mml turning passion into products ebook

7/31/2019 MML Turning Passion Into Products eBook

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Trning Passion into ProdctsPAM HENDRICKSON & MIKE KOENIGS


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TuRNING PASSION INTO PRODuCTS

2011 Product Solutions Group, LLC. All rights reserved. 2

Copyright 2012 Product Solutions Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

DO NOT DUPLICATE OR DISTRIBUTE WITHOUT PERMISSION. This action book

and associated presentation contain proprietary content and must not be duplicated

or distributed without written permission. No portion o this material may be shared or

reproduced in any manner under any circumstance whatsoever without advanced written

permission rom Product Solutions Group, LLC.

No portion o this material is intended to oer legal, medical, personal or fnancial advice.

Weve taken every eort to ensure we accurately represent these strategies and their

potential to help you grow your business. However, we do not purport this as a get

rich scheme and there is no guarantee that you will earn any money using the content,

strategies or techniques displayed here. Nothing in this presentation is a promise orguarantee o earnings. Your level o success in attaining similar results is dependent

upon a number o actors including your skill, knowledge, ability, connections, dedication,

business savvy, business ocus, business goals, and fnancial situation. Because these

actors dier according to individuals, we cannot guarantee your success, income level,

or ability to earn revenue. You alone are responsible or your actions and results in lie

and business, and by your use o these materials, you agree not to attempt to hold us

liable or any o your decisions, actions or results, at any time, under any circumstance.

The inormation contained herein cannot replace or substitute or the services o trained

proessionals in any feld, including, but not limited to, fnancial or legal matters. Under

no circumstances, including but not limited to negligence, will Pam Hendrickson, Mike

Koenigs, Chris Hendrickson, Product Solutions Group, LLC, or any o its representatives

or contractors be liable or any special or consequential damages that result rom the use

o, or the inability to use, the materials, inormation, or success strategies communicatedthrough these materials, or any services ollowing these materials, even i advised o the

possibility o such damages.


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Creating a best-selling product all begins with an idea. And behind the bestproducts in the world, youll fnd not just an idea but also apassion driving it.

Passion is an essential component in a world-class product. Passion will driveyou to absolute excellence, to create a product thats more than just good.

Passion will keep yo going dring the hard times and the ncertain times.

Any project thats backed by a whirlwind o energy and devotion can overcomeear and doubtand keep you orging ahead, even when the uture is uncertain.

Passion also ensures a happy long-term relationship with your product. I youdo it right, the things you create will stick with you or a long time. I you choosesomething that excites you, the product o your work will likely be somethingthat youll want to wake up to day in and day out.

Some lcky people are born knowing what their passion is. Others o ushave to discover our passion. The ollowing pages will guide you down the patho uncovering what it is that truly gets you goingand set you on the path ousing that energy to shape an idea into a world-class, best-selling product.

Step One: Set the Stage or Discovery

There are many reasonssome very personalthat keep people rom fndingtheir passion in lie. We cant tell you why you havent yet ound your passion,but we can tell you what will keep you rom discovering it.

The next ew exercises will lead you through a process o excavating the things

that are really important to you, the things that drive you and your innate skills

and talents. For these exercises to be truly revealing, you must be willing to do

the ollowing things that may have kept you rom fnding your passion in the past:

Yo mst be willing to get honest with yorsel.

Reasons, alse stories and couldve/wouldve/shouldves have noplace in this process. I you cheat yoursel out o the real truthandreuse to let yoursel go deep enough to fnd ityou wont excavateany truths that have been hidden inside you. Youll just end up withthe same old story that you started with.

Turning Passion inTo ProducTs

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By consciously agreeing to be honest with yoursel during thisprocess, youll allow new thoughts, however unexpected, or evenpossibly painul, to surace and bring resh ideas into your lie.

For those o you who are already worried, let us reassure you: weall have a passion. Its just a matter o clariying it and allowing it togrow. (And i you fnd yoursel saying, Hooey! then see #3 below.)

Yo mst be willing to try something dierent.

Theres a lot o truth in the old phrase, I you keep on doing what

youve always done, youll keep on getting what youve always got.

Some o these exercises may seem silly. You may glance at themand think, This will never work or me.

All we ask is that you try everything we throw at you. I you haventound your passion yet on your own, then its probably time to letsome new opinions into your lie.

That doesnt mean that your own emotions dont have a place inthis process. Its important to pay special attention to anythingthat creates an extreme reaction in you, either positive or negative.Passion is a two-headed coinand anger is much better thanindierence. I you fnd your temperature rising, then know thatyoure making progress.

Yo mst be willing to abandon the critical part o

yor brain.

The product creation process ultimately requires BOTH sides oyour brain: the logical, critical let brain who analyzes, judges andputs things in order and the creative, ree-associating right brainwho rearranges, pulling things out o their usual drawers andtossing them willy-nilly.

For this initial process, you need to give yoursel permission to be

entirely right-brained. Dont be araid to be silly, to look oolish,to blurt out the frst thing that comes to mind. In act, embrace it.

Allow yoursel to live in your right brain, even i your let brain mightthink its dumb or immature or ridiculous.

Well give you some tips on maximizing your right brain activity inthe instructions that ollow.

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Test yorsel right now. As youve been reading, how many othese have popped up in your mind? Have you said to yoursel . . .

Its too late.

I I havent ound my passion by now, Ill never fnd it.

No one else can help me fnd my passion. I just have to stumbleon it.

Or, i youve already toyed with some ideas or your niche, maybeyour demons sound more like . . .

I cant do that or a living. Everyone will think Im _________.

No one will pay me or that.Some o these are limiting belies. Others are just examples ocritical internal dialoguea biological deense mechanism to keepyou rom looking silly.

As yore working, let yor ideas ow. Write down the frst thingthat comes to mind, even i it sounds silly or dumb. Dont cutyoursel o. Just let everything come out until youve emptied yourmind, like pouring out an entire pitcher o water without stopping tocheck the levels.

I you eel yoursel judging or criticizing, consciously set those

activities aside or later. The time or analysis will come, we promise.

Yo mst carve ot some qiet, distraction-ree time

to complete these exercises.

Yes, its difcultbut its also necessary. In order or you toexcavate whats hidden inside o you, you need to be able to createa space o absolute silence. A space in which you can listen to yourinner voice, which will point you in the right direction.

Television, music, spouses, childrenany o these things will createa level o noise that will keep you rom hearing that little voice ointuition whos going to guide your way.

You dont need an hour. Steal 15 minutes here, 5 minutes there.Close a door, walk around the block, sit in your car, do theseexercises andlisten.

It will have a proound eect.

Agreed?

Lets start excavating.

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Step Two: Focs on Yo

This is the un part. How oten do you get to do something thats all about you?!?

In this section, well lead you through a series o prompts to uncover clues asto where your skills, talents and energies line up to create the right feld or you.This section is all about collecting inormation. For now, dont worry about whereits leading.

Sel Q&A

Make a date to sit down and interview yoursel.

What youre looking or as you go through these questions is your gutreactionthe frst thing that comes to your mind and everything else thattumbles out aterward. Youre NOT looking or the should answer. Were notinterested in what you think you should say or what your spouse, mother,brother or riend thinks you would say. We want your honest response. A silentenvironment can oten bring these answers more easily to the surace by reeingyou up to hear the response.

Approach these questions like a brainstorm: write down whatever comes tomind until youve exhausted your thought process. Write everything down. Dontlet your let brain censor yoursel. Just ree associate and keep your eyes open

or powerul reactions rom yoursel, either positive or negative.

Ask yorsel the ollowing qestions:

1. Whats your avorite way to spend your leisure time? I you had three hoursto do absolutely anything you wanted, what would you do?

(I you dont have much leisure time, how would you spend it? Reach or thestars on this one. I you love to sit on the beach, even i you live thousandso miles rom the nearest stretch o sand, include sitting on the beach.)


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2. Do you have a collection that you keep? Anything counts! Postcards, winecorks, buttons, Pinterest boards, scrapbookingwrite down anything youconsciously collect, especially i youve spent money on it.

3. Speaking o money, what are your avorite things to splurge on when youvegot a little extra cash? I we gave you $300, what would you buy?

4. Name 5 things that make you really happyand get specifc. Why does eachone bring you such joy?


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5. Name 5 things that really piss you o. Again, be specifc, and see i you canrecord exactly what it is that fres you up.

6. When was the last time you stayed up until 1am? 3am? What were you doing?

7. Do you ever catch yoursel daydreaming? What do you think about?(I you dont daydream, imagine the perect lie. Let go o where you are nowand spend 5 minutes thinking about what it would be lie to live the perectversion o your lie. Write down your discoveries below.)


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8. Imagine that you have 9 lives, like a cat. You can be or do anything you wantin those 9 lives. Who or what would you be? A proessional scuba diver? An

Amazonian jungle guide? A high-powered CEO? List them below.

9. Think back to your childhood. When people asked you, What do you wantto be when you grow up? what would you say?

10. What is your single strongest skill - i.e. i I were known or one thing and onething only, what would it be? This can be a lie skill. It can be a workplaceskill. Just pick one - no matter how niche or bizarre it is.


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11. What accomplishment in your lie are you most proud o?

12. Whats the quirkiest thing youve ever done?

13. Name one no-ail way to bring a smile to your ace.


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Try the ollowing prompts. Sometimes, completing a sentence cankickstart an idea, especially when you dont answer the way you thought youmight. These sentence completions may spark something new or you:

1. I could never . . .

2. I I won the lottery, the frst thing Id do is . . .

The second thing Id do is . . .


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A typical day in my lie would start with . . .

. . . and end with . . .

3. I I could switch places with anyone in the world, it would be . . .

Because . . .


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4. I I knew with absolute certainty that I wouldnt ail, I would . . .

5. I things had been dierent or me, I would have been a . . .

Once youre done, take a look over your answers. Dont make too manyjudgments at this point. Look or things that surprise you or stir up any kind oemotion. Mark them with a star and continue on to the next section without toomuch analysis. Well tackle that later.


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Step Three: Get Some Perspective

Its one o lies great ironies that were oten not the best judge o ourselves.In this next exercise, well look to some outside sources to get a dierentperspective on you. Sometimes a shit in point o view is all that you need toanswer a question in an entirely dierent light.

Trn the Q&A on Other People

As you go on this journey to discover your true passion and decidewhat you want to do with it, keep these exercises and answers inthe back o your mind. When you fnd yoursel mulling over your

answers at unexpected times, embrace it. Even more importantly,bringing it into other aspects o your lie will only serve you. Younever know where you will fnd the answers youre looking or.

One o the best ways to do this is to ask questions o other people.When you meet someone newor even when youre sitting withold riendsask people what they do. Do they love it? Do theyhave a passion? What would they do i they won the lottery? Evenpeople who you think you know well might share some unexpectedthoughts. You might fnd inspiration in their answers and some hintso your own.

Dont be shy to look to the experts, whether yo know thempersonally or not. Do you have any personal heroes? Mentors whohave guided your way?

Who are 5 people you admire? What is their passion? How do theyuse this passion in their businesses? How did they discover it?

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I you dont know these people personally, Google around to see iyou can fnd the answers. I youre eeling bold, write a ew o themand see what kind o response you get. Ask others who may haveaccess to some o the people who interest you.

I youre thinking, Theyll never write back, or Its been too longsince weve talked, try breaking out o that mind set. You mightbe surprisedand you might miss out on a key interaction that willshed some light on your situation.

Modelingusing techniques that are already proven to workcan be an extremely powerul way o short-cutting your business

success. Why not apply it to your search or your passion?

Ask Other People Abot YOu

You may get some surprising inormation i you ask a colleague,riend, boss or amily member to sit down and have a talk aboutyou. An outsiders perspective can sometimes prove invaluable.

Pick 3-4 people whose opinion you trust and ask them to spend aew minutes answer the ollowing questions with you.

Remember that this process is about honesty, so encouragethem to be rank. Make sure you pick people whose opinion youtrust and who are supportive o you! Otherwise, this wont be aproductive exercise. You may not like 100% o the answers (andmaybe you will!). Either way, asking or an outside opinion romsomeone you trust will help you get closer to the truth.

Ask yor trsted sorce:

1. What do I get really excited about (and maybe talk your earo about)?

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2. What do you think is most important to me?

3. Whats my best quality?

4. Whats my worst quality?


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5. In the course o our relationship, have I taught you anything?

6. What do you value most about our relationship?

7. Whats your avorite thing about me? (Dont cringe. Just ask!)


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8. I I could improve ONE thing about mysel, what wouldyou suggest?

As with the other exercises, record the answers without judgments. Do a briesearch or commonalities or anything that stirs up particular emotions, butdont overanalyze.

Step For: Look or Patterns

Now that youve done your research and given your right brain ull permission toree associate, its time to let in your let brain. Were going to take all o the datayouve collected and look or patterns.

Yor frst task is to look or similarities,repetition and relationships among

yor sorces.

For example, i you proessed a love o splurging on a bottle o expensiveScotch and a riend mentions the martini you made or him last week, thatssomething to take note o.

Sometimes the relationships will be obvious. Other times, it may be more

challenging to make the connection between your love or collecting oldphotographs and your enthusiasm or technology, which might turn into creatinga web-based sotware platorm to capture amily history and genealogy.

One trick that might work or yo is to write down all o yor nggets on

individal index cards. Mix the cards up and group them together as youdiscover relationships.


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I you have Love to dig in the garden on one card and Susan says I wontshut up about the benefts o organic produce on another, put those cardstogether, then think about what the synergy o those two ideas might create. Forexample, you might consider showing people how easy it is to grow their ownorganic mini-garden. Write this down on a new index card that you either keep ina separate pile, or color-code dierently.

Or maybe you have I would buy a piece o land in Napa and grow grapes onone card and Feel most relaxed when Im trying new recipes in the kitchen onanother. Put those two cards together. You might think about showing peoplehow to make their own wine, either rom a kit that contains everything theyneedor by showing them how to grow their own grapes.

Capture whatever connections you come up with. Then rearrange the cardsagain to see i you can come up with dierent connections. Come up with asmany as you can.

It might help to set yoursel a 15-minute timer and come up with as manyconnections as you can in that time. You might also consider spending 10minutes each day or, say, three days on this process.

As youre doing this, keep a couple o things in mind:

Give yorsel permission to channel the philosophy o

Apple and think dierent.

Writer David Turnbull suggests that, even though most people thinko passions as a noun like wine or tennis, your passion may bea verb. His happens to be problem solving, which he puts intoplay by creating hardware solutions to solve business problems.Whats your verb?

Also consider using dierent modes to explore the research youvecreated. The index cards game is a kinesthetic one, but you maypreer verbalizing your fndings, either out loud to yoursel or to ariend. I youre visual, explore these exercises by drawing pictures

or creating collages. Experimenting with new media will help youmake new connections in the style o your choice. (Keeping thepassion o someone like Steve Jobs in mind isnt a bad idea, either.)

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Keep yor eyes ot or opportnities along the way.

Call it coincidence, call it serendipity, call it destiny, but very otenwhen youre on a quest such as this, what you ultimately fndisnt what you were looking or, but an opportunity you stumbledon along the way. Maybe one o the people you interview aboutyoursel turns out to be a JV partner in a new deal. Or maybeyou see an ad or a productand you justknow you could dosomething way better. Dont ignore these opportunities! Its all parto the process.

Decision Time

At some point, youre going to have to make a fnal decision: choose whatever itis you want to work on and stick with it or the time being.

Take all o the connections youve made and start winnowing them down tothings youre really excited about. Go with your gut instinct. Remember, this isgoing to be something that will stick with you or a long time (i you do it right!),so it should be something you love. Get rid o the things that only halwayinterest you and start narrowing your ocus.

Remember that yore ltimately ot to solve a problemor improve

someone elses lie. Thats what creating a product is all about: solving a painin the marketplace. The degree to which you can impact someone elses lie orthe better is directly related to your success.

As you look at your fnal ideas, ask yoursel: what is the pain thats out there?How am I going to solve it? When you can make the connection between a topicyou love and a way to solve a problem or improve someones lie, thats whereyoull hit pay dirt.

What i yo have a cople o ideas that yo want to explore? We applaudyour enthusiasm. For now, pick one to stick with. Well start taking it through thenext process: the viability test.

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Step Five: Will It Float?

Testing the Market or Yor Idea

We promised you that you would get to use your let brain, so heres yourchance. Once youve picked an idea that you want to move orward with, its agood idea to do some initial research to see whether theres a market or it.

In Make, Market, Launch IT, we run our clients through an extremely rigorousresearch and beta testing process. Beore you even get to that phase, there area ew simple things you can do to fgure out quickly whether your idea has best-selling potential.

Do Yor Keyword Research

There are a couple o great internet-based tools out there that willgive you reliable data on 1) what keywords people are searchingor and 2) how much people are spending to advertise on thosekeywords.

Why is this important? I people are researching your topicand,more importantly, i people are spending money to advertise in thatfeldthat means theres a viable market.

One o the biggest mistakes people make when they start out is

that theyre araid to enter a market with competition. Dont bearaid o competition! You want to be in a market where otherpeople are already selling. It means that there are people out therewith enough interest in that topic to spend money.

Keyword research will give you an idea o the strength o thatmarket. Try sites like KeywordSpy.com and SpyFu.com. Bothcharge a small monthly ee, but its well worth it or the data.

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Check up on Yor Competitors

Once you determine that there is a market or your idea, makeAmazon.com your next stop. Search on your topic and browse thetop fve best-selling books in the feld.

Take a look at the Table o Contents or each. What content arethey covering? Where are the overlaps between books? Where arethe gaps (i.e. the opportunities)? What could you do better? Whatcould you do dierently?

Dont orget to Google the topic as well and see who else is out

there in your feld. Knowing your competition will give you a goodlay o the land. Its also a great chance to . . .

Keep an Eye ot or Potential Joint Ventres

Especially i youre starting out without a list o your own, use thiscompetitive research to see i you might be able to oer a newservice to an existing market. For example, i youre passionateabout chemical-ree housecleaning solutions, think about reachingout to a new mothers group, who would really appreciate creating ahealthy environment or their children.

You may fnd someone whos willing to mail to their list on yourbehal, in exchange or an afliate commission. Or you may fnd anew business partner or a new project. As we said earlier, its theopportunities along the way that count. Dont overlook potentialplaces where you could ft in to existing businesses. You might alsoconsider

Investigate Lists Available or Prchase

I an organic joint venture isnt possible, brokers like lists.nextmark.comcan help you buy a list o people with interests that alignwith your products. These kinds o brokerages can also give youa sense or the size o the available market, as keyword researchdoes. Remember, a healthy market is the one you want to get into.

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Step Six: Pt Yor Stake in the Grond and GO!

Once you have a viable product idea that youre excited about, theres nothinglet to do but take action! Create a timeline or yoursel and make sure you doat least one item on that timeline within the next 15 minutes to seal in yourintention to create your product.

For additional guidance on the next steps to making, marketing and launchingyour product, visit MakeMarketLanch.com.

We want to leave yo with one fnal thoght. Once you start, stick with youridea. Give it time to mature and develop. See where it takes you. A lot o people

expect initial wild success when they stumble upon what they are sure is theirpassion. Sometimes, it takes a little coaxing to get a new idea o the ground.Dont be impatientand dont get distracted by another shiny object that comesalong. Give your new idea the beneft o your ull attention and ocus to help itreach its ull potential. Patience and ocus are two qualities that will always payo in the long run.

Additional Resorces

I you want to urther explore uncovering your passion and direction in lie, werecommend the ollowing additional resources:

The Artists Way, a Course in Recovering and Discovering Your Creative Sel, abook by Julia Cameron. (Available at Amazon.com)

The Pathfnder: How to Choose or Change Your Career or a Lietime o

Satisaction or Success, a book by Nicholas Lore. (Available at Amazon.com)


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