Revelation on a freeway onramp
Uncovers the key to products your customers crave
I was still adjusting to the early morning sunlight blazing through the windshield of my car. As I made my customary right turn onto the freeway onramp, an unfamiliar homemade sign caught my eye.
"What an amazing, incredible idea!" I said to myself. "So simple, and on target. Why hadn't anyone else thought of that before?"
It was a basic idea. One that I'm sure is helping the folks who came up with it start a thriving business.
It’s a business designed to help people hang their holiday lights.
"Wow!" I said to myself, thinking how many times I'd heard my folks say they really wanted to put up holiday decorations, but didn't have the time. "Find something that people want, a need that is currently not being met, and create a product to supply it."
But the power and simplicity behind this idea are something most audio product creators miss in their headlong rush to create their first product. And its the reason that 95% of most first-time product creators won't make a profit on their products.
Its product success secret #1: Give 'em what they want.
Most product creators are so caught up in their new-found production capability they miss this most obvious of success cornerstones. They are so in love with their own ideas, they fail to ask themselves, "Is anyone else as in love with this idea as I am? And does anyone want what my idea supplies badly enough to pay for it?"
Look, I'm not gettin' up on my high horse here. I am as guilty as anyone else of succumbing to the "Field of Dreams Syndrome" -- you know, "If you build it they will come." What I've failed to ask myself (as have alot of the unsuccessful products creators I've seen) is will they come quickly enough and in large enough numbers to make it worth my while?
To avoid this sorry fate, I've developed four simple tips to maximize the chances for product success.
- What do they want?
In order to give them what they want, you have to know what they want. Find out what your target market wants, and what pivotal cornerstones to their business success are not being supplied, or are inadequately supplied. Often this is as simply as asking them. - What do I want?
Yes, you are allowed to ask this question. If you're not doing something that you love, you might as well get a job. The key is to ask questions 1 and 2 SIMULTANEOUSLY so you can see where the overlap is. THAT’S where your product idea can be found
The equation:Gap in the market place + Strong customer desire
+ What I'm passionate to provide
= Blockbuster business possibilities - Crafting the product to satisfy both your customers and yourself.
A product is simply a value delivery vehicle. It delivers solutions to your customers and satisfaction and compensation to you, the creator. You don't want to craft a product in a vacuum. You first want detailed answers to questions 1 and 2 above. Then simply craft a product that delivers what your customers want, in a way that is satisfying for you, with enough monetary compensation to make it worth your while. - Tell them about it
Its amazing how powerful one freeway sign can be. I saw the sign. I'm telling all of you about it. Who knows how many of you will spread the word as well. Now a freeway sign probably is not appropriate for what many of us are offering. But because we've done our homework, and made sure our product fulfills a strong desire of our customers, its simple deduction to determine where those customers hang out.
Once we know determined that, we can THEN develop a targeted method for marketing to them in a way that makes it worth our while, that we can also actually enjoy.
The reason most people HATE marketing is they get this sequence backwards. They decide on a marketing method first (usually because someone told them THEY HAD TO market this way, or they spent alot of money on a program), rather than tailoring their marketing method to their own strengths to maximize their exposure to their chosen market.
Here's a stunning fact: even though we're in this supposed high-tech age, good old fashioned snail mail marketing, done creatively with the right product to the right customers is still highly effective. You don't need to reinvent the wheel!
I'm not saying to ignore the wonders of the many marketing methods our internet age makes possible. But those methods should suit your own strengths and the unique attributes of your market.
They're not a magic bullet.
Sure, a business putting up Christmas light for people probably isn't going to pay for your retirement. However, the ingenuity behind the ingenious idea to create such a business CAN do that for you many times over.
