Project Diary Part 4: Defining The Ultimate Product That Your Customers Want To Buy

This is my fourth article in the Project Diary Series detailing the exact steps I’m currently taking to define, create and market a brand new profitable Internet based product. This article is about defining the right product to sell to your target market, and the characteristics this product must have in order that your customers fall over themselves to make a purchase.
By now, you are hopefully acting on the notes made in my previous articles in this series, and are researching a target ‘niche’ market to whom you will sell your new internet based product -  and have also run some numbers to evaluate the profit potential in creating and selling a product via the Internet.
If not, make it your goal to start researching this week.

I have created several successful products over the last few years that have all been designed to be delivered fully-automatically on the Internet. One reason for the success of these products is that during the early stages of development I followed a few basic “product development rules” that helped me to reduce the products chances of failure, and greatly increase their chances of success.
Here Are The Rules:

• The demand for the product should already exist in the marketplace.
• The cost of promotion for the product should be minimal. (Easy to reach customers)
• The product can be created by me or created for me by someone else for a small fee.
• The product will only take a short time to create. (Weeks not months)
• The product has a high perceived value.
• The product has a low inventory cost. (Preferably zero)
• The product copyright is fully owned by me – allowing me to sell re-print rights later.
• The product is delivered immediately and automatically after the order is placed.
• The product is always paid for prior to delivery. (Not download now pay later)
• The product is unique wherever possible - no one sells the exact same solution.
• The product has back-end, up-sell or repeat sale opportunities.
• The product appeals to professionals and others with money to spend.
• The product’s benefits are easily recognised and understood by prospects.
• The product has little or no after sales support.
• The product has buy-out potential. (Someone may want to buy the source-code)
• The product has minimal legal liabilities.

I always try to ensure that any Internet product I develop is created following all or as many of these rules as possible.
A Very Quick Re-Cap On Product Development
As I have written in the previous articles in this series. I always try to define a “target group” of customers before I come up with a product. By identifying who your potential customers are, how they behave, and what type of problems they are currently facing; It makes it so much easier to develop a product that your customers will want – and a product that will almost “sell itself” through customer referrals.
Here’s The Details Of The Product I Am Currently Developing…
Okay, here’s some real life stuff for you to get your teeth into. Please bear in mind that this is a real live project… which I have not released details of yet.
During the past month I have been learning how to easily create and host streaming audio files on my web pages – using the new Flash technology from macromedia. (This is faster than using any other audio format such as .mp3 or .wav files, and at the same time more attractive to look at on a web page)
I had the idea for this new product to help webmasters a few weeks ago, whilst placing the audio recording of John Carlton on my website in the article XXXXX. It took me three days to find some software that could help me to achieve what it was I was trying to do – without signing up to a $30 per month 3rd party hosting service. (Talk about expensive!)
During the last month I have immersed myself in stacks of information about Flash Movies and Flash Audio. I have been learning as much about them as I possibly can. In the process I have visit numerous websites and discussion forums and read many of the messages posted by other webmasters.
From these forum messages, I have gained a great deal of useful information about creating and uploading streaming Flash Audio files for the web. I have also learned a lot about the wants and needs of other webmasters. I have learned what areas of file creation they need help with and what features and add-ons they’d like to see for their audio files.
Because I was going through the same experiences using Flash myself – I was able to relate to many of their problems. I knew how they felt. I was sharing the same frustrations. In theory, I had become part of a very small niche-group of webmasters who all wanted to make best use of Flash Audio Technology.
In Essence And Without Knowing It, I had;
* Identified a target market – Thousands of new and experienced webmasters all trying to use Flash Technology.
* Identified a low cost way to reach that market - Via the macromedia website (and several other independent) discussion forums.
* Identified a problem that needed solving.
* Learned that most of the webmasters already using Flash (and other multimedia formats), had previously spent hundreds of pounds on specialist software products which cost them upwards of £100.
Sound familiar?
Next came the fun part… choosing the perfect product for the market!
The Perfect Product
As I have stated previously, coming up with the perfect product is so much easier when you know exactly what problem the product will solve, and who is actually experiencing the problem in the first place. For example, if I wanted to come up with a product to a target market of webmasters who are having trouble understanding and using Macromedia’s Flash Audio Technology and who want to use it to create interactive web pages, or talking websites, then coming up with product ideas wouldn’t be too difficult.
My Potential Options Would Include
* A step-by-step ‘how to’ Video/DVD demonstrating how to create a new flash movie, embed audio and video effects in the flash file, and create special effects.
* A step-by-step ‘how to’ eBook showing how to create and upload flash audio files to your website via screen-shots and on-screen videos.
* A software program to automate many of the required tasks of flash audio production. Complete with a royalty free graphics library containing numerous audio button styles and movie sequences.
Okay these are just a few ideas… But I could probably come up with twenty or so more ideas if I had a couple more days to think about it. (The more I use Flash Audio myself the more additional products I can think of.)
All of the products would appeal to any webmaster having trouble understanding and creating Flash files. Also, done properly each of these solutions would have a perceived value of at least £55 ($99 USD).
Since only the second two product ideas fit in with the basic rules I follow for Internet based products (as defined at the top of this article), this is where I have decided to concentrate my attention.
The result being that in a few weeks time I will have ready for sale on the Internet, an extremely simple-to-use software programme that automatically creates unlimited “web ready flash audio files.” (This is guaranteed to solve all of the problems I faced.) I will then bundle this software together with a step-by-step ‘how to’ eBook. (This ebook will also double up as the “help” files for the software.)
This product will be unique in many ways, and it will sell for $67 on the Internet. However, I thought you should know that I will be giving you the chance to download a fully working version for free from this website as soon as it is ready – but only on one condition. I’ll tell you more about that when the time comes…
One Final Word On Defining Products
As a product developer you must start by first identifying your target market – choosing the perfect product for that market suddenly becomes a whole lot easier. Then by selecting your desired selling price for the product before you finally decide upon ‘exactly’ what it is you are going to sell, you’ll be able to develop a product that suits your financial targets and simultaneously set a high perceived value for that product in the eyes of your customers.
Take the time to immerse yourself in the experiences of your target market. Understand the problems individuals face within this group. Think about niche markets which you are already part of (I am a webmaster too). Try to focus on those areas wherein you have already spent a great deal of time and money learning something important to your career.
Now think about how many times you have said to yourself ”I sure wish I could find and buy a [BLANK] to help me [BLANK]. Each time you have done this… that “Blank” is a potential product which someone should consider developing. (Maybe even you). If it fits all or most of the rules for product development of internet based products I outlined at the top of this article – then go for it.