My first digital product started as a 60-page ebook packaging what I knew about researching markets, finding niche demand and creating products.
For over a decade I had helped companies do just that…identify market opportunities, spot urgent demand and then plan a product strategy around fulfilling that demand capturing market share and profit.
You could say it is the fundamentals of starting a business, but at the time most other products and entrepreneurs were focused on getting traffic and moving their businesses online…not many were focused on helping people research target markets online or to plan products that could be quickly and easily offered online.
So what I did was take knowledge I had, re-purposed it toward a new, emerging market (the growth in e-commerce and online business), and then targeted it squarely at an audience that I know were HUNGRY for a solution to a very urgent problem – specifically…”What Do I Sell Online” and “How Do I Create My Own Products”
The entry product (as it always does in thriving markets) led to many additional products as customers asked for additional material, wanted additional products in a variety of formats.
The next niche market we captured and created a string of products around had to do with improving confidence and getting unstuck in life.
See, for years I was asked how I stayed so focused, so productive, so positive and so persuasive…that really came down to having belief and confidence in myself AND in making sure I was able to quickly break out of ruts, stop procrastination in its tracks and constantly reinforce my passion-guided purpose and take action instead of lingering in a funk for weeks or months like many people do.
From that urgent demand came products like Attracting Greatness and Then SNAP: The Simple 4-Step System For Getting Unstuck In Your Life followed by membership programs, online video programs and coaching programs.
We followed a similar path in the health niche, matching some basic knowledge and results we had gotten with additional research all into a tidy, highly effective, step-by-step system that went on to help others achieve massive transformation in their lives.
Leverage What You Know & Then Expand
So let’s review, there are 4 parts to this process
- There’s knowledge and experience you have today in a given field (could be related to anything – business, personal, health, relationship, parenting, etc…)
- There’s an understanding of an urgent desire within an identified niche market
- There’s additional research and fact-finding to put together the FULL solution (your knowledge and experience may only make up 20-30%, the rest you fill in with research)
- There’s the packaging of your own solution highly targeted to the high-demand desire identified in #1
Every great digital product has followed this same path.
They typically start with a passion, purpose and basic knowledge but augment with additional research…and they all formulate an angle or technology that becomes unique to YOU the author so that you can brand yourself the EXPERT in your field and communicate the high value your differentiated product brings to the marketplace.
Many people believe they have to know everything…to be THE expert. Not true, ideally you have an interest, some knowledge or experience to get started but then you really put your project over the top by some additional research and packaging your knowledge into the RIGHT product to meet the desire.
Others feel that the initial product must be PERFECT…again, not true. Your entry product is by definition NOT perfect. You meet an initial desire and then leverage the uptake in the market that gives you to identify other product opportunities as well as improvements in your existing products. This kind of “inside” perspective on markets is exactly what helps you gain leverage and continue to build value, reputation and profit within your market niche.
So, as you read through this post today YOU have multiple areas in your life you can leverage applying to markets and demand that exist just waiting for your products right now.
Inside Information Marketer’s Zone we help online entrepreneurs plan, launch and expand their online businesses – often this involves creating their own digital products as part of the overall 6-figure to 7-figure business plan.
What areas can you think you may be able to leverage if you were to start today?
