Family Tree of IP

Having a lot of IP is a blessing and a curse.

No time to read the blog? You can listen to it here.

It can get messy. Loads of notebooks, paper, ideas scattered through Dropbox.

I love playing with students to help them find a way that they can see all of their IP in one space. Like a master practice plan or an IP catalogue.

I was talking to someone yesterday about thinking of your IP as a family tree.

Identify the children – how many children do you have?
Name your main folders.
Underneath, list the products/programmes that have been born from that IP.

Physically seeing this as a dropdown list can be quite revealing!
How many babies has your ‘child’ had? Getting a visual helps.
What’s your first thought?

“I have so many products under this folder! Which ones do I love or profit from the most?”

“I only have one program for this whole folder- what else could I create for people who have been part of this program already?”

Who’s your favourite child?

(As parents, we get told it’s not ok to have a favourite. As a parent of four, I can tell you someone is always polling higher than the others!)

Which area stands out as the one you enjoy or the one that is the most commercially smart?

Do you have a big IP family or a little one?

I have seen thought leaders with 12 different offerings in the market exhausting themselves and confusing their market and I have seen others have 4 products sit under 3 folders that work beautifully.

(Hint here- if you are confused, your market definitely will be!)

I also know very successful thought leaders with two products. One baby two grandchildren or two modern children with no dependants!

Sketch out your practice as a family tree and see what you discover!

I’d love to hear what you discover in the process…

Lisa O’Neill
CEO