There are important traits to have as a business owner, entrepreneur, or employee who wants to make her mark upon an industry.

But to me, resourcefulness is one of the key traits.

It’s often the catalyst for producing powerful ideas.

The kind of ideas that pave the way for progress.

Take the story of a teenager boy who was determined to make a difference in his world.

It was 1896. A time when the first typewriter had been invented just 28 years prior. And when some older people could remember when the steam locomotive train was born.

The 16-year-old at the time was already a veteran newspaper reporter.

He was a tenacious kid. Always looking for opportunities.

One day, he got a tip that Eugene V. Debs was in town. Debs was a celebrated labor leader who later became the Socialist candidate for the presidency of the United States no fewer than five times.

He had just spent some time in jail for organizing a strike of railway workers. He was a big story.

And this teenager reporter wanted to be the first to interview him.  But there was only one hitch.

Debs was hiding out in an undisclosed location in town. He was scheduled to speak at the annual convention of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen.

Since this would be his first appearance since getting out of jail, Debs wanted to make it count.  The teenager had an idea.  He visited the local Western Union office and pressured the manager to loan him a messenger’s uniform, a cap, and some telegraph forms and a receipt book.

Resourceful?

Some would say devious at this point since the boy also used Western Union for a side business of selling information to other newspapers.

He threatened to go to the manager’s competitor if he didn’t comply with the request.

So the manager agreed to give the teenager the items…

I’ll share the rest of the story tomorrow. But I’ll give you a big clue: It has to do with ideas and doing things differently than everyone else.

This is what I did with my latest eBook.

If you purchase my book, “The BIG Marketing Idea Book:  Ignite winning IDEAS, get MORE hot breakthroughs –  and ELECTRIFY your business… In Just 30 Days,” you’ll get a complimentary membership to a private Facebook group. 

Take the #300Ideas Challenge.  There are 30 worksheets included in “The BIG Marketing Idea Book.” One for each day.

I printed my own worksheets and placed them in a three-ring presentation folder. I also am jotting down ten ideas a day.  If I do that for 30 days, I’ll have 300 ideas to develop.

How could I miss coming up with one “Big Idea” from so many?  What excites me is not just coming up with ideas, but witnessing others creating their own.

Positive energy explodes when people come up with ideas. It fills you up and motivates you like nothing else.

Why not join me?   Refuse to be an imitator of others. Instead, create your own ideas and fill the world with your own genius.

I’ll see you on the other side.

Yours for resourceful ways…