CREATE YOUR PERFECT PRODUCT HOW TO DISCOVER & DESIGN THE PRODUCT YOUR AUDIENCE IS ALREADY ASKING FOR NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR RUTH SOUKUP

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1 CREATE YOUR PERFECT PRODUCT HOW TO DISCOVER & DESIGN THE PRODUCT YOUR AUDIENCE IS ALREADY ASKING FOR NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR RUTH SOUKUP

2 LIFE WELL LIVED PUBLICATIONS Create Your Perfect Product Copyright 2017 by Ruth Soukup For more information, visit Requests for information should be addressed to: Life Well Lived Publishing, 207 Cross Street, Suite 302 Punta Gorda, FL Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Soukup, Ruth, The EBA Product Launch Playbook/Ruth Soukup. pages cm ISBN (paperback) 1. Marketing, Online. 2. Sales. 3. Blogging Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc) in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Life Well Lived Publications, nor does Life Well Lived vouch for the content of these sites for the life of this book. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design: Emma Beckett Created in the United States of America 2 Create your Perfect Product

3 CREATE YOUR PERFECT PRODUCT How to Discover & Design the Product Your Audience is Already Asking For Ruth Soukup 3 Create your Perfect Product

4 CREATE YOUR PERFECT PRODUCT How to Discover & Design the Product Your Audience is Already Asking For TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 5 Do it Scared and START WHY YOU NEED A PRODUCT 10 Just in case you re not quite convinced SURVEY YOUR MARKET 15 You ll never know if you don t ask TARGET YOUR AVATAR 25 Get to know your customer ASSESS YOUR OPTIONS 39 Brainstorm like crazy REFINE YOUR IDEA 45 An idea is only as good as the execution TRY IT OUT 49 Get feedback and improve PRODUCT CREATION RESOURCES 70 4 Create your Perfect Product

5 INTRODUCTION Do it Scared and START 5 Create your Perfect Product

6 INTRODUCTION I don t have a product. I m not really sure what product my audience needs. I don t know how to create a product. I m not a good writer. I ve never done video before. I m not very technical. I m not X enough to create my own product. Creating a product sounds like a lot of work. Do any of these sound familiar? F or many of us, even just the IDEA of creating a product to sell is overwhelming. Where do you even start? How do you know your idea is a good one? What if you can t even come up with an idea? What if you fail? And even though with all the tools that are out there, creating your own product has never been easier, getting over that initial fear is probably the hardest part. And so, as we dive into this process of creating a product, I want to start there, with overcoming the fear. Because believe me, I know just how scary it can be to put yourself out there and to take a risk. What if no one is interested in what you have to offer? What if you invest time and money into creating something, only to fall flat on your face? The truth is that not every product idea you have will be a good one. Think of it this way, owning your business is a lot like throwing spaghetti against the wall. You gotta find out what s going to stick. And you have to keep throwing until something does. Part of being an entrepreneur, whether you are a blogger, author, or online business owner, is learning how to do it scared. So that is my first piece of advice for you: You have to do it scared. The only way you ll conquer your fear is to take action, even when you are terrified. It s what I do, and it is 6 Create your Perfect Product

7 what every successful business owner I know does too. We re all scared. You re in good company. But you still have to act. So resolve to do it scared, okay? Of course taking action is always easier when you have a plan to follow, and that s what today s training is all about a simple, straightforward method for determining what products your audience will be most excited about. Because honestly, the key to successfully selling a product is finding the right fit for your talents and for your audience. When you start thinking about creating a product, it is imperative to listen to what your own market is telling you. What are your readers and customers asking for? What can t they get enough of? You ll need to figure out what your readers want most, and then fill that need! So how do you answer those questions and figure out what your readers or customers want most? That s where our Product START method comes in a simple process for understanding what products your audience is already asking for. In the following chapters, we will go into each step of the process in detail, but for now I want to start with a brief overview of what is involved, so you know what to expect. The first step in our process is S Survey Your Market. After all, the very best way to get more insight into your audience and what they are looking for is to simply ASK! And while this might seem like an obvious first step, you d be amazed at how many people spend weeks, months, and even years developing a product or writing a book that their audience has no interest in. A market survey doesn t have to be some big complicated process, either. You can easily set up a free questionnaire using Google docs, or use an inexpensive services such as PollDaddy or Survey Monkey. You can then post a link to the survey on your blog, share it on social media, and send it in an . If your audience is small, you can also send your survey to friends and family members who are in your target market. Believe it or not, a lot of people LOVE to answer surveys, and they will be all too happy to answer your questions you just need to be willing to ask them. So what do you ask in this market survey? Well, getting some basic demographic information, such as gender, marital status, number & ages of children, etc., can be somewhat useful, but your best source of information will come from open-ended questions that address your readers and customers felt needs, and speaks to the problems and issues they are facing right now questions such as: What s the best book you ve read this past year, and why? What is one product or service you could not live without?* What product would you LOVE to see me create for you?* What has been your biggest source of stress this past year?* 7 Create your Perfect Product

8 What are the biggest concerns in your life right now? What frustrates you?* What is one thing you want to accomplish in the next year?* If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?* When you consider that the best, most successful products will help your customer solve a problem, it s super important to identify and understand what those problems are. Step two of the product START method is to take that information you ve gathered and T -- Target Your Avatar. So what s an avatar? If you re not familiar with this term, an avatar is essentially a fake person that represents who you are selling to, and nailing it is CRITICAL! I cannot even emphasize this enough! Remember the ultimate success of your product will based on your ability to get inside the head of your reader, and that starts by having a clear picture of exactly who you are creating a product for. Who IS this customer? What does she look like? How old is he? Where does she shop? Where does he work? What is her family or situation? Is he married? Does she have kids? What stresses him out, or keeps her up at night? What are her dreams and aspirations? Who does he want to emulate? What does she do for fun? You ll probably have some idea of the answer to these questions from your market survey, and also from your own experiences, send we tend to relate best to people who are similar to us. Then work on honing and refining your avatar until he or she is REAL to you, until you re so intimately familiar with her, that writing to her feels like writing to a friend. And when you do this, you will be amazed at how much easier it is to come up with product ideas. Your path will be clearer because you are clear about exactly who your customer is. It s powerful stuff! Step three of our product START method is A -- Assess Your Options. After surveying your market and then diving deep into the mind of your avatar, your mind will probably be spinning with all the possibilities of products you can create to address those problems and felt needs. And that s a good thing! Now is the time to spend some time brainstorming as many different product ideas as you can think of. Give yourself the freedom to dream without judgment or self-editing. Don t rule something out just because you aren t sure how you will make it happen, just write down, as quickly as you can, as many different ideas as you can possibly think of. 8 Create your Perfect Product

9 Focus on the problems and struggles your avatar is facing, and the areas in which he or she is most looking for help, and keep writing things down until you can t think of anything else. Of course having lots of ideas is great, but the only way an idea will be worth anything is if you actually act upon it, and that is where step 4 of the Product START method comes in you ll need to R -- Refine Your Idea. This is where you sit down with your big list of ideas and narrow them down until you ve decided on the very best one. Now keep in mind, there might be several awesome ideas on your list, and just because you choose one now doesn t mean you can t go back and try another one later you can! But if you want to do your product justice, you will need to focus on ONE at a time. So once you ve finished your brainstorming session, circle the three ideas you like best. Think about which ones seem like they d be easiest to create or fit best within your own area of expertise, as well as which ones will actually help provide some sort of transformation for your avatar that will all be super important when it comes to selling And then, once you ve narrowed your choices down to three, pick the ONE product you think you can create fastest and easiest, as well as the ONE product that you think BEST fits the felt need of your avatar. If those happen to be the same product great! You re done. If they are not, you are going to have to choose which is more important to you the speed of creation, or the benefit to the audience. Both have pros and cons. But there is one last step, and that is T Try it out. You see, an awesome product idea is still only an idea. You still have to create your product and make it a reality so that you can begin to sell it. And this is where a lot of people get hung up on perfection. But honestly a better strategy is to take your concept and begin testing it as soon as possible perhaps writing a sample chapter or offering a beta test that allows you to get feedback and make improvements. Rome wasn t built in a day, and your product might be a work in progress for a while. That s perfectly okay! And that, in a nutshell, is the Product START Method for determining what to sell. Pretty easy right? We think so too, and in the following chapters I will show you exactly how to implement each step of this Product START Method. But before I do, I just want to address the elephant in the room that no one is talking about, just to make sure we are all on the same page. Do you know what it is? It s the question that might still be lingering at the back of your mind, and the question that will probably be holding you back from actually taking what you learn in this book and putting it into practice. Do I really need a product? The short answer is YES. Keep reading to find out why. 9 Create your Perfect Product

10 WHY YOU NEED A PRODUCT Just in case you re not quite convinced Create your Perfect Product

11 WHY YOU NEED A PRODUCT C hances are, if you are reading this guide, you probably understand on some level that a product is going to help you take your business to the next level. But maybe you are still feeling a little ambivalent about the whole idea, or maybe just so overwhelmed that you are already ready to quit, before you even begin. My goal in this chapter is to convince you otherwise, and to hopefully get you super excited about the opportunity you have to transform your business through product creation. The truth is that with the tools that are now out there, creating a product is nowhere near as complicated, time-consuming, or expensive as it once was. It is absolutely something you should be doing if your desire is to earn a long-term, stable income from your blog or online business. The key to successfully selling a product is finding the right fit for your talents and for your audience. When you start thinking about creating a products, try very hard to listen to what your own audience is telling you. What are your readers asking for? What can t they get enough of? Figure out what your readers want most, and then fill that need! In 2013, when I wrote my book How to Blog for Profit Without Selling Your Soul, I surveyed dozens of bloggers to get a better idea of how they were monetizing their platforms. My goal, in conducting this survey, was to show all the different possibilities for monetization, and to prove the point that there is no single right way to make money from a blog. After conducting the survey, I also wanted to show the correlation between page views and income, so I created a graph to plot out each blogger s reported income and page views, to see how they related. As I suspected, most of the dots were clustered around a straight line the more page views a blogger received, the higher their income. I even noted that the tipping point for a fulltime income--$50,000 appeared to be around 300,000 page views a month, on average. But interestingly, on this graph, there were a couple of very dramatic outliers. One blogger in particular, was making nearly $200,000 a year in revenue despite the fact that he was receiving fewer than 100,000 page views per month. Another blogger was making over $100,000 a year in revenue with less than 50,000 page views a month, and yet another was making over $50,000 a year with just 10,000 page views a month. 11 Create your Perfect Product

12 These outliers intrigued me, so I started digging deeper. What was it that these bloggers were doing differently to be leveraging their audiences so much more effectively than everyone else? You can probably guess the answer it was PRODUCTS. Across the board, these outliers were all making the bulk of their blog revenue from selling a product. Even more interestingly, the products they were selling were perfectly targeted to their niched audiences. In other words? They had figured out what their readers were asking for, and they had a found a way to create it for them. But it was only when I began applying this insight to my own blogging business, that I fully realized just how powerful product sales can be. At Living Well Spending Less Inc. product sales of our Living Well Planner, planner accessories, and my five books now account for more than 85% of our annual revenue. But more interestingly, since we launched our first product, our revenue per unique blog visitor has dramatically increased every year. In 2013, the year I launched my first ebook, my company earned just $0.03 per unique visitor. In 2014, with the addition of a few more books, that number went up to $0.05 per unique visitor. In 2015 we added the Living Well Planner to our product lineup and increased our revenue to $0.10 per unique visitor, more than double the year before. In 2016 we focused even more heavily on product sales versus traffic growth and skyrocketed that number to more than $0.50 per unique visitor! Now I know I just threw a lot of numbers and percentages and statistics at you in a short amount of time, but my point in sharing all of this with you is to hopefully convince you, beyond any fear or argument you might have to the contrary, that YOU NEED A PRODUCT. In fact, you probably need more than one. But just in case I haven t quite convinced just quite yet, I want to, very quickly, give you five more very good reasons why you need a product before we jump into your assignments for this unit. Because here s the thing guys--i really do believe that creating the perfect product for your audience is going to be a game changer for you, and I want you to be as pumped up about this topic as I am, so that you are ready to dive in with both feet and make it happen! Because I also know, some of you, as you are sitting there listening to me talk about products, have already started making your excuses for why this won t work. Maybe you think it is still way too early in your business to start thinking about products. I promise you that it is not. Or maybe you might think you are already doing pretty well. Why take the risk of putting yourself out there? Here are five good reasons: 12 Create your Perfect Product

13 First of all, NO ONE KNOWS YOUR AUDIENCE BETTER THAN YOU If you ve been doing it right--creating amazing content that helps your readers solve problems and diving in to their biggest felt needs then you probably already know exactly what kind of products your audience is asking for. That is the product you need to create for them. If they trust you and like you and believe that you have their best interest at heart, that you generally understand where they are coming from, they will want what you have to offer. The best job in the world is the one where you get to earn an income while actually helping people. Second, IT IS EASIER TO MONETIZE A SMALL AUDIENCE Now we ve already touched on this quite a bit, but I think it is important enough to mention again. Unlike profit through ad network revenue or private advertising, both of which requires a large number of page views to earn a sustainable income, creating the right product the one your audience is already asking for can allow you to generate a healthy income from a much smaller audience. This is especially true if your blog happens to target a very specific niche. Furthermore, when you are selling a product, you can afford to run Facebook ads to expand your reach and your audience, and to make money while you sleep. Third, CREATING A PRODUCT WILL TAKE YOUR BLOG (AND BUSINESS) TO A DIFFERENT LEVEL Regardless of the size of their blog or audience, there is something different about the bloggers who have chosen to create and launch a product. They see the world differently. They have more confidence and more business sense, learning not only from their successes, but from their failures and mistakes as well. They are not afraid of taking risks, because they know that with risk comes reward. They have made the switch in mindset from just a blogger to entrepreneur. They are all in, and it makes all the difference in the world. Fourth, YOU HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL In the blogging world, there is a lot that is outside of our control. We can t control AdSense or the ad network rates. We can t control the Facebook algorithms or the changes in Pinterest Smart Feed. We can t control when an affiliate program that was previously lucrative might change its terms. We can t control whether a company that used to work with bloggers hires a new advertising manager that just isn t interested anymore. I don t know about you, but I don t like the idea of having my livelihood depend on things I can t control. When we create our own products and market them through the channels we can control (such as and paid advertising) we take back control of our own destiny. And finally, IT S FUN! (AND SLIGHTLY ADDICTING) There is nothing quite as rewarding as when you finally hit on a product that your audience 13 Create your Perfect Product

14 loves and you get to experience their positive response. In fact, that is pretty much the moment where there is no turning back. You realize how awesome it feels to create the products that your readers are already asking for, and you get to see what an impact those products can have in their lives, and you suddenly can t believe all the new ideas that are coming your way. And it is the moment that I wish for each and every one of you. So, with that in mind, let s walk through the five steps of our Product START Method to get you on track to creating the perfect product for your audience the one they are already asking you for. 14 Create your Perfect Product

15 SURVEY YOUR MARKET You ll never know if you don t ask Create your Perfect Product

16 SURVEY YOUR MARKET T here s no better way to find out what your audience is thinking and what they are asking for, than to just come right out and ask them! And while this might seem like an obvious first step, you d be amazed at how many people spend weeks, months, and even years developing a product or writing a book that their audience has no interest in. And if conducting a market survey sounds too official and scary, don t worry! I promise that this does not have to be some big complicated ordeal. You can easily set up a free questionnaire using Google docs, or use an inexpensive services such as PollDaddy or Survey Monkey. You can then post a link to the survey on your blog, share it on social media, and send it in an . If your audience is small, you can also send your survey to friends and family members who are in your target market. Believe it or not, a lot of people LOVE to answer surveys, and they will be all too happy to answer your questions you just need to be willing to ask them. In the next step of our Product START Method, we will spend some time honing in on your exact customer avatar, and we ll talk a lot about the importance of knowing him or her as well as you know yourself. After all, speaking to your avatar s felt needs, and understanding his or her biggest fears and pain points and struggles is what allows you to create content that resonates, and content that gets noticed and shared. And while it is vitally important to know your avatar, when it comes to creating your product it is equally important to know your actual readers otherwise known as your target MARKET as intimately as possible. If you can figure out what it is that YOUR readers want, you can then figure out how to give it to them. Now if you ve been on the right track, you ll probably find that your avatar and your readers share a lot of characteristics, but it will be incredibly valuable for your business to not only verify your hunches, but to gain other insights and knowledge that you may not have realized. MARKET SURVEY BASICS In conducting your market survey, be sure to ask questions that help you get to know as much about the needs and concerns of your audience as possible. The point of doing this 16 Create your Perfect Product

17 survey is to find out exactly what your audience is looking for so that you can learn how to better serve them. That said, directly asking what are you looking for is not necessarily the best method, because often your readers don t know. Instead, focus on finding out more about their struggles and ambitions. Finally, don t make your survey too long or your readers will lose interest quickly, and make sure your questions are worded in a neutral way. Offering multiple choices when possible will also help improve your completion rates, as many people won t take the time to write in complete answers, but I have generally found that the biggest value comes from the open ended questions. How many responses you get really depends on how engaged your audience is if you ve just started building your list, you ll likely get less responses; if you are targeting a list you ve been nurturing for some time, you ll likely get more. When you re just starting out, getting 10 responses is awesome! As you grow your platform and your following, you ll find that the amount of followers who respond to your surveys will grow over time. Don t be discouraged if you only get a few responses. Keep sending your surveys each year or every 6 months for the first year or so and continue recording the results. PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE Your first assignment is to conduct a reader survey to find out more about your target market. Before you can You can create an embeddable survey for free in Google Docs or you can use a paid service such as Survey Monkey, Typeform or Poll Daddy. If you re worried about coming up with survey questions, don t be. Here are a few ideas to get you started: Here are a few ideas to get you started: What is your age? Marital status? Gender? Where do you live? Do you have children? If so, how old are they? What are your favorite magazines to read? What is your opinion of (political/religious/social issue)? What are your favorite post types at [YOUR BLOG]? (multiple choice) What are your least favorite post types at [YOUR BLOG]? What type of books or ebooks do you like to read? (multiple choice) What s the best book you ve read this past year? 17 Create your Perfect Product

18 What is one product or service you could not live without?* What is one product or service you would pay almost anything for?* What product for [TOPIC RELATED TO YOUR NICHE] would you LOVE to see me create for you?* What has been your biggest source of stress this past year?* What are your biggest [YOUR GENRE] concerns right now? What frustrates you most about [TOPIC RELATED TO YOUR NICHE]?* What are your biggest struggles with [YOUR GENRE]? What is one thing you want to accomplish in the next year?* When it comes to reading, do you prefer books or ebooks? What is something that makes you angry? Describe your perfect day.* How much time do you typically spend [ACTIVITY RELATED TO YOUR NICHE]? If you could take one task off your daily chore list, what would it be? What is your favorite [PRODUCT RELATED TO YOUR NICHE]?* If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?* Keep in mind that I don t recommend using ALL these questions in one survey! Pick and choose the ones you think are most applicable to your blog and niche, and that will give you the most valuable insights when it comes to your readers. (Be sure to include at least a few deeper questions marked with an * above.) Develop approximately 8-12 questions to use for your survey: 18 Create your Perfect Product

19 Once you ve decided on and developed your survey questions, set up your market survey using a free service such as Google forms, or a paid service such as Survey Monkey, Typeform, or Poll Daddy. From there, you ll need to actually engage your market by making the survey available to as many readers or potential readers as you can. I recommend getting it out there in as many different ways as you possibly can via , in a blog post, and on all your different social media channels. You may even want to pay a few dollars to boost your post in order to get as many eyes on it as possible. I recommend that you keep your survey open and available until you ve gotten a minimum of 10 responses, regardless of your current list size. Remember that your market survey is a way to get into your reader s brain and see what their interests are, so the more responses you can generate, the better. Use the space below to record the insights you gained through this survey: QUESTION 1: 19 Create your Perfect Product

20 QUESTION 2: QUESTION 3: QUESTION 4: 20 Create your Perfect Product

21 QUESTION 5: QUESTION 6: QUESTION 7: 21 Create your Perfect Product

22 QUESTION 8: QUESTION 9: QUESTION 10: 22 Create your Perfect Product

23 WHAT DID I LEARN ABOUT MY MARKET THAT I DIDN T KNOW BEFORE? 23 Create your Perfect Product

24 WHAT PRODUCTS AND TYPES OF PRODUCTS ARE MY READERS ALREADY ASKING FOR? 24 Create your Perfect Product

25 TARGET YOUR AVATAR Get to know your customer 25 Create your Perfect Product

26 TARGET YOUR AVATAR W hen it comes to developing a successful product, there is nothing more important than understanding your audience and exactly who you are writing to and selling to. Because here s the little-known secret that so many business owners miss: The most successful products are the ones that actively seek to help their customers to provide practical solutions to their problems or encouragement for their doubts and fears and struggles or inspiration for when they are feeling low or instruction for when they want to learn how to do something. The most successful products even when being sold for a profit make it about the customer. And that means, before you do anything else, you need to know who your audience is what drives them, what scares them, what they want most, their deepest struggles and frustrations, and how they think. Your customers need to be REAL to you. That s where a customer avatar comes in. In a nutshell, your avatar is essentially a person that represents who you are writing to and selling. While your avatar is someone you make up, it is a good idea to think of him or her as a REAL person. You should even give him or her a name. It s also important to remember that your avatar is ONE person. If you are trying to write to everyone, you are actually writing to no one. You need to be very specific. Your avatar should practically come alive to you. So many people skip this pivotal step when they start thinking about their product, either because they don t realize it is important, or because they assume if you write it they will come. But this is simply not the case. In order to create an audience of raving fans, you need to first write directly to ONE. This worksheet will walk you through the process of creating your customer avatar so that by the time you are done, you will know exactly who you are talking to, writing to, and marketing to. Know that this assignment should take you a bit of time, so don t rush through it. Really get inside the head of the person you are writing to. Can you picture him in your mind? If so, you re ready to get started. 26 Create your Perfect Product

27 STEP 1: NAIL DOWN THE BASICS NOTES: Gender: Race: Hair Color: Eye Color: Height: Weight: Age: Marital Status: Kids (ages, gender, etc.) : Education Level: Location: Income: Occupation: Spouse s Occupation: NOTES: 27 Create your Perfect Product

28 STEP 2: GET PERSONAL Hobbies--what does your avatar like to do in his or her free time? Where does your avatar shop? What are his or her favorite stores? What does your avatar read? What are his or her favorite books? Favorite magazines?: 28 Create your Perfect Product

29 What blogs or websites does your avatar visit on a regular basis? What does your avatar watch? What are his or her favorite movies & TV shows? What social media channels does your avatar spend time on? What religion does your avatar practice? How devout is he or she? 29 Create your Perfect Product

30 What political beliefs does your avatar hold? Where does your avatar go on vacation? What sort of conversations does your avatar have with friends and family members? 30 Create your Perfect Product

31 What are your avatar s spending habits? STEP 3: GO DEEP What is your avatar s biggest source of pain? What keeps your avatar up at night? What is his or her deepest fear? 31 Create your Perfect Product

32 What is the biggest danger your avatar faces that they don t even know about yet? What subjects or issues does your avatar avoid facing? What are your avatar s greatest opportunities? 32 Create your Perfect Product

33 What are your avatar s hopes and dreams? Who or what do they aspire to be? What does your avatar hope to accomplish in the next year? What is your avatar s dream situation the thing they would pay almost anything to have happen? 33 Create your Perfect Product

34 What are the signs your avatar doesn t have what they want just yet? What does your avatar value? What is your avatar most grateful for? 34 Create your Perfect Product

35 What is your avatar struggling with right now? What are they hiding from others? How does your avatar fear others would react if they found out about this situation? Through answering these questions, what did you learn about your avatar that surprised you? 35 Create your Perfect Product

36 STEP 4: BRING IT ALL TOGETHER My avatar s name is Use the boxes below to create a narrative for your avatar based on the answers to all the questions above. Tell his or her story and make him or her completely real to you. 36 Create your Perfect Product

37 37 Create your Perfect Product

38 Once you ve written your avatar s story, try to find a picture in a magazine or on a stock photo website that represents your vision of your avatar. Keep this picture and story handy so that when you re writing you know exactly who you are writing to. Refer back to it often so that you are consistently writing to a friend, one who s felt needs you understand completely. What does your avatar s daily schedule look like? 38 Create your Perfect Product

39 ASSESS YOUR OPTIONS Brainstorm like crazy 39 Create your Perfect Product

40 ASSESS YOUR OPTIONS A fter surveying your market and then diving deep into the mind of your avatar, your mind will probably be spinning with all the possibilities of products you can create to address those problems and felt needs. And that s a good thing! Now is the time to spend some time brainstorming as many different product ideas as you can think of. Give yourself the freedom to dream without judgment or self-editing. Don t rule something out just because you aren t sure how you will make it happen, just write down, as quickly as you can, as many different ideas as you can possibly think of. Focus on the problems and struggles your avatar is facing, and the areas in which he or she is most looking for help, and keep writing things down until you can t think of anything else. Use the worksheet on the following pages to help you walk through the process of brainstorming product ideas. Try to simply let the ideas flow, and don t worry just yet about what is feasible. This is simply the time to get every idea out on paper. 40 Create your Perfect Product

41 PRODUCT BRAINSTORMING WORKSHEET Based on your market survey, what are the biggest struggles and frustrations of your audience? What sort of transformation are they looking for? 41 Create your Perfect Product

42 What is the focus of your highest performing lead magnet? How could you expand the focus or content of your lead magnet to create a product? What is your own area of expertise as it relates to the struggles of your market? 42 Create your Perfect Product

43 What sort of transformations have you experienced in your own life that relate to the struggles and felt needs of your audience? How could you help your audience create the transformation they desire? 43 Create your Perfect Product

44 Set the timer for 10 minutes. Use the space below to brain dump as many possible product ideas as you can think of, based on the questions you ve just answered. Try not to judge or self-edit, simply let the ideas flow. 44 Create your Perfect Product

45 REFINE YOUR IDEA An idea is only as good as the execution 45 Create your Perfect Product

46 REFINE YOUR IDEA H opefully by now you are staring at an entire page of product ideas, each of which could potentially become an actual product for your audience. And as you look at that list, it is probably clear that some of those ideas are better than others. After all, not every idea you ever have will be a good one, right? Now it is your job to sift through the results of this brainstorming session and narrow down your ideas to the very best one. This is the time to start thinking about what is feasible and doable, about which products will be most marketable, easiest to create, and provide the biggest transformation for your audience. This is the time to go from dreaming big to looking at the facts and getting real. What can you actually create? How will it help your audience? How soon can you create it? What product will be most in demand? It s time to refine your idea. To do this, use the product refining worksheet on the following pages. 46 Create your Perfect Product

47 PRODUCT REFINING WORKSHEET Of all the ideas that you just wrote down, which 3 do you like the best? Which seem like they d be easiest to create or fit best within your own area of expertise? Which ones will actually help provide some sort of transformation for your avatar? Of those 3, which ONE product idea BEST fills the felt need of your avatar? How could you deliver this product? (As a course, workshop, coaching program, ebook, physical product, etc.) 47 Create your Perfect Product

48 AWESOME! YOU VE FOUND YOUR CONCEPT! LET S MAKE IT OFFICIAL. My Product is: 48 Create your Perfect Product

49 TRY IT OUT Get feedback and improve 49 Create your Perfect Product

50 TRY IT OUT N ow that you ve actually come up with a product idea, you are probably feeling pretty excited, and you should be! This is a huge step! Even so, there is one last step, and that is is to TRY IT OUT. You see, an awesome product idea is still only an idea. You still have to create your product and make it a reality so that you can begin to sell it. And this is where a lot of people get hung up on perfection. But honestly a better strategy is to take your concept and begin testing it as soon as possible offering a beta test that allows you to get feedback and make improvements. Rome wasn t built in a day, and your product might be a work in progress for a while. That s okay! THE BABY SEED LAUNCH Friends, this is where the rubber meets the road. This Baby Seed Launch or BSL for short is basically the EBA course equivalent of ripping off the Band-Aid. Sometimes its just better to do it fast and get it over with, so that s what we are going to do. You are going to launch a product that you haven t even created yet, just to prove to yourself that it can be done. You re not going to spend the next six months creating a polished and perfect finished product, you are going to sell an idea and the promise of a product. Now don t misunderstand me eventually you will actually have to create your product. We re not scammers, after all! But it is a lot easier and a whole lot more motivating to create a product that you ve already sold, one that you know people are not only willing to buy, but that they HAVE purchased. And better yet, your end result will actually be better, because you ll be improving it along the way with the feedback from your early adopters. 50 Create your Perfect Product

51 EBA BSL BASICS Before we dive in, I thought it might be helpful to give you an overview of the entire BSL process so that you know exactly where we re headed (as well as being able to see what you ve already done.) The reality is that there have been many different versions of seed launches created over the past few years, with many different names. Sometimes they are called an interactive offer or a presale or a beta launch. Depending on the product being sold, the process varies somewhat, but the main point is still the same: to sell a product that hasn t actually been created yet. The EBA version of BSL that I am going to outline for you is purposely kept simple, with a minimal amount of steps, in order to help you get going as quickly as possible, without being overwhelmed. If you are just starting out in the world of product creation and product launches, or if you ve struggled to gain traction with past product launches, I recommend that you start by following these steps as closely as possible. Just plug and play, and then see how it works. In Unit 9, we ll dive even deeper into sales and marketing, and into more tips and ideas for successful product launches. But for now, our goal is simply to get your first product out there, as quickly and easily as possible. Thus, without further ado, I give you the basics of the EBA Baby Seed Launch plan: 1 GROW YOUR SEED LIST TO AT LEAST 1,000 SUBSCRIBERS You don t need hundreds of thousands of page views or tens of thousands of subscribers in order to successfully launch your first product. That said, you DO need SOME subscribers. Before you go any further in this process, I d like to see you grow your contact list to at least 1,000 subscribers. If you ve been taking this course seriously, meaning you ve been actively focused on making a priority, running Facebook ads to your opt-in, and using social media to grow your subscriber base, then you should already be very close to 1,000 subscribers (if not far beyond). If you haven t yet reached the 1,000 subscriber mark yet then go back to Units 5 & 6 and focus on list growth until you ve reached the goal. 2 SURVEY YOUR MARKET The purpose of surveying your market is to ask awesome questions that give you good insight into the hearts and minds of your audience, and especially into what sort of products they are looking for. 51 Create your Perfect Product

52 Your goal with this survey is to come away with a clearer understanding of exactly what your market wants, not just what you think they want! There is a big difference here, so be careful not to let your pre-conceived notions about what you think your audience wants cloud your judgement. The good news is that you ve already done this step, so you are already ahead of the game! 3 BRAINSTORM POTENTIAL PRODUCT IDEAS Based on what you ve learned, it s time to begin brainstorming as many different potential product ideas as possible, in order to determine which one would be the best possible fit for your audience. During this step, you ll want to methodically narrow down your list of choices to the best possible one the product that will provide the transformation that your audience is looking for. Ultimately you are deciding on the end result, not the product itself. Once again, you should have already completed this step in the last chapter, so now you are ready to move on to step 4. 4 FRAME YOUR TRANSFORMATION In order to convincingly sell your product, you will need to know how to talk about your product. Remember, you are selling the end result, but you will need to be able to connect that result to your market s felt need. 5 SET UP YOUR BASIC SALES PAGE Once you ve decided on your product and have developed a way of talking about your product, you will need to have a place to actually sell your product (even though the product itself is still just a concept). This is done through an effective and compelling sales page. 6 WRITE YOUR SALES SEQUENCE With your sales page in place, you are ready for your final (and possibly most important) step writing the compelling sales sequence that converts the people on your list from subscribers to buyers. Throughout the creation of three s, your goal will be to identify their pain points, present the opportunity, and create scarcity & value. Selling is the part of the process that generally causes the most stress, but as you ll see in a bit, it doesn t have to be that difficult. Simply use the templates I ve provided to create a sales sequence that gets results. This sales sequence is a communication strategy designed to build trust, attract keen interest, develop brand awareness and convert prospects. It offers compelling, useful content, and it 52 Create your Perfect Product

53 is designed to warm up prospects to the point where they re ready to purchase. Why does it work so well? Because it closely mirrors the concepts of the buyer s journey, from awareness to decision. Thus, instead of creating one sales letter or just a simple sales page, you re going to create a killer sales sequence that actually gets results, using two key elements: 1 Great Content 2 Mental Triggers Keep in mind the great content in your sales sequence doesn t have to be fancy, and it doesn t have to be video it can just be great content, or even links to existing blog posts. You ll also want to include the following mental triggers: Authority & Relationship - Position yourself as an authority in your topic, as well as show that you are someone who has been there too. You don t need to be a PhD, but you do need to show that you ve experienced the transformation you are trying to sell. Sense of Community - Offer real content that includes the sub-scriber personally. Invite your prospect to comment and give feedback. Reciprocity - Give your subscribers real content they need and want. Go ahead and show them step by step how to recreate a secret recipe, conduct a class, or complete a work out. The mental trigger of reciprocity will cause them to act with a reciprocal action. Anticipation - Let prospects know they have an opportunity to increase their sense of community to be part of something special. Scarcity - Limit the quantity or time period your offer is available. And if all that sounds really overwhelming, don t worry! The sales sequence template I ve laid out for you will include all of these things. All you have to do is fill in the blanks! 7 DELIVER YOUR PRODUCT The good news is that if steps 1-6 are a bust and you don t sell anything, you don t have to worry about this step! You can think about what you ve learned in the process (our failures tend to teach us WAY more than our successes), and go back to the drawing board. No harm, no foul. But if you DO make some sales, you will then need to actually deliver your product to your audience. Luckily for you, this go-round is considered your Beta test, which means your customers will generally be willing to give you a lot of leeway, as long as you are actively asking for feedback along the way. 53 Create your Perfect Product

54 So be sure to do just that! Dole out your content in small bits, then ask for feedback and answer the questions or concerns they present. Create your product based on what your users most want to know, not just what you think you should tell them. Make it about THEM, and about giving them the transformation you promised in your sales letter. Remember that you don t have to have all the answers from the get-go, but that you should be willing to help your users find them. PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE Now that you ve got a rough idea of what this Baby Seed Launch thing is all about, it s time to actually get out there and do it! By now you should have completed your market survey, brainstormed your potential product ideas, and have established an seed list. Your next step is to spend some time brainstorming potential product ideas, based on what you ve learned from your market survey. Keep in mind that for the purpose of this Baby Seed Launch, a product that is more interactive (at least at first), such as some sort of online course, coaching program, or workshop, will be most effective. This will allow you to get the feedback you need to make the necessary adjustments and improvements to your product. It may be that your final product is actually a book or ebook or even a physical product, but for now you will want whatever you are creating to be as interactive as possible. Part of the draw for your early adopters is that they get to be part of the creation process. (Also keep in mind that this is not to say that you can t also do a presale or seed launch for a non-interactive product you can but the process may be slightly different. For now, and for the sake of simplicity, just know that you ll probably have better luck with something interactive.) Use the following worksheets to first help you determine your pricing structure, create your sales copy, create your sales page, and finally, use our templates to create your sales sequence for your B.S.L. From there, it will just be a matter of actually pressing GO! 54 Create your Perfect Product

55 PRICING WORKSHEET The next step in this assignment is to figure out how to price your product. You re going to be selling it before you create it, but you still need a price. This may the scariest part of your seed launch, but it has to get done. Since you don t have any customers yet (this is a Baby Seed Launch, after all), it will probably help to do a little research. First, you need to know what similar products are selling for. To do this, you re going to start out by finding three bloggers offering products similar (not the same) to the product you want to create. It s helpful if the bloggers are in the same niche or a similar niche to you. Use the space below to record their information: PRODUCT 1 Blog name: Sales Page or URL: Product Name: Product Price: PRODUCT 2 Blog name: Sales Page or URL: Product Name: Product Price: PRODUCT 3 Blog name: Sales Page or URL: Product Name: Product Price: 55 Create your Perfect Product

56 Next, take all three prices, add them up, then divide by three. This will give you the median price based on the products you chose. The median price of the products is: $ Because this is a seed launch, you don t want to compete with the highest price part of the fun of a seed launch is offering a killer deal. To make sure that you offer the best possible price, you first need to know what your retail price is. The full price of your product should be at the higher end. This is the price that your product would be offered for all the time, without discounts. My product s full price is: $ Now you need to apply a discount. For a seed launch, a discount of 50%-75% is common. The seed launch price of my product is: $ NOTES 56 Create your Perfect Product

57 SALES COPY WORKSHEET The next step in this process is to frame the transformation and create in order to begin creating the sales copy that you will draw on in order to create your sales page and write your sales sequence. The reality is that before you can sell your product, you need to know how to talk about it, which means that you need to identify not only the needs and desires of your audience, but the promises that you are making and delivering. Spend some serious time thinking about, then crafting the following: FELT NEED What are the deepest desires of your audience or marketplace? What are your readers looking for? What are they struggling with, and what problems do they need solved? Why are you creating THIS product, and what need are you trying to fill? Examples: Modern life can be hectic and busy and feel like it is spinning out of control. There is always too much to do and not enough time to get it all done, and at the end of the day, sometimes it feels like we are so busy just surviving that there doesn t seem to be any room left for our goals and dreams. Our readers crave a simple resource that offers a way of taking their life back from the chaos of a busy life. They want an all in one planner that allows them to be purposeful with their time, money, and resources, to focus on their long-term goals while still managing the day-to-day responsibilities of raising a family, planning meals, and managing a budget. -Felt Need for the Living Well Planner Craft your audience s felt need here: 57 Create your Perfect Product