So you’re concepting a new plan or promotional strategy, but you feel completely out of inspiration.

Maybe your agency has asked you what you like/don’t like/hope to see/want more of? Sometimes it helps to look outside of your brand, campaign--even industry altogether.

So where do you look to reinvigorate your ideas and shake up your senses? There’s a ton of things to keep in mind, as marketing is not a hard and fast science.

Social media contests are a great way to spread the buzz and get your fans and audience excited, engaged and talking about you. You’ll also find that a successful contest will produce an exponential increase in reach and overall talk about your brand.

The best part? A user-generated social contest can be run without spending much at all, as it typically starts snowballin’ amongst itself.

So what to do?

Here are 4 types of contests you can try now -- and 5 things you’ll need to do to get them going successfully!

Just keep these rules in mind, and it’s smooth sailing!

Here’s the thing. As business people and marketers, we LIVE for grand plans. We love plans. We like knowing what’s happening, when, for how much, why and how we’re going to use/measure/analyze it. Crazy!

But sometimes, we have to remember the art behind marketing, branding, communicating. It’s a game of trial-and-error, test and default. Sure, there are some things that can’t go unplanned: budgets, strategy, team responsibilities. But when it comes to pure creativity and the softer, subjective matters, it’s totally okay to just let things breathe for a bit first.

These days, it’s not just discovering the campaign slogan and printing a million flyers or setting a dozen storefront displays. With digital, and the ability to change certain things on the fly, it’s okay to dive in headfirst! You’ll learn from watching the world interact with your brand/product/idea -- and get the chance for some testing to boot.

So, you want to own your own business or become a solo-preneur? You know that paving your own path, breaking through the standard, or just doing something different that makes your heart skip a beat is your path in life?

Maybe you think you have a great idea for an unfilled need, or want to start something with a cause behind it that you believe in. Maybe you just want to freelance or work solely for industries you care about?

Whatever it is, in this day and age, with enough gut-so, hardwork and passion, you can do it!

Here are 10 things to think through now to get your business model prepped and feel READY when it’s go-time!