For many of you, the time has come to not only work with brands but to create a product. And yet it can feel completely overwhelming to even contemplate creating something to sell. As moms, we are already stretched thin from our online work mixed with family life and motherhood. Blogging and all that goes along with it is a full-time job in and of itself.
IE 66: How to Know when You’re Ready to Create a Product
If you need help with that feeling of overwhelm, be sure to listen to episodes 60, 63, and 64 of this podcast. In them, I address what to do to beat the overwhelm, practical ways to make progress on a daily basis, and how to know if you’re making progress in the right areas.
But for now, I want to ask you 5 questions that will help you to know for sure whether you are ready to create a product. Let’s jump right in.
Do You Have an Audience that Cares About You Enough to Create a Product for them?
Notice I did not say, “Do you have an audience?” There is a marked difference between having an audience and having an audience that cares about you and what you are about.
If you can tell me your exact number of followers on all the social media channels but you can’t tell me anything specific about that audience, you have a problem. That audience has to know, like, and trust you in order to buy something from you.
Are You Building a Targeted List Wanting a Product?
Email lists are all the buzz in the blogger world these days. But the fact is, you don’t just need to continue to build a bigger and bigger email list.
You need to build a targeted list.
You should focus on building a list that is coming back to you for the specific topic you are talking about. You need a quality lead magnet; something you give to someone in exchange for their email address.
You need to know too, that gone are the days when a lead magnet can be a list of tips. It must be a high-quality opt-in that offers your audience great value. I personally believe that if you have a product to sell, your lead magnet can’t just be one page of information. If you want an example of the type of opt-in you should create, be sure to sign up for my Starter Guide.
What Is Your Audience Coming to You For?
If you have a majority of your audience coming to you from Pinterest for a recipe or a DIY post, it is your job to turn those people into a loyal audience.
Instead of just watching those folks come grab the recipe and then leave, you have to create a lead magnet that will grab their attention and make them want to become a subscriber. Getting these people on your email list is the very first step in getting them into your sales funnel. Your lead magnet should offer so much value that your audience feels like they should have paid for it. When you offer that much value for free, they are much more likely to buy what you are selling because of how much value they have already gotten from you.
What Do You Have to Give Your Audience to Get Them to Purchase Your Product?
You obviously don’t get a new subscriber on your email list and the very next day ask them to buy something from you. It just doesn’t work that way. You have to give them a ton of value before you can ask them to make a purchase.
So the question is, what do you need to give them before they will be willing to purchase your product?
The trick here is to take your audience with you through every step of product creation. Let’s talk through an example-
I’ll use meal planning as an example. Let’s say you want to offer a meal planning course that also offers a membership site or possible product. Your lead magnet should show them the beginning stages of meal planning. You want to give them a quick win that shows them how meal planning can transform their lives. You aren’t taking them all the way through every step of your course; you’re just giving them the first step or two.
They should feel so successful after using the lead magnet that they will want to purchase the product.
What Is Your Audience Telling You They Need?
As you walk your audience through your funnel, you need to be listening to what they are telling you.
Full disclosure here- when I created my first product for my lifestyle blog, The Melrose Family, I wasn’t doing these things. I wasn’t talking to my audience. I created what I just knew they would want. And guess what? That product fell flat.
Find a way to engage your audience. Use your social media to ask your audience what they need from you. Do a poll on your Facebook page. Ask them a question that encourages discussion. Ask them in an email what their biggest struggle is. Do a Facebook live and ask your audience to share in the comments their answers to specific questions you ask.
What Is Your Why?
If you are like me, you probably started your blog as a hobby. I used it as a form of escape from a stressful job and as a way to remember the projects I was doing with my girls and the recipes we loved. I didn’t have any idea about it being a business.
Once my audience understood why I was creating the content I was sharing, they made a connection with me. When I shared projects that allowed me to reconnect with my girls, my audience was doing those projects for the same reason; they wanted to connect with their kids, too.
Your why is so important and your audience has to know what it is so that they can make a personal connection with you. When I knew what it was that my audience needed from me, it was much easier to create a product that they would purchase. I was no longer selling a product; I was providing them with a solution to a problem.
If you are having trouble figuring out your why, ask yourself some questions:
- Why do I write about my topic?
- Why do I feel the need to share this information with an audience?
- Which part of my content does my audience connect with the most?
- How does my audience engage with me?
The Starter Guide will help you through each step of this process; from lead magnet to product. You can’t make an illogical leap from your content to just creating any product. It is not true that if you build it, they will come. They will not. Ask me how I know.
You have to listen to what they need and create it for them. Again be sure to grab my Starter Guide so I can walk you through the steps you need to take!
Action Steps:
- If you liked this episode of Influencer Entrepreneurs, please subscribe and leave a fabulous review!
- Mark your calendar for the weekly free trainings every Tuesday at 11am EST over on Jenny’s Facebook page.
- Join the conversation on Instagram by using the hashtag #WWJMD and tagging Jenny when you’re listening to the podcast. She’ll send you a personal message whenever you tag her.
