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[Mike Ambrosio]

What's so hard about creating products?

In a word?  Nothing!

Well, actually the hardest part is convincing yourself
that you can, then actually starting.

My first ebook - which totals about 70 pages - took me
probably 6 weeks (part time) to complete. Every time I
got to a point where I got stuck for something to say, I
started to convince myself that I could not and SHOULD
not be writing anything! Just who was I, anyway!

Yeah, I remember those days.

It's like anything else you try in life. You just have to
make up your mind and do it.

But to be honest, if actually doing the work intimidates
you, then don't do it yourself. Hire someone.  There are
a lot of hungry people out there that will work for very
little dollars (be careful here though - quality can be
an issue).

Whether you want to put out an ebook or you have an idea
for a piece of software or script, the first thing you
want to do is write down your idea. Sketch out a rough
outline.

A method that many people I know use, is they actually
write the sales letter before creating the product. This
helps define their end result. You can also use the sales
letter to test the market and find out what kind of
interest there is in your product before you start
creating it - possibly saving yourself a lot of time and
money.

Don't have an idea for a product? Then do some research
or, if you have a list, a survey. Find out what it is
people WANT or NEED. Find a problem to solve, then create
your product to help them solve it.

A bit of advice though...much is spoken about creating
a product based on what people need. This is fine to
some degree, but it can also back-fire.

People are big-time impulse buyers. So are you I'll bet.
I created a script that I was convinced people NEEDED.
It's a script to protect your databases. Very important!

But when I took it to market, I found that it was also
a product no one wanted until AFTER they already lost
their database.

Then when I released a "Popup Creator" software, it sold
like hotcakes. Because it was something people wanted.
Most of the people bought it on an impulse...

You get the picture.

As time goes by, we'll get into more in depth discussion
of many aspects of product creation - such as market
research, outsourcing, marketing and more.

The first thing you need to do is convince yourself that
you can create a product.

It's easy

Stay tuned...

[AndrewCavanagh]

You point to a few really key truths at the end of your
post that many newbies (and even experienced marketers)
miss.

The biggest secrets to product creation are:

1. Find a hungry market first

2. Really get to know your prospects in that market.

3. Create a product they really want.

Most people create products then try to find a market to
sell their product to which is very difficult.

You want to start out knowing you have a market for the
product you're creating and who you're creating it for.

That makes the process so much easier and it almost
guarantees your product will sell.

Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh

[Michael D Price]

Very Good Post Mike.

Whats Up BTW 

I think a lot of marketers get stuck here for 2 similar reasons.

1.  They think product creation is something that takes a lot of time
and hard work and thats the farthest thing from the truth.

2.  They do not know how to keep it simple.  When they decide to create
their own product they want it to be the best and most complex thing
out there.  So they attempt to create this product with no outsourcing
at all and get overwhelmed with the amount of work they created for
themselves. 

Really most people just need to get something out there.
It doesn't matter if it is just a simple 5 page report, or even a 5 minute
camtasia video setting up a blog, Just put your name on it, and tell everyone
about it!!!

[Robert Plank]

Mike, it has never taken me longer than 7 days to create version 1.  0 of any product and launch it. 

That includes PHP scripts, and 75-150 page infoproducts with 90-270 minute videos attached. 

Ok, the one exception was a three-volume 300 page manual.  .  .   that one took a month because I recorded some promotional videos and wrote 20 articles to submit around to promote it :-)

If you're excited about your product and you can have it created in no time.    Power Bars and Red Bulls help too. 

[Terry Crim]

Plank,  YOU Created   "75-150 infoproducts with 90-270 minute videos attached."   In 7 days?

You are a freaking Machine!   Sometime during the Warrior Event you will have to tell me how you did it.

I am guessing that you meant out of all those products each one took you no more than 7 days but I like to think you can actually create all those combined in 7 days.  Yeah, you are a machine.


LOL


- Terry

[Robert Plank]

Oops Terry, I mean 75-150 pages not 75-150 infoproducts. . .  I'm not that much of a machine. . .  that hurts my brain. . .  :P

[Mike Ambrosio]

My first ebook took me 3 months to write - at only 73 pages - because I convinced myself that what I was writing was not that good, or that it wasn't enough, needed more research...you name it.

Bottom line - get that first one out there, prove to yourself you CAN do it, then it gets so much easier.

Robert - you ARE a machine!

Even my last ebook - 70 pages - took me 2 weeks to write. But, I was only working on my internet business about 3 hours per day...so maybe I would have had it done faster.

Mike

[Terry Gibbs]

I'm running 50+ people through a private course right now on creating and selling products. We started on March 1st. the first two products launch today. Many of the people are either keeping up or slightly behind. A few have just disappeared.

Many of the people are getting stuck on outside issues.

Three of them are convinced they need a squeeze page. They don't even have websites let alone a newsletter list, but somewhere they got the idea they need a squeeze page.

One person spent two days looking for web hosting because the site I recommend costs $2.00 a month, and he wanted something cheaper. 

Two people are struggling to set up autoresponders on their domains. They don't know HTML much less PHP, but they got a great deal on the software and they'll save the $17.95 a month Getresponse would charge them.

It's just weird.

I recently looked at a sales letter for a product I was considering promoting to my list. The creator spent 3 weeks and $1000 having a robot made that spits money out for his header image.

Here's his sales letter:

http://www.ezauctioncashmachine.com/

A month for that piece of crap.

I'm at the point now where I'm just restating the points on my outlines as benefits and pasting them online as my sales letters. I call it the 20 minute sales letter.

Tangents and cheapness.

I looked at another website recently that is just terrible. The guy paid $2500 for the website. The forms don't work and the navigation is all done with JavaScript. The pages are all fixed lengths so most of his articles are continued on page two, three and so on. How many people do you think read a six page sales letter and click on the goto next page link at the bottom of each one. I can tell you - NONE. I spent 20 minutes pasting the six pages into one long page and throwing out all the crap and he got sales the next day. But his site looks cool and I bet his wife is really proud of him. I also bet she'd rather have extra money from the sales than a pretty website.

Terry

PS Tony and I did a session - 3 hours - on common mistakes made online. When I get some time I put something up here so you can get a copy.

[Don Bice]

The speed of creation generally boils down to at least four factors:

1. The nature of the product-
2. The expertise of the writer-
3. The amount of research required-
4. The advance preparation completed with a writing plan.

A good fiction writer usually has a good week if they complete 3-5 pages.
But then they have all sorts of considerations that nonfiction writers
aren't burdened with. Like character, atmosphere and meaningful word pictures.

Roberts 170 pages in a week I'll bet had lots of code that he had prewritten
or experience with. But it's still possible to crank out the pages. When I'm
cranked up I can write 4-5 pages an hour for about 5-6 hours. That's about 25 pages
a day. But there's a secret...

I have to know the subject well.

And I have to plan my writing first.

I need to know where I want to go and have a map to get there. Then
I get out of my way and let the material flow. And it comes out like
a fire hose.

In fact, some of the best ideas just pop out on paper, and I'm surprised
at the conclusions I've reached. I've talked to a number of writers about
this, and they have had the same experience.

They make discoveries as they write.

That's why number 2 is so important. It's not how much of an expert you
are that qualifies you to write, but rather how familiar you are with the
material so you don't have to stop and fact check and refer to extensive
notes. That kills your speed. And then there's the research you had to
do before you can start to write.

Like a friend of mine says, "I like to "have written," but I hate to write!"

The most difficult part is just to start. Just sitting down at the keyboard
and beginning.

It's easy to do...but so hard to start.

Don Bice

[Robert Plank]

Roberts 170 pages in a week I'll bet had lots of code that he had prewritten
or experience with. But it's still possible to crank out the pages. When I'm
cranked up I can write 4-5 pages an hour for about 5-6 hours.

I didn't have any code prewritten, I just knew the subject very well like you said.  Also I was motivated enough not to work on ANYTHING or do ANYTHING at all other than work on that product.

I had to shower, eat and go to my day job and all that but no TV or any other distractions until it's done.  If you take even one day longer than you have to, you might not be excited about it anymore.

[Jenny Dunham]

Great post, Mike.  I've always tended to be a perfectionist which makes it hard both to start and to finish projects.  Recently I have tried implementing a new strategy.  I work for 15 minutes on whatever the project is - writing an article, working on a Squidoo lens, etc.  After 15 minutes, I take a break and do something else for a few minutes.  Then I come back and start the next 15-minute session.  This is really working for me - I am getting so much more done without feeling all that pressure.

Jenny

[Chris Lockwood]

Whew.  .  .   I thought this was going to be another story about interviewing an expert in an hour and calling it a product. 

Robert, maybe your next product should be about how you create stuff so fast.  Writing 170 pages in a week while still having a day job is pretty impressive, not to mention creating the videos and other stuff during the same time.

[Robert Plank]

I would make that product Chris, except I already gave away most of that info on my blog already.

Having the day job helps so much because I HAVE to get something done in a compressed amount of time (i.e. when I'm on a break, like now... or during my lunch break) that I get more accomplished in a 20 minute block than I would if I had all day to screw around.

Seriously, if I quit my day job I would become a failure in IM.

I give myself 5 minutes to write an article or a solo ad or record a video -- NO DISTRACTIONS -- and that's it, time to walk away from the computer and do chores.  Your brain hates you for that at first but you can train it pretty quickly.

There's also the daily tasks, i.e. I have a challenge on my blog for people to record one 5 minute video every day.  Doesn't matter what it is but you can't give it away, you have to put it into a paid product.

I write every day and record videos every single day so if 24 hours go by and I *don't* do those things... something feels very wrong.

[Jeff Smith]

Something I have found works very well for me and in teaching those who have been struggling with "getting started" and "getting their infoproduct finished" for years is to NOT look at your project as a product at first, instead look for a nagging, emotionally charged problem to solve and outline a set of steps that would allow anyone to solve the problem. 

Most high quality infoproducts are built upon a system for getting from A-Z in a simple and more effective way. 

You identify Z then put yourself back in the shoes of A - walk them through each step of way. 

But don't stop there, test the system either on yourself or on some initial beta testers (just like software companies test their new code to discover bugs or enhancements required).

Once you have a system that works, then you have endless choices about how to turn that system into a product or series of products. 

For example, perhaps your system is quite simple, but execution of the system is tough.  Then you give away your up-front system (or sell it as a low-priced product or even create an affiliate program where you pay affiliates majority of up-front revenue) while you create a back-end membership site, coaching program, monthly insider's club to keep them up to date. 

On the other hand, if the biggest value is in the uniqueness or clarity of the system itself, you can get more money for the up-front product - perhaps launching right into a high-end product immediately which will work as long as you have some proof (testimonials and case studies) that your system that you tested really does work. 

In any case, focus less on trying to write the first chapter of your ebook and more on outlining and testing the system you will offer - then worry about packaging it - hell, get someone else to package it for you at that point.

Jeff

[Craig Mattice]

WOW!  I just started investigating this world of IM'g and infoproduct design.  As they say, when the student is ready the teacher will appear and that is just the case with me and discovering this thread.

I've recently had the privilege of being introduced to Jeff Smith and what he has to offer in this arena and I've been blown away.  Couple that with the information you guys have provided in this thread and it is just awesome!

I thank all of you for taking the time to make great responsive posts and providing such educational information based on all of your experience, knowledge, and school of hard knocks.

I appreciate the time you've invested here.