Posted on: 26 November, 2001
Author: Marc Goldman
Are you content with sitting back and being someone elses ... forever? If you are then read no further my friend, this ones not for you. But if you are not ... with ... products and Are you content with sitting back and being someone elses affiliate forever? If you are then read no further my friend, this ones not for you. But if you are not satisfied with promoting products and services owned by others as the sole means of generating revenue from your online business then you are going to love this article. To really succeed online you must be in control of a product or service, you must be the owner of a product or service that is in high demand. If you are open to the idea of mastering your destiny, I will show you how to turn an idea into a goldmine and give you the blueprints for following through on this plan.If you are scared to create your own products, don't be. You have limitless potential to turn your ideas into bankable and credible products that can give you the freedom that you desire (at least I assume you desire freedom, if not then substitute income, free time, ego massage, whatever you like). When you consider creating a product, you must understand one very important point:Sell people what they want, not what they need!!!Read that again if you have to.People don't buy what they need, they buy what they want. How many times have your needs gone unmet because you bought something you wanted instead? With that said, how do you know what products your audience wants? Ask them! You need to implement some market research to determine the kinds of products your audience is interested in. Surveys and web polls are the easiest tools to use to gather the data you need to understand the wants of your target market. Set up a survey or poll on your site or in your newsletter, offer your market different options and ideas, query them for their opinions. When you have received anywhere from 50 to 100 responses you are ready to do some work and find out what themajority of your respondents want to buy and then you create it!That is important point number 2:Don't create your product UNTIL you know your market wants it.Once you know your product is wanted, you need to decide what format to create it in. You can write an information product and put it in ebook format. This is quite a popular option but don't overlook some of the many ways your product can be created:Many people have used audio to create fantastic information products. This also adds to the perceived value of such products. Perceived value is how much people think your product is worth based on the contents of the product. Statistics show that if a product contains audiotapes and videotapes it can sell for a much higher price than a manual because people perceive that it is more valuable. Whether this is true or not is really a moot point, the fact remains that people will pay a higher price for such products.This is important point #3: People will pay a higher price if they perceive one product is more valuable than another (ie an information report may sell for $19.95 while a report, 2 videos and 4 cdroms can sell for close to 300 dollars).To create and deliver audio products on the internet, you could utilize tools available to you online to create downloadable audio files that your customers could access instantly.There is a tool known as Real Audio which has not been used to it's full potential yet. You could use this tool available from www.real.com and offer your audio information immediately so that when customers buy your product, they can instantly access it. This is key, and the future of product development and delivery on the web will be centered around digital fulfillment of information products.When your customers can "hear" the information that they seek in minutes instead of days or weeks, this will cause a serious sales explosion for you.That is important point number 4: The faster you can deliver your product into the hands of your customer the better your chances of making the sale.Another tool that has been used to avoid writing and assist in creating greater perceived value is video. For many years, great product developers have used video to demonstrate "How To" information and to offer more visual and audio cues to their customers. Translated to the web, you can also use Real Video (the counterpart to Real Audio) or Vivo Player to transfer your video content to the net.The concept remains the same, you find a want, you create the product and then you offer instantaneous access over the web. Your target market will eat this up.Try to be different from what your competition is selling. If everyone is selling ebooks on how to market on the net, it is going to be very difficult for you to compete. However, if you can use some of the tools above (or others such as Macromedia Flash) to demonstrate EXACTLY HOW TO do what everyone else is just talking about, then you stand a greater chance of being noticed and getting the sale!Now that you have your own product to sell, you can start your own affiliate program and market your product using the power of other people. I am not saying to give up on affiliate programs by any means, they can be an excellent revenue source for your business, but the real money comes from controlling a product. When you control the product, you control your destiny. Article Tags: Important Point, Perceived Value, Higher Price Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com