You can’t create a successful business without creating a top product that there’s a demand for, but if that product isn’t made known to the world then you won’t be selling anything.
That’s why recognising the three pillars of product creation and product marketing can help to underpin your whole online business strategy. We detail them below.
Identify The Need
Some businesses develop a product and then look for the need. To us this is nonsensical.
Identifying the need or a hungry market first and tailoring your product to that need guarantees there will be buyers for your product.
No matter whether your product is based around plumbing, IT services or training and information-based product, make sure you are not creating something nobody really wants to buy.
Is that obvious? Well, perhaps….but you’d be surprised how many obvious mistakes are made by start-up small businesses.
Work Once; Get Paid Forever
I always like to think along the lines of “Work once; get paid forever”. That’s why I moved the company into information products, where we produce DVDs, manuals and supplements to the core business.
The beauty is that information products are high margin (you can make a DVD for $10 a piece and sell them for ten or twenty times that, if the subject is right) and they are scalable; that means they are not dependent upon your time, which is limited; in fact everyone’s day is only 24 hours, so creating a product that is not dependent on these time limitations is a great way forward for most businesses.
When you are creating your own products consider what info-products there would be a demand for in your market.
The Money Is In The Marketing
Everything we’ve said above about the importance of creating the right products, for which there is a demand and which are high value and scalable, counts for naught unless we can get those products in front of a large enough audience of buyers; that means marketing them.
Previously that meant effective, targeted SEO and sales pages for online businesses; nowadays there is more of a multi-pronged approach necessary, using online video and social media marketing for instance.
Keeping yourself up to date with all the various new ways to reach your audience can sometimes be a struggle, but it can also be educational and eye-opening…and your time spent on online marketing is generally time well spent and should help get you to the top of the tree.
The three pillars mentioned above are just the start. From outlining business plans, through identifying the right online strategy to product creation and marketing decisions and beyond; there is a wealth of information and tips for start ups and established businesses alike, in the Competition Crusher Workshop, which is viewable completely FREE just by clicking here.
Online marketing can make your product creation a success.
It’s so good to hear the examples from your own business Dave, and the lessons you learned along the way. This is not just theoretical knowledge you are passing on, but practical things you have discocvered the hard way. it gives me confidence to know that you have faced these problems and have come out the other side. Thanks for being so open.
I agree with the ‘hungry market’ thing. A few people who would like to profit from online marketing have this understanding that it is enough to have an existing ‘market’ before they launch their products. I believe it will make a lot of difference if we go ahead and look for this type of market first before moving on with other plans for product creation.