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I wrote this post because there was a time where I thought starting a business was hard. There was so much information out there, I didn't know where to begin.
But when you chunk up to these 6 steps, it's the quickest way to get up and running - and of course you'll tweak your sales process from start to finish as you go.
Hope this helps...
#1 - Choose a Market
My first business was selling digital magazines on the App store.
Out of the 2,000,000 apps on the iOS app store, there were less than 6,000 Magazine apps when I got started.
With hundreds of millions of devices capable of downloading my app, the market is there. People who have iOS devices (iPhone/iPad) looking to read magazines.
#2 - Choose a sub-section of the market
Of the 6,000 magazine apps, only 33 of them were dog magazines.
I did research showing how large the dog market is in the U.S. and throughout the world. The market is big, and the subsection of this market was very big as well.
#3 - How to get in front of your market.
Up until September 2015, the Apple Newsstand was separate from the App Store.
While the 2 million app creators were fighting for ranking on the app store, there is a separate button for the Apple Newsstand where I only had to fight for rankings on top of 6,000 apps.
But in my subsection of the market, I had to out-rank 29 competitors.
With a mix of marketing strategies (getting influential bloggers to write for me in exchange for a link back), and a glitch in the app store ranking algorithm, I was able to get my app ranked to the #1 spot of the category real easily.
#4 - Create a Product or Service
Dog owners want to learn how to train their dogs, they want tips on dog health, grooming, product reviews, funny and entertaining stories, etc.
I purposely started with figuring out how to get in front of the market before creating the product, because I tried so many times to create products with no clue how to market it.
From here, I learned how to code an iPhone magazine app, I gathered articles from across the internet, and pictures, formatted it into a magazine, and it was an MVP at first - but over time, we got better content.
#5 - Sell Your Product or Service
With getting over 2,000 downloads of the free app per day, I offered one magazine issue for free, to show what we have to offer, and then offered 12 paid editions and 2 subscription options over the following year.
How can you demonstrate how your product or service is worth the money people will pay for it?
Since this business, I've sold products that range from $50-$6,000 - with the sales specifics being different for each product- but the main thing is to simply demonstrate through words or a call how your product can benefit the person you're communicating with.
I did this through the description, and the free sample.
On Amazon, you do this through product descriptions.
For my higher end offers, I...well I never really "tried" to sell. I just explained how my service benefits the person I'm talking to and they offer a sale...something I'm improving now.
#6 - Deliver Product or Service
When the users purchase each magazine, they get immediate access to it when it unlocks.
The process I follow with every business.
Personal development market -> NLP market -> Run advertisements in (confidential) -> video NLP course creation -> Sales page describing benefits -> software to deliver course upon purchase
Physical product on Amazon
Amazon - > Pet products (very specific pet product) -> Amazon ads for search terms -> Order product from china, send to FBA -> Sales description - > FBA
Summary
It's really not that hard when you really break business down into it's major categories.
I wrote this as a 'getting started' guide, where there is obviously more to it once you get up and running, but typing any more would overwhelm those out there just getting started.
What market are you serving for your business?
What subsection of the market needs your help?
But when you chunk up to these 6 steps, it's the quickest way to get up and running - and of course you'll tweak your sales process from start to finish as you go.
Hope this helps...
#1 - Choose a Market
My first business was selling digital magazines on the App store.
Out of the 2,000,000 apps on the iOS app store, there were less than 6,000 Magazine apps when I got started.
With hundreds of millions of devices capable of downloading my app, the market is there. People who have iOS devices (iPhone/iPad) looking to read magazines.
#2 - Choose a sub-section of the market
Of the 6,000 magazine apps, only 33 of them were dog magazines.
I did research showing how large the dog market is in the U.S. and throughout the world. The market is big, and the subsection of this market was very big as well.
#3 - How to get in front of your market.
Up until September 2015, the Apple Newsstand was separate from the App Store.
While the 2 million app creators were fighting for ranking on the app store, there is a separate button for the Apple Newsstand where I only had to fight for rankings on top of 6,000 apps.
But in my subsection of the market, I had to out-rank 29 competitors.
With a mix of marketing strategies (getting influential bloggers to write for me in exchange for a link back), and a glitch in the app store ranking algorithm, I was able to get my app ranked to the #1 spot of the category real easily.
#4 - Create a Product or Service
Dog owners want to learn how to train their dogs, they want tips on dog health, grooming, product reviews, funny and entertaining stories, etc.
I purposely started with figuring out how to get in front of the market before creating the product, because I tried so many times to create products with no clue how to market it.
From here, I learned how to code an iPhone magazine app, I gathered articles from across the internet, and pictures, formatted it into a magazine, and it was an MVP at first - but over time, we got better content.
#5 - Sell Your Product or Service
With getting over 2,000 downloads of the free app per day, I offered one magazine issue for free, to show what we have to offer, and then offered 12 paid editions and 2 subscription options over the following year.
How can you demonstrate how your product or service is worth the money people will pay for it?
Since this business, I've sold products that range from $50-$6,000 - with the sales specifics being different for each product- but the main thing is to simply demonstrate through words or a call how your product can benefit the person you're communicating with.
I did this through the description, and the free sample.
On Amazon, you do this through product descriptions.
For my higher end offers, I...well I never really "tried" to sell. I just explained how my service benefits the person I'm talking to and they offer a sale...something I'm improving now.
#6 - Deliver Product or Service
When the users purchase each magazine, they get immediate access to it when it unlocks.
The process I follow with every business.
- Choose a Market
- Choose a Subsection of the Market
- Know how to get in front of the market
- Create Product or Service
- Sales
- Fulfilment
Personal development market -> NLP market -> Run advertisements in (confidential) -> video NLP course creation -> Sales page describing benefits -> software to deliver course upon purchase
Physical product on Amazon
Amazon - > Pet products (very specific pet product) -> Amazon ads for search terms -> Order product from china, send to FBA -> Sales description - > FBA
Summary
It's really not that hard when you really break business down into it's major categories.
I wrote this as a 'getting started' guide, where there is obviously more to it once you get up and running, but typing any more would overwhelm those out there just getting started.
What market are you serving for your business?
What subsection of the market needs your help?
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