Something old made new leads to success

Do you have some old products or services ‘gathering dust’ in your business? Maybe it’s a product or service that is doing well but has more potential than is currently being used.

Have you thought about refreshing these things into something new?

New ways to present old content and ideas

Sit and brainstorm all possible uses of your product or service (including all potential problems it could solve) – go outside the box and don’t just think of the obvious things it was designed for.

Warfarin was originally developed as a pesticide to get rid of rats and mice but has long been used as an anti-coagulant in heart patients.

Patsy Sherman was inventing a compound to protect equipment from aviation fuel and discovered it would repel stains – she invented Scotchguard.

Dr Pemberton’s nerve tonic and headache restorative, French Wine Coca, was adjusted during prohibition in the US. The new syrup was mixed with soda water to drink and became popular under the name and logo Pemberton’s bookkeeper developed that day – coca-cola.

 By finding new uses of a product or service you can open new markets and perhaps open new avenues. Even if you don’t find anything marketable, you may find a new marketing idea or just get some creative inspiration (some new blog posts or articles, new product ideas, a different production method, etc)

So how big a list can you brainstorm for your older lines?