It doesn't matter if you run a blog or run a business, there will come a moment in time when you're really stuck for fresh ideas. Fresh ideas can lead to new business opportunities, so brainstorming should be a process you adopt frequently if you want to stay ahead of your competition. I've compiled a list of tips and tricks that I use when I'm innovating, and each apply if you're trying to come up with new products, services or blog posts. Spotting solutions and opportunities is just a form of mental exercise. The more you do it, the better you'll get!

    1. Be really grumpy!Keep track of the things that annoy you. This is a great place to start, as you know the problem intimately as well as being the first customer for any solution.

    2. Listen to your clients, customers and readers.Complaints are a great source of insight as it's a very quick way to find something that needs a solution. So identify the common problems that your customers are experiencing and consider possible solutions to their troubles.

    3. Think like a child.Children have a fantastically simplistic and candid view of the world, something we lose as we become adults. Employ a strong sense of curiosity and simplicity when looking for solutions. So many things in this world happen due to convention or habit, so thinking like a child helps to break this pattern.

    4. Talk to friends and family.Find out what annoys your friends and family. What do they moan about? What problems do they encounter? Do they say stuff like "if only there was a service/product that did XYZ"?

    5. Watch and listen to the news.Keeping up with current affairs will help you to keep up-to-date with new legislation and new regulations. Any new constraint usually means that some kind of process needs to change. Where there's change, there's usually an opportunity.

    6. Learn from your mistakes.When you do something wrong, do you work out how and why you made that mistake? What could have limited the impact of your mistakes? Is there something, that if it existed, would have stopped you from making that mistake?

    7. Do volunteer work.Mixing with people from an entirely different background will help you to think from a different perspective. You can make new friends and get ideas for things you don't usually think about. As a bonus, you help someone too!

    8. Bounce ideas with a friend or business partner.If there's someone who you work well with, spend time brainstorming ideas together. Two different minds can often lead to great ideas, since you'll find you feed off each others thoughts.

    9. Analyse your products/services.Look at your current offerings and identify the best and worst features. See if you can add any features to your existing offerings. Also consider different markets who would be interested in what you offer. You can do the same for a competitors products and services too.

    10. Focus on the problem, not existing solutions.Rather than thinking about existing solutions, go back to the original problem. Given a blank canvas, how would you solve the problem? e.g. rather than re-invent the toilet, come up with alternative ways to dispose of human waste cheaply, conveniently and hygienically.

    11. Go people-watching.Unleash your inner spy! Spend time watching people go about their everyday lives. What are they doing? How do they do it? Can you spot any obvious problems?

    12. Distract yourself.Have a change of scene. Do something that you love doing that has nothing to do with your business or blog. Get lost in what you're doing. Often we come up with solutions when we're not even thinking about the problem in the first place.

    13. Get feedback.Make the effort to find out what your colleagues, customers and readers think about what you do. Ask what you could do to improve. Listen to their feedback, good or bad. You'll gain a great deal of insight when you ask people to tell you what they think your strengths are.

    14. Refactor, reorganise and rethink.Consider services, products or concepts that are too basic or too complex. Sometimes just adjusting an existing solution will yield more ideas.

    15. Critique everything.Question everything, and ask yourself "why?"! Intelligently analyse your environment and think of improvements. See what lessons you can learn about the good and bad things in your environment.

    16. Read lots.Any kind of reading material can give you ideas. Find a range of materials that you enjoy reading （there's no point reading something you hate!）. Ideas can come from fiction, magazine articles, scientific journals, anything really!

    17. Network, in real life and online.Listen to people who have similar interests to you and find out what they love or hate. What are the common or repetitive problems they would love solved? This is also a great way to find someone to brainstorm with.

    18. Regularly read forums related to your interests.Forums often have threads dedicated to frequently asked questions （FAQs）. You can borrow ideas from these FAQs as well as be on the look out for questions that pop up on the forums on a regular basis.

    19. Look for gaps.Identify gaps in products, services or articles that exist between you and your competitors. Then consider what you can offer to address that gap.

    20. Keep a notebook handy at all times.Inspiration can hit you at any time, and you can forget it just as quickly. Keeping a record of this inspiration is vital. Make sure you revisit entries in your notebook on a regular basis too! You might be able to elaborate on ideas you had in the past.

    So there you go, 20 tips to help you identify opportunities. There's a common theme among these tips, namely to analyse problems in as much detail as you can. When you get ideas, consider all ideas, regardless of how stupid they might seem. Then weigh up the pros and cons of those ideas as solutions.

    不管是寫博客還是經營企業，都會遇到新意不足的困惑。新點子可以帶來新商機，因此要想在競爭中保持領先，就必須集思廣益想點子。下面是我講一些實用的技巧和竅門，適用于新產品、新服務抑或是博客。這可以看做是一種心理歷練，做的越多，收獲越大！

    1、雷厲風行！緊跟困擾著你的事情不放，以此為開端，可以迅速找到問題所在，并及時解決。

    2、傾聽客戶、顧客和讀者的投訴。投訴便于我們及時發現需要解決的問題，因此，要設法了解并及時解決顧客碰上的問題。

    3、像孩童般思考。孩童對世界的看法相對單純，處理問題也多帶好奇、簡潔明了，可見像孩童思考才能突破思維束縛。

    4、與朋友和家人談心。問清楚朋友和家人的苦惱。他們為何苦惱？遇到什么問題了？是不是會有類似"要是有服務/產品能做某某事情該多好"的疑問？

    5、收看收聽新聞。緊跟時下熱點事件讓你知曉最新的法律規章，而出現新限制也就意味著變革的發生，而這往往能帶來機遇。

    6、了解自己的錯誤。出錯后，要弄清楚經過和原因。要知道怎樣做才會減少影響？怎么做能避免出錯？

    7、做義工。不同環境的人在一起工作，這有助于你從不同的角度來分析思考問題。結交新朋友，可以讓你獲得一些不尋常的靈感。而且，這是一個相互的過程！

    8、與朋友或生意伙伴多交流。要多花些時間跟同事溝通交流，思維的碰撞往往會產生智慧的火花。

    9、深入分析產品/服務。分析現有的產品，找出最佳和最差性能。看看能否在現有基礎上添加新功能；各種市場對什么感興趣；是否可以提供與競爭對手相同的產品和服務。

    10、注重問題，而非解決辦法。比較來說，我們更應該重視問題本身，而非解決辦法。應該考慮：如果一切從零開始，我們將如何解決這個問題？

    11、注意觀察。花點時間去觀察人們的日常生活：他們在做什么？怎么做的？這其中有問題嗎？

    12、打亂自己的部署。嘗試做些改變，如做些自己喜歡的，但與生意或博客無關的事。放放手頭的工作。很多時候是解決辦法都有了，但我們卻還沒能真正的考慮過這個問題。

    13、做好信息反饋。要及時了解同事、顧客和讀者對你的評論，并考慮如何改善。不管好壞，都要聽取他們的意見，這能讓你受益匪淺。

    14、重整、重組和重新思考。全面思考提供的服務、產品或概念，是太簡單了還是太復雜了。有時調整現有方案也會產生很多的靈感。

    15、秉持批判的態度。懷疑一切，并拷問自己"為什么？"!理智地分析你所處的環境和改進，看看能從中得到什么教訓。

    16、增加閱讀量。要找一些你喜歡的閱讀材料如小說、雜志文章、科學期刊等，這些都能給你帶來靈感。

    17、參與現實生活和虛擬世界上的人際交往。這是一個集思廣益的好方法。看看誰跟你志趣相投，他們喜歡或憎恨些什么，他們樂于處理哪類共同的或重復的問題。

    18、定期訪問感興趣的論壇。論壇時常會有FAQ類的帖子，你可以從中獲取靈感。

    19、查找差距。找出與競爭對手在產品、服務或文章間存在的差距，然后設法消除。

    20、隨身攜帶記事本。靈感往往是來匆匆去匆匆，因此及時記錄就顯得尤為重要。切記要定期翻閱記事本！

    這20條簡單技巧的主旨就是盡可能深入的分析問題，希望對各位有所幫助。