Do you have a product idea? Not sure how to get started? Do you just KNOW that if you only had the capital to build it, it would be a big hit?
The only problem is, you don’t have capital. Therefore, you don’t start.
Unfortunately, this is the pattern of many entrepreneurs. The goodness lays silent inside of them because they “don’t have the capital” to make it come to life.
But I’ve got some good news for you. In this age we live in, you don’t have to have capital to create something.
Crazy right?
Well it gets better…
You also don’t have to even have the product created before you make sales on it. That’s right. You can actually make money on something before it actually exists.
How do I know this? Because I recently tested it out myself. And it works! The best part is, I’m going to share how I did it with you! Here are the three steps I used to sell a digital product on Periscope, before ever spending one second in creating it.
Step 1: I Asked the Audience What They Wanted
First things first–you need to begin by finding out what it is people want. What’s a benefit they want? What is something they would like to have? This can be tangible or intangible. In my case, it was intangible. It was knowledge. The thing my audience wanted (as far as I could tell) was to know how to grow their email list using this new live streaming platform called Periscope.
That seemed straight forward enough! I had a solid starting point. 🙂
Step 2: I Figured Out How to Do The Thing My Audience Wanted–i.e. Get Email Opt-Ins
Once I discovered that my audience wanted to know how to grow an email list, I figured I better test out how to do it before I sell a course on it. Not too unreasonable right? So I simply created a free opt-in that I offered to my Periscope community to see if anyone would jump in. Bingo! They did. Was it thousands? Honestly, no. It wasn’t a lot. But hey, after 1 opt-in, I was more of an expert than 99% of my following. After all, they hadn’t ever done it before. Now, I could say I knew how to get email opt-ins.
Step 3: I Pre-Sold a Tutorial (and called it “ScopesToSubscribers.com“)
Now, it was time to test to see if people would pay actual money to have what they wanted. I created an offer. I named the product “ScopesToSubscribers.com–the 7 steps to growing your email list with Periscope.” The idea was to position it as a $47 product, but discount it to $7. Seven bucks isn’t a lot, but that didn’t matter. I just wanted to find out if people would actually pull out their credit card and put it in the computer.
And guess what?…
They did! 🙂
There you have it–the three steps I used to create money out of thin air–before I even created the product. Once I had sales, then I had to take a couple of days actually putting it together. Be sure you’re able to deliver on what you’re offering. Also, as some bonus info, the website I used to house my Scopes to Subscribers guide was Gumroad.com. With Gumroad I was able to create a pre-ordered version of my product (thus, people knew they wouldn’t get it right away. And in their mind, that’s why they were getting such a big discount from the $47 to $7).
The bottom line is, we live in an amazing time. I’m not saying that a version of what I did would have been possible in our grandparents’ time, or even are parents’ time. But guess what…it’s possible today. So, if you have a product idea, how can you take advantage of today? 😉
Cheers! –Calvin