How would we define the perfect internet product? The first and fairly obvious attribute would be that the product should be something that the customer desperately wants. It has been said many times that in internet marketing you start with the marketplace. Only when you have found a hungry crowd of buyers with money to spend can you realistically find a product to sell to them.
Ideally, the product should be something that only you are offering. If you are offering something unique it is far more likely to sell than something that can be purchased elsewhere. An e-book, manual or course that you have created yourself is obviously the perfect internet product because there can never be a clash with other marketers. The other way to create a unique product is through rebranding of existing products bought under licence. That means that you can rename the product, make changes so the artwork, make adjustments to the content and basically turn it into your own unique item.
From the marketer’s point of view, there must be a selling price which is much higher than the production cost. The rule of thumb used by most marketers is that the retail price should be at least ten times greater than the cost of production. With the perfect internet product this will often be greatly exceeded. In order to justify such a mark-up the product must have a high perceived value. The vast majority of the best-selling online products are informational, regardless of the format in which they are presented. The value of the information is down to the perception of the customer. If he or she believes that what you are offering will give them the help and the information they are desperate to acquire, the price is unlikely to be a stumbling block; – within reason. This issue of perceived value is at the very cutting edge of online product marketing.
Another key issue is quality, – and this cannot be overstated. Whether we are talking about a free introductory offer or a high priced backend product the quality must be the best we can give. Only by offering quality can we keep our customers happy. As we are unlikely ever to meet our customers face to face, the only way we can really connect with them is through the quality of the online products and service we offer.
If we have a physical product it should be one which can be easily sent by mail. Sending out, CDs, DVDs or printed reports is very easy and these can be simply and securely packed for delivery. Padded envelopes are the perfect way to distribute many of these items. If a substantial set of disks is to be sent, there are a variety of box options which could be used as an alternative.
From a practical point of view, avoid products which are bulky, fragile or difficult to package. Apart from the obvious difficulties of packing them securely for delivery, these are far more likely to be damaged in transit. This will create aggro and result in many returned items. We can manage without that in our business.
Many people today are setting up their own businesses to market products online. If you are excited by the prospect of doing the same yourself please visit www.internetmarketingmanual.com to read more of my writing on the subject.
I wish you success in your business ventures.