Developing a Product i.e. Making Bacon!


So we are finally here! The ‘product’ part… I know you all are seeing sugar plum fairies and dollar signs in your eyes, but cool your jets and listen first! You may just learn some stuff and be prepared so you can make much more money in the future!

Before you make any kind of product, be it an eBook, podcast series or membership site you must (emphasize must) have a market. Now I know that sounds silly since we’ve been brainwashed into the ‘if you build it they will come’ mentality. That may have been true, 50 years ago before an influx of millions of pages of free info that is all over the web and world at large. Now you have to find your niche, find your niches problem and make sure your niche will pay for your product before you even write your first page.

  1. Competition is good. It means that there is a market that is paying someone, maybe not you, but someone is getting rich. Now if there is a huge amount of competition like for the internet marketing demographic you may find yourself in a bit of a pickle. But better to go with a market that has tons of competition than one with none, because usually the one with none means there is no one biting.
  2. Research your market (the easy version). Check out places like clickbank.com and paydot.com these are both affiliate sales sites so if there is an ebook in existence about what you are interested in writing then probably, its here. If not don’t fret too much, check on Google.com using the same keywords you entered into the affiliate sites but this time paired with the words: book, class, course, training, seminar, ebook, etc.
  3. After you find your competition. So you’ve found some healthy competition, now what to do? Well good news is you don’t have to be the absolute best in your market, you just have to stand out in your market. So lets say you are going to sell an eBook on how to train dogs, any kind of dogs. There is some hefty competition, so how can you stand out? Well instead of being the typical boring dog training guy… your the fearless, crazy, Gary Vaynerchuk of dog training. You swear, yell & put on a total show via your website through free training videos, podcasts and blogs… but you save the best stuff for your eBook which is wicked amazing. Yes, some people won’t like you and think “ugh what a tool” but some people will love you and tell their friends about you. This is how you set yourself apart in a crowded marketplace, this is how you win. Cesar Milan is your competition technically, but probably the moms and conservative parents that read Cesar’s books while sipping lattes aren’t going to be reading yours. But the beer guzzling, pit bull loving, motor cycling riding mamas will eat you up (literally and figuratively… eew).
  4. Is there a desperate need? One more thing to think of before you start off writing, recording or whatevering. Is what you have to offer filling an urgent need? I.E. does your product either help someone save money, make money, save time or avoid some sort of real or perceived pain? Examples: writing an eBook on how to make your good dog better may not be a huge seller, because who cares about making their good dog better… they are already good. Just like writing a course on how to get your amazing wife who is perfect 95% of the time to be more perfect won’t sell (for a number of reasons!). But the ebook how to make your vicious dog an angel, so you don’t have to put him down may sell, just as how to turn your bitchy wife into a super model sex goddess would also probably do very well. So focus on not putting salve on soft skin but instead find a product that bandages a bleeding, festering wound (sorry, gross I know but effective).


Alright, so we’ve evaluated our market, if you’ve been participating you know that we already found out how to find our niche and build a business around our passions and now its time to pick a product, create it and then make some cash!

Here is a quick list of different internet business models… remember for those of you that have an off line business you can still use this. There is nothing wrong with having a real estate office off line and having a booming how to sell real estate site online. Then you can take your expertise and passion and create a series of online products that will create passive income again and again for you regardless of how your off line business prospers (or falters in the real estate biz).

Different Internet Business Models

a. Information Product Selling (i.e. ebook or course)
b. Sell a Service (freelancing… read my blog on it here.)
c. Affiliate Marketing (clickbank and paydot.com are good places to start when finding affiliate products to sell on your site)
d. Website Flipping (virtual real estate flipping, would not recommend unless you are super smart and very good at doing your homework)
e. Membership Sites (more bang for your buck considering if you build a solid community your buck will come back every month, over & over & over again.)
f. ebay-dropshipping (for more on how to do this check out www.PowersellerPrincess.com)
g. Joint-Venture Broker (find somebody selling a product/find somebody who has a list on the same niche, put them together and make money as a 2nd tier affiliate)

If one of these sticks out to you and you think *wow* i like that idea then google it (I can’t do all of your work for you!) and learn more. Spending a day or two cuddled up in your snuggie, sipping tea while studying online biz is always a good (and educational) time.

Oh yeah… so you may ask ‘but Maren how do I develop my product?’. Firstly, take that whine out of your voice. Secondly that is what YOU must figure out. An amazing free resource is Pat Flynn’s ebook on how to write an ebook. It is incredibly detailed and literally provides you with all you need… its free if you sign up for his newsletter so I suggest you do so here.

Action Step:

Email me at marenkate(Dot)gmail.com and give me at least one example of a product you could use to monetize your website or offline business.

Last but not least hop on over to the last section on how to grow your business online, offline and beyond!