02 November 2011 ~ 8 Comments

P30 – Day 2: On the Topic of Topic

Product 30

There are three things to remember when teaching: know your stuff; know whom you are stuffing; and then stuff them elegantly. ~ Lola May

One of the most difficult parts about putting out a product is figuring out just exactly what that product is about.

After all, you’re the expert on what you’re doing, and as such, you know a tremendous amount of stuff you could share with the world.

The challenge, then, is not just to figure out what you should write about/teach, but what part of it you should write about/teach your customers.

Keeping a fairly narrow focus is almost always the best way to go. Even if it means you don’t cover everything — it leaves you options for the next product, if there are things you couldn’t cover in this one. Find ONE PART of ONE THING that you know you can explain, teach, or guide others through, and WRITE IT DOWN.

For example, if you’re a welder, saying you’re going to write an e-course about Welding would be far, far too broad. But if you narrow it down to one KIND of welding, say TiG welding, and then down even further (let’s say TiG welding using steel rods), and possibly even further (making solid joins in steel rod TiG welding*)….THEN you have a product/e-course that’s focused, targeted, and much, much easier to write….and, ultimately, easier for the folks who need it to find what they’re looking for from you.

ACTION TASK:
Take some time today to write down what it is that you’re going to create. Once you have a good idea of the topic you’d like to cover, look even closer: how can you narrow the focus even further? How can you drill that down to just one part of that topic? When you get to the point where you can’t make it any more focused — you’re done. You’ve picked your topic for Product 30.

TOMORROW:
It’s time to dive into the part that can end up taking the most time if you’re not careful: the research trap. We’ll look at how to do it effectively, and get started in getting the information that we need without getting distracted by the things we want.

*note: author is not a welder. If there is no steel rod TiG welding, chalk it up to ignorance, and just shake your head sadly in our general direction. We promise not to feel bad.

  • http://izzyadventures.com Thomas Stratton

    OK Let’s crank down on “working in technology with your kids” and see if we can get something out of it. My daughter is interested in creating a video game to share with her friends. 

    Video games themselves can be HUGE projects but they can also be small and simple if you keep it under control.

    I did some preliminary research on the web and found some casual, free “game generators” that are designed with the novice in mind. With my related experience it shouldn’t be too hard to pick one and learn then teach it. The risk I see here is: I get sucked into having fun building and end up just playing and not actually creating anything or finishing.

    In order to mitigate that risk, I’m thinking that I am really going to be creating several products here at the same time. (crazy or Foolish with a capital “F”?)

    So I have a very simple game concept to build. One product is the actual game itself, to be posted on completion.
     
    The second product is in teaching the experience of building this to Izzy. I am thinking this is a series of screen recordings with camstudio combined with voice recording of me showing her how to do it.

    If I don’t get the game done, I should at least be able to get some of the instruction videos created as I make progress. This should help to prevent me from falling into a “completionist” trap of taking on too much at once and not putting anything out until it’s done…

  • http://izzyadventures.com Thomas Stratton

    Also I have a question – to qualify as a “product” does it mean we are actually pulling in income from it? If I even make just $1 in 30 days I’ll count this as wildly successful. I’m not sure if I’m focused in the right way on my niche to do that. I’m worried about whether I will be able to monetize my niche right away. I have some ideas about how to do this later but I am just getting started, don’t have a following, have not even moved my web site onto proper hosting yet.

    I remember hearing (I think on Foolish Adventure?) that the first “product” can just be incredible content that you give away for free, and you monetize later products based on feedback from your niche market. Does that count here for Product 30? 

    Even if the product itself is a failure, I’m thinking that just going through the process for the first time makes it a success for me – as long as I keep taking action. Make product. Get feedback. Improve or make new product. Rinse, wash, repeat. 

    Trying hard to stay brave, take a shot, and knock down that fear of failure.

  • http://FoolishAdventure.com Tim Conley

    I teach the Three Product Approach (3PA), which has product #1 being a great product that people would be willing to pay for, but can get for free without any barriers like email opt-in.

    Product #2 is a great product that people would be willing to pay for that they exchange their email for it. I just did a free product that people had to exchange a tweet or facebook share to get it.

    Product #3 (and beyond) is a great product that people exchange money to get it.

    I’m not saying this to dump on your idea (because maybe you can get it to make money), but if you don’t have a clear business model where people will exchange money for a product (even before you have one to sell), then you probably don’t have the makings of a successful business.

    This isn’t always the case, but it makes success harder if you don’t have a clear understanding of who, why and what people will pay for.

    We know kids are interested in video games and can get their parents to cough up a lot of cash for games. Will both kids and parents think learning to make video games something they would pay for?

  • http://izzyadventures.com Thomas Stratton

    Wow, I had no idea there was even a market for this but look in google and there it is!

    Google: classes teach kid to make video games

    I see a game making summer camp, and a dedicated school for this with regular classes. It’s encouraging to see that there are other businesses operating around a similar concept.

  • Elli

    You betcha, Thomas!  That first part of the Three Product Approach is that freebie giveaway product, and while this is being written with the idea that your product will be a paid one, it would work every bit as well with your giveaway or free-with-opt-in product, too.  (And then you’ll have some extra tools later, too, when you go to do your paid one.)

    Understand, there really are no Great Big Unbreakable Rules with P30.  Take action, learn things along the way, and work like the dickens to push yourself to get it done in 30 days.  It’s a challenge, not a situation where the Product Police will come knock on your website if it takes you 33 days, or if you’re doing something other than an infoproduct and only use the marketing parts of it, and so forth.  It’s just about pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, and getting in the habit of taking action. :)

    That said, I love your idea, and can’t wait to see how it comes out…so you totally have to finish, since I wanna see. :)

  • Sean

    Been religiously listening to Foolish Adventure since I stumbled on it a few weeks ago.  Really got me fired up again about creating an online business. 

    Gotta say I’m disappointed with Day 2 of P30.  I would think deciding on the product would have a little more guidance than “Take some time today to write down what it is that you’re going to create.”  Some steps/exercises to help guide through the decision process would have been more helpful.  I’ll keep thinking!

  • http://libertysyarn.com Liberty’s Yarn

    This is tough for me. I had a Moby Dick sized tome outlined but I will play nice and focus on chapter one. :-)

  • http://FoolishAdventure.com Tim Conley

    Sean,
    Thanks for the tip. Elli and I will need to tweak the course to get some exercises into it quickly.

    Got an idea of what your topic is going to be? If not, tell me where you’re at in deciding.
    t