Lesson 1 Product Creation
Tuesday, May 17th 2011 @ 12:56 PM (not yet rated)
Introduction
In this lesson you'll get an introduction to creating and developing products. It's a bigger world than simply "inventing" as our modern age has meant more and more opportunities for different kinds of products... maybe even ones you didn't think of. We'll lay the groundwork in this lesson to help you master future lessons about developing each kind of product.
Different kinds of products
There are different kinds of products. At first glance, someone might think that we're stating the obvious, but the three kinds of products we're going to talk about are not as obvious as you might think. Although they may be divided up slightly differently by other people, we want to deal with them as three separate things:
- Physical products
- Intellectual products
- Digital products
Technically, many intellectual products are physical. And technically, many digital products are intellectual products. (Have we confused the issue?). In this e-course we're going to treat them differently. You'll see why in a moment.
Physical products
Physical products - sometimes we call them "real" products - are products that you can touch and feel. Quite often they have a specific function or use. Nearly everything you own is a physical product: the chair you're sitting in, the computer you're reading this on, the desk that your computer sits on.
Physical products have always been with us... from the first spear invented by Gronk the Caveman in 65 Million B.C. and they are still with us today. We don't live in "the Matrix" so we need physical products to dress us, enable our comfort, help us get food onto the table, then help us get food from our plates to our mouths.
In this book we will deal with developing physical or real products. Just think of all the stuff in your house (there's always more than we want, right?) - each of those things, as well as the stuff that makes up your house (timber, panelling, insulation) are all physical products. Each of those products was purchased at some point after it was made. So, each of those products help to earn a profit for the person who made them.
By developing physical products you will enjoy the label "inventor."
Intellectual products
Intellectual products are things like books, music, art, and concepts or ways of doing things. Some of these things, like books and art, are physical products, it's true. But you'll probably notice a difference: these products may require much more creativity to develop and they are unique in the sense that no book is exactly the same as another book.
Frankly, unless your name is Stephen King, Mozart, or Picasso, there is not a lot of money in intellectual products to be immediately had. Quite often, these intellectual products may increase in value over time and (morbidly) after the death of the developer.
Although people who create physical products are called inventors, people who create intellectual products are often called artists.
In a moment we'll tell you the secret you need to know to create and sell intellectual property.
Digital products
Physical products have been with us (literally) the dawn of time. Digital products have been with us since computers were developed... so less than a century. However, their importance to the consumer, their income-generating opportunity to the entrepreneur, and their resulting popularity has increased dramatically with the Internet.
Two of the most popular examples of digital products include e-books and software, although there are other digital products as well.
People who create physical products are called inventors. People who create intellectual products are called artists. What do you call people who create digital products? There isn't a single name for them. Often they are entrepreneurs. They may be writers or they may be coders or software developers. Unlike physical and intellectual products, digital products is still a fairly young field. (Less than 100 years old... and in reality, as a giant industry, less than 10 years old).
Which ones to do
Okay, you're saying, let's roll up our sleeves and start creating products! But which ones should I do?
Although this isn't a comprehensive reasoning, we have provided you with a few considerations to think about when you're deciding what you want to do:
All products cost money to make and they cost money to sell. That's the reality of the game. Each one offers its own advantages and disadvantages to the developer.
Physical products will cost money to make because you have to build a prototype, test it, then get it manufactured and sell it. The profit margin can be high but you are always paying to turn the raw materials into the finished product. Once you have it made, you will have to spend money on packaging, marketing your product to stores, as well as warehousing to keep products that have been manufactured but not yet sold.
Digital products will cost money to make because they can take time to develop and review (plus there's the potential costs of the computer and programs required to turn it into the desired finished product). Once the product is made, you'll have to spend money to create a website, get it posted online, and to market your product.
Intellectual products cost money to make because of the time they take (they are often very time consuming to develop) as well as the cost to take the idea from your head and put it on paper, canvas, or sheet music paper. Once they are made, they need to be marketed and sold.
Note: (The reason why we have separated intellectual products out from physical products and digital products is because they can have great profitability, but more often they are difficult to monetize and earn a living from. However, if you want to create these products, here's the secret: you can develop them like digital products and sell them like physical products... so for the rest of the e-course we're going to mainly talk about physical products and digital products.)
What do we recommend? Unless you have a burning passion to be an inventor, start with a digital product first. Digital products may cost money to make at the beginning, but there isn't an ongoing cost associated with the production of each new item. Instead, you can create one digital product and sell it a thousand times, and the cost is generally (with some minor exceptions) still only going to be for one digital product.
However, there is a constant need for physical products in the world and perhaps you have hit on that one great opportunity to invent the better mousetrap. Go for it!
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Summary
Want to develop products to sell? You're entering a huge world of opportunity. People have been doing that since the dawn of time and you're joining a long line of inventors, artists, and developers. With the Internet, there is now more opportunity than ever to get your product developed and marketed to the world. In this e-course we're going to show you how.
