Today’s post is courtesy of Pam Blackman, who will be our guest on the next Creative in Business show. We’ll be talking about the 5 keys to creating a profitable product launch, so be sure to tune in at Noon ET tomorrow to hear Pam’s best tips. Hope to ‘see’ you there!
By Pam Blackman
You’ve come up with a great new product idea. Perhaps it’s a new and better way to market a business, a new spin on improving one’s quality of life, or maybe it’s a membership that will offer your target audience something that is clearly a need, but no one is doing it quite the awesome way you will.
Before you spend a lot of time and money on your great idea, let’s put it through a few tests; do a little pre-check, if you will, to see if it makes sense to pursue creating and launching your product, and we’ll see if we can mitigate some of your risk from the get-go, so you have a much better chance of success.
#1 – What problem(s) will this product solve for your target audience? Create a clear list of both the tangible and intangible benefits. Avoid letting your mind wander to the features of the product, as you create your list. No one will care about the features if the product doesn’t solve a problem. Don’t move forward if you can’t clearly answer this question fully.
#2 – Have you beta tested this product? Normally the term “beta testing” refers to software products, but if your product is not a software product you can do a form of beta testing on any product or service. You simply take the fully developed idea, or you can create a fully developed mock-up or draft of your product or program, and invite a select group of people to receive your product or service. Offer them special pricing, or make them part of a VIP program. It will be worth it, because you will be consistently asking for a lot of feedback. You’ll use that feedback, when there is a fairly consistent message from the group, and you’ll improve your product. (HINT: By the way, never stop this process, even after you launch. Continual feedback will be very important for further development and updates.)
#3 – Is the product ready? Occasionally, I will come across people who want to start marketing and making sales, before they’ve even started putting their product, program, or service together. Understandably, their plan is to generate some upfront revenue, to give them working capital, to pay for the expenses associated with the actual product development. They are sure that it will be ready to go by the time all the planning, preparation, and pre-launch activity happens – but then life happens. If you actually sell a product, FTC regulations say that you must be able to deliver that product within 30 days. You probably don’t want that risk, because – not only will you have to refund everyone’s money – your reputation will be pretty tarnished in the process.
#4 – Have you considered your profit margins and budget? How much time and sweat will go into creating your product? What tools, resources, and other expenses will you need, not only in creating the product but in delivering the product? At a minimum you will need a website, various social media channels, a social media specialist, an internet marketing specialist, a shopping cart solution, and an email marketing solution. Make sure you will have enough money, going into your new product launch. There is nothing worse than getting part way through your launch, only to have to put it on hold because you ran out of money to complete the project.
Now, this is in no way a full-fledged feasibility study, but it does address some of the key things to think about, before you get too deep into your launch.
About the Author
Pam Blackman is a mom, entrepreneur, strategist, project manager, and consultant, and is known as the “Just Get It Done Gal.”
There are 7-words that describe Pam. Creative – Fun – Quirky − Conscientious – Tenacious – Professional – No-Nonsense.
For over 25 years Pam has helped business owners get more done, in less time, with less hassle and less balls dropped – which has made her a highly sought after project manager and strategist.
Since 2008, when Pam started her dream business as a Virtual Project Manager, she has helped small business owners and non-profit organizations manage both large and small projects, and develop effective strategies to help them streamline their operations and marketing activities.
Pam has a passion for helping her clients grow their business in the simplest and least complex ways possible, and over the past 5 years she’s discovered that the most important and key project needs for today’s small business owner is getting more exposure, showcasing their expertise, gaining celebrity status, and building their businesses online, as well as offline – but doing so without it becoming a huge chore. So she jumped at the chance to become certified in specifically managing Online Event Projects, Product Launch Projects, and Internet Marketing Projects, and has helped her clients get seen, heard, and paid.