We've all hit that point, either with our own business or perhaps with a client whose business we have gotten close to, where it feels like we've hit a creative dead-end. You know the point: where it feels like nothing is fresh and the ideas have stopped flowing. It can happen anytime we get too close to something.

Ironically, if you were asked about some other business you could probably rattle off all kinds of ideas. So let’s do that. Pick a business, preferably one that is completely unrelated to your business or client's business, to be your "subject" business.  Of course, the web makes it easy as you can do this all online, but you could also go to the business as well (if appropriate for your subject). It might be beneficial to pick a business that is local or that you have some basic knowledge of, but not too well, as you may find yourself at the same dead-end of familiarity. Some familiarity may be good or you may spend too much time just learning about your subject.

You can do this for anything... new ideas for marketing, promotional ideas, website ideas, or even new business, product, or service ideas. But don't focus on anything in particular. Look at the subject business as a whole. Think about them and what they provide, who their customers are and their needs, and what solutions they provide and how. You'll find that ideas can come from anywhere... you may broaden out the questions you come up with for your subject to your business, or maybe the actual answer to a question could be an idea for your client, or even how the subject business does something could be put to use by you or your client.

By focusing on something unrelated, you free yourself from everything you know about your business. You can remove some of the pressure that you may be putting on yourself to come up with some great idea for your client. You can focus in on any aspect that jumps out at you when looking at your subject; there are no right or wrong ideas. 

To get your ideas flowing, here are just 5 areas to consider:

Opposites Marketing

Think about your client's product or who they serve. Now what is the opposite of that? Say they serve business, then the opposite might be personal or non-profit. Is there some way they could market to either of these other groups? What about you or your client?

Just like keyword research, let’s bring in some modifiers. So with business, maybe you think of big business. The opposite of that is probably small business. Is there a way to specifically market to big or small business? What are the unique needs or interests of either of those groups?

Events and Roles

Are there any events that your subject business serves or could serve? Holidays, trade shows, weddings, or grand openings? Is there any way that you could position yourself to target any special events?

Does the subject business target specific roles? Sales people, mothers, seniors? Could clients position themselves or even develop new products or services for any specific roles? 

Encourage The Middleman

The affiliate program is probably the greatest modern example of actually creating middlemen. By creating a middleman approach, you create a one-to-many approach. But it doesn't just have to be affiliate programs. Could your client put together a special product or service that could be presented to a target group who could offer it to their customers? Could you market your services to a target group that serves many who might benefit from your services?

Be The Bigger Picture

In most cases, whatever you or your client does is just one piece of the puzzle. What is the bigger picture that your subject business is a part of? What is the bigger picture that your client is a part of? How could they help serve the greater needs of their customers in regards to the bigger picture? The benefit, of course, is that by making yourself part of the bigger picture, you not only serve your clients, but connect with potential clients. Some easy examples of this would be adding a directory or a resource guide, or creating some tool on our site or a widget that people could add to their site or download.

Create Smaller Pieces Of The Pie

Dealing with the web, we all know that bigger isn't always better; sometimes smaller is where it's at. The web has brought niche to the forefront. Serving a niche may simply be a matter of packaging. Are there any niches that the subject business could target? Would they need to just market specifically to the niche, or do they need to tweak and package their product differently? What niches could you target? How could your client target a niche? Could they take existing products and package them together as a special assortment for a niche? Could you create a special package of services to target a niche doing what you already do or by simply adding a new service?

Hopefully this brought lots of new, creative ideas to mind. Don't be limited to these five concepts, as you can focus in on any element. And don't limit this to just marketing ideas. The idea is simply to free yourself from the box you may have built yourself into by focusing on something completely unrelated, and then using those ideas to kick-start ideas for your own business or client's business.

(While still a much-abbreviated example, the concepts above were pulled from "5 Simple Marketing Ideas Learned From Lands' End Business Outfitters," an example walkthrough using a real business/website.)