Article - Build It and They Will Come? Or Sell It and See If Anyone Turns Up?
READ: 1 min
AUTHOR: Robert Craven
If you are running a training program or writing a book or launching any kind of product or service… why do people insist on building the product and then trying to sell it?
It goes against every sense of logic.
I get that entrepreneurs are ‘in the moment’ and excitedly create and design their latest gizmo: the code that will list the number of mammals looking at your website or the ability to identify the colour of the eyes of your viewers… but come on, not all ideas that you believe to be great are that great.
The market is honest.
The market will tell you what is great and what is not great.
The market votes with its feet. It will either come running towards you or it will run away, but why not let it do this before you have invested in designing what you believe to be the perfect product?
So, if you are going to create a new product or service then might I suggest that you do not build it first with the expectation that they will come and buy it.
What I suggest is the reverse. Why don't you create the sales copy and send the sales letter and see how many people respond? Even better, what you can do is create three or four different sales letters or landing pages and see which ones people like the best.
My suggestion is this. Identify your target audience. Identify their hurts, problems, needs and itches. Then, write some copy explaining the benefits of having their hurts, problems, needs and itches solved. Explain the benefits of your product or service. You do not need to tell them anything about the features. Just tell them what it will look like when you have solved their problems. Next, you can see which ones they like the best. And then, you can design the product that fits the best sales letter.
So, if it is a choice between ‘Build it and they will come’ or ‘Sell it and see if anyone turns up’, I propose that you sell it and see if anyone turns up. You will waste less money and you will design something that you know there is the demand for.