About Product Creation

Hi Isyaias,

Michael Rasmussen here and it's time to answer another
set of questions from my readers. You're in that group,
so you get the benefit of the great questions your
peers ask me.

A lot of people wonder why I do this. There are really
three big reasons...

First, I care about whether you succeed or not.
Internet marketing really isn't rocket science...once
you know what you're doing. Before you "get it",
though, it helps a ton to have somebody actually
answer real questions that real people ask along the way.

Second, even after you're an "expert", it's great to
get new ideas from other people. You never know when
an answer to a question will press just right button
in your brain...and boost your profits.

Third, I get literally thousands of emails every week,
and it's impossible to answer them all. So I set up
this system to help me manage email better, while
still giving you the information you need.

So read on, and I hope you enjoy the learning.



CURRENT ISSUE -------------

In the past couple of years, people have been exposed
to a large number of products about product creation.
There are courses about it, seminars on the topic, and
countless articles about various aspects of creating
products.

I know I get literally hundreds of questions about
product creation every time I launch a product of my
own. Here are some recent questions I think will help
you know the answers to.



1) It seems like I've been working on several products
for the longest time. I can't ever seem to get them
done, and they all seem important. Any advice? (asked
by Kelly Berkholz)

ANSWER: I know they all seem important, and they
probably are, but the advice I'll give you is exactly
what I would tell anybody else who is creating
products.

First, choose one product to focus on first. If they
all seem like "the" product to you, just pick one!
This will let you focus on one product instead of
overworking your brain trying to think about more than
one at a time.

Second, focus on that product until it's done. I mean
REALLY done. Working on something else will distract
you, and you'll stay in the "nothing's finished" spot
you're in now.

Third, launch that product. Having a bunch of products
done but just sitting there doesn't do anything for
you. Finish the product and launch it to start
accomplishing your intended goal with it, whatever
that goal is (selling it for a profit, building a
list, etc.)

Fourth, keep your focus on that product until it's
solidly accomplishing your goal. Don't just kick off
the process and turn your back on it. Work on it until
it's working well for you.

THEN move on to the next product.

Why do it this way? Because nothing beats the power of
focus. You have to focus to finish. Without finishing,
you'll never benefit from the product creation work
you do.



2) I don't have a problem creating products...but I
can't seem to launch them! They sit around doing
nothing after I worked so hard on them. What should I
do? (asked by Guy Won)

ANSWER: Okay, you're following the first part of the
advice I gave in the previous answer. Now keep going!

But I won't leave you hanging. Here are some specific
steps to take. It's a simple launch procedure you can
use for any product you already have:

* Pick one product to launch first. Just like I
mentioned earlier, you have to choose. If you try to
launch them all at once, you'll go crazy, and it
probably won't work. You have to start somewhere.

* Write down a specific launch plan. This includes
what your target market will be, the components your
product will include, what your price point will be,
your target launch date, and who you'll contact to
promote for you (and how you'll find new people, if
you don't already have a network to dig into).

* Set a deadline when you MUST start your promotion
plan. This will light a fire under you. You've done
the hard part (creating the product), so decide you're
going to DO something with it now.

I don't want to be too simplistic here, but that's
really all there is to it. Not launching your product
probably means one of two things...

Either you're scared to launch, which is very common
for people without a lot of experience, or you haven't
really thought about the stuff in the second step I
just gave you.

In particular, if fear is your problem, you need to
break through it. Forcing yourself to take action and
launch is one of the best strategies for breaking
through.

A great place to start is with that marketing plan.
There are what's called the "5 P's" of marketing:

* Product
* Place
* Price
* People (your market)
* Promotion

If you're stuck on knowing what you have to think
about, there's your list. You need to know what you'll
sell, to whom, how, where and for what price. When you
know all of that, all that's left is executing your
plan.

You'll be surprised how energizing it is to get your
product actually out there selling. You'll want to do
it again.



3) I just created a new product, but I'm brand new to
Internet marketing and nobody knows who I am. Why
would anybody want to buy my product? Have I just
wasted my time? (asked by Allan Deveaux)

ANSWER: Heck no you haven't wasted your time! Be proud
you got your product done. Lots of people never
finish. Here's how to get people interested in it.

First, though, you need to remember that there are TWO
groups of people you need to get interested in your
product. The first group is potential buyers, and the
second group is potential promotion partners. Both
have to think your product is good enough to act on
(meaning buying it or promoting it).

Now I'll cheat a little bit and tell you how to get
both groups interested by targeting only ONE of those
groups first.

If you get potential promotion partners interested in
your product, they'll help you get potential buyers
interested in it. That might mean they'll suggest
changes that will increase the perceived value of your
product, or maybe they'll suggest some sales copy
changes. Then again, they may say your product is
great already and simply get their lists excited about
it.

So I suggest focusing on getting partners interested
first. Here's short cut for how to do it, especially
if you don't have a big name yet.

Partner with someone who has a bigger name than yours.
Get them interested in working with you to make the
product even better. You'll have to entice them to do
this, so make it worth their while by offering things
like this:

* Give the person a cut of the profits when the
product launches (this should be a given, and be
generous)

* Offer to do most of the grunt work to get the
product ready, if the other person will bring their
marketing expertise and existing JV partners to the
table

You don't have to be famous to find people willing to
work with you, because here's a little secret...most
people don't want to create their own products,
because it's a lot of work. If you offer to do most of
the work, a potential partner might jump at it.

Once you've identified your partner, knock yourself
out to deliver on your part of the deal. Do a great
job, ask questions, and learn as much as you can. Then
you'll not only have a partner for this product, but
you'll also have an enthusiastic contact for your next
one.



4) I've got a product, and I know I need JV partners
to help me launch it if I want to make serious profit.
But how do I find these people if I can't afford to
spend thousands of dollars on seminars and marketing
events? (asked by Selena Coppa)

ANSWER: This is a classic question. Here's how to find
JV partners when you don't feel like you know anybody:

* Hang out in marketing forums and develop
relationships. When you find a good prospect, send him
a private message to introduce yourself and pitch your
JV.

* Use JV networks to get your proposals in front of
lots of people you don't know...then do a great job
with your partners so you'll be able to get them on
board much easier next time.

* Look at the email lists you already subscribe to. Do
you really like the style of one of the marketers? If
so, strike up a relationship with that person through
email, or on their blog. This isn't an overnight
thing, but it's worth the effort. You can certainly
pitch a JV right away, but it's usually better to
develop some relationship first.

* Find contacts in sales letter testimonials. This
works great. Sure, some of the really big names won't
give you the time of day, but some might if you make a
good proposal that has a lot in it for them.

The bottom line for finding partners is really simple.
You might not think you know anybody right now, but
you almost certainly can develop contacts with lots of
people in lots of different ways. That's where
relationships come from, and some of those product
great JVs.



PREVIOUS ISSUE -------------

And here's a link to the previous issue in case you
missed it. In the previous issue I covered questions
related to time management, and ways to increase
productivity so you can get more stuff done.

http://www.michaelrasmussen.com/internet-marketing-qa-issue-8/

--------------------

All right, that wraps it up for this time.

If you like getting answers to questions like this,
ask your own question! You can submit your question by
filling out the simple form at:

http://www.michaelrasmussen.com/questions/

Every so often, I'll go through the questions and pick
out 5-6 to answer in an email to people on my lists.

Your questions are what will make this email helpful,
so please keep them coming. I can't guarantee I'll
answer your question, but if the same question gets
asked several times, I'll try to answer that one. So
don't think, "Somebody's probably asked that already."
Maybe so, but it's worth asking anyway.

All the best,

Michael Rasmussen