that he loves reading books in genres and on topics he enjoys, as I would guess the majority of us do.

There will always be those mandatory reading assignments for school or work or personal research projects that he may not be as enthused about; but if he develops a love of reading, then even those assignments can become more of a positive educational opportunity than looked at as a dreaded undertaking.

Looking at my son brings me back to my childhood days of reading, where I could easily get lost for hours in Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume books. Then, I graduated into teenage mysteries and suspense books, and onto John Grisham books as an adult. Give me a good series any day and I’m hooked for weeks and months on end.

Today, I don’t get as much reading in as I used to in my youthful days, but I still get to read for fun when I do read. Though, I have to admit that I’m not as focused on fiction for my reading enjoyment at this point in life. The books I read, now, have transitioned into entrepreneurship, building a brand, creating content, and online marketing. You know . . . areas of focus that are educating me on what I’m seeking to professionally pursue going forward. The fun stuff.

So, I’m really reveling in the fact that my son enjoys reading books; and not that he has to pattern off of me in my creative pursuits, but I can’t help but notice how incredibly important being an avid reader assists in becoming a better writer. Reading promotes writing, and I see this affirmation so prevalent in children and educational settings. Areas such as vocabulary, spelling, conversation, presentation, multi-dimensional perspectives and thinking, creativity, and WRITING (in all facets from formal papers/letters/emails to informal letters/emails/texts) can all benefit from having a healthy reading life. True to form, loving to read is consistently improving Little Man’s writing skills.

Because I’ve witnessed real-life application, I truly believe that one’s love for reading can considerably increase a person’s success in writing. So, my goal, with the new product line, is to encourage regular reading and writing habits at the beginning of a person’s timeline . . . at their youth, when it’s easier to capture their attention and when they’re eager to learn and willing to absorb information and grow in knowledge and experience.

And no, it’s not all over for the adult population. I’m not saying that adults can’t have the same drive and passion about learning and growing as children. But, I think it’s critical to develop beneficial skills sets in youth at a very young age, so they can grow in areas (such as reading and writing) that are fundamental building blocks that will come into play in their future successes as older children, adolescents, and adults.

With this new product idea, I’m looking to create a bundle, or package, of sorts that will bring in a fun undertone to reading and writing for children. The product will also provide assistance to the adult in that child’s life by encouraging parents, teachers, other adult family members (not a parent), or friends/mentors to be involved in the child’s reading and writing experiences.

NEXT MONDAY ⇒ I’ll discuss my vision for the practical use of this new product idea and how I foresee it being of benefit to others in different entertainment and educational settings.

Tip of the Week: In one of my previous blog posts, I mentioned I would be doing some journaling and include “My Daily Top 5”, consisting of 3 content creative goals and 2 home/family goals for the day. So, I thought I would add a little more organization to this effort by doing a weekly comprehensive list of to-dos for the content creative goals and then splitting the comprehensive list out over the course of the week. The daily spread would make up my 3 content creative goals for each day and these goals will be specific to my new product line, since this is the creative endeavor that’s preoccupying most of my focus at the moment. 

I currently have a list that’s sitting at 20 tasks that need completing. And, I’ve already assigned 3 of them for today and will take each day as it comes and pick another 3 for the next day (if I completed all goals from the prior day’s list). If there are goals that don’t get completed on a particular day, then they’ll become carry-overs for the next day. And, if I foresee that a particular goal is pretty extensive in its involvement, then I might go ahead and assign it for multiple days in a row, knowing that it can’t possibly be completed in one day.

By making a comprehensive list and keeping it going, I do believe that I’ll find it easier to determine “My Daily Top 5”, because I’ll have this longer list (in advance) to work from and won’t have to generate to-dos on a daily basis. It’ll become my Sunday week-at-a-glance. Furthermore, by having a comprehensive list, I think it’ll be helpful in determining which days would suit which goals better. On days that I can spend more time at home, those may be the days that I can work on activities that are more involved. And on days where I may be out and about or assisting others outside of home, I’ll probably leave the one-and-dones for those days.

REMINDER: I just wanted to remind you that Mondays are also my day to upload my weekly YouTube video. I’m sure it’ll change at some point; but for now, my Monday videos are based on The Art of People Business articles from the prior Thursday. So, this week’s upload is “Words Mean Something: A ‘Real Talk’ Session” and I’ll be including it on the YouTube page (later this evening) if you’re interested in the audio-visual version of last Thursday’s post “The Art of People Business -The Meaning Behind Words (A Must-Read)”.

Happy Monday, All. You can find me active here Monday through Thursday weekly. I look forward to you continuing to visit me for new Degrees of Maternity content. Start your week out on a positive note.