Last month I released my first book, Bring Your Product Idea to Life: Your step-by-step guide to creating a product to sell.
EPISODE NOTES
The book is a step by step guide to creating your own product, and it contains some stories from these very podcast episodes of interviews that I've done.
Today for a one off, as a special episode, I am going to read an excerpt from the book, part of Chapter One. This isn't intended to be an audio book, so I may not read it out word for word in case you're following along, but I thought it might be nice to give you a little sense of what's included.
Listen in to hear me share:
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This month’s podcast episodes are proudly sponsored by my own book - Bring Your Product Idea to Life
Have you ever had a great idea for a product? Or does creating a product to sell appeal to you? Where do you begin? How do you come up with a product idea? Or, if you have an idea, how do you know if it’s even viable? In Bring Your Product Idea to Life, I take you through the process of creating your product, step-by-step. From developing your product idea, to finding suppliers and launching your product we cover it all. The book includes advice on how to price your product, where to sell it and how to find out if anyone will actually buy it. Designed to help you make real progress, Bring Your Product to Life is both practical and motivational. Every chapter includes clear action steps, so you know exactly what to do and when. This isn’t just a book for reading - this is a book for doing.
Welcome to the Bring Your Product Idea to Life podcast.
Speaker:This is the podcast for you if you're getting started selling
Speaker:products or if you'd like to create your own product to sell.
Speaker:I'm Vicki Weinberg, a product creation coach and Amazon expert.
Speaker:Every week I share friendly practical advice as well as inspirational
Speaker:stories from small businesses.
Speaker:Let's get started.
Vicki Weinberg:Hello, thank you for listening as always.
Vicki Weinberg:You may know that last month, June 2023, I released my first book
Vicki Weinberg:with the same name of this podcast, Bring Your Product Idea to Life.
Vicki Weinberg:And the book is essentially a step by step guide to creating your own product.
Vicki Weinberg:And it also contains some stories from these very podcast episodes
Vicki Weinberg:from the interviews that I've done.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, I think it's a great book.
Vicki Weinberg:I'm really proud of it.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, I hope if you read it, you enjoy it.
Vicki Weinberg:And what I thought I'd like to do today for a one off, as kind of a
Vicki Weinberg:special episode, is to actually read for you an excerpt from the book.
Vicki Weinberg:So I'm going to read out part of chapter one.
Vicki Weinberg:I have to say, this isn't intended to be an audio book, so I may not read
Vicki Weinberg:it out word for word in case you're following along, but I thought it might
Vicki Weinberg:be nice to give you a little sense of what's included, um, and you know,
Vicki Weinberg:give you a set taste of whether it might be a book that you would enjoy.
Vicki Weinberg:So here we go.
Vicki Weinberg:Here is an excerpt.
Vicki Weinberg:From chapter one of my book, Bring Your Product Idea to Life.
Vicki Weinberg:Chapter one, Get clear on your idea.
Vicki Weinberg:We're going to start where all good journeys start right at the beginning.
Vicki Weinberg:The first thing you need on your product creation journey, and it is a journey,
Vicki Weinberg:is to know what your product is.
Vicki Weinberg:Now that might sound silly and a little bit simplistic.
Vicki Weinberg:But be honest here, how much have you actually thought about it?
Vicki Weinberg:Is it just a vague idea or do you have a pretty good sense of what
Vicki Weinberg:your product will be, how it will be made, and what it will look like?
Vicki Weinberg:Spoiler alert, once you've done some research this might change a bit.
Vicki Weinberg:And have you actually put anything down on paper?
Vicki Weinberg:If not, don't worry, we'll cover all of that in this chapter.
Vicki Weinberg:First though, let's find out how another product creator found their inspiration.
Vicki Weinberg:In episode 136, I spoke to Claire Grant from OriOrso.
Vicki Weinberg:OriOrso is a colourful unisex baby brand created to make parents'
Vicki Weinberg:lives easier with clever design but without compromising on style.
Vicki Weinberg:The hero product is the jogger socks, printed jogging bottoms
Vicki Weinberg:with non slip socks attached to keep socks on all day long.
Vicki Weinberg:So this is what Claire had to say.
Vicki Weinberg:Becoming a mum was a trigger for me to start OriOrso.
Vicki Weinberg:Starting my own business that's always been in the back of my mind
Vicki Weinberg:is something I wanted to do someday.
Vicki Weinberg:I always wondered what it was that I would do.
Vicki Weinberg:Once my baby was born, I suddenly had more headspace.
Vicki Weinberg:Obviously you're busy with your baby, but you also have a lot of time to think.
Vicki Weinberg:Whether that's when you're rocking your baby at night or
Vicki Weinberg:going for walks with the pram.
Vicki Weinberg:At the same time I was starting to feel a bit brain dead like I think a lot of
Vicki Weinberg:mums do when you're constantly doing the same day to day routine without
Vicki Weinberg:feeling like you have any other purpose.
Vicki Weinberg:I had this little notebook I used to keep beside me when I was feeding and I'd make
Vicki Weinberg:lists of product ideas, stuff that was happening to me and little problems that I
Vicki Weinberg:felt I could solve with the right product.
Vicki Weinberg:I had a long list of ideas and jogger socks came about because my daughter
Vicki Weinberg:was constantly taking her socks off.
Vicki Weinberg:I could not for the life of me keep them on her and I thought
Vicki Weinberg:there has to be a better way.
Vicki Weinberg:I spent a lot of time looking at how other mums keep their baby's socks on.
Vicki Weinberg:I brought another product that didn't work for us, thought about why that
Vicki Weinberg:was, how it could be better, and from there I came up with my initial concept.
Vicki Weinberg:Coming up with a product idea.
Vicki Weinberg:You might have picked up this book without having an idea for a product, just knowing
Vicki Weinberg:this is something you want to do someday.
Vicki Weinberg:There are services where you can find ideas for product items
Vicki Weinberg:that can be brought and sold on sites like Amazon to make money.
Vicki Weinberg:That can mean you're selling a product you don't actually care
Vicki Weinberg:about, which isn't wrong, but isn't the intention of this book.
Vicki Weinberg:Instead, I'm going to share some ideas that will hopefully help
Vicki Weinberg:you find a product you'll be excited and passionate about.
Vicki Weinberg:I also hope the product ideas you come up with will appeal to other people too,
Vicki Weinberg:probably people similar to yourself.
Vicki Weinberg:In fact, they'll need to appeal to other people if you want to sell them.
Vicki Weinberg:If you picked up this book without having an idea, here are a few questions
Vicki Weinberg:to think about to get you started.
Vicki Weinberg:1.
Vicki Weinberg:Do you or anyone else have a problem that could be solved by a product?
Vicki Weinberg:If you frequently experience some kind of annoyance, even if
Vicki Weinberg:it's just mildly irritating, it's likely you are not the only one.
Vicki Weinberg:If this sounds familiar, I suggest taking a look to see if there's a
Vicki Weinberg:product already out there that might solve the problem you're having.
Vicki Weinberg:If there is, buy one if possible, try it out and see how you get on.
Vicki Weinberg:If it's a solution that works for you, then that's great.
Vicki Weinberg:If not, can you come up with a different idea?
Vicki Weinberg:Or can you improve it further?
Vicki Weinberg:Take a look at my tips below for improving something that already exists.
Vicki Weinberg:If what you're looking for isn't out there already, have a think about
Vicki Weinberg:what the ideal product might be.
Vicki Weinberg:You're just brainstorming at this point, so don't be afraid to make all kinds of
Vicki Weinberg:notes and sprinkle down all your ideas, however improbable they might feel.
Vicki Weinberg:It might also be good to find out if other people have the same challenge as you
Vicki Weinberg:and how they think it could be solved.
Vicki Weinberg:Assuming you do want to create this product to sell, or even if you just
Vicki Weinberg:want to look into how viable it might be, getting input from potential
Vicki Weinberg:customers is really valuable, even at this really early stage.
Vicki Weinberg:Doing market research with potential customers right from the start will
Vicki Weinberg:save you a lot of work later on, if you find now that this problem or issue
Vicki Weinberg:is unique to you and not something that everyone else struggles with.
Vicki Weinberg:One of the great things about creating a product to solve a problem is that you
Vicki Weinberg:have a clear benefit and a reason why someone might choose to buy your product.
Vicki Weinberg:This will really help when positioning and marketing it to sell.
Vicki Weinberg:Number two.
Vicki Weinberg:Do you own or use something that you just know could be better?
Vicki Weinberg:You've probably had the experience of buying or using something and just
Vicki Weinberg:knowing it could be better than it is.
Vicki Weinberg:Maybe it's not even better that you're looking for, just different.
Vicki Weinberg:Perhaps there's a really obvious problem or just a really small thing
Vicki Weinberg:that would make it loads better.
Vicki Weinberg:You could be the person to do that.
Vicki Weinberg:Even if you have a product you love, you may well have thought of a tiny
Vicki Weinberg:thing that would make it perfect.
Vicki Weinberg:Take note of these ideas when they come up.
Vicki Weinberg:That could be your product.
Vicki Weinberg:For example, I used a blackout blind for my baby's bedroom.
Vicki Weinberg:I loved it, except I hated having to reattach the suckers
Vicki Weinberg:to the glass every night.
Vicki Weinberg:I just wished it could be better.
Vicki Weinberg:It turns out, so did somebody else, as I found another type of
Vicki Weinberg:blind which was just as good, but was attached via Velcro strips.
Vicki Weinberg:I like to think that the seller had looked at other products out there,
Vicki Weinberg:figured out what the issues were, and came up with a solution to solve them.
Vicki Weinberg:I should also say this isn't copying, which I don't suggest or recommend.
Vicki Weinberg:It's using existing products as inspiration to create something new
Vicki Weinberg:based on your own experience and ideas.
Vicki Weinberg:You can also find lots of information about what other people
Vicki Weinberg:would change about an existing product by looking at its reviews.
Vicki Weinberg:But the idea is this improved product is based on your own
Vicki Weinberg:situation, so it's something you feel passionate about pursuing.
Vicki Weinberg:There's plenty of things we all could improve, but we
Vicki Weinberg:need to have the information.
Vicki Weinberg:Number three, is there something you need that isn't available?
Vicki Weinberg:Do you ever think if only I had a X, Y, Z.
Vicki Weinberg:For many reasons, some of what we wish for might not be feasible,
Vicki Weinberg:but some ideas definitely will be.
Vicki Weinberg:This is slightly different from creating something that solves the
Vicki Weinberg:current problem you're experiencing.
Vicki Weinberg:Maybe you had a problem a long time ago and still wish you could do
Vicki Weinberg:something about it, or perhaps you're searching for something specific now
Vicki Weinberg:and finding it just doesn't exist.
Vicki Weinberg:I've worked with lots of people who've created something
Vicki Weinberg:simply because no one else has.
Vicki Weinberg:Don't feel it needs to be a big idea, maybe it's earrings in a
Vicki Weinberg:specific shape, or a water bottle with particular dimensions.
Vicki Weinberg:If you've looked for it and it's not out there already, you
Vicki Weinberg:might just be onto something.
Vicki Weinberg:Number four, your own interests.
Vicki Weinberg:You may have a particular niche, hobby or interest and you want
Vicki Weinberg:to create a product around that.
Vicki Weinberg:Provided there are enough people with similar interests who are
Vicki Weinberg:looking to spend money on them, this could be a good place to start.
Vicki Weinberg:Or, perhaps you have a business already and are looking for
Vicki Weinberg:a product to complement your existing products or services.
Vicki Weinberg:Of course, as with all of these ideas, you do need to verify that there are
Vicki Weinberg:people out there who want to buy it.
Vicki Weinberg:We'll cover that in Chapter 2.
Vicki Weinberg:Hopefully this is enough to get you inspired.
Vicki Weinberg:Your next step is to keep your eyes, ears and mind open to all possibilities.
Vicki Weinberg:What exactly is your product?
Vicki Weinberg:The first thing I'll say here is you don't need to know it all.
Vicki Weinberg:As I said earlier, your product idea might still be fairly
Vicki Weinberg:vague, and that's fine for now.
Vicki Weinberg:My suggested starting point is to write down everything about your
Vicki Weinberg:product that you know already.
Vicki Weinberg:Things to think about are: Who's your product for?
Vicki Weinberg:Who would use it?
Vicki Weinberg:What kind of person would buy it?
Vicki Weinberg:Is it a gift or something they'd buy for themselves?
Vicki Weinberg:What does it look like?
Vicki Weinberg:Do you have an idea of the size or colours you'd like?
Vicki Weinberg:What does it feel like?
Vicki Weinberg:What's it made of?
Vicki Weinberg:Is it a single product or will there be variations?
Vicki Weinberg:Have you seen anything similar that's inspired you?
Vicki Weinberg:How is it packaged?
Vicki Weinberg:Include any questions and unknowns that you have.
Vicki Weinberg:This might look messy and incomplete now, but you'll refine and redevelop it
Vicki Weinberg:over the coming weeks and soon you'll have a full product specification.
Vicki Weinberg:And don't worry, we'll cover all of this in much more detail in chapters 4 as we
Vicki Weinberg:carry out some research and then really start to refine your specification.
Vicki Weinberg:Your ideas may change and evolve as we find out more about your
Vicki Weinberg:customers and competitors, but this gives you a great starting point.
Vicki Weinberg:Remember to read the whole book through before starting so you have
Vicki Weinberg:an overview of the entire process.
Vicki Weinberg:Why would someone buy your product?
Vicki Weinberg:I appreciate this is a big question, but people do need a reason to buy something,
Vicki Weinberg:whether that's a want or a need.
Vicki Weinberg:For example, I might want new earrings, but I need a replacement light bulb,
Vicki Weinberg:or perhaps it's a want and a need.
Vicki Weinberg:When I'm creating a product, I like to think about the following two questions.
Vicki Weinberg:One, what's the purpose of this product?
Vicki Weinberg:Two, what problem does it solve?
Vicki Weinberg:The purpose doesn't have to be big and bold, it might just be to bring joy.
Vicki Weinberg:My point here is that it's worth thinking about why someone would choose
Vicki Weinberg:to buy your product, whether it's a brand new original idea, of which
Vicki Weinberg:there are a few, or whether it's a new take on something that already exists.
Vicki Weinberg:When it comes to products, people are either buying a benefit or a solution.
Vicki Weinberg:Here are some examples of things I've brought recently and why.
Vicki Weinberg:Swimming goggles that are like a mask, so they don't dig in
Vicki Weinberg:around my daughter's eyes.
Vicki Weinberg:Pattern John, as I'm crocheting a scarf and don't want to
Vicki Weinberg:work out the pattern myself.
Vicki Weinberg:An eye mask, as my husband needs complete darkness to sleep.
Vicki Weinberg:And this one also has integrated earphones, so he can listen to a
Vicki Weinberg:podcast to help him fall asleep.
Vicki Weinberg:We'll talk about your USP, that's Unique Selling Point, in Chapter 3.
Vicki Weinberg:And it's okay not to know this right now, just keep it in the
Vicki Weinberg:back of your mind for later.
Vicki Weinberg:In terms of the problem it solves, this might be obvious.
Vicki Weinberg:For example, when my eyes were struggling with writing this book,
Vicki Weinberg:I brought a monitor so I had a bigger screen to work on and could
Vicki Weinberg:put less strain on my aging eyes.
Vicki Weinberg:Or it might be something less obvious.
Vicki Weinberg:Someone might choose to buy from a company or founder they resonate with.
Vicki Weinberg:That could be you, by the way.
Vicki Weinberg:Buy something that brings them joy, or buy from somewhere
Vicki Weinberg:that aligns with their values.
Vicki Weinberg:For example, perhaps a business supports causes that they care about.
Vicki Weinberg:Summary.
Vicki Weinberg:The thing I really want you to take from this chapter is
Vicki Weinberg:that these are initial ideas.
Vicki Weinberg:Things can and will change as you research and learn more, and it's important
Vicki Weinberg:not to be too precious about them.
Vicki Weinberg:I'm not suggesting at all that your final product will be completely
Vicki Weinberg:unrecognizable from your original concept, although it might, or that it
Vicki Weinberg:should become inauthentic to you or take you miles away from your original idea.
Vicki Weinberg:There definitely should be things that you hold onto if they're part of your
Vicki Weinberg:key, if they're a key part of your vision.
Vicki Weinberg:What I am saying is that if you want to create a product that will
Vicki Weinberg:sell, you need to know and listen to what the market, your potential
Vicki Weinberg:customers are telling you and use what you learn to refine your ideas.
Vicki Weinberg:Forging ahead without doing any of that can be a good way
Vicki Weinberg:to waste both time and money.
Vicki Weinberg:In the next two chapters, we'll be researching your customers to find
Vicki Weinberg:out what's important to them, as well as examining the marketplace
Vicki Weinberg:to see what else is out there.
Vicki Weinberg:The goal is to come up with a product that customers want and will buy, so
Vicki Weinberg:these steps are crucially important.
Vicki Weinberg:Action steps.
Vicki Weinberg:Get everything out of your head onto paper.
Vicki Weinberg:Set a timer for 15 to 20 minutes and brainstorm.
Vicki Weinberg:It'll probably be quick and messy, but it's a good idea to
Vicki Weinberg:get your ideas written down.
Vicki Weinberg:So, there we have it.
Vicki Weinberg:That was Chapter 1 of Bring Your Product Idea to Life.
Vicki Weinberg:I would love to know what you think.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, I am wondering if an audiobook might be on the cards, and if that's
Vicki Weinberg:something you'd be interested in.
Vicki Weinberg:I would love to hear from you.
Vicki Weinberg:As always I'm going to pop a link to the book in the show notes of this episode
Vicki Weinberg:so you can find it nice and easily but you can also find it on Amazon or via my
Vicki Weinberg:website or all my social media channels.
Vicki Weinberg:So thank you so much for listening.
Vicki Weinberg:Thank you to everyone who's bought the book so far and if you have
Vicki Weinberg:bought it please please please do remember to leave me a review
Vicki Weinberg:because it really really helps.
Vicki Weinberg:Thank you so much for listening and I will speak to you again soon.
Vicki Weinberg:Thank you so much for listening right to the end of this episode.
Vicki Weinberg:Do remember that you can get the full back catalogue and lots of free
Vicki Weinberg:resources on my website, vickiweinberg.
Vicki Weinberg:com.
Vicki Weinberg:Please do remember to rate and review this episode if you've enjoyed it
Vicki Weinberg:and also share it with a friend who you think might find it useful.