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The Creative Process in 6 Steps

Some people are always talking about “The Creative Process” and how they work on their projects and ventures. Most believe and are under the assumption that they have the creative process they have is quite unique and nobody else works the same way they do. Well, despite what you might believe about your work habits or have heard most entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, etc really all have the same creative process. Here is the The Creative Process in 6 Steps.

1. This is Going to be Awesome

This is the first thought you have when brainstorming an awesome new website, app, or slick new invention. You haven't fully fleshed it out but all you can say and think to yourself is, “This is going to be Awesome!”

At this point in time you are too scared to tell many people about your idea in fear that someone will steal it. (People really only steal ideas when they are successful though.) You tell friends and family and they validate the idea saying, “That's a great idea!” and encourage you to follow through.

2. This is hard

At this point you probably started searching for a perfect domain name for whatever you have in mind. Most likely are you wen through all the easy names first and realized that you are not going to be able to find a suitable domain to registered for $10 bucks easily.

This makes you resort to trying different domain generators trying to figure what to call you great new idea. While searching for a domain you start to realize that your idea that you believe nobody else has come up with before might actually not be so original.

Also as you start making plans and surveying the market you realize launching a product, writing a book, starting a forum is going to be a lot harder than you have anticipated. This is usually when you get extremely frustrated and say to yourself, “This is hard.” and you start questioning why you followed through with your idea.

3. This is turning to Shit

As you get further along with your project you realize that that things are not going as well as you planned. Maybe you should have spent money on a domain in the aftermarket as the name you have doesn't fit you company and vision. The team or person you choose to build your product or software doesn't have the same entrepreneurial quest as you, and therefore isn't doing it right. Whatever it is the your idea is turning to shit and you are getting really upset since it's going as well as you hoped or expected.

4. I am Shit

There comes a point when you are not angry at other people, but you are very uspet at yourself. Maybe your original idea and concept was as good as your first thought? The people that you contracted and hired are doing are doing a job you deem “acceptable” but for some reasons it just doesn't seem to be working and you are not sure why. A lot of self hate and loathing will manifest itself at this point in the the entrepreneur's creative process.

5. This might turn out Ok

There will come a turning point and you starting believing and knowing that things will be “Ok!” Maybe your website is picking up traffic or you've starting to sell some of your product after you attended a trade show or blog conference. The sun is finally starting to shine and you start feeling good about all the hard work you've put into your idea and project.

6. This is Awesome

When the finishing touches have been added you say, “This is Awesome.” All those long days, hard nights, and effort has finally paid off. You have the feeling your idea and projects are going to be fine and you've done a great job. Entrepreneurial fame and awesomeness is just around the corner.

The Creative Process

If you think The Creative Process you go through is a lot different than this, I seriously doubt it. I'd love to to hear opinions and thoughts though. What is your creative process for projects and as an entrepreneur? Is what I wrote here pretty accurate?

Q&A with Mohit Aggarwal creator of NameMesh

If you are looking for a complete and one-stop domain generator Mohit Aggarwal, the creator of NameMesh, might have the answer for you.

You see, a lot of domain generators cater to finding brandable domain or a keyword rich domain name. Typically most web entrepreneurs or startups find themselves using several generators all to accomplish the task of finding a good available domain. Mohit's aim is to make it easy to find a brandable domains or keyword rich domains in the same place, saving people time and hassle.

Since I was curios about NameMesh and Mohit has been hard at work on his generator I had short Q&A with this web entrepreneur about his latest project. We discussed how he built and came up with the idea for the domain generator and why he feels it is filling a void in the domain generator market.

Adam Yamada-Hanff: What is your background with domains?

Mohit Aggarwal: I don't have much background with domains. I took the leap of faith in September last year and started my entrepreneurial journey.

AY: Why did you decide to build NameMesh and how do you think it is different from other generators out there?

MA: I read this article which talks about 16 ways of generating names with examples of successful startups. The idea of NameMesh was to take the original domain name you thought and apply all the 16 ways like synonyms, misspellings, portmanteau, prefix, suffix, clever extensions etc. The thing was that I would have been disappointed if I missed some common naming pattern which was available for the domain name idea (keywords) I had but instead settled for less desirable domain name.

Existing domain generators all seem to target one thing or the other like short url, mixing, suffix etc. So I was basically typing the same keywords in multiple sites.

AYH: What code and software did you use to build NameMesh? How does it generate names?

MA: I mainly used Python, Django, [and] PostgreSQL. I used them because I wanted to learn them 😉

Name generation is mostly having algorithms running on words dictionary. Different algos for different things like removing vowels, etc finding substrings, adding prefixes, suffixes list, synonyms, antonyms etc.

AYH: How did you come up with the domain? Did you find NameMesh with a beta version?

MA: Yes, I searched ‘name* tube' but it wasn't available but NameMesh was. Mesh sounded good and meaningful.

AYH: What are you futures plans with NameMesh? When do you think it will be out of beta testing?

MA: I mainly want to focus on marketing NameMesh, mainly because I have seen very good retention rates (> 70%) and a lot of good feedback.

On technical side, I want to make it more ‘intelligent' and ‘dynamic'. Will be launching SSL shortly. I hope I can dedicate more coding time to it in future.

I am planning on removing the beta tag soon as it has been a long time since its launch in October 12, 2013.

AYH: Tell me a little bit about yourself? IT background, location, etc.

MA: I am based in Delhi, India. I have about 3-4 years of experience in product development and have worked with both startups and giants. I quit my job in September 12 after saving some money that can keep me going for about 2-3 years. I love being an entrepreneur and I hope that I can find a way to sustain myself in this time.

AYH: Have any tips for the best way to utilize NameMesh which you have not shared before?

MA: NameMesh Domain Search Tips has some tips on using NameMesh effectively using wildcards.

AYH: How do you keep the domain searches and saved data in accounts private

MA: The domain searches are not stored. There is no search history, mostly because of domain theft and privacy concerns. The saved data (favorite domains) is stored in our database and requires authentication. The framework (Django) is very mature and widely used.

To enhance the security I am working on SSL version. In fact, its working at – https://namemesh.com. Since, it does slow down things a little bit, I will be making it optional to choose SSL.

END

If you are interested in keeping up with Mohit Aggrawal and NameMesh developments you can follow @NameMesh on Twitter.

Did you enjoy the interview? Do you have any questions about NameMesh? If so, leave a comment below.

Entrepreneur on Fire’s Secret to Creating Great Podcasts

Some of you might remember when I mentioned Entrepreneur on Fire on this blog and said you should be attempting listen to all the great podcasts that John Lee Dumas puts out. The reason is he releases 1 brand new podcast everyday 7-days a week. I believe if you are having trouble with your content creation it will really encourage and motivate you no matter what filed or niche you are in.

A lot of people, including myself, are probably curios to know how a single person can put out new content new podcast everyday though. I learned the secret;

He records ALL the Podcasts and Interviews on the Same Day!

I heard this when I listened to an interview John Lee Dumas did with Whit Richardson from the Bangor Daily News back in May. (Probably one of the most interesting Entrepreneur on Fire interviews even though it wasn't technically on the show.) In the interview John explained that he knocks out all 8 interviews for Entrepreneur on Fire on Monday.

At first this sounds even more crazy to me then doing a few interviews for the show a few days a week. Preparing and recording an interview is a tiring business even if the interviewee is agreeable. Having to coordinate doing 8 interviews in 1-day must be a lot and it is probably exhausting. Currently I am only doing the CarNewsCafe podcast shows once a week. Checkout our 2nd podcast by clicking here. (I hope to expand my podcasting offerings by the way.) After I am done recording and editing I feel kind of wiped. It takes a lot out of you to do good audio and video content and get used to it honestly.

John explained in the interview though that this process allows him time to take care of other aspects of his business and running the website. I assume this includes editing the interviews so the podcast audio is high quality and so he can find pictures for making YouTube videos out of the interviews. During the rest of the week he can be a guest on other shows like the Bangor Daily News or work to expand the Entrepreneur on Fire brand.

Some might find it hard to keep up with all the podcasts and content that John Lee Dumas creates. In my opinion this is fine, since you have not visited his site in awhile you always know there is something new for you. For hardcore fans they are always getting great content all the time.

John is one crazy dude but I have major respect for him and what he is doing with Entrepreneur on Fire even if I don't listen in everyday. (I do try though.) I can only hope to match his podcasting skills and pace one day.

Sir Richard Branson Interview on Necker Island

If you want to get some solid advice about starting and running a business you need to watch this interview of Sir Richard Branson on Necker Island. While the interview runs 36 minutes, a bit long for some people's attentions spans nowadays, it is definitely well worth the time to watch or listen to.

The interview was conducted by Joe Polish along with Marie Forleo and Yanik Silver. Branson takes about what he thinks makes people successful in business. One thing I really took away from the interview was when he said, “You don't set out to be an entrepreneur but you set out to make a difference in people's lives.” I totally agree with this as I think too many people get caught up in being an entrepreneur and making a startup instead of actually making a useful product or service.

He also emphasizes that you need to build a great team as well as find people that have skills which are beyond what you can do. I know I don't always delegate tasks well and others don't too. This is something good to keep in mind when trying to expand or start a business as a lot of people try to do too much themselves.

Richard Branson also has a lot other great advice in this interview which I think anyone who owns or wants to start a business will get out a lot out of. If you want to be successful you need to get advice from successful people. Since Branson's Virgin empire includes an airline, a space company, a wireless company, and everything in-between he knows what he is talking about.

By the way, in case you didn't know Necker Island is a 74-acre private island that Sir Richard Branson owns in the Virgin Islands. Ahhh, how nice it would be to be a billionaire. If you take his advice maybe one day you will be.