{"id":9931,"date":"2017-02-12T22:48:15","date_gmt":"2017-02-12T22:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.process.st\/templates\/product-validation\/"},"modified":"2024-02-28T20:49:45","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T20:49:45","slug":"product-validation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.process.st\/templates\/product-validation\/","title":{"rendered":"Product Validation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Week1: <\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
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WATCH OVERALL LAUNCH PLAN VIDEO <\/h2>\n
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Before you get started, watch the launch orientation video. It's important.<\/p>\n

It will make sure you understand the high-level view of how this specific launch plan works and what to expect in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Enjoy! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Template Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

This template is unique in that it is a guide for what to do when you want to create a new product that your audience will buy.<\/p>\n

Your product or service idea do not yet exist.<\/p>\n

At the completion of this template you will have:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Identified the topics your audience is most interested in.<\/li>\n
  2. Selected the 2 categories upon which you'll build your product or service.<\/li>\n
  3. Brainstormed at least 3 product or service ideas for these 2 categories.<\/li>\n
  4. Chosen 1 product or service idea to vet with your audience.<\/li>\n
  5. Obtained feedback from and sold pre-purchases to up to 3 focus groups from your email list.<\/li>\n
  6. Determined whether your product or service idea is likely to sell to your audience.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If your product or service idea is successful after following this template, you\u2019ll be ready to create it and launch it to your full audience.<\/p>\n

    Prerequisites (\u201cWhat do you need to get started?\u201d)<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. 10+ blog posts<\/li>\n
    2. An email list of at least 500 -1,000 subscribers<\/li>\n
    3. Google Analytics (or equivalent)<\/li>\n
    4. An email service provider such as Mailchimp or Aweber<\/li>\n
    5. Access to a spreadsheet tool such as Google Docs or Microsoft Excel<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Duration (\u201cHow long will this take?\u201d)<\/strong><\/p>\n

      The entire process will take 4 weeks.<\/p>\n

      Steps Involved<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Create a spreadsheet to categorize and analyze your audience\u2019s interests.<\/li>\n
      2. Pick 2 categories for which to brainstorm product\/service ideas.<\/li>\n
      3. Come up with at least 3 product\/service ideas for these 2 categories.<\/li>\n
      4. Choose the top idea. (We'll provide a grading criteria for you.)<\/li>\n
      5. Create 3 small focus groups from your email list.<\/li>\n
      6. Share that idea with your first focus group, solicit feedback and pre-sell to those that are interested.<\/li>\n
      7. Make adjustments based on focus group feedback and then repeat with 2 more focus groups of increasing sample sizes.<\/li>\n
      8. Analyze results and determine if your product\/service idea is likely to succeed. 10% pre-sales is the general metric we use to determine if our product\/service is likely to sell.<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
        \n

        WATCH OVERVIEW VIDEO FOR THIS WEEK <\/h2>\n
        \n

        Welcome to Week #1!<\/p>\n

        Get going by watching this week's overview video below...<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

        This week consists of 3 simple but really important tasks:<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. You\u2019ll identify the topics your audience is most interested in by researching your existing content. You\u2019ll use a combination of site analytics and content upgrades or email clicks to assess your audience\u2019s areas of interest.<\/li>\n
        2. You\u2019ll list product and service ideas for your top 2 categories and select your favorite idea to vet with your audience.<\/li>\n
        3. You\u2019ll create a detailed product description (a.k.a., product hypothesis) which will be used to gauge your audience\u2019s interest in your idea.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Following this template, at the conclusion of this week you will have a research-guided product idea and sales pitch ready to test with your audience.<\/p>\n

          Common Sticking Points<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Two places where people tend to get stuck completing this week\u2019s tasks are:<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Picking your product idea.<\/li>\n
          2. Naming your product.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Don\u2019t allow yourself to get bogged down in these two areas. The point is to get an idea in front of your audience to get feedback. You\u2019ll refine it over time.<\/p>\n

            Estimated Time to Complete<\/strong><\/p>\n

            14 hours<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

            \n

            DISCOVER WHAT YOUR READERS ARE MOST INTERESTED IN BY ANALYZING YOUR CONTENT <\/h2>\n
            \n

            Prerequisites<\/strong><\/p>\n

            You'll need to have published at least 10 blog posts. If you have written fewer than 10 blog posts, write at least 10 total posts before moving forward.. If you need help figuring out what to write, read this guide<\/a> to get started.<\/p>\n

            Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

            In this task, you will build a spreadsheet to categorize and analyze your site\u2019s most popular content in order to determine the category your readers are most interested in. You will use this data to pick the product you will validate and build.<\/p>\n

            Instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n

            Here is the high-level overview of the steps you'll complete in this task:<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Create a Perfect Product Idea spreadsheet.<\/li>\n
            2. Log your top 10 most popular blog posts into the spreadsheet.<\/li>\n
            3. Log your popularity metrics besides each blog post <\/li>\n
            4. Categorize each entry.<\/li>\n
            5. Total the categories to identify your 2 most popular categories of interest<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Step 1: <\/strong>Create a Perfect Product Idea spreadsheet.<\/p>\n

              Create a new spreadsheet. (We typically use Google Sheets for this.)<\/p>\n

              Name the spreadsheet \u201cPerfect Product Idea.\u201d Name the first tab \u201cPost Data.\u201d<\/p>\n

              Add the following column headers:<\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Category<\/li>\n
              2. URL<\/li>\n
              3. Traffic<\/li>\n
              4. Opt-Ins (or Interest Points)<\/li>\n
              5. Total<\/li>\n
              6. Notes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                Step 2: <\/strong>Log your top 10 most popular blog posts into the spreadsheet.<\/p>\n

                Access the Google Analytics<\/a> account for your site.<\/p>\n

                Navigate to: Behavior \u2192 Site Content \u2192 All Pages<\/strong><\/p>\n

                This shows you the most popular pages on your site.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                Tips: <\/strong>You might want to expand the date range to ensure you get a "bigger picture" snapshot. The default range for Google Analytics is the past 30 days. I typically like to look at 90 -180 days of data to get a good sample size.<\/p>\n

                Copy and paste the traffic numbers from Google Analytics to the \u201cTraffic\u201d column in your spreadsheet.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                Step 3: <\/strong>Log your 10 most popular email links and\/or content upgrades into the spreadsheet.<\/p>\n

                Next, you want to identify an additional measurement that is a signal of your subscribers' interest in that article. Traffic alone can be misleading.<\/p>\n

                Two different options here:<\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. Log the number of clicks received from your email announcement about this blog post.<\/li>\n
                2. Log the number of content upgrade opt-ins this post got. (If you don't use content upgrades, that's OK. Just use email clicks.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  Put this number in the Opt-In\/Interest column of your spreadsheet.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                  Step 4: <\/strong>Categorize each entry.<\/p>\n

                  For each entry in the spreadsheet, label it with a category that the article covers.<\/p>\n

                  A typical blog will contain 3-5 categories. If you don't use a category system, that's ok too. Make it up on the fly by looking at each article and quickly jotting down the main area that the article covers. <\/p>\n

                  Just don't go overboard here. Five categories are plenty. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                  Step 5: <\/strong>Total the categories and identify your 2 most popular categories of interest.<\/p>\n

                  Create a new tab in your spreadsheet named \u201cData Overlap.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                  Inside the new Data Overlap tab, add a column header for each category in your Post Data tab.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                  For each Data Overlap column, enter the value of the Post Data tab\u2019s Total for each row in that category.<\/p>\n

                  Sum each column in the Data Overlap tab. When you are finished, it should look like this.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                  The two largest totals represent your audience\u2019s greatest topics of interest. It is these categories that are the most likely to lead to a successful, money-making product launch.<\/p>\n

                  Note: <\/strong>Choosing a product category to focus on doesn\u2019t always have to be entirely about the most page views and opt-ins. For example, suppose you had a single category that held 6 of your top 10 posts and opt-ins, yet ranked third in the totals list. You may choose to focus on this category instead because it is clearly something your audience is interested in.<\/p>\n

                  We recommend you ask four key questions when selecting product categories:<\/p>\n

                    \n
                  1. Which category received the most traffic and opt-ins?<\/li>\n
                  2. Which category had the most entries in the top 10?<\/li>\n
                  3. Which category was most consistent in getting the audience\u2019s attention?<\/li>\n
                  4. Which category does your gut tell you would be the most successful?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                    Pick the two categories you wish to pursue.<\/p>\n

                    Note that people tend to get bogged down at this step. Avoid over-analyzing here. <\/p>\n

                    Action Items<\/strong><\/p>\n

                      \n
                    1. Create a Perfect Product Idea spreadsheet.<\/strong><\/li>\n
                    2. Log your top 10 most popular blog posts into the spreadsheet.<\/li>\n
                    3. Log your 10 most popular email links and\/or content upgrades into the spreadsheet.<\/li>\n
                    4. Categorize each entry.<\/li>\n
                    5. Total the categories and identify your 2 most popular categories.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                      Resource Links<\/strong><\/p>\n

                      Perfect Product Idea spreadsheet template<\/a><\/p>\n

                      Estimated Time to Complete<\/strong><\/p>\n

                      4 hours<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

                      \n

                      BRAINSTORM 3-5 PRODUCT IDEAS FOR YOUR MOST CONSISTENT CATEGORIES OF INTEREST AND PICK A PRODUCT <\/h2>\n
                      \n

                      Overview<\/strong><\/h3>\n

                      In this task, you will identify your best product or service idea from your two previously selected categories.<\/p>\n

                      Instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n

                      Step 1: <\/strong>Brainstorm product and service ideas.<\/p>\n

                      Open your Perfect Product Idea spreadsheet<\/a> and add a new tab named \u201cProduct Hypothesis.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                      Label the column headers with the two product categories you selected in the previous task.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                      Now, under each column header, list out every product idea that you can think of for each category. Include at least 3 per category.<\/p>\n

                      Include a mixture of both products and services.<\/p>\n

                      Tip: <\/strong>Review your blog posts related to each category and read through the comments to see what your readers are asking for clarification on and are having trouble with.<\/p>\n

                      If you don\u2019t have many comments on your blog, go to your contemporaries\u2019 blog posts on similar subjects and look at their comment sections.<\/p>\n

                      Write a brief description of the product or service idea\u2014just enough to ensure you\u2019ll clearly recall what you were thinking when you jotted it down.<\/p>\n

                      Once you have brainstormed ideas for each category, your spreadsheet should something look like this:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                      Step 2: <\/strong>Select your favorite idea.<\/p>\n

                      At this point, you have analyzed your most popular blog posts, identified the topics that your readers are most interested in and come up with a list of product and service ideas for each.<\/p>\n

                      Now you need to pick one product or service idea to test.<\/p>\n

                      Ask yourself these three questions to help make your decision:<\/p>\n

                        \n
                      1. Which product or service idea excites me the most?<\/li>\n
                      2. What is my audience\u2019s exact pain point in this category?<\/li>\n
                      3. Which idea addresses that pain point the best?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                        Now, pick your favorite.<\/p>\n

                        Avoid the tendency to over-analyze and spend too much time on this step. There is no perfect product or service idea. Follow your gut instinct. Throw a dart at the wall if necessary.<\/p>\n

                        Action Items<\/strong><\/p>\n

                          \n
                        1. Brainstorm product and service ideas for each category.<\/li>\n
                        2. Use the filtering questions listed above to pick your product or service.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                          Resource Links<\/strong><\/p>\n

                          Perfect Product Idea spreadsheet template<\/a><\/p>\n

                          Estimated Time to Complete<\/strong><\/p>\n

                          1 hour<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

                          \n

                          Week2: <\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
                          \n

                          WRITE A DETAILED PRODUCT DESCRIPTION <\/h2>\n
                          \n

                          Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

                          In this task, you'll be writing a simple description of your product. You'll be using and improving this throughout your validation rounds.<\/p>\n

                          Instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n

                          Create a new document to start writing out your description. (We use Google Docs for this.)<\/p>\n

                          Title the document with your product or service idea.<\/p>\n

                          Next, add a brief description of your product as the subtitle.<\/p>\n

                          Then, take 2-3 pages to describe your product or service.<\/p>\n

                          If possible, begin the description with a personal story about the struggles you have experienced with the problem that your product solves.<\/p>\n

                          For example...<\/p>\n

                          If you're selling services as a marriage counselor, start by telling a story about your marriage and your failed attempts to improve your marriage.<\/p>\n

                          Storytelling is an extremely effective way to introduce the problem you\u2019re solving and connect with your audience. <\/p>\n

                          Here is how I did that in the initial product description for our course, Get 10,000 Subscribers...<\/p>\n

                          Why do some people absolutely crush it? And then others fight tooth and nail for every $1 they earn?<\/p>\n

                          I'll tell you exactly what the secret is...<\/p>\n

                          A few years back I read the 4-Hour Workweek <\/em>and was super-pumped about building iPhone apps. My vision was to build a few apps, make a pile of cash, and retire to Costa Rica.<\/p>\n

                          And then I did what few people do. I actually <\/em>built two iPhone apps.<\/p>\n

                          Only problem was, no one bought them. I lost $1,385 from that ordeal.<\/p>\n

                          Contrast that failure with the launch of my coaching program. The coaching program has been a massive hit.<\/p>\n

                          To date, it has grossed just over $75,000.<\/p>\n

                          What was the difference?<\/p>\n

                          Why did the iPhone apps flop and the coaching program take off?<\/p>\n

                          Two words...<\/p>\n

                          Email List.<\/p>\n

                          As you describe the product, put yourself in the shoes of your potential customer.. <\/p>\n

                          What problem does this product solve?<\/p>\n

                          Tell me a story to remind me of that problem.<\/p>\n

                          What past attempts have I made at solving this problem?<\/p>\n

                          Remind me about those.<\/p>\n

                          What will life look like when I solve my problem.<\/p>\n

                          Paint a clear picture of what success looks like.<\/p>\n

                          The general outline of your product description should look like this:<\/p>\n

                            \n
                          1. A story that illustrated the problem the product solves.<\/li>\n
                          2. A quick recap of 3-4 things I've attempted to do to solve the problem in the past.<\/li>\n
                          3. A picture of what life looks life once I've solved the problem.<\/li>\n
                          4. Introduce me to the product.<\/li>\n
                          5. Give me a detailed overview of the product.<\/li>\n
                          6. Answer any questions I might have.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                            Spend no more than 3 hours on this. You will refine the description over time through focus group feedback.<\/p>\n

                            Don't overthink this step.<\/p>\n

                            Resource Links<\/strong><\/p>\n

                            Sample Product Description from my first major product<\/a><\/p>\n

                            Action Items<\/strong><\/p>\n

                              \n
                            1. Outline your product description.<\/li>\n
                            2. Write the full product description.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                              Estimated Time to Complete<\/strong><\/p>\n

                              3 hours<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

                              \n

                              WATCH OVERVIEW VIDEO FOR THIS WEEK <\/h2>\n
                              \n

                              Congratulations, you made it through Week #1! <\/p>\n

                              Welcome to Week #2.<\/p>\n

                              Here is a quick overview of what to expect...<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                              Brief Recap<\/strong><\/p>\n

                              Last week you successfully:<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                \n
                              1. Researched your existing site content to identify the categories your audience is most interested in.<\/li>\n
                              2. Developed a shortlist of product and service ideas for your top 2 categories.<\/li>\n
                              3. Chose 1 product idea to pursue for now.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                Big Picture Context<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                This week you\u2019re focused on getting your idea in front of a small segment of your email list for feedback. Next week you\u2019ll expand it to a second focus group, and in Week #4, a third focus group.<\/p>\n

                                Week Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                This week consists of 6 tasks that can be broken down into 3 basic phases.<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                  \n
                                1. Identify a focus group of 50 people on your email list who are most likely to be interested in your product idea based on metrics such as email clicks and content upgrade opt-ins.<\/li>\n
                                2. Create a series of assets to be used for this focus group and potentially up to 2 more focus groups. These assets include a feedback form, three email messages and a link where people can buy your product.<\/li>\n
                                3. Test your product idea with this first focus group and analyze the findings.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                  At the conclusion of this week you will have:<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                    \n
                                  1. Run your product or service idea past a small focus group.<\/li>\n
                                  2. Gathered valuable input regarding your product idea and your sales pitch.<\/li>\n
                                  3. Pre-sold your product or service to interested parties before it even exists<\/em>.<\/li>\n
                                  4. The information needed to decide whether to proceed to the next step with your product idea. Our general gauge of success is having 10% of a focus group buy.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                    Estimated Time to Complete<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                    17 hours<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

                                    \n

                                    CREATE ASSETS TO USE FOR THE FOCUS GROUPS <\/h2>\n
                                    \n

                                    Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                    In this task, you will create the items (emails, surveys, etc.) you need to effectively validate your product idea with up to three small segments of your email list, which we call focus groups. If things go well with Focus Group 1, these assets will be tweaked and reused with Focus Groups 2 and 3.<\/p>\n

                                    Instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                    Step 1<\/strong>: Create a feedback form to be used to collect focus group input.<\/p>\n

                                    Create a simple form that will be used to collect feedback from willing focus group participants. We used a Google Form for this.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                                    Here is a link<\/a> to the Google Form we used on the Vault, for example.<\/p>\n

                                    The feedback form aims to answer three basic questions:<\/p>\n

                                      \n
                                    1. Do you want to buy this product?<\/li>\n
                                    2. What is the #1 thing that made you want to buy?<\/li>\n
                                    3. What do you wish this product had that it doesn\u2019t?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                      Suggested data to capture would include:<\/p>\n

                                        \n
                                      1. Name<\/li>\n
                                      2. Email address<\/li>\n
                                      3. Do you want to buy? (Yes\/No)<\/li>\n
                                      4. What feature(s) of the product\/service most make(s) you want to buy? Why?<\/li>\n
                                      5. What questions did you think of while reading?<\/li>\n
                                      6. If we added one more thing to the product\/service, what would you like it to be?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                        Ensure you mark key questions as required fields.<\/p>\n

                                        Step 2:<\/strong> Set up a link for pre-purchasing your product\/service.<\/p>\n

                                        Your focus group will need an easy way to pre-order your product.. <\/p>\n

                                        Go ahead and set up the pre-purchase address now.<\/p>\n

                                        If you don\u2019t already have a shopping cart, we recommend using gumroad.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                                        A few pointers:<\/p>\n

                                          \n
                                        1. Use Gumroad's pre-order feature.<\/li>\n
                                        2. Use Gumroad's pretty link feature. (This ensures they user doesn't get a long, convoluted link.) <\/li>\n
                                        3. Don't get caught up in the listing's aesthetics or copy. Simply name the product, link to your product description and publish it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                          Step 3<\/strong>: Create Email #1, asking focus group to provide feedback.<\/p>\n

                                          Beginning with this step, you\u2019ll prepare 3 email messages for use in future tasks. You won't be sending these now, just roughing them out and getting the copy ready.<\/p>\n

                                          At this point, the focus is on creating the text of these messages with their various links.<\/p>\n

                                          In the next task you will identify your first focus group participants. The purpose of your first email is to get their permission to talk to them about your product.<\/p>\n

                                          Here is an example of Email #1. Copy and tweak it as needed.<\/p>\n

                                          Subject: <\/strong>can I get your opinion?<\/p>\n

                                          Body: <\/strong><\/p>\n

                                          Happy Tuesday afternoon!<\/p>\n

                                          A few weeks back, you downloaded my personal swipe file of 150+ landing pages.<\/p>\n

                                          Since you were interested in that, I wanted to get your thoughts on a big (and closely related) project that I\u2019ve been working on for the last 8 months.<\/p>\n

                                          I'd like to get your feedback and opinion on it.<\/p>\n

                                          Interested?<\/p>\n

                                          -YOUR NAME<\/p>\n

                                          Step 4:<\/strong> Create Email #2, providing details to interested participants.<\/p>\n

                                          Draft a second email to get interested participants to give feedback on your product.<\/p>\n

                                          This email includes two key links:<\/p>\n

                                            \n
                                          1. Your detailed product description you created in an earlier task; <\/li>\n
                                          2. Your feedback form, in which they can give their opinions on your product.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                            This email text is what you will send to each interested respondent from Email #1.<\/p>\n

                                            Here is an example Email #2.<\/p>\n

                                            Subject: <\/strong>re:can I get your opinion?<\/p>\n

                                            Body:<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                            Here\u2019s the scoop:<\/p>\n

                                            I\u2019m building a resource called the Vault. It\u2019s my private collection of resources I\u2019ve used to grow Videofruit.<\/p>\n

                                            Can you do two things?<\/p>\n

                                            First, read the full details here:<\/p>\n

                                            Second, fill out this super-quick feedback form:<\/p>\n

                                            Thanks!<\/p>\n

                                            -YOUR NAME<\/p>\n

                                            PS: I\u2019m planning to launch this resource later this month. I'd love for you to tell me how I can make it better.<\/p>\n

                                            Make sure you link to your detailed product description. Do not attach or insert it into the email. It\u2019s too much information and will overwhelm the reader.<\/p>\n

                                            By getting real feedback from real customers, the sales pitch you use in your actual product launch will answer all potential objections and highlight the key features that you already know will draw in your ideal customers.<\/p>\n

                                            Step 5: <\/strong>Create Email #3 to answer questions and ask them to buy.<\/p>\n

                                            The third and final email you need is designed to do four things:<\/p>\n

                                              \n
                                            1. Thank them for taking the time to help you.<\/li>\n
                                            2. Answer all the questions they asked.<\/li>\n
                                            3. Acknowledge any feature requests.<\/li>\n
                                            4. Ask them to pre-order the product.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                              Here is an example Email #3 text you can copy and tweak.<\/p>\n

                                              Subject: <\/strong>re:can I get your opinion?<\/p>\n

                                              Body:<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                              Thanks for filling out the survey, <customer\u2019s name="">.<\/p>\n

                                              Good feedback too.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                                              There are 5 slots left on the pre-sale then it closes down.<\/p>\n

                                              Would love to have you be a part of it:<\/p>\n

                                              -YOUR NAME<\/p>\n

                                              Here is an example of an Email #3 that I sent out when validating one of our products.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                                              Do not <\/strong>be shy about asking for the sale at this point. They said they wanted to buy\u2026 so let them.<\/p>\n

                                              Okay, now you have all the resources ready to be able test your idea with Focus Group 1, which you will create in the next task.<\/p>\n

                                              Action Items<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                \n
                                              1. Draft all three emails outlined above.<\/li>\n
                                              2. Save them all into a document you can easily access in future steps.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                Resource Links<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                Sample Feedback Form<\/a><\/p>\n

                                                Sample Email Swipe File<\/a><\/p>\n

                                                Estimated Time to Complete<\/p>\n

                                                4 hours<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

                                                \n

                                                CREATE FOCUS GROUP 1 <\/h2>\n
                                                \n

                                                Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                In this task, you\u2019ll select 50 people from your email list to invite to provide feedback on your product idea (and, eventually, the opportunity to pre-purchase it).<\/p>\n

                                                Instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                If you are using content upgrades, the preferable approach is to segment your email list by identifying the readers who downloaded the content upgrade for blog posts in the category of your product idea.<\/p>\n

                                                For example\u2026<\/p>\n

                                                Before launching the Vault, we offered a content upgrade of 150+ landing page templates.<\/p>\n

                                                Whenever someone downloaded those templates, they were required to enter their email address, which allowed us to identify exactly who was interested in that topic.<\/p>\n

                                                Since the Vault included 100s of templates, we used those who downloaded the 150+ landing page templates as the Vault's focus group.<\/p>\n

                                                Using this method can significantly reduce the time required.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                                                However, if you don\u2019t use content upgrades or aren\u2019t tracking the exact individuals who download them, you can create a similar segment by tracking who clicked the link in the broadcast email that was about a blog post closely aligned to your product\u2019s topic.<\/p>\n

                                                For example, if you wrote a blog post about stand-up paddle boarding for pregnant women, and your product covers that same topic, go to your email service and create a segment that includes the people who clicked on the link in the email that announced that blog post., <\/p>\n

                                                This is easily done with any major email service provider like MailChimp or AWeber. We\u2019ve linked how-to articles from these two popular services in the resources below.<\/p>\n

                                                Action Items<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                  \n
                                                1. Identify the behavior that you'll use to create your focus group (content upgrade downloads, clicks on relevant emails, etc.).<\/li>\n
                                                2. Create your focus group of 50 people.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                  Resource Links<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                  How to Segment Your List (Aweber)<\/a><\/p>\n

                                                  How to Segment Your List (Mailchimp)<\/a><\/p>\n

                                                  Estimated Time to Complete<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                  2 hours<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

                                                  \n

                                                  EMAIL #1: ASK FOCUS GROUP 1 THEIR OPINION OF YOUR PRODUCT IDEA <\/h2>\n
                                                  \n

                                                  Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                  In this task, you'll send the first outreach email to your focus group and invite them to help you. This step's purpose is to get your focus group's permission to ask them for help before you assume that they are game to help you. After they agree to help, you'll reach out to send your product description and survey to them in the next task.<\/p>\n

                                                  Instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                  Open the Email #1 template you created in the previous task.<\/p>\n

                                                  Add any needed personalization (e.g., address the recipient by name) and send the email to each of the 50 individuals in your first focus group.<\/p>\n

                                                  It\u2019s important that you manually send an email from your personal email account and do NOT automate this step. This is going to take time and that\u2019s okay. You\u2019re not in a race.<\/p>\n

                                                  The purpose of this validation process is to find out if your subscribers are willing to buy the product, to fine-tune your message and to fine-tune the product itself.<\/p>\n

                                                  By talking to each individual in the focus group, you'll have an incredibly good idea of their exact pain points and their desire for the product. You'll also gain informed intuition regarding your next steps.<\/p>\n

                                                  If you need to review details regarding Email #1's content, refer to the resource link below.<\/p>\n

                                                  Over the course of the week, you'll get replies from people that you'll need to respond to individually. We'll cover how to handle your responses in the next task.<\/p>\n

                                                  Action Items<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                    \n
                                                  1. Open up your script for Email #1.<\/li>\n
                                                  2. Customize and send Email #1 to all 50 people in your focus group.<\/li>\n
                                                  3. Send all emails manually, through your personal email service. (Think Gmail, not MailChimp.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                    Resource Links<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                    Email #1 Template<\/a><\/p>\n

                                                    Estimated Time to Complete<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                    1 hour<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

                                                    \n

                                                    Week3: <\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
                                                    \n

                                                    EMAIL #2: SEND AN EMAIL TO INTERESTED RESPONDENTS, LINKING YOUR PRODUCT DETAILS + ASKING FOR FEEDBACK <\/h2>\n
                                                    \n

                                                    Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                    A portion of those people you selected to be part of your first focus group will answer your email and be interested in helping you. In this task, you\u2019ll send an individual email to each of these people, providing full instructions on what you need them to do, the links to your product's detailed description and access to your feedback form.<\/p>\n

                                                    Instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                    A portion of your 50 focus group members to whom you sent Email #1 will have responded with interest in reviewing your product idea. You'll send Email #2 to each of these people.<\/p>\n

                                                    But first, before we get to Email #2, take this opportunity to review who has not <\/em>replied to Email #1. Send each of these a courtesy follow-up just in case they missed the original message or forgot. People are busy and sometimes forgetful, so give them one last chance to participate.<\/p>\n

                                                    Here is an example of a follow-up email. The easiest way to create these messages is to find the first email you sent them and reply to it:<\/p>\n

                                                    Subject: <\/strong>re: can I get your opinion?<\/p>\n

                                                    Body:<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                    Hi <name, if="" known="">,<\/p>\n

                                                    Just wanted to quickly follow up with you regarding the message below. If you are interested and have a few minutes, I'd love to have your help with a new project I'm working on.<\/p>\n

                                                    It'll take you about 10 min. of time, total.<\/p>\n

                                                    If you are able, just hit reply and tell me yes<\/em>.<\/p>\n

                                                    If not, I totally understand. Sincerely,<\/p>\n

                                                    -<\/p>\n

                                                    Once you have followed up with everyone who hasn't replied, you'll need to follow up with everyone who did <\/em>reply. <\/p>\n

                                                    Open a reply message to each of the willing participants who responded and said they'd be willing to help you. Use your Email #2 script to send them instructions on how they can help. <\/p>\n

                                                    Don\u2019t forget: It's essential that Email #2 include links to your detailed product description and feedback form.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                                                    Add any needed personalization and send Email #2 to that individual.<\/p>\n

                                                    Rinse and repeat for each willing participant in this focus group.<\/p>\n

                                                    Remember to send personalized messages from your email account. Don't automated this. High-touch is important.<\/p>\n

                                                    Over the course of the next week, you will get replies from people. You will need to respond to these individually. Follow-up is huge. Don't get lazy here.<\/p>\n

                                                    Also, every time you answer someone's question, go back to your original product description. Add the question and answer to the bottom of the product description, in a FAQs section. If you notice the same questions popping up over and over again, modify the product description itself to answer that question.<\/p>\n

                                                    One of the big things that this validation process allows you to do is to revise the product and the way you talk about the product. This way, when you do officially launch, the messaging and product description are 100% dialed in.<\/p>\n

                                                    So use this one-on-one email interaction to start refining your product description.<\/p>\n

                                                    If your product description doesn't change at least 10% to 20% between start and finish, you've most likely not done a good enough job of listening to your subscribers and accounting for their feedback and preferences in your product.<\/p>\n

                                                    Action Items<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                      \n
                                                    1. Follow up with everyone who didn't respond to Email #1.<\/li>\n
                                                    2. Email everyone who responded to Email #1 with your script for Email #2.<\/li>\n
                                                    3. Adjust your product description with new features and Q&A as you field them in your outreach emails.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                      Estimated Time to Complete<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                      1 hour<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

                                                      \n

                                                      EMAIL #3: ANSWER QUESTIONS, ACKNOWLEDGE FEATURES AND INVITE THEM TO THE BETA <\/h2>\n
                                                      \n

                                                      Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                      In this task, you follow up with those who said they wanted to buy your product in your survey, answer their questions, acknowledge their feature requests and ask them to buy.<\/p>\n

                                                      Instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                      A subset of those who volunteered to provide feedback on your idea will respond to your survey and say they want to buy your product. Before sending Email #3, send a follow-up email to each of the people who received but haven\u2019t responded to Email #2.<\/p>\n

                                                      Here\u2019s an example:<\/p>\n

                                                      Subject: <\/strong>re: can I get your opinion?<\/p>\n

                                                      Body:<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                      Hi <name, if="" known="">,<\/p>\n

                                                      Just wanted to quickly follow up with you on the new project you mentioned wanting to help out on. <\/p>\n

                                                      I\u2019d really like your feedback.<\/p>\n

                                                      Quick reminder on what you need to do...<\/p>\n

                                                      Action item #1: Read this product description:<\/p>\n

                                                      Action Item #2: Give me your opinion on the product here:<\/p>\n

                                                      Thanks a ton!<\/p>\n

                                                      -<\/p>\n

                                                      Of those who have <\/em>responded to Email #2, ignore or hide the results of any who said they did not want to buy the product.<\/p>\n

                                                      Immediately answer the questions of and send a checkout link to those who said \u201cYes, I want to buy.\u201d<\/p>\n

                                                      Open and copy the text of Email #3 which you previously created.<\/p>\n

                                                      Paste the Email #3 text in a reply to each interested buyer.<\/p>\n

                                                      Remember, you need to do 4 things in this reply email:<\/p>\n

                                                      Thing #1:<\/strong> Thank them for their time.<\/p>\n

                                                      Thing #2:<\/strong> Answer any questions they asked.<\/p>\n

                                                      Thing #3: <\/strong>Acknowledge any feature requests they sent in.<\/p>\n

                                                      Thing #4: <\/strong>Ask them to pre-order the product.<\/p>\n

                                                      Here is what that might look like in action:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

                                                      Over the course of the next week, you will get replies from people in your focus group. Follow up with each reply as quickly as you can. Generally you need to respond in 12 hours or less.<\/p>\n

                                                      As you begin seeing common themes in the focus group feedback, go back and incorporate these things into your detailed product description. Add requested features. Add a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section to the description and address each question your focus group asked. Build a story into your description that answers their questions.<\/p>\n

                                                      Action Items<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                        \n
                                                      1. Follow up with any focus group members who haven't yet read your product description and completed the survey<\/li>\n
                                                      2. Email everyone completed the survey and said they'd like to buy your product.<\/li>\n
                                                      3. Continue adjusting your product description and FAQ section based on your individual correspondence with focus group members.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                        Estimated Time to Complete<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                        1-8 hours<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n

                                                        \n

                                                        ANALYZE FOCUS GROUP 1 FINDINGS \u2014 DID 10+% OF FOCUS GROUP BUY? <\/h2>\n
                                                        \n

                                                        Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

                                                        Review the data from your first focus group to figure your next steps.<\/p>\n

                                                        The focus groups are intended to guide your next steps. <\/p>\n