As in any relationship it is often the small signals that you receive that can make a big difference.
When marketing your brand if you miss these signals you may find one of your competitors has grabbed opportunities and grown their business.
As with many marketing and business opportunities they may not always be obvious to you.
In fact they can seem to be hidden away. Especially when you are busy and run a service based business wearing many day to day business hats.
But what if you could discover and capture the signals and translate them into a product which adds to your revenue?
Would it be worth the effort?
A client I am working with is doing just that and the little signal was the issue of time. His clients need something fixed now and not in a couple of hours or tomorrow.
The opportunity to turn one of his services into a product is a pretty simple one. It will add to and not cannibalise his current service business.
Now this may sound all very nice however as with anything to do with marketing it doesn’t apply to every business. Some of you may have services that don’t translate well into products and some of you may just want to provide services on a project basis.
If you are thinking of leveraging your expertise into products here are a few tips:
Capture the Signals
Whether it is directly from communicating with customers or observing and listening, take note of frustrations, problems, requests etc. Over time often one or more of these can highlight an opportunity for you to develop into a product.
Look at Competitors
Often when you review what competitors do you only look to ensure you are offer and market the same as them.
Another way is to see what they have in common and seek out the aspects that you can change and develop as a product. Sometimes it is the very small things that with a bit of tweaking can provide the opportunity.
Seek out Trends
If you have indentified potential signals, then you can use Google Insights to see if they are trending in the right way as well as identifying ones that growing in demand a search enquires.
By looking at and identifying the key trends it can help you refine your product opportunity and increase the success potential.
Selling your time for money can be rewarding but have you ever considered what leveraging your expertise and turning them into products could mean for you and your business?
What are your thoughts on this and how do you recognise and capture the little signals that can grow your business?
As always, your article hits home with me. Susan, you know I’m one of those solpreneurs who is always wrestling with time and dream of being able to create a product.
Thanks for the tip on Google Insights. I’m not using that.
Sherryl Perry recently posted..Google+ Social Network – Part of Your Business Strategy?
Hi Sherryl,
Thanks for saying that. I know you are and my client has the same problem. To help him get into action there is a process he follows and spends about 20 minutes a day working on it. For him it is easier than allocating an hour or 2 a week in one hit. Time is always a problem especially when you are in demand as you are
Little Signals Big Marketing Opportunities…
As in any relationship it’s often the small signals you receive that can make a big difference.When marketing your brand if you miss these signals you may find one of your competitors has grabbed the opportunities.Tips to help you leverage your expert…
Its so true, that when you’re entrenched in the business of running your business, it can be hard to notice these signals, let alone do anything with them.
I think that business owners greatly benefit from having the eyes of a good marketing consultant to review their business to show them opportunities they might be missing.
Jackie recently posted..Leadership: Not Just For Corporate Heads In Bulging Departments
Hi Jackie,
It is a challenge and you are right having someone who is experienced can be of benefit. Thanks for adding this.
Agree with you Susan, we often ignore the small signals.
The other day you wrote about acupuncture. For some reason I took it as a small signal.
Decided to find a good one where I am now. One recommended turned out to be a dead end but today I found one that fits the bill. Thanks to not ignoring your little signal about acupuncture.
Catarina Alexon recently posted..Is China today doing what the US did yesterday?
Hi Catarina,
That is great you found a good one and the article was a prompt.
Great post, Susan. You’ve given me an idea for a product based on a current client project. What my colleague and are doing for them now could be packaged and sold to other companies. I’ve already thought of a name for it. Thanks for providing me with an “ah ha” moment.
Jeannette Paladino recently posted..Inbound Marketing – Hitting the Online Jackpot
Hi Jeannette,
Always happy to provide “ah ah” moments and best of luck with the product.