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Launching Info Product to overcome an anxiety

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Raphd

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After multiple years of fake action taking or chasing one shiny object after the other without ever truly emerging myself 100% into the process or idea, I’ve decided to pick one of the many business ideas I have recorded in the past years.

I’ve chosen the idea based on the advice (thank you @AgainstAllOdds) I’ve received in this forum which is to ensure my idea will create value and that the market has validated my idea.

This idea will create value by helping others (thank you @Andy Black, I have been helping others for years and never realized this could be something I could leverage) overcome a certain anxiety which I am overcoming by working on a daily basis with the help of different exercises and belief limitation changes.

Most of the work will be gathering as much as possible of helpful information and organizing it in a way that it becomes a saleable product which will take time.

My fear is that even if I decided to dedicate 18 months to this idea what is the quickest way for me to get enough validation to keep me motivated to keep going?

The concern I have is that if I take the normal approach of selling a skill or information the remuneration won’t be great enough to keep me motivated. By normal approach I mean:

1. Create a website with free content to attract an audience

2. Create and give away a free eBook in exchange for an email address

3. Use email list to sell eBook, Course or 1-1 Coaching

By the time I get to step three, I feel I will be deep into the lonely desert of desertation which I really want to avoid seeing how things have gone from my past endeavors.

So my question now is what can be done to accelerate the process and start already selling your big ticket item instead of creating the product scale? I’ve read and listen to a few podcast where experts in their field meaning they have worked many years in the field but never actually created their own products started right off the bat giving 1-1 sessions and to ensure their time is not wasted these sessions a quite pricy and not at the reach of everyone and applicants are screened prior to the sessions.

My tasks for this week are:

- Create a rough outline of what my eBook, Course or 1-1 Coaching will cover

- Break down the outline in different chapters/topics and start gathering the information for each of these (will get the breaking down done by this week but the gathering I think will take longer)

- Find where my audience spends time online (Facebook Group, Reddit, Youtube, etc..)

- Come up with a list of people that have overcome this anxiety and interview/talked to them leverage their knowledge

- Find Name/Domain

Your comments, feedback is welcomed! Don’t be afraid to be tough, I want to hear it.

N
 
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Last edited:

NMdad

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Great question: How to speed up validation?

Don't build a product, ebook, website, etc. yet, not until you've engaged with enough people who are asking for the problem to be solved & are willing to pay for it.

First, I'd recommend narrowing down your target customer from anyone who might have anxiety to something much more specific. Like, super specific & concrete--you should be able to describe your ideal customer & their situation in detail, maybe 3-4 sentences. Once you have a much more specific picture of your ideal customer, figure out where most of them congregate, then connect with them.

Then, actually talk to people--in-person is best, phone 2nd best, online is OK. You want to get rich qualitative info on what, specifically, they're struggling with, the pain & problems it's causing, the benefits they'd receive, etc. How, exactly, do they describe their situation? Dig deep, put yourself in their shoes, & deeply understand things from their perspective.

After talking with even a dozen people--though several dozen conversations will give you more data points--you'll see common themes emerge. Those themes will point the way forward--whether it's lukewarm interest or hell-yes, the market will tell you.
 

rwhyan

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100% agree with @NMdad. Don't make the mistakes I did.

I created a site and grew its traffic. I built an email list of over 1,500 emails which was growing at about 40/day without me doing any promotion of the site.

I then tried selling ebooks and providing a service, but I simply did not know enough about my audience's needs. I had jumped in and solved one small need, but not one that anyone was willing to pay for.

When trying to sell ebooks and courses, there was some lukewarm interest and I got a few small sales, but there was no problem that begged for it to be solved.

It has been 6 months since I started the site and the site still has passive traffic, but there isn't much I can do with this traffic right now since I have yet to identify a big enough need to solve.

You should really talk to people, preferably on the phone or in person. When they opt in to your email list, maybe send a personalized video message. Tell them you'd like to schedule a call so you can help them out.

This would be tedious, but I think it could be good to really build a relationship with your audience.

Also you should really know exactly who your audience is. I realized far too late that my audience was young, and mostly students. They frankly didn't have the money to spend on solving a need that wasn't that painful for them.

Hope you can learn from my mistakes.
 

NMdad

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Don't make the mistakes I did.

I created a site and grew its traffic. I built an email list of over 1,500 emails which was growing at about 40/day without me doing any promotion of the site.

I then tried selling ebooks and providing a service, but I simply did not know enough about my audience's needs. I had jumped in and solved one small need, but not one that anyone was willing to pay for.

When trying to sell ebooks and courses, there was some lukewarm interest and I got a few small sales, but there was no problem that begged for it to be solved.

It has been 6 months since I started the site and the site still has passive traffic, but there isn't much I can do with this traffic right now since I have yet to identify a big enough need to solve.
Geez, you must have a crystal ball--you described almost my exact experience with a site I built several years ago.
 
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BigDaddyKane

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It seems to me from what you're describing that you ARE your target market. So in terms of speaking with others to gain insight on their needs I think a very important step is for you to actually write down the methodology that got you to overcome your anxiety. Once you do that, you're going to be able to speak with others who are experiencing what you know and will be able to ask the best questions.

Because you've experienced it yourself you already have the best insight on how to provide the solution. Just a matter of refining down how you're going to communicate that with others who deal with anxiety and test it by seeing how people respond to the methodology that you've created.

Pumped to see you take a go at this!
 

rogue synthetic

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rwhyan

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You folks talking about validation up-thread reminded me of the I Love Marketing podcast for this week:

https://ilovemarketing.com/an-amazi...h-dean-jackson-at-joe-polishs-genius-network/

It's about reviving old leads, but there's some good gems in there about connecting with your list to figure out what's bothering them.

Also in this vein Ryan Levesque's Ask is worth your time.
Thanks for the links. Those were good to watch.

I wouldn't have even considered my 1500+ email list "leads" though, because I didn't even really know what I was selling. I had it all backwards: I built the traffic and then tried to come up with something to sell them when I should've came up with something to sell (and validated it) and then built the traffic.

My advice for OP is to focus on the need that you are solving, make sure it really is something that people will buy a solution for. Good luck!
 
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Raphd

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Thank you everyone for the helpful advice.

Have been initially working on putting down the methodology and what has been the process I used to get over this anxiety but it transformed itself into more research and some sort of outline of all the various topics I want to cover as part of this....well not sure what it should be yet. Book or course or coaching sessions.

Additionally, I've seen this anxiety being discussed in forums, Reddit, Facebook Groups, Quora and there is a few Youtube video that discusses the anxiety but don't really address the problem.

Now I need to narrow down even more and find 10 people to have face to face conversations with. Any advice on how I can go from adding value to these forums where my potential customers congregate to meeting them or asking for their phone numbers?

Received this morning the Ask book by Ryan Lesvesque and its only about 200 pages so I will get it read this weekend.

Any other ways you suggest to validate my future product?

Thanks everyone!
 

jesseissorude

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Hola @Raphd !

When it comes time to try to collect emails from your traffic, shoot me a message! I used to do consulting for companies that needed to grow their email lists.
 

Johnny boy

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If you’re selling information, you’re trying to help an audience with a problem.

If you’re actually trying to help solve a problem, helping solve the problem is validation enough.

There’s a difference between sounding like a cliche entrepreneur saying “deliver value” and actually caring about a group of people you want to help because it warms your heart to see others get to a better place because of your expertise.

There’s another person on the other end of the computer, always.

I offer marketing consulting to other businesses. I don’t have a package of monthly services. I don’t have a “plan” they sign up for. I just tell them the truth. I chat for an hour or two with them and all I want to do is help them make more money. I love it. I don’t ask for a dime. They’ll usually say “where do I send the money” and I say “when you feel I’ve given you a thousand dollars worth of help just send it over whenever, no obligation”. And I see a thousand dollars pop up in my bank account from a 2 hour conversation. Keep in mind I never even asked for the money really. I don’t screen for shit. I can’t tell you how pumped I get hearing how excited someone is because they finally understand marketing, and how they’re going to grow their business with practical steps. Sometimes they won’t send anything at all. It’s rare but I don’t mind. It’s what happens when you are honestly helping. People will take advantage of it. There’s enough in this world for me to miss out and still win. I leave money on the table every day.

When you really want to help people, most people won’t just hand over money, they’ll throw it at you. That outweighs anyone who doesn’t pay you.

Find someone and do something for them that makes them thankful for your help. That’s it. Save them time. Get them in shape. Get them more money. Get them laid. There’s not a lot of things people want at the end of the day. Just find something you’re good at, help other people who aren’t so good at it, and build an audience of people who love you.

If I was in the fitness industry, I would only do it if I actually enjoyed helping people get in shape. But I would only write articles that give away all of the best stuff. I would make videos of everything and make it more useful than anyone else’s videos. I would answer every single question about fitness in every comment on all of my content. I would personally email everyone I could and help them personally. I wouldn’t ask for a dime. I would do that all day and be happy seeing other people get in shape. I can promise you they would all start recommending me, following me, asking me for a book, and I’d give it to them because they wanted it, not because it was a value extraction from an audience. And that’s exactly how I’d do it. I would just care.
 

Tanu1234

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After multiple years of fake action taking or chasing one shiny object after the other without ever truly emerging myself 100% into the process or idea, I’ve decided to pick one of the many business ideas I have recorded in the past years.

I’ve chosen the idea based on the advice (thank you @AgainstAllOdds) I’ve received in this forum which is to ensure my idea will create value and that the market has validated my idea.

This idea will create value by helping others (thank you @Andy Black, I have been helping others for years and never realized this could be something I could leverage) overcome a certain anxiety which I am overcoming by working on a daily basis with the help of different exercises and belief limitation changes.

Most of the work will be gathering as much as possible of helpful information and organizing it in a way that it becomes a saleable product which will take time.

My fear is that even if I decided to dedicate 18 months to this idea what is the quickest way for me to get enough validation to keep me motivated to keep going?

The concern I have is that if I take the normal approach of selling a skill or information the remuneration won’t be great enough to keep me motivated. By normal approach I mean:

1. Create a website with free content to attract an audience

2. Create and give away a free eBook in exchange for an email address

3. Use email list to sell eBook, Course or 1-1 Coaching

By the time I get to step three, I feel I will be deep into the lonely desert of desertation which I really want to avoid seeing how things have gone from my past endeavors.

So my question now is what can be done to accelerate the process and start already selling your big ticket item instead of creating the product scale? I’ve read and listen to a few podcast where experts in their field meaning they have worked many years in the field but never actually created their own products started right off the bat giving 1-1 sessions and to ensure their time is not wasted these sessions a quite pricy and not at the reach of everyone and applicants are screened prior to the sessions.

My tasks for this week are:

- Create a rough outline of what my eBook, Course or 1-1 Coaching will cover

- Break down the outline in different chapters/topics and start gathering the information for each of these (will get the breaking down done by this week but the gathering I think will take longer)

- Find where my audience spends time online (Facebook Group, Reddit, Youtube, etc..)

- Come up with a list of people that have overcome this anxiety and interview/talked to them leverage their knowledge

- Find Name/Domain

Your comments, feedback is welcomed! Don’t be afraid to be tough, I want to hear it.

N

You can use ppc- adword to get sales fast.

Also, build email list as it is cheaper option to get sales.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

ideasunlimited1

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I can tell that you are really passionate about this topic, and customers are going to be able to see that. Sometimes I liken promotion to televangelizing: if you believe that you have access to the best, most life changing information possible, then you will find any way possible to spread that and shoehorn it into any context. Go ahead and write blogs, set up a presence, make posters, you name it. Ideas Unlimited actually is really trying to reach out to individuals with anxiety and even with mental health concerns, to provide them with employment. I'd be very interested in hearing more about your work/product so we can incorporate it. Feel free to reach out and maybe we can help each other.
 
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