The Importance of Defining Your Product

Defining your product sounds like such a simple thing, but you’d be surprised at the number of companies that struggle with this concept. Knowing what you’re going to produce is a rather large part of running a company; without products, how can you expect to have customers? The number of companies that find product definition problematic is staggering.

However, regardless of the difficulty involved, product definition is vital. Without product definition, companies simply react to vague and poorly understood market trends. Just because a specific product is the current rage and is being produced by several different companies does not mean that your company should produce the same item, no matter how different. It remains, at heart, the same item. Product definition should utilize innovative thinking and intensive market research to determine real needs. Only then can a truly great product be produced.

Product definition should utilize as many aspects of market research as possible to get a true picture of the needs of customers. Knowing the true wants and needs of consumers will help you create a truly inspired product that meets those needs, rather than simply following the crowd with another cookie cutter product that offers no individuality.

There are plenty of companies that currently do that; don’t let yours be one of them.
Market research during product development is important beyond deciding what type of product you will produce. With the right market research, you can find out what additions, customizations and services your target market will value within your product. This will greatly help you refine your product offering even further, taking it from creative to truly innovative.

Your product development and definition should be geared towards producing a product or service that is truly novel. This is more than simply responding to requests for new additions to an existing product. Truly great products are defined by their makers to fill a need, a gap in what is currently offered. Rarely does this mean simply a different version of an existing product with new bells and whistles attached. Defining your product through market research should be designed to give you ideas about new products that can help your target market.

Whether these are electronic devices, kitchen utensils or lawn and garden tools, your product must be new, innovative and original or you will be lost in the crowd. Too many companies today simply follow the crowd or add on to existing products. True product definition will go far beyond this simple practice, into the realm of real genius.

My Thoughts On You Running Your Own Radio Show!

In the recent times I have been asked by many about my thoughts on Radio advertising and the relevance of internet radio shows. My thoughts on this subject are more or less as an observer as i do not conduct any radio shows of my own. These days I podcast a lot and am a big fan of voice as a medium.

Years ago creating your own radio show was a huge investment. You had to pay for office space, building and ground maintenance, operations, land use, janitorial services, telecommunications equipment and computers, power, heat and lighting and insurance. Then you had to worry about hiring a staff, legal services and countless other expenses that could not be avoided.

In the Internet age however, you have the ability to create your own online radio show. This is an audio broadcasting service that is transmitted digitally across the Web, also known as web casting. These radio stations are accessible from anywhere in the world and offer a much wider selection than traditional radio stations. Still, many traditional radio stations can pick up Internet radio shows depending on the content they offer.

What matters to you is that Internet radio shows cost you practically nothing to get started. The minimum requirements for running your own Internet radio show are a fairly new personal computer and DSL/Cable Internet connection, items you may already own. In fact, the only major costs of the show will depends on how much free content you can provide. Startup costs are usually less than $40.00, and mainly involving licensing (if necessary) and a few technical requirements such as Shoutcast servers, static IP addresses and other inexpensive technical tools.

Just as with traditional radio broadcasting, there are sponsors for Internet programs who will buy airtime for their commercials. Radio commercials are usually sold in increments of 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, one minute or 120 minutes.

Radio stations may offer discounts to advertisers who pay for packaged deals or allow their ads to run at the station??™s discretion. Though these commercials are sometimes produced by outside agencies, occasionally the advertisers will request the radio station to write and perform the commercial on behalf of them.

Internet radio may work off the same model, however at this time it is a much smaller market. If your Internet show gains a following then it may be easier to score advertisers. Until this unanimous success however, you will have to convince advertisers that buying ads on your radio show will increase their business. You will have to target your advertisers just as you target your audience??”always aiming for the appropriate demographic.

The most important factor is consistently producing a quality product that you can put your own heart and soul into. You could make your show a news program, a comedy program, a musical station or take phone calls. Whatever the format, the radio can center on the product or services you are selling. Don??™t waste time creating artificial content or clones of other shows.

Find a niche that suits you and make your radio show enthusiastic, fun and meaningful to your business.

Selling: Tools of the Trade

Selling is the entire point of your business. Without this aspect, there would be no point in remaining in business. Selling requires many different things, but the right tools will go a long way towards helping you close your sale. The tools, or techniques, that you use to sell to one customer, may well not work on another, so it is vital that your sales tool box is chock full of innovative sales techniques to keep your company moving forward.

??? The Right Questions: Knowing the right questions to ask is a huge part of being successful at selling anything, from shoes to coffee. Use open ended questions that are designed to get more than a “yes” or “no” response from your potential customer. The right questions give you an opportunity to show your knowledge and share the benefits of your product or service. All this, while letting the customer think and respond to questions that actually get them to think.

??? Be Innovative not Over the Top: Everyone has experienced that salesman that just won’t go away. Be it in a shoe store or at a clothing store, the officious oaf just continues to yammer without letting you get a word in edgewise. Don’t be this person. Sell your products and services with knowledge and consideration. Allow your products to speak for themselves if at all possible.

??? Identify Your Customers: Knowing your market is one of the single best ways to make more sales. If you’re selling cabbages, then a farmer is not likely to purchase from you. This analogy carries over into your field, as well. Make sure those that you are attempting to sell to actually have a need for your product or service. Selling to the wrong individuals or companies is a worthless effort that will get you nowhere.

Knowing where to find the right tools and techniques is more than half the battle. You may be willing to try almost anything, but if you cannot find the information that you need, the situation can seem hopeless. The Internet is your best friend in this respect. There have been many, many books, seminars, videos and pamphlets produced on this topic.

The Internet can give you the key to opening that door. Finding what you want on the web simply requires a little diligence; you’ll get quite a few results from searches, but it will take a little time to sort through all of them and separate the ones that are worthwhile from those that are not.