The definitive axiom of a journalist: Research now, forget later.

But I do occasionally have flurries of intellect. And figure out things that, on the odd occasion, could change your life for the better.

I know you know yourself better than I ever could. That’s your job. Mine is to help you do things you hadn’t thought about. That’s how I got to being called The High Priest of Ideastan (copyright Dave Doolin, and anyway, I only stole part/the best bit of his title; dude, you can keep Blogistan, my Risk is faltering these days) after all.

So I want you to ingest these three vital elements of information:

1. Don’t generalise. In any context. Here’s my story: Every chance I get, I pick up work. Then I realise, either immediately or later, that I have committed to a piece of work that uses some of my skills, and many others I have never possessed. I get into an antsy rut where I’m doing the best I can but I know it’s distanced from a silver bullet needed to bring the project to fruition. I raised the bar to an unreachable platform, insisted on my eligibility for taking on the job, then realised I couldn’t actually do everything promised. That happened time and again. We’re talking being spread too thinly. Instead of falling through the same trap door, focus on your amazing. There are two things we’re exceptional at. Everyone is totally different (isn’t that beautiful?) so only you know what those two things are. But practice them every day. Repeat as required – and then some. And give them away, through teaching and listening. You’ll know when you’ve scored. And you will.
2. Understand the mighty power of video. I know this incredible guy called John Scotland who’s whacking out these insanely good video business cards. His clients are nailing it by showing people what they do in 30 seconds. Cardboard business cards? 1970s, my friend. This is the bomb. Have you got videos on your site? Testimonials? Product demos? Training programs? Unsure of the validity of my (admittedly flaky, so far) argument? Here’s where you win:

• Forrester Research found that videos were 50 times more likely to receive an organic first page ranking than traditional text pages.
• There has been a 205% increase in online video views on Facebook in the past year.
• Monthly, Brits watch half a million videos online. That’s a 37% increase YOY (Comscore).
• In Europe, 8 out of 10 people now watch online video (Mediacom).
• £28.31m was spent on online video advertising in 2009. Big enough, that figure is expected to increase by 50% this year (IAB Advertising).

Works for me.

3. Max out the potency of your content. Do you write? Do you talk? Do you breathe? Whatever you’re doing, wherever you’re doing it – if it interests you, someone else is gonna LOVE it too! So get it out there any which way. From blog > podcast > video > whatever the hell it takes to spread your word further, for maximum appeal and audience. Dr Rachna Jain is doing amazing things teaching this stuff at fromplatformtoprofit. Damn, even the good lord Chris Brogan has been hanging out with another of my inspired heroes, Tony Robbins, to figure out what he calls being a buffalo content maker. There’s so much in this stuff, it hurts. Community, customisation, purpose. Multipurpose. You got that?

Here’s a bonus (I’ve never been good at counting past 3, so bear with me on this point). If you’re ready to repackage, you might be interested in getting some airtime via the lucrative market of social media (but only if you’re ready to rock the party – see my cautionary post below before you buy the stall). If this doesn’t blow you away, try some Semtex: