Do you have a product or service that you feel super passionate about it, but it's just not taking off like you'd like it to? Before you chalk it up to a big failure, try these five ideas to bring your offering to life (or back to life):
Make sure your target market will actually pay for it: Trust us, people will tell you day in and day out that they love your product or service and, when you ask them to invest, they have a reason why they can't. It's no one's fault; just the name of the game. As you collect email sign ups from potential customers, send them an email offering a discounted "beta tester" rate. If they won't even invest the discounted amount, you may need to restructure your offering or find a different client base who will actually pay.
Collect feedback and testimonials: Not surprisingly, people unfamiliar with your work may be reluctant to invest money if they're not the quality or value that you'll provide. Reassure them by showcasing raving testimonials on your sales page. Remember those beta testers we mentioned above? Send them a Google form asking for specific positive and negative feedback and a 1-2 paragraph testimonial that you can put on your site alongside their name and a link to their website.
Put the product or service on autopilot: Let's say your product is a paid email series. Once you design the course and set it up as an auto-responder series on MailChimp, you can just pop up a sales page on your website and hope that people find it. Bam- autopilot! It may not result in the hundreds of sales you envisioned, but it can keep your offering alive for the time being.
Promote it in low-cost, low-maintenance ways: Let's take the example of the paid email series again. A few easy ways to promote it are to include a link to your sales page in your email signature, add a link in every email newsletter you send out, send out tweets periodically, add a link as a tab on your Facebook page, and email the link out if you see a good opening (like if a potential client can't afford to hire you at your consulting rate). Consider promoting it through Facebook ads, which can be highly targeted. If your email series is $40 and you spend $100 in Facebook ads to generate 3 sales, that's still profit, right?
Bring affiliates on board: Another great way to spread the word about your product or service? Reach out to individuals who work with your target market and ask them to be an affiliate of your program- you get to reach their network and they get a monetary reward for supporting your work! Services like E-Junkie and Infusion Soft make this process easy to manage. Here's a complete guide for creating a great affiliate program.
P.S. If you're struggling from idea overload, check out Brandy Morris' Check It or Chuck It business idea vetting tool!
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