5 Questions to Consider When Creating a New Product, Service, or Offer

This Friday two brand new offers are joining the DSB line-up:

• Mini-coures

• Small Group Coaching

Both of these offers are *incredibly* affordable education opportunities for fitness and wellness business owners. Whether you’re a solopreneur creating your own platform, an instructor or trainer working that independent contractor hustle, or a season studio owner, there is fresh and relevant information in these for everyone.

I decided to add two new rockstars to my lineup of products, services, and offers because they’ve been on my heart and mind for a while:

I wanted to create something *affordable and accessible* to bridge that gap of learning and coaching that the fitness and wellness space is lacking.

I wanted to offer quick wins that could be implemented within minutes of finishing the course.

I want us all to win.

As with almost everything I do as a business owner, I’m committed to be transparent in the process. You guys know me - no question is off limits and I’m an open book. I want to take you along the thought-process ride with me so you can see how I formed the ideas behind creating NEW offers, how I actually created them, and how selling them is different from my other products and services. Basically - how I’m pivoting :)

We’re starting the conversation with these 5 questions below, which I worked through during the inception process of these offers. If you’re thinking of growing your brand with new offers I STRONGLY encourage you to first work through these 5 questions to ensure you’re in alignment with your brand, your community’s needs, and you’re on track for a profitable launch.

1 - What does my audience need/want right now? What are they asking for, or what do I know they need help with?

I always say that we aren’t the boss of our businesses - our CLIENTS are. So when we create new products, services, or offers, they should be tailored to what our clients and communities need and want, more so than just what we want to offer.

That said - your people want to tell you what they need! Or maybe they already are and you need to listen a little more (and write it down!). Take polls on your social, put a call-to-action in your newsletters, and talk with your clients during your time with them. A simple, “how can I better help you _____” will go a loooong way.

Creating products, services, and offers that solve problems will allow them to sell themselves, AND will help you better your people. Win win, right?!

2 - What can I create - product, service, or offer - that is in line with what their needs are AND be aligned with my business’ identity and values?

I have a million business ideas that fly through my brain rent-free on the daily...but because these ideas aren’t aligned with my existing DSB brand OR the needs of my community, I let them fly around...for now ;)

Yes, you ARE a whole person, and you can offer whatever the heck you want that speaks to your happy soul, BUT if you’re going to sell something so off-base from what your community comes to you for, and what you’re knowing as an expert of, you might be selling to crickets.

Side note: if you’re not sure what your brand’s identity and values are, let’s talk! We can work through this in a few coaching sessions and put you on the path of a comprehensive brand identity OR you can hang tight for a month and wait for May’s mini-course on this exact topic.

3 - How much will it cost to create this? How much will my ideal client/ community realistically pay for this?

A basic cost analysis is imperative before moving forward with any idea.

• How much will this cost me to make this - TIME, software, hosting platforms, etc.

• How much can I charge?

• How many units do I need to sell to break even?

• How many units can I realistically expect to sell per month/quarter and what’s the ROI on that?

• Can I create upsell offers through this offer and if so, what are the profit margins there?

Numbers and math not your thing? NO worries - we can work through this together on a coaching call and I can teach you exactly how to figure that out.

4 - What new infrastructure will I need to create on my end to make this work? Will it be a manual or automated process?

This one was super key for me. Creating mini-courses meant I needed a hosting platform that allowed for my evergreen product (the courses) to both live, sell, and educate. I walked through the client journey of purchasing the course and determined I needed a platform that is

• Easy for me to set-up on the backend (hello, we’ve met and I’m not tech savvy);

• That had a payment processor integrated so clients could be autonomous in the checkout process (no sending out invoices here!);

• Creates accounts for the students;

• Hosts the courses in a IP-protected environment;

• Provides the students a user friendly UI experience.

Once I had worked all that out, I was able to choose the platform that fit all my needs.

5 - What’s My Realistic Timeline, and what’s realistic to have for the launch?

Once I determined that both courses and group coaching were viable options, I gave myself one month to make it happen. “It” being an announcement, a calendar date set, and the commitment of two courses to kick things off. Why a month? It gave me enough time to drum up interest through my newsletter and social media, and allowed me to have a handful of individual conversations with interested clients.

Like any other online platform I knew I needed to start my business marketplace with some content. I wasn’t going to overwhelm myself and try to produce 5-10 courses to get it kicked off though. I needed just enough to get the ball rolling, make some sales, test the waters, and assess how we’re doing.

The overwhelming comparison game of having enough to launch, to feel good about what you’re launching, and not waiting too long to launch, is a sneaky game that every entrepreneur and business owner plays. I live by the “if you feel ready to launch you’ve waited too long” game.

What other questions do you have about creating new products and offers? What are you working on these days?! I’d love to hear!

x, D

PS - You can sign up for mini courses HERE and group coaching HERE! Can't wait to learn together!

See full post here!

Author: Danielle Stead Blanton