2H5EnRwumuT3ukWglZJMPCNizF3mAZlI: Products

Showing posts with label Products. Show all posts

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Product Launching - Packaging Products Together

Whenever you create a new information product - whether it's a book, e-book, audio program or even a full membership site - don't stop at just that product. Instead, spin your product into different forms, and sell them as a complete package. This has a number of benefits - not only for you, but also for your customer.

People consume products in different formats.

Some people like reading, others listen to audio programs at the gym, others watch a lot of video, and others only learn when they are actively participating in the learning. By producing your product in different formats, you help your customer consume it in the way that most suits them, rather than whatever happened to be most convenient for you.

People consume products at different levels.

Some people don't have time to read an entire book, but would happily read a short e-book summary of the main material, and then dip into the book for the most relevant material. If you provide both versions, you help that customer get full value from the book. If you hadn't provided the summary version, some customers would have bought the book with the best of intentions, but might never have got around to reading it.

People consume some products with other people.

Some products are designed to be consumed in isolation, but others lend themselves to group learning. For example, if you write a book about sales techniques, you could include a collection of PowerPoint slide shows for sales managers to use in their weekly meetings. This not only greatly enhances the value of the book, it also means you can charge a much higher price because it could now be positioned as a twelve-month resource for sales managers.

Even a book, which is typically consumed by one person at a time, could be seen as a group learning resource. For example, if you added a postcard with key questions for discussion, you could make it easier for book clubs to choose your book for their meetings!

People consume products in different stages.

In this busy, time-poor world, it's becoming harder and harder for people to consume your product - in whatever format you produce it - at a single session. You can help them get more from it by also delivering it in stages. For example, you could invite readers of a book to sign up for an automatic e-mail course that sends them a weekly reminder about one concept in the book. Or you could conduct regular webinars about the book, connecting your readers with you and each other.

Don't ignore the benefits of product bundles!

A common objection to bundling products together in this way is the concern about duplicating your material. For instance, is it acceptable to provide an audio version of your book if it's the same content as the print version?

In general, the answer is Yes! Your customers will appreciate you taking the time to create the material in different ways, especially if you explain how they can use the different products to get full value from the package.

How Creating Your Own E-Book Can Boost Your Online Revenue Repurposing Content For The Web - How To Reuse Your Old Content Information Product Creation - Use Different Learning Modalities To Reach Your Target Audience The Top Two Mistakes of First-Time Information Product Developers

Are People Still Buying Online Products?

Online income solutions With so many people struggling to make ends meet these days, online income solutions look like a great opportunity for anyone looking to make some extra income or even replace a current job. The problem is that there are so many opportunities available online that beginners can easily get confused and distracted with information overload. The key is to research several different business models and then choose the one that seems the best for you and your circumstances.

Here are some ideas for starting an Internet business. Affiliate marketing. This is probably the easiest way to get started with an online business because you don't have to worry about creating your own information products or storing inventory in your house etc. You basically send traffic to a merchant website and you receive a commission whenever a sale is made. You can choose from a variety of products including both physical products that people purchase at retail stores and information products like eBooks and audio programs.

Creating your own information products. Whether you're talking about creating eBooks, audio and video courses, or a physical printed book, creating your own information products is a lot more work than just sticking with affiliate marketing. Nevertheless, there are a number of advantages. When you have your own products and your own authority website to go with it, this tends to build a lot of momentum in your favor. You can also get affiliates to promote your products so you can make lots of extra sales with less work.

Ecommerce websites. You don't have to be the next Amazon.com or Walmart.com in order to get into the ecommerce business. There are many opportunities if you choose a specific niche and learn how to drive traffic to your website, either through search engine optimization or some form of paid advertising like pay per click.

Whatever business model you decide to use you have to learn to focus on one specific business model and then choose a niche within that model. Get to know your target audience and what kinds of products and services are offered in the industry. Start creating excellent content for your website like articles or videos that will get you found by the search engines and please your potential customers as well.

There are many resources available, do your research, investigate thoroughly, and above all do not hesitate to use the support staff that is available. The majority have been there and done that!

Selling Lots of Infoproducts? Five Models for Organizing Your Roster of Information Products

Most of the information entrepreneurs I've coached have either created no information products yet or just one, two or three of them. At that stage, they're easily receptive to planning the creation of products in an organized fashion, such as a free giveaway item that leads to the purchase of a low-priced item, which encourages a medium-sized purchase, which in turn naturally leads to a higher-end involvement like a seminar, retreat or coaching program. That's a classic marketing funnel, and it's a profitable model for many information entrepreneurs.

When someone has created at least four paid products, however, without a mental model of how they fit together, it may be challenging for the product creator to put the products into a marketing system that they can build on and add to. So here are five models that make this process easier.

1. Linear. In this model, you set out your products in a sequence, with Product A being a prerequisite for buying Product B, which in turn is a prerequisite for Product C and so on. Your sequence might be either strict (no one can register for or purchase a product out of sequence) or loose (the sequence is suggested, but not enforced). This model works especially well where you have educational content that becomes increasingly advanced or where each product offering assumes the knowledge or topics in the preceding one or ones.

2. Hub and spokes. Here you envision one offering as a center or starting point, with many possibilities after that. In this arrangement, once prospects become customers or members, they can buy in any sequence. The hub might consist of a free report, a book that provides how-to instruction on the theme of the business, a DVD that explains the core philosophy of a certain approach or a newsletter that serves as the primary source of every other product offer.

3. Tracks. With this model, an expert conceives of his or her products in distinct groupings, according to either topic or level. For example, a financial management expert might have one track on getting out of debt, another on saving for college, another on providing for disabled children and yet another on planning for retirement. Or there might be tracks for amateurs and professionals, or for beginners, intermediates and advanced members. This differs from the linear model because within each track, products don't necessarily have a sequence.

4. Triangle. Here different topics have an important relationship to one another, such that customers logically will want help with each of the three points of the triangle, though they can tackle them in any order. If there are more than three crucial points, then the model would consist of a square, a pentagon or a hexagon, and so on, instead of a triangle. This model particularly fits a situation where customers are looking to fulfill requirements for continuing education in their profession or to qualify for some kind of certificate or achievement.

5. Portfolio. Perhaps, however, the products actually have little or no relationship to one another. Don't feel you have to force a relationship. In the same way that a brokerage account can hold a variety of stocks and bonds whose performance you keep watch over, you can have a portfolio of products that you present and promote separately. You'll find it helpful to come to the realization that these products shouldn't be aggregated into one site or one catalog!