I stayed in a hotel
recently
that offered guest soap
that had the dimensions
of a regular bar of soap
except it was half as thick.
Because that is all
the average hotel guest would use
during a stay.
More is wasteful.
It costs the hotel
additional money to supply.
It creates more garbage.
And it doesn’t add value
to their guests.
More is not always better.
Figure out what your customer
needs
and offer your products
in that size.
It is tempting
to build a fast craptastic product,
market the heck out of it,
and then
ignore the customer complaints.
You have their money, right?
Why should you care
if they’re unhappy?
You should care
because caring
is the ethical thing to do
but also
because it makes good business sense.
Almost every marketplace
today
is crowded with sellers.
Finding customers
and convincing them
to buy from us
is costly
– in time, money, other resources.
Doing all that
to sell them one craptastic product
is a waste of resources.
Most of us
should want repeat business.
That spreads the cost
of finding that business
over multiple sales.
That second sale
has a bigger profit margin.
Build a product
and a business
that encourages repeat business.
There are two main schools
in the gardening world.
There are the gardeners
who sow a sh*tload of seeds
and then thin the plants
as they grow.
And there are gardeners
who plant only few seeds
and then watch those plants
closely.
Both schools of gardening
work.
Both can result in great harvests.
New product development
is similar.
There are those of us
who develop a sh*tload
of products
and then launch
the best of those products.
And there are those of us
who develop one product
at a time
and do our d@mnedest
to ensure that one product
makes it to launch.
New product developers in both schools
are successful.
But, as the processes for each
are very different,
it helps to know
in which school we belong.
Are you a new product thinner
or a new product watcher?
which school
Last night,
as I was waiting for sleep,
I had a brilliant idea
for today’s blog post.
I was too lazy to get out
of my warm bed.
I didn’t have a notebook or pen
beside the bed
(that is strange for me).
I didn’t write the idea
down.
You can guess
what happened.
I woke up
with the knowledge
I had that great idea
but no memory
as to what that great idea was.
Write it down.
You’re a busy business builder.
You likely won’t remember it
if you don’t write it down.
One of my favorite things
to do
as someone running
a Romance Novel Business
is
hint at products to come.
I love casually mentioning
a character in a previous story
or a blog post,
for example,
and then
responding to readers (customers)
who suggest
I should write that character’s story.
I tell them
that’s a great idea.
And months later,
I publish that character’s story.
That makes readers happy.
They are super invested
in that story
because it was ‘their idea.’
They don’t know
I planted that idea
in their brains
and that this was so successful
hundreds of readers (customers)
also messaged me
with the same suggestion.
Hint at products and services
to come.
Get your prospects and existing customers
invested in those ideas.
A friend writes books
(creates products)
for teenagers.
She spends at least
one day a month
at
the coffee shop
or the park
or a popular social media filming spot
or other places
teenagers gather.
And she observes.
She pretends she is looking
at her phone.
She listens
and she learns
and she applies that learning
to her stories.
Her stories (products)
hit bestseller lists
partially for that reason.
Spend time
with your target demographic,
preferably unnoticed.
Learn what is currently important
to them.
And apply that learning
to your products/services.
A reader left a review
on one of my books.
She said
she always knows
what she’ll get
with one of my books
and, in this crazy world,
that is a great comfort
to her.
The media loves the new.
They love different.
And, as business builders
seeking to snag
some of that media coverage,
we often give them
the new, the different.
But the vast majority
of our prospects
and our customers
are tired of constant change.
They want the familiar.
They don’t want surprises.
They want the comfort
of our products and services
being the same.
Don’t feel the need
to change EVERYTHING.
Many customers want
a reliable experience.
We, business builders,
tend to be heads down
and hard at work
for most of the day.
Take a moment
and look around you.
Gaze up at the sky.
Listen to the birds.
Watch the squirrels play.
Embrace that awareness,
that sense of connection
to something bigger,
something lasting.
You’re a part of all that.
The product or service
you are seeking to supply
will be part of all that.
That is truly special.
Savor it.
Bring that feeling
to your work.
An expert claimed
he could make viable compost
using
only coffee grounds
and
shredded paper.
I can obtain coffee grounds
from local coffee shops.
I have plenty of compost-worthy
shredded paper.
So I made one batch of compost.
I could have made
fifteen batches.
but if it goes wrong,
I’ll have to dispose of it.
If it goes right,
I’ll happily make
the additional fourteen batches.
Start with the smallest viable
experiment.
Then expand
if that experiment
is successful.
If you took some time off
yesterday,
you likely woke up
this morning,
overflowing with ideas.
WRITE THAT SH*T DOWN.
Immediately!
Once you reconnect
with your business
and with the rest of the world,
you’ll be flooded
with other stuff
– problems,
opportunities,
other people’s good ideas.
You’ll likely forget
about your own brilliant
thoughts.
And that would be a tragedy.
You had those thoughts
for a reason.
Write your great ideas
down somewhere.
NOW.