Internet Income: Plan Your Products

Internet Income

Step 2: Plan Your Products

Basic Concepts

Your product strategy is essential to turning your passion into profit. You’ll want to think about all the different types of content you can sell to your audience and make sure…

They are created to fill a need (or solve a problem) for your IDEAL CUSTOMER.
They are distinct and differentiated from each other in terms of the BENEFITS to the user.
They offer a variety of price-points and benefits.
They are disinct and unique in the marketplace, offering something your competition does not offer (your unique slant and approach).
They deliver Return On Investment that is as good or better than your competition.

Basically that means you have branded and positioned your work. Make sure the marketing copy (language) surrounding your products always repeats your branding messages (your unique approach and distinction). Never allow your work to sound like a thousand others when you describe it.

When deciding on your product strategy, you’ll want to narrow the possibilities down to the ones best suited to your personliy. For example, if you are outgoing and photogenic, you might choose to create a video course or show. If you are shy but brilliant, then maybe you’ll enjoy writing.

Here are a few possibilities to consider…

Book or manual.
Audio or video training course.
Webinar or PowerPoint speeches.
Live tele-class. Recorded tele-class.
Software as a Service.
Personal coaching or consulting.
Membership club or group with your curated content.
One-day or Weekend workshops.
Mastermind groups (VIP networking groups).
A mobile App.

Step 2: Plan Your Products

Best Practices

Your Brand Distinction

Be sure to bring out the unique qualities that make your work different than others like you. These special qualities may be your unique approach, your personal experience with a specific issue, or something about your personality or character that makes your work different than others. Identify these things and write them down.

Next, define the phrases you’ll use to explain these unique characteristics. These should be communicated a benefit statements…benefits that will appeal to your target audience.

Your Product Distinction

After you’ve created your brand distinction…you’re ready to create your product distinction. These are the unique qualities of your products that make them different from others like them…and from each other. You should avoid overlap and confusion within your own product line at all costs. Make sure each product has a unique set of benefits that are different than those of your other products.

How is your online course different from your membership site?
How is your audio program different than your video program?

All the time, you should continue to repeat your overall brand messages.

Various Prices...

Try to plan out your products to cover a variety of price points…from a low-end range that is below $69.95 to a mid-range price from $69.95 to $297. Your high-end pricing is above $300 and goes to about $2000. Anything above that is considered VERY high-end pricing.

Of course, the value of the products should match the pricing — typically with the higher-priced products giving more direct access to you.

The most important price range is the mid-range at about $99. This pricing allows you to get into the tele-summit circuit, as well as offer a decent affiliate commission to your JV partners. Anything lower than that may be too low for a decent affiliate commission and higher than that will result in fewer sales (usually).

The membership junk pile...

So many people make the mistake of thinking that if they put all their videos, tips, ebooks and other materials into a membership website and charge people a monthly amount to access it, then they’ve created the ultimate product. The problem is, that idea is designed for YOUR convenience, not for your customer’s convenience. Most people find such collections to be a bunch of junk crammed together without enough thought or organization to make is useful. And even if you organize it, most people are not prepared to buy into your entire library of stuff.

No, most likely, you are thinking of doing that so you can continue to focus on creating more content instead of marketing.

Resist the temptation...

Don’t try to be everything to everybody. Leave some things OUT of your product plan, to allow your partners to fulfill instead. If you try to be everything to everyone, then there’s no room for your partners to offer their services in parallel to yours, because now you’re their competition. Better to just do what you do best and let others to the rest.

Forget about your website...

So many entrepreneurs get obsessed with the design and development of their websites. Chances are, people are not going to be stumbling on your website to find you…and then browsing your pages to understand what you do. More likely, you’ll be DRIVING TRAFFIC to specific places where you want people to go. Do not let your website enter your mind when you plan your products. Forget about memberships and shopping carts and just think about each product and how it gives value to your customers.

We’ll deal with your website and, more important, your sales funnels, later in this series.

Books are not products...

These day, books are not products any more. Instead, they are tools that help you establish credibility while expanding your market. Rarely will a book actually make money as a profit center. Think of your book as a marketing tool and you’ll be in good shape.

The best way to start...

If you don’t know where to begin wtih your prduct plan, then the best way to start is to inventory your skills and natural abilities (see Exercises below for more on this) — then create products that best use those natural skills and abilities. In other words, make it easy on yourself by using your best abilities and by doing the things you like doing. Don’t be lured into creating products because you’ve heard that certain things make a lot of money or are hot. Make products because you love making those types of products.

Step 2: Plan Your Products

Helpful Resources

Get Ready for Online Success

Coaching Package

This startup coaching package is especially designed for those needing help with their product strategy, brand distinction and free gift optin strategy. It’s a reasonably priced coaching package that gets you started in online product marketing with live 1-on-1 mentoring.

click for more info

CrowdFunding

Fund your activities through our unique evergreen crowdfunding model, connected to your IFO (Irresistible Free Offer) as an immediate follow-up to your free gift offer.

We will write, design, setup and host your evergreen crowdfunding page.
Donations go directly to you. We take ZERO PERCENT of your funding receipts.
Use the Joint Venture opportunities of the CO-OP to drive traffic to your offer.
Your funding offer is evergreen — and stays live for as long as you like.

click for more info

Step 2: Plan Your Products

Exercises

Let Your Audience Do the Planning

One way to plan your product line is to let your audience tell YOU what they want. There are two ways to do this. One is to send an email or survey request to your audience directly and ask them to help you with this project. Ask them which problems they have that they would like solved and what types of products they’d like to see accomplish this.

Another way is to do keyword tests using google adwords. The idea is to purchase a small amount of keyword traffic and test different product titles in the keyword designations. The ones that get the most activity are the ones to create.

Inventory Your Natural Abilities and Skills

Write the following headings on a piece of paper:

Natural Abilities
Greatest Skills and Talents
Love to Do

Now make a brainstorming list under each heading of those things you embody for each heading. What are those natural abilities you’ve demonstrated since you were a child? Are you outgoing? Are you organized? Are you an idea person? List everything you can think of.

Now list those skills and talents that you’ve developed over the years. What can you do extremely well? What have you spent the most time doing in your life…it could be anything. Just write it down.

Finally, list those things you love to do. Do you love teaching? Do you get excited by speaking in front of people? Do you love figuring out solutions to problems?

The final step of this exercise is to show this list to a good friend, partner or family member who knows you well and, MOST IMPORTANT, will be positive and encouraging to you in this process. Ask this person to add or remove anything from your lists. Don’t argue with this person’s choices…just accept them with gratitude and think them over.

Step 2: Plan Your Products

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