As the curator of the INSIDER Guide to New Product Development (NPD), I’m constantly keeping an eye out for bite-size information that will help you develop and scale better subscription products. Here’s my “Five on Friday” list for June 19th, featuring the five best trends, tips, quotes or stats from my reading this week.
1. Lucky #13
The Entrepreneur.com article”13 Tricks for Landing Your First Thousand Customers” from last week was data-rich, if uneven in its value. One more suggestion from that article, below:
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__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 13. Affiliate Marketing Affiliate marketing is where you get other websites to promote your products in return for a commission on sales. This typically works best for information products, such as online courses, because you can offer affiliates high commissions without any product cost. There are sites that make this easy – such as Rakuten Affiliate Network, Commission Junction or ClickBank. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
A quick spin through each of these and I like Rakuten best, but Commission Junction offered more information for the beginner.
2. Your Steak, My Sizzle
“Jeff Weiner on Great Products”, as reported by Forbes contributor George Anders, is a too-basic overview of Weiner’s product philosophy, but this quote is worth keeping in mind:
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[Great products] resonate emotionally with the customer. Great products make you feel something. Pay close attention to the way people describe products they love. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
My realtor friends say they know a house is sold when the prospective buyers start mentally placing their furniture in it. If your customer can take your product idea out of your hands (or head) and make it their own – you’re on to something.
3. TMI Time
What’s my mantra? I know you’ve been wondering Here’s a phrase I keep in mind in any crisis of confidence, leadership or scrum discussion:
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________________________________________________ “Turn and face the strange.” David Bowie ________________________________________________ |
What’s yours? Email me your new product development mantra and I’ll send you a $10 Amazon gift card.
4. Email is a Staples, Er, Staple
Good infographic from Staples on the power of email marketing. We love our apps, and the Mobile Buy Button is the marketing flavor of the month, but email is not dead.
5. Lessons From Dad
Last year I wrote a blog about the lessons my father taught me about innovation, that I’d like to share with you. I hope you’ll 1) read the blog and 2) thank your own dad this Father’s Day for all the great lessons he’s taught you. Thanks again, Dad – you’re the best. And yes, that’s me and my dad Jerry washing the car.
Have a great weekend, everyone! Happy Father’s Day.
Diane
Diane Pierson, our INSIDER Guide to New Product Development, is a leader in product management and marketing, having delivered results to companies including Dun & Bradstreet, LexisNexis, American Lawyer Media and Copyright Clearance Center. She has built products & services that have delivered over $100 million in revenue and knows what works, and what doesn’t, when executing product plans and strategies. (Read Diane’s full Bio)
