When you sell yourself via the Internet, you need a way to communicate who you are and what you do. Believe it or not, one of the best ways is to tell stories.

Stories command our attention. As soon as we hear, “Once upon a time…” we sit up straighter and pay attention. Stories hold suspense all the way to the end.

Many readers of this blog  are firmly settled in corporate careers. You can use these skills to liven up your reports and write sales letters. And if you’re considering a change to an Internet business, start thinking…stories!

Get started at http://budurl.com/aug27 or sign up for our workshop http://budurl.com/storyclass

Frans Johansson, author of The Medici Effect, suggests some exercises to foster innovation. I’ve modified three suggestions for readers who may be considering a career change or starting a business.

The thesis of the Medici Effect is that innovations arise when unrelated concepts and cultures come together – the intersection of previously unrelated worlds.   The same principle holds when you’re feeling stuck as you consider options for your own next move.

If you’ve got some downtime over the next few weeks, or you’re struggling with a tough decision, try any of these three creativity-shakers.

#1 : Keep track of your ideas. As you have a new idea, jot down a diagram in a notebook. Don’t try to fill in the details. Over the next few weeks, new ideas will come to you, so you can fine-tune your idea and hopefully transform your idea into reality.

#2: Challenge your imagination to do more.  How many ways can you use a brick? Answer this question and you’ll think of five or six ideas. For real creativity-stretching, set a goal: thirty ways to use a brick!  You can also challenge yourself to find thirty ways to use your skills or forty far-out business ideas you can launch from your home.

#3:  Take a creativity walk. When you are stumped, leave your home and pick up, borrow or buy five or six objects that are completely unrelated to your challenge.  Bring them back and ask how each object can help you find new answers.

One group applied this technique to ask, ‘How can we de-ice electric wires?’ An engineer bought a jar of honey on his creativity walk. ‘We could put honey on top of the pole and bears would climb after the honey. The wires would vibrate and ice would fall off,’ he suggested after awhile.

Well, the group didn’t hire bears, but they did bring in helicopters to vibrate the wires. Fun, isn’t it?

To motivate your creative writing, listen to Natalie Goldberg’s new CD, Old Friends: How to Write a Memoir. It’s more about kindling your enthusiasm for writing and getting to know Natalie Goldberg than about writing a memoir. The ideal holiday gift for any writers in your life.

I admire Penelope Trunk and recommend her book, The Brazen Careerist. When I disagree, it’s usually because she’s advising readers to buck the system even more than I would dare to do.

But today she published an article, Get Creative, that seems closer to the standard career counseling advice: “It’s up to you.” She defines the qualities of the creative person: “Creative people have high standards, inherent intensity and an obsession with coming up with something new.” She says we can be creative in any job. Bosses really want new ideas, although you may have to get pretty creative to sell them.

I have to disagree. In my maverick corporate days, I believed companies were eager to innovate. I was one who rushed in to make suggestions. It wasn’t till long after I’d been far removed from corporate life that I understood why my creativity had no chance to flourish. Now I believe we make mistakes when we encourage people (especially at entry level) to anticipate creativity in any job. Here’s why:

First, creativity will actually hinder performance on some jobs.

When I hire someone to fix some code in my website or go through the steps for a teleseminar, I want them to do exactly what I ask. When my cleaning service gets creative, I can’t find anything for weeks. Airline pilots follow very specific “company” policies for landing on a windy airport runway.

Second, understand if something is broken before you rush in to fix it.

More than one web designer has advised me to remove the sign -up box on the top of my website. If I have time, I say, “Sure, that box may not be aesthetically pleasing, but that’s how I earn money so I can pay you.”

Ideally, your boss will patiently explain why s/he rejects your ideas. But if you’ve got a lot of ideas, your boss will be spending a lot of time giving you private instruction. Everybody’s got time constraints.

Third, a Big Idea most likely will require a substantial investment in equipment, real estate or even cultural change.

For example, several airlines have tried to graft Southwest Airlines culture onto a traditional hierarchy. They did better when they capitalized on their own unique virtues. If you’ve got a Big Idea, you may have to go out on your own, start from scratch and get your own funding.

Fourth, creatives pay their dues to learn what works.

Take this blog post, for example. I can write anything, can’t I? But in fact I’ve taken courses from experts like the Blog Squad Jeff Herring And I know I’ll get more readership if I follow a “5 tips” format.

One of my friends said thoughtlessly, “I bet my son would be a great website copywriter. He’s very creative.” Yet I’ve invested large amounts of time and money to learn what works and what doesn’t. Sure I get creative when I apply time-tested principles to specific client situations. But I don’t sit down with a blank piece of paper and just write.

Authors follow a surprisingly long list of rules when writing novels. Some authors grasp these principles instinctively. Others learn them successfully. Still others never “get it” and, as a result, rarely attract readers and followers.

And while artists have a wide range of options, they study and apply principles of color, composition and design. I once took a drawing course, where I was surprised how much technique is involved.

Fifth, if you are going to think out of the box, be ready to end up all alone — on a desert island or on top of the world.

Recently an author sent me a book to review. She had chosen to defy the conventions of the book world by mixing genres. Her book combined memoir and how-to. Alas, readers expect one or the other. Memoir readers expect a very different reading experience than self-help enthusiasts. And bookstores won’t know how to classify this book.

Of course, if you’re a big picture thinker, and if you have the drive and access to resource to implement your ideas, you can end up like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or the others who changed the landscape of business. But I have a hunch that before they thought out of the box, they invested a lot of time studying the inside in all four corners.

Bottom line: When employees – especially entry level – seek creativity, I suspect they really want autonomy: control over their own time.

In the US News Blog On Careers, someone named “Andrew G.R.” wrote:

“…I can’t help but wonder if many jobs are designed to beat us all into idea submission. It just seems so much easier to show up, do what they want you to do, and go home. “

He’s got a point. Very few employers reward initiative or innovation. Schools tell us that creativity is a virtue but let’s face it: creativity is rarely rewarded in the marketplace.

It’s not that bosses are evil. It’s just that they want things their way. I have to admit I get irritated when my cleaning services gets creative and starts re-arranging my stuff. Sure I’m challenged in the decorating department, but hey…it’s my home, last time I checked.

But there’s another side to the question. Mindless activity can be hazardous to every aspect of your well-being.

When people get frustrated enough, they start to do really dumb things. They self-sabotage.

And when you get in the habit of just doing what you’re told, you’re at risk if ordered to do something dangerous or illegal. That’s what happened to some of the folks at Worldcomm, Abu-Ghraib and a host of other places.

“Doing what I was told” is not a defense. In courts of law and public opinion, you are expected to commit career suicide when faced with wrongful orders. At the very least, get those orders in writing and talk to someone who is licensed to advise you. I’m not.

Even if you’re not in legal jeopardy, you could still be embarrassed if you’re caught in a news story or have to explain to a future employer.

Fight the temptation to go on autopilot when you go to work. Imagine that Sixty Minutes showed up at your workplace and filmed what you were doing. Would you be tempted to hide? And stay marketable.

I just got a nice email from someone who saw my amazon review of Barbara Sher’s book, Refuse to Choose.

So I went back to the review and found a few comments, both pro and con. The review really expresses a lot of my philosophy of career change and coaching. I cover some myth of academic careers and research. And I’m blown away by the number of helpful votes.

My message was: Refusing to choose can be a viable career option but you have to recognize the consequences.