One of the biggest things stopping people from creating their own products is the fear of talking to their own customers. They’re afraid of what they will say, what they will think and most of all, pissing off the customer.
This is stupid for two reasons.
One, how will you know if you’ve made a good product if you don’t talk to your customers? Secondly, is you fear of what people might say about you so big that you’d rather live a life in the shadows? Are you tip toeing your way to a quiet and peaceful death, or would you rather rattle some bushes and make something of yourself?
Big, Scary Customers
It’s natural to be afraid of what customers might think of you and your product.
I was so eager to please people the first time a created my own product it took me months to make it. I wanted it to be perfect. I mean, can you imagine if there was a spelling error on the salesletter? Surely that would piss people off and create a flurry of refunds if they saw it. So I thought. Now I could create the same product in less than a day.
It’s Not About How It Looks
If you put your heart and soul into a product and you know it will benefit the end user, people don’t mind a spelling errors in your salesletter or video transititions that didn’t render smoothly. That’s not to say you can be lazy with the details, but in the end creating products is about the content.
If you’ve got a product that works, just get it out there. You’ll be surprised how grateful people are if you offer them something that works.
Valuing Your Knowledge
One of my biggest hang ups was charging people more than I thought the product was worth. I felt like I was ripping them off (even though I knew they’d spent 4-5x more on crap that didn’t work).
Don’t feel bad for accepting money for your services or products. You’ve spent the time, effort and money acquiring the knowledge and skills to deliver a solution that works. Can you imagine a doctor working for free after studying for 5+ years and paying tens of thousands of dollars in college fees? I don’t think so. You’re the same. Charge for your knowledge and your customers will thank you for it.
How To Deal With ‘Problems’
With some of my products being online videos, it’s common to get emails saying the video won’t play or download. I was completely afraid of this at the beginning. Turns out all you have to do is fix it for them, answer emails like a normal person and not an automated machine like you’d get from phone company who swears ‘your time is important’ to them.
Customers aren’t that scary once you actually talk to them. Get your product out there, even if it isn’t perfect. If any problems arise down the track, deal with them as the come and stop worrying about what could happen.
