Validating Product Ideas: Tips & Tricks for Selling a Product on Your Blog

Validating product ideas is a must-have on your to-do list for making money online! I never recommend just creating a product on the fly and hoping it sells. Use these tips and tricks for making sure "Launch Day" is a success! 

Let's just dive right into them now!

Watch the video below (don't forget to subscribe, girlfriend!) or you can scroll down for the text version of this post. 

Tip 1: Research Your Competitors

First things first, do some competitor research. Find out what your peers are creating, how much they’re charging, how their audience is similar or different from yours, etc. Basically, just get a feel for what’s already out there so that you can pinpoint how your product could potentially stand out in the market.  

Tip 2: Analyze Your Statistics

The second thing you should do is analyze your own statistics. This means looking at your site analytics to see what posts are popular, check out your social media analytics to see what posts are shared/commented on the most. Really take note of the exact kind of content is that is resonating with your audience. 

Tip 3: Ask Your Readers

My third tip (and this is my favorite way to validate an idea) is to chat with your readers because they are the ones that are potentially going to purchase what you’re going to create. You need to know what exactly they’re looking for and how you can solve problems for them in order to create the best possible product and potentially get the most sales.

Tip 4: Offer Pre-Sale Options

My last tip is to setup a pre-sale option for the product you’re already working on. Nothing says validation more than when a reader purchases a product that you haven’t even finished yet. It shows JUST how excited they are about the prospect of owning what you’re creating. 

Here’s a great example of how powerful validating is. I created two products and put them both up for pre-sale. Product A performed so-so and Product B got a ton of pre-sales. This behavior continued once both of the products launched. And while Product A made sales after the pre-sale period ended, it never even came close to what I saw (and continue to see) with Product B. 

“Pre-sales are a great way to gauge how your product may perform once you officially launch. ”

If you’re panicked about what in the world you can do to validate your product or service idea, I definitely recommend these methods! And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel to catch future videos about blogging and business!

How to Grow Your Blog and Business By Engaging Your Readers

You can’t run a blogging business, with consistent full-time income, if you don’t have at least a small, established following with loyal fans. There, I said it. It’s brutal but it’s true. 

Now when I say following, that doesn’t mean JUST social media. This following could be email subscribers or even a private FB group or other online community. 

Pssssttt...I run a series called Ask Allison where I answer readers' questions about blogging and business. You can ask yours by emailing hello@frugalontheprairie.com. This post is for the question, "Which ad network should I use?" Click below to watch!

First things first: Is the content you’re sharing going to help your readers in some way? People love posts that change their lives! And it’s important to mention their pain point first so that you immediately grab their attention. Then you need to hook them in by briefly stating how you’ve solved this problem yourself. Once you’ve described everything in more detail, leave an open-ended question to encourage interaction. 

Additionally, you need to start genuinely engaging them by asking questions and getting to know them. Forget that you’re all sitting behind computers and pretend you’re sitting down having a cup of coffee. Your readers are people with a busy life, just like you. Connect with them!

Click here to join my free course on building a profitable blog!

“It’s a huge investment of my time, I’m not gonna lie. But it pays off in more way than just the monetary sense. ”

Take the time to send real-life, non-canned emails! I personally read and respond to EVERY.SINGLE.EMAIL that lands in my inbox. I try to imagine the reader and help them out in any way that I can. It’s a huge investment of my time, I’m not gonna lie. But it pays off in more way than just the monetary sense. 

Genuine connections help me more fully understand my readers’ problems and blogging/business needs. This takes the guesswork out of deciding what to write about. Finding the solutions for them keeps them coming back, which in turn helps my interaction and business. 

Click here to join my free course on building a profitable blog!

7 Steps to Starting Your Freelance Writing Business From Scratch

Join my friend, Gina Horkey and I next Friday (September 16) at 1pm CST to learn more about the world of freelance writing for the web. She’s going to teach us the seven steps we need to take to start a new freelance writing business from scratch in less than an hour.

Have you seen her 5 FIGURE/MONTH INCOME REPORTS on Horkey Handbook?! She knows what she's doing, friends!

One of the things I love about Gina is that she’s not a fan of wasting time. She’ll get us in and out, teaching us just what we need to know to take action and get results. This webinar is for you if you don't have a lot of spare time on your hands!

And since she’s such a big fan of taking action (rather than reading everything on the internet), Gina will likely summarize what she’s taught us by providing a few key action steps to help us get started as soon as the webinar ends.

So if you love to write and wouldn’t mind getting paid for it, you should really join us.

In Gina’s words, “Every business needs a website and every website needs a decent writer!” So the opportunities to earn as a freelance writer really are endless!

5 Things You Need to Start a Profitable Blog or YouTube Channel

Worried about how to make a YouTube channel or blog? My friend Jia and I are hosting a free webinar about the five things you need when starting a blog or channel this Saturday, September 10, at 11am CST/12pm EST! (Psssttt...if you can't make it live, no problem. The replay link will be available to anyone who registers, till Monday, September 12 at Midnight CST. 

We get so many questions about what you really need to get started and we will be answering as many as we possibly can during the event! Jia and I love sharing as many tips and tricks as we can so you definitely don't want to miss the chance to pick our brains. 

Here's what we're covering:

1. The modern approach to running a blog or YouTube channel. So you want to make consistent income? Depending on ads alone just isn't going to cut it anymore. This is 2016. We're going to talk about the modern mindset you should have so you can work on receiving consistent income. 

2. Five things you need to start a profitable blog or YouTube channel. Let's be honest- there are hundreds of things you can being doing to build either one of these platforms. But Jia and I have chosen five of the most influential, must-have, can't-live-without elements that have really catapulted our online presence. You're leaving money on the table if you don't have these 5 things!

3. Extra tips for implementing those five things in your busy life. I'm sure your schedule is about as jam-packed as ours. Both Jia and I are working mamas and sometimes it feels like there aren't enough hours in the day. To help you fit these 5 things in your schedule, we're including some nifty tips and ideas. 

4. LIVE Q&A session to ask us anything about blogging or business! Now is your chance to really ask the questions that keep you wondering about blogging or YouTube. Jia and I are pretty transparent- we love to share our secrets about how we've used both of these platforms to grow our business. 

I put together my five must-have's for every profitable blog by thinking, "What have been the most influential actions on my blog and business? What could I absolutely NOT live without?" Everything we're sharing is definitely stuff you can start working on as soon as the webinar is over. We focused on providing actionable tips