TIP: Keep looking for and testing new marketing tools and old ones you haven't tried yet.

#2. LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITY HIDDEN IN CHANGE

The challenge of change often forces you do discover a hidden opportunity you can exploit to gain more business. I recently spoke with owner of a sporting goods store near a fast growing city in Southeast. 2 years ago a large retail chain started building a new superstore nearby. The store included a large sporting goods department. Jeff wasn't going to be able to compete with their prices and stay in business.

Instead he set up a used sporting equipment section in his store and started advertising to buy and sell used equipment. Today most of Jeff's income is generated by sales of used equipment. His total income has almost doubled and he's even planning to expand his used equipment business to Internet. It's an opportunity Jeff wouldn't have recognized without challenge of competition from that superstore.

The biggest challenge to business success today is change. Develop habit of looking for early signs that something is changing and confront it before you're losing business. Take defensive action against impact of change by diversifying number of products and/or services you offer and using a variety of different marketing methods. When you decide how to respond to a challenge, look for a hidden opportunity to increase business. You may find a source of additional sales and profits you previously overlooked.

I gave matter a couple of minutes thought, and suddenly I had my brainwave. The video would open like this:

The suns rises over a gorgeous, tropical beach. Robin Williams'voice rings out:

"Good Morrrrnnnnnning, Costa Rica!"

(Those who don't catch connection, run to video store and rent Williams' award winning film, Good Morning Vietnam).

Afterwards, I learned to my embarrassment that approximately half of my classmates had used identical opening. And worse, students in previous classes had also come up with this opening scene for same assignment. The instructor was very sick of Good Morning, Costa Rica.

The lesson is clear. If an idea, headline, name, joke or other response leaps into our mind quickly, we're not alone. It's a given that numerous others have had same immediate response -- and each and every one considered it unique. If idea was obvious to you, guaranteed it was obvious to many others as well.

The truly original response is likely to be one that pops into our mind later -- after we've slept on it, or while we are daydreaming about something else completely.

And why is originality so important? If you are in business, it means you'll come up with a different product, a different service, a different advertising headline than one used by your competitors.

If you're in a creative field, it means you'll be remembered and known for your original work.

If Margaret Mitchell had named her novel "A Civil War Romance," book would have been a good read. But would it have had impact of Gone With Wind?