Posted on June 8th, 2010
So, you’re ready to get into the business of selling things. Good for you! Unfortunately, most people aren’t too familiar with the product development and launch cycle. This is the first in a multi-part series about how to launch a product and it will hopefully guide you in the right direction.
For the purposes of this series, we will be focusing on digital products that can be sold over the Internet. This way, we don’t have to deal (as much) with the logistics of a supply chain and the manufacture of a physical product. Examples of digital products include e-books, WordPress plugins, and premium web templates.
It Starts with an Idea
It’s all well and good that you want to pursue your passion, but it’s integral to see whether your proposed product will actually be marketable and profitable. That’s why the first step to launching a successful product is market research.
Take a look at your target niche and see if other similar products are already available. How are they doing? Take a look at the search volumes for your target keywords. Is there a lot of competition? Based on this and other information, you can determine whether or not your product is worth pursuing.
Building, Refining, and Testing
Now you’re ready to start developing your product. Throughout this product development cycle, you’ll want to keep your final target in mind and how you will go about marketing this product to your target audience.
It is also during this time that you will want to start building your mailing list. Build a basic landing page or squeeze page where prospective buyers can sign up to be notified when your product is available. To encourage more signups, you can offer a free bonus of some kind.
As you get closer to having a (near) final product ready to launch, you’ll want to invite some trusted beta testers to give your product a proper run-through. Be sure to use both experts and novices, because they can offer different perspectives on its usability and functionality.
Prepare the Documentation
Good documentation can mean a world of difference between a product that succeeds and one that flops. This includes not only the information on the site where you will be promoting the product, but also any user manuals and related documents that will coincide with the product launch.
It can be difficult to finalize this documentation before the product has been finalized, since significant changes to things like the user interface can occur, but you need to start getting the pegs in place. All the while, keep building that list!
Stay tuned for part two to this series in the very near future.
Continue reading… How to Launch a Product – Part 2
