What Information Product Medium Should You Use?

Information products can range from a simple eBook to a full course with manual, DVDs and CDs. Don't sweat creating your information product, even if it's your first. The most important thing about information products is that they convey quality information to the person who buys your product.

My first recommendation to my coaching students is to go with whatever medium you are most comfortable with. If you enjoy writing, then write an ebook, book or manual. Many people, even people who like to write are intimidated by the thought of writing a book. Take some pressure off yourself and start with an eBook or manual. You aren't writing the Great American Novel; you are writing an information product. An information product should impart the information clearly, concisely and thoroughly. People will purchase it because they are looking for specific information, not an involved story line.

If you are not at all comfortable with the idea of writing an information product, you can also record the information using an audio or video format. Many people nowadays either don't like to read or don't have the time to read. They would rather listen to a CD in their car or download the information and listen to it on their IPod. Other people learn best by watching a video.

If you feel strange just talking into a microphone and recording it, you can have a friend help you out by interviewing you. Come up with ten to twenty questions about your topic (depending on how long you want your recording to be), arrange them in a logical progression and then have your friend ask you the questions. You may want to write down various points that you don't want to miss for each answer. That way you're not reading from a full script (and you won't sound stiff which is the way most people sound when reading from a script) and you'll make sure you have the most important information in your answers. If you can get a conversational tone going in your "interview" the audio will be that much easier for people to follow and learn from.

You can also create a video, either of yourself demonstrating how to do something, an interview of you or you can create a Camtasia-style instructional video with a voice over. Camtasia is a software program that allows you to record your voice with whatever is on your screen or integrate video with PowerPoint and other media. I use Camtasia to record my PowerPoint presentations. I create a PowerPoint on my topic then talk through the presentation as if I were in front of a live audience. Camtasia records it and I can put it into a variety of formats (.avi,.mpv, etc.) for uploading to the internet or to burn on DVDs. Another way to record presentations is to use a webinar software such as gotowebinar or dimdim. Both of these sites can be used to conduct webinars or just to record a PowerPoint presentation. In addition, DimDim.com has the capacity to record whatever is on your screen or even capture from your computer's video camera.

Of course, nothing says you can put out your information product in only one format. As a matter of fact, if you can offer a package with the information in several formats, all the better. Everybody learns in different ways. If people have the option to read, listen to AND watch the information, you are more likely to hit on the way they like to learn.

Bottom line, go with the medium you are most comfortable in. However, don't be afraid to put your product into different formats. If you write an info product, you may want to read it aloud and record it on CDs or into MP3 files. If you like doing videos, you can create a video and then pay to have the audio portion of the video transcribed so you can offer a written accompaniment to the video. Either way, you are increasing your odds of having the right product for your target market.

Remember: It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be done.

Keeping Up With The Changing Face Of New Product Development

The product development industry is constantly changing in an effort to satisfy the needs and preferences of customers. It therefore poses a huge challenge on the part of developers and designers to keep up with the new product development game. The rules are always changing. Hence, the old system approach that involve low cost, high quality, and differentiation proved insufficient in being able to compete in a cutthroat market. Experts specifically pointed out speed and flexibility as the critical factors for a successful design and development of new products.

By speed, it basically means that companies need to generate new products on a regular and periodic basis. In fact, statistics have shown that it is the main source of profits for most of these companies. With a new emphasis on approaching development in the industry, companies are compelled to look for a professional product development company that can assist them in the design and manufacturing process. Or, it has called upon a new emphasis in terms of the approach used for creating products such that the traditional relay race approach isn't going to work anymore.

To understand just how the new product development industry has changed, it is important to do a comparison of the old and new approach. The traditional approach follows a race relay format wherein individuals or teams are assigned to do specific tasks based on their expertise or skills. Hence, the production system is divided into different segments that are to be done on a specific stage in the process. This process is followed from phase to phase at a given sequence. Companies might differ in their approach but the general procedure might be something like this: conception of idea, feasibility test, building a design prototype, pilot production, and the final production.

The traditional method is based on specialization. However, the new approach that is now being employed by a product development company is built on constant interaction. Instead of a specialized team working on a specific phase in the development process, every team member is expected to become involved in the project from start to finish. There is a lack of structured stages so it is more of an open experimentation wherein the team welcomes input at any stage of the development.

The second and new approach is ideal for companies that wanted to achieve flexibility. Furthermore, this technique enable companies to release products in a rapid manner. This recent shift in the industry challenges the existing status quo through stimulation of ideas. Experts believe that this is a good move because the traditional approach has produced some form of rigidity to the process. With a new system in place, it helps to fire up motivation and new ideas even for large companies.

As more development ensues with this process, there are a few outstanding characteristics that product developers are anticipating would make a huge impact on future new product development. These are the following: independent project teams, learning stimulation, overlapping phases of development, and subtle control. The bottom line with this new approach is that it encourages initiative amongst employees at all levels to cope with the demands of the project as you go along, rather than be confined to a pre-determined system.