Archive | June, 2018

When someone asks what you do for a living – what do you tell them?

That you own a business? That you write a blog? That you create products or build websites, or that you’re a doctor or a lawyer or a plumber or a race car driver?

I hope not, because while all those things are professions – they’re still NOT what pays your bills.

The only real answer to the question of what you do, regardless of what your profession is, is that you are a marketer!

Your specialty is attracting new customers or clients, persuading existing customers to make larger and more frequent purchases, and ensuring that they continue to buy from you – forever.

Your answer to “What do you do?” says a great deal about how YOU think about your business or job. If you’re defining yourself by the service you provide or the products you sell, you’re setting yourself up to lose business that otherwise could have been yours simply because your head is in the wrong place.

Every business is first and foremost a marketing enterprise, even if it’s a non-profit. After all, without customers, you have no business. Getting those customers and then getting those customers to spend their money with you is how you stay in business, stay profitable and grow.

When your mindset is on marketing first, you will base your decisions on what creates business, thus eliminating many of the wrong turns and mistakes that the “business owners” make.

You are a marketer. Say it loudly, state it proudly, act accordingly and you cannot help but be successful.

You want to create a product but the process seems daunting.

Been there. Felt that. But you know what?

There are shortcuts.

Rather than struggling to figure out what to write (or say, if you’re making a video) why not follow a proven outline?

No matter what your topic, no matter what your niche, I think you’ll find this universal outline is a tremendous help for creating great products quickly, with the least fuss, hassle and sweat. And NO tears. With this formula, even sworn non-writers can create their own products.

Let’s get started.

Set the Scene

You’re going to tell them who you are, how it is that you know what you’re talking about (or writing about) and the results they can expect to get from your product.

In other words, you’re providing your credentials that allow you to teach them about this topic and you’re telling them what they’re going to learn.

Example: My name is Joe Marketer and I’ve been an online marketer for 5 years now. In that time I went from struggling newbie to making a full time income from my online endeavors, and I want to teach you how to do the very same. Imagine if, by following the system you’re about to discover, you can quit your job just 6 months from now and live the life you’ve always dreamed of. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, you can make your dream a reality.

Warn Them of Challenges

Tell them what their challenges and obstacles will be to getting the results they’re seeking. Let them know you understand what they’re going through, their problem, etc. You’re creating a bond here between you and your reader or listener.

You’re also letting them know that they have to put in the effort to get the results. Just because they purchased your product doesn’t mean they’re done – they’re only getting started. Let them know there’s work to do and you’ll show them exactly what that work is.

Tell Your Story

Hopefully you have your own story of how you had this same challenge or problem and how you over came it. People love stories and they especially want to know that a) you had a similar challenge and b) using what they’re about to learn, you overcame that challenge.

Tell Them What NOT To Do

Are there myths or out of date thinking that they might need to be aware of? Perhaps methods that don’t work, old wives tales, etc.? Let them know what doesn’t work and why it doesn’t work. You’re telling them what’s been holding them back from success and you’re giving them the chance to release their old beliefs and ideas so they can readily embrace what you’re about to teach them.

Give Them the Goods

This is the main body of your work, where you will be teaching them all about your topic. This is the biggest section and you’ll find it’s far easier to create if you first make an outline of what you’re teaching and then fill in that outline.

Pitfalls

Whatever you’re teaching, there are going to be pitfalls and mistakes they need to avoid. What are they, and how do they avoid or overcome them? What are the hurdles? How can they bypass the challenges or at least be ready to deal with them?

The Starting Point

By now your reader may be feeling overwhelmed so give them a starting point. This is where you gently push them towards the door and tell them what their first destination/goal/activity is on the road to reaching the outcome they seek.

And you’re done! You can use this product outline to create reports, ebooks, videos, audios – even a book you sell on Amazon.

I think you’ll find that by using this outline your work goes a great deal faster and you won’t stare at your blank computer screen, wondering what to write.

Let me know your results when you try it – I think you’ll never go back to working without an outline again!

Notice the headline doesn’t say, “How to Create a Product and Sell It.” Frankly, that’s exactly what most marketers do – they create a product without any thought to what the market wants, and then they try to figure out a way to sell it. Result? Most times: failure.

To create a product that sells, you want to first identify a niche that’s hungry, and then offer them whatever it is that they are hungry for. The hard work is in finding that target audience that is ready and eager to buy.

Once you’ve done that, creating the product is the easy part, as well as the fun part because you know in advance that you are about to make money.

So how do you identify a hungry niche?

Here are keys to look for when investigating a possible market:

Are they in pain? Are they seeking relief from that pain, and are they willing to pay for that relief?

Do they have a problem? If so, are they willing to pay to get the solution to that problem?

Are they seeking a specific pleasure? Are they willing to pay to receive that pleasure?

My advice is to focus as much as possible on the first two. While people are certainly willing to pay for pleasure, they will part with their money far faster to relieve pain or solve a pressing problem.

If you find competition in your prospective niche, it’s a good sign that there is money to be made, so don’t think you’ve got to find some great undiscovered niche – it’s not likely to happen. If there is no competition, realize that it’s probably because no one is buying.

Now then, you are going to allow your market niche to define your product. In other words, rather than creating the product and finding the market, you’ve now found your market and you’re going to create your product to satisfy the specific needs of that market.

Let’s say you’re targeting retirees who want to make extra income online. What do you know about your niche? You know that generally they’re not as computer savvy as teens and twenty-somethings, that they’re going to be more receptive to building long term income rather than something that’s supposed to make them rich overnight, that they’re likely to be more skeptical when it comes to making money from home, and so forth.

Thus you are going to target all of your marketing and your products using the information you gather from your research on this niche, and you’re going to always have your prospects in mind when you’re working on your business. You might even imagine a couple of your best prospects right there in the room with you as you’re creating your product and your marketing materials.

Let me give you a head start on finding a niche that’s just dying to purchase your product.

The three biggest, hottest and hungriest mega niches are…

1. Health, fitness and weight loss
2. Making money
3. Relationships, dating and personal development

These are excellent starting points, but of course you’re not going to target the ENTIRE health, fitness and weight loss market. If you’re trying to market to everyone, you are marketing to NO ONE.

Thus you’re going to drill down to find the specific group within these niches that you want to market to.
Examples: College women wanting to lose weight. Stay at home Mom’s wanting to earn money. People married over 10 years wanting to put the spark back in their marriage.

And you could narrow it down from there. The point is, once you have a hungry niche, you extensively research and even interview that niche until you know exactly what they want, and then offer it to them.

Do you see the difference between guessing what people might want, and KNOWING in advance what they will pay for? It will save you time and frustration while growing your bank account 10 times faster than guessing ever would.