Create and Market Your Own Product

For anyone who decides to get into Internet Marketing, one of the very first questions is obvious:

“What should I sell?

Most will take the Affiliate route. The problem with selling Affiliate products is that you have a great deal of competition, many of whom have a great deal of experience, and can give away extra bonuses as a reward for purchasing from them. The “Big Boys” also tend to piggy-back on each other’s mailing lists, giving them a huge advantage over someone just starting out.

Now consider the flip side. The person who owns the product all the Affiliates are selling has an entire army out there building websites, blogging, making videos, etc. They spend their own time, money, and energy to market and sell for the product owners. Thus, the product owners have reproduced themselves over one hundredfold. And many of the Affiliates have more money, more experience, and more traffic than the product producers themselves.

If you gave it some serious thought, you would be able to come up with a great product idea. But coming up with a great idea is the easy part. Turning that great idea into a tangible, marketable, sought-after product takes some work.

I did it. I have friends who have done it. You can do it too. You just never know what impact your idea could have. My own strange little product instigated some interesting changes within my niche, and became so popular that concepts within my industry, once ignored or ridiculed, are now common, accepted principles.

And dare I say it? …Stolen.

Imitation may be the highest form of flattery, but personally, I’d prefer the cash…

To Build a Better Mouse Trap, Think Like a Mouse

I used to be a Daytrader, sitting at my home computer buying and selling stocks and futures for my own account. I began experimenting with Fibonacci numbers and realized that although Fibonacci’s were used in Market Technical Analysis, they were not exploited anywhere near the way I was using them.

But instead of using a spreadsheet which occupied way too much valuable real estate  on my computer screen, I wanted a very small software application that would sit on top, up in the corner and out of the way.

In other words, I had a need, and regardless of how hard I tried to find a product that would fill that need, none was available. So I was left with no other choice but to create it myself.

Step #1 – What Product do You Want Yourself that Doesn’t Yet Exist?

How many times have you asked yourself,

“Why doesn’t somebody come up with a way to…“

Why, indeed? Maybe that someone should be you! Why not? If you want the product, it’s likely other people would want it as well. Maybe many other people. And just maybe—many, many, other people!

You are sure to have some untapped talent that you could convert into that winning idea. If you like to tinker with things, take it to the next level. Do you like to write? Write a book. Turn your interests and hobbies into something you can share with others. Maybe you think you know just enough to be dangerous. That would probably include most of us. Make the effort to take the little bit that you do know and grow it into a storehouse of knowledge. You are already half-way there!

Step #2 – What Will it Cost to Create a New Product?

Once you have that great idea, you must determine if it’s feasible. Counting the cost equates to more than just money. Time, effort, research, education, skill-building, etc. all come into play. Creating your product may involve activities you have no experience with, so you must understand what it is you’re getting yourself into right up front. It’s essential you get as much information as possible before jumping in order to give yourself the most thoroughly conceived plan possible.

It’s likely you will be pushed beyond your comfort zone. But that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Say “Yes,”…

In my case I had to purchase a computer software development environment. But first I had to research all of the different languages and environments to understand which was the best tool to produce the product I envisioned. That was the easy part. I had no education or experience whatsoever in computer programming, and the first time I cracked open a book and saw an example of C++ code, I almost gave up right then and there.

Before deciding to go forward, you must determine if the cost/benefit ratio is viable for your situation. Keep in mind, there is a significant probability you will need more skill and knowledge than you have currently. You need to be an expert and authority regarding the subject matter of your product. But don’t allow that to scare you away— by the time you have a working, polished prototype, you WILL be an expert.

Step #3 – Building Your Product Prototype

I decided it would only cost me a little time to find out if I could get the hang of programming computer code. Plenty of others have done it, so I dug in and kept digging. I worked on that puppy for months, almost quitting in despair several times as I ran into seemingly insurmountable roadblocks. But I was always able to Search the Net and find that small little piece of the puzzle, that tiny snippet of code that someone else had figured out before me.

There is a wealth of information out there for you to draw upon. It’s all available to you in raw form. It’s up to you to take the common elements and combine them into something unique. And when you’re finished people will say,

“It’s so simple! Why didn’t I think of that?“

Along the way you will undoubtedly encounter expenses you hadn’t anticipated, in my case I bought more books and a few plug-in tools. I learned along the way it’s always best to budget in advance for those unanticipated expenses that will always occur. That way, they won’t be such surprises when they hit you, as you will be ready for the unexpected.

Depending on your funds and available time, you may not be able to produce a product as perfect as you would prefer. If your product requires more funding than you have available, a good, working prototype can help garner the interest of  investors. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I saw a video of the guy who created the first (unbranded)  Star Wars laser sword toy. After seeing the movie, he taped a plastic tube to a flashlight and used that primitive prototype to sell the marketing rights to another guy in Mexico. He then took the profit from that to fund his own tooling in the US.

Step #4 – New Product Testing and Market Research

To this day I’m not sure how I did it, especially having never moved beyond my Failing Grade in pre-Algebra math. But I ended up with an attractive computer software application that was small on the screen and required less memory and hard drive space than an MP3 music download.

I gave it to a few friends who loved it. Just be aware that you never want to base a full product roll-out on the praise of friends and family. Even if they genuinely believe your product is wonderful, they don’t necessarily represent the callous, cynical public you must pry away from their hard-earned cash.

Having an initial positive response from my trader friends, I launched a website, set up an Opt-In email form, and wrote some posts in a few stock trading forums, mentioning that I had a free tool available. In only a couple of months I had an email list of 2000 stock traders!

It’s very important to note that I had already been posting my market analysis and opinions beforehand in various Trader Forums. I believe the foundational principle of building a reputation in advance of any product introduction cannot be over-emphasized. As you are developing your new product, spend time each day posting in forums and commenting in blogs associated with your niche, building a reputation for honesty and authority. At the time of roll-out you will have a ready base of interested prospects. That’s the only way your product introduction will not be perceived as SPAM. Suddenly showing up out of nowhere and spamming a product will do incredible damage to your reputation, reliability, and authority—regardless of how good your product may be.

So many people coming to my site told me beyond any doubt that I could sell my precious product to thousands of stock traders—as long as the Price was “Free.” Therefore, I didn’t consider this to be an especially reliable Test.

You will want to keep careful watch over your incoming Traffic logs. I could see I was being talked about in discussion forums, and I would search for the posts from where the Traffic originated. It was key to know if it was from one of my own posts, or from another person writing about me. It’s more work to do this, and was not always successful, but putting in the extra effort will yield its rewards. Now I knew people didn’t just want something for free—my product was being recommended by people who found valuable to their trading results. Knowing this was key, raised my comfort level enough to prompt me to work hard at the next step.

Never underestimate the power of unsolicited referrals. You simply cannot buy that quality of advertising.

Step #5 – Prototype Improvement and Product Production

I knew I couldn’t begin charging for something that had already been given for Free. So I began working to triple the capabilities and features of my software.

And I made sure all of my “ducks were in a row” with every aspect of my business operations. This is vitally important, because no matter how much you prepare, there is always something that will go wrong. By “over-preparing” you give yourself the edge so that less will go wrong, and you won’t have too many things to fix all at once.

Beyond mere competence of simply doing things the right way, you will want to do your very best to create a product that “over-delivers” on the promises. Yes, it’s more work, but it’s those little extra touches that make a big difference in your level of customer satisfaction, those important and elusive Word-of-Mouth referrals, repeat orders, and a lower number of returned goods.

Step #6 – Sales and Marketing the Final Product

Now I was ready, I sent an email to my list of 2000, telling them all about the new features. When you hear that the Money is in the List, pay attention.

Most didn’t buy.

But consider, many of them had already lost their money in the Markets due to inexperience and over-trading. Many did buy though, and for years I had orders coming in for a product that was fairly esoteric and in a highly specialized niche.

Beyond selling to your own list from your own website, you may want to seriously consider expanding your sales efforts to include Affiliates, through Clickbank, ShareASale, or Commission Junction, among others. You can build a motivated sales team and duplicate your efforts to an amazing degree.

The Secret of Marketing Success

There is obviously more to this story. Important as the preceding has been, the more important aspects are what we will discuss next.

Early on in my Daytrading career, I attended meetings and met and developed friendships with some sophisticated and well-known traders. At the time, I had no idea who these people were, but you just never know where new friendships may lead you. As you will see, contacts and friendships had a profound affect on my business.

Because, as it turned out…

One friend had a website with Page Rank of 4, and writes a regular column for another high-profile site with a PR 5. He recommended my product in one of his major articles, and invited me to contribute articles to his own website. These continue to bring me visitors every day.

Another famous friend has a website that’s a PR 3. He asked me to develop a software product for him using his own mathematical formulas. He gives this away for free as his email Opt-In incentive, and every one of those downloaded from his website has my clickable logo link built right into it. This software, in turn, brought me software business from another well-know authority.

Another friend I met has a famous Authority website with a PR 4, and I gave several live PowerPoint presentations at his meetings which were recorded and are still available for download years later. This bring me visitors, too. Not only that, but those freebie presentations led to speaking at conventions, raising my credibility, authority, and traffic, even more.

And last but not least, the co-founder of a well-known PR 6 site recommended my product at many of his own live seminars. I would always know when he was holding a seminar because come Sunday and Monday I would get flooded with orders.

Friendships and Contacts are your most valuable resources. There are some really great people in your industry or niche who are very willing to help you. In turn, there are many things you can do to help others. To have friends, you must be a friend. Your friendship must be genuine. It never works out well when you extend the hand of friendship with ulterior motives.

Your expertise and friendship is valuable to others. Meetings and Conventions need speakers. Many site owners are lost when it comes to their own website, and their problems might be a piece of cake for you. Help them out. It’s amazing how much you can learn, and how much exposure you can get, simply by being a good friend.

And by being exposed to the real needs of others, you might just come up with that ingenious Solution that will change your life forever.

Image: Mobile Phone Inventor, Martin Cooper