How To Test Drive The Success Of An Information Product BEFORE You Create It

Joshua Black

Have you ever hoped to find a way that you could test drive an idea for an information product or e-book BEFORE you put all of the blood, sweat, and tears into it?

Have you ever wanted to get paid for producing a new product, instead of working your keister off, only with the hopes of getting paid later?

Well my friend, it’s totally possible…

Today on the ol’ InfoPreneur, I want to show you how you can test drive a new product or idea for a product BEFORE you waste a bunch of time creating something that no one will like.

This is going to cost a little money, but it will save you time and agony in the long run… Ok, on to the fun.

Here are 4 different things that you can do to test drive a new idea BEFORE you spend more than a few hours thinking about it:

1. Use the power of the squeeze page- Once you have done all of your keyword research (see Alex Whalley on the T.I.P. team for for that) create a few Adwords pay-per-click ads targeting your various niches.

Adwords copywriting is the topic of a whole different blog post, but what I will say is that you have to test every word. Once you have an ad up and people start clicking, rotate in a new one and try to beat it, just a few new words at a time.

This advertisment will be a teaser that gets people all with the same problem to raise their hands and show interest. Once they click, they ad will take them to your squeeze page, where you have a small sales letter about your new, upcoming product, and give people incentive to sign up for the waiting list.

This list becomes a powerful marketing tool if you end up with enough people on it. You can then use a steady email campaign to sell them the product once it comes out. If only a handful of people sign up, then you can dump the whole idea and start over without spending any more time on it.

2.  The power of pre-selling- Get paid to write your next information product.  Whether you already have a customer list or you need to build one, this is a great way to fund your next product. The big-wigs do this all the time. In fact, that’s how Apple did a lot of the funding for the new Iphone, just by having it’s raving fans pay for it BEFORE it came out.

Either using the technique in number 1, or mailing to your own list, you are going to create  a sales letter for the product which includes a TON of bonuses for people that purchase before the product is done.  If a bunch of people sign up, you get paid to write and you know it’s a success. If only a few buy, give them their money back and do something else.

NOTE:You have to be careful that you do not dupe your customer into thinking that the product is already done. This is illegal in some places. You can’t sell something that you don’t have. However, you can pre-sell a product, so make sure that you completely disclose the whole process. It probably wouldn’t hurt to say that they will get a refund if there is no interest.

Also, I am by no means a lawyer, and that is the extent of what I know about that subject, so you will have to do your own research there.

3. Survey the snot out of ‘em- This is where it helps to use the power of your own list to help them drive your next product or service. Create a simple survey though email, on your blog, or website. Give your customers no more than 5 questions, or 5 totally different product ideas to pick from.  Have them show you what they would like to buy.

You can also use surveys to test out chapters and to have your audience decide on which e-book cover to use, becuase the cover can make or break a sale all by itself.  If your cover looks like your kid brother made it in 3rd period art class, your customers will assume the content was created with about the same level of enthusiasm.

4. Get your bug antennas up in the air- This is your time to have your radar on. Look out there, in blog comments, in forums, in the news, in the aisles of the supermarket. Go to the where your prospects are, sit back with a yellow legal pad, and do some serious re-con work to find out what’s keeping them awake at night. What is the one thing that these groups of people are begging for that needs to be delivered?

How about you? What do you think is a great way to pre-sell an information product?  What tools to you use to make sure that you will have a successful product?

Until next week,

-Joshua Black

Joshua Black is the creator of the Underdog Millionaire Blog. Having started over a dozen small businesses of his own in the last 15 years, he is small business consultant, copywriter, information marketer and permanent student of small business.  He is also the creator of the Ultimate Information Product Report.  You can also sign up for the daily Underdog Millionaire small business Tip Sheet and not only will you get a wealth of small business, marketing, and sales information, but you will also receive 5 FREE success books (including Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich). Click here to sign up.

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