While listening to the radio today, I heard this one bit on a morning talk show, one of the DJs was talking about the concept of humility. What he was saying was that leaders take full responsibility for everything that goes wrong in a business, but does not hesitate to give credit away when things go right. It got me thinking about home based businesses and how that relates. As a matter of fact, one of the biggest struggles in a home based business is…CONSISTENT ACCOUNTABILITY IN YOUR HOME BASED BUSINESS!Clearly, these two ladies are working the opposite angle of what we’re talking about! However, all fun aside, it is a very important component that I believe most home based business owners are missing in their repertoire of skills. Why do I say that? Because most home based business owners are formerly employees and are used to being HELD ACCOUNTABLE but not necessarily involved with BEING ACCOUNTABLE.There’s a big difference between these two simple differences in wording. Being held accountable means someone else is always following up with you to make sure you are getting your task items, goals, or action lists completed. It means someone else is taking the initiative to make sure you are taking the steps necessary to succeed in your home based business.However, being accountable means that you are taking the initiative to make sure you are getting your own action items completed, AS WELL AS making sure your organization is doing the same. We are our own worst enemies when it comes to a home based business, because we are tasked with the journey of seeking to become an entrepreneur. That means that we need to take success on by ourselves, on our own (making our own schedule, organizing our days, being diligent in self-motivation and self-learning).Again, the employee bit is to blame. When you work for someone else, little things are “out of sight, out of mind” because someone else is responsible for handling it. However, in your own home business, you need to be aware and knowledgeable of all the “ins and outs” of your craft, whether you are ready or not. As one of the great entrepreneurs of home based businesses put it, “you don’t know what you don’t know because you never knew that you needed to know it!”So how do you implement an efficient system of accountability?The first step is to have a list of daily goals that you need to accomplish. If you don’t have goals, then you should find out why they are so integral to success. You can visit my blog to find entries on that if you wish. The next step is easy: complete your list every day! Make it a habit to accomplish those goals every day and you will witness firsthand your business EXPLODE! However, what business owners struggle with is consistency.I find it so funny that people say that they are their own worst critics and their own worst enemy, but when it comes to doing things that will set them up for the future, they go easy on themselves. WHY GIVE YOURSELF AN EASY EXIT BY SUCCUMBING TO EXCUSES? The best of the best make it happen, regardless of what stands in their way. That is why they are where they are. They don’t allow themselves to have excuses because they know that every day they fail to accomplish their daily action plan is another day further that they have pushed away their dreams and aspirations. How does that make you feel? Hopefully, that makes you feel sad… be driven!What are some methods to stay accountable?- Accountability buddiesFind someone of like mind who is interested in success, and grab on to one another and help each other take your businesses to the top. Driven people should always associate with other driven people, and a great accountability method is to have you and your partner call each other a couple times a week to make sure you are both staying on task.- Failure statementsA self-motivation method to psyche yourself up could be to create a failure statement to read to yourself every day that you don’t accomplish your daily tasks. It can go something like “I did not accomplish what I set out to do. I guess (insert your “why” here) just wasn’t important enough to me today.” For visual and emotional people, this works wonders.- Point systemThis is something to implement in a group setting in your home based business. It’s almost like a game of friendly competition to see who can succeed more and faster. You create a series of result-producing activities and you assign point values to them. Every time you or a teammate completes the task, you get that point value. You add up your points daily and report either your daily or weekly scores on a group conference call. This method is to directly squeeze the inherent pride inside you to motivate you to take action, lest you be embarrassed in front of your group.
A Simple Product Creation and Product Launching Formula
If you tried to think of people involved in product creation, who would come to mind? You may think of Edison, Franklin, or maybe Henry Ford. Would you ever think of yourself as someone who can create a quality product? Product creation is actually relatively easy and product launching is not that tough either! If you follow a few easy to understand steps, you could be starting the product creation and product launching process sooner than you think.
The first step in creating your information product is to know and understand your market. This can be very time-consuming, especially if you are unsure of what to do or where to look to know your market. Studying your niche market and understanding the buzz words and buying patterns can ease the process dramatically. Personally, I would recommend networking with someone who has had success in the niche market you are considering and learn from their results. If they are into product creation and not very business savvy expect some hesitation. If they only sell products and have nothing to do with product launching or product creation you may your first affiliate (sales person)! Something else you can use to find hot trends is with the Google Trends tool.
The second step is the product creation process. Take your niche market and brainstorm ideas and topics relating to it. There are a lot of product launching contests going on recently relating to a newly created internet marketing tool. There are so many aspects to the mentioned niche that literally, and unfortunately, anything can be considered an Internet Marketing tool. The reason that anyone can basically create an Internet Marketing tool is because of something called Private Label Rights products.
What I use private label rights products for, and highly recommend them in this specific manner, is to cure writer’s block especially when it is lingering. Many people base their entire product creation and product launching on a private label rights product. This is where you can start to shine and build a strong brand for yourself. If you set goals for yourself, short-term goals to be exact, you can see your product creation come into being much faster and there is a good chance with less revision needed. If you keep hitting time restraint road blocks; however there is nothing wrong with a slow and steady approach, you can consider outsourcing portions of your project. Outsourcing can be an extremely huge benefit or just as great of a disaster.
You can find someone to outsource work to at a freelance site such as Guru.com or eLance.com. When reviewing proposals it is almost mandatory you perform a background check on them as you are in essence hiring them. Doing a background check on freelancers is as easy as asking for samples of their work and reviewing feedback on the freelance site from previous customers. Depending on the size and requirements of your project this can add up to a decent sized investment, so caution is very important. One tip I always recommend to people looking to hire an individual is to ask them what they can provide you that no one else can. This simple question gives them a chance to “toot their own horn” and acknowledge where they feel most competent as far as their skill set.
The final portion of the product creation and product launching formula is the launch. This can literally make or break the effort, time, and maybe (if you invested) money you put in to your project. There are numerous aspects to product launching and although their relevance is debated in terms to their effect, experts agree all must be followed. The person in your field who you asked for product advice from can help you substantially if you have kept in touch. If not, the first thing you need to do is to create a visually appealing website with flawless design work.
I also mentioned outsourcing before, this is one aspect of product launching I have little strength in and I always outsource this portion. The website does not have to be large however the content (ad copy in Internet Marketing) must be stellar and as perfect as possible. This is where advertising knowledge or experience is beneficial. When the site is set up you now put a lead capture form on your website.
I put two lead capture pages on all products I create on the internet and is one of the best methods of getting a solid start when you are in the product launching stage. When you gain information from a prospect or someone looking to get paid for referring sales you are able to provide them updates or specials. Many people abuse their prospect or affiliate lists by in turn emailing them with a new product daily and I find the recommendations to be totally unrelated to their original need, problem, or interest.
Another stage in the product launching stage is creating a free report or demo version of your product to entice the product to sign up to your email list. Using proper follow up with this can help generate numerous sales for you. One thing you need to ensure is that your free product completely relates to your main product that you are looking to sell.
You are now ready to advertise your product launching to customers as well as the opportunity to sell for affiliates. This is the single aspect that many product creations and launches fail on. It is actually not entirely difficult. One thing you can do is write articles (and a good amount of them) on topics relating to your product. I am a huge advocate of giving a solution in forums. When you join a forum you are normally offered the opportunity to create a signature. In your signature, you should enter the link to your opt-in or lead capture page. When you respond to posts, you are advertising your opportunity.
It is not impossible to create a product and it does not have to take a long time. You need to setup a plan and stick to it. If you get stuck, look at similar and successful products to your own and try and see how they did it. When you sit down and brainstorm you will be surprised with what you can imagine.
How To Succeed At Online Product Creation The Easy Way
Product creation could be a frightening subject for a lot of Internet marketers to face. Some folks who get in the game with the intention of making a full time income are completely ignorant as to how an online business operates. One of the most profitable ways to create online cash is by creating a product that others are happy to pay for.
Product creation is legitimate method of generating money through internet marketing but many entrepreneurs get it wrong. They start by imitating their Internet marketing gurus by creating information products on Internet marketing in hopes of getting rich the way their heroes did. The problem is that they usually don’t know what they are doing and enter a highly competitive niche with very little marketing experience or connections.
Here are a few tips for effective product creation that may help you get on the right track:
Start by finding a profitable niche with low to moderate competition. If you conduct some rudimentary market research and keyword research, you’ll find many opportunities in areas that will surprise you. Amazon and eBay are two great places to brainstorm for product ideas.
Developing Your Product does not have to be a difficult project. You can find experts in the right field for your niche and pay them to write the material while an artist designs the packaging and website or blog. You can outsource the entire product creation part of the project after you conduct the research and testing to ensure profitability.
Sales and marketing strategies should be created while developing the product and learning about the market. Some experienced marketers use pay per click to drive traffic to their offer page; some folks outsource the entire marketing campaign to affiliates through ClickBank or other affiliate programs.
Product creation does not need to be hard, particularly when the merchandise is electronic. E-books, videos, audio and multi-media products sell very well. They are distributed immediately to customers electronically. Once you have a good feel for a niche market, try to service your customers with associated products and upgrades. If you want to earn money online through product creation, you must understand supply and demand. The majority of new online marketers fail miserably because they go after highly competitive markets or forget to research their chosen niche properly. You have to create your products according to the needs, wants and desires of the prospective customers.