Hey, this is an excerpt of the Product Validation chapter in Ebook Blueprint.
Enjoy!
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Don't write a word. Not ONE word. Whenever you're creating a product you're actually just taking educated guesses from the information you gather.
Even after doing all that market research and brainstorming an ebook topic that will sell like hotcakes, you will never be 100% certain that this is the right topic to write about.
Why? There are many reasons.
1. Your readers might say they want a comprehensive workout program, but what they really want is to eat whatever they like and still be in the best shape of their lives.
2. The survey results might reveal that they're willing to pay $39 for an ebook on 'Juicing', but they would much rather not pay for the information.
3. You may have popular posts getting a ton of traffic, but the people joining your email list are signing up for information on a totally different topic. (this will hurt conversions)
4. Lastly, what your competitors are doing can give you a good indication of what they think is important, but that may not work well for your audience.
So what do you do? How do you increase the likelihood that you create something that people actually want to buy? One word: Validate.
Validation is Key
Back in 2009, when I was still writing for the network marketing community, I wrote an ebook that I planned to sell for $29.
My site was getting a decent amount of visitors (no where near as many as I get now), so I knew that I could drive people from my email list to a sales page. Unfortunately, I didn't know anything about product validation or how to do it.
Long story short, I released the ebook and heard crickets. Not one sale came in. This was partly because I didn't know how to effectively launch a product, but mostly because people didn't want what I had created for them.
The last thing you want is to spend long hours, days, weeks and months writing something nobody wants to buy; pouring your heart and soul into a book that you and a few of your closest friends think is amazing - but no one else. If I can help you avoid this horrible experience, or at least reduce the likelihood of it happening to you, that would make me very happy.
So what is Product Validation?
When you validate an ebook or a product idea you're essentially testing the waters to see if your idea will actually work. You want to be as sure as possible before you start writing that your audience wants to learn about the topic you're thinking about covering.
When validating your ebook idea there are 3 simple steps I recommend you follow.
1.Create validation scenario
2.Assess the data
3.Make a decision
Let's talk about the first one.
Create a Validation Scenario
A validation scenario can be anything that involves your end user (your potential customer) taking an action. This action can be as small as sharing an article or becoming an email subscriber. The higher the commitment of the action is, the more reliable the data becomes. But we'll get into that in just a minute. First, what are some validation scenarios you can create to gauge the interest of your audience?
1.You can write a free report and give it away on your blog to see the number of people that download it. This can be a great way to test topics before creating a full blown ebook.
2.Create a landing page telling your audience an ebook is coming soon about your chosen topic. Ask them to sign up to the interest list to get notified when the ebook is released.
3.Write a sales page for your product, even if it's not ready yet. Anyone that clicks the buy button should be tracked and asked to sign up for a notification list. (these people are ready to buy)
4.Write a series of blog posts (3 to 5 should do) around a particular topic and see how your readers react to that content.
Want to learn more?
This is just a taste of what you'll find inside Ebook Blueprint. When you grab your copy you'll get the full roadmap on how to setup the sales process and launch your book.
More lessons coming soon...
Hector
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