To make good money in this business and establish yourself as a respected expert, you have to make your digital product unique! This is so important that it’s worth repeating several times.
Come up with a unique product or service, or as mentioned earlier, a unique twist/angle to an existing product. (Of course, the latter is much easier and quicker to do.)
As I pointed out in my post on branding your information product, just like you want to have a unique brand, you have to make sure your information will satisfy your buyers.
If you're in a highly competitive niche, take existing ideas and products and find ways to improve on them considerably. Look for an area within your field/niche that needs attention but isn't getting any.
Look for 'holes' in your niche. What are the main problems and frustrations of customers that other marketers and business owners aren't addressing? Look for something that's highly needed but not being addressed by others.
What problems are you solving for them? What questions are you providing the answer for? What are you giving them that will scratch that itch? To find out...
Do surveys, visit message boards and forums, etc. Target a sub-niche (a smaller niche within a large niche) that isn't overflowing with competition, or one that isn't being addressed yet.
Example: When I first got into online marketing, the 'spam' laws were just beginning to come about. Marketers were just starting to get away from sending unsolicited email because they didn’t want to get in trouble.
The online business was changing. New marketers were tip-toeing around the issue. They either got in trouble for sending unsolicited email, or were too afraid to even approach email marketing in fear of being labeled a 'spammer.'
I noticed the area that needed attention: permission email marketing. Email marketing was the easiest and cheapest way to build a business. But people were too afraid to use it. They needed a step-by-step guide to using email marketing the 'right way' - using opt-in methods so they wouldn't get in trouble.
So, that's what I wrote about. And, that's the digital product that put me on the map! Find out what's missing from your market and fill that need! Study your market. Find the holes, and then find a way to fill them.
If you don't think you have the skills needed, find someone who does and market that person's assets! Example: think of celebrity agents. They don't have the acting/dancing/singing skills themselves. But it doesn't matter because they go out and find the talent, then they sell that talent!
A really powerful way to come up with unique ideas is to study other businesses that are NOT related to your market. If you’re in the online marketing field, look at the real estate business, the plumbing business or any other non-related business. If you look closely, with an open mind, you will find many creative and unique ideas that you can bring back to your own business and surprise your market! They will think you’re a creative genius! 😉
Don’t hold back when you’re trying to come up with new and creative ideas. Let your brain take off – freely and unhindered. Think back to when you were 8 years old. Get back in touch with that “nothing is impossible” energy that children possess. That can be your greatest ally in business.
Every now and then I’ll come up with a completely original digital product idea, but usually it’s just stuff I see happening around me. I look at what’s already selling, what’s already (or is starting to become) popular.
I use my creativity to put new twists to existing "winning" ideas. That's the shortest route to success! By giving it a twist, it sort of becomes a unique product. Just learn to pay attention. Keep one ear on the ground. Notice what’s getting the most shelf space in bookstores.
Visit discussion groups in your niche. Get on mailing lists, etc. In short, get out there and hang out among your customers and competitors (either online, offline, or both.)
Do that and you’ll never run out of ideas to write about. However, I’d strongly recommend that you give your digital product idea a little “twist.” Make it unique in some way so that it’s not the same ol’ product that everyone else is selling.
Go from zero content, zero ideas to being the hero of your family and friends by creating your own in-demand profitable info product ready to take orders in the next month! How is that even possible? Read on…