Have you ever bought an ebook or product online?
If you haven’t you probably have seen them all over the place, right?
For the longest time people kept telling me to create my own ebooks or products, but I haven’t been confident in producing anything until now.
I’ve discovered some interesting things as I’ve gone through this product creation process. One of the big things is that you don’t have to be groundbreaking.
I’ve seen this over and over again as I have analyzed the competition and other product creators in different markets.
If you’re solving a problem, especially if you have personal experience solving a pressing need, there’s a good chance you can create something and sell it.
Now, I’m not saying that you will automatically succeed, but if you don’t try you’ll never learn. Like I said, I have waited a long time to produce my first product. I wanted to be sure that I could deliver something awesome.
How Did I Decide What to Product to Create?
It pretty much fell in my lap. I’ve been talking a lot about article marketing and how I taught it to my girlfriend, who is now making over $300/month.
I started getting questions about how I did it and how I was able to create an income stream with it, so I decided to just make a product and show it to you. It would have been too difficult to start explaining this individually through e-mails and what not.
I’m excited about this, because you’ll get an ebook with my personal strategies that have worked for me, around 4-5 videos showing you cool stuff and other helpful content I know you will love.
Anyway, I’ve been writing and working on this product every morning for a while now, and I’ve noticed some resistance coming up when I’ve started coming closer to the finish line.
The Resistance
I know you’ve read personal development books and are well aware of what goes on in our minds. We bump into resistance now and then, or to be completely honest, we bump into it a lot, at least I do.
There are a lot of fears going around in my head as I’m finishing this ebook, such as:
- Will people buy my stuff?
- What if no one likes my product?
- What if people point and laugh?
- Is it perfect enough?
I won’t go through the whole list, because I know you know what I’m talking about. Let’s get to the juicy part instead: how I overcame the resistance and kept moving forward.
Moving Forward and Getting Things Done
There comes a point where you have to kick yourself in the ass and realize that you just have to get it done. If you do your best and it fails, so be it, you can always try again.
We’re all beginners at some point. Remember when you started this whole self-improvement stuff and you didn’t really know what you were doing?
Now you suddenly know a few things, you may even have helped your friends or done other things. It doesn’t really matter.
The point I am trying to make is this: there will always be resistance. You will be afraid. By keeping your eyes on your goal and knowing that your product will genuinely help people, you can kick yourself into motion again.
I genuinely believe that what I create will help you. I wouldn’t be doing this otherwise. That helps me stay motivated and moving forward.
You probably have multiple product ideas in your head, but you haven’t taken action on them, because you don’t think people will buy anything from you.
That’s completely normal. I am pretty sure everyone feels like that, so don’t worry. Relax and let it come naturally to you. I sincerely believe we all have something to offer.
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That is really inspiring Henry. I have been struggling with the ‘Who would learn something from me’, but looking at my blog comments I see a lot of people genuinely thankful for the content I am posting. As you said, there is always someone who can learn from you – and I can’t wait to see what products you end up releasing!
I was talking about this with Adrian just yesterday Henri. I have lots of ideas for products and services but sometimes doubt myself and what I have to offer … it’s crazy how we think sometimes isn’t it! I mentioned you and how you often come across as straight forward and get on with things. I think half the battle is not putting up barriers and listening to that voice that says you can’t do something and just getting on with it! Thanks for a good reminder … I will get on with it!
That little voice will always be in the back of our head doubting and spreading disbelief ;).
Yeah, Henri, we lose our focus when we start to listen to our negative self-talk.
The antidote is to use visualization, meditation, and positive affirmations every day.
Otherwise, we become our own enemies and can’t seem to move forward.
And then we don’t make a product and don’t provide any service to potential clients.
We sabotage our own destiny. You have to believe in your idea even if others tell you it won’t work. That’s what entrepreneurship is all about.
When others don’t believe in you at all, that’s the time to start believe in yourself. And just do it, like the Nike ad. Go for it. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again,” just like the saying.
If your product fails, tweak it and try to sell it again. Same with a service you provide. And tweak it according to the feedback you receive from your clients/customers.
Staying close to your customers/clients is key. Take their ideas/suggestions seriously, and you have a potential product/service that sells.
After all, that’s your target audience anyway. What have you got to lose?
And another thing I’d like to add is that sometimes it helps to accept the negative self-talk and doubts you have.
Hi Henri,
I came out of a 5 month writer’s block after I stopped caring how many people will disagree with me, and just focused on the message I’d like to share with the world.
That was one hurdle.
Another hurdle I’m currently crossing is writing a manifesto that’s longer than anything I’ve written yet (in the personal growth field, anyway) and that’s demanding a great deal of thought and brain cells.
There are many hurdles to overcome, but you can’t worry about the hurdles you’ll face sitting down. You have to cross them one at a time.
One day, one page, one word at a time. That’s worked beautifully for me. If you try to think of everything you have to do, it wont fit in your brain and you’ll get overwhelmed and frustrated.
Henri,
I myself have been wrestling with the idea of an e-book or something of the sort. Then I keep thinking things like “who would buy this from me? I’m not an expert.” But I think you’re point that we were all beginners at some point is a great one. I think it’s time to start thinking about copies of my own e-book or product.
Definitely. We all have something to offer. Do some market research and write from your own personal experiences and you have a good chance of selling a few copies. You have some experience with freelancing, maybe you can write a short guide about how to make $500/month with that?
Hi Henri,
– Will people buy my stuff?
– What if no one likes my product?
– What if people point and laugh?
– Is it perfect enough?
All these questions have popped out in my mind when I was thinking about creating my own ebook. You are definitely spot on. Everyone start from being a beginner and I think this is a great mindset to have. This will help us to take the first step into doing anything.
Cheers,
Vincent
Henri,
That’s great man. I have been thinking about creating an info product but still going through things in my brain. Nice to see a blogger like you going for it.
Nice post Henri. I think everyone who is about to finish an ebook has that fear of what if people don’t like it? Or what if it happens to be a dud? I think it’s great that you suggest just moving forward and getting the thing done. In the end, you can at least have a product that you’ve accomplished, learn from those mistakes if any, and create an even better ebook in the future.
Yup, nothing happens if you don’t try. You can plan and analyze all you want but in the end, you will learn so much more by taking action and seeing the results.
Henri:
I have been thinking about your latest post. I have this to share. Hope you find this suggestion useful and it ends up “adding value” to your cause.
Have you thought about designing, writing and sending out a questionnaire/survey to your target audience, that is, clients or customers?
It is a good way to solicit feedback. And try to do this on a regular basis too.
It is a good way to know what are their likes, dislikes, tastes and preferences.
What do they really want from you? How can you help them resolve problems? You won’t know until you ask, that’s all.
Sometimes, perceptions can differ, hence the need to obtain input from others.
For example, one poem I wrote some time ago bombed at the box office, although I thought it was one of my best efforts. Yeah, right, I was way off base, man.
Another poem, which was lousy, was actually published and it was well-received.
Perception is a funny thing. Otherwise, the “road to hell is paved with good intentions.” My mother-in-law still thinks she’s a fabulous chef, but…
Similarly, some of my jokes have bombed. Oh yeah, like tell me about it..
You know you are a lousy writer when you have to add on a smiley face at the end of each joke or LOL it. Translation: okay, folks, please laugh at least to humor me.
See what I mean? You won’t know until you try. Take a risk. Go out on a limb. And keep on asking and tweaking. The feedback you receive will let you know about what your customers/clients really want and expect from you.
Entrepreneurship=find a need and satisfy it. Cheers to your success!
Exactly! I have tried a few surveys but haven’t really gotten the results. Sometimes people’s wants and needs are completely different.
Hey Henri,
You said it. If you sell something that you know a bit about and no one buys it it’s maybe a good idea to do a blog post later on (not too much later though) and ask your readers why no one is buying. Use their response to generate your next steps and heck, why not include them in the process in the first place?
Doing anything (without pressure, kinda) is good and should result in at least a great learning experience.
The more I push myself into uncomfortable and new territory, the more I seem to learn and grow. It can be scary, but it can also be a lot of fun!
Scary is fun just under cover. Learn to make the unknown fun and you’ll never be scared again.
Go ahead man, what’s the worst that could happen?
Agreed!
Henri,
I think you have other things as well that you could put in a form of an e-book: blogging and writing e-books 🙂
Keep your eyes open. You never know what I come up with 😉
I dont mind writing short articles, since I can consider it as success after 20 minutes of writing. The thought of writing ebook is frightening. Seems like the work will go on and on.
Very inspiring post Henri.
I’m also currently working on an ebook. This is something I never thought I would be doing even a couple months ago, since my blog is only 2 weeks old.
I’ve discovered that in life there are certain mandatory things that we need to do for our success. I just make up my mind and do it. What’s the worst that could happen? Whenever I have a great task ahead of me, I say to myself, “JUST DO IT!” The results are usually extraordinary especially when the fear is great.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Just get it done! Sometimes even that is hard, but we all have to find our own motivators and work with them.