Digital Product Brainstorm
Published on Nov 21, 2015
If you're in the service industry, creating a product is a great way to increase your income and build your reputation. Here are a few ideas to get started.
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Digital Product Brainstorm: Ideas to Increase Your Revenue
It can be grueling to trade hours for dollars. I know.
A common solution for freelancers and service providers is to create a product that can provide a passive income stream in addition to your regular services. And while increasing your cash flow might be incentive enough, products can also help build your reputation and promote your brand. Double bonus.
But where do you start?
The Big Problem
As with any service—and your business as a whole—start with your target audience: what is a common problem or need that they have?
If you’re unsure, create a short survey and ask your target audience to name their top three problems or challenges. Search online forums as well as question and answer sites for more insight. Is there problem or need that keeps coming up? Use Amazon to find top books in the field and research popular posts on successful blogs in your niche.
Offering a Solution
Once you have established your target audience’s problems and needs, you are ready to brainstorm product ideas that you can use to provide a solution through. Remember, in brainstorming sessions crazy ideas are encouraged. You never know what an idea that seems crazy at first can be crafted into later, so feel free to let your imagination go wild!
Brainstorming Tips
• Try keeping a “brainstorming” notebook or journal nearby to jot down ideas as they come to you.
• Mind mapping is a great way to bring ideas together and let them sprout into other ideas. You can mind map on a sheet of paper or use a free service like Mind Node.
• Try reverse brainstorming: ask, “How could I cause this problem?” rather than “How do I solve this problem?” and go from there.
Evaluate
Once you’ve landed on a couple good ideas, now it’s time to evaluate your options before plunging your time and resources into a product that is doomed from the start.
Here are a few questions to get you started:
• Does your product allow you the appropriate space to address your suggested solution(s)?
• Is your product something that works for your target audience? For instance, if you’ve decided to offer a podcast but your desired audience doesn’t typically listen to podcasts, then it might be better to try an ebook or other medium.
• Is your chosen product cost effective?
• Do you have the technical skills to produce the product? If not, where can you find someone to help?
Paid v. Free
As the title recommends, all digital products can be created with the idea of increasing your revenue; sometimes that’s through charging for your products and other times it’s through offering your products for free in order to increase your exposure and build your credibility. You’ll want to consider your cost investment and your potential return on that investment when you decide whether to offer your product for free.
Get Started
The biggest hurdle to creating a product is often just getting started. So make a game plan and then find someone to hold you accountable. Put it on your priority list and then follow through. Even if your first product flops, it will be an invaluable learning experience for the next one, so you’ve got little to lose. And mostly, have fun!
www.blackbearink.com
It can be grueling to trade hours for dollars. I know.
A common solution for freelancers and service providers is to create a product that can provide a passive income stream in addition to your regular services. And while increasing your cash flow might be incentive enough, products can also help build your reputation and promote your brand. Double bonus.
But where do you start?
The Big Problem
As with any service—and your business as a whole—start with your target audience: what is a common problem or need that they have?
If you’re unsure, create a short survey and ask your target audience to name their top three problems or challenges. Search online forums as well as question and answer sites for more insight. Is there problem or need that keeps coming up? Use Amazon to find top books in the field and research popular posts on successful blogs in your niche.
Offering a Solution
Once you have established your target audience’s problems and needs, you are ready to brainstorm product ideas that you can use to provide a solution through. Remember, in brainstorming sessions crazy ideas are encouraged. You never know what an idea that seems crazy at first can be crafted into later, so feel free to let your imagination go wild!
Brainstorming Tips
• Try keeping a “brainstorming” notebook or journal nearby to jot down ideas as they come to you.
• Mind mapping is a great way to bring ideas together and let them sprout into other ideas. You can mind map on a sheet of paper or use a free service like Mind Node.
• Try reverse brainstorming: ask, “How could I cause this problem?” rather than “How do I solve this problem?” and go from there.
Evaluate
Once you’ve landed on a couple good ideas, now it’s time to evaluate your options before plunging your time and resources into a product that is doomed from the start.
Here are a few questions to get you started:
• Does your product allow you the appropriate space to address your suggested solution(s)?
• Is your product something that works for your target audience? For instance, if you’ve decided to offer a podcast but your desired audience doesn’t typically listen to podcasts, then it might be better to try an ebook or other medium.
• Is your chosen product cost effective?
• Do you have the technical skills to produce the product? If not, where can you find someone to help?
Paid v. Free
As the title recommends, all digital products can be created with the idea of increasing your revenue; sometimes that’s through charging for your products and other times it’s through offering your products for free in order to increase your exposure and build your credibility. You’ll want to consider your cost investment and your potential return on that investment when you decide whether to offer your product for free.
Get Started
The biggest hurdle to creating a product is often just getting started. So make a game plan and then find someone to hold you accountable. Put it on your priority list and then follow through. Even if your first product flops, it will be an invaluable learning experience for the next one, so you’ve got little to lose. And mostly, have fun!
www.blackbearink.com
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To learn more about how to create and implement a digital product, contact us today! We'd love to help bring your idea to life.
www.blackbearink.com
Digital Product Brainstorm: Ideas to Increase Your Revenue
It can be grueling to trade hours for dollars. I know.
A common solution for freelancers and service providers is to create a product that can provide a passive income stream in addition to your regular services. And while increasing your cash flow might be incentive enough, products can also help build your reputation and promote your brand. Double bonus.
But where do you start?
The Big Problem
As with any service—and your business as a whole—start with your target audience: what is a common problem or need that they have?
If you’re unsure, create a short survey and ask your target audience to name their top three problems or challenges. Search online forums as well as question and answer sites for more insight. Is there problem or need that keeps coming up? Use Amazon to find top books in the field and research popular posts on successful blogs in your niche.
Offering a Solution
Once you have established your target audience’s problems and needs, you are ready to brainstorm product ideas that you can use to provide a solution through. Remember, in brainstorming sessions crazy ideas are encouraged. You never know what an idea that seems crazy at first can be crafted into later, so feel free to let your imagination go wild!
Brainstorming Tips
• Try keeping a “brainstorming” notebook or journal nearby to jot down ideas as they come to you.
• Mind mapping is a great way to bring ideas together and let them sprout into other ideas. You can mind map on a sheet of paper or use a free service like Mind Node.
• Try reverse brainstorming: ask, “How could I cause this problem?” rather than “How do I solve this problem?” and go from there.
Evaluate
Once you’ve landed on a couple good ideas, now it’s time to evaluate your options before plunging your time and resources into a product that is doomed from the start.
Here are a few questions to get you started:
• Does your product allow you the appropriate space to address your suggested solution(s)?
• Is your product something that works for your target audience? For instance, if you’ve decided to offer a podcast but your desired audience doesn’t typically listen to podcasts, then it might be better to try an ebook or other medium.
• Is your chosen product cost effective?
• Do you have the technical skills to produce the product? If not, where can you find someone to help?
Paid v. Free
As the title recommends, all digital products can be created with the idea of increasing your revenue; sometimes that’s through charging for your products and other times it’s through offering your products for free in order to increase your exposure and build your credibility. You’ll want to consider your cost investment and your potential return on that investment when you decide whether to offer your product for free.
Get Started
The biggest hurdle to creating a product is often just getting started. So make a game plan and then find someone to hold you accountable. Put it on your priority list and then follow through. Even if your first product flops, it will be an invaluable learning experience for the next one, so you’ve got little to lose. And mostly, have fun!
www.blackbearink.com
It can be grueling to trade hours for dollars. I know.
A common solution for freelancers and service providers is to create a product that can provide a passive income stream in addition to your regular services. And while increasing your cash flow might be incentive enough, products can also help build your reputation and promote your brand. Double bonus.
But where do you start?
The Big Problem
As with any service—and your business as a whole—start with your target audience: what is a common problem or need that they have?
If you’re unsure, create a short survey and ask your target audience to name their top three problems or challenges. Search online forums as well as question and answer sites for more insight. Is there problem or need that keeps coming up? Use Amazon to find top books in the field and research popular posts on successful blogs in your niche.
Offering a Solution
Once you have established your target audience’s problems and needs, you are ready to brainstorm product ideas that you can use to provide a solution through. Remember, in brainstorming sessions crazy ideas are encouraged. You never know what an idea that seems crazy at first can be crafted into later, so feel free to let your imagination go wild!
Brainstorming Tips
• Try keeping a “brainstorming” notebook or journal nearby to jot down ideas as they come to you.
• Mind mapping is a great way to bring ideas together and let them sprout into other ideas. You can mind map on a sheet of paper or use a free service like Mind Node.
• Try reverse brainstorming: ask, “How could I cause this problem?” rather than “How do I solve this problem?” and go from there.
Evaluate
Once you’ve landed on a couple good ideas, now it’s time to evaluate your options before plunging your time and resources into a product that is doomed from the start.
Here are a few questions to get you started:
• Does your product allow you the appropriate space to address your suggested solution(s)?
• Is your product something that works for your target audience? For instance, if you’ve decided to offer a podcast but your desired audience doesn’t typically listen to podcasts, then it might be better to try an ebook or other medium.
• Is your chosen product cost effective?
• Do you have the technical skills to produce the product? If not, where can you find someone to help?
Paid v. Free
As the title recommends, all digital products can be created with the idea of increasing your revenue; sometimes that’s through charging for your products and other times it’s through offering your products for free in order to increase your exposure and build your credibility. You’ll want to consider your cost investment and your potential return on that investment when you decide whether to offer your product for free.
Get Started
The biggest hurdle to creating a product is often just getting started. So make a game plan and then find someone to hold you accountable. Put it on your priority list and then follow through. Even if your first product flops, it will be an invaluable learning experience for the next one, so you’ve got little to lose. And mostly, have fun!
www.blackbearink.com
