Eighteen (18) Steps To Creating Best Selling Products

Transcription

1 Eighteen (18) Steps To Creating Best Selling Products 1

2 Whether you've never created an info product before, or you've created dozens and you're still not looking forward to your next, this short guide is for you. Just like anything else, when you have a step-by-step plan to follow, it just makes it so much easier than trying to wing it and magically (hopefully, somehow) put together a product people will happily purchase from you. One thing we're not going to cover in this tutorial is niche selection and knowing you've got a hungry market for your product. Our focus is actually on creating the best product possible, to make the most sales possible, and to boost your credibility and bank account in the process. For the purposes of this tutorial, we're going to assume your product is an ebook, but the steps to making any kind of info product are quite similar. The 18 Steps To Awesome Product Creation Section 1 Getting Ready To Create Your Product 1. Narrow your focus. One of the most difficult steps of all in creating your product is figuring out what the darn thing is about. Perhaps the most common mistake new product creators make is trying to cover EVERYTHING about a topic. When you do this, you come up with a generic piece of work that generally doesn't help anyone. 2

3 So instead, you want to narrow your focus as much as possible. For example, instead of How to win elections which is just too broad, you might narrow it down to How to win local elections. And you could narrow it even further to something like, How to win local elections against an incumbent when no one knows your name. Now that's specific and highly marketable. Don't worry that you're being too specific anyone wanting to win a local election is likely to pick this book up, including the incumbent who wants to be ready against the young upstart. Tip: Go to a sales page for an existing product related to your market. Look at their BULLET POINTS (these are benefit statements usually in a list of bullet points) and you should find some great segments to focus your report on. 2. You are the expert. Yes, really. The moment you start to create your new product, or even THINK about creating your new product, a gremlin is going to sit down on your shoulder and tell you that you do not know enough. You're not an expert. There are people who know more about the topic than you. And so on. Bad news: The gremlin is right. There probably ARE people who know the topic better than you. 3

4 Good news: So what? If you know the topic better than 95% of people out there, you are an expert in the eyes of 95% of people. Now you just need to wrap your head around that and dive in. How to boost your confidence: Research. Fill in the gaps, find out what you don't know, and learn enough to know more than 96% or 97% of other people. You don't need to be the world's foremost expert on your topic to create an info product on it, you just need to know more than most and be willing to research to find the facts and figures you don't already have. And thanks to the Internet, research is pretty darn easy. Just be sure of your sources you don't want to give any false info to your customers. Tip: The BIGGEST segment of ANY market is the beginners or new entrants in a market. They are hungry for new information and learning something new. So, unless you are already an accomplished expert in your field, I would recommend you concentrate on helping them. Plus, they are easier to please with information they get. Targeting advanced users requires a LOT more work (although it can be lucrative as you may charge more). 3. One giant step. Now it's time to take a giant leap forward in your progress. In fact, what you do right now will save you time and make your product better, so plan to invest real effort into this. 4

5 You're going to create a DETAILED product outline. Think of your outline as the road map for your info product and it will keep you from getting stalled or going in the wrong direction in creating your product. Fill your outline in with just as much detail as possible with chapter headings, topics, subtopics, etc. If you've got pictures or videos to add, make a note of where they will go. If you find the order of your chapters or sections isn't right, simply rearrange them until they make sense. The more effort you put into this outline, the easier the entire rest of the process will be for you. If you want a super simple outline maker tool, try this... OutlineMakerInput.aspx If you find yourself getting stuck, stop stressing and just start writing. You already have a good idea of what your product will cover - you just need to get it down on paper and in the right order. And the way to do that is to start writing, rearranging and adding info until you're completely satisfied. When you are, set it aside and go do something else for the rest of the day. Seriously. Go away. Come back tomorrow 5

6 Tip: During the initial brainstorm, write down everything you can think of, related to your topic, that you may want to share in your report. This is called thinking on paper. A novel but really effective way to do this is by going through the alphabet and, for each letter, write down any ideas, actions, events, people, places, items etc, relating to your topic. See if you can do this all the way from A-Z. 4. Fresh eyes better perspective. Now that you've got your outline, you know where you're going and you know how to get there. But guess what? You likely forgot something. That's why now you're going to look at your outline with fresh eyes. You're no longer you, you are your potential customer looking over this product. What did you miss? What does your customer need or want that you forgot to include? Fill it in. Now go to Amazon and find books on your niche. Use the look inside feature to study their table of contents. You're looking for more things you may have left out of your product. Fill in the holes, expand sections if needed and see if you're 6

7 inspired to add anything new, or to even change the heading or focus on certain sections. You're fine-tuning your outline so that, when you get started on creating this product, it's the absolute best it can be. One note: This is YOUR UNIQUE product. So don't think that just because a book on Amazon has a chapter you don't have that it means you must include it in your ebook. Use your discretion and stay true to the focus of your product. Tip: The title of your report plays a huge role when it comes to converting browsers into buyers. So you want one that is interesting and appealing. Now I m all for a quirky title, but you should ask yourself these 3 questions: 1. Does the title Accurately Represent what s inside the report? 2. Does the title Build Interest? (i.e. does it sound intriguing? 3. Does the title Communicate the Benefits of purchasing, reading and applying your report? 5. Be one-of-a-kind. There are a ton of information products out there a TON. So here's the big question what makes your info product unique? It's a two-fold answer, and I can even give you the first half your product is going to be unique because it's created by YOU. And I just happen to know that you are the only you in the entire universe. 7

8 That's why it's vital that your product conveys your uniqueness. Your message, your style, your very essence should permeate through the product, whether it's written, audio, video or whatever. Do not sound like everyone else and above all don't come across as the latest robotic talking head. Instead, imagine you're sitting at the kitchen table explaining this topic to your friend over coffee. That's what you're going for. Are you funny? Then be funny. Are you dramatic? Then be dramatic. Whatever you are when you are being yourself, that's the voice you want to use in creating your product. The second half of what makes your product unique is going to be by design it's your angle, your hook, or your unique selling proposition (those are all pretty much the same thing.) Decide what it is that makes your info product different from any other info product on this particular topic. We actually hit on an example of this earlier when talking about the election product - How to win local elections against an incumbent when no one knows your name. Your angle is that you're teaching how to go from absolute scratch no connections, no name recognition, no experience and win an election, even against the person currently holding the office. Choosing your angle or USP is vital to making a product that stands apart from all the rest and grabs people's attention, 8

9 so spend some time on this. And be sure you write it down and keep it in front of you as you continue this process. From time to time check in with yourself and see if you are sticking to your USP. And also make sure you're giving your product your own unique brand of you as well. Tip: I ll stress it again. Put your own spin on things. Find a way to stand apart from the crowd, and really help people in a way that no one else has before. It doesn't matter if there are already dozens of products out there on your topic. People will want to learn from you. Just by nature of being you, you have a unique outlook and perspective this means you need to put pieces of yourself into your product. One way of doing this is by sharing your own thoughts and personal experiences. Tell them what works for YOU. People love to hear stories of how others, in their position, overcame the sort of obstacles they may be facing now. 6. Pick a number. Stick to it. At this point you might be thinking the hard part is over, you've got this licked, and your product is practically created. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's the false sense of security we get from having made a start that often derails us. Sure, we'll get to it. Maybe we'll 9

10 work on it later today. Which becomes tomorrow. Which becomes next week and then maybe never. That's why you're going to pick a number and make a schedule. And above all, you're going to stick to your schedule, no matter what. Tell yourself that. Make a pact. Write it down. Tell your family you won't be available during your scheduled writing times. And when it's time to write (or record video, or whatever) then do it. So what's the number for? It's how many days you're going to work on creating your product. If you can do it in five days, that's terrific. If you need 10, then so be it. But try to choose a number no larger than 14. No matter what your info product is, odds are it can be done in 14 days or less, or your topic is probably not as narrow and focused as it should be. So pick your number, then divide your outline into that many parts. Schedule your time each day to work it. And then just do it. Tip: Set yourself realistic goals for each day and stick to them. Deadlines force you to focus and help you to overcome those twin evils: procrastination and distraction. A good trick is to give yourself an incentive to meet a self imposed 10

11 deadline. For example, schedule your golf game for the afternoon so that you are motivated to complete your tasks in the morning. Or maybe aim to finish writing the opening chapter to your report BEFORE your favorite TV program starts (The Walking Dead?). Section 2 Creating Your Product 7. Give A Smashing Introduction. You can write your product introduction first thing, or wait until the product is finished and write it then, whichever works better for you. Here's what I want you to know your introduction sets the tone for the product. It's really the after purchase sales letter for your product, what people read after they make the purchase but before they begin chapter 1 (or video 1, or whatever.) You want to come out of the gate running. In fact your first paragraph of your introduction should be so on-fire compelling that no one could stop reading after that paragraph. And your entire intro should sell the customer on devouring every morsel of your product, much like a movie trailer sells the viewer on watching the movie. Now you might be asking, Why? They've bought the product, so why should I care if they actually consume it? Three reasons: First, if they don't read it, they're more likely 11

12 to regret their purchase and request a refund. Also, by selling them in the intro on how this product is going to change their lives for the better, you are reinforcing how smart they were to purchase the product in the first place, again reducing your refund rate. The second reason for writing a great intro is even more important if they consume your product and love it, what's going to happen? They're going to become die-hard customers. They're going to open your s because they want to know what you have to say. And they're going to buy your future products because they know you deliver great value. And the third reason is because you never know which of your new customers may also be your next great affiliate if you deliver the goods. The better your product, the more affiliates will want to promote it to their customer list, the more sales you make and the more new customers you have on your mailing list. So whether you write your introduction before you create your product to set the tone for the whole work, or you wait until the end of your product creation and write it then, make sure that introduction is a great one. 12

13 Tip: Of course, you will want the whole of your report to be of high quality and knock the socks off your customers. But, let s face it, there will be some points that are stronger than others. When it comes to arranging ideas, ideally you should put the really important points, or info that is less known than others, FIRST and LAST in the report. This helps to showcase your strengths, as you want your best work to be in the first few pages and then finish like a thoroughbred in the last few pages. (bear in mind, this may not be appropriate in a step by step course, where things need to be explained sequentially). 8. Use headlines liberally. Web users tend to read about 25% of what's on a web page and about 50% of what's in an ebook or e-course. Contrast that with over 90% of headlines and subheads being read, and you know exactly how to capture someone's attention: Use headlines and lots of sub-headlines. You can write these as you're working on your project or at the end, it doesn't matter. What's important is that your headlines and subheads are compelling and draw the reader into reading further, or the video watcher into watching your video all the way through. How do you use headlines in videos? It's easy if you're doing Camtasia videos, simply place the headlines in your slides. If you're doing screen shots you can still do slides with headlines. And if it's a talking head type of video, you 13

14 can write the headline on a whiteboard or even note cards in view of the camera, you can speak them with emphasis or add them in later through editing. Tip: Another good way to draw attention is by using different colours. I don t do this too often but, when I do, I prefer to use red or blue where I want to draw special attention. Another way to highlight your text is to use bold with a yellow background. 9. Tell stories. Whenever possible, illustrate your points through storytelling. In fact, it's a good idea to go through your outline and look for places you can use stories to get your points across. People love stories and actually have a much easier time remembering your points if they're encapsulated within a story. Tip: Don t be afraid to talk about yourself. Empathize with the reader you ve been where they are now. Tell them about your early struggles, and how things changed when you made your discovery of what actually works for you. Mention specific successes you ve achieved by applying the strategies outlined or using the information in your special report. 10. Cast aside your worries. Sometime in the creation process you're going to be revisited by the gremlin on your shoulder, telling you that you are no expert and have no business creating this info product. 14

15 What should you do? Everybody knows that virtually every bit of information known to man is out there somewhere on the internet. But people are either too lazy or simply don t have time to trawl through the avalanche of information on the web to get what they re looking for. That s what makes a well presented, ordered report with all the desired information in one place, so appealing. If you ve managed to do sufficient research to put together a report and the information included is sound and what people want, then that in itself makes you an expert in their eyes. Here's one trick: Open up a newspaper or go online to a news site and look at the people in the news stories. As you look at each person or read their name, ask yourself does this person know what I know about X? In almost every case the answer is a resounding no. See? You are an expert, you know more than 97% of people out there on your topic, and you need to stop doubting yourself and just get back to work. Tip: Ask yourself what is the worst that can possibly happen? If people don t buy your information product - too bad less sales, try better next time. If somebody doesn t like your product - no problem offer a 15

16 refund. You ve put together a truthful honest report with correct information, it s perhaps not what he/she was looking for so your reputation remains intact, AND they ll trust you more for refunding their money. 11. Remember to follow your outline. If you find yourself diverging from the outline, change the outline to see if your new track is going to work. If it's not, go back to the original outline. Let's say you're writing about how to grow organic vegetables on tiny pieces of land. You find yourself writing an unexpected chapter on a method that isn't compatible with organic gardening does it fit in your outline? Doubtful. It might work in a non-organic info product, and so you set it aside for another time. But what if the new chapter is on growing organic flowers? You might place that somewhere in your outline, perhaps near the end. Or it might become an entirely separate bonus. Tip: If your brain is going off at a tangent, don t let those creative thinking moments go to waste! Create a swipe file to capture those brilliant ideas that fly into your head, before they just as quickly fly out again. This can be as simple as a word or text document. When you next come across an inspirational , great blog post, well crafted headline or brilliant quote, stick it in your own swipe file for future reference. (N.B. this is for inspiration and ideas only, 16

17 as copying word for word, someone else s work is plagiarism) A couple of handy resources for capturing and storing anything from word documents to images and videos can be found at Google Docs and Evernote. 12. Add graphs, pictures and illustrations anywhere it will help to illustrate what you're teaching. It's just easier for people to learn, when they can see what you're talking about. Plus a good visual works just like a headline, in that it grabs attention and gets people reading. So don't be afraid to use plenty of visuals so long as each one helps in conveying what you want to say. Tip: Don t be afraid to use plenty of visuals. However, my advice is to use them only when they are helpful or needed. Including lots of unnecessary graphics is not the best use of your space. 13. Edit your product. If you can, when you're done writing you should set it aside for hours and then come back and edit it. As you read it, look for anything that might be difficult to understand and either reword it or elaborate on the point to make it crystal clear. Any language that is confusing should be eliminated. And if you've found that you rambled on about something irrelevant, by all means get rid of it. Trim long sentences to 25 words or less. Lose the long 17

18 words and phrases and replace them with short, to the point words. Break up your text into small, manageable pieces with spaces in between. Tip: Imagine you're the intended audience reading your work for the first time. Would the reader understand what you're saying? Would they be riveted or bored? Is there stuff missing? 14. Choose a layout for your ebook. Entire books have been written simply on how to layout a book, so I won t try to cover it all here. However, as I m mainly talking about short reports here, I would like to go through the pages that you would expect to find within a short ebook, in their order of appearance. Title page - typically includes the report title, any subtitle, author s name, website address, and any graphics you might want to include. Legal page includes copyright information, disclaimers and terms of usage. Author page allows you to build trust with your readers as they learn more about you and what other resources you have to offer. Special offer page (optional) offer discount / deal / deadline on a related product. 18

19 Table of contents may not need this if report is particularly short. Report here comes the report itself. Backend page includes recommended resources. Each page within the report should have a header and footer. The header will normally have the name of the product. The footer will have copyright information, your website address and the page number. Tip: We ve talked about what to include in your special report. Now you need to pay attention to cosmetics, as appearance is very important. Here are some pointers: Fonts don t try and get too cute by using fancy fonts. It might look nice to begin with, but after a while, some fonts can become difficult to read, and distract you from the content. Use 3 different fonts in your special report: one for boldface, another for the main body of your text, and a third for isolating special text to make it stand out. For the main content the standard 12.0 point text size works well. Margins resist the temptation for massive margins (along with 20.0 point text). Trying to pad your length with these sleight of hand tactics is quite obvious to the reader. Indentations and numbering these improve the flow of reading and add another dimension to your report s layout. I would use indentations and numbering to create bullet lists or highlight key thoughts. Finally I would recommend you deliver your special report in PDF format simply because it s universal and user friendly. 19

20 15. Go into Beta. That is, choose a small handful of people to show your book to, and get their feedback. Also do another read-through and look for typos and changes you want to make. Make any changes you want based on the feedback. 16. Sit back. Relax. You've just created a killer info product. 17. Don't relax for long now it's time to get it into the marketplace. Write your sales letter, add bonuses, contact affiliates, your list you know the drill. 18. Rinse and repeat. Every time you make an info product it should get a little bit easier because you've done it before. In fact, don't be surprised if product ideas start popping up everywhere you are, after all, now a bona fide product creator! 20

21 Additional Resources: I hope you ve enjoyed this guide. Here s some more resources related to helping you to create your own information products: Short Report Magic - Learn how to quickly create 7-15 page reports which can be used in any number of ways to build your business. From growing your list of subscribers, using as affiliate tools, product bonuses or simply selling them. Unlock the Creator in You! - Struggling for ideas? Then this is for you. Learn how to think like some of the world s most creative people and tap into what you ve long forgotten. It s time to unlock the creative juices and open your mind to more product and business ideas than you could ever have imagined! Copy And Profit Blueprint This is the granddaddy of all product creation products. There are 3 modules covering: 1. Creating your own product to sell 2. Building a list of subscribers 3. Driving traffic to your site. In addition you get 8 bonus reports. In total you ll receive over 400 pages of in-depth step by step instruction on how to build your own online business from scratch. This is a proven strategy, straight from the mouth of a highly respected IM veteran who s succeeded online since Nick Tindall 21