1) Write down your idea - Write down everything about your idea. I mean everything. Include the most minute details about each and every single feature of your idea. I don’t care if its on a napkin or on Word, do it!

2) Tell your friends - Ask them for an objective opinion. Take a note of everything they say. Many of your friends will probably tell you that your idea isn’t viable or that they just don’t see it happening - don’t let that bother you so much. Instead, look at the core reasons why they don’t think it’ll work… Ask them WHY and make sure they give you an answer! I’m actually in the process of setting up a project manager, called ProjectPier, on one of my domains that I’ll use to get my friends to comment on my ideas anonymously. It keeps me in check and makes sure I don’t get too ahead of myself because sometimes that happens too. Make sure you ask for their insight too, what they’d like to see in it - maybe you forgot something.

3) Research - Conduct intensive research on the area that you’re focusing on. There’s sure to be something out there with some sort of likeness to your idea. Research your target, why they need your product/service and how it will help them. Place a heavy focus on what’s already out there, and how your idea is different. Check this site out for a more in depth writeup on conducting research for your business idea.

4) Create a business plan - If you’re still captivated about your idea after telling your friends about it, create a simple business plan. This is basically taking everything you’ve written and organizing it clear categories and headings.

5) Design a Mockup - If its an internet startup, create a mockup of how the site will be laid out using Photoshop or even something basic like paint. Include all the different pages and functionality that you want your website to have. Later, this can be used to show the designer exactly what your website is all about as it gives them a complete grasp of its layout, functions and design. Here’s another great resource that explains how to create an excellent Photoshop mockup of your website idea.

I always hate it when an application that I use on a regular basis suddenly adopts a new redesign.  Even if it’s just slight, at first glance I’ll always dislike it.  But then… I’ll grow to adore the new design and wonder how I ever used to the old format.

Facebook has come a long way from the lonely wall it used to be.  Now it incorporates so many different avenues of content and information.  A new redesign is coming in the next few weeks and I’m sure to hear plenty of my friends complaining just like they complained when the NewsFeed made its debut.

Here’s a look at the changes in the upcoming facelift.

• Expanded and interactive “Wall,” where users can generate their own content, friends can write Wall posts, and applications can publish Feed stories
• Additional tabs on the profile, where users can feature their favorite applications
• Profile boxes, which appear in the narrow column, separate from the tabs
• Profile action links

I like it.  It now seems like an enhanced version of Twitter!  I like how Facebook is vying to become a huge conglomerate of smaller independent ideas.  Rock on Zuckerberg, you are a god.

Remember the good ol’ days when you had quotes like, “too close for missles, i’m switching to guns” (from Top Gun, 1986) on the bottom of every Facebook page?  Ahh, here’s a screenshot of one of the first formal redesigns.  How far we’ve come…