50 powerful tips on creating hot products

Without good products that deliver what they promise, there is not a ghost of a chance of making money for the long term. This means you must create products that will attract an audience and keep them.
Here are some ideas to help you along the way:
1. Keep a notebook and pen around all the time. Inspiration can come from anything at any time. Once it is gone, there is no promise it will ever occur to you a second time.
2. Don’t edit your ideas for products. What seems crazy today may make a lot of sense tomorrow.
3. Begin your search for ideas with your hobbies. There is a good chance you could come up with at least ten good ideas for each hobby.
4. Consider your past employment. What did you do and what aspects of your experience could make good copy for an informational product?
5. Look around your neighborhood. All sorts of ideas on landscaping, housing, fashion, and even mundane things like lawn ornaments may bubble to the top.
6. Consider your family’s hobbies and interests. There may be something there that could be used to develop a great product.
7. Read a newspaper. Current events could trigger an idea that is both timely and likely to attract attention.
8. Visit the library. Perusing through the shelves might yield something that would make a great product offering.
9. Find a niche. Look for something that is a little unique and will meet the needs of a consumer sector that is being overlooked.
10. Watch television. Those infomercials might give you some ideas.
11. Listen to the radio. Listener comments on the call-ins, as well as the audio advertising, might yield some great ideas for informational products.
12. Ask some questions. If you have an idea of what type of product people would like to see, you may find a way to turn that want into a reality.
13. Do your research. Begin by looking at other informational products currently online and what they are all about.
14. Browse the Internet. Find out what people are searching for most often and develop some product ideas that would meet their needs.
15. Do some keyword searches. This will help you when the time comes to develop your web copy to advertise your product, as well as help shape the product itself.
16. Find a product that sells well and figure out how to make a new one that does the same thing, only better.
17. Consider combining two good product ideas in order to create one great one.
18. Make sure each product on your list of potentials identifies a problem.
19. Also make sure each product idea on your list solves a problem.
20. Ask yourself if the problem and the solution are within your ability to manage successfully.
21. Take your now full notebook and extract five ideas that you are excited about.
22. Research those five ideas in more detail, especially in terms of salability.
23. Ask yourself the five basic questions related to all informational products: what, who, why, when, and how.
24. What is the product all about?
25. Who is likely to buy it?

26. Why would they buy it instead of another product?
27. When will the product be bought?
28. How can a customer buy the product with as little fuss as possible?
29. Consider the format for your product. Will it be in the form of an ebook, a video, or some combination of the two?
30. If an ebook, what type of file will you go with? Use a format, such as a pdf, that everyone can manage with equal ease.
31. If a video, also make sure the product is in a format that works with all major video software types.
32. If a combination of the two, make sure the video and the text of the ebook fit together seamlessly and do not contradict one another.
33. If you have trouble developing your own product from scratch, consider becoming an affiliate.
34. If possible, get the product private branded so you can sell it under your own company name.
35. Obtain master resell rights as part of your process for selling a previously developed product.
36. Combine two acquired products into one easy package, giving what is old a new look.
37. Find your markets. Use your social networking sites, browser searches, and simple word of mouth to figure out who would be interested in the product.
38. Use terms that people can understand with ease. Stay away from too many industry terms.
39. Explain the technical terms you do use in everyday English.
40. Look for informational products that have passed into the public domain. If you find something promising, rework it into your own product and design a new package.
41. For new products to add to your line, turn to your existing customers for suggestions.
42. Set up a page on your web site and ask for suggestions of what people would like to see in the way of a product.
43. Test-drive your informational product. Once it is complete, try it out for yourself, to make sure it does what it is supposed to do.
44. Have a friend test drive the product. Your friend might spot something that would refine the product and increase sales once it is released.
45. Set up a test group – possibly past customers, or just a few people who do not know you or your products. The feedback could prevent you from overlooking something important.
46. Make the product as user friendly as possible. This not only means a format that can opened with ease, but also a file that can be downloaded easily, even on a slow connection.
47. Create support products that will help point toward your main product.
48. Set the product aside for a few days, then take a second look. If everything is in order, then release it.
49. Keep it simple – the less complicated your product is, the more appealing it will be to more customers.
50. Always be proud of what you develop. If you don’t think it is good enough to sell, then don’t risk your reputation by putting it out there for the world to see.

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50 powerful tips on email marketing

Email is a wonderful business tool that, if used properly, will enhance your sales and marketing efforts significantly. Try these methods to get the most out of email communications:
1. Use permission lists only.
2. If you buy a list, make sure it is qualified – that is, those email addresses are valid and they belong to people who have opted in to receive emails on products like yours.
3. Ideally, build your own list.
4. Include an opt-in page on your web site, so people can sign up to receive email communications from you.
5. As an incentive, offer customers something free in exchange for signing up – a one time discount code, or a free ebook.
6. Make it easy to opt out or update an email address.
7. Only ask for the information you need – too many questions puts people off.
8. Adopt a formal policy about how the data will be used, and make sure each subscriber has to read those terms before opting in.
9. Honor those terms, no matter what.
10. Put a cap on the number of emails you send each subscriber – once a week is likely to be welcomed, but three times a week may cause people to opt out.
11. Set up your system to flag addresses after so many failed delivery attempts; this will make it easier to keep your email list clean and up to date.
12. Avoid attachments; many people won’t open them.
13. Go for something that will work in the body of an email.
14. Offer plain text as well as HTML to accommodate different loading speeds.
15. Set up a reply email, so your subscribers can reach you when they want to respond to the email.
16. Consider using a newsletter format for your email communications.
17. Subscribe to a few email newsletters, so you can see how others are using the medium.
18. Make notes on what type of newsletter formats seem to grab your attention.
19. Ask others for their opinion of which newsletters they like, and why.
20. Don’t send email communications when there is nothing new to say. Repetition will only cost you subscribers.
21. Make the content of the email interesting.
22. Avoid the appearance of being spam, by not using all capital letters in the title for the email, or announcing "Free" in the title line.
23. Do always make sure the subscriber’s name appears in the "To" field. It’s more personal.
24. Look into using email programs that automatically include the subscriber’s name in the body of the email.
25. Keep it short and sweet. Rambling emails, even if they are newsletters, are likely to be closed and deleted without being read.
26. Always have the email come from the same person at your end. It helps to create a sense of rapport and stability.
27. Never use a subject or title line that is misleading; always make it descriptive of what is in the body of the email.
28. On the other hand, keep it snappy. Instead of "Your November Newsletter", use the title of one of the more important articles in your newsletter.
29. Make it clear that it is okay to forward the email to others, if the subscriber likes. This form of viral marketing can grow your subscriber list over time.
30. Always include links to your product pages in the body of the email.
31. Also include an easy opt-out link at the bottom of the communication.
32. Be sure to solicit responses and comments. People love to share their thoughts.
33. Formatting is especially important in plain test messages. Keep the attention going by using bulleted lists instead of lengthy paragraphs.
34. Stay away from using all capital letters or italicizing words, as they can be harder to view on a computer screen.
35. Watch the use of color in your emails, especially with text; lighter colors tend to be hard to read, especially on a white background.
36. Use fonts that are similar to those used in most email clients; it will make it easier to arrange the text to best advantage, especially for plain text emails.
37. Include some incentive to visit your website, such as promoting a new product or noting a new blog entry.
38. Don’t forget to include a special offer or a discount from time to time.
39. Always thank the subscribers for their time and support.
40. Before you send the emails to clients, send them to an email address of your own, with one in HTML and another in plain text. That way, you know exactly what the subscriber will see.
41. Don’t be afraid to try something different now and then. Vary texts, layouts, and other elements to see what subscribers respond to best.
42. Keep the text of the email focused; rambling will lose your audience, just as wandering text on your website will drive visitors away.
43. Use a reliable program to blast mail to your subscriber list; most allow you to review a report of successful deliveries once the job is complete.
44. Review the reports regularly, and compare them to spikes in your web site traffic, and the responses you get about specifics of the emails.
45. Used software to tabulate and categorize the responses. It will make it much easier to process them and turn them into usable data.
46. Assess the percentage of response you get. The industry standard is between five and fifteen percent. If you are getting less than that, it is time to rethink your approach.
47. If a response serves as the inspiration for an article in the next newsletter, ask the subscriber if it is okay to mention them by first name and initial. This is enough to maintain anonymity, while still recognizing their contribution.
48. Ask subscribers to submit some of their own copy once or twice a year. You may be surprised with the quality of what you receive. Reward the best one with a free ebook or other product.
49. Send out special holiday emails along with your regular weekly communications.
50. Listen to the feedback from your subscribers. It will help you refine the mailings as you go along.

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