If you tried to think of people involved in product creation, who would come to mind? You may think of Edison, Franklin, or maybe Henry Ford. Would you ever think of yourself as someone who can create a quality product? Product creation is actually relatively easy and product launching is not that tough either! If you follow a few easy to understand steps, you could be starting the product creation and product launching process sooner than you think.

The first step in creating your information product is to know and understand your market. This can be very time-consuming, especially if you are unsure of what to do or where to look to know your market. Studying your niche market and understanding the buzz words and buying patterns can ease the process dramatically. Personally, I would recommend networking with someone who has had success in the niche market you are considering and learn from their results. If they are into product creation and not very business savvy expect some hesitation. If they only sell products and have nothing to do with product launching or product creation you may your first affiliate (sales person)! Something else you can use to find hot trends is with the Google Trends tool.

The second step is the product creation process. Take your niche market and brainstorm ideas and topics relating to it. There are a lot of product launching contests going on recently relating to a newly created internet marketing tool. There are so many aspects to the mentioned niche that literally, and unfortunately, anything can be considered an Internet Marketing tool. The reason that anyone can basically create an Internet Marketing tool is because of something called Private Label Rights products.

What I use private label rights products for, and highly recommend them in this specific manner, is to cure writer’s block especially when it is lingering. Many people base their entire product creation and product launching on a private label rights product. This is where you can start to shine and build a strong brand for yourself. If you set goals for yourself, short-term goals to be exact, you can see your product creation come into being much faster and there is a good chance with less revision needed. If you keep hitting time restraint road blocks; however there is nothing wrong with a slow and steady approach, you can consider outsourcing portions of your project. Outsourcing can be an extremely huge benefit or just as great of a disaster.

You can find someone to outsource work to at a freelance site such as Guru.com or eLance.com. When reviewing proposals it is almost mandatory you perform a background check on them as you are in essence hiring them. Doing a background check on freelancers is as easy as asking for samples of their work and reviewing feedback on the freelance site from previous customers. Depending on the size and requirements of your project this can add up to a decent sized investment, so caution is very important. One tip I always recommend to people looking to hire an individual is to ask them what they can provide you that no one else can. This simple question gives them a chance to “toot their own horn” and acknowledge where they feel most competent as far as their skill set.

The final portion of the product creation and product launching formula is the launch. This can literally make or break the effort, time, and maybe (if you invested) money you put in to your project. There are numerous aspects to product launching and although their relevance is debated in terms to their effect, experts agree all must be followed. The person in your field who you asked for product advice from can help you substantially if you have kept in touch. If not, the first thing you need to do is to create a visually appealing website with flawless design work.

I also mentioned outsourcing before, this is one aspect of product launching I have little strength in and I always outsource this portion. The website does not have to be large however the content (ad copy in Internet Marketing) must be stellar and as perfect as possible. This is where advertising knowledge or experience is beneficial. When the site is set up you now put a lead capture form on your website.

I put two lead capture pages on all products I create on the internet and is one of the best methods of getting a solid start when you are in the product launching stage. When you gain information from a prospect or someone looking to get paid for referring sales you are able to provide them updates or specials. Many people abuse their prospect or affiliate lists by in turn emailing them with a new product daily and I find the recommendations to be totally unrelated to their original need, problem, or interest.

Another stage in the product launching stage is creating a free report or demo version of your product to entice the product to sign up to your email list. Using proper follow up with this can help generate numerous sales for you. One thing you need to ensure is that your free product completely relates to your main product that you are looking to sell.

You are now ready to advertise your product launching to customers as well as the opportunity to sell for affiliates. This is the single aspect that many product creations and launches fail on. It is actually not entirely difficult. One thing you can do is write articles (and a good amount of them) on topics relating to your product. I am a huge advocate of giving a solution in forums. When you join a forum you are normally offered the opportunity to create a signature. In your signature, you should enter the link to your opt-in or lead capture page. When you respond to posts, you are advertising your opportunity.

It is not impossible to create a product and it does not have to take a long time. You need to setup a plan and stick to it. If you get stuck, look at similar and successful products to your own and try and see how they did it. When you sit down and brainstorm you will be surprised with what you can imagine.

Investing is such a complicated field that there are literally tens of thousands of books written on the subject. Investing can be quite difficult, depending on the strategy, though it and can also be simple and straightforward if done properly. One of the best pieces of investment advice ever given is to diversify your portfolio into several different investment vehicles. This can help you spread out the risk and achieve a steady return on your investment capital. This is the goal of most investors. This type of investing can be categorized broadly as value investing and with a diversified investment strategy that holds a goal of long term positive returns.

Value Investing
On the whole, value investing is generally defined as investing that focuses on buying investments that have good value. This is a fundamentally safe and secure type of investment strategy. The goal is for steady appreciation and consistent yields on capital invested. Value investing is a fundamental and lies at the base of a solid financial investment plan. Buying investments because they are a good value is a mark of a solid investment plan. If you buy companies because they are good value, then chances are you will be in a position to enjoy capital appreciation in the years to come.

Stock Market Investing
Stock market investing is one of the fundamentals of value investing. By diversifying investments into the stock market it is possible to spread out investment funds into a wide variety of different companies and their stocks. It is certainly very difficult to choose specific stocks that are going to go up in value immensely in the years to come. The Walmart-like stocks are few and far between and taking them at their outset is almost impossible. This certainly does not mean that you should not try. Buying fundamentally sound stock market investments can be a goal and ticket to a fruitful financial future ahead.

Penny Stock Investments
Penny stocks are those that bear their own name. These stocks are often valued very lowly and the costs are often quite low-often times ranging from a few pennies per share up to a couple dollars per share at the most. Some investors believe that there is great potential return in penny stock investments because you can buy for such a low cost a large amount of shares and if there is any appreciation in value this year value will likewise increase. An increase in the share value will yield an increase in the investment return as well.

Bonds Investing
Bonds are another core element of a diversified investment strategy. Bonds typically have slow and steady growth patterns and consistent yields year after year. This makes them the ideal investment for slow and steady capital appreciation. There are several different types of bonds available ranging from government-backed bonds to higher risk corporate bonds. Bonds remain one of the best ways of diversifying a portfolio with safe and secure investment returns. Talk with an investment adviser about the different kinds of bond ratings and how the different types of bonds will play an important part in your overall investment portfolio.

Mutual Funds Investing
Mutual funds are yet another way of diversifying investment risk and return. Some mutual funds specialize in high risk/high yield type investments, while others mirror segments of the stock market (as in Spider Funds, which buy the exact companies that appear on certain stock indices). Mutual funds are run by a board of directors and a management team in most cases. These individuals have the responsibility of making the investment choices for the entire fund.

Mutual funds are traditionally one of the most popular investments options and routes to take. Mutual funds are easier to become involved with than almost any other investment. They are often times the starting place for investors who are looking to have the potential for return while also curving the risks in spreading out the potential downside. One of the challenges with mutual funds, however, is the fact that there are so many and they can be difficult to choose between them. Out of thousands of different mutual funds, finding one that meets your investment requirements can be tricky. It also should be noted that just because a mutual fund has done well in the past that does not mean that it will continue to do well in the future. Very few mutual funds maintain a steady track record over time.

Commodities Investing
Commodities are another option for a diversified investment portfolio. Commodities represent certain items like corn, oil, gold, silver, and other such natural items classified as commodities. Commodities can often be used as a ‘hedge’ investment and have a safe and secure track record. Investing in commodities should be done with the help of an experienced investment adviser only or with much experience under your belt. They are not typical investments and should not be viewed as ones that are as easy to invest in as bonds or mutual funds. Typically, commodities investments can be used as a counter-trend type of investment, or in other words, as a protection against loss when other types of investments seem to be falling. Commodities will typically hold their value contrary to the stock market as a whole.

All of these different types of investment options should be discussed with a qualified investment adviser or broker. To venture into these investments on your own can be dangerous. It should be mentioned that with any investment there is the potential for loss. Anytime you have the potential for substantial gain, likewise you have the potential for substantial loss. Some of these investments are more secure than others. You should discuss your options and your long-term strategy with your investment adviser to determine the best plan moving forward. You’ll want to create a diversified plan that creates a steady return while minimizing risks.

One of the keys to succeeding in information product creation is to break the process up into discrete steps. This frequently isn’t an instinctive reaction for the typical information marketer. Especially on the internet where small sized learning products are the norm.

However, it is extremely important to your ultimate success. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you don’t do this you probably won’t succeed… even when you are starting out let alone as you move forward.

Your product creation system should do this for you if only to help you to understand the overall task.

But why?

In this article, I’m going to ignore chunking and focus on the practical aspects. That’s not to say that chunking isn’t important. It is. It’s important to understanding and to learning the process. But while you can use the same chunks as you move forward, long term your focus needs to be on the operation of the system not the understanding of it. Unless of course you are constantly training new people!

So why is chunking important to long term use of the product creation process? (Yes, I know systems design uses a different term for this process but I’m not teaching you systems design. So I’m going to use the word learning content designers use.)

The first reason that having individual discrete tasks is important is one of schedule estimation. Frequently it is very difficult to estimate how long the total task of creating a product will take. After all, the size and type of the products matters as does the number of products in your product funnel. And those are just the most obvious elements. However, estimating a discrete task is often much easier. The total can then be estimated as the total of the discrete tasks.

Secondly, scheduling a large task can be problematic. However, by segmenting the task into a number of discrete tasks, you gain a much greater flexibility in scheduling. Not only that but as your business begins to add people you are able to schedule multiple people to the product creation.

Finally, segmenting a large task into smaller discrete tasks allows you to have much better control over the product creation. This affects two different areas — status and quality.

By segmenting your process into discrete tasks you are able to schedule and record the progress at much more detailed level. As a result you are more in control of the status of the product creation. You know what everyone is doing. When they should complete it. And how much it should cost. You also know exactly what has been done.

You also improve your overall quality. Instead of waiting until everything is done you can check quality as you go. This allows you to immediate react to low quality products without absorbing their costs. This means that you have less rework and your rework costs less. And if the product is not going to meet its quality requirement you will know about it in time to stop the development, change the requirement or fix the product.